ReportWire

Tag: CNN

  • CNN Is Trying to Sell a Streaming Service Again (Only More Expensive This Time)

    [ad_1]

    For years now, CNN has been haplessly trying to modernize its media franchise by launching a streaming service. Those of you aware of these efforts will recall CNN+, which launched a few years ago and, despite an ample amount of buzz and financing, humiliatingly lasted less than a month.

    Well, not to be deterred, CNN is now trying it again.

    This week, the news network’s owner, Warner Bros. Discovery, announced its next venture into streaming: CNN “All Access.” From the looks of things, as reported by CNBC, “All Access” doesn’t look terribly dissimilar from the last attempt to make this thing happen.

    “It’s an essential step in CNN’s evolution,” Reuters quotes Alex MacCallum, CNN Worldwide’s executive vice president for digital products and services, as saying.

    It may be essential, but will it actually work? That’s the question that hangs over this entire operation. It will likely only work if the network can corner a market of folks who feel that it’s in their best interest to shell out a certain amount of money so that they can stream CNN news programs—and the jury’s still out on whether such a market even exists.

    Speaking of money, the pricing for “All Access” is comparable (but actually higher) than the fees for CNN+, which, at the time of its launch in 2022, cost $6 a month, or $60 a year. “All Access” costs $6.99 a month or $69.99 annually, CNBC reports, so, inflation considered, it’s not a terrible leap in price. The outlet also notes that, in an effort to gin up some initial interest, the service is also offering a limited-time annual subscription that only costs $41.99. To qualify for that deal, you have to sign up by January 5.

    If you’ll recall, CNN+ was developed several years ago and was initially hailed as the future of news programming. Problematically, almost nobody signed up for the service. At the time, CNBC reported that, in the first few weeks of the service, only 10,000 people watched CNN+ on a daily basis. Some commentators noted that the demographic most committed to accessing media through streaming (younger viewers) was not exactly the demographic most known for watching CNN (older viewers). At the time of its unfortunate launch, it was compared to Quibi, the financially bloated streaming service launched in 2020 that sought to monetize “quick bite” infotainment but crashed and burned inside of a year.

    No one knows whether CNN+: The Sequel will flounder or flourish. The news network has obviously set the bar pretty low for itself. With CNN+’s dismally short-lived tenure, the new service probably only needs to last two months to be considered an improvement by the company’s C-suite.

    [ad_2]

    Lucas Ropek

    Source link

  • Biden starts radiation therapy for aggressive form of prostate cancer

    [ad_1]

    Shocking health announcement coming from the Biden family. Former President Joe Biden diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones. His personal office releasing this statement on Sunday saying Last week, President Joe Biden was seen for *** new finding of *** prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms. On Friday, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. By *** Gleason score of 9 with metastasis to the bone. While this represents *** more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone sensitive, which allows for effective management. The statement went on to say that the 82-year-old and his family are reviewing treatment options. The fact that we’re told that this is metastatic now, the 5 year survival rate on average is about 33%. So you know there are some people that do well and some people that don’t do well. The American Cancer Society estimates 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime. Because there’s such *** high volume, there’s *** lot of research dedicated to its treatment. Medical experts say cancer that has spread to *** patient’s bones can add further complications. Biden, as I said, has always lived his life. In the public eye and has always thought there was *** value in showing other people going through difficult times. His former Vice President Kamala Harris posting this on X. Joe is *** fighter, and I know he will face this challenge with the same strength, resilience, and optimism that have always defined his life and leadership. We are hopeful for *** full and speedy recovery. I’m Jen Sullivan reporting.

    Former President Joe Biden has started radiation therapy as part of his treatment for prostate cancer, a spokesperson for the former president told CNN.Video above from May 2025: Former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with an “aggressive” form of prostate cancer”As part of a treatment plan for prostate cancer, President Biden is currently undergoing radiation therapy and hormone treatment,” the spokesperson said.The news was first reported by NBC News. A spokesperson for the former president, who turns 83 next month, did not give a timeline for the treatment.Biden’s personal office revealed in May that he had been diagnosed with an “aggressive form” of prostate cancer that had spread to his bones.”The expectation is we’re going to be able to beat this,” Biden told CNN in his first comments about the diagnosis two weeks after he received it. “It’s not in any organ, it’s in – my bones are strong, it hadn’t penetrated. So, I’m feeling good.”He added that he had started a pill regimen to treat the cancer.Last month, Biden had Mohs surgery, an operation used to remove skin cancer lesions. In that procedure, thin layers of skin are removed and examined under a microscope until the doctor sees no signs of skin cancer cells. It’s typically used to treat cancerous lesions that have returned after previous treatment, are fast-growing, or are in important areas like the face, hands or genitals.In 2023, while president, Biden had a lesion removed from his chest, which later tested positive for basal cell carcinoma. At the time, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, who served as Biden’s physician in the White House, said “all cancerous tissue was successfully removed” and Biden would continue “dermatological surveillance.”Basal cell carcinoma is the most common type of skin cancer. It’s slow-growing and usually curable.

    Former President Joe Biden has started radiation therapy as part of his treatment for prostate cancer, a spokesperson for the former president told CNN.

    Video above from May 2025: Former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with an “aggressive” form of prostate cancer

    “As part of a treatment plan for prostate cancer, President Biden is currently undergoing radiation therapy and hormone treatment,” the spokesperson said.

    The news was first reported by NBC News. A spokesperson for the former president, who turns 83 next month, did not give a timeline for the treatment.

    Biden’s personal office revealed in May that he had been diagnosed with an “aggressive form” of prostate cancer that had spread to his bones.

    “The expectation is we’re going to be able to beat this,” Biden told CNN in his first comments about the diagnosis two weeks after he received it. “It’s not in any organ, it’s in – my bones are strong, it hadn’t penetrated. So, I’m feeling good.”

    He added that he had started a pill regimen to treat the cancer.

    Last month, Biden had Mohs surgery, an operation used to remove skin cancer lesions. In that procedure, thin layers of skin are removed and examined under a microscope until the doctor sees no signs of skin cancer cells. It’s typically used to treat cancerous lesions that have returned after previous treatment, are fast-growing, or are in important areas like the face, hands or genitals.

    In 2023, while president, Biden had a lesion removed from his chest, which later tested positive for basal cell carcinoma. At the time, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, who served as Biden’s physician in the White House, said “all cancerous tissue was successfully removed” and Biden would continue “dermatological surveillance.”

    Basal cell carcinoma is the most common type of skin cancer. It’s slow-growing and usually curable.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Biden starts radiation therapy for aggressive form of prostate cancer

    [ad_1]

    Shocking health announcement coming from the Biden family. Former President Joe Biden diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones. His personal office releasing this statement on Sunday saying Last week, President Joe Biden was seen for *** new finding of *** prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms. On Friday, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. By *** Gleason score of 9 with metastasis to the bone. While this represents *** more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone sensitive, which allows for effective management. The statement went on to say that the 82-year-old and his family are reviewing treatment options. The fact that we’re told that this is metastatic now, the 5 year survival rate on average is about 33%. So you know there are some people that do well and some people that don’t do well. The American Cancer Society estimates 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime. Because there’s such *** high volume, there’s *** lot of research dedicated to its treatment. Medical experts say cancer that has spread to *** patient’s bones can add further complications. Biden, as I said, has always lived his life. In the public eye and has always thought there was *** value in showing other people going through difficult times. His former Vice President Kamala Harris posting this on X. Joe is *** fighter, and I know he will face this challenge with the same strength, resilience, and optimism that have always defined his life and leadership. We are hopeful for *** full and speedy recovery. I’m Jen Sullivan reporting.

    Former President Joe Biden has started radiation therapy as part of his treatment for prostate cancer, a spokesperson for the former president told CNN.Video above from May 2025: Former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with an “aggressive” form of prostate cancer”As part of a treatment plan for prostate cancer, President Biden is currently undergoing radiation therapy and hormone treatment,” the spokesperson said.The news was first reported by NBC News. A spokesperson for the former president, who turns 83 next month, did not give a timeline for the treatment.Biden’s personal office revealed in May that he had been diagnosed with an “aggressive form” of prostate cancer that had spread to his bones.”The expectation is we’re going to be able to beat this,” Biden told CNN in his first comments about the diagnosis two weeks after he received it. “It’s not in any organ, it’s in – my bones are strong, it hadn’t penetrated. So, I’m feeling good.”He added that he had started a pill regimen to treat the cancer.Last month, Biden had Mohs surgery, an operation used to remove skin cancer lesions. In that procedure, thin layers of skin are removed and examined under a microscope until the doctor sees no signs of skin cancer cells. It’s typically used to treat cancerous lesions that have returned after previous treatment, are fast-growing, or are in important areas like the face, hands or genitals.In 2023, while president, Biden had a lesion removed from his chest, which later tested positive for basal cell carcinoma. At the time, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, who served as Biden’s physician in the White House, said “all cancerous tissue was successfully removed” and Biden would continue “dermatological surveillance.”Basal cell carcinoma is the most common type of skin cancer. It’s slow-growing and usually curable.

    Former President Joe Biden has started radiation therapy as part of his treatment for prostate cancer, a spokesperson for the former president told CNN.

    Video above from May 2025: Former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with an “aggressive” form of prostate cancer

    “As part of a treatment plan for prostate cancer, President Biden is currently undergoing radiation therapy and hormone treatment,” the spokesperson said.

    The news was first reported by NBC News. A spokesperson for the former president, who turns 83 next month, did not give a timeline for the treatment.

    Biden’s personal office revealed in May that he had been diagnosed with an “aggressive form” of prostate cancer that had spread to his bones.

    “The expectation is we’re going to be able to beat this,” Biden told CNN in his first comments about the diagnosis two weeks after he received it. “It’s not in any organ, it’s in – my bones are strong, it hadn’t penetrated. So, I’m feeling good.”

    He added that he had started a pill regimen to treat the cancer.

    Last month, Biden had Mohs surgery, an operation used to remove skin cancer lesions. In that procedure, thin layers of skin are removed and examined under a microscope until the doctor sees no signs of skin cancer cells. It’s typically used to treat cancerous lesions that have returned after previous treatment, are fast-growing, or are in important areas like the face, hands or genitals.

    In 2023, while president, Biden had a lesion removed from his chest, which later tested positive for basal cell carcinoma. At the time, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, who served as Biden’s physician in the White House, said “all cancerous tissue was successfully removed” and Biden would continue “dermatological surveillance.”

