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WASHINGTON—A federal appeals-court panel split in 2014 over a case involving a grisly theme-park death, ruling 2-1 that the Labor Department was on sound footing when it sanctioned SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. for safety violations after a trainer was attacked by a killer whale.The two judges upholding the sanction said that while whale-training is a dangerous occupation, SeaWorld could have taken steps to reduce the hazard. One of those judges was Merrick Garland, the Obama Supreme Court nominee whom Senate Republicans declined to consider after Justice Antonin Scalia died in 2016. In dissent was Judge Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump’s current nominee for the high court. Judge Kavanaugh said the case raised the question of “when should we as a society paternalistically decide” whether people who choose to work in risky sports and entertainment fields “must be protected from themselves.” Tilikum, a SeaWorld killer whale, performing in 2009. The whale dragged a trainer underwater to her death in 2010. Photo: mathieu belanger/Reuters The case is one of more than 30 involving labor or workplace disputes for which Judge Kavanaugh wrote opinions during his 12-year tenure on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, seen as the nation’s second most powerful after the Supreme Court. He often has favored employers, sometimes embracing positions that other colleagues found too broad or conservative. Yet his record isn’t monolithic; he wrote opinions that sided with employees in several instances, including a racial-discrimination case he has described as one of the most significant of his career. “If you had to characterize him one way or the other, he’s pro-employer, but he’s not an ideologue,” said Collin O’Connor Udell, a lawyer with Jackson Lewis P.C. who represents employers and has studied Judge Kavanaugh’s rulings. Several Democrats have signaled they will emphasize labor issues during Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation proceedings, and activists and labor groups have singled out a list of his opinions for criticism. Kerri Kupec, a spokeswoman for Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation team, said his record “reflects his reputation as a fair and independent arbiter of the law, based on text and precedent, who has ruled for both employers and employees.” Appeals-court rulings are generally handed down by panels of three judges, assigned randomly from the court’s full roster. The D.C. Circuit was more conservative during the early stages of Judge Kavanaugh’s tenure but has become more liberal with the addition of Obama appointees, as reflected in some of his splits with his colleagues. In 2008, Judge Kavanaugh wrote a dissent supporting a kosher-meat wholesaler that refused to bargain with a union because it included undocumented workers who had participated in a union election. Two other judges said language of the National Labor Relations Act, as well as Supreme Court precedent, ran counter to that position. A year earlier, the judge wrote a 2-to-1 ruling saying the Defense Department could curtail collective bargaining for hundreds of thousands of civilian employees for several years. A dissenting judge said Judge Kavanaugh’s opinion empowered the secretary of defense to abolish collective bargaining, “a position with which even the secretary disagrees.” When the Supreme Court’s fall term begins in October, justices will hear cases that could impact the criminal justice system, major tech companies and charities. WSJ’s Shelby Holliday looks at key cases on the docket. Photo: AP. Overall, Judge Kavanaugh’s rulings show skepticism of what he views as aggressive enforcement going beyond government agencies’ traditional authority. He has found several times that the National Labor Relations Board “jumped the rails,” as he put it in a 2017 dissent, saying the board wrongly found that CNN engaged in unfair labor practices by replacing unionized contract technicians with in-house nonunion workers. Again his views parted with Chief Judge Garland, who wrote the court’s opinion faulting the network on some issues. Judge Kavanaugh wrote several rulings finding for employers that had no dissenters. That happened in 2015, when he wrote a unanimous decision that bucked the NLRB and held that AT&T Connecticut acted reasonably in barring workers from wearing union T-shirts that said “Inmate” on the front and “Prisoner of AT$T” on the back. When Judge Kavanaugh recently listed his most significant judicial opinions on a Senate questionnaire, he cited a pro-worker decision among them. The judge was part of a 2013 panel that revived a lawsuit brought by a Fannie Mae employee who alleged he was denied a salary increase because of his race, called the N-word by his supervisor, and fired for complaining about it. Judge Kavanaugh, in a concurrence quoting poet Langston Hughes, wrote that even a single use of such a racial slur can create a hostile work environment. “No other word in the English language so powerfully or instantly calls to mind our country’s long and brutal struggle to overcome racism and discrimination against African-Americans,” he wrote. Judge Kavanaugh also has written unanimous rulings for employees, including a 2008 decision that upheld an NLRB determination that Walmart had a duty to continue bargaining with meat-processing workers in Texas after it changed the nature of its operations. The judge has written especially forcefully in cases of alleged discrimination. Last year he was part of a panel that revived a Hispanic man’s case alleging a supervisor at the Department of Housing and Urban Development denied him a job transfer because of hostility toward minorities. Judge Kavanaugh said his court should jettison precedents saying discriminatory transfers ordinarily aren’t a basis for suing under federal civil-rights law. He said he looked forward to clarifying that in a future case.
More Write to Brent Kendall at [email protected] Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. emergency agency is sending almost $13 billion to Puerto Rico, directed at the territory’s energy and education systems, to help it recover from 2017’s devastating Hurricane Maria, the White House said on Friday.The “federal share” of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s grants to the territory totals $11.6 billion, with most money, $9.6 billion, going to the battered power authority, according to a White House announcement, which did not provide details on the remaining funds or explain why they were not part of the federal share.Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vazquez Garced said in a statement the full FEMA package is $12.8 billion, with $10.5 billion for power.The White House said the aid exceeds the total public assistance funding in any single federally-declared disaster other than Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, the destructive 2005 storms. According to the National Hurricane Center, Maria is the third costliest hurricane in U.S. history behind Katrina and 2017’s Hurricane Harvey.Top Democrats said President Donald Trump had delayed and withheld the aid for the last three years, stunting Puerto Rico’s ability to rebuild from the storm that killed more than 2,500 people and left the island without power for weeks. Representative Nydia Velazquez said he was “blatantly playing politics” by announcing the package 46 days before the Nov. 3 election, where he is in a tight race against Democrat Joe Biden.Both Trump and Biden have been working to woo Hispanic voters. Their support is considered critical in the perennial swing state of Florida, where many Puerto Ricans relocated after Maria.Puerto Rico was already struggling financially before Maria struck, and filed a form of municipal bankruptcy in 2017 to restructure about $120 billion of debt and obligations. A large portion of its financial distress was linked to the power utility.Since then, it has weathered more hurricanes, earthquakes, the coronavirus pandemic and political upheaval, as well as increased federal scrutiny into its use of U.S. aid.Reporting by Lisa Lambert; Additional reporting by Karen Pierog and Makini Brice; Editing by Susan Heavey, Jonathan Oatis and Grant McCoolfor-phone-onlyfor-tablet-portrait-upfor-tablet-landscape-upfor-desktop-upfor-wide-desktop-up
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Speaker Nancy PelosiNancy PelosiUS officials warn diplomatic efforts are 'shrinking' amid Russia-Ukraine tensions Sunday shows: No breakthrough in Russia-Ukraine tensions Pelosi says 'defund the police' is 'not the position of the Democratic Party' MORE (D-Calif.) and President TrumpDonald TrumpBlack voters are fleeing Biden in droves. Here's why Biden's Super Bowl prediction: 'Loves' Bengals' quarterback, but Rams 'hard to beat' GOP Senate candidate to run 'Let's go Brandon' ad during Super Bowl MORE have struck a deal on a multibillion-dollar stimulus package aimed at assisting millions of Americans directly hurt by the coronavirus outbreak.Pelosi announced the deal on Friday evening after days of roller-coaster negotiations that put the outcome in doubt, as the nation’s leaders raced to ease public anxiety and stabilize volatile markets. Trump said on Twitter that he looked forward to signing the legislation."I have directed the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Labor to issue regulations that will provide flexibility so that in no way will Small Businesses be hurt. I encourage all Republicans and Democrats to come together and VOTE YES!" Trump wrote in a series of tweets.Just hours before the deal was announced, Trump said in a Rose Garden address that he wasn’t on board, suggesting a bipartisan deal was out of reach even as the number of cases in the U.S. approached 2,000.And even after Pelosi’s announcement, there was widespread confusion across the Capitol about whether Trump had endorsed the package. Several GOP lawmakers said no agreement had been secured, and even House Majority Leader Steny HoyerSteny Hamilton HoyerPelosi won't say if she'll run for Speaker again if Democrats win: 'That's not a question' Questions loom over how to form congressional staff union House Democrat unveils resolution recognizing staffers' right to unionize MORE (D-Md.) suggested Friday evening that the talks were still in flux.Yet Treasury Secretary Steven MnuchinSteven MnuchinLawmakers say spending deal up to leaders Trump failed fossil fuel-reliant communities — Build Back Better invests in them Conservatives are outraged that Sarah Bloom Raskin actually believes in capitalism MORE, who has been leading the negotiations with Pelosi, seemed to put the confusion to rest just before 8 p.m. when he told Fox Business that there was, in fact, a deal."We have an agreement that reflects what the president talked about in his speech the other night. He's very focused on making sure that we can deal with the coronavirus,” he said.The frantic, eleventh-hour talks that brought the sides together highlight the urgency facing leaders from both parties to take aggressive actions to contain the fast-moving virus, for reasons of both public health and national morale.“As Members of Congress, we have a solemn and urgent responsibility to take strong, serious action to confront and control this crisis and to put Families First and stimulate the economy,” Pelosi wrote in a letter to Democratic members announcing the deal.The deadly pandemic has roiled the stock market, upended small businesses and large industries alike, and cancelled major sporting and political events around the country. Millions of Americans could lose income — or their jobs entirely — due to mass public closures, work-from-home orders and the economic downturn sure to follow.The agreement announced Friday aims to ease some of the economic stress by providing financial assistance to those most directly affected by the crisis, including unemployment and paid leave benefits. Perhaps more importantly, the deal aims to calm some of the public trepidation and market turmoil of recent weeks by demonstrating that Washington policymakers can put aside partisan differences and unite quickly behind an emergency response befitting — at least in rhetoric — the severity of the crisis.On Friday, Pelosi and Mnuchin spoke no fewer than 13 times by phone as they neared an agreement, aides said.To get there, they had to iron out a small handful of stubborn wrinkles that threatened to sink the entire package — disagreements that were finally resolved late Friday evening.Republicans, for instance, had insisted on the inclusion of language, known as the Hyde Amendment, explicitly barring the use of federal funds for abortions. Democrats conceded and threw it in.Republicans also balked at Democrats’ initial paid leave provision, which would have required employers to provide the benefit not only for the coronavirus, but for all future public health emergencies. The final compromise bill removed the permanent language, limiting the benefit to the current outbreak. In addition, Republicans were concerned about the effects of the paid-leave expansion on small businesses. The final bill provides subsidies to businesses with 500 employees or fewer, Mnuchin said. “Obviously, we expect the bigger corporations to pick up these costs,” he told Fox. The deal comes on the heels of an initial $8.3 billion package, signed by Trump last week, that focused largely on the most immediate health concerns surrounding the crisis, including a boost in the nation’s efforts to locate victims, treat them and stop the spread of the deadly epidemic.The second round of relief focuses more squarely on mitigating the economic fallout of the coronavirus, giving priority to those most directly affected by the outbreak.House lawmakers are now set to vote on the bipartisan package late Friday night, before heading home for a 10-day break. The Senate has canceled its recess plans for next week and will take up the House-passed measure then.The fast-moving events reflect the heightened urgency facing lawmakers as they try to assess the scope of the coronavirus and contain its economic fallout around the country and the world.Early in the week, House leaders signaled they would pass a Democratic bill on Thursday and then leave town for their pre-scheduled 10-day recess, pushing the bipartisan negotiations to the week of March 23.But leaders sped up their timeline for talks amid a chaotic 48-hour stretch that saw broad changes in American society.Trump put sharp restrictions on travel from parts of Europe. The NBA and NHL suspended their seasons. The NCAA nixed March Madness. Disneyland shuttered its doors. Officials closed the U.S. Capitol to the public after a Hill staffer tested positive. One of America’s most beloved actors, Tom Hanks, and his wife Rita Wilson, announced they had tested positive for the virus. And the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged roughly 15 percent over the course of two days, including Thursday’s 2,300-point drop, which marked its worst day in more than 30 years.Also on Thursday, lawmakers in both chambers had been briefed behind closed doors by public health experts and other administration officials leading the coronavirus response. Many lawmakers emerged from those meetings exasperated that, weeks after the first case was diagnosed in the U.S., test kits have been slow to be analyzed and the number of cases remains anyone’s guess.“There's too many basic numbers that they don't have,” said a frustrated Rep. Pramila JayapalPramila JayapalOvernight Health Care — Biden urges action on drug pricing The Hill's Morning Report - Presented by Facebook - More blue states let mask mandates expire Frustrated Democrats amp up pressure on Biden over global vaccinations MORE (D-Wash.), who represents much of hard-hit Seattle. “Lab capacity. It doesn't matter how many kits are out there; if you don't have the lab capacity to process those tests, then it means nothing."The crush of calamities put pressure on leaders of both chambers to roll up their sleeves and secure an agreement, prodded by vulnerable lawmakers wary of facing voters in their districts without doing so first.While House and Senate Republicans had objected to the Democrats’ initial bill, Trump’s support for the revised package is likely to convince many Republicans in both chambers to get on board.Central to the package are provisions to provide paid sick leave for affected workers; bolster unemployment insurance for those who lose their jobs as a result of the crisis; expand federal food aid for low-income families and children; and ensure free coronavirus testing.Pelosi said Friday that it’s the last provision that’s the most crucial. "We can only defeat this outbreak if we have an accurate determination of its scale and scope, so that we can pursue the precise, science-based response that is necessary," she said.Updated: 8:49 p.m.; 9:35 p.m.
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A small Montana company located in Interior Secretary Ryan ZinkeRyan Keith ZinkeThe Hill's Morning Report - Dems jolted by senator's stroke, majority status GOP-aligned Congressional Leadership Fund unveils first midterm endorsements Trump's relocation of the Bureau of Land Management was part of a familiar Republican playbook MORE's hometown has signed a $300 million contract to help get the power back on in Puerto Rico, The Washington Post reported.Whitefish Energy had only two full-time employees on the day Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, according to the Post. The company signed the contract — the largest yet issued to help restore Puerto Rico — with the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) to fix the island's electrical infrastructure.The company now has 280 workers on the island, the Post reported, a majority of whom are subcontractors.A former senior official at the Energy Department and state regulatory agencies said it was "odd" that Whitefish Energy would be chosen.“The fact that there are so many utilities with experience in this and a huge track record of helping each other out, it is at least odd why [the utility] would go to Whitefish,” Susan Tierney said.“I’m scratching my head wondering how it all adds up.”Whitefish Energy happened to be the first firm "available to arrive and they were the ones that first accepted terms and conditions for PREPA," Ricardo Ramos, the executive director of PREPA, told reporters.“The doubts that have been raised about Whitefish, from my point of view, are completely unfounded,” he added.Whitefish Energy spokesman Chris Chiames told the newspaper that the company is taking "personal risks and business risks working in perilous physical and financial conditions.”“So the carping by others is unfounded, and we stand by our work and our commitment to the people of Puerto Rico," he said.Zinke's office said in an email to the Post that Zinke and Whitefish Energy's chief executive know each other."Everybody knows everybody" in the town, Zinke's office said, adding that Zinke wasn't involved in the contract.
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Getty Images Editor’s note: This story covers the first round of stimulus checks authorized by the CARES Act on March 27, 2020. A second round of stimulus checks was included in coronavirus relief legislation signed into law on Dec. 27, 2020. Go here for more information on the second round of $600 stimulus checks. A third round of $1,400 stimulus checks was signed into law by the president on March 11, 2021.
En español | Federal lawmakers enacted a $2 trillion economic stimulus package on March 27, 2020 that sent most Americans checks of up to $1,200, as a way to put money directly in the pockets of families struggling to manage the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. Get help from the IRS
• Check the IRS Get My Payment web tool for determining whether your stimulus payment has been issued.
• Read answers to frequently asked questions about stimulus payments on irs.gov. • Call the IRS toll-free stimulus information line: 800-919-9835. The legislation will give single adults who reported adjusted gross income of $75,000 or less on their 2019 tax returns a one-time check for $1,200. Married couples who filed jointly will receive $2,400. Families will get an additional $500 for each child under 17. In a letter sent to Congress on March 17, AARP asked lawmakers to provide payments directly to Americans as part of any stimulus packages.
"We support direct cash payments to individuals whether working, unable to work, unemployed, or retired,” said AARP Executive Vice President and Chief Advocacy & Engagement Officer Nancy LeaMond in the letter. “Unlike a payroll tax rebate, which helps only those who receive payroll checks, direct payments provide benefits more broadly, including to people most in need." Social Security recipients eligible for stimulus checks AARP worked to ensure that individuals who are collecting Social Security benefits for retirement, disability or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) will be eligible for the stimulus payments. AARP also successfully fought to guarantee that low-income Social Security recipients will receive the full $1,200 check, not $600 as originally proposed. The size of the check will decrease based on income for individuals who earned more than $75,000 based on their federal tax return for 2019 (or their 2018 return if they have not filed yet). The payment for individuals will shrink by $5 for every $100 earned over $75,000. For couples who filed jointly, the reduction will start once they earn more than $150,000; for heads of household, at $112,500. Individuals who earned more than $99,000 and couples who earned more than $198,000 jointly will not receive checks. The income cut-off for heads of households is $136,500. Payments to Social Security beneficiaries will go out automatically
According to the IRS, Social Security recipients and railroad retirees who weren’t required to file federal tax returns for 2018 or 2019 will receive $1,200 stimulus payments automatically based on information contained in their “1099” benefit statements. No additional paperwork is required, per the latest guidance from the IRS.
