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Tag: demographic groups

  • Big moments for women at the men’s World Cup | CNN Politics

    Big moments for women at the men’s World Cup | CNN Politics

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    A version of this story appears in CNN’s What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here.



    CNN
     — 

    An unexpected result of the US Men’s National Team reaching the knockout round of 16 at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar is that the US Women’s National Team will get its largest collective payday, equally splitting $13 million in winnings with the men.

    It’s a big deal for American women who have long sought pay equity, and it amplifies the extreme sliding scale of women’s rights around the globe.

    Consider that this payday for US women was won when the US men’s team defeated Iran, a country where authorities are brutally tamping down protests by women who want basic human rights.

    The US Women’s National Team excels at soccer and fought hard for years for equal pay.

    The earnings they’ll split with the American men could grow if the men continue to advance in the World Cup.

    It’s the result of an unprecedented equal pay agreement finalized earlier this year. Read more about the prize money.

    FIFA pays bigger awards to the men’s tournament, which draws in more revenue to the international soccer governing body, than to the women’s. The agreement between the US men and women is unique.

    “To everyone it should indicate how big the disparity is that FIFA has made between their value of women’s soccer and men’s soccer, and this is the only way that equity could be achieved, if all parties agreed – and they did,” said Briana Scurry, a former US goalkeeper, appearing on CNN Wednesday.

    Not only did the US Men’s National Team advance to earn the payday, but they also agreed to this unprecedented pot-splitting with the top American women earlier this year.

    “These are Title IX males,” said Christine Brennan, the sports columnist and CNN analyst, referring to the US men’s team during an appearance on “CNN Tonight” on Tuesday. She was referring to the landmark 1972 law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs or activities receiving federal funds. It has revolutionized women’s sports in the US and, Brennan argued, influenced male athletes too.

    “They weren’t raised like their dads or their grandfathers. And they have a much different outlook, not only about women’s equality in terms of pay, but these are the same men who’ve been talking about standing with the Iranian protesters,” Brennan said.

    She praised the US Soccer Federation and the Men’s National Team, who have distinguished themselves not only by advancing, but “even more so in terms of our culture and the stands they have taken.”

    Iranian women, as you’ll know from following coverage of protests in that country and at the World Cup, are fighting for basic rights.

    CNN reported on celebrations in Iran at the national team’s loss to the US. From that report:

    “I am happy, this is the government losing to the people,” one witness to celebrations in a city in the Kurdish region, who CNN is not naming for security concerns, told CNN on Wednesday.

    The Norway-based Iranian rights group Hengaw posted several videos of similar scenes. “People in Paveh are celebrating Iran’s national team lose over America in World Cup in Qatar, they are chanting ‘Down with Jash (traitors),” Hengaw said in a post.

    Meanwhile, back in Doha, Qatar, another landmark moment for women in the world’s most popular sport will come Thursday, when the first all-women refereeing team in men’s World Cup history debuts in a pivotal match between Germany and Costa Rica.

    Stéphanie Frappart, the French lead official, has already overseen matches at the top levels of European club soccer, so, “I know how to deal with it,” she said in a statement released by FIFA. This match, with a potential audience of billions, will show a woman in charge.

    If the US men and women are on the road to some sort of parity – the men still make much, much more from their clubs – there are some women in the Middle East who are just gaining access to the pitch.

    Saudi Arabia’s men’s team put in a solid show at this World Cup with their defeat of storied Argentina in the opening round. But the Saudis failed to advance past the group stage after losing to Mexico Wednesday.

    Meanwhile, women in Saudi Arabia were only allowed inside soccer stadiums in 2018, much less play.

    As Saudi Arabia weighs a joint bid to co-host the 2030 men’s World Cup, the kingdom is also in the beginning stages of building a national women’s team. It’ll surely be many years before the Saudi women can be competitive on the world stage, but simply being able to play is certainly progress.

    CNN’s Becky Anderson, who is reporting from Doha during this World Cup, talked to the German women’s team legend Monika Staab, who is coaching the nascent Saudi women’s team. She said the kingdom is developing its women through three development academies and wants to host an international tournament in 2026.

    Staab said the all-women referee team in Thursday’s match in Qatar will be a powerful symbol for Muslim women watching.