    Basal cell carcinoma is the most common type of skin cancer. It’s slow-growing and usually curable.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • 19 people dead or missing after massive blast at Tennessee military explosive plant, officials say

    [ad_1]

    Nineteen people are dead or missing after a massive blast obliterated a building at a Tennessee explosives facility on Friday, authorities said — a “mass detonation” so significant that it rattled homes miles away.The early-morning explosion at Accurate Energetic Systems, which manufactures military and demolitions explosives, left charred debris and mangled vehicles across a vast area. The blast was felt as far as 15 miles away and scattered debris over half a square mile.Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said there are fatalities, but did not want to declare a death toll yet — just that “we’re missing 19 souls.”“I always wish for the best,” Davis said. “Is there a possibility that somebody might be injured somewhere, or somebody that we don’t know about? Yes.”Davis described the aftermath of the explosion as “the most devastating scene that I’ve seen in my career.”“It’s hell,” Davis told reporters Friday evening. “It’s hell on us. It’s hell on everybody involved.”Video below: Aerial footage shows the extent of the damageWork at the explosion site will continue into the night, he said.“We’re working for our people, and we want to take care of our families,” an emotional Davis said. “I understand that some families get mad. I understand that some people get upset … We’re doing the very best we can to take care of this.”Davis said investigators from multiple agencies have been assisting with the response, but have not yet determined what caused the explosion. The FBI will be assisting.“Do I see a short-term explanation? No. Do I see us being here for many days? Yes, I do see that,” he said.Families of the victims were still being notified, said Davis, noting that people were undergoing a “gauntlet of emotions” as first responders continued to search the area. The tragedy hit close-knit communities.“I can tell you right off the top of my head that there’s three families that’s involved in this that I’m very close to,” Davis said. “When you have small counties like this, we know each other, we communicate with each other, we love each other.”The blast shook nearby homes and set off smaller explosions, local officials say.The explosion, which happened around 7:45 a.m. local time, was a “devastating blast,” but responders were able to secure the scene by late morning, Davis said.Three people with “minor injuries” from the explosion were treated at TriStar medical facilities in Dickson, Casey Stapp, the spokesperson for TriStar Health, said. Stapp said two people were released, and one person is still receiving treatment at an emergency room.Accurate Energetic Systems is located about an hour southwest of Nashville, Tennessee, on the Hickman and Humphreys County line, the Humphreys County Sheriff’s Office told CNN.Numerous law enforcement resources from across the state of Tennessee have been dispatched to assist in the investigation, a source familiar told CNN. Those personnel include federal agents and the Tennessee Highway Patrol Special Operations Unit, among other agencies. The relatively remote area is typically patrolled by smaller law enforcement departments, the person said, which has prompted other agencies to volunteer resources for support.Hickman County Mayor Jim Bates said the facility has about 80 employees, but it’s unclear how many were in the building when the explosion happened. Bates said one building on the site was completely destroyed.“It’s pretty devastating to see this,” Bates said.“It’s going to be an investigation that’s probably going to go on for days,” the mayor said. “This facility, they do manufacture, not only military, but demolition explosives for road work and things like that.”Tennessee state Sen. Kerry Roberts told CNN the facility sits on a 1,300-acre campus and is a beloved employer for many people in the community.He said it’s common to see employees at community events and people wearing baseball caps with the company name on them.“It is a well-loved company in the area,” Roberts said. “So this is going to have a devastating impact on quite a few families … it is heartbreaking.”Residents who live near the facility say they felt the impact of the explosion.“I thought the house had collapsed with me inside of it,” Gentry Stover told The Associated Press by phone. “I live very close to Accurate, and I realized about 30 seconds after I woke up that it had to have been that.”Cody Warren, who lives in Lobelville, which is 21 miles away from the facility, said the sound from the explosion woke him up, and he thought lightning struck his house.Accurate Energetic Systems specializes in making military explosives, according to the Humphreys County Sheriff’s Office.The company’s Facebook page says it manufactures “various high explosive compositions and specialty products for the U.S. DoD and U.S. Industrial markets.”In April 2014, one person was killed and four others injured during a blast at the plant, CNN affiliate WSMV reported. The explosion, in the back of a building that housed shotgun ammunition, caused extensive damage. At the time, authorities said several companies operated on the Accurate Energetic Systems property but the blast happened in an area operated by Rio Ammunition.In the player below: Here is a look at what the plant looked like after the 2014 explosionLast month, the US Department of Defense awarded Accurate Energetic Systems a contract for nearly $120 million “for the procurement of TNT.”The Hickman County Sheriff’s Office is asking everyone to avoid the area as emergency responders do their work.

    Nineteen people are dead or missing after a massive blast obliterated a building at a Tennessee explosives facility on Friday, authorities said — a “mass detonation” so significant that it rattled homes miles away.

    The early-morning explosion at Accurate Energetic Systems, which manufactures military and demolitions explosives, left charred debris and mangled vehicles across a vast area. The blast was felt as far as 15 miles away and scattered debris over half a square mile.

    Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said there are fatalities, but did not want to declare a death toll yet — just that “we’re missing 19 souls.”

    “I always wish for the best,” Davis said. “Is there a possibility that somebody might be injured somewhere, or somebody that we don’t know about? Yes.”

    Davis described the aftermath of the explosion as “the most devastating scene that I’ve seen in my career.”

    “It’s hell,” Davis told reporters Friday evening. “It’s hell on us. It’s hell on everybody involved.”

    Video below: Aerial footage shows the extent of the damage

    Work at the explosion site will continue into the night, he said.

    “We’re working for our people, and we want to take care of our families,” an emotional Davis said. “I understand that some families get mad. I understand that some people get upset … We’re doing the very best we can to take care of this.”

    Davis said investigators from multiple agencies have been assisting with the response, but have not yet determined what caused the explosion. The FBI will be assisting.

    “Do I see a short-term explanation? No. Do I see us being here for many days? Yes, I do see that,” he said.

    Families of the victims were still being notified, said Davis, noting that people were undergoing a “gauntlet of emotions” as first responders continued to search the area. The tragedy hit close-knit communities.

    “I can tell you right off the top of my head that there’s three families that’s involved in this that I’m very close to,” Davis said. “When you have small counties like this, we know each other, we communicate with each other, we love each other.”

    The blast shook nearby homes and set off smaller explosions, local officials say.

    The explosion, which happened around 7:45 a.m. local time, was a “devastating blast,” but responders were able to secure the scene by late morning, Davis said.

    Three people with “minor injuries” from the explosion were treated at TriStar medical facilities in Dickson, Casey Stapp, the spokesperson for TriStar Health, said. Stapp said two people were released, and one person is still receiving treatment at an emergency room.

    Accurate Energetic Systems is located about an hour southwest of Nashville, Tennessee, on the Hickman and Humphreys County line, the Humphreys County Sheriff’s Office told CNN.

    Numerous law enforcement resources from across the state of Tennessee have been dispatched to assist in the investigation, a source familiar told CNN. Those personnel include federal agents and the Tennessee Highway Patrol Special Operations Unit, among other agencies. The relatively remote area is typically patrolled by smaller law enforcement departments, the person said, which has prompted other agencies to volunteer resources for support.

    Hickman County Mayor Jim Bates said the facility has about 80 employees, but it’s unclear how many were in the building when the explosion happened. Bates said one building on the site was completely destroyed.

    “It’s pretty devastating to see this,” Bates said.

    “It’s going to be an investigation that’s probably going to go on for days,” the mayor said. “This facility, they do manufacture, not only military, but demolition explosives for road work and things like that.”

    Tennessee state Sen. Kerry Roberts told CNN the facility sits on a 1,300-acre campus and is a beloved employer for many people in the community.

    He said it’s common to see employees at community events and people wearing baseball caps with the company name on them.

    “It is a well-loved company in the area,” Roberts said. “So this is going to have a devastating impact on quite a few families … it is heartbreaking.”

    Residents who live near the facility say they felt the impact of the explosion.

    “I thought the house had collapsed with me inside of it,” Gentry Stover told The Associated Press by phone. “I live very close to Accurate, and I realized about 30 seconds after I woke up that it had to have been that.”

    Cody Warren, who lives in Lobelville, which is 21 miles away from the facility, said the sound from the explosion woke him up, and he thought lightning struck his house.

    Accurate Energetic Systems specializes in making military explosives, according to the Humphreys County Sheriff’s Office.

    The company’s Facebook page says it manufactures “various high explosive compositions and specialty products for the U.S. DoD and U.S. Industrial markets.”

    In April 2014, one person was killed and four others injured during a blast at the plant, CNN affiliate WSMV reported. The explosion, in the back of a building that housed shotgun ammunition, caused extensive damage. At the time, authorities said several companies operated on the Accurate Energetic Systems property but the blast happened in an area operated by Rio Ammunition.

    In the player below: Here is a look at what the plant looked like after the 2014 explosion

    Last month, the US Department of Defense awarded Accurate Energetic Systems a contract for nearly $120 million “for the procurement of TNT.”

    The Hickman County Sheriff’s Office is asking everyone to avoid the area as emergency responders do their work.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Charlie Kirk legacy should be in “dustbin of history,” Ilhan Omar says

    [ad_1]

    Democratic U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota was confronted on Friday about whether she regrets the timing of her comments immediately following the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

    Omar said in an interview on CNN, “It’s one thing to care about his life because obviously so many people loved him, including his children and wife. But I am not going to sit here and be judged for not wanting to honor any legacy this man has left behind. That should be in the dustbin of history, and we should hopefully move on and forget the hate that he spewed every single day.”

    Newsweek reached out to Turning Point USA via online form for comment.

    Why It Matters

    The Democratic congresswoman said that she does not align with Kirk’s legacy, saying it was filled with “hate” and “rage baiting.”

    Kirk, 31, a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump and a voice of MAGA for younger generations, had a significant social media following, with a podcast as co-founder of Turning Point USA.

    He was fatally shot last week on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, during a question and answer session.

    What To Know

    Omar also spoke with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Friday night about the congresswoman’s ongoing feud with Trump and Republican U.S. Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina, which resulted in a failed censure vote this week in the House.

    On September 18, the House narrowly rejected the resolution to censure Omar over her remarks and social media posts following the assassination of Kirk. The vote, which failed 214-213, blocked a proposal led by Mace that also called for Omar’s removal from her committee positions, including the House Committee on Education and the Workforce and the House Budget Committee.

    The day after’s Kirk’s death, Omar spoke with journalist Mehdi Hasan on his Zeteo show, telling him: “There are a lot of people who are out there talking about him just wanting to have a civil debate. These people are full of s***, and it’s important for us to call them out while we feel anger and sadness.”

    Four Republican lawmakers joined Democrats in opposing the censure, which Mace said was justified because of what she labeled as Omar’s disrespectful comments on Kirk.

    “When we say we want a country that’s united, it starts with all of us and all of our actions and we’re not seeing that on the other side of the aisle right now,” Omar told Collins on Friday night.

    The Minnesota Democrat also said that she extends “grace” to Kirk’s wife and kids in the interview with CNN, adding, “I cannot imagine what they are going through. But the reality is, his wife sat by him as he said those things.”

    The Democratic lawmaker also called out Trump for urging her impeachment. A two-thirds vote is required to oust members of Congress; they cannot be impeached.

    Democratic U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota speaks during a markup meeting with the House Budget Committee on May 16 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

    What People Are Saying

    Trump, on Truth Social Thursday: “Ilhan Omar’s Country of Somalia is plagued by a lack of central Government control, persistent Poverty, Hunger, Resurgent Terrorism, Piracy, decades of Civil War, Corruption, and pervasive Violence. 70% of the population lives in extreme Poverty, and widespread Food Insecurity.

    “Somalia is consistently ranked among the World’s Most Corrupt Countries, including Bribery, Embezzlement, and a Dysfunctional Government. All of this, and Ilhan Omar tells us how to run America! P.S. Wasn’t she the one that married her brother in order to gain Citizenship??? What SCUM we have in our Country, telling us what to do, and how to do it.

    “Thank you for your attention to this matter. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

    Democratic Senator Tina Smith of Minnesota, on X Wednesday: “Just took a dip into the cesspool that is Nancy Mace’s social media. It’s shameful the way she is vilifying my friend Ilhan Omar to raise money for herself. Honestly, what Representative Mace has been doing illustrates all that is wrong with our politics right now.”

    What Happens Next

    The failure of the censure motion leaves Omar in her current House committee posts, but Republican lawmakers have signaled that similar efforts could resume.