The IRS reversed an earlier decision and now says it will look at “1099” benefit statements (Form SSA-1099 and Form RRB-1099) to get the information it needs to send out the $1,200 payments automatically in the same manner monthly benefits are received. The vast majority of Social Security recipients receive monthly benefits by direct deposit.
"AARP fought hard to ensure these payments would go to people who rely on Social Security and aren't required to file taxes,” said Bill Sweeney, AARP's senior vice president for government affairs. “It was just wrong to ask them to fill out extra paperwork, especially in the middle of this crisis, to get the benefits they need. We are very thankful the IRS reversed course and agreed to work with Social Security to get these checks out automatically without extra paperwork or red tape."
SSDI disability beneficiaries also to get payments automatically
Stimulus payments will also go out automatically to Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) recipients who were not required to file tax returns for 2018 or 2019. Like Social Security beneficiaries, SSDI beneficiaries also receive SSA-1099 benefits statements every January, which the IRS will use to send the payments.
SSI recipients and VA beneficiaries will get automatic payments
On April 15, the Social Security Administration announced that SSI recipients without dependent children will receive their stimulus payments automatically without having to file any additional forms. The stimulus payment will be sent to these SSI recipients the same way they get their normal benefits, either through direct deposit, Direct Express debit card, or paper check. The Treasury Department says it expects payments for SSI recipients to go out no later than early May.
The IRS also has announced that people who receive Compensation and Pensions (C&P) benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs will receive their stimulus payments automatically even if they have not filed tax returns for 2018 or 2019. The IRS, which made the announcement on April 17, did not say when the stimulus payments would be sent to VA beneficiaries. People who receive VA benefits, Social Security retirement, SSDI or SSI benefits, and railroad retirement benefits who also have dependent children under the age of 17 who qualify for stimulus money should complete the IRS online form for non-filers in order to get the additional $500 per child payments for these dependents. Beneficiaries in these group who do not provide this information to the IRS soon will have to wait until later to receive the payments for dependents. On April 24, the IRS announced the SSI and VA beneficiaries had until May 5 to use the non-filers web tool to provide information about their eligible child dependents. Otherwise, they will receive $1,200 automatically and, by law, the additional $500 per eligible child would be paid in association with a return filing for tax year 2020.
The IRS also said that Direct Express account holders may use the IRS’s Non-Filer tool, but they cannot receive their and their children’s payment on their Direct Express card. They may only enter non-Direct Express bank account information for direct deposit, or leave the bank information empty to receive a paper check by mail. For everyone else who was not required to file 2018 or 2019 tax returns, and who are not Social Security recipients, SSDI recipients, VA beneficiaries, or railroad retirees, the IRS has created a free, online tool you can use to quickly register to receive your stimulus payment if you don’t typically file a tax return due to your income level. People who may fall into this category include some low-income workers. The tool is available only on IRS.gov. You can access the registration by clicking this link or going to the IRS website and looking for “Non-filers: Enter Payment Info Here.” The tool will ask you for some basic information including your name, address, Social Security number, and dependents. The IRS then will confirm your eligibility, calculate how much you should receive, and send a stimulus payment. If you enter your bank account information, the IRS will deposit your payment directly in your account. Otherwise, your payment will be mailed to you. Using the tool will not result in any taxes being owed.
May 13 was the deadline for people to use the online tool to enter their bank account information in order to receive their stimulus payments via direct deposit. Those people who did not include their banking information on either their 2018 or 2019 tax returns and also did not submit that information using the online tool before the May 13 deadline will receive their stimulus payments as paper checks in the mail rather than direct deposits.
The IRS says it will continue looking for ways to send stimulus payments automatically to people who did not file a tax return in 2018 or 2019. The agency says people in this group can either use Non-Filers: Enter Payment Info option now or wait as the IRS explores possible automatic payment options for these groups. AARP urged the IRS to make automatic stimulus payments to SSI and VA beneficiaries without the burden of filing any additional paperwork. The IRS started sending out stimulus payments in mid-April. You may check on the status of your stimulus payment by using this IRS website. Incarcerated people The IRS originally said that prisoners were allowed to get $1,200 stimulus checks, provided they qualified under income and citizenship guidelines. Then they reversed their position and told incarcerated people to return their stimulus checks. Now a federal judge has ruled that incarcerated people can indeed get stimulus checks. Incarcerated people who filed a 2019 or 2018 tax return, received benefits through Social Security, Railroad Retirement or the Department of Veterans Affairs should get a check through the mail. Those who used the IRS Non Filers Tool should also get a check through the mail. Those who don’t have access to a computer can fill out a simplified 2019 federal tax return by November 4. The last date to use the Non Filers Tool is November 21. You can find useful information about getting your stimulus check at caresactprisoncase.org. What to do with payments for deceased relatives
Some people have received stimulus payments for loved ones who have died. The IRS recently announced that those payments must be returned the agency. “A [stimulus] payment made to someone who died before receipt of the payment should be returned to the IRS by following the instructions about repayments,” according to updated guidance posted on IRS.gov on May 6. “Return the entire payment unless the payment was made to joint filers and one spouse had not died before receipt of the payment, in which case, you only need to return the portion of the payment made on account of the decedent. This amount will be $1,200 unless adjusted gross income exceeded $150,000.”
You may find the instructions and address for returning a stimulus check by clicking on this link and scrolling to the end of the article.
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President TrumpDonald TrumpBlack voters are fleeing Biden in droves. Here's why Biden's Super Bowl prediction: 'Loves' Bengals' quarterback, but Rams 'hard to beat' GOP Senate candidate to run 'Let's go Brandon' ad during Super Bowl MORE is sending mixed signals to Senate Republicans about what he wants from a soon-to-begin impeachment trial. Trump’s weekend tweets backing an “outright dismissal” of the articles of impeachment put him at odds with the strategy Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellRepublicans take cheap shots at Fed nominees Republicans do not have a right to remain silent White House uses GOP's own rhetoric to rebut Supreme Court criticisms MORE (R-Ky.) has publicly advocated for weeks. Most Senate Republicans have embraced the call for no witnesses and say they are sticking with their plan for a trial — albeit a quick one.Sen. John CornynJohn CornynPhotos of the Week: Marking COVID-19 deaths, Mt. Etna and Olympic snowboarders Questions loom over how to form congressional staff union Lobbying world MORE (R-Texas), an adviser to McConnell, shrugged off Trump’s criticism, arguing that senators should ignore “chatter.” “We’ve a constitutional duty to perform, and we’re going to try to do our best and try not to get too distracted by all the chatter,” he told The Hill in response to a question about Trump’s tweets.Cornyn also told reporters he expected opening arguments in the trial to begin a week from Tuesday, giving the Senate two weeks if it’s going to conclude its consideration of impeachment before the president is set to deliver the State of the Union address on Feb. 4.Speaker Nancy PelosiNancy PelosiUS officials warn diplomatic efforts are 'shrinking' amid Russia-Ukraine tensions Sunday shows: No breakthrough in Russia-Ukraine tensions Pelosi says 'defund the police' is 'not the position of the Democratic Party' MORE (D-Calif.) is expected to hold a House vote this week on sending the articles of impeachment to the Senate and naming managers for the impeachment trial. She is scheduled to meet with her caucus on Tuesday morning.Sen. Roy BluntRoy Dean BluntHawley endorses candidate to succeed fellow Missouri Sen. Blunt On The Money — Inflation hits highest rate since February 1982 Stock trading ban gains steam but splits Senate GOP MORE (Mo.), the No. 4 Senate Republican, said the caucus believes both Trump and the House managers deserve to make their case in a trial.“I think he indicated consistently from the previous weeks that he thought he deserved an opportunity in a fair hearing to make his case, and I think that is ultimately what will happen,” Blunt said, asked about Trump’s tweet from over the weekend. Sen. Rob PortmanRobert (Rob) Jones PortmanRepublicans press archivist against certifying Equal Rights Amendment Ohio, California senators make Super Bowl wager Trump 2020 campaign chief to advise Gibbons in Ohio Senate race MORE (R-Ohio) also indicated he opposed an outright dismissal, telling reporters that “we ought to have the opportunity to hear from both sides.”The public division between Trump and Senate Republicans comes as McConnell has worked hard to publicly stress that there is no daylight with the White House on impeachment strategy. He said last month that he would be in “total coordination” with Trump’s team and that he would “take my cues” from White House counsel Pat Cipollone, who is expected to lead the president’s defense team. A GOP aide downplayed talk of division between the two ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, noting that senators and the White House have been in touch. McConnell didn’t directly respond to the president during his floor speech on Monday but signaled that he is ready to move forward with a trial, saying the “Senate is ready to fulfill our duty.” “We will fulfill our constitutional duty. We will honor the reason for which the Founders created this body, to ensure our institutions and our Republic can rise above short-term factional fever,” McConnell said. McConnell has also worked behind the scenes to try to downplay public differences, urging Trump late last year to lay off public criticism of Republican senators who would be crucial during the upcoming impeachment saga. McConnell’s strategy, in some instances, appeared to be paying dividends, with Trump and White House officials appearing to embrace the GOP leader’s strategy of a quick trial with potentially no witnesses for either the president’s team or House impeachment managers. White House director of legislative affairs Eric Ueland told CBS News late last year that, similar to former special counsel Robert MuellerRobert (Bob) MuellerAn unquestioning press promotes Rep. Adam Schiff's book based on Russia fiction Senate Democrats urge Garland not to fight court order to release Trump obstruction memo Why a special counsel is guaranteed if Biden chooses Yates, Cuomo or Jones as AG MORE’s investigation into the 2016 election, “the facts belie the allegation and the facts speak very strongly for themselves.” “The president is working closely and collaboratively with leader McConnell,” Ueland added, asked if the president wants witnesses or not.Though McConnell has worked for months to maneuver both his caucus and the White House, Trump is a perennial wild card on strategy — underscoring one of the biggest differences between the two men. Trump also floated over the weekend that Pelosi and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam SchiffAdam Bennett SchiffTrump Jan. 6 comments renew momentum behind riot probe Mask rules spark political games and a nasty environment in the House CIA says 'Havana syndrome' unlikely a result of 'worldwide campaign' by foreign power MORE (D-Calif.) should be called as witnesses as part of a Senate trial — a controversial request that could struggle to win over the 51 votes needed to successfully call a witness and one that contradicts his backing of an outright dismissal of the articles. Republicans are formally punting a decision on who, if anyone, should testify until mid-trial. But most of the caucus, including McConnell, has backed having no witnesses, arguing that they want a speedy trial that lets them acquit the president and move on. “I think both sides are going to present their case. We’ll get to ask questions in writing, then we’ll take the vote. I don’t think we’re going to have any witnesses. I think it’ll be over right then. I think it’s going to be pretty fast,” Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) told conservative radio show host Hugh Hewitt on Monday. Senate Republicans have also repeatedly shot down suggestions, including from within their own caucus, that they dismiss the two articles instead of going through a trial. “I don’t think there’s any question that we have to take up the matter. The rules of impeachment are very clear, we’ll have to have a trial. My own view is that we should give people the opportunity to put the case on,” McConnell told reporters late last year. Republicans say they want to acquit Trump of wrongdoing — an all but guaranteed outcome of a trial because of the 67 votes required to convict and remove the president from office. The Senate rules resolution passed during the 1999 Clinton trial included a motion to dismiss the articles built into the resolution, laying the groundwork for an ultimately failed vote that took place during the proceeding. But GOP senators predicted that a motion to dismiss would likely not be built into the rules resolution for the Trump trial, though they noted that wouldn’t stop a senator from offering a motion during the trial. Republicans are still drafting the rules resolution.“If 51 senators wanted to have that vote we could have it at some point. I don’t believe it’s going to be baked into the underlying resolution,” Cornyn said. A GOP aide said late last week that the caucus was discussing moving the motion to dismiss to a different point in Trump’s trial or removing it from the rules resolution altogether.Blunt noted that the caucus had agreed to have rules “based on” the Clinton model but that they didn’t have to be “exact.” “I’m confident that there’s not much interest on our side on dismissing as opposed to hearing,” Blunt said. “I don’t think in our conference there would be a sense that it had to be exact.”
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The White House has let a 10-day shipping waiver expire for Puerto Rico, meaning foreign ships can no longer bring aid to the hurricane-ravaged island from U.S. ports.A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security confirmed on Monday that the Jones Act waiver, which expired on Sunday, will not be extended.U.S. lawmakers and Puerto Rican officials had been pushing the administration for an exemption from the Jones Act, a century-old law that only allows American-built and -operated vessels to make cargo shipments between U.S. ports.They argued that the waiver would help deliver gasoline and other critical supplies more quickly and cheaply to the island in the wake of Hurricane Maria. The island could be rebuilding and without power for months.The Trump administration issued a weeklong waiver for Texas and Florida after hurricanes Harvey and Irma, extending it for an additional week in September to bolster relief efforts.But the White House did not initially lift the shipping restrictions for Puerto Rico, sparking widespread public outcry and fueling accusations that Trump is treating the U.S. territory differently than the states hit by hurricanes.The administration agreed to temporarily lift the shipping restrictions for Puerto Rico on Sept. 28.But officials have warned that the biggest challenge for relief efforts is getting supplies distributed around Puerto Rico once they arrive, while the U.S. shipping industry maintains that there are adequate domestic companies available to assist with Puerto Rico’s recovery efforts.Lawmakers in Congress are still pushing to roll back the Jones Act, with Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) recently introducing legislation that would permanently exempt Puerto Rico from the shipping law.At McCain’s request, the bill was put on the Senate calendar under a fast-track procedure that allows it to bypass the normal committee process, but it has not been scheduled for any floor time. “Now that the temporary Jones Act waiver for Puerto Rico has expired, it is more important than ever for Congress to pass my bill to permanently exempt Puerto Rico from this archaic and burdensome law," McCain said in a statement."Until we provide Puerto Rico with long-term relief, the Jones Act will continue to hinder much-needed efforts to help the people of Puerto Rico recover and rebuild from Hurricane Maria.”--This story was updated at 4:15 p.m.
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Most states are pushing back or outright refusing to comply with the Trump administration’s request for voter registration data.The Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, formed by President Trump to investigate his widely debunked claim that millions of illegal votes cost him the popular vote in the 2016 presidential election, sent letters this week to the 50 secretaries of state across the country requesting information about voters.The letter, signed by commission vice chairman and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R), asked for names, addresses, birth dates and party affiliations of registered voters in each state. It also sought felony convictions, military statuses, the last four digits of Social Security numbers and voting records dating back to 2006, according to a copy of the letter obtained by The Hill.Many states immediately raised concerns and voiced their opposition to providing the information. Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes (D) said that she does not intend to release the data. "The president created his election commission based on the false notion that ‘voter fraud’ is a widespread issue — it is not,” Lundergan Grimes said. “I do not intend to release Kentuckians' sensitive personal data to the federal government.” Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, a Republican, similarly said he won't turn over any information to the panel, telling members of the voter fraud commission to, "go jump in the Gulf of Mexico."Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, took a similar line.You can add PA to that list. We will not participate in this systematic effort to suppress the vote. https://t.co/EHnY2NJI5R— Governor Tom Wolf (@GovernorTomWolf) June 30, 2017Trump has alleged that millions of illegal votes cost him the popular vote in November’s election, an assertion for which he has offered no evidence. Repeated academic and state studies of voter files show that only a handful of improper votes were cast in recent elections. Chief election officials from both sides of the aisle expressed skepticism about Trump’s claim of voter fraud. “In Ohio, we pride ourselves on being a state where it is easy to vote and hard to cheat,” said Jon Husted, Ohio’s Republican secretary of state. “Voter fraud happens, it's rare and when it happens we hold people accountable. I believe that as the Commission does its work, it will find the same about our state." “California’s participation would only serve to legitimize the false and already debunked claims of massive voter fraud,” Democratic Secretary of State Alex Padilla said in a statement about the letter. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, both Democrats, said their states would not provide confidential information.“New York refuses to perpetuate the myth voter fraud played a role in our election,” Cuomo said in a statement. “We will not be complying with this request.” Even a member of the Kobach commission said her state would not comply. Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson (R), the president of the National Association of Secretaries of State, announced in a statement that her state wouldn’t release certain information requested by Kobach. “Indiana law doesn’t permit the Secretary of State to provide the personal information requested by Secretary Kobach,” Lawson said. “Under Indiana public records laws, certain voter info is available to the public, the media and any other person who requested the information for non-commercial purposes. The information publicly available is name, address and congressional district assignment.”Officials in Wisconsin, Colorado and Texas said their states would release public information, but certain data, including full dates of birth and Social Security numbers, were confidential and would not be released. North Dakota’s director of elections, John Arnold, told The Hill that state law would not allow the presidential commission access to voter information. “Wisconsin statutes do not permit the state to release a voter’s date of birth, driver license number or Social Security number,” Michael Haas, the administrator of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, said in a release.Oregon's secretary of state said the state typically charges for voter information such as names, addresses and voting history and the commission was welcome to pay.Even Kansas, where Kobach is secretary of state, will not share voters' Social Security information with the commission.“In Kansas, the Social Security number is not publicly available," Kobach told the Kansas City Star. "Every state receives the same letter, but we’re not asking for it if it’s not publicly available."Officials in Connecticut, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Utah and Washington also expressed skepticism and said their states would withhold nonpublic information. North Carolina will provide all but the last four digits of Social Security numbers, dates of birth and driver's license numbers.Rhode Island Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea (D) took her criticism further, saying Kobach was unfit to lead the commission, given his record of strict voting laws and a recent court fine for failing to produce documents related to a lawsuit over voting laws. “It is deeply troubling that he has been given oversight of this commission by the president,” Gorbea said.Kobach is an advocate of strict voter identification laws, which he says are necessary to combat fraud. Opponents say those laws hinder access to the polls primarily for elderly and minority voters.Officials have raised questions about the commission’s discretion obtaining the confidential documents. “State statutes permit the [Wisconsin commission] to share confidential information in limited circumstances with law enforcement agencies or agencies of other states,” Haas said. “The presidential commission does not appear to qualify under either of these categories.” Trump appointed another voter identification supporter, Heritage Foundation fellow Hans von Spakovsky, to the commission Thursday. Von Spakovsky, one of Kobach’s mentors, has long advocated for stricter voter access rules. The states which say they will not comply or will only partially comply by providing already public information are Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado,Connecticut, Delaware,Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas,Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan,Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming and Wisconsin.- This story was updated July 5 at 4:02 p.m.
