Exclusive: Gov. Kemp discusses $69M school safety plan, religious liberty bill

In his first TV interview as Georgia's 83rd governor, Gov. Brian Kemp outlined his agenda for the upcoming year with Channel 2 Action News. Kemp came by our studios Tuesday morning to talk with Channel 2 political reporter Richard Elliot about the issues his administration will tackle.  At the top of his agenda are issues related to education. Kemp promised a “historic and well-deserved” pay raise for public school teachers.  'Forty-four percent of our teachers are leaving the profession before the first five years. That is killing our local school districts,' Kemp told Elliot.  The governor also unveiled a $69 million plan in the amended budget for school security. 'That will give schools, every single school in our state, all 2,294 public schools, a $30,000 grant,' Kemp said.  The chair of the school safety committee says the state will have guidelines, but it will be up to the individual school districts to decided how to best use the money.  TRENDING STORIES: Forsyth County man charged with plot to attack White House, FBI says 18-year-old college student identified as woman murdered, found in burning car Two mothers charged with selling drugs near elementary school Elliot and Kemp talked about the governor's desire to work on healthcare without expanding Medicaid and the religious liberty bill.  'My positions on religious freedom have been very clear. I feel like we should implement what is in the federal statute word for word. Many other states have that. It does not discriminate,' he said.  But some groups, including members of the LGBT community, feel it will lead to discrimination because Georgia does not have an underlying civil rights law to protect them. Some within Georgia’s $10 billion film industry also oppose the bill and have said they would leave the state and its generous tax breaks behind. But Kemp thinks those tax breaks, which he says he fully supports, are too good for the film industry to leave. 'So I don’t really buy the film industry leaving, you know. There may be some Hollywood actors that do that. But quite honestly, they’re taking advantage of the film tax credits and they don’t even live here,' Kemp told Elliot. 

FBI arrests man suspected of plotting attack on White House

Federal authorities on Wednesday announced a terrorist case against a metro Atlanta resident accused of plotting to destroy the White House and other Washington D.C. government buildings. >> Read more trending news Hasher Jallal Taheb of Cumming, Georgia, was arrested in Gwinnett County and appeared briefly in court in downtown Atlanta in the case brought the FBI. 'His alleged intent was to attack the White House and other targets of opportunity in the Washington, D.C. area,' U.S. Attorney B.J. Pak said.  Pak said Taheb intended to use IEDs and an anti-tank rocket to carry out the attacks.  The criminal complaint, which accuses him of plotting to destroy a government building, said a community member contacted law enforcement in March 2018 to say that Taheb had become radicalized. On Aug. 25, 2018, Taheb allegedly put his vehicle up for sale. An FBI informant reached out to show interest and met with the suspect days later. Taheb allegedly said he planned to travel to “hijra,” a term said to refer to Islamic State territory and he was selling the car to fund the trip. But he didn’t have a passport. He allegedly told the informant he wanted to attack the White House and Statue of Liberty in jihadist attacks. During one meeting with an FBI agent and the source, Taheb “advised that if they were to go to another country, they would be one of many, but if they stayed in the United States, they could do more damage,” the affidavit says. Taheb “explained that jihad was an obligation, that he wanted to do as much damage as possible, and that he expected to be a ‘martyr,’ meaning he expected to die during the attack.” At another meeting, he showed the undercover agent a hand-drawn diagram of the ground floor of the West Wing of the White House and detailed a plan for attack, the affidavit says. He asked the undercover agent to obtain the weapons and explosives needed to carry out the attack, and they discussed selling or exchanging their cars to pay for them. Last week, Taheb told the undercover agent he wanted to pick up weapons this week and drive directly to Washington to carry out the attack, investigators said. Authorities said all threats have been neutralized and the suspect was believed to have been acting alone.  The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Two mothers charged with selling drugs near elementary school

Police arrested two mothers accused of selling drugs next to an elementary school. Investigators told Channel 2’s Chris Jose that the women were picked up near Keheley Elementary School in Marietta. The daughter of one of the women told Jose that her mother should stay behind bars. Neighbors called police because they said they saw a suspicious looking truck in the neighborhood near the school. “It makes me feel sad because that is my mother,” said Jordan Harris. Wednesday afternoon was the first Harris saw her mother’s mugshot from the Cobb County Jail. Latricia Patton and Brenda Craver are accused of buying and selling dangerous drugs next to Keheley Elementary School. “I think this is going to be the one time she’s going to have to stay in jail and just serve her time I guess,” Harris said. TRENDING STORIES: Forsyth County man charged with plot to attack White House, FBI says 18-year-old college student identified as woman murdered, found in burning car Two mothers charged with selling drugs near elementary school The daughter told Jose she hasn’t spoken to her mother since the drug bust on Tuesday night. Neighbors said they called police after they noticed a suspicious looking truck next to the community pool. “I saw three policemen, three Cobb County police, and a red truck,” neighbor Carolyn Fischer said. Fischer lives in the Lakewood Colony neighborhood in east Cobb County. She told Jose that believes the women put the children at the school in danger. “Of course, because they can walk. Kids walk home,” Fischer said. Craver is facing felony charges for allegedly selling crystal meth near the school. “My mom’s friend was parked right here. They caught them with some drugs on them. And they searched our house, as well,' Harris said. Harris said officers also found drugs inside the house, which is located within 600 feet of Keheley Elementary. She apologized for her mother's alleged crimes and admitted the drugs near the school put children at risk. “I hope her being arrested helps her sober up and get her the help that she needs,” Harris said. On top of numerous drug charges, the women are also accused of loitering and prowling the neighborhood. The school day was over when officers arrived on the scene.