    Update 9/19/25, 11:09 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Conservative activist Charlie Kirk assassinated at Utah university; shooter still at large

    [ad_1]

    Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and close ally of President Donald Trump who played an influential role in rallying young Republican voters, was shot and killed at a Utah college event in what the governor called a political assassination.Authorities say Kirk was killed with a single shot from a rooftop on Wednesday. Whoever fired the gun then slipped away amid the chaos of screams and students fleeing the Utah Valley University campus. Federal, state and local authorities were still searching for an unidentified shooter early Thursday and working what they called “multiple active crime scenes.”“This is a dark day for our state. It’s a tragic day for our nation,” said Utah Gov. Spencer Cox. “I want to be very clear this is a political assassination.”Two people were detained Wednesday but neither was determined to be connected to the shooting and both were released, Utah public safety officials said.Authorities did not immediately identify a motive, but the circumstances of the shooting drew renewed attention to an escalating threat of political violence in the United States that in the last several years has cut across the ideological spectrum. The assassination drew bipartisan condemnation, but a national reckoning over ways to prevent political grievances from manifesting as deadly violence seemed elusive.Videos posted to social media from Utah Valley University show Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone while sitting under a white tent emblazoned with the slogans “The American Comeback” and “Prove Me Wrong.” A single shot rings out and Kirk can be seen reaching up with his right hand as a large volume of blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators are heard gasping and screaming before people start to run away.Kirk was taking questions about gun violenceKirk was speaking at a debate hosted by his nonprofit political youth organization, Arizona-based Turning Point USA, at the Sorensen Center courtyard on campus. Immediately before the shooting, Kirk was taking questions from an audience member about mass shootings and gun violence.“Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?” the person asked. Kirk responded, “Too many.”The questioner followed up: “Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?”“Counting or not counting gang violence?” Kirk asked.Then a single shot rang out.The shooter, who Cox pledged would be held accountable in a state with the death penalty, wore dark clothing and fired from a building roof some distance away.Madison Lattin was watching only a few dozen feet from Kirk’s left when she said she heard the bullet hit Kirk.“Blood is falling and dripping down and you’re just like so scared, not just for him but your own safety,” she said.She said she saw people drop to the ground in an eerie silence pierced immediately by cries. Lattin ran while others splashed through decorative pools to get away. Some fell and were trampled in the stampede. People lost their shoes, backpacks, folding chairs and water bottles in the frenzy.When Lattin later learned that Kirk had died, she said she wept, describing him as a role model who had showed her how to be determined and fight for the truth.Trump calls Kirk ‘martyr for truth’Some 3,000 people were in attendance, according to a statement from the Utah Department of Public Safety. The university police department had six officers working the event, along with Kirk’s own security detail, authorities said.Trump announced the death on social media and praised the 31-year-old Kirk who was co-founder and CEO of Turning Point as “Great, and even Legendary.” Later Wednesday, he released a recorded video from the White House in which he called Kirk a “martyr for truth and freedom” and blamed the rhetoric of the “radical left” for the killing.Utah Valley University said the campus was immediately evacuated after the shooting, with officers escorting people to safety. It will be closed until Monday.Meanwhile, armed officers walked around the neighborhood bordering the campus, knocking on doors and asking for any information residents might have on the shooting. Helicopters buzzed overhead.Wednesday’s event, billed as the first stop on Kirk’s “The American Comeback Tour,” had generated a polarizing campus reaction. An online petition calling for university administrators to bar Kirk from appearing received nearly 1,000 signatures. The university issued a statement last week citing First Amendment rights and affirming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry, and constructive dialogue.”Last week, Kirk posted on X images of news clips showing his visit was sparking controversy. He wrote, “What’s going on in Utah?”Condemnation from across the political spectrumThe shooting drew swift condemnation across the political aisle as Democratic officials joined Trump, who ordered flags lowered to half-staff and issued a presidential proclamation, and Republican allies of Kirk in decrying the violence.“The attack on Charlie Kirk is disgusting, vile, and reprehensible,” Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who last March hosted Kirk on his podcast, posted on X.“The murder of Charlie Kirk breaks my heart. My deepest sympathies are with his wife, two young children, and friends,” said Gabrielle Giffords, the former Democratic congresswoman who was wounded in a 2011 shooting in her Arizona district.The shooting appeared poised to become part of a spike of political violence that has touched a range of ideologies and representatives of both major parties. The attacks include the assassination of a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband at their house in June, the firebombing of a Colorado parade to demand Hamas release hostages, and a fire set at the house of Pennsylvania’s governor, who is Jewish, in April. The most notorious of these events is the shooting of Trump during a campaign rally last year.Former Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz, who was at Wednesday’s event, told the Fox News Channel that he didn’t believe Kirk had enough security.“Utah is one of the safest places on the planet,” he said. “And so we just don’t have these types of things.”Turning Point was founded in suburban Chicago in 2012 by Kirk, then 18, and William Montgomery, a tea party activist, to proselytize on college campuses for low taxes and limited government. It was not an immediate success.But Kirk’s zeal for confronting liberals in academia eventually won over an influential set of conservative financiers.Despite early misgivings, Turning Point enthusiastically backed Trump after he clinched the GOP nomination in 2016. Kirk served as a personal aide to Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, during the general election campaign.Soon, Kirk was a regular presence on cable TV, where he leaned into the culture wars and heaped praise on the then-president. Trump and his son were equally effusive and often spoke at Turning Point conferences.

    OREM, Utah —

    Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and close ally of President Donald Trump who played an influential role in rallying young Republican voters, was shot and killed at a Utah college event in what the governor called a political assassination.

    Authorities say Kirk was killed with a single shot from a rooftop on Wednesday. Whoever fired the gun then slipped away amid the chaos of screams and students fleeing the Utah Valley University campus. Federal, state and local authorities were still searching for an unidentified shooter early Thursday and working what they called “multiple active crime scenes.”

    “This is a dark day for our state. It’s a tragic day for our nation,” said Utah Gov. Spencer Cox. “I want to be very clear this is a political assassination.”

    Two people were detained Wednesday but neither was determined to be connected to the shooting and both were released, Utah public safety officials said.

    Authorities did not immediately identify a motive, but the circumstances of the shooting drew renewed attention to an escalating threat of political violence in the United States that in the last several years has cut across the ideological spectrum. The assassination drew bipartisan condemnation, but a national reckoning over ways to prevent political grievances from manifesting as deadly violence seemed elusive.

    Videos posted to social media from Utah Valley University show Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone while sitting under a white tent emblazoned with the slogans “The American Comeback” and “Prove Me Wrong.” A single shot rings out and Kirk can be seen reaching up with his right hand as a large volume of blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators are heard gasping and screaming before people start to run away.

    Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune/Getty Images

    Charlie Kirk speaks at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025 in Orem, Utah. Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, was speaking at his “American Comeback Tour” when he was shot in the neck and killed.

    Kirk was taking questions about gun violence

    Kirk was speaking at a debate hosted by his nonprofit political youth organization, Arizona-based Turning Point USA, at the Sorensen Center courtyard on campus. Immediately before the shooting, Kirk was taking questions from an audience member about mass shootings and gun violence.

    “Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?” the person asked. Kirk responded, “Too many.”

    The questioner followed up: “Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?”

    “Counting or not counting gang violence?” Kirk asked.

    Then a single shot rang out.

    The shooter, who Cox pledged would be held accountable in a state with the death penalty, wore dark clothing and fired from a building roof some distance away.

    Madison Lattin was watching only a few dozen feet from Kirk’s left when she said she heard the bullet hit Kirk.

    “Blood is falling and dripping down and you’re just like so scared, not just for him but your own safety,” she said.

    She said she saw people drop to the ground in an eerie silence pierced immediately by cries. Lattin ran while others splashed through decorative pools to get away. Some fell and were trampled in the stampede. People lost their shoes, backpacks, folding chairs and water bottles in the frenzy.

    When Lattin later learned that Kirk had died, she said she wept, describing him as a role model who had showed her how to be determined and fight for the truth.

    Trump calls Kirk ‘martyr for truth’

    Some 3,000 people were in attendance, according to a statement from the Utah Department of Public Safety. The university police department had six officers working the event, along with Kirk’s own security detail, authorities said.

    Trump announced the death on social media and praised the 31-year-old Kirk who was co-founder and CEO of Turning Point as “Great, and even Legendary.” Later Wednesday, he released a recorded video from the White House in which he called Kirk a “martyr for truth and freedom” and blamed the rhetoric of the “radical left” for the killing.

    Utah Valley University said the campus was immediately evacuated after the shooting, with officers escorting people to safety. It will be closed until Monday.

    Meanwhile, armed officers walked around the neighborhood bordering the campus, knocking on doors and asking for any information residents might have on the shooting. Helicopters buzzed overhead.

    Wednesday’s event, billed as the first stop on Kirk’s “The American Comeback Tour,” had generated a polarizing campus reaction. An online petition calling for university administrators to bar Kirk from appearing received nearly 1,000 signatures. The university issued a statement last week citing First Amendment rights and affirming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry, and constructive dialogue.”

    Last week, Kirk posted on X images of news clips showing his visit was sparking controversy. He wrote, “What’s going on in Utah?”

    Condemnation from across the political spectrum

    The shooting drew swift condemnation across the political aisle as Democratic officials joined Trump, who ordered flags lowered to half-staff and issued a presidential proclamation, and Republican allies of Kirk in decrying the violence.

    “The attack on Charlie Kirk is disgusting, vile, and reprehensible,” Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who last March hosted Kirk on his podcast, posted on X.

    “The murder of Charlie Kirk breaks my heart. My deepest sympathies are with his wife, two young children, and friends,” said Gabrielle Giffords, the former Democratic congresswoman who was wounded in a 2011 shooting in her Arizona district.

    The shooting appeared poised to become part of a spike of political violence that has touched a range of ideologies and representatives of both major parties. The attacks include the assassination of a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband at their house in June, the firebombing of a Colorado parade to demand Hamas release hostages, and a fire set at the house of Pennsylvania’s governor, who is Jewish, in April. The most notorious of these events is the shooting of Trump during a campaign rally last year.

    Former Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz, who was at Wednesday’s event, told the Fox News Channel that he didn’t believe Kirk had enough security.

    “Utah is one of the safest places on the planet,” he said. “And so we just don’t have these types of things.”

    Turning Point was founded in suburban Chicago in 2012 by Kirk, then 18, and William Montgomery, a tea party activist, to proselytize on college campuses for low taxes and limited government. It was not an immediate success.

    But Kirk’s zeal for confronting liberals in academia eventually won over an influential set of conservative financiers.

    Despite early misgivings, Turning Point enthusiastically backed Trump after he clinched the GOP nomination in 2016. Kirk served as a personal aide to Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, during the general election campaign.