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We're updating this post as the day continues. Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych (right) and opposition leader Vitali Klitschko shake hands Friday after signing an agreement that diplomats hope will end the bloodshed in Kiev. Tim Brakemeier/EPA/Landov hide caption toggle caption Tim Brakemeier/EPA/Landov Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych (right) and opposition leader Vitali Klitschko shake hands Friday after signing an agreement that diplomats hope will end the bloodshed in Kiev. Tim Brakemeier/EPA/Landov In what could be a major move toward ending the violence in the streets of his capital, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and leaders of the anti-government opposition reached agreement Friday on a deal to hold new elections, form a unity government and restore a constitution drafted in 2004. Some details have yet to be spelled out. But the BBC sums up the news this way: "Yanukovych has agreed to an early presidential election as part of a deal to end the long-running crisis. He said he had also agreed to a national unity government, and to make constitutional changes reducing the power of the president. The compromise came after hours of talks with the opposition leaders. "The opposition has not spoken about the deal and it remains unclear whether protesters will back it." NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, who is in Kiev, tells our Newscast Desk that along with the formation of a unity government and new elections by December, Yanukovych has agreed to "constitutional changes to reduce the power of the presidency." THE LATEST — 6:23 p.m. ET: President Obama spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday. The Hill quotes a senior State Department official saying the talk was "constructive." "They agreed the agreement reached today needed to be implemented quickly," the official said. — 9:30 a.m. ET: German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who witnessed the deal's signing, issues a statement commending the parties "for their courage and commitment to the agreement" and calling for "an immediate end to all violence and confrontation in Ukraine." — 9:10 a.m. ET: The deal has been signed by Yanukovych and three leaders of the opposition, according to reports from Reuters, the BBC and other news outlets. — 8:35 a.m. ET: All opposition leaders are at the president's office and are "poised to sign the agreement," Reuters reports. President Viktor Yanukovych's statement: "Dear compatriots! "In these tragic days, when Ukraine suffered such heavy losses, when people died on both sides of the conflict, I consider it my duty to the bright memory of the deceased to declare that there is nothing more important than human life. There are no steps that we must not do together to restore peace in Ukraine. "I declare steps that must be done to restore peace and avoid more victims of the confrontation. "I declare that I initiate early presidential elections. "I initiate the return of the Constitution of the year 2004 with redistribution of powers aside parliamentary republic. "I call to begin the procedure of establishing the government of national trust. "As Ukrainian President and Guarantor of the Constitution, I fulfill my duty to the people, to Ukraine and to God for the sake of preservation of state, for the sake of saving the life of people, for the sake of peace in our land." There's "a great deal of skepticism" among protesters about the deal, and it may not satisfy many of them, Soraya adds. But by early afternoon in Kiev, opposition leader Vitali Klitschko was telling Germany's Bild that "we will sign the deal." Shortly after that, there was word from a Reuters correspondent who witnessed the event that Yanukovych and three opposition leaders had signed the deal. Also on hand to watch the signing were two of the three European Union foreign ministers who had helped broker the deal, Reuters reported. One of those diplomats, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, issued a statement following the signing on behalf of himself and the ministers of France and Poland: "The Foreign Ministers of France, Germany and Poland welcome the signing of the agreement on the Settlement of the crisis in Ukraine, commend the parties for their courage and commitment to the agreement and call for an immediate end to all violence and confrontation in Ukraine." The BBC reported that "the three opposition leaders who signed the deal at the presidential palace are: Vitali Klitschko of the pro-EU Udar movement, Arseniy Yatsenyuk of the main opposition Fatherland and Oleh Tyahnybok of the far-right Svoboda." Soraya says it is "amazing what has happened overnight" in Kiev, where she's been reporting from this week. Just 24 hours earlier, as she had said Thursday, it was "absolute chaos" in the city's Independence Square. Clashes between security forces and protesters left dozens of people dead. More than 70 have been killed since violence erupted Tuesday. By midday Friday in Kiev, as Soraya reported on Morning Edition, much of the "debris and chaos had been swept up and swept away." One dramatic moment: the arrival of police officers from the city of Lviv. They announced they were there to support the protesters, Soraya said. The scene is "180 degrees different," Soraya added. As we've reported before, the anti-Yanukovych protests that have been raging for weeks were sparked in part by the president's rejection of a pending trade treaty with the European Union and his embrace of more aid from Russia. Protesters have also been drawn into the streets to demonstrate against government corruption. Even as word was emerging about a possible end to the crisis, anti-government protesters remained in Kiev's Independence Square early Friday. Bulent Kilic /AFP/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Bulent Kilic /AFP/Getty Images Even as word was emerging about a possible end to the crisis, anti-government protesters remained in Kiev's Independence Square early Friday. Bulent Kilic /AFP/Getty Images
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Facebook labels you as liberal, conservative, or moderate, and caters the ads on your newsfeed to match how it politically identifies you.This information became available earlier this month, when the social media network introduced a new tool that gives users more control over the advertisements Facebook's algorithms customize for them. In the drop-down menu of a page that lists a user's ad preferences is an indiscreet box that reads “US Politics,” with an individual user’s political view in parentheses, as The New York Times first reported on Tuesday.But as questions circulate over how Facebook, Twitter, and other social media networks reinforce political views and biases, experts aren't sure this political preference tool increases partisan divides any more than traditional forms of advertising on television, over the radio, or in your mailbox. Instead, academics say the tool further shows how much more targeted campaign advertising has become across all media. “It’s just a more nuanced application of what campaigns, both candidate and issue-advocacy campaigns, have been doing for years,” Jason Gainous, a professor of political science at the University of Louisville, tells The Christian Science Monitor in a phone interview Wednesday.“As we’ve moved to a digital reality, it’s just become easier and easier to be targeted,” he adds. “The big questions is are we bothered by it?”It’s no secret Facebook collects information to customize advertisements for a user. It uses the music, television shows, and candidate profiles a user likes, as well as their internet search history, to do so.But the ad preferences page Facebook unveiled this month now enables users to see these preferences, and choose which ads they would like to see or hide. Facebook gave users this control in order to combat ad blocking, according to Adweek, but the tool also classifies a user's political preference.Advertisers, including many political campaigns, pay Facebook to show their ads to specific demographics. With Facebook's labels, the site can help campaigns target those particular audiences. Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, for instance, has paid for its ads to be shown to Facebook users classified as politically moderate, The New York Times reports. For those Facebook identifies as more politically conservative or liberal, campaigns could pay for ads that encourage users to get out to vote, rather than trying to convince them to vote for a different candidate.Facebook's feature comes as campaigns continue to spend more on digital advertising. In 2010, online advertising accounted for 1.2 percent of all the money Congressional candidates spent on media, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, as reported by Mother Jones. By 2014, online advertising accounted for 5.5 percent of all money spent. Larry Grisolano, who oversaw paid advertising efforts for the 2008 and 2012 Obama campaigns, predicted in June 2015 that the presidential campaigns will devote nearly a quarter of their spending to digital media.But Nicco Mele, director of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School, says online advertising is only effective in raising money or increasing voter turnout, not persuading voters to choose one candidate over another.“Television is the most powerful form of persuasion,” he tells the Monitor in a phone interview Wednesday. “The internet is not as effective in changing people’s minds.”That's why, he says, Facebook's identification of users' political views won't disrupt how campaigns have traditionally advertised. Campaigns will continue to conduct opinion polls and pay for advertising slots that target certain demographics, he says.Even if the Facebook feature doesn’t lead to more ads meant to persuade users to vote one way or another, however, any targeted advertising can lead to a more polarized America, says Professor Gainous.In his research with Kevin Wagner of Florida Atlantic University, they found that the more a person collected information online, the more extreme their attitudes about issues became, Gainous says."Do I think this will further contribute to that? Yes, absolutely," he says. It's a slippery slope, he adds: as voters become more extreme in their views, the politicians that represent them feel more pressure to stay on their own side of the aisle, rather than reach across.
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Blame Game Ramps Up as Shutdown Draws NearThe House passed legislation Thursday to temporarily keep the government open, but it appears doomed in the Senate ahead of a potential vote Friday.
Hours after the House voted, debate in the upper chamber devolved into a partisan blame-game, with Democratic and Republican leaders digging in their heels, convinced that the other party would suffer the political consequences of a government funding lapse.
Republicans argued that they successfully funded the government in the House, and their legislation provided time to continue negotiating bipartisan agreements on immigration and long-term spending levels. The GOP also would have provided most of the votes in the Senate to keep the government open – though, crucially, they were likely several votes short of funding it on their own, even without a filibuster from Democrats.
“The only people standing in the way of keeping the government open are Senate Democrats,” Speaker Paul Ryan said shortly after the House vote. “Whether there is a government shutdown or not is now entirely up to them.”
Democrats countered that Republicans control all levers of power in government, and that it was incumbent on them to negotiate legislation that could pass both chambers, rather than force a take-it-or-leave-it option. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer blamed President Trump for the lack of an immigration agreement, and said his wavering on what he would sign to solve the looming DACA crisis made it impossible to find a bipartisan agreement before the shutdown deadline.
“The White House has done nothing but sow chaos and confusion, division and disarray,” Schumer said. “And it may just lead us to a government shutdown that nobody wants, that all of us here have been striving to avoid.”
It wasn’t clear early Thursday if Democrats would need to threaten a filibuster to hold up the short-term spending bill. The hard-line conservative House Freedom Caucus had threatened to withhold enough votes to tank the bill in the lower chamber, hoping to force leadership to provide concessions. After negotiations that lasted until just an hour before the House vote, the Freedom Caucus won several minor concessions and agreed to support the short-term funding patch.
But it was clear at that point that the House measure would fail in the Senate. Most Democrats opposed it, and several Senate Republicans also said they opposed it – enough that it wouldn’t have passed even without a filibuster. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blamed Democrats for their intransigence, arguing on the Senate floor there was nothing in the legislation they actually opposed, but that they were holding it hostage for a solution on immigration. Schumer, meanwhile, pushed for an immediate vote, hoping it would fail and force further negotiations.
When the Senate reconvenes Friday, lawmakers will have just hours to negotiate a solution, with both parties appearing prepared to hold firm. Meanwhile, the White House expressed little immediate concern over the shutdown deadline. Trump traveled to Pennsylvania Thursday to campaign for a Republican candidate in a House special election, and is scheduled to fly to Mar-a-Lago Friday afternoon, just hours before the deadline.
If the government does shut down Saturday, it will be on the one-year anniversary of the president’s inauguration.
Lawmakers in both parties were confident they would avoid blame, but it’s unclear precisely whom the public will fault if a shutdown does occur. Democrats’ main demand remains a solution for Dreamers – the immigrants brought to this country illegally as children who gained protected status under an executive order from President Obama, which Trump rescinded, effective in March. Eighty-seven percent of respondents supported protected status for those immigrants, including an overwhelming majority of both Democrats and Republicans, according to a CBS News poll.
But only 46 percent said it was worth shutting down the government over those immigrants’ status. For the minority party, the poll provided a serious dilemma: More than half of Democratic respondents said the issue was worth shutting down the government, but 37 percent said it wasn’t. Independents were split almost down the middle.
In a Quinnipiac poll, blame for a shutdown was closely split: 21 percent would blame Trump most; 32 percent would blame congressional Republicans most; and 34 would blame congressional Democrats. Those percentages remained relatively stable for independent voters.
Voters may soon forget the brinksmanship if a deal is reached to avoid a shutdown; they may also hold incumbents in both parties equally accountable in a deal isn’t reached; or it may have little to no effect on the midterm elections still 10 months away. Republicans’ polling numbers dropped sharply after they were blamed for a government shutdown in 2013, but they nonetheless won control of the Senate a little more than a year later.
“No one is pulling the lever on that issue,” one GOP operative predicted earlier this week.
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The White House on Thursday ripped GOP Sen. Bob CorkerRobert (Bob) Phillips CorkerRepublicans, ideology, and demise of the state and local tax deduction Cheney set to be face of anti-Trump GOP How leaving Afghanistan cancels our post-9/11 use of force MORE (R-Tenn.) for questioning President Trump's stability and competence, calling it a "ridiculous and outrageous" claim.Last week, Corker lamented that Trump “has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability, nor some of the competence, that he needs to demonstrate in order for him to be successful.”When asked about the criticism, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders swatted aside the harsh words from the chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations."I think that’s a ridiculous and outrageous claim and doesn’t dignify a response from this podium,” Sanders said Thursday at the White House briefing.Corker made his remarks at a Rotary Club meeting back in his home state of Tennessee days after politicians on both sides criticized Trump for his reaction to the violence at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., where a counterprotester died.The senator’s comments raised eyebrows both because of his stature within Congress as well as his past support for Trump. Corker is up for reelection in 2018.Trump has not responded directly to the criticism. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 faxThe contents of this site are © 1998 - 2022 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved.
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Image source, Getty ImagesDemocratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has announced the creation of a committee to investigate the Capitol Hill riot in January this year.Mrs Pelosi said the Democratic-led committee would aim to "establish the truth of that day and ensure that an attack of that kind cannot happen".The move comes after Senate Republicans blocked a bill to establish a bipartisan commission into the attack.Allies of former President Donald Trump said a commission was not necessary.His supporters stormed Congress in Washington DC on 6 January in a failed bid to overturn the certification of Democratic President Joe Biden's election victory in November.The riot left five dead, including a Capitol police officer.The assault led to the political impeachment and acquittal of Republican Mr Trump, who was accused by lawmakers of inciting the riot.What will the committee do?It will "investigate and report on the facts and the causes of the attack and it will report recommendations for the prevention of any future attack," Mrs Pelosi said at a news conference on Thursday."The timetable will be as long as it takes," Mrs Pelosi said.The structure, powers and members of the committee will be announced at a later date, she said.The committee will be controlled by Democratic lawmakers in the House of Representatives, the lower legislative chamber of Congress.Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the committee would aim to "establish the truth" of the events on 6 JanuaryMrs Pelosi said she and her Democratic colleagues "see this as complementary, not instead of" an independent commission into the events of 6 January.She had hoped to avoid forming a committee that put Democrats in charge of the investigation.It is not clear how much support the investigation will receive among House Republicans, who may see it as an overtly political process.Earlier this week, Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said whatever decision Mrs Pelosi made about a committee would be "political".This charge of partisanship is why Democratic lawmakers had sought to legislate for an independent investigation modelled on the commission into the 11 September 2001 attacks on the US.Democrats argued that forming a commission would prevent any repeat of a similar invasion on the Capitol. Committee vs commission: Expect findings, regardlessFor weeks Nancy Pelosi has been telegraphing that she would create a special congressional committee to investigate the attack. After Senate Republicans banded together to block an independent commission, a "select committee" was her most obvious play.It will allow her to hand pick the participants of the investigating body, rather than rely on an existing congressional committee whose membership is already determined. It will also, of course, permit the Republican leadership to pick its members - virtually guaranteeing the presence of some of the more pugnacious conservatives, such as Jim Jordan of Ohio.Republicans are already accusing Democrats of making this investigation a partisan affair - a criticism that could have been defused under an independent commission. Instead, this may more resemble the committee investigating the 2012 attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, which held days of hearings.That investigation was also dismissed as a partisan inquisition, but it did unearth the existence of the private email server Hillary Clinton used as secretary of state - a revelation that would eventually take a political toll.Many Republicans fear an investigation could be used to damage them politically before important 2022 congressional elections, known as the midterms.Media caption, When a mob stormed the US capitolIn the Senate last month, six Republicans broke ranks and voted with Democrats to launch the commission, but it was four short of the number needed to advance the bill.The vote to reject the bipartisan commission was seen as a test of Republican loyalty to Mr Trump. He still wields significant influence among Republican lawmakers and is widely tipped to run for the next presidential election in 2024.A Senate report released earlier this month touched on security and intelligence failures surrounding the attack but, notably, did not discuss the role of Mr Trump.More on this story
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Paris Masked gunmen shouting "Allahu akbar!" stormed the Paris offices of a satirical newspaper Wednesday, killing 12 people including the editor and a cartoonist before escaping. It was France's deadliest terror attack in at least two decades.With a manhunt on, French President Francois Hollande called the attack on the Charlie Hebdo weekly, whose caricatures of the Prophet Muhammed have frequently drawn condemnation from Muslims, "a terrorist attack without a doubt." He said several other attacks have been thwarted in France "in recent weeks."There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.France raised its security alert to the highest level and reinforced protective measures at houses of worship, stores, media offices and transportation. Top government officials were holding an emergency meeting and Hollande planned a nationally televised address in the evening. Schools across the French capital closed their doors.World leaders including President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned the attack, but supporters of the militant Islamic State group celebrated the slayings as well-deserved revenge against France.The Islamic State group has repeatedly threatened to attack France. Just minutes before the attack, Charlie Hebdo had tweeted a satirical cartoon of that extremist group's leader giving New Year's wishes. Another cartoon, released in this week's issue and entitled "Still No Attacks in France," had a caricature of an extremist fighter saying "Just wait — we have until the end of January to present our New Year's wishes."The 12 dead included two men who went by the pen names: Charb — the editor and a cartoonist as well — and the cartoonist Cabu, spokeswoman Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre of the Paris prosecutor's office confirmed.Two police officers were also among the dead, including one assigned as Charb's bodyguard after prior death threats against him, a police official told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.Just before noon, multiple masked men armed with automatic weapons attacked the newspaper's office in central Paris, nearby worker Benoit Bringer told the iTele network. The attackers went to the second floor and started firing indiscriminately in the newsroom, said Christophe DeLoire of Reporters Without Borders."This is the darkest day of the history of the French press," DeLoire said.Video images on the website of public broadcaster France Televisions showed two gunmen in black at a crossroads who appeared to fire down one of the streets. A cry of "Allahu akbar!" — Arabic for "God is great"— could be heard among the gunshots.Luc Poignant of the SBP police union said the attackers left in a waiting car and later switched to another vehicle that had been stolen.Obama's top spokesman said US officials have been in close contact with the French since the attack. "We know they are not going to be cowed by this terrible act," spokesman Josh Earnest said.On social media, supporters of militant Islamic groups praised the move. One Twitter user who identified themselves as a Tunisian loyalist of Al Qaeda and the Islamic State group called the attack well-deserved revenge against France.Elsewhere on the Internet, the hashtag #JeSuisCharlie was trending as people expressed support for weekly and for journalistic freedom.Charlie Hebdo has been repeatedly threatened for its caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad and other controversial sketches. Its offices were firebombed in 2011 after a spoof issue featuring a caricature of the prophet on its cover. Nearly a year later, the publication again published crude Muhammad caricatures, drawing denunciations from around the Muslim world.Wednesday's attack comes the same day of the release of a book by a celebrated French novelist depicting France's election of its first Muslim president. Hollande had been due to meet with the country's top religious officials later in the day.