    “The women can do like the men,” Staab said on CNN International Wednesday night. “I think that is a big sign for the whole world. We in Saudi Arabia, we play football. That has a great impact on every Muslim girl who wants to play,” Staab said.

    In the US, women’s soccer has at times been a bigger draw than the men’s game.

    About 14 million American viewers watched the women’s World Cup final, featuring the winning US team, in 2019. That was more than watched the men’s World Cup final between France and Croatia in 2018, but far below the 20 million who watched the US take on England in the group stage last Saturday across Fox and Telemundo.

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  • The fine print of the Respect for Marriage Act | CNN Politics

    The fine print of the Respect for Marriage Act | CNN Politics

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    A version of this story first ran in July. It also appears in CNN’s What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here.



    CNN
     — 

    Let’s start with the positive: Republicans and Democrats are coming together to protect same-sex marriage from the Supreme Court. The Respect for Marriage Act, which safeguards the right to same-sex marriage nationwide, passed the House with bipartisan support earlier this week and now awaits a Senate vote.

    The Respect for Marriage Act codifies marriages and came about amid worries among Democrats that the same conservative majority on the Supreme Court that took away the right to abortion will target same-sex marriage in the future.

    The version that overcame a filibuster in the Senate passed the Senate Tuesday. A dozen Republican senators from across the country voted with Democrats before Thanksgiving to limit debate and move toward a final vote.

    RELATED: Meet the 12 Republicans who voted to consider the Respect for Marriage Act

    It next goes to the House for approval before President Joe Biden can sign it into law.

    But there is a fair amount of fine print.

    First, the bill does not require all states to allow same-sex marriage, even though that is the current reality under the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision. Rather, if the Supreme Court overturned Obergefell and previous state prohibitions on same-sex marriage came back into effect, the Respect for Marriage Act would require states and the federal government to respect marriages conducted in places where it is legal.

    There are religious exceptions. Republican supporters have emphasized the elements in this Senate version that protect nonprofit and religious organizations from having to provide support for same-sex marriages.

    “I will be supporting the substitute amendment because it will ensure our religious freedoms are upheld and protected, one of the bedrocks of our democracy,” said West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito in a statement after helping break the filibuster.

    It took months of behind-the-scenes effort to bring 10-plus Republicans on board.

    This is all academic right now. The bill is only being passed in case the now-solidly conservative Supreme Court, which has taken delight in upending precedent, were to revisit the Obergefell v. Hodges decision that created a national right to marriage for same-sex couples.

    Two of the justices who voted in favor of that ruling have been replaced by Republican-appointed conservatives, which means that if the case were heard today, there’s a real likelihood it would be decided differently.

    While Justice Samuel Alito seemed to want to wall off the abortion rights precedent upended by the Supreme Court earlier this year, CNN’s Ariane de Vogue has written about how the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization could affect issues like marriage. Read her story.

    Here’s a brief history of marriage equality playing a role in prior election years:

    Today, it’s Republicans and Democrats, along with a Democratic president, working together to protect same-sex marriage from a government institution.

    During that time, public support for same-sex marriage grew from about a quarter of the public in the year the Defense of Marriage Act was enacted to 71% in Gallup polling this year.

    The issue has played a role in multiple US elections, including, arguably, the one that just took place.

    Here’s a brief history of marriage equality playing a role in prior election years:

    In 1996, Republican majorities in the House and Senate sensed a political opening after then-President Bill Clinton failed to allow gay people to openly serve in the military.

    They were also trying to get ahead of a Hawaii court decision that could have legalized same-sex marriage in that state. Fearing every state might have to recognize same-sex unions, Republicans pushed the Defense of Marriage Act, known as DOMA.

    It declared marriage as between one man and one woman and allowed states to refuse to recognize marriages. It also withheld federal benefits from married same-sex couples. In 2013, a part of DOMA was found to be unconstitutional.

    DOMA had broad approval. Democrats like then-Sen. Joe Biden voted for the bill. Current Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and many other Democrats whose names you’d recognize, were among the 342 who voted for the bill in the House.

    Current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was among the 67 members to vote “no,” along with Rep. Steve Gunderson, who at the time was the House’s only openly gay Republican.