    Soon, Kirk was a regular presence on cable TV, where he leaned into the culture wars and heaped praise on the then-president. Trump and his son were equally effusive and often spoke at Turning Point conferences.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Poland says it shot down Russian drones that violated its airspace during strikes on Ukraine

    [ad_1]

    Poland said early Wednesday that multiple Russian drones entered and were shot down over its territory with help from NATO allies, describing the incident as an “act of aggression” carried out during a wave of Russian strikes on Ukraine.Several European leaders said they believed Russia was intentionally escalating the war, and NATO was discussing the incident in a meeting. It came three days after Russia’s largest aerial attack on Ukraine since the war began, an attack that for the first time hit a key government building in Kyiv.“Russia’s war is escalating, not ending,” European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said. “Last night in Poland we saw the most serious European airspace violation by Russia since the war began, and indications suggest it was intentional, not accidental.”Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on social media that Polish airspace was violated by multiple Russian drones. “Those drones that posed a direct threat were shot down,” Tusk said.Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz wrote on X that more than 10 objects crossed into Polish air space, but he did not specify an exact number. He thanked NATO Air Command and The Royal Netherlands Air and Space Force for supporting the action with F-35 fighter jets.Polish airspace has been violated multiple times since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but there has been nothing on this scale either in Poland or in any other Western nation along the eastern flank of NATO and the European Union.Drones rattle Baltic NATO membersLeaders in the strategically located Baltic states of Lithuanian, Latvia and Estonia — the NATO members that are most nervous about Russian aggression — expressed deep concerns.“Russia is deliberately expanding its aggression, posing an ever-growing threat to Europe,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda wrote on X. Estonia’s foreign minister Margus Tsahkna said that the overnight attacks on Ukraine and violations of Polish airspace were “yet another stark reminder that Russia is not just a threat to Ukraine, but to all of Europe and NATO.”Bernard Blaszczuk, mayor of the village of Wyryki in Lublin region, told TVP Info that a house was hit by “either a missile or a drone, we don’t know yet.” He said people were inside the building but nobody was hurt.The Polish armed forces said Wednesday morning that a search for possible crash sites is ongoing and urged people not to approach, touch or move any objects they see, warning that they may pose a threat and could contain hazardous material.Warsaw’s Chopin Airport suspended flights for several hours, citing the closure of airspace due to military operations.Russian objects have entered Polish airspace beforePoland has complained about Russian objects entering its airspace during attacks on Ukraine before.In August, Poland’s defense minister said that a flying object that crashed and exploded in a cornfield in eastern Poland was identified as a Russian drone, and called it a provocation by Russia.In March, Poland scrambled jets after a Russian missile briefly passed through Polish air space on its way to a target in western Ukraine, and in 2022, a missile that was likely fired by Ukraine to intercept a Russian attack landed in Poland, killing two people.NATO members vow supportNATO said its air defenses supported Poland, and chief spokesperson Allison Hart said the military organization’s 32 national envoys will discuss the matter at a pre-planned meeting.Col. Martin O’Donnell, NATO’s Supreme Allied Powers Europe, said: “This is the first time NATO planes have engaged potential threats in Allied airspace.”Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof confirmed in a message on X that Dutch F-35 fighter jets stationed in Poland under NATO provided support to the Polish air force overnight.“Let me be clear: the violation of Polish airspace last night by Russian drones is unacceptable. It is further proof that the Russian war of aggression poses a threat to European security,” Schoof said in the Dutch language message on X.German Patriot defense systems in Poland were also placed “on alert,” and an Italian airborne early warning plane and an aerial refueler from NATO’s Multinational Multi-Role Tanker Transport aircraft fleet were launched, O’Donnell said.NATO, he said, “is committed to defending every kilometer of NATO territory, including our airspace.”Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a message on Telegram that the deployment of European aircraft to intercept the drones was an “important precedent.”Russia must know the response to escalation “will be a clear and strong reaction from all partners,” Zelenskyy said.Russian attacks hit central and western UkraineUkraine’s Air Force says Russia fired 415 strike and decoy drones, as well as 42 cruise missiles and one ballistic missiles overnight.Ukrainian air defenses intercepted or jammed 386 drones and 27 cruise missiles, according to the report.“At least eight enemy UAVs crossed Ukraine’s state border in the direction of the Republic of Poland,” the Air Force message said.Russian drones injured three people in Ukraine’s western Khmelnytskyi region, its head Serhii Tiurin wrote on Telegram early Wednesday morning. He said a sewing factory was destroyed, a gas station and vehicles were damaged, and windows in several houses were blown out.One person was killed and one injured in Zhytomyr region overnight, regional administration head Vitalii Bunechko wrote on Telegram, while homes and businesses suffered damage.In Vinnytsia region, Russian drones damaged “civilian and industrial infrastructure,” according to regional head Natalia Zabolotna. Nearly 30 residential buildings were damaged and one person was injured.In Cherkasy region, several houses and a power grid were damaged in a Russian attack. In Zolotonosha district, a shock wave destroyed a barn killing two cows, regional head Ihor Taburets wrote on Telegram.The Russian Defense Ministry said in its morning report on Wednesday that it had destroyed 122 Ukrainian drones over various Russian regions overnight, including over the illegally annexed Crimea and areas of the Black Sea.___Novikov reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. AP writers Lorne Cook in Brussels and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.

    WARSAW, Poland —

    Poland said early Wednesday that multiple Russian drones entered and were shot down over its territory with help from NATO allies, describing the incident as an “act of aggression” carried out during a wave of Russian strikes on Ukraine.

    Several European leaders said they believed Russia was intentionally escalating the war, and NATO was discussing the incident in a meeting. It came three days after Russia’s largest aerial attack on Ukraine since the war began, an attack that for the first time hit a key government building in Kyiv.

    “Russia’s war is escalating, not ending,” European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said. “Last night in Poland we saw the most serious European airspace violation by Russia since the war began, and indications suggest it was intentional, not accidental.”

    Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on social media that Polish airspace was violated by multiple Russian drones. “Those drones that posed a direct threat were shot down,” Tusk said.

    Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz wrote on X that more than 10 objects crossed into Polish air space, but he did not specify an exact number. He thanked NATO Air Command and The Royal Netherlands Air and Space Force for supporting the action with F-35 fighter jets.

    Polish airspace has been violated multiple times since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but there has been nothing on this scale either in Poland or in any other Western nation along the eastern flank of NATO and the European Union.

    Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland via AP

    Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk holds an extraordinary government meeting at the chancellery, with military and emergency services officials, following violations of Polish airspace during a Russian attack, in Warsaw, Poland, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025.

    Drones rattle Baltic NATO members

    Leaders in the strategically located Baltic states of Lithuanian, Latvia and Estonia — the NATO members that are most nervous about Russian aggression — expressed deep concerns.

    “Russia is deliberately expanding its aggression, posing an ever-growing threat to Europe,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda wrote on X. Estonia’s foreign minister Margus Tsahkna said that the overnight attacks on Ukraine and violations of Polish airspace were “yet another stark reminder that Russia is not just a threat to Ukraine, but to all of Europe and NATO.”

    Bernard Blaszczuk, mayor of the village of Wyryki in Lublin region, told TVP Info that a house was hit by “either a missile or a drone, we don’t know yet.” He said people were inside the building but nobody was hurt.

    The Polish armed forces said Wednesday morning that a search for possible crash sites is ongoing and urged people not to approach, touch or move any objects they see, warning that they may pose a threat and could contain hazardous material.

    Warsaw’s Chopin Airport suspended flights for several hours, citing the closure of airspace due to military operations.

    Russian objects have entered Polish airspace before

    Poland has complained about Russian objects entering its airspace during attacks on Ukraine before.

    In August, Poland’s defense minister said that a flying object that crashed and exploded in a cornfield in eastern Poland was identified as a Russian drone, and called it a provocation by Russia.

    In March, Poland scrambled jets after a Russian missile briefly passed through Polish air space on its way to a target in western Ukraine, and in 2022, a missile that was likely fired by Ukraine to intercept a Russian attack landed in Poland, killing two people.

    NATO members vow support

    NATO said its air defenses supported Poland, and chief spokesperson Allison Hart said the military organization’s 32 national envoys will discuss the matter at a pre-planned meeting.

    Col. Martin O’Donnell, NATO’s Supreme Allied Powers Europe, said: “This is the first time NATO planes have engaged potential threats in Allied airspace.”

    Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof confirmed in a message on X that Dutch F-35 fighter jets stationed in Poland under NATO provided support to the Polish air force overnight.

    “Let me be clear: the violation of Polish airspace last night by Russian drones is unacceptable. It is further proof that the Russian war of aggression poses a threat to European security,” Schoof said in the Dutch language message on X.

    German Patriot defense systems in Poland were also placed “on alert,” and an Italian airborne early warning plane and an aerial refueler from NATO’s Multinational Multi-Role Tanker Transport aircraft fleet were launched, O’Donnell said.

    NATO, he said, “is committed to defending every kilometer of NATO territory, including our airspace.”

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a message on Telegram that the deployment of European aircraft to intercept the drones was an “important precedent.”

    Russia must know the response to escalation “will be a clear and strong reaction from all partners,” Zelenskyy said.

    Russian attacks hit central and western Ukraine

    Ukraine’s Air Force says Russia fired 415 strike and decoy drones, as well as 42 cruise missiles and one ballistic missiles overnight.

    Ukrainian air defenses intercepted or jammed 386 drones and 27 cruise missiles, according to the report.

    “At least eight enemy UAVs crossed Ukraine’s state border in the direction of the Republic of Poland,” the Air Force message said.

    Russian drones injured three people in Ukraine’s western Khmelnytskyi region, its head Serhii Tiurin wrote on Telegram early Wednesday morning. He said a sewing factory was destroyed, a gas station and vehicles were damaged, and windows in several houses were blown out.

    One person was killed and one injured in Zhytomyr region overnight, regional administration head Vitalii Bunechko wrote on Telegram, while homes and businesses suffered damage.

    In Vinnytsia region, Russian drones damaged “civilian and industrial infrastructure,” according to regional head Natalia Zabolotna. Nearly 30 residential buildings were damaged and one person was injured.

    In Cherkasy region, several houses and a power grid were damaged in a Russian attack. In Zolotonosha district, a shock wave destroyed a barn killing two cows, regional head Ihor Taburets wrote on Telegram.

    The Russian Defense Ministry said in its morning report on Wednesday that it had destroyed 122 Ukrainian drones over various Russian regions overnight, including over the illegally annexed Crimea and areas of the Black Sea.

    ___

    Novikov reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. AP writers Lorne Cook in Brussels and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Trump says Chicago ‘will find out why it’s called the Department of WAR’ ahead of planned crackdown

    [ad_1]

    President Donald Trump posted a meme on social media Saturday saying that Chicago “will find out why it’s called the Department of WAR,” as the city’s officials brace for an immigration crackdown.Related video above — ‘We’re going in’: President Trump vows National Guard deployments as judge rules against him”I love the smell of deportations in the morning … Chicago about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR,” the post reads. Trump signed an executive order on Friday to rebrand the Pentagon as the “Department of War.”The post includes what appears to be an artificially generated image of the president wearing a hat and sunglasses, with the Chicago skyline in the background, accompanied by text reading “Chipocalypse Now.”Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker on Saturday called Trump’s post “not normal.””The President of the United States is threatening to go to war with an American city. This is not a joke. This is not normal,” Pritzker wrote on X. “Donald Trump isn’t a strongman, he’s a scared man. Illinois won’t be intimidated by a wannabe dictator.”It comes as Trump has ramped up his rhetoric against the country’s third most populous city. CNN previously reported the Trump administration’s plans to conduct a major immigration enforcement operation in Chicago, and that officials there were bracing for it to begin as early as Friday.In recent days, personnel from Immigration and Border Protection, as well as Customs and Border Protection, have begun trickling into the city, White House officials told CNN.The Trump administration has also reserved the right to call in the National Guard if there is a reaction to the operation that warrants it, the officials said. The Chicago operation is being modeled after a similar operation carried out in Los Angeles in June. A judge ruled this week that the June deployment broke federal law prohibiting the military from law enforcement activity on U.S. soil in most cases; the Trump administration has appealed.White House officials have made clear the Chicago immigration crackdown is distinct from the idea the president has floated to use federal law enforcement and National Guard troops to carry out a broader crime crackdown in the city, similar to the operation in Washington, D.C.When asked by a reporter Tuesday about sending National Guard troops into the city, Trump said, “We’re going,” adding, “I didn’t say when. We’re going in.”Democratic officials who represent Chicago and Illinois also condemned Trump’s post Saturday.”The President’s threats are beneath the honor of our nation, but the reality is that he wants to occupy our city and break our Constitution,” wrote Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson on social media. “We must defend our democracy from this authoritarianism by protecting each other and protecting Chicago from Donald Trump.”Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth described Trump’s post on X as “Stolen valor at its worst,” writing, “Take off that Cavalry hat, you draft dodger. You didn’t earn the right to wear it.”CNN’s Alayna Treene contributed to this report.

    President Donald Trump posted a meme on social media Saturday saying that Chicago “will find out why it’s called the Department of WAR,” as the city’s officials brace for an immigration crackdown.