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average gyrated wildly Tuesday, trading in a range of nearly 1,200 points, as financial markets attempted to regain their footing a day after the index suffered its biggest-ever daily point plunge.The blue-chip index changed direction 29 times over the course of the session before surging in the final hour to close up 567.02 points, or 2.3%, at 24912.77. (Follow live analysis of today’s markets.) Investors struggled to keep pace as volatility returned in force to the stock market. Equity benchmarks from Tokyo to Madrid plunged overnight, and the opening hour of U.S. trading was especially frenetic with the Dow falling as much as 567 points and briefly flirting with correction levels. Many individuals trying to place orders had trouble accessing their investment accounts, taking to Twitter to report outages and slowdowns on the websites of discount brokerages and mutual-fund firms including TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. AMTD -0.73% and Fidelity Investments. Meanwhile, professional traders from New York to Hong Kong described a sense of lingering unease as major indexes oscillated in choppy trade. An online discussion thread titled “The Dow has lost 1,000 points in two days” on the forum Reddit had generated more than 4,700 comments by Tuesday afternoon. But some novice investors like Kayleigh Kemper, a 31-year-old stay-at-home mother in Peoria, Ill., rushed to try to scoop up shares at a discount. “I see the market dropping as an opportunity for those of us who don’t have a chance to play all the time,” said Ms. Kemper, who added $500 to her new account on the stock-trading app Robinhood to buy the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF. The Dow’s late-day gain put the index back in positive territory for the year, up 0.8%, and marked its largest jump of the year on a point and percentage basis. It is still down 6.4% from its Jan. 26 high. The index swung 1,167.49 points from its high to its low on Tuesday. That marked the second-biggest intraday trading range in the Dow’s history. The largest: Monday’s 1,596.65-point swing that ended with the index closing down 1,175.21 points. The S&P 500, which lost $965.9 billion in market value following Monday’s declines, gained 1.7% on Tuesday, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 2.1%.
More on the Market Tumult While U.S. markets stanched the red ink on Tuesday, losses overseas were steep. The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 2.4%, posting its largest one-day decline since June 2016, shortly after the surprise U.K. vote to leave the European Union. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 5.1%, or 1,650 points, its biggest point decline since January 2008. Meanwhile, the Cboe Volatility Index—known as Wall Street’s fear gauge—fell 20% after surging 115.6% Monday in what was its biggest one-day jump on record. While Tuesday’s turn higher in the U.S. market was welcome to investors, many believed that the sudden onslaught of volatility hadn’t ended. “As the market drips higher, confidence is slowly coming back. But many feel like we aren’t out of the woods yet,” said Mohit Bajaj, director of ETF trading solutions at WallachBeth Capital. Some investors attributed the choppy trading to lingering nervousness from the abrupt market reversal of previous days and the return of volatility following a period of prolonged market calm. There was no obvious catalyst for the selloff that began last week, but investors have started to question whether a pickup in inflation will force central banks to tighten monetary policy more than anticipated, posing a risk to the yearslong rally in stocks. Pedestrians in Tokyo on Monday. Photo: Franck Robichon/EPA/Shutterstock Government bonds strengthened for a second day, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note falling to 2.766% from 2.794% Monday. Still, with earnings and global economic growth looking strong, the outlook for the stock market remains positive over the long term, said Tom Anderson, chief investment officer at Boston Private Wealth. Meanwhile, several financial advisers—some of whom had geared up to receive a flood of inquiries from clients—said business was calmer than they had anticipated. “We were expecting the phone to go off the hook,” said Winnie Sun, founder of Sun Group Wealth Partners in Irvine, Calif. “We got a couple of calls, but it wasn’t anything like 2008.” Ms. Sun and other advisers say they have been preparing clients for a market correction for the past 12 to 18 months, moving more money to cash and engaging in regular conversations about declines as markets notched high after high. Instead of calming worried investors, some advisers said they have been fielding questions about whether now is the time to add to equity holdings. “We think there will be more chances,” said Danie McHugh, partner at Summit Trail Advisors in New York, who added that she had received calls from clients asking if “this is the 10% pullback we’ve been waiting for.” Read More: Streetwise: Will Inflation Eat This Market Alive? How Bets Against Volatility Fed the Rout Rout Jolts Traders Accustomed to Heady Days of 2017 Traders Befuddled: ‘Did Someone Fat Finger This?’ Heard on the Street: In Global Selloff, It’s All About America Monday’s Stock-Market Selloff by the Numbers —Riva Gold contributed to this article. Write to Akane Otani at [email protected] and Lisa Beilfuss at [email protected] Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
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The European Union took a step toward opening its borders to vaccinated tourists, a move that likely means Americans and other non-Europeans will be allowed to visit the continent this summer. The decision, taken Wednesday by ambassadors from the 27 EU member countries, must still be formally approved by national leaders, which could come as soon as tomorrow. It isn’t yet clear exactly when tourists will be allowed to arrive, but it is expected to be very soon, an EU spokesman said. The U.S. would need to be added to a list of countries from which nonessential travel to the EU is permitted. When that might happen is unclear, but the spokesman said the listed countries could be changed quickly if government leaders decide on it. Individual EU countries can set additional restrictions. They also can decide what official documentation will be accepted to attest that somebody has been vaccinated.
STAY INFORMEDGet a coronavirus briefing six days a week, and a weekly Health newsletter once the crisis abates: Sign up here. People who have been fully vaccinated with shots approved by the World Health Organization or the EU’s medicines regulator will be allowed in. That includes the three vaccines being used in the U.S.—those made by Pfizer Inc., Moderna Inc. and Johnson & Johnson —as well as ones manufactured by AstraZeneca PLC and Sinopharm, a Chinese state-owned company. The EU curtailed nonessential travel in 2020 during the first wave of the pandemic and has yet to pull back on the restrictions. However, some economies that are particularly dependent on tourism, including Greece and Italy, have already opened to visitors from specific countries, albeit with conditions. France has indicated it will open to tourists, including Americans, in June. Mediterranean countries would struggle to afford another summer with few foreign tourists. Italy, Greece and France all suffered gross domestic product declines of more than 8% in 2020. Spain’s economy shrank by 11%. This month, Italy opened to tourists from other EU countries, the U.K. and Israel. Meantime, Greece is letting fully vaccinated tourists from other EU states, the U.S. and several other countries enter without having to quarantine. A recent negative Covid-19 PCR test also allows tourists from those countries into Greece. Most Northern European countries have taken a more cautious approach and it isn’t yet clear if they will be open to non-Europeans this summer. While individual member countries are responsible for enacting travel restrictions, a recommendation from the EU might nudge reluctant nations toward opening. With borders mostly open within the bloc, it would be difficult for authorities in Austria, for example, to block Americans arriving via Italy. Startups, governments and nonprofits are racing to create “vaccine passports,” or digital health passes aimed at helping people travel safely. The EU is testing “green certificates” that would certify that a traveler has been fully vaccinated, tested negative for Covid-19 or recently had the virus. The certificates, which will be rolled out for some countries in June, can be displayed by travelers either on a smartphone app or as a printed document. The U.S. isn’t prohibiting Americans from traveling to Europe, but they need to test negative for Covid-19 before returning home. The country isn’t allowing in European tourists, something EU leaders have said they hope will change soon. Covid-19 Vaccines Write to Eric Sylvers at [email protected] Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8 Appeared in the May 20, 2021, print edition as 'EU Moves to Allow Vaccinated Tourists.'
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Firefighters led a protest in Marseilles, France, on Saturday ahead of the nation's vaccine passport—which will require people to be vaccinated in order to use public transportation or attend public venues including cinemas and cafes—going into effect on Monday.Video posted on Twitter shows the firefighters—some wearing masks—carrying the French flag while walking through Marseille, the second largest city in the nation.
Other videos depict similar protests across the nation. Videos show more than 60,000 people marching through Paris and carrying signs and flags while flanked by police officers. Another video shows another another large protest featuring chanting in Aix-en-Provence, a city north of Marseille.
The health pass has prompted several protests in recent weeks, as more than 100,000 people across the country have taken to the streets over the issue. However, despite the demonstrations, two recent polls indicate that a majority of the French support the idea of a vaccine mandate for everyone in the country.The health pass law was approved by the French parliament in July and is meant to prevent another new lockdown and limit the risks of vulnerable people. Initially, it will apply to all adults but will apply to everyone 12 and older starting September 30, according to the Associated Press. To get the pass, people must have proof they are fully vaccinated, recently tested negative or have recently recovered from the virus.Since French President Emanuel Macron announced the health pass on July 12, more than 7 million people have received their first dose of the vaccine.A separate law mandates that healthcare workers must be vaccinated by mid-September, and a majority of them have been vaccinated against COVID-19. In June, France's public health agency estimated that 72.2 percent of doctors and 58.7 percent of nurses had received their first dose.
Thousands of people across France protested Saturday against a new health pass that would require people to be vaccinated to go to public venues. Here, protesters are pictured in Marseille, the nation’s second largest city. Roger Anis/Getty Images
The protests come two days after France's Constitutional Council upheld most provisions of the law, according to the Associated Press. The council ruled that the automatic 10-day isolation of people infected with the virus goes against French freedoms.Other European countries have also adapted similar policies. In Italy, a similar pass requires the vaccine to access indoor cultural venues and other gathering places, went into effect on Friday and has also sparked protests. There also similar policies in Denmark and Austria.
COVID-19 cases have increased in France in July as the Delta variant sparks a worldwide surge in cases. On Friday, the country's 7-day average of new cases was 22,504—nearly 10 times higher than a month earlier on July 6, when the 7-day average was 2,388 new cases per day, according to data from The New York Times. Just under 50 percent of the nation is fully vaccinated against the virus, reported John Hopkins University.
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Luke Hutchison said he signed up to a coronavirus vaccine trial because he's "pro science"Luke HutchisonLuke Hutchison woke up in the middle of the night with chills and a fever after taking the Covid-19 booster shot in Moderna's vaccine trial. Another coronavirus vaccine trial participant, testing Pfizer's candidate, similarly woke up with chills, shaking so hard he cracked a tooth after taking the second dose. High fever, body aches, bad headaches and exhaustion are just some of the symptoms five participants in two of the leading coronavirus vaccine trials say they felt after receiving the shots.In interviews, all five participants — three in Moderna's study and two in Pfizer's late-stage trials — said they think the discomfort is worth it to protect themselves against the coronavirus. Four of them asked not to be identified, but CNBC reviewed documentation that verified their participation in the trials.While the symptoms were uncomfortable, and at times intense, they often went away after a day, sometimes sooner, according to three participants in the Moderna trial and one in Pfizer's as well as a person close to another participant in Moderna's trial.The phase three trials are a critical last step needed to get the vaccines cleared for distribution. At least 41 Covid-19 vaccines are in human trials worldwide but only four U.S.-backed candidates are in phase three: Moderna, Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson. Health officials expect to have at least one safe and effective vaccine by the end of the year.Double-blindThe trials, which each have tens of thousands of participants, are double-blind, meaning half of them are receiving saline or another placebo and patients don't know what treatment they are receiving. The health care worker administering the vaccine is also in the dark. While it's possible some of the symptoms described could be attributed to an unrelated illness, Moderna and Pfizer previously said some participants in their phase one trials experienced mild Covid-19 symptoms. But Pfizer said it was in a minority of its cases. The trials are also still ongoing, so it remains to be seen how many participants who received the vaccine will report side effects.Hutchison, a 44-year-old computational biologist in Utah, said he signed up for Moderna's phase three trial because he's healthy, physically fit and a big believer in vaccines. He specifically wanted to support Moderna's effort, as he was intrigued by the company's RNA-based approach. While still experimental, mRNA vaccines potentially offer faster development and production times, which could be a major benefit during a global pandemic that has led to more than 1 million fatalities. "I had a high degree of confidence it would work and I wanted to contribute to the solution," Hutchison said. Bed boundAfter getting the first shot on Aug. 18, he said he felt a little under the weather for several days with a low-grade fever. He got his second shot at a clinic on Sept. 15. Eight hours later, he said he was bed bound with a fever of over 101, shakes, chills, a pounding headache and shortness of breath. He said the pain in his arm, where he received the shot, felt like a "goose egg on my shoulder." He hardly slept that night, recording that his temperature was higher than 100 degrees for five hours. After 12 hours, Hutchison said he felt back to normal and his energy levels returned. Having signed a lengthy consent form, Hutchison was aware that he might experience symptoms. But he was still struck by the severity and duration, tweeting on Sept. 16 that he experienced "full-on Covid-like symptoms." Two other participants in the Moderna trial, who asked to remain confidential because they feared backlash from the company, reported similar side effects. Likewise, one participant in the Pfizer trial said he experienced more severe symptoms than he expected.Moderna and Pfizer have acknowledged that their vaccines could induce side effects that are similar to symptoms associated with mild Covid-19, such as muscle pain, chills and headache. As companies progressed through clinical trials, several vaccine makers abandoned their highest doses following reports of more severe reactions.Infectious disease specialist Florian Krammer of New York's Mount Sinai said on Twitter that the side effects reported in Moderna's phase one trial are "unpleasant but not dangerous." It remains to be seen whether kids and pregnant women will experience similar symptoms. Short-term painIf approved, the Covid-19 vaccine would not be the first to cause short-term pain and discomfort in some recipients. "It's a simple fact that some vaccines are more unpleasant to take than others," Stat News' Helen Branswell recently wrote.One North Carolina woman in the Moderna study who is in her 50s said she didn't experience a fever but suffered a bad migraine that left her drained for a day and unable to focus. She said she woke up the next day feeling better after taking Excedrin, but added that Moderna may need to tell people to take a day off after a second dose.She said other people in the trial have joined a couple of private Facebook groups and have shared similar experiences. She said members of the groups also reported a fever and pain in the arm similar to getting a tetanus shot, adding "you're not going to be lifting weights or working out." "If this proves to work, people are going to have to toughen up," she said. "The first dose is no big deal. And then the second dose will definitely put you down for the day for sure. ... You will need to take a day off after the second dose."Worth the riskShe said while uncomfortable, the apparent side effects are worth the risk of not getting Covid-19. "My hope is that this works but also that the communication [on side effects] is good," she added.A Maryland participant in his late 20s said he experienced nausea after the first shot, but it wasn't until the second that he "really felt things." He said he woke up at 1 a.m. with chills and a 104 fever. He said the fever went down after he took Advil and Tylenol but it lasted until around 8 p.m. He said Moderna promptly responded, calling him within an hour after he reported his symptoms in the app. "I wasn't sure if I needed to go to the hospital or not because 104 is pretty high," he said. "But other than that, it's been fine."Side effectsPfizer's phase one study showed "short-lived fever, mostly mild to moderate in severity, can be expected in a minority of recipients of BNT162b2 30mcg," spokeswoman Jerica Pitts said."No safety signals have been identified in the study," Pitts said in an email. "As discussed earlier, safety and tolerability of our vaccine candidate are continuously monitored by Pfizer qualified personnel and a DMC, an independent external data monitoring committee, which has access to unblinded data."A Moderna spokeswoman said the company does not comment on participants in ongoing clinical trials, but added that the safety committee "has recommended that the study continue as planned" at each review. A spokesperson from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which is helping to develop Moderna's vaccine, declined to comment and referred CNBC to a press release and Q&A for information about how participant safety is being monitored. The NIAID is not involved with the Pfizer trial.'Educating the public'Hutchison said he's concerned that the pharmaceutical manufacturers have not sufficiently informed the public about potential side effects. If the vaccines are approved, he fears, it might cause a widespread backlash if word spreads, which is why he decided to go public now. Polls show some 35% of Americans say they won't get a coronavirus vaccine when it is available, because of misinformation or mistrust.The White House has dubbed its project to bring a vaccine to market in record time as "Operation Warp Speed," which has raised concern that drugmakers may take shortcuts to produce one quickly. President Donald Trump's push to have a vaccine ready before the Nov. 3 election also isn't helping to allay those fears. The pharmaceutical companies tried to tamp down those doubts by releasing a joint statement in September that pledged to "stand with science," rather than politics, saying the clinical trials won't sacrifice safety or the effectiveness of a vaccine. Kolina Koltai, a vaccine researcher at the University of Washington at the Center for an Informed Public, said using "speed" to describe a national vaccine campaign can be counterproductive, even if the trials are robust."I'm hearing from people who say they want other people to test it (the vaccine) first," she said. "There's a lot of uncertainty."Young peopleAnother challenge with the vaccine is that young people, who don't tend to get as sick as people over 40, may not think they are at high risk for severe health outcomes if they get the virus. If they hear about side effects via word of mouth, they may not deem the vaccine to be worth it. The vaccine is "fairly unusual," said Dr. Peter Bach, an epidemiologist and director of the Center for Health Policy and Outcomes at Memorial Sloan-Kettering, because the benefits to some young and healthy groups may be "secondary" in nature.In other words, getting a coronavirus vaccine — like wearing a mask — may be an act of service to help protect others. But public health officials can have difficulty getting some people to wear a mask, indicating that even more people may be reluctant to get the vaccine. Hutchison is continuing to report his symptoms via an app, which serves as a form of a diary. He has returned to the clinic for follow-up visits on several occasions, including after he received the second dose.Since tweeting about his experience, Hutchison said he has received pushback from people who felt that he shouldn't have said he received the vaccine rather than the placebo. Given his symptoms, he said he thinks it's highly unlikely he was part of the control group that received a saltwater solution.Up all nightA physician in Baltimore participating in the Pfizer study is due for his second dose on Saturday. While he said his symptoms were "very mild" for the first dose, he wouldn't be surprised if others experienced symptoms more serious than a flu shot and said people should be prepared for that. Another participant in Pfizer's trial said he was up all night after the first shot from the pain of the injection. The booster injection he received caused more of that same pain in his arm, followed by intense flu-like symptoms that hit him around 1 a.m. He couldn't sleep that night without an electric blanket, and shook so hard that it became uncontrollable and he cracked part of his tooth from chattering them. "It hurt to even just lay in my bed sheet," he said, before he decided to see a doctor. Despite all that, he remains pro-vaccine and said he is a big advocate for science. Had he known in advance, he would have recommended getting the shot on a Friday so he could rest on the weekend. He recognizes that getting the virus would likely still be far worse for many people."If it gets approved, I still think a lot of people should get the vaccine," he said, "and I hope that all the side effects are made clear up front."