    In 2004, placing anti-gay-marriage amendments on ballots in key states like Ohio was smart politics. It helped George W. Bush win reelection to the White House and the GOP gain seats in the US Senate.

    Bush endorsed a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. The Democratic candidate, John Kerry, also opposed same-sex marriage at the time.

    In 2008, even as more in his party began to publicly support marriage equality, Obama continued his opposition.

    He has more recently said and written that he always personally supported same-sex marriage rights. His campaign aide David Axelrod has written that Obama made a calculated decision to oppose gay marriage.

    “He grudgingly accepted the counsel of more pragmatic folks like me, and modified his position to support civil unions rather than marriage, which he would term a ‘sacred union,’” Axelrod wrote in a memoir.

    In 2012, following the lead of then-Vice President Biden, Obama officially evolved on the issue and said he now supported marriage equality. It was a big moment.

    A few years later, in 2015, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage nationwide.

    “I’m fine with it,” Trump said in 2016 during an interview with “60 Minutes.”

    He’d go on to brag about being a champion for gay rights, although many LGBTQ activists would disagree.

    The politicians of the ’90s have largely evolved with the country.

    But one of the Supreme Court’s relics from the ’90s, Justice Clarence Thomas, recently questioned the 2015 marriage decision he opposed. As a result, Republicans and Democrats are coming together again, in less than a generation, to undo what they did in 1996, and try to guarantee marriage as a right for all Americans.

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  • A record number of women will serve in the next Congress | CNN Politics

    A record number of women will serve in the next Congress | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    A record number of women will be elected to Congress this year, CNN projects – but barely.

    The 149 women who will serve in the US House and Senate in the 118th Congress will expand the ranks of female representation by just two members above the record set by this Congress.

    Alaska carried women across that threshold on Wednesday night when the state determined through its ranked-choice voting system that Rep. Mary Peltola, a Democrat, will represent the state’s at-large House seat for a full term after winning the special election earlier this year, while Sen. Lisa Murkowski will win reelection.

    Women will break an overall record in the House, with 124 taking office in January.

    And not only will women of color break records in the 118th Congress, but within the House alone, there will also be a record number of both Latinas and Black women. There will be four more Latinas in the House for a total of 18 – the most ever – and one more Black woman, bringing their total from 26 to 27.

    More than half of the incoming class of 22 freshman women in the House will be women of color, showing the increasing diversity of that chamber.

    “We’ve seen a pretty steady increase in the racial and ethnic diversity of women as candidates, nominees, and then officeholders at the congressional level, but more specifically, in the US House,” said Kelly Dittmar, director of research at the Center for American Women and Politics at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers.

    “That diversity is still hugely lacking in the US Senate. … We’re seeing stasis there in terms of the number of women of color overall. The number of Asian and Latino women specifically will stay the same, and the number of Black women will stay the same at zero.”

    Rep.-elect Sydney Kamlager of California is one of those new voices coming to the House. A state senator, she was elected to replace retiring Rep. Karen Bass, who will become the first female mayor of Los Angeles. Kamlager said while she is excited about the diversity of the freshman class, there is still a long way to go.

    “I think folks have to stop giving lip service to Black women and brown women and put the money where the mouth is. The fact remains that Black and brown women face higher barriers of entry into this work than other women and men,” the Democrat said. “When we run, our contributions are less oftentimes than men. We are held to higher and double standards,” she added, noting that female candidates are still often asked why they are not “home taking care of your husband or your children.”

    “Folks are OK with a mediocre male candidate but expect the female candidate to be off the charts,” she said.

    Rep.-elect Yadira Caraveo, a Democrat, is the first Latina elected to Congress from Colorado. A state representative and the daughter of Mexican immigrant parents, she’ll also be just the second female doctor who’s a voting member of Congress. (The first, Democratic Rep. Kim Schrier, won reelection in Washington state.)

    “Kind of sad that it took until 2022,” Caraveo said, reflecting on both milestones.

    Her experience in medicine and state politics, she said, prepared her for having to work harder to get “less credit” than her male counterparts.

    “It is, unfortunately, something that I’ve seen throughout my time, both in medicine and in politics, and, sadly, a challenge that one gets used to, in some ways, but also, in other ways, continues to be painful,” said Caraveo, a pediatrician.