    Related video above — ‘We’re going in’: President Trump vows National Guard deployments as judge rules against him

    “I love the smell of deportations in the morning … Chicago about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR,” the post reads. Trump signed an executive order on Friday to rebrand the Pentagon as the “Department of War.”

    The post includes what appears to be an artificially generated image of the president wearing a hat and sunglasses, with the Chicago skyline in the background, accompanied by text reading “Chipocalypse Now.”

    Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker on Saturday called Trump’s post “not normal.”

    “The President of the United States is threatening to go to war with an American city. This is not a joke. This is not normal,” Pritzker wrote on X. “Donald Trump isn’t a strongman, he’s a scared man. Illinois won’t be intimidated by a wannabe dictator.”

    It comes as Trump has ramped up his rhetoric against the country’s third most populous city. CNN previously reported the Trump administration’s plans to conduct a major immigration enforcement operation in Chicago, and that officials there were bracing for it to begin as early as Friday.

    In recent days, personnel from Immigration and Border Protection, as well as Customs and Border Protection, have begun trickling into the city, White House officials told CNN.

    The Trump administration has also reserved the right to call in the National Guard if there is a reaction to the operation that warrants it, the officials said. The Chicago operation is being modeled after a similar operation carried out in Los Angeles in June. A judge ruled this week that the June deployment broke federal law prohibiting the military from law enforcement activity on U.S. soil in most cases; the Trump administration has appealed.

    White House officials have made clear the Chicago immigration crackdown is distinct from the idea the president has floated to use federal law enforcement and National Guard troops to carry out a broader crime crackdown in the city, similar to the operation in Washington, D.C.

    When asked by a reporter Tuesday about sending National Guard troops into the city, Trump said, “We’re going,” adding, “I didn’t say when. We’re going in.”

    Democratic officials who represent Chicago and Illinois also condemned Trump’s post Saturday.

    “The President’s threats are beneath the honor of our nation, but the reality is that he wants to occupy our city and break our Constitution,” wrote Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson on social media. “We must defend our democracy from this authoritarianism by protecting each other and protecting Chicago from Donald Trump.”

    Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth described Trump’s post on X as “Stolen valor at its worst,” writing, “Take off that Cavalry hat, you draft dodger. You didn’t earn the right to wear it.”

    CNN’s Alayna Treene contributed to this report.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Energy secretary says Trump administration may alter past National Climate Assessments

    [ad_1]

    U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said this week that the Trump administration plans to review and potentially alter the nation’s climate science reports.

    In a Tuesday appearance on CNN’s “The Source,” Wright told CNN host Kaitlan Collins the National Climate Assessments have been removed from government websites “because we’re reviewing them.”

    “We will come out with updated reports on those and with comments on those,” Wright said.

    The National Climate Assessments are mandated by Congress and have been released five times since 2000. The federal reports, prepared by hundreds of volunteer scientists, are subject to extensive peer review and detail how climate change is affecting each region of the United States so far and provide the latest scientific forecasts.

    Wright accused the previous reports of being politically biased, stating that they “are not fair assessments of the data.”

    “When you get into departments and look at stuff that’s there and you find stuff that’s objectionable, you want to fix it,” he said.

    His statements came after the Trump administration in April dismissed more than 400 experts who had already started work on the sixth National Climate Assessment, due for publication in late 2027 or early 2028. The administration in July also removed the website of the U.S. Global Change Research Program, which housed the reports.

    The move marks the latest escalation in the Trump administration’s efforts to downplay climate science. The president and Department of Energy in recent months have championed fossil fuel production and slashed funding and incentives for renewable energy projects. This week, the Energy Department posted an image of coal on X alongside the words, “She’s an icon, she’s a legend, and she is the moment.”

    Meanwhile, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed looser regulations for polluting sectors such as power plants and vehicles. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin in March proclaimed the administration was “driving a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion.”

    In his CNN appearance, Wright said the previous climate change assessments — including the 2018 report prepared during Trump’s first term — were not “a reasonable representation of broad climate science.”

    “They have been more politically driven to hype up a real issue, but an issue that’s just nowhere near the world’s greatest challenge,” he said of climate change. “Nobody’s who’s a credible economist or scientist believes that it is, except a few activists and alarmists.”

    Environmental experts were concerned by Wright’s comments.

    “Secretary Wright just confirmed our worst fears — that this administration plans to not just bury the scientific evidence but replace it with outright lies to downplay the worsening climate crisis and evade responsibility for addressing it,” said Rachel Cleetus, policy director for the Climate and Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, who was among the authors dismissed by the administration.

    “This is one more alarming example of the Trump administration’s ongoing and highly politicized effort to obfuscate scientific truth to further its dangerous and deadly pro-fossil fuel agenda,” Cleetus said.

    The Energy Department last week also released its own climate report, commissioned by Wright, that questions the severity of climate change.

    “Both models and experience suggest that [carbon dioxide]-induced warming might be less damaging economically than commonly believed, and excessively aggressive mitigation policies could prove more detrimental than beneficial,” the report says.

    Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, noted in a post on X that the previous National Climate Assessments were authored by hundreds of scientists who were leading domain experts in their fields.

    “This would mark an extraordinary, unprecedented, and alarming level of interference in what has historically been a fair and systematic process,” Swain said of the possibility that previous reports could be altered.

    The Department of Energy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    [ad_2]

    Hayley Smith

    Source link

  • Are “Dancing With the Stars,” “FBI” on this week? Election Day TV schedule

    Are “Dancing With the Stars,” “FBI” on this week? Election Day TV schedule

    [ad_1]

    While Americans will choose between former President Donald Trump, the GOP nominee, and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, they will also be choosing who takes 435 U.S. House and 34 U.S. Senate seats.

    However, as the nation awaits the news of who wins the presidential election on Tuesday, November 5, regular TV programming could be impacted, and many popular shows will skip their weekly runtime completely.

    Newsweek has compiled a full list of schedule changes you should expect for your favorite shows from Dancing With the Stars (DWTS) and FBI to late night TV.

    Dancing With the Stars

    Fans of DWTS will have to wait until Tuesday, November 12 to watch another episode because of Election Day.

    During the show’s regularly scheduled time, ABC will instead be airing its election night coverage Election Night 2024: Your Voice/Your Vote. This will keep Americans updated with real-time updates on the Electoral College map and which candidate secures enough votes to become president.

    FBI

    FBI is also not airing as usual on Tuesday, November 5 because of Election Day coverage.

    The show will be back on its regularly scheduled programming Tuesday, November 12, but for Election Day, viewers will instead be able to watch the CBS News: America Decides: Campaign ’24 Election Night program.

    It often makes the most sense for TV networks to delay airing the next week’s episode as most Americans will be glued to election night coverage and would miss a new episode if it was scheduled as usual.

    The Real Housewives of New York City

    For those who rely on a dose of reality TV to get through any election season anxiety, there’s good news.

    Bravo will continue to air The Real Housewives of New York City all throughout Election Night, from roughly 4 to 11 p.m., with a new episode airing at 9 p.m.

    Married at First Sight

    Fans of a different reality show, Lifetime’s Married at First Sight, have less than ideal scheduling news for the week of the election, however.

    The show, which brings strangers together to marry upon their first meeting, is skipping a week, with episodes to return Tuesday, November 12.

    1,000-lb Sisters

    Another popular TLC reality show, 1,000-lb Sisters, will be pausing its programming this week as well.

    So that means viewers will have to wait an extra week to catch up on what’s happening in the Slaton sisters’ lives.

    The Voice

    The Voice is also taking a break this week due to Election Night coverage. NBC will instead be keeping track of all breaking news updates related to the 2024 election.

    Fans of the singing competition show will have to be patient, as the next episode resumes next week on Tuesday, November. 12.

    Stickers sit on a table during in-person absentee voting on November 1 in Little Chute, Wisconsin. Election Day could impact your regularly scheduled TV programs.

    Scott Olson/Getty Images

    Is Jimmy Kimmel on This Week?

    While Jimmy Kimmel Live! is a fixture on ABC, he will not be airing his late-night episode as usual.

    This is due to ABC blocking off the time for election night coverage instead.

    However, starting on Wednesday, November 6, Kimmel will be back on his usual schedule, with guests Jon Favreau, Jon Lovitz, Dan Pfeiffer and Tommy Vietor as well as musical guest Alessia Cara.

    Is Stephen Colbert on This Week?

    The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is also following suit and opting against airing a new episode on Election Night.

    The next episode is scheduled for Wednesday, November 6 with guest George Stephanopoulos and a music performance by Lenny Kravitz.

    Is Seth Meyers on This Week?

    Late Night With Seth Meyers is likewise taking a break on Tuesday for NBC’s Election Night coverage.

    However, fans don’t have to wait long because Meyers will be back with his regularly scheduled episodes beginning Wednesday.

    Is Jimmy Fallon on This Week?

    Taking a nod from the other late night TV hosts, Jimmy Fallon is delaying the next episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon due to Election Day coverage.

    But the next episode airing on Wednesday will be action packed with guests Whoopi Goldberg, Rosie Perez and Bailey Zimmerman.

    Other Election Coverage

    While the final results of this year’s election may not be available for several days, Tuesday’s vote counts will help Americans learn who’s leading in key swing states as well as across America.

    ABC News will begin its coverage at 8 a.m. Tuesday, while CNN starts its election show at 5 p.m. Monday.

    Fox News will also air its election coverage beginning at 6 p.m. on Monday, while MSNBC starts airing its election show at 5 a.m. Tuesday morning.

    The last presidential election in 2020 took four days for officials to make a final call, mostly due to the prominence of mail-in ballots due to the coronavirus pandemic and social distancing.

    For this year’s Election Day, most polling locations close around 7 p.m. or 8 p.m.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Jake Tapper Blasts Republicans with Proof that Generals Called Donald Trump a Fascist First

    Jake Tapper Blasts Republicans with Proof that Generals Called Donald Trump a Fascist First

    [ad_1]

  • Harris to give campaign closing argument at site of Trump’s Jan. 6 speech before Capitol riot

    Harris to give campaign closing argument at site of Trump’s Jan. 6 speech before Capitol riot

    [ad_1]