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PARIS—The suspected architect of the Paris attacks who was killed in a hail of bullets here Wednesday had traveled through Greece recently, authorities said, raising fresh concerns about Europe’s ability to protect its most vulnerable borders from known threats. But the ability of the Islamic State operative—who French officials previously believed was in Syria—to slip through borders unchecked could exacerbate an already heated debate among Europeans over how to tighten controls as thousands of migrants enter Europe each week. The woman who detonated a suicide vest during a police raid in the Saint Denis neighborhood of Paris on Nov. 18 was the cousin of the alleged ringleader of the Paris attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, officials say. This is an audio recording from the incident. Photo: Getty “If Europe doesn’t take its responsibilities, then it’s the entire Schengen system that will be in jeopardy,” French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Thursday, referring to the accord that allows free travel among 26 countries across the continent. The tide of migrants streaming into Europe has prompted several countries to introduce border checks or build razor-wire fences. Now, in the wake of the Paris attacks, the European Union is considering fast-tracking a raft of new measures, notably to make it mandatory for member countries to share the names of people denied entry and wanted felons. Mr. Abaaoud’s own crisscrossing through Europe in recent months illustrates the problem. On Thursday, German officials said that he had flown out of the Cologne-Bonn airport in western Germany in January 2014. Though he was on an EU watch list at the time, the entry didn’t direct authorities to detain him or prevent his exit. Nor was Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, which is responsible for tracking suspected extremists on German soil, notified that he had passed through the airport, the officials said.
The Attacks in Paris Only on Monday—three days after the Paris attacks—did French authorities realize that Mr. Abaaoud was no longer in Syria when an intelligence service outside Europe informed them that they had tracked Mr. Abaaoud’s recent movements in Greece, said French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve without elaborating further. The Belgian-born terrorist is suspected of having planned and coordinated three teams of attackers who carried out the brazen assaults on the French capital on Friday, using explosives and automatic rifles to kill 129 people. French SWAT teams battled with Mr. Abaaoud and others with suspected terrorist links for hours on Wednesday, firing 5,000 rounds to subdue the group holed up in an apartment. “The brain or one of the brains—we have to be extremely careful—was found among the dead,” Mr. Valls told parliament on Thursday. After receiving the intelligence tip that Mr. Abaaoud had been recently spotted in Greece, French police shifted gears, poring over communications data for signs of whether Mr. Abaaoud was in the Paris region. Investigators also began tracking his cousin, Hasna Ait Boulahcen, who they suspected might have been in contact with Mr. Abaaoud. In the predawn hours of Wednesday, heavily armed police quietly sealed off Mr. Abaaoud’s hideout: an apartment building located on a crime-ridden street of the Saint-Denis suburb north of Paris. The operative died in a barrage of gunfire and grenades as police fought their way into the apartment and one militant detonated a suicide vest. Investigators are now probing human remains from the scene to determine whether it was Ms. Ait Boulahcen who blew herself up. Prosecutors said Mr. Abaaoud’s body was so badly damaged in the raid that they couldn’t tell if he, too, had blown himself up or not. Forensic teams worked through the night to identify Mr. Abaaoud’s remains, using his fingerprints. French police raided an apartment in the northern Paris suburb of Saint-Denis early Wednesday, targeting suspects linked to Friday’s massacre in Paris. Two people were killed—one after detonating a suicide vest—and seven people were arrested. Photo: AP. In killing Mr. Abaaoud, France has deprived Islamic State of a key operative. Mr. Abaaoud combined battlefield experience in Syria with a broad network of associates in Europe that allowed him to mount one of the deadliest terror attacks on European soil in years. Investigators are probing whether militants linked to Mr. Abaaoud had been planning an additional attack on the Paris neighborhood of Montmartre, police said Thursday. A Renault Clio rented by Salah Abdeslam, a suspect in the attacks who remains at large, was found in the area Friday, Paris prosecutors said. On Thursday, Mr. Cazeneuve said authorities were investigating whether Mr. Abaaoud was involved in a host of other attacks and plots against Europe. Mr. Cazeneuve said the terrorist was linked to an attack on churches in Villejuif, a Paris suburb, in April that led to the death of a woman. Three other radicals with suspected links to Mr. Abaaoud have been detained in recent months while traveling to Europe, Mr. Cazeneuve said, including one militant apprehended in August who said he had been trained and assigned by Mr. Abaaoud to carry out an attack in Europe. French investigators are also looking into whether Mr. Abaaoud was involved in an August attack on a high-speed train traveling between Amsterdam and Paris that was foiled by a trio of American passengers and a Briton. The Belgian had attained an unusually high rank in Islamic State’s hierarchy for a European. He was military commander, or “emir of war,” in Syria’s eastern Deir Ezzour province, according to local activists. One of his younger brothers, Yassine Abaaoud, was recently arrested in Morocco on suspicion of terrorist activity and remains in custody, according to a Belgian law-enforcement official. Alexandre Chateau, a lawyer who has represented both brothers, confirmed that Yassine Abaaoud had been arrested in Morocco. Mr. Chateau declined to comment on the arrest of Yassine Abaaoud, saying he had “suffered” as a result of his older brother’s reputation. Mr. Chateau also shed light on Abdelhamid Abaaoud’s criminal history, saying he had been repeatedly arrested for crimes, including assault, around Brussels and served time in at least three prisons. Mr. Abaaoud and Mr. Abdeslam were convicted on charges of attempting to break into a parking garage in December 2010. Both men served brief prison terms. Mr. Abaaoud’s most recent arrest came in June 2011, Mr. Chateau said. That was for assault near a metro station in Molenbeek, the predominantly Muslim neighborhood in Brussels where he grew up a few blocks from Mr. Abdeslam and Mr. Abdeslam’s brother, Brahim, who blew himself up in front of the Comptoir Voltaire in Paris on Friday. Mr. Abaaoud was convicted in August 2011 and released from prison around the end of 2011, Mr. Chateau said. The last time Mr. Chateau saw Mr. Abaaoud in 2013, he had grown out his beard and become a more observant Muslim, he said. “He didn’t show signs of radicalization or that he would be implicated in terrorist acts or that he would fight overseas,” Mr. Chateau added. — William Horobin, David Gauthier-Villars and Anton Troianovski contributed to this article. Write to Noemie Bisserbe at [email protected] and Stacy Meichtry at [email protected] Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
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Stephenville, Texas A Texas jury has rejected the insanity defense of a former Marine in the deaths of famed "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle and another man.After a two-week trial in which jurors heard testimony about defendant Eddie Ray Routh's erratic behavior, including statements about anarchy, the apocalypse and pig-human hybrids, they convicted Routh Tuesday night in the deaths of Kyle and Chad Littlefield at a Texas shooting range two years ago.Routh showed no reaction as a judge sentenced him to life in prison without parole, an automatic sentence since prosecutors didn't seek the death penalty in the capital murder case. As one of his victim's siblings called him an "American disgrace" shortly after, Routh looked back at the man intensely but didn't react otherwise.The verdict capped an emotional trial in which prosecutors painted the 27-year-old as a troubled drug user who knew right from wrong, despite any mental illnesses. Defense attorneys said he suffered from schizophrenia and was suffering a psychotic episode at the time of the shootings. While trial testimony and evidence often included Routh making odd statements and referring to insanity, he also confessed several times, apologized for the crimes and tried to evade police after the crime."You took the lives of two heroes, men who tried to be a friend to you," Chad Littlefield's half brother Jerry Richardson told Routh after the verdict. "And you became an American disgrace."Routh's trial drew intense interest, in part because of the blockbuster film based on former Navy SEAL Kyle's memoir about his four tours in Iraq.Jurors had three options: find Routh guilty of capital murder, find him not guilty, or find him not guilty by reason of insanity. If found not guilty by reason of insanity, the court could have initiated proceedings to have him committed to a state mental hospital."We're so thrilled that we have the verdict that we have tonight," Littlefield's mother, Judy Littlefield, said at a news conference outside the courthouse.The Littlefield family had waited "two years for God to get justice for us," she said. "He was faithful."Kyle's widow, Taya Kyle, left the courtroom during the defense's closing statements earlier in the day and did not return when the verdict was read. Chris Kyle's brother and parents were among a group hugging and crying inside the courtroom after the verdict was read. They did not issue a statement.Richardson and Littlefield's father, Don Littlefield, were the only two people to give statements in court, speaking directly to Routh. Don Littlefield told Routh that even though his son never served in the military, he was honored to help those who did. "He was trying to help you," he told Routh.Kyle and Littlefield had taken Routh to the shooting range at Rough Creek Lodge and Resort on Feb. 2, 2013, after Routh's mother asked Kyle to help her troubled son. Family members say Routh suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder from serving in Iraq and in Haiti after the devastating 2010 earthquake.However, Richardson told Routh that Routh's PTSD claims "have been an insult to every veteran who served with honor."Routh's mother, Jodi Routh, who was questioned by prosecutors about why she didn't warn Kyle of her son's mental troubles, sat expressionless in the courtroom as the verdict was read.Routh's defense team said they would appeal the conviction.A forensic psychologist testified for prosecutors that Routh was not legally insane and suggested he may have gotten some of his ideas from television. Dr. Randall Price said Routh had a paranoid disorder made worse by his use of alcohol and marijuana, calling his condition "cannabis-induced psychosis."Defense attorneys noted that Kyle had described Routh as "straight-up nuts" in a text message to Littlefield as they drove to the luxury resort. They said Routh, who had been prescribed anti-psychotic medication often used for schizophrenia, believed the men planned to kill him.Asked by a reporter for The New Yorker magazine in a jailhouse call if he thought about the day he shot the men, Routh replied, "It tore my (expletive) heart out when I did it," later adding, "I guess you live and you learn, you know."A resort employee discovered the bodies of Kyle and Littlefield about 5 p.m.; each had been shot several times. About 45 minutes later, authorities say Routh pulled up to his sister's home in Kyle's truck and told her he had killed two people.She called police, who later located Routh sitting in front of his home in the truck. A police video shown by prosecutors showed officers trying to coax him from the truck while he makes comments including: "I don't know if I'm going insane," and, "Is this about hell walking on earth right now?""He told us he'd taken a couple of souls and he had more souls to take," Lancaster police Lt. Michael Smith testified.Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Republican Roy Moore and Democrat Doug Jones made their closing arguments to voters on Monday, a day before one of the most anticipated special elections in U.S. history. Jones, a Democrat hoping to make history with a huge upset win in the deep-red state, campaigned in Birmingham with former NBA superstar and Alabama native Charles Barkley.The presence of the television commentator, a college basketball star at Auburn, underlined Jones’s effort to turn out African-American voters, who will need to vote in large numbers for him to have a chance of becoming the first Democrat to win a Senate race in the state since 1992.Moore, after a weekend in which his campaign held no events, campaigned in Midland City, a town of less than 2,500 people in the southeast corner of the state. Moore is strongest with rural and small-town white voters in Alabama, and he chose for his closing rally a part of the state where he trounced GOP Sen. Luther StrangeLuther Johnson StrangePress: For Trump endorsement: The more sordid, the better Pandemic proves importance of pharmaceutical innovation The Hill's Morning Report - Biden assails 'epidemic' of gun violence amid SC, Texas shootings MORE (Ala.) in a primary earlier this fall.“If you don’t believe in my character, don’t vote for me. The differences between my opponent and me are vast,” Moore said Monday night.He appeared with Breitbart News chairman Stephen Bannon, along with controversial former Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke and conservative firebrand Rep. Louie GohmertLouis (Louie) Buller GohmertPoll: Abbott leads GOP primary, O'Rourke by wide margins Focus on Perry could mean more subpoenas, challenges for Jan. 6 panel Members of Congress not running for reelection in 2022 MORE (R-Texas.).The presence of Bannon and Barkley was a reminder of the stark racial divisions that could be at play in Tuesday’s vote. Barkley called Bannon a white supremacist and said Moore should have been disqualified for his alignment with the former White House strategist for President TrumpDonald TrumpHillicon Valley — Cyberattack hits Ukrainian defense On The Money — GOP senators block Biden's Fed picks Florida county clerk's typo directed ticketed drivers to site selling Trump merchandise MORE.Bannon leaned on his populist and nationalist perspective, framing a Moore election as a victory for working class Americans who have been kept down by the elites. “It's an up or down vote tomorrow between the Trump miracle and the nullification project,” Bannon said, describing the Democratic effort to push back on Trump’s agenda.Turnout for Tuesday’s special election is especially hard to predict, a reality embodied by dueling polls released on Monday. A Fox News poll showed Jones up by 10 points, while an Emerson poll found that Moore had a 9-point lead.Moore trudges into Tuesday with a slim lead in RealClearPolitics’s average of recent polling, which shows how far he’s fallen in a state Trump won last year by more than 27 percentage points. Accusations that Moore pursued underage women when he was in his 30s have dramatically changed a race for which he was once seen as the shoo-in winner.In the most serious cases, one woman claims Moore sexually assaulted her when she was 16 years old, while another says she had a sexual encounter with Moore when she was 14 years old.The accusations have turned establishment Republicans already cool to Moore against him.Even Sen. Richard ShelbyRichard Craig ShelbyNegotiators make progress in fiscal 2022 spending talks The Hill's Morning Report - Presented by Facebook - More blue states let mask mandates expire On The Money — Lawmakers closer to government funding deal MORE (Ala.), who switched to the Republican Party in 1994 after winning reelection to the Senate as a Democrat, is opposing Moore. He says he wrote in the name of a conservative Republican.“Let’s not be crazy here, this was never going to be a tight race until the allegations came,” said Alabama GOP strategist Jonathan Gray. “You’ve got to take it into consideration, [Jones] ran a smart campaign. But Alabama hasn’t had a real competitive general election with the Democrat Party in a dozen years,” Gray said.Both campaigns have spent the final days trying to get out their bases.Jones spent the weekend on stops with prominent black Democratic lawmakers such as Alabama Rep. Terri SewellTerrycina (Terri) Andrea SewellAdvocates fear Supreme Court's Alabama moves could weaken minority protections in VRA Photos of the Week: MLK memorial, voting rights and a cockapoo Pelosi suggests filibuster supporters 'dishonor' MLK's legacy on voting rights MORE and New Jersey Sen. Cory BookerCory BookerCory Booker and Rosario Dawson have reportedly split Schumer asks for input as Democrats finalize cannabis bill Bass would move hundreds of LAPD officers from desk jobs into patrols if elected mayor MORE, while Congressional Black Caucus members Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.) and Rep. Cedric RichmondCedric RichmondParkland father climbs crane near White House to deliver gun violence message Bottom line White House unveils team for SCOTUS pick MORE (D-La.) held get-out-the-vote events down state. Speaking to reporters on Sunday outside his campaign office, Jones noted the record-breaking snowfall as something that perhaps could be a good omen for his campaign.“We started this campaign back in May. It was a warm, sunny day. And people said, what are the odds?” he said. “Folks said, ‘Well, the odds are as good as getting a 5-inch snow in December in Birmingham, Alabama.’ So it has come to pass,” Jones said.While African-Americans make up roughly a quarter of Alabama’s population, years of dismal Democratic returns have left his party without much of a ground game. Jones’s campaign has furiously fought to find every vote, making 1.2 million phone calls and knocking on more than 300,000 doors, according to the campaign.Alabama Democratic state Rep. Anthony Daniels, who serves as the state House Democratic leader, told The Hill that he thinks Jones could win. But he lamented the lack of attention national Democrats have given to the state during the past eight years.“I wish that the [Democratic National Committee] had focused more on states and making certain they had infrastructure here,” he said. “If there was an infrastructure, and I know people will say I’m crazy, Jones should be up 20 points,” he said.While Moore’s time on the trail has been limited recently — he admitted on Monday that he and his family spent the final weekend of the campaign out of state visiting their son at West Point — he did sit down for an interview on “The Voice of Alabama Politics” at the state Republican Party headquarters, which aired Sunday.Moore repeated his adamant denials of sexual misconduct.“I represent their values, I represent what they believe,” he said of his state’s voters. “Alabamians, like many people in the south, are very conservative.“They want judges who go by the law, they want immigration to be under the Congress’s purview of what the law is and what is passed. They don’t want courts or anybody else making it up as they go, they don’t want presidents imposing on them.” Trump has come to Moore’s aid, rallying supporters with an event Friday in Pensacola, Fla., just a short drive from the border. On Monday, he issued a robocall boosting Moore.“If Alabama elects liberal Democrat Doug Jones, all of our progress will be stopped cold,” Trump says in the call. “Roy Moore is the guy we need to pass our ‘Make America Great Again’ agenda.”A Moore victory would likely raise just as many questions as it answers. Senate Republicans have floated holding expulsion proceedings to look at removing Moore from office over the sexual misconduct allegations. Gray, the Alabama GOP strategist, compared Moore to Herbie from “The Love Bug,” the car from a 1960s Disney movie that finishes its climactic race in first place, despite coming apart at the seams in the final moments. “Roy Moore looks like Herbie the Love Bug, out there with no bumper and no tires, but he’s screaming across the finish line,” Gray said. “And everyone’s standing here with their mouths wide open.”