    Vice President Kamala Harris plans to lay out her campaign’s closing argument by returning to the site near the White House where Donald Trump helped incite a mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol in January 2021 — hoping it will crystalize for voters the fight between defending democracy and sowing political chaos.Her campaign says Harris will give a speech at the Ellipse on Tuesday — one week before Election Day — and will urge the nation to “turn the page” toward a new era and away from Trump.The site is symbolic since it’s where Trump delivered a speech on Jan. 6, 2021, as Congress was convening to certify Joe Biden’s victory in the election that past November. In it, Trump lied repeatedly about widespread voter fraud that had not occurred and urged supporters to fight. Hundreds then stormed the Capitol in a deadly riot.Word of the speech came from a senior Harris campaign official who insisted on anonymity to discuss an address that is still in development. The Harris campaign is betting that her speaking at the Ellipse can provide an opportunity for the vice president to stress that the country no longer wants to be defined by a political combativeness that Trump seems to relish.Trump has promised to pardon those jailed for their role in the Capitol attack should he reclaim the presidency during the election on Nov. 5.Closing arguments are important opportunities for candidates to sum up their campaigns and make a concise case for why voters should back them. Trump’s campaign suggested he’d begin framing his closing argument while addressing a rally last weekend in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Instead, the former president spent more than 10 minutes talking about the genitals of the late, legendary golfer Arnold Palmer, who was born in Latrobe.Her team announced the coming Ellipse addressed before Harris attended a CNN town hall in suburban Philadelphia on Wednesday night, where she took questions from an audience of undecided voters as part of what was once envisioned as a debate with Trump. Harris had said she would participate in a CNN debate but the two sides never worked out a formal agreement. CNN said it also invited Trump to a town hall. but that it didn’t happen.Harris told the audience that Jan. 6 saw a “president of the United States defying the will of the people in a free and fair election and unleashing a violent mob who attacked the United States Capitol.”The first audience question was from a self-described “anti-Trump Republican” who was concerned about the Jan. 6 attack.“I believe the American people deserve better, and they deserve a president who is focused on solutions, not sitting in the Oval Office plotting every day,” Harris said.When it comes to Jan. 6, about 4 in 10 likely voters in a CNN poll from September said the economy was their most important issue when deciding how to vote, and about 2 in 10 said protecting democracy was. That compared to about 1 in 10 who named either immigration or abortion and reproductive rights.Protecting democracy also seems to be more important to Democrats and Harris supporters. Roughly 4 in 10 voters who back Harris call it their top issue, compared to about 2 in 10 who say that about the economy. For Republicans and Trump supporters, about 6 in 10 name the economy as their top voting issue, followed by immigration. Only 5% of Trump supporters said protecting democracy was their top issue.During the town hall, Harris said Trump is “increasingly unstable and unfit to serve.” Asked directly if she thought her opponent was a fascist, Harris responded, “Yes, I do.”A short time later, Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt responded, “Kamala will say anything to distract from her open border invasion and record high inflation.”During the event, Harris was asked how her presidency would be different from Biden’s given that she’s been a part of his administration for nearly four years — a question she’s answered in recent weeks without naming major contrasts. This time, Harris seemed better prepared to talk about how things would be different, saying, “My administration will not be a continuation of the Biden administration” and saying she represented a “new generation of leadership on a number of issues.”“I’m pointing out things that haven’t been done that need to be done,” the vice president said of Biden’s policies, also noting, “I’m not going to shy away from saying, ‘Hey, these are still problems that we need to fix.’” She pointed specifically to her promises to increase federal grants for small businesses and to expand government funding for home health care to people caring for their elderly parents and children simultaneously.One audience member pressed Harris on key issues where she’s flip-flopped. That includes hydraulic fracturing, which she suggested that she’d support banning while running in the 2020 Democratic primary but now says should be allowed to continue. Harris said Wednesday that the U.S. can invest in a greener energy economy without halting fracking, which is key to the economy of parts of Pennsylvania.She added that she sees many key policies differently now: “Frankly I now have the experience and perspective of having been vice president.”Asked about the greatest weakness she’d bring to the White House, Harris offered, “I’m kind of a nerd sometimes, I confess” while admitting to making “parental mistakes” with her two stepchildren.The vice president also mentioned praying every day, saying, “I was raised to believe in a loving God, to believe faith is a verb.”__Weissert reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Linley Sanders contributed to this report from Washington.

    PHILADELPHIA —

    Vice President Kamala Harris plans to lay out her campaign’s closing argument by returning to the site near the White House where Donald Trump helped incite a mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol in January 2021 — hoping it will crystalize for voters the fight between defending democracy and sowing political chaos.

    Her campaign says Harris will give a speech at the Ellipse on Tuesday — one week before Election Day — and will urge the nation to “turn the page” toward a new era and away from Trump.

    The site is symbolic since it’s where Trump delivered a speech on Jan. 6, 2021, as Congress was convening to certify Joe Biden’s victory in the election that past November. In it, Trump lied repeatedly about widespread voter fraud that had not occurred and urged supporters to fight. Hundreds then stormed the Capitol in a deadly riot.

    Word of the speech came from a senior Harris campaign official who insisted on anonymity to discuss an address that is still in development. The Harris campaign is betting that her speaking at the Ellipse can provide an opportunity for the vice president to stress that the country no longer wants to be defined by a political combativeness that Trump seems to relish.

    Trump has promised to pardon those jailed for their role in the Capitol attack should he reclaim the presidency during the election on Nov. 5.

    Closing arguments are important opportunities for candidates to sum up their campaigns and make a concise case for why voters should back them. Trump’s campaign suggested he’d begin framing his closing argument while addressing a rally last weekend in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Instead, the former president spent more than 10 minutes talking about the genitals of the late, legendary golfer Arnold Palmer, who was born in Latrobe.

    Her team announced the coming Ellipse addressed before Harris attended a CNN town hall in suburban Philadelphia on Wednesday night, where she took questions from an audience of undecided voters as part of what was once envisioned as a debate with Trump. Harris had said she would participate in a CNN debate but the two sides never worked out a formal agreement. CNN said it also invited Trump to a town hall. but that it didn’t happen.

    Harris told the audience that Jan. 6 saw a “president of the United States defying the will of the people in a free and fair election and unleashing a violent mob who attacked the United States Capitol.”

    The first audience question was from a self-described “anti-Trump Republican” who was concerned about the Jan. 6 attack.

    “I believe the American people deserve better, and they deserve a president who is focused on solutions, not sitting in the Oval Office plotting every day,” Harris said.

    When it comes to Jan. 6, about 4 in 10 likely voters in a CNN poll from September said the economy was their most important issue when deciding how to vote, and about 2 in 10 said protecting democracy was. That compared to about 1 in 10 who named either immigration or abortion and reproductive rights.

    Protecting democracy also seems to be more important to Democrats and Harris supporters. Roughly 4 in 10 voters who back Harris call it their top issue, compared to about 2 in 10 who say that about the economy. For Republicans and Trump supporters, about 6 in 10 name the economy as their top voting issue, followed by immigration. Only 5% of Trump supporters said protecting democracy was their top issue.

    During the town hall, Harris said Trump is “increasingly unstable and unfit to serve.” Asked directly if she thought her opponent was a fascist, Harris responded, “Yes, I do.”

    A short time later, Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt responded, “Kamala will say anything to distract from her open border invasion and record high inflation.”

    During the event, Harris was asked how her presidency would be different from Biden’s given that she’s been a part of his administration for nearly four years — a question she’s answered in recent weeks without naming major contrasts. This time, Harris seemed better prepared to talk about how things would be different, saying, “My administration will not be a continuation of the Biden administration” and saying she represented a “new generation of leadership on a number of issues.”

    “I’m pointing out things that haven’t been done that need to be done,” the vice president said of Biden’s policies, also noting, “I’m not going to shy away from saying, ‘Hey, these are still problems that we need to fix.’” She pointed specifically to her promises to increase federal grants for small businesses and to expand government funding for home health care to people caring for their elderly parents and children simultaneously.

    One audience member pressed Harris on key issues where she’s flip-flopped. That includes hydraulic fracturing, which she suggested that she’d support banning while running in the 2020 Democratic primary but now says should be allowed to continue. Harris said Wednesday that the U.S. can invest in a greener energy economy without halting fracking, which is key to the economy of parts of Pennsylvania.

    She added that she sees many key policies differently now: “Frankly I now have the experience and perspective of having been vice president.”

    Asked about the greatest weakness she’d bring to the White House, Harris offered, “I’m kind of a nerd sometimes, I confess” while admitting to making “parental mistakes” with her two stepchildren.

    The vice president also mentioned praying every day, saying, “I was raised to believe in a loving God, to believe faith is a verb.”

    __

    Weissert reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Linley Sanders contributed to this report from Washington.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • NC gubernatorial candidates Josh Stein and Mark Robinson still hard at work on the campaign trail

    NC gubernatorial candidates Josh Stein and Mark Robinson still hard at work on the campaign trail

    [ad_1]

    North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein in Raleigh, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. Photo by Carla Peay/The Atlanta Voice

    GUILFORD COUNTY, NC – It’s day three of early voting in North Carolina and the candidates are making their cases to the voters in person at voting locations across the state. Attorney General Josh Stein, the Democratic candidate for Governor, cast his ballot at the Southeast Raleigh YMCA on Thursday, the first day of early voting in the state. Lt. Governor Mark Robinson, the Republican candidate for Governor, cast his ballot on Saturday at the Deep River Recreation Center in High Point.

    “From our exit polling, what we’re seeing is a ton of conservatives getting out to vote early and I think they’re eager,” Robinson said. “What they’re eager for is change at the very top, at the federal level and at the state level.”

    Robinson continues to denounce the CNN report released on September 19, which claimed Robinson made explicit racial and sexual posts on a message board several years ago. On Tuesday, Oct. 15, the Lt. Governor filed a $50 million lawsuit against CNN. Robinson called the CNN report a “high-tech lynching”, using the same term Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas used during his confirmation hearing in 1991.

    Despite the report, Robinson maintains it will have no effect on his chances to win the governor’s race.

    “We’re going to be on the ground with the people, talking to the people, meeting with the people and telling them about our vision,” Robinson said.

    A few miles north of where Robinson was casting his ballot, Stein was meeting with canvassing volunteers to support Tanneshia Dukes, who is running for the North Carolina House of Representatives for District 59.

    “I’m really excited about all the energy we’re experiencing around North Carolina,” Stein said. “The stakes of this election are incredibly high.” Stein is working hard for down ballot candidates in order to help elect enough Democrats to break the Supermajority in the state legislature.

    Photo by Carla Peay/The Atlanta Voice

    “I’ve been really heartened to see all the support we have gotten so far,” Stein said. As election day approaches, the polls have tightened up. As little as a week ago, a poll by Redfield & Wilson Strategies reported that Stein’s lead had climbed to 17 percent, but the most recent numbers have the race at seven percent.  

    “I feel really good about where we are, but polls will tighten,” Stein said. “I never pay too much attention to them. Head down, run hard, go through the tape, talk to as many voters as we can to try to show them how our vision can help their families have a better future.” 

    [ad_2]

    Carla Peay

    Source link

  • (Media News) Reuters and CNN Announce Metered Paywalls for Digital Content

    (Media News) Reuters and CNN Announce Metered Paywalls for Digital Content

    [ad_1]

    On the same day, Reuters and CNN revealed plans to introduce metered paywalls on their websites, moving towards digital subscription models. Users will have limited free access to articles before being prompted to subscribe.

    CNN, the largest US news website, will charge $3.99 monthly for full site access, offering exclusive features, documentaries, and fewer ads. Some content, such as breaking news and the homepage, will remain free. This marks CNN’s latest effort to boost revenue amid challenges in the linear TV sector, with CEO Mark Thompson aiming to build a digital subscription business generating over $1 billion annually.

    Reuters will offer full access globally for $1 per week or $4 per month. Reuters’ president, Paul Bascobert, emphasized that the new plan will support expanded coverage and investment in journalism. The subscription will launch in Canada in early October before expanding globally. Reuters previously delayed paywall plans due to a dispute with financial data provider Refinitiv but resumed the initiative after reaching an agreement earlier this year.

    Both outlets see digital subscriptions as crucial for their future growth strategies, with Reuters targeting a global rollout and CNN aiming to recover from its earlier failed attempt at a subscription service, CNN+.

    Do you appreciate our work? Please consider one of the following ways to sustain us.

    MBFC Ad-Free 

    or

    MBFC Donation

    Follow Media Bias Fact Check: 

    BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/mediabiasfactcheck.bsky.social

    Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Media_Bias_Fact_Check/

    Threads: https://www.threads.net/@mediabiasfactcheck

    Twitter: https://twitter.com/MBFC_News

    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mediabiasfactcheck

    Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@mediabiasfactcheck

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mediabiasfactcheck/

    Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/mbfcnews/

    Subscribe With Email

    Join 23.4K other subscribers

    [ad_2]

    Media Bias Fact Check

    Source link

  • ‘Too Late’ Or Too Scared? Donald Trump Ducks & Dodges Kamala Harris Challenging Him To Second Debate

    ‘Too Late’ Or Too Scared? Donald Trump Ducks & Dodges Kamala Harris Challenging Him To Second Debate

    [ad_1]

    Source: Xinhua News Agency / Getty

    Kamala Harris Accepts the Debate, Trump Turns Tail

    Donald Trump is running scared—and it’s not just from those lawsuits and criminal cases—he’s ducking and dodging a second presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris. The former president backpedaling proves once again that he’ll tell others to fight while he flees the action, just like on Jan. 6.

    Kamala Harris came out swinging when she accepted CNN’s invitation to a second debate scheduled for October 23, just under two weeks before the 2024 presidential election. In true fighter fashion, Harris took to X (formerly Twitter) and taunted her opponent, writing,

    “I will gladly accept a second presidential debate on October 23. I hope @realDonaldTrump will join me” (X).

    But did Trump take the bait? Of course not.

    Trump: “It’s Too Late” for a Debate Rematch

    Instead of stepping up for another round, Trump scurried to his comfort zone—a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina. According to Politico, he told supporters, 

    “She’s done one debate, I’ve done two. It’s too late to do another.”

    His excuse? Early voting had already begun in states like Minnesota, Virginia, and South Dakota, so why debate now? “It’s too late. The voting is cast, the voters are out there,” he said. As if facing his opponent would be too much to handle when ballots are already flying in. Puh-lease!

    Sounds like someone’s afraid of taking another L in front of America.

     *Kamala Harris Silk Press Hair Flip*

    Harris’s Team: “Donald Shouldn’t Be Scared”

    ABC News first presidential debate

    Source: The Washington Post / Getty

    The Vice President’s campaign, smelling blood in the water, wasted no time throwing shade back at Trump. In Newsweek, Jen O’Malley Dillon, Harris’s campaign chair, kept it real in a statement:

    “Donald Trump should have no problem agreeing to this debate. It is the same format and setup as the CNN debate he attended and said he won in June.”

    The implication was clear—Trump’s dodging because he knows he might not come out on top this time.

    Remember how he taunted Biden after their Presidential debate? He even kept mentioning—excuse me—ridiculing sick Biden during his debate with Harris when he thought he had won. 

    What a sore loser. 

    Let’s also not forget Trump’s infamous boast after the first debate on September 10, when he faced Harris. He confidently said he won, even though most observers handed the victory to Harris. 

    In Truth Social, Trump’s response was posted to Harris’s call for a rematch, claiming that the only reason she wanted another debate was because he “won” the first one.

     “When a prizefighter loses a fight, the first words out of his mouth are, ‘I WANT A REMATCH,’” Trump wrote. 

    He’s not convincing anyone but the most die-hard MAGA crowd.

    The Real and Reactions: Trump is “Scared”

    Tim Ryan, former Ohio representative and frequent Trump critic, wasn’t about to let this pass either. In The Guardian, he slams Trump’s refusal to debate, saying it’s not just strategy—it’s fear. 

    “Behind the beard and the tan and the hair there are two scared little boys.” 

    Now, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of why Trump’s running scared. After all, he’s got a lot to lose. His first debate performance in June against President Joe Biden was seen by many as a win, but Biden’s lackluster showing ended up leading to his withdrawal from the race. 

    With Harris stepping into the spotlight and outperforming him in their first head-to-head in Philadelphia, Trump’s campaign knew another round could further dent his carefully cultivated image as the “tough guy” who never backs down.

    Harris Flexes: Campaign Dominates Fundraising

    The Harris campaign has been on the offensive, raking in triple the funds Trump’s team pulled in August, showing that momentum is firmly on their side. And Team Harris isn’t letting up, pushing the narrative that the American people deserve a second debate before the November 5 election. 

    Jen O’Malley Dillon, Biden’s campaign manager, shared a statement in Newsweek: 

    “It would be unprecedented in modern history for there to just be one general election debate.” 

    And she’s got a point. In previous election cycles, voters were offered multiple debates to see the candidates spar on various issues.

    Trump Says No Thanks, Voters Left in the Dark

    US-VOTE-POLITICS-DEBATE-HARRIS-TRUMP

    Source: MATTHEW HATCHER / Getty

    By dodging another debate, Trump risks giving the impression that he’s not up to the challenge—something Harris’s campaign is more than happy to remind voters of.

    The battle lines are drawn, and Harris is ready to fight. But Trump is deciding to bail, just like he’s done with several business flops. We’ve seen how confidently he confronted Biden, but Harris has him SHOOK! And rightfully so, based on the polling numbers. 

    Guess we’ll see if that strategy works for him—or if running from a fight only makes the L’s pile up faster.

    [ad_2]

    Lauryn Bass

    Source link

  • Trump rejects CNN debate against Harris, citing start of early voting

    Trump rejects CNN debate against Harris, citing start of early voting

    [ad_1]

    Donald Trump on Saturday rejected a second debate against Kamala Harris before the November 5 election, saying it was “too late” with early voting already underway in some states.

    Earlier in the day, Harris’s campaign said she had accepted an invitation from broadcaster CNN to participate in a debate on October 23. It would have been the candidates’ second debate, after a September 10 encounter that most pundits said she had won.

    “The American people deserve another opportunity to see Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump debate before they cast their ballots,” her campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a statement.

    “I hope (Trump) will join me,” Harris posted on X.

    Trump claimed during a campaign rally in the battleground state of North Carolina that he would like to debate — calling it “good entertainment value” — but the start of early voting in some states had taken the air out of the idea.

    “It’s just too late, voting has already started,” he said.

    He added, to a large and enthusiastic crowd of supporters, that while CNN had been “very fair” when he debated President Joe Biden in June, “they won’t be fair again.”

    Vice President Harris replaced her boss at the top of the Democratic ticket after the 81-year-old Biden’s disastrous performance against Trump.

    His exit from the race left Trump, 78, now the oldest ever presidential nominee, against a much younger Harris, 59.

    Voting underway

    Saturday’s announcement came as some states have already begun early voting in what is an agonizingly close race.

    The result is expected to hinge on seven battleground states, including North Carolina.

    Trump addressed the crowd in the port city of Wilmington from behind bulletproof glass, following an apparent second assassination attempt against him.

    A gunman was discovered on his golf course in Florida last Sunday, with security agents foiling any plan to harm the former president.

    In July, Trump was struck on the ear by a bullet at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, after a gunman opened fire from a nearby rooftop. The US Secret Service — tasked with protecting the candidate — on Friday admitted to “deficiencies” and “complacency” in the shocking security breach.

    Anti-immigrant rhetoric

    Trump won North Carolina in the 2020 election against Biden.

    But Harris is aiming to flip the southeastern state for Democrats, on the strength of her support from African Americans and young voters.

    Trump’s speech on Saturday reinforced the hardline anti-immigrant rhetoric that has become a centerpiece of his campaign, falsely claiming migrants were “attacking villages and cities all throughout the Midwest.”

    He also promised the crowd that the United States would “reach Mars before the end of my term.”

    The former president was facing a new challenge in North Carolina after a bombshell report on Thursday revealed that Mark Robinson, the Republican candidate for governor whom Trump has endorsed, had called himself a “Black Nazi” and made other incendiary comments on a porn website message board more than a decade ago.

    Robinson has denounced the CNN report as “salacious tabloid lies.”

    The presidential race remains neck-and-neck and every vote will count in the election, whose result Trump has once again refused to say he will accept if he loses.

    Trump faces criminal charges for allegedly trying to overturn the 2020 result, after which his supporters violently stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

    [ad_2]

    AFP

    Source link

  • Mental health jobs will grow 3 times the rate of all US jobs over the next decade

    Mental health jobs will grow 3 times the rate of all US jobs over the next decade

    [ad_1]

    (CNN) — As the demand for mental health care grows across the United States, so will an expected demand for service providers.

    Employment growth in the mental health field — for psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists, counselors, psychiatric aides and social workers — is expected to be triple the projection for a typical US job, according to a CNN analysis of new data released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

    A subset of mental health practitioners — specifically mental health counselors, which include substance abuse and behavioral disorder counselors — is projected to grow even more rapidly. Growth for these roles is set to increase by 19%, going from about 450,000 workers in 2023 to 534,000 by 2033, making it among the top 20 fastest-growing US occupations. These counselors work with people seeking help for problems such as anxiety, addictions and stress.

    Marriage and family therapists are other jobs within the mental health field expected to show notable growth by 2033, with jobs there expected to rise by 16%. And the BLS group “counselors, all other,” a catch-all category that includes jobs such as sexual assault counselors and anger control or grief counselors, is similarly projected to grow 14% by 2033.

    Why and where growth is likely

    Two factors could be increasing demand for mental health services: Decreasing stigma around seeking treatment and increasing uncertainty in peoples’ lives, said Traci Cipriano, a clinical psychologist and assistant clinical professor in the Yale School of Medicine. She told CNN that political divisiveness, economic uncertainty, gun violence and the climate crisis are factors putting particular pressure on Americans.

    “All of these things feel threatening to a certain degree, but each one of us as an individual really has very little control over them,” Cipriano said. “Stress itself can be managed through mental health treatment but if you don’t manage it, it can lead to depression and anxiety.”

    Over the next decade, more Americans are also expected to manage stress outside of formal therapy. CNN’s analysis of BLS job projections also found that holistic workers — such as acupuncturists, fitness trainers and massage therapists — are also set to outpace typical job growth.

    Employment growth specifically for massage therapists is estimated to balloon by nearly 18% by 2033, adding almost 23,000 jobs annually on average. More than half of clients cited relaxation or stress relief as the primary reason for receiving a massage, according to a 2023 survey by the American Massage Therapy Association.

    Access among top barriers to seeking treatment

    The growing demand for mental health workers is one sign of shortages amid what many are calling a health emergency. Nine out of 10 adults said they believed that there’s a mental health crisis in the United States, and young people especially reported deteriorated well-being during and after the pandemic.

    While more adults are seeking treatment in recent years, most struggling with their mental health still do not receive support.

    One reason could be the approximately 122 million Americans who live in areas where there is a scarcity of mental health professionals, according to a 2021 analysis by USA Facts. Rural areas are particularly vulnerable, with Wyoming and Utah leading for the highest proportion of people without access to mental health providers.

    “We’re experiencing a shortage of mental health professionals,” said Cipriano. “People can’t get in and access the treatment they need, so it makes sense there would be a need for job growth.”

    Methodology

    The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) collects employment projection data for more than 1,100 detailed occupational groups. These group employment categories can represent multiple professions. For example, the occupational group “Therapists, all other” includes art and music therapists but also peripatologists – people who support those who are visually impaired to travel independently. As such, some of the group employment categories analyzed by CNN may include professions not directly connected to mental health services and similarly, some occupational groups omitted from our analysis may include mental health-related jobs.

    To identify mental health professionals as specifically as possible, CNN limited its analysis to occupations in the categories of psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists, counselors, psychiatric aides and social workers. We included the following employment categories (national employment code in parentheses): Substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors (21-1018); counselors, all other (21-1019); marriage and family therapists (21-1013); therapists, all other (29-1129); mental health and substance abuse social workers (21-1023); clinical and counseling psychologists (19-3033); school psychologists (19-3034); psychologists, all other (19-3039); psychiatrists (29-1223); and psychiatric aides (31-1133).

    For holistic workers, CNN included massage therapists (31-9011); exercise trainers and group fitness instructors (39-9031); dietitians and nutritionists (29-1031); acupuncturists (29-1291); and healthcare diagnosing or treating practitioners, all other (29-1299).

    While there are limitations to this analysis because of the broad nature of the BLS’s occupational groups, its purpose is to examine high-level employment trends.

    [ad_2]

    CNN

    Source link

  • ‘You’re next:’ Some Trump supporters blame the media for assassination attempt

    ‘You’re next:’ Some Trump supporters blame the media for assassination attempt

    [ad_1]

    New York (CNN) — Moments after Donald Trump was rushed to safety following a failed assassination attempt at a Saturday night rally, some of his supporters turned toward the press pen with obscenities as they fingered reporters for blame.