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Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, There have been renewed calls for defunding, after the death of George Floyd in MayFormer President Barack Obama has cautioned young Democrat activists against using snappy slogans such as "defund the police" if they want to bring about genuine reforms in the US.Defund the Police became a widely-used phrase after the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police in May.Mr Obama said "you lost a big audience the minute you say it", making it "a lot less likely" to effect change.His comments received a backlash from some key black progressive Democrats.Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar tweeted "it's not a slogan but a policy demand... for equitable investments and budgets for communities across the country".We lose people in the hands of police. It’s not a slogan but a policy demand. And centering the demand for equitable investments and budgets for communities across the country gets us progress and safety. https://t.co/Vu6inw4ms7— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) December 2, 2020
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.View original tweet on TwitterCori Bush, a newly-elected congresswoman in Missouri, tweeted that the slogan was a "mandate for keeping our people alive", while Charles Booker, Kentucky's youngest black state lawmaker, tweeted: "Instead of conceding this narrative, let's shape out own".Mr Obama made his comments while speaking to the Snapchat political show Good Luck America about the importance of word choice in marketing ideas."If you believe, as I do, that we should be able to reform the criminal justice system so that it's not biased and treats everybody fairly, I guess you can use a snappy slogan, like Defund the Police, but, you know, you lost a big audience the minute you say it," he said."If you instead say, 'Hey, you know what Let's reform the police department so that everybody's being treated fairly,' suddenly a whole bunch of folks who might not otherwise listen to you are listening to you."Defund the Police became part of the call for change during mass Black Lives Matter protests following the killing of Mr Floyd, and Breonna Taylor in Kentucky in March, at the hands of the police. Media caption, The digital activists boosting Black Lives Matter"Defunding" advocates want to see police departments' budgets slashed and funds diverted to social programmes to avoid unnecessary confrontation and heal the racial divide.Media caption, In June Panorama spoke to local people to piece together the moments leading up to George Floyd's deathPresident-elect Joe Biden has previously said he does not support defunding the police, but wants to invest in community projects and social programmes to lessen the burden on the police.In the same interview, Mr Obama said it was important to ensure that progressive members of the Democratic party have their voices heard, saying "new blood is always good".With reference to New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, he said: "She speaks to a broad section of young people who are interested in what she has to say, even if they don't agree with everything she says. You give her a platform."
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Hope Hicks, one of President Donald Trump’s most trusted and longest-serving aides, is returning to the White House as the president works to surround himself with loyalists as his reelection campaign moves into high gear.Hicks, a former White House communications director who was one of Trump’s original 2016 campaign staffers, is expected to serve as counselor to the president, working with presidential son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, according to a person familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity before the announcement had been made public. She left the White House in 2018 and moved to California to work as a top executive at the Fox Corporation, though she and Trump remained in touch.Hicks’s move comes just one week after Trump was acquitted by the Senate on impeachment charges. Since then, he’s been on a tear to clear his administration of those he sees as insufficiently loyal, including ousting staffers at the national security council and state department and pulling the nomination of a top treasury department pick who had overseen cases involving Trump’s former aides as U.S. Attorney. More departures are expected in the coming days, including at the shrinking foreign policy arm of the White House, where Trump’s national security adviser has been pushing for months to cull staff.At the same time, Trump has been working to surround himself with longtime aides he believes he can trust as he heads into what is expected to be a bruising general election campaign to remain in the White House. In addition to Hicks, Trump recently brought back John McEntee, another longtime staffer who began on the 2016 campaign as an intern and rose to become one of Trump’s closest staffers, with an office adjacent to the Oval Office. McEntee had served as Trump’s personal aide until he was forced out of the White House in 2018 on the orders of former chief of staff John Kelly over issues with his security clearance.McEntee has now been tapped to lead the White House Presidential Personnel Office, an influential posting that coordinates the screening and hiring of thousands of federal government workers . As part of that mission, he is expected to work to ensure that only those who believe in Trump’s mission are offered jobs.“This is bringing back Ringo and John and Paul and George,” said Jason Miller, senior communications adviser to Trump’s 2016 campaign, referring to the members of the super group “The Beatles.”“This is putting the band back together for what is probably going to be the most consequential and important concert of their lives,” he said, noting that the people being brought back into the fold “are people that understand Trump as a person, who understand President Trump’s priorities, who he likes personally” and who “re going to spend every waking moment of their lives trying to help him.”In her new role, Hicks will not be part of the White House communications department, but will work closely with Kushner and White House political director Brian Jack “in a number of strategic areas,” according to a White House official. She is expected to start early next month, though details were still being worked out Thursday.Known for her loyalty and low public profile, Hicks was part of the small inner circle that traveled the country with Trump aboard his private jet as he waged his unlikely campaign for the Republican nomination and then the presidency in 2015 and 2016. She was often described as someone who was especially deft at reading the president’s moods and helping others navigate his instincts.Trump never wanted Hicks to leave the White House, which she chose to do as she was called to testify before lawmakers and the special counsel’s office during the Russia investigation. And she and the president remained in regular touch while she was at Fox, with the president trying to convince her to return to the White House since nearly the day she left, according to one of the people. The president’s sales pitch, the person said, intensified in recent months amid impeachment.The news of her decision was praised publicly by top administration officials, including Stephanie Grisham, the White House press secretary who also serves as the current White House communications director.“I have worked with Hope for almost six years and can say without hesitation she is one of the most talented and savvy individuals I have come across,” Grisham said in a statement. “She has always impressed me with her quiet confidence, loyalty and expertise, and I am beyond thrilled to welcome Hope back to the White House.”“There is no one more devoted to implementing President Trump’s agenda than Hope Hicks,” Kushner added. “We are excited to have her back on the team.”Even before Trump’s acquittal, his national security adviser Robert O’Brien had been working to shrink the ranks at the National Security Council, where Alexander Vindman, the director for European Affairs, had worked before he was escorted out of the White House last week.O’Brien said the streamlining will be completed by the of the week, with about 70 fewer staffers than the 115 to 120 staffers when he started the job in September.Meanwhile, the conservative Newsmax TV announced Thursday that Trump’s first press secretary, Sean Spicer, will be hosting a political talk show that will air weeknights at 6 p.m. from Washington. “Spicer & Co.” will debut on March 3.__Associated Press writers Jonathan Lemire and Deb Riechmann contributed to this report.___Follow Miller and Colvin on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ZekeJMiller and https://twitter.com/colvinj.
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(Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has submitted written answers to questions from Special Counsel Robert Mueller in his probe of Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign, Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani said on Tuesday.U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the news media while walking to board Marine One to depart for travel to Mar-a-Lago from the White House in Washington, U.S., November 20, 2018. REUTERS/Leah Millis“We answered every question they asked that was legitimately pre-election and focused on Russia,” Giuliani said in an interview. “Nothing post-election. And we’ve told them we’re not going to do that.”Giuliani said Trump did not plan to answer any questions from Mueller on whether he tried to obstruct the investigation once he won office, such as by firing former FBI Director James Comey.“It is time to bring this inquiry to a conclusion,” the lawyer said in a statement earlier on Tuesday announcing that Trump’s answers had been submitted in the probe, which Trump has repeatedly called a “witch hunt.”Trump signed the submission on Tuesday before he left Washington to spend the Thanksgiving holiday in Florida, a person familiar with the matter said.A spokesman for Mueller, who was appointed special counsel in May 2017, declined to comment.Mueller was tasked to probe “any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation” into possible collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia during the 2016 election.U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election to try to tip it toward Trump by undermining Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.Trump has denied any collusion with Moscow and Russia has said it did not meddle in the election.TRUMP TOWER MEETINGAmong the topics Trump answered questions about on Tuesday was a June 2016 meeting between the president’s son Donald Trump Jr., other members of Trump’s campaign team and a group of Russians, the person familiar with the matter said.Trump has denied knowing about the Trump Tower meeting with the Russians, who had promised damaging information about Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.Other questions may have touched on WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and Roger Stone, a longtime Trump ally with ties to WikiLeaks, who also is under investigation.“There were no real big surprises in the questions. They were detailed, complex, they were multipart,” Giuliani said. He would not say how many questions there were.Mueller has already brought charges against some former Trump aides, including his former campaign chairman and his former national security adviser, as well as a number of Russian individuals and entities.U.S. prosecutors are also preparing to pursue a criminal case against Assange, having obtained a sealed indictment that was revealed in an unrelated criminal case filing last week.WikiLeaks is known for publishing documents that were previously not public. During the campaign, the group published Democratic emails that U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded were hacked by Russia. Trump praised WikiLeaks during the campaign.‘LITTLE HOPE’ OF SIT-DOWN INTERVIEWGiuliani said in the statement on Tuesday the president had provided “unprecedented cooperation” with the probe over the past year and a half, noting that more than 30 White House-related witnesses had been questioned and 1.4 million pages of material turned over before Trump responded to the pre-election questions in writing.He added that “much of what has been asked raised serious constitutional issues and was beyond the scope of a legitimate inquiry.”Giuliani later told Reuters there was “very little hope” Trump would sit for an interview with the special counsel.Trump’s lawyers have been negotiating with Mueller’s prosecutors since last year over whether the president would sit for an interview. Trump himself has offered mixed responses.In an interview that aired on Sunday, he told “Fox News Sunday” that he was unlikely to do so, explaining that “we’ve wasted enough time on this witch hunt and the answer is, probably, we’re finished.”It is unclear whether Mueller would subpoena him to testify, likely setting off a legal and political battle.Earlier this month, Trump fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions and appointed Matthew Whitaker as his replacement on an acting basis, renewing calls for legislation to protect Mueller’s work. As a private citizen, Whitaker criticized the Mueller probe.Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has opposed such legislation.Lisa Kern Griffin, a former federal prosecutor and a law professor at Duke University, said she was skeptical much of what had been asked was outside the scope of legitimate authority, as Giuliani maintained.“The special counsel has a broad mandate to determine what took place during the campaign and to determine whether there has been an effort to obstruct that investigation,” Griffin said. “As other presidents have found out, they are not above the law.”Reporting by Karen Freifeld in Miami; Additional reporting by Jan Wolfe in Washington; Editing by Peter Cooneyfor-phone-onlyfor-tablet-portrait-upfor-tablet-landscape-upfor-desktop-upfor-wide-desktop-up
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President Barack Obama vowed Wednesday to focus his final three years in office on income inequality in the U.S., calling for an increase in the federal minimum wage and defending the government's role in boosting economic mobility."I take this personally," Mr. Obama said at a speech hosted by a think tank closely aligned to the White House, noting that members of his family have benefited from government programs. It is "what drives me as a grandson, a son, a father—as an American." He said that rising income inequality and decreased economic mobility "pose a fundamental threat" to American prosperity. The economic agenda he detailed pushes a number of liberal priorities popular with the Democratic base. Mr. Obama called for eased rules for union organizers, passage of a budget that combines stimulus spending with long-term deficit reduction measures, expanded government programs for children and new antidiscrimination laws. More Republicans said the president was trying to distract attention from the problems of the health law and criticized many of the policy elements in Mr. Obama's speech. "They promote government reliance rather than economic mobility," said Brendan Buck, spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio). "Rather than tackling income inequality by lifting people up, he's been fixated on taxing some down," added Mr. Buck in a blog post. Republicans said a better course would be to promote school choice, approve stalled natural-resource projects and adopt other programs typically favored by the GOP. President Barack Obama said that growing income inequality is harming the U.S. economy and called on Congress to increase the minimum wage. Brookings Institution senior fellow Gary Burtless discusses on the News Hub. Photo: Getty Images. "Instead of addressing people's frustrations he's trying to change the subject," said Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.), the House GOP whip, referring to the troubled rollout of the federal health-care overhaul. Business groups said a higher federal minimum wage wouldn't accomplish Mr. Obama's goals. "Arbitrarily raising the cost of labor would increase, not reduce, the unemployment rate among young, less-skilled workers," Bruce Josten of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said in a statement. Boeing Co. CEO W. James McNerney Jr. , chairman of the Business Roundtable, a group of chief executives of large companies, also saw a cost to raising the minimum wage. "In many cases, if the workers are not productive commensurate with the increased labor costs, then we'd move to places where the cost is commensurate," said Mr. McNerney, who also is chairman of Mr. Obama's Export Council, which advises on trade issues. Democrats in Congress are planning to press for action on the president's agenda ahead of the 2014 elections, believing the topics he raised in his speech resonate with voters. But there is little chance that they can pass legislation through a divided Congress. President Obama presented new details of his economic agenda in a speech Wednesday in Washington. Associated Press The issue first on the calendar is the expiration of expanded unemployment benefits before the end of the year. Mr. Obama called for renewing the expanded benefits, while many Republicans oppose the idea, saying the program was meant as a temporary response to the recession. House Democrats will call attention to the program on Thursday, when the party has invited unemployed workers to testify at an ad hoc hearing. The president's call for an increase in the federal minimum wage also sets him on a collision course with congressional Republicans, who often argue that the change would prompt businesses to cut low-wage jobs. Senate Democrats are readying a push either this month or next to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 in steps over several years. The federal minimum wage for most workers is currently $7.25 per hour; 10 states and the District of Columbia have higher minimums, according to the National Conference of State Legislators. Liberals welcomed Mr. Obama's speech. Sen. Tom Harkin (D., Iowa) said the president had issued "a powerful message: low-wage jobs and income inequality are only increasing.'' Mr. Harkin, the Senate sponsor of a minimum-wage bill, also noted that "today's minimum wage has one-third less buying power than it did at its peak in 1968." Democratic leaders generally see a minimum-wage increase as necessary and a strong political play, though there are concerns within the caucus about the legislation. Some Democratic Senate aides, however, said a push to increase the minimum wage could pose a risk for some vulnerable Democrats up for re-election in 2014. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Kay Hagan of North Carolina and Mark Pryor of Arkansas are among Senate Democrats expected to face tough re-election battles this year. None of the offices immediately responded to questions about their support for raising the minimum wage. Mr. Obama's 45-minute speech was hosted by the Center for American Progress. The White House billed it as a preview of his coming State of the Union address and a follow to his 2011 speech in Osawatomie, Kan., which set the tone for his re-election campaign. In addition to pushing Congress to act on his priorities, the White House is expected this month to release executive orders on economic initiatives. Mr. Obama said he and first lady Michelle Obama will hold an event next week with college presidents and nonprofits to discuss ways to provide college educations to low-income students. He said he plans to push for programs for workers to learn new skills and for passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act, which supporters say would help prevent pay discrimination against women. Mr. Obama also called for passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which aims to prevent employment discrimination against gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual workers. The overarching theme of his speech, however, was that the government has a role to play, through these initiatives, in economic concerns. "These programs are not typically hammocks for people to just lie back and relax," Mr. Obama said. "These programs of social insurance benefit all of us, because we don't know when we might have a run of bad luck." Write to Carol E. Lee at [email protected] and Michael R. Crittenden at [email protected] Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
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Donald Trump speaks during the CNN Debate in Miami, March 10, 2016.
RHONA WISE/AFP/Getty There will be no armistice in the ugly feud between President Donald Trump and CNN this holiday season.The cable news network announced late Tuesday night that it will boycott the White House's annual Christmas party for members of the media, news that will come as an early Christmas gift for Trump and his staff."In light of the President's continued attacks on freedom of the press and CNN, we do not feel it is appropriate to celebrate with him as his invited guests," CNN said in a statement.While CNN reporters won't partake in the free-flowing eggnog, the network said it would send a "reporting team" to the event Friday to cover any news that might break.In keeping with the president's petty attacks on CNN and other liberal media outlets, Trump's press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders rejoiced that the boycott was "finally, good news from CNN."
Since entering the White House in January, Trump has consistently and capriciously launched attacks on CNN via social media, while praising right-wing Fox News.In July, the president posted a doctored video from wrestling organization WWE's WrestleMania event in 2007 where Trump, in a guest appearance, attacked chairman Vince McMahon. McMahon's face was obscured by the CNN logo.
In yet another scathing attack on news networks critical of his presidency, Trump tweeted Monday that there should be a contest to determine "the most dishonest, corrupt" outlet."We should have a contest as to which of the Networks, plus CNN and not including Fox, is the most dishonest, corrupt and/or distorted in its political coverage of your favorite President (me). They are all bad. Winner to receive the FAKE NEWS TROPHY!" wrote the president.And in a tweet Saturday, Trump declared that Fox News is "much more important" to Americans than CNN. He also accused the network of falsely representing U.S. politics to a major international audience..@FoxNews is MUCH more important in the United States than CNN, but outside of the U.S., CNN International is still a major source of (Fake) news, and they represent our Nation to the WORLD very poorly. The outside world does not see the truth from them!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 25, 2017
CNN hit back saying it's Trump's job, not theirs, to project a positive impression of America internationally.It's not CNN's job to represent the U.S to the world. That's yours. Our job is to report the news. #FactsFirst 🍎— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) November 25, 2017
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WASHINGTON—The Senate Judiciary Committee said Monday it would hold a hearing next week with Judge Brett Kavanaugh and the woman who has accused him of sexual assault, setting the stage for a dramatic public showdown that could determine the fate of his nomination to the Supreme Court.The hearing will give citizens and lawmakers a chance to hear more about the three-decades-old accusations against Judge Kavanaugh from his teenage years at a Washington-area prep school. Judge Kavanaugh has repeatedly denied the accusation, and the White House has said it would proceed with his nomination. The planned session will “give these recent allegations a full airing,” said Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa.). Several Republican senators whose votes will be key to confirming Judge Kavanaugh have said the allegations are serious and merit a full public accounting. The hearing, to be held next Monday, will be Judge Kavanaugh’s best chance to rescue his imperiled nomination and respond to the allegations in a public forum. The hearing will pit his credibility against an explosive accusation made by Christine Blasey Ford, a California college professor, who said he sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers. Mrs. Ford told the Washington Post that when she and Judge Kavanaugh were teenagers at a party in the Washington, D.C., area, he and a friend pulled her into a bedroom. Judge Kavanaugh pinned her down on the bed, groped her and attempted to remove her clothing before she escaped, Mrs. Ford said in the article. Prof. Christine Blasey Ford recently accused Judge Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were in high school. The WSJ's Gerald F. Seib looks at the three senators who could delay the vote on the nominee. Photo: Getty Mrs. Ford, now a professor at Palo Alto University in California, described the episode as aggressive. “I thought he might inadvertently kill me,” she told the Post. She said that Mr. Kavanaugh appeared to be intoxicated during their encounter. Efforts to reach Mrs. Ford weren’t successful. Judge Kavanaugh called the accusation “completely false.” He added: “I have never done anything like what the accuser describes—to her or to anyone.” He said he didn’t know who was making the accusation until Mrs. Ford identified herself on Sunday. Republican leaders spent Monday behind closed doors debating over how to proceed with Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination. He was tapped in July to succeed the retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy. The confirmation of a new, conservative justice to the high court is a top priority of both President Trump and the Republican leadership in Congress. After initial signals that Republican leaders would pursue private phone calls with the judge and his accuser rather than a public forum, Mr. Grassley said late Monday the panel would go ahead with a hearing featuring both Mrs. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh. Mr. Grassley said he made the decision after his staff spoke with Mrs. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh in the afternoon. President Trump indicated he was willing to accept a small delay in the confirmation process to sort out the allegations. “We want to go through a full process…and hear everybody out,” Mr. Trump told reporters, while also praising Judge Kavanaugh. “If it takes a little delay, it’ll take a little delay.” Members of Republican Senate leadership expressed cautious optimism that the hearing could put Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination back on track. Republicans had been hoping to hold a confirmation vote in committee this week and move him to the Senate floor next week—in time for him to join the court at the start of its fall session in October. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he supported the decision to hold a hearing about the accusations. “The committee has made a good decision and we’re going to go forward with it,” he said. Sen. John Thune (R., S.D.), another member of Senate leadership, said of the hearing: “I just think that’s the only way that both Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanuagh have the opportunity to make their case.” The path to Judge Kavanuagh’s confirmation hinges on his performance in the hearing. The Republicans control the Senate by a narrow 51-49 margin, so two Republican votes against Judge Kavanaugh would be enough to sink his nomination if Democrats were to vote against him as a bloc. Several Republicans have said that they are withholding judgment until the hearing, including key votes like Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Jeff Flake of Arizona. “I need to see them and listen to their answers to the questions in order to make an assessment,” Ms. Collins told reporters. Other Republicans stood by Judge Kavanaugh. Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah told reporters he had spoken to Judge Kavanaugh and that the nominee denied being at the party in question. “I believe him,” Mr. Hatch said. “He’s a person of immense integrity.” The planned hearing is reminiscent of the 1991 confirmation hearing of now-Justice Clarence Thomas that featured testimony by Anita Hill, a college professor, that Justice Thomas had sexually harassed her when he had been her supervisor. Justice Thomas denied the allegation. This time, a hearing would unfold against the additional backdrop of a growing movement against sexual harassment and the fractious politics of the Trump presidency and the midterm election season. Judge Kavanaugh visited the White House Monday and spoke by phone to senators, fielding questions about the sexual-assault allegations, a White House official said. Mrs. Ford first contacted Congress with her allegations in July, hoping to remain anonymous. The matter spilled into public view several days ago when Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said she had reported a matter involving Judge Kavanaugh to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Mrs. Feinstein didn’t initially name Mrs. Ford, saying the individual had requested confidentiality. Democrats have been seeking to slow down the Kavanaugh confirmation process, which they argue has been rushed in an effort to get the judge seated before the midterms. Republicans, including Mr. Trump and Mr. McConnell, see their success in putting conservatives on the bench, especially the Supreme Court, as a strong campaign message to their base voters.
More in Politics Liberal activists have also put heavy pressure on Democrats to oppose the nomination, concerned about Judge Kavanaugh’s views on abortion rights, executive power and government regulation. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California said several days ago she had reported a matter involving Judge Kavanaugh to the FBI. On Sunday she confirmed Mrs. Ford was the person involved in the allegations. Photo: Alex Brandon/Associated Press Newsletter Sign-up Capital Journal Scoops, analysis and insights driving Washington from the WSJ's D.C. bureau. When the Supreme Court’s fall term begins in October, justices will hear cases that could impact the criminal justice system, major tech companies and charities. WSJ’s Shelby Holliday looks at key cases on the docket. Photo: AP. Most Senate Democrats have already signaled opposition to the nomination, though several who are running for re-election this year in states won by Mr. Trump were believed to be possible “yes” votes before the accusations of sexual assault were made public. More on the Kavanaugh Nomination —Peter Nicholas contributed to this article. Write to Byron Tau at [email protected], Natalie Andrews at [email protected] and Kristina Peterson at [email protected] Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
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Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is preparing to release new rules strengthening protections for students accused of sexual assault on campus and lightening the burden placed on schools, according to a person familiar with the contents.The rules will narrow the definition of sexual assault that schools are required to adjudicate and will restrict eligible cases to those that occur on campus. They also will raise the burden of proof used by schools when adjudicating the cases, with schools permitted to choose between two legal standards in determining an accused student’s guilt. The Education Department plans to formally propose the rules in September. The Obama administration had required schools use a “preponderance of the evidence” standard, meaning more likely than not, which is the standard used in most civil lawsuits. Now, schools will be allowed to revert to a higher standard, which would make it tougher to find accused students guilty. The new rules are designed to replace the 2011 Obama-administration guidelines that were intended to bolster protections for victims of sexual assault or abuse. University administrators, men’s rights activists and some other advocates have complained that those guidelines tilted odds unfairly against the accused. Mrs. DeVos revoked those guidelines in 2017. The rules she intends to put in place will carry the force of law without action by Congress. The rules are being prepared as sexual assault—and schools’ responses to misconduct—remain a flashpoint on college campuses at the start of the new school year. Both the accused and those accusing their classmates, teachers or others of sexual assault have faulted institutions for shoddy investigations or biased tribunals. Mishandling complaints can prove costly: Michigan State University agreed this spring to a $500 million payment to settle allegations by hundreds of girls and women that it didn’t appropriately investigate or respond to claims of assault by longtime sports-medicine doctor Larry Nassar. The University of Southern California is facing numerous lawsuits about its own response to allegations against a campus gynecologist. Liz Hill, a spokeswoman for the Education Department, said the agency was in the midst of a “deliberative process” and that reports of the rule’s contents, first disclosed by the New York Times, are “premature and speculative.” She declined to comment further. In a speech last year, Mrs. DeVos likened the campus processes used to adjudicate sexual assault to “kangaroo courts” that followed arbitrary rules and offered inadequate protections to those involved. “Survivors, victims of a lack of due process, and campus administrators have all told me that the current approach does a disservice to everyone involved,” she said. The new rules drew swift condemnation from victims’ rights advocates, who said they represent an effort to scale back newfound protections for women and other victims of sexual assault. “They are making it more difficult for young people to be able to report sexual assault, and they are tipping the scales so that it will be very difficult for any student who is accused to be held accountable,” said Anurima Bhargava, who headed civil rights enforcement for schools and colleges in the Justice Department during the Obama administration. The rules will make other changes designed to strengthen protections for accused students under the civil rights law called Title IX. They will require that students be allowed to cross-examine their accusers, a practice the Obama administration sought to discourage because questions could be “traumatic or intimidating.” They will also allow schools to choose which parties, if any, should be permitted to appeal cases. The Obama guidelines required schools to permit both parties to appeal rulings, but critics said that practice too often forced schools to retry accused students who had been previously found innocent. The Obama administration also discouraged the use of mediation, even if voluntary, to punish alleged perpetrators of sexual assault. The new rules will permit that practice. The administration also will explicitly allow schools to provide “supportive measures” to students who choose not to file a formal sexual- assault complaint. Calls to overhaul the sexual-harassment complaint process have been growing for years since the Obama administration put in place the new guidelines, and critics have extended beyond conservative voices. University administrators, in particular, said the old process put undue restraints on their ability to handle assault cases, and that the Obama administration’s stance led schools to fear that any misstep could prompt a costly federal investigation. An analysis by The Wall Street Journal earlier this year found that, as the Education Department was preparing its new rules, its civil-rights division was opening fewer sexual harassment investigations into higher education institutions and closing them at a significantly faster clip. —Melissa Korn contributed to this article. Write to Michelle Hackman at [email protected] Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
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President Trump told reporters on Saturday that he took a test for COVID-19 on Friday night and the test is currently pending in a lab.Why it matters: The president was exposed to multiple people who have tested positive for the virus.Details: The president has come in contact with at least two individuals who later tested positive for the novel coronavirus, according to a memo shared close to midnight on Friday by Sean Conley, the president's physician. Conley had said that there is no need for Trump to undergo a home quarantine or COVID-19 testing at this time. But, the CDC advises older adults, who are at a higher risk of getting sick from the virus, to "keep away from others who are sick, limit close contact and wash your hands often."COVID-19 is thought to spread mainly between people who are within six feet of each other and through coughing and sneezing, per the CDC. Spread of the virus may be possible before symptoms are apparent.Of note: "Out of an abundance of caution, temperature checks are now being performed on any individuals who are in close contact with the President and Vice President," White House spokesperson Judd Deere said in a statement to reporters on Saturday. Those "in close contact" include reporters in the White House, per a pool report.Catch up quick: Trump indicated at a Friday press conference that he'd "most likely" get tested for coronavirus. "I don't know that I have exposure, but I don't have any of the symptoms," he said, adding that he spoke with White House doctors on the issue.Three people visiting Mar-a-Lago last weekend have now tested positive for COVID-19, the Wall Street Journal reports, and Trump "is known to have interacted with two of them."Trump was not in contact with the CPAC 2020 attendee who tested positive for COVID-19, the American Conservative Union said last week.Read the memo from the president's physician:Go deeper: Bolsonaro aide tests positive for coronavirus days after Trump meeting
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The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) air policy chief is leaving amid ethics concerns.The agency on Wednesday announced that Bill Wehrum, the head of EPA's Office of Air and Radiation, will leave the agency by the end of June. The announcement comes a few months after lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee launched an investigation into whether Wehrum and his deputy improperly aided former energy industry clients after joining the EPA.Wehrum, along with the office’s senior counsel, David Harlow, formerly worked at the law firm Hunton Andrews Kurth, where he represented Utility Air Regulatory Group. The umbrella group represents a number of power plant operators that EPA regulates.The lawmakers wrote an April later to Wehrum’s former employer saying they were “deeply troubled by several reports of unethical behavior by EPA officials, particularly in the Office of Air and Radiation.”“We are concerned that two former employees of your firm — William Wehrum and David Harlow — may have violated federal ethics rules by helping reverse EPA’s position in ongoing litigation,” Committee Chairman Frank Pallone Jr.Frank Joseph PalloneLawmakers discussing potential compromise to revive drug pricing measure House Democrats announce bill to rein in tech algorithms House Democrats ramp up probe of FDA approval of Alzheimer's drug MORE (D-N.J.) wrote in a letter to Hunton that was also signed by Reps. Paul TonkoPaul David TonkoDemocratic lawmakers criticize USPS plan to purchase gas-powered trucks The Biden administration's first year: Slow and steady does not win this race Hillicon Valley — Inside the Twitter shakeup MORE (D-N.Y.) and Diana DeGetteDiana Louise DeGetteNebraska Republican tests positive for COVID-19 in latest congressional breakthrough case The Hill's Morning Report - Presented by Facebook - Voting rights week for Democrats (again) Maryland Democrat announces positive COVID-19 test MORE (D-Colo.).The agency under President TrumpDonald TrumpHillicon Valley — Cyberattack hits Ukrainian defense On The Money — GOP senators block Biden's Fed picks Florida county clerk's typo directed ticketed drivers to site selling Trump merchandise MORE has rolled back a number of regulations that had long been targets of the coal industry and coal-reliant utilities.Wehrum specifically was an integral player in relaxing a number of Obama-era pollution rules, including most recently Tuesday’s finalized repeal of the "once in, always in" regulation for sources of air pollution at “major” industrial power plants.Wehrum has led the EPA’s efforts to repeal and replace the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan, rolling out a final rule earlier this month to ease restrictions on coal fired power plants, called the American Clean Energy (ACE) rule. That rule is likely to face a court battle.The head of EPA’s air pollution department has also played a role in shaping the new federal vehicle emissions standards, which critics argue will allow more pollution from tailpipe emissions.In a statement Wednesday, EPA Administrator Andrew WheelerAndrew WheelerLobbying world Overnight Energy & Environment — Virginia lawmakers block ex-Trump EPA chief Virginia lawmakers reject former Trump EPA chief along party lines MORE suggested that Wehrum had been anticipating leaving the EPA after the finalization of the rules.“I would like to thank Assistant Administrator Bill Wehrum for his service, his dedication to his job, the leadership he provided to his staff and the agency, and for his friendship," Wheeler wrote. "While I have known of Bill’s desire to leave at the end of this month for quite sometime, the date has still come too soon. I applaud Bill and his team for finalizing the Affordable Clean Energy regulation last week and for the tremendous progress he has made in so many other regulatory initiatives."Wheeler said Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator Anne Idsal will takeover Wehrum's role.Environmental groups cheered Wehrum’s departure Wednesday, saying he did more harm than good at the EPA.“Wehrum did more damage to the Clean Air Act than any other person in the last 40 years,” Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. “His legacy will be more premature deaths, more hospital visits and more asthma attacks to our most vulnerable citizens.”Wehrum is one of a number of EPA employees who have faced criticism over ties to previous clients. Wheeler has also come under fire for appearing to favor regulatory decisions that would benefit his former energy lobbyist clients.Noah Bookbinder, executive director for watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, called Wehrum’s departure just the tip of the iceberg for employees who need to leave due to ethical concerns.“William Wehrum was emblematic of the administration’s struggles to remain ethical," Bookbinder said in a statement. “While it’s a good thing that Wehrum’s potential ethics problems will no longer affect the agency, the tone is set at the top, and if the EPA is to clean up the mess started by Scott PruittEdward (Scott) Scott PruittTrump's relocation of the Bureau of Land Management was part of a familiar Republican playbook Understanding the barriers between scientists, the public and the truth Overnight Energy & Environment — Biden makes return to pre-Trump national monument boundaries official MORE, the Trump administration needs to get serious about policing its ethical failures.”Updated at 11:30 a.m.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday directed a federal judge to drop a criminal case against President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn for lying to the FBI, handing the Justice Department a victory in the politically charged case.Wednesday’s ruling by a three-judge panel is likely to anger Democrats, who have accused Attorney General William Barr of improperly meddling in criminal cases to help benefit the Republican Trump’s friends and political allies.A source familiar with the matter told Reuters that Wednesday’s ruling will likely be appealed to a larger panel of the federal appeals court.Trump, who has signaled a possible pardon for Flynn, welcomed the ruling. “I’m very happy about General Flynn. He was treated horribly,” Trump told reporters at the White House.In the 2-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled in favor of Flynn and the Trump administration in preventing U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan from exercising his discretion on whether to grant the department’s motion to clear Flynn, who twice pleaded guilty.The ruling prevents Judge Sullivan from hearing arguments at a July 16 hearing from retired judge John Gleeson, whom he appointed as a “friend of the court” to argue against dropping the case.“In this case, the district court’s actions will result in specific harms to the exercise of the executive branch’s exclusive prosecutorial power,” wrote Judge Neomi Rao, who was appointed by Trump.“The contemplated proceedings would likely require the Executive to reveal the internal deliberative process behind its exercise of prosecutorial discretion.”Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general, was one of several former Trump aides charged under former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation that detailed Moscow’s interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.Flynn twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations with Russia’s then-ambassador, Sergey Kislyak.He then switched lawyers to pursue a new scorched-earth tactic that accused the FBI of entrapping him, and asked the judge to dismiss the charge.WILKINS DISSENTSJudge Robert Wilkins, an Obama administration appointee, dissented.He said the Justice Department’s flip-flop on the case raised questions that merited further scrutiny by the District Court.“In 2017, the then-Acting Attorney General told the Vice President that Flynn’s false statements ‘posed a potential compromise situation for Flynn’ with the Russians,” Wilkins wrote. “Now, in a complete reversal, the government says none of this is true.”“This is no mere about-face; it is more akin to turning around an aircraft carrier.”After the Justice Department took the highly unusual step of seeking to abandon the case against Flynn, Sullivan appointed Gleeson to argue against the Justice Department’s request.FILE PHOTO: Former U.S. national security adviser Michael Flynn departs U.S. District Court In Washington, U.S., December 18, 2018. REUTERS/Joshua RobertsHe also asked Gleeson to weigh in on whether Sullivan should hold Flynn in contempt for lying when pleading guilty.Sullivan has said he cannot serve as a “rubber stamp” and must carefully review the facts in this “unprecedented” request.In the majority opinion on Wednesday, the appeals court called Sullivan’s appointment of Gleeson “troubling,” and said it was granting Flynn’s petition to get the case dismissed to “prevent the judicial usurpation of executive power.”Gleeson had urged Sullivan to proceed with sentencing Flynn and accused the department of “gross abuse of prosecutorial power” in to “provide special treatment to a favored friend and political ally of the President of the United States.”Beth Wilkinson, a veteran Washington trial lawyer who argued the case on Judge Sullivan’s behalf before the appeals court, declined to comment.Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; additional reporting by Steve Holland and Mark Hosenball; Editing by Alistair Bell and Howard Gollerfor-phone-onlyfor-tablet-portrait-upfor-tablet-landscape-upfor-desktop-upfor-wide-desktop-up