    “This is your fault!” one attendee emphatically yelled, pointing at individual journalists as he approached the fence line separating them from attendees. “This is your fault!”

    “It is your fault!” exclaimed another.

    Axios reporter Sophia Cai, who quoted some in the crowd warning the press, “you’re next” and that their “time is coming,” even reported that a few rally goers tried to breach the barriers establishing the press pen, but that they were stopped by security personnel.

    In the immediate wake of the horrific shooting attempt on Trump’s life, which resulted in the tragic death of one rally attendee and the severe wounding of two others, the news media has quickly emerged among some Trump supporters as a body to assign blame.

    While the Trump campaign urged its staff to “condemn all forms of violence” and said it “will not tolerate dangerous rhetoric on social media,” some of the former president’s supporters in MAGA Media vehemently assailed the press for its hard-knuckled reporting on Trump, which has sounded the alarm on what four more years under the former president would look like.

    Over the course of the campaign cycle, news organizations have, among other things, reported at length on Trump’s plans to warp the federal government for his own ends, including to seek vengeance against his political opponents. That reporting is now facing scrutiny, with some Trump supporters blaming it for producing a charged atmosphere that gave way to the assassination attempt, while mostly looking past the incendiary rhetoric of the former president himself.

    Immediately after the attack, top figures across the news media condemned the shooting, underscoring that violence against a political candidate is an attack on democracy itself. Top liberal commentators also expressed their disgust in strong terms. MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, the country’s most recognized liberal personality, said she did not “have adequate words to describe how disgusted and horrified” she was.

    “There is no *no* *no* *no* violent solution to any American political conflict,” Maddow wrote on Threads. “I am grateful the former president is going to be ok, and miserably sad and angry about the other people hurt and killed. This is a very dark day.”

    The reaction from the press and liberal media figures stood in stark contrast to how right-wing media personalities have responded in the aftermath of attacks on Democrats. Instead of raising the volume or fanning the flames of false flag conspiracy theories, which top figures on the right have done after attacks on Paul Pelosi and Gabrielle Giffords, they urged for calm.

    Nevertheless, the anti-press attitude in MAGA circles has unquestionably increased. Despite the accuracy of the news media’s reporting on Trump, supporters of the former president have moved to vilify and scapegoat journalists for the heinous attack, sending anti-media attitudes to alarming heights.

    “On a daily basis, MSNBC tells its audience that Trump is a threat to democracy, an authoritarian in waiting, and a would-be dictator if no one stops him,” conservative radio host Erick Erickson wrote on X. “What did they think would happen?”

    Donald Trump Jr. blasted CNN, The Washington Post, and the press at large for recent coverage of his father.

    “Dems and their friends in the media knew exactly what they were doing with the ‘literally Hitler’ bullshit!,” he wrote on X.

    With just over 100 days until the November elections, the inflamed disposition toward the press has prompted cause for concern among news executives and spurred discussion inside newsrooms about safety and security precautions — especially with the Republican National Convention set to start on Monday. That four-day event, which was already a security concern prior to the assassination attempt, will bring together scores of journalists, alongside thousands of Trump supporters.

    “Journalists are always among the very first to run towards a crisis, and we collectively are working in overdrive to keep everyone safe,” one news executive told me. “That is the absolute top priority.”

    [ad_2]

    Oliver Darcy and CNN

    Source link

  • Damon Lindelof Says Joe Biden Has To Go & Dems Need To Wake Up; “Stop Giving” Money, Top Donor Insists – Guest Column

    Damon Lindelof Says Joe Biden Has To Go & Dems Need To Wake Up; “Stop Giving” Money, Top Donor Insists – Guest Column

    [ad_1]

    Editor’s note: Damon Lindelof has been a significant contributor to Democrats up and down the ballot for years, including to the campaigns of President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Joe Biden. However, after Biden’s stumbling debate performance last week, the Emmy-winning Lindelof writes that the Dems need to replace Biden soon if they want to have any chance of beating Donald Trump in November.

    My name is Damon Lindelof. I am a lifelong Democrat and I love my complicated, glorious country. I am not writing this anonymously because I’m asking others in positions of influence to do the same. I don’t know if what I have to say will matter, but I know what my eyes and my ears and my heart tell me. I’ve been asleep at the wheel and it’s time to wake the fuck up.

    There is a choice before us and the choice is this – Do we leave our pitcher on the mound or do we go to the bullpen for relief?

    Our president’s debate performance has been characterized in many ways; disappointing, upsetting, terrifying… but for me it was simply game-changing. So yes, let’s go with the bullpen please. Let’s go with relief.

    RELATED: POTUS Debate TV Review: Biden Shows His Age While Trump Tosses Out One Whopper After Another With No Fact-Checking From CNN Moderators

    I voted for Joe. I wept when the election was called for him and whooped out of the windows of my wife’s car as she honked the horn in joy, the streets filled with revelers, all celebrating a return to decency. Joe is a good man and a great president. And he has risen to leadership despite a level of loss and suffering that would bring me to my knees. I believe in Joe Biden. I believe in him so much that we wrote him a sizeable check as recently as two weeks ago. We had to considering his opponent.

    The liar. The cheater. The rapist. The felon. Immune, immune, immune, courtesy of the highest court in the land. If elected, he would replace the two most conservative justices on that court with two who are thirty years younger. Which means my teenaged son will be SEVENTY before there’s even a chance at a balanced court. So … what is the remedy for imbalance?

    Checks.

    Because the checks are what get us in the room where it happens. I wish that wasn’t true. I wish it was strength of character or viability of ideas. But it’s checks. Checks all the way down.

    The checks give us access to power and it is power that is needed to persuade our pitcher to come out of the game, because dammit, even four runs down with the bases loaded and no outs, he still feels like he’s got good stuff. Yet we’re just here in the stands. We can shout as much as we want, but the pitcher will ignore us despite our checks. Fortunately, he’s not the only one we’re writing them to.

    His teammates are right there next to him. If they can be compelled to walk over to the mound, not just one or two of them, but the manager and the catcher and the entire infield… maybe, just maybe, he will hand them the ball. And we can get our reliever in.

    And so, I propose a DEMbargo. No checks written. No ActBlue links clicked. For anyone.

    When a country is not behaving how we want them to, we apply harsh economic sanctions. It’s a give and take — Short term hurt for long term healing.

    Is it misguided to punish the entire team for the stubbornness of the pitcher? Maybe. But it’s also common sense that if he stays in, they will also lose. A rising tide lifts all boats. A falling Biden sinks them.

    Some will say it is too late. That no team has ever come back from four down in the ninth. To them I say HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A SPORTS MOVIE?!? 

    Others will say it cannot be done. That our bullpen is so packed with talented pitchers it will be impossible to choose which one is ideal. To them I say, YOU’RE TELLING ME OUR PROBLEM IS TOO MANY GREAT PITCHERS?!? COME ON. LET’S GO!

    I will admit, I am driven by the hubris implicit in thinking anything a Hollywood Elite says will matter to anyone. But I am also driven by purpose. And the polling. Oh God, the polling. He was behind before the debate. And it will not get better.

    So it has to be now and we have to move fast.

    When they text you asking for cash, text back that you’re not giving them a penny and you won’t change your mind until there’s change at the top of the ticket. And when Joe finally leaves the mound, I will stand and applaud. Because he truly pitched a great game. 

    But I’m ready to hear the walkout song for our closer. And once I do, I’m going to double the size of the checks… I’m going to write so many damn checks my hand will cramp.

    God bless you for making it through this stream of conscientious consciousness … and God bless America.

    [ad_2]

    Dominic Patten

    Source link

  • Biden, Trump, and RFK Jr. are all anti-freedom

    Biden, Trump, and RFK Jr. are all anti-freedom

    [ad_1]

    Last week, presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asked me to moderate what he called “The Real Debate.”

    Kennedy was angry with CNN because it wouldn’t let him join its Trump-Biden debate.

    His people persuaded Elon Musk to carry his Real Debate on X, formerly Twitter. They asked me to give RFK Jr. the same questions, with the same time limits.

    I agreed, hoping to hear some good new ideas.

    I didn’t.

    As you know, President Joe Biden slept, and former President Donald Trump lied. Well, OK, Biden lied at least nine times, too, even by CNN’s count.

    Kennedy was better.

    But not much.

    He did acknowledge that our government’s deficit spending binge is horrible. He said he’d cut military spending. He criticized unscientific COVID-19 lockdowns and said nice words about school choice.

    But he, too, dodged questions, blathered on past time limits, and pushed big government nonsense like, “Every million dollars we spend on child care creates 22 jobs.”

    Give me a break.

    Independence Day is this week.

    As presidential candidates promise to subsidize flying cars (Trump), free community college tuition (Biden), and “affordable” housing via 3 percent government-backed bonds (Kennedy), I think about how bewildered and horrified the Founding Fathers would be by such promises.

    On the Fourth of July almost 250 years ago, they signed the Declaration of Independence, marking the birth of our nation.

    They did not want life dominated by politicians. They wanted a society made up of free individuals. They believed every human being has “unalienable rights” to life, liberty, and (justly acquired) property.

    The blueprints created by the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution gradually created the freest and most prosperous nation in the history of the world.

    Before 1776, people thought there was a “divine right” of kings and nobles to rule over them.

    America succeeded because the Founders rejected that belief.

    In the Virginia Declaration of Rights, George Mason wrote, “All power is vested in, and consequently derived from, the people.”

    By contrast, Kennedy and Biden make promises that resemble the United Nations’ “Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” U.N. bureaucrats say every person deserves “holidays with pay…clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services.”

    The Founders made it clear that governments should be limited. They didn’t think we had a claim on our neighbor’s money. We shouldn’t try to force them to pay for our food, clothing, housing, prescription drugs, college tuition.

    They believe you have the right to be left alone to pursue happiness as you see fit.

    For a while, the U.S. government stayed modest. Politicians mostly let citizens decide our own paths, choose where to live, what jobs to take, and what to say.

    There were a small number of “public servants.” But they weren’t our bosses.

    Patrick Henry declared: “The governing persons are the servants of the people.”

    Yet now there are 23 million government employees. Some think they are in charge of everything.

    Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D–N.Y.), pushing her Green New Deal, declared herself “the boss.”

    The Biden administration wants to decide what kind of car you should drive.

    During the pandemic, politicians ordered people to stay home, schools to shut down and businesses to close.

    Then, as often happens in “Big Government World,” people harmed by government edicts ask politicians to compensate them.

    After governments banned Fourth of July fireworks, the American Pyrotechnics Association requested “relief in the next Senate Covid package to address the unique and specific costs to this industry,” reported The New York Times. “The industry hopes Congress will earmark $175 million for it in another stimulus bill.”

    Today the politically connected routinely lobby passionately to get bigger chunks of your money.

    For some of you, the last straw was when the administration demanded you inject a chemical into your body.

    When some resisted vaccinations, Biden warned, “Our patience is wearing thin.”

    His patience? Who does he think he is? My father? My king?

    At least Kennedy doesn’t say things like that. But he does say absurd things. In a few weeks I’ll release my sit-down interview with him, and you can decide for yourself whether he’s a good candidate.

    This Fourth of July, remember Milton Friedman’s question: “How can we keep the government we create from becoming a Frankenstein that will destroy the very freedom we establish it to protect?”

    COPYRIGHT 2024 BY JFS PRODUCTIONS INC.

    The post Biden, Trump, and RFK Jr. Are All Anti-Freedom appeared first on Reason.com.

    [ad_2]

    John Stossel

    Source link