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President TrumpDonald TrumpHillicon Valley — Cyberattack hits Ukrainian defense On The Money — GOP senators block Biden's Fed picks Florida county clerk's typo directed ticketed drivers to site selling Trump merchandise MORE said on Wednesday three Americans imprisoned in North Korea have been freed and are on their way home with Secretary of State Mike PompeoMike PompeoThe specter of a nuclear arms race in the Middle East China and Russia declare Cold War II against the West Trump, DeSantis tensions shadow this year's CPAC MORE, a major diplomatic breakthrough with a longtime U.S. adversary.Trump took to Twitter to make the announcement, which has been expected for the last week.“I am pleased to inform you that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in the air and on his way back from North Korea with the 3 wonderful gentlemen that everyone is looking so forward to meeting,” the president wrote.I am pleased to inform you that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in the air and on his way back from North Korea with the 3 wonderful gentlemen that everyone is looking so forward to meeting. They seem to be in good health. Also, good meeting with Kim Jong Un. Date & Place set.— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 9, 2018Trump said he would greet Pompeo and the three Americans at Joint Base Andrews at 2 a.m. Thursday morning.Secretary Pompeo and his “guests” will be landing at Andrews Air Force Base at 2:00 A.M. in the morning. I will be there to greet them. Very exciting!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 9, 2018The release of the Americans came while Pompeo was visiting North Korea to prepare for a high-stakes summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un aimed at denuclearizing the rogue nation.Trump said Pompeo had a “good meeting" adding, “Date & Place set,” appearing to refer to a day and venue for the summit.White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement that Trump views the detainee release “as a positive gesture of goodwill” ahead of the talks.She said the Americans “appear to be in good condition and were all able to walk on the plane without assistance.”The U.S. has long demanded the release of Kim Dong-chul, Tony Kim and Kim Hak-song, the three American citizens who were imprisoned on charges of espionage or other anti-state activities against North Korea.Their imprisonment, which was widely seen as unjust, further heightened tensions with Pyongyang at a time when Trump and Kim threatened each other with nuclear strikes. Otto Warmbier, the last American to be released from North Korean custody, died shortly after returning for the U.S. Trump blamed North Korea for the brain damage and other injuries Warmbier suffered.With the latest release, no other Americans are believed to be detained in North Korea, clearing the way for talks. “We have been asking for the release of these detainees for … 17 months,” Pompeo told reporters in Japan on Tuesday before continuing onto Pyongyang. “I think it’d be a great gesture if they would choose to do so.”The new secretary of State was on his second trip to North Korea this year to meet with Kim in preparation for the summit with Trump. The meeting is expected to take place in May or early June.Kim late last month met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and crossed into South Korea for the first time.-- Updated at 10:18 a.m.
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The U.S. Department of Justice building in Washington. On Wednesday the Senate confirmed a new head of the DOJ’s criminal division. Photo: Jim Bourg/Reuters Updated July 11, 2018 5:44 pm ET The Senate Wednesday narrowly confirmed President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Justice Department’s criminal division, over objections from Democrats concerned about his work for a Russian bank with ties to President Vladimir Putin. The Senate’s 51-to-48 vote for Brian Benczkowski came one year after he was nominated to the post and as the Justice Department continues to struggle with a lack of permanent, politically appointed leaders to oversee many of its most important units. Department officials say the high-profile vacancies have strained resources and made it difficult to set and execute long-term priorities. The agency recently set aside its search for the No. 3 official, focusing instead on other nominees still awaiting confirmation. Mr. Benczkowski, 48 years old, was a Justice Department official during the Bush administration and later served as Republican staff director of the Senate Judiciary Committee under then-Sen. Jeff Sessions. He also helped manage Mr. Trump’s transition team for the Justice Department. Mr. Sessions, now attorney general, on Wednesday praised Mr. Benczkowski’s “diverse public service and criminal law background.” In addition to his government service, Mr. Benczkowski worked for the law firm Kirkland & Ellis. “At a time like this, with surging violent crime and an unprecedented drug epidemic, this position is especially important,” Mr. Sessions said. The Criminal Division handles specialized criminal prosecutions around the country and is at the helm of some of the highest profile federal cases. Mr. Benczkowski’s nomination stalled when Democrats criticized his lack of prosecutorial experience and his representation of Alfa Bank, which drew attention in 2016 after news reports of a possible server connection between the bank and the Trump Organization. The bank said it was targeted by hackers who created a fake cyber trail to suggest extensive links with businesses owned by Mr. Trump. Mr. Benczkowski said during his confirmation hearing that he would recuse himself from any matters involving the bank for at least two years. But Democrats said his appointment would hurt the Justice Department’s investigation into possible Trump campaign ties to Russian election meddling, which is overseen by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Mr. Benczkowski has said he wouldn’t broadly recuse himself from that probe. “Confirming Benczkowski puts that investigation in jeopardy,” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee. A bipartisan group of former Justice Department officials has expressed their support for him, saying he would “work hard to protect the independence and integrity of this important institution.” Write to Sadie Gurman at [email protected] Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
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A Thursday attack outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport Kabul, Afghanistan, killed 13 U.S. service members supporting Operation Freedom’s Sentinel.Eleven Marines, one Navy corpsman and one soldier were “killed as the result of an enemy attack while supporting non-combatant evacuation operations,” according to a Saturday press release from the Department of Defense, which released the names of the U.S. troops.The names were released 24 hours after families of the deceased were notified.For the Marine Corps, the deceased are:• Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo, 25, of Lawrence, Massachusetts, assigned to 5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade, Naval Support Activity Bahrain.“Her service was not only crucial to evacuating thousands of women and children, but epitomizes what it means to be a Marine: putting herself in danger for the protection of American values so that others might enjoy them,” Marine 1st Lt. John “Jack” Coppolasaid told the Boston Globe Saturday in a statement. “She is a hero, and her legacy will never be forgotten.”Sgt. Johanny Rosario-Pichardo (Naval Amphibious Force, Task Force 51/5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade Facebook page) •Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, 23, of Sacramento, California, assigned to Combat Logistics Battalion 24, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.Gee entered active duty in the Marine Corps in 2017, according to a Facebook post from II Marine Expeditionary Force.She was a ground electronics transmission systems maintainer assigned to Combat Logistics Battalion 24, a subordinate unit of Combat Logistics Regiment 27, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force.Her previous assignments include recruit training at Parris Island, South Carolina; School of Infantry–East in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; Aviation Accession & Primary Military Occupational Specialty School in Pensacola, Florida; and Marine Corps Communications-Electronics School in Twentynine Palms, California, according to II MEF.Her military awards include the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal and the National Defense and Global War on Terrorism Service Medals.Atlantic Ocean, April 5, 2021- U.S. Marine Corps Corporal Nicole Gee (left middle), a maintenance technician with 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), awaits the launch of an MV-22B Osprey during an en route care exercise aboard the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7), April 5, 2021. 24th MEU, embarked with the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group, is forward deployed in the U.S. 6th fleet area of operations in support of U.S. national security interests in Europe and Africa. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sergeant Mark E Morrow Jr/Released) The other Marines were assigned to 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, California.Maj. Gen. Roger B. Turner Jr., commanding general of the 1st Marine Division, said in a Saturday statement, “I extend my deepest, heartfelt condolences to the families, friends and loved ones of the 1st Marine Division servicemen who lost their lives while heroically safeguarding the evacuation of thousands of U.S citizens and faithful allies from Hamid Karzai International Airport.” They “paid the ultimate price to defend our nation and extend the reach of freedom beyond our shores. We cherish the legacy these warriors leave behind and commit our resources to support the wounded and bereaved.”The servicemen were members of 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, currently forward-deployed with the Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force–Crisis Response–Central Command, which deployed in February and is scheduled to return later this fall, Turner said in a statement. “They were tasked to assist with the evacuation of the U.S. Embassy, U.S. citizens, special immigrant visa applicants, and those Afghans who worked alongside us, served alongside of us, and provided invaluable assistance to us,” Turner said. • Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover, 31, of Salt Lake City, Utah. His military occupational specialty was 0369, infantry unit leader. His awards and decorations include the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Certificate of Commendation (Individual), Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, Letter of Appreciation, Meritorious Mast, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, NATO Medal-ISAF Afghanistan, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon and Global War on Terrorism Service Medal. Additional awards pending approval may include Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon and Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, according to a 1st Marine Division press release.Staff Sgt. Darin Hoover • Cpl. Hunter Lopez, 22, of Indio, California, a rifleman. His awards and decorations include a Certificate of Appreciation, Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, Letter of Appreciation, Meritorious Mast, National Defense Service Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and Global War on Terrorism Service Medal. Additional awards pending approval may include Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon and Sea Service Deployment Ribbon. Cpl. Hunter Lopez • Cpl. Daegan W. Page, 23, of Omaha, Nebraska, a rifleman. His awards and decorations include the Korean Defense Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon and Global War on Terrorism Service Medal. Additional awards pending approval may include Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon and Sea Service Deployment Ribbon. Marine Cpl. Daegan Page • Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez, 22, of Logansport, Indiana, a rifleman. His awards and decorations include the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal. Additional awards pending approval may include Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon and Sea Service Deployment Ribbon. Marine Cpl. Humberto Sanchez • Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza, 20, of Rio Bravo, Texas, a rifleman. His awards and decorations include the National Defense Service Medal and Global War on Terrorism Service Medal. Additional awards pending approval may include Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon and Sea Service Deployment Ribbon. Lance Cpl. David Espinoza • Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz, 20, of St. Charles, Missouri, a rifleman. His awards and decorations include the National Defense Service Medal and Global War on Terrorism Service Medal. Additional awards pending approval may include Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon and Sea Service Deployment Ribbon. Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz • Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, 20, of Jackson, Wyoming, a rifleman. His awards and decorations include the National Defense Service Medal and Global War on Terrorism Service Medal. Additional awards pending approval may include Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon and Sea Service Deployment Ribbon. Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum • Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola, 20, of Rancho Cucamonga, California, a rifleman. His awards and decorations National Defense Service Medal and Global War on Terrorism Service Medal. Additional awards pending approval may include Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon and Sea Service Deployment Ribbon. Lance Cpl. Dylan Merola • Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui, 20, of Norco, California.His awards and decorations include the National Defense Service Medal and Global War on Terrorism Service Medal. Additional awards pending approval may include Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon and Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui For the Navy, the deceased is:• Navy Corpsman Maxton W. Soviak, 22, of Berlin Heights, Ohio, assigned to 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton, California.His awards and decorations include the National Defense Service Medal and Good Conduct Medal, Flag letter of Accommodation. Additional awards pending approval may include Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon and Sea Service Deployment Ribbon. “Max was a wonderful son who loved his family, his community, and was proud to serve in the U.S. Navy,” his family said in a statement. “He was excited about the opportunities the Navy would offer him and planned to make the Navy a career. We are incredibly proud of his service to our country. Words cannot express how heartbroken we are with this news and we will miss Max tremendously. We are struggling to come to grips with this personal tragedy and prefer to grieve with close family and friends. Maxton was an awesome young man who was well liked in the community, as evidenced by the outpouring of condolences from teachers, coaches, employers, family and friends. He was always proud of being part of a state champion wrestling team and state playoff final four football team two years in a row, but he was most proud to be a Navy Corpsman and a ‘devil doc’ for the Marines. His final words to his mother over FaceTime when he was telling her goodbye was after she told him to be safe, were, ‘don’t worry mom, my guys got me. They won’t let anything happen to me.’ Today she realized that they all just went together.” Soviak leaves behind 12 brothers and sisters who “are all hurting terribly.” “As we mourn the loss of our son, we also mourn for the loss of the Marines and Soldier who were killed and pray for the speedy recovery of all of those wounded in Afghanistan. As you can imagine, this is a very difficult time for our family and we respectfully request that you honor our privacy.” Max Soviak For the Army, the deceased is:• Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss, 23, of Corryton, Tennessee. Knauss was assigned to 9th PSYOP Battalion, 8th PSYOP Group, Ft. Bragg, North Carolina.Army Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss This is a breaking news story and will be updated as Military Times learns more about each service member.Andrea Scott is editor of Marine Corps Times. On Twitter: @_andreascott. Andrea Scott is editor of Marine Corps Times.
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Governor Rick Perry addresses a large audience in attendance at the National Right To Life Convention Thursday, June 27, 2013, in Grapevine, Texas. AP Updated July 7, 2013 2:28 pm ET Texas Governor Rick Perry Sunday expressed confidence the state legislature, convened for a new special session, will pass an abortion law blocked last month by a filibuster. "Texas is a place where we defend life," Mr. Perry said about the legislation that would establish new abortion restrictions on "Fox News Sunday." The Republican governor said opponents of the measure had packed the state Senate's gallery in support of the filibuster led by Democrat state Senator Wendy Davis. These opponents repeatedly disrupted the proceedings on the Senate floor with "the express purpose of running out the clock," Mr. Perry said. "Never in the history of Texas have [we] seen that type of mob rule." Mr. Perry said such disruptions will not be allowed again. "We will get this done," he said. Mr. Perry, who has said he will make an announcement regarding his political future Monday, declined to give any advance details. "Tomorrow in San Antonio I will announce my plans," he said. The governor faces re-election in 2014 if he decides to run again. The onetime contender for the Republican nomination for U.S. president in 2012 also didn't rule out trying again in 2016. "Certainly that's an option," he said, though he added he was currently focused on several Texas legislative initiatives. Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
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A man who was spotted asking for beer money on ESPN's "College GameDay" broadcast has apologized for racist tweets that were uncovered by The Des Moines Register.The Register reported that it uncovered two racist jokes in Carson King's previous tweets, noting that one compared black mothers to gorillas and another made light of black people killed in the Holocaust.The tweets were from 2012, when King was 16 years old.King told local NBC affiliate WHO 13 that a reporter for the Register contacted him after his initial appearance on "GameDay" went viral and resulted in more than $1 million being deposited in his Venmo account by strangers.King apologized for the tweets in a statement delivered at a press conference Tuesday, before the publication of the Des Moines Register report, where he noted that he still plans to donate the money he received to charity."I cannot go back and change what I posted when I was a 16-year-old. I can apologize and work to improve every day and make a meaningful difference in people’s lives. And, I am so very thankful for the generosity of the thousands of people who have donated to our fundraising push for the Stead Family Children’s Hospital," he said, according to NBC.NBC noted that Anheuser Busch representatives have reportedly informed King that the company will sever its relationship with him after fulfilling a public agreement to donate to a charity on his behalf.“Carson King had multiple social media posts that do not align with our values as a brand or as a company and we will have no further association with him. We are honoring our commitment by donating more than $350,000 to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics," the spokesperson told NBC. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 faxThe contents of this site are © 1998 - 2022 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved.
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