    “Even members of my staff, you know, as they came on board, really noted the different way in which I was treated or perceived as a woman of color compared to some of the other candidates that were able to more easily get meetings or support from different groups,” she added.

    Still, the moment isn’t lost on these women.

    “In Colorado, I didn’t grow up seeing what I am now,” said Caraveo. “The idea of being the first Latina – so not just that it’s a woman but it’s a woman of color – serving in Congress, I hope is going to be make things a little bit easier for the little girls that I’ve taken care of in clinic. So that one day they don’t have to talk about being first of something, their candidacy and their ability to be in office is just a given.”

    And Caraveo, who will be representing a new district that Colorado gained in the reapportionment process, also stressed the significance of what more female representation could mean for legislating.

    “That sense of collaboration that we approach things with is very different than, I think, what my male counterparts often do,” she said.

    On the other side of the aisle, Republicans will break a record with 42 women serving in Congress. Murkowski and Republican Sen.-elect Katie Britt of Alabama help bring the number of Republican women in the Senate to nine. And 33 Republican women will serve in the House next year, up from 32 this year.

    The incoming class of seven House Republican freshmen includes three Latinas, bringing the total number of Republican Latinas in the House to five.

    “Having the diversity of thought and experience is, you know, it’s critical to our representative democracy,” said Rep.-elect Erin Houchin, who noted that she’s the first woman to represent her Indiana district.

    “It feels like we’re accomplishing something for the next generation,” she said. “It is meaningful for me in particular to set that example for my own daughters, for young women.”

    Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio has seen and beat plenty of records before as the longest-serving woman in the House. When she’s sworn in for another term in January, on the heels of her first competitive reelection in years, she’ll become the longest-serving woman in all of Congress, beating the record set by former Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski.

    First elected in 1982, Kaptur has been sounding the alarm about her party being dominated by leadership from the coasts, while the heartland and industrial America – and its struggling middle class – is often forgotten in Washington.

    “My most heart-warming achievement is that the tenure represents a voice from the working class of people – who happens to be a woman,” she said.

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  • More than 100 women murdered in Italy so far this year | CNN

    More than 100 women murdered in Italy so far this year | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    More than 100 women have been murdered in Italy so far this year, with almost half of them killed by their intimate partner or ex-partner, the Italian police said.

    Released on Friday to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the report lists the names and details of death of the 95 women killed between the beginning of the year and November 7.

    They include 27-year-old Carol, who was killed by her ex-boyfriend who hit her with a hammer and then dumped her dismembered body off a cliff, 40-year-old Elisabetta who died after being “stabbed dozens of times” by her husband and 74-year-old Silvana whose husband beat her to death with a stick.

    Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Friday that her government was committed to fighting gender-based violence and the “terrible plague of femicide.”

    “We owe it to the many victims,” she said in a statement posted on her official Facebook page.

    In Italy, 31.5% of women have suffered some of form of physical or sexual violence and 5.4% have been victims of serious forms of sexual violence such as rape, according to the Italian Statistics Institute (ISTAT).

    The Italian statistics comes after the world witnessed a domestic abuse crisis during the Covid-19 pandemic. Job losses, government inaction, judicial backlogs and many other factors contributed to what the United Nations has called a “shadow pandemic of violence against women and girls.”

    According to a UN report, 45,000 women worldwide were killed by their partners or other family members last year. This means that more than five women or girls were killed every hour by someone in their own family.

    Across Europe, cases of violence against women have stoked outrage in recent years.

    In Greece, where 17 women were killed in 2021 according to public broadcaster ERT, the government was criticized for rejecting an opposition amendment that would have established institutional recognition of the term femicide.

    In November 2021, after a 48-year-old woman was stabbed 23 times by her husband in Thessaloniki, opposition leader Alexis Tsipras posted on Facebook: “There should be no political disputes when we dramatically experience the effects of gender based violence on a daily basis.”

    In the United Kingdom, following the kidnap and murder of 33-year-old Sarah Everard in March 2021 by a serving male police officer, and a heavy-handed police crackdown on a vigil in her memory, activists criticized what they say is a culture of misogyny within policing.

    On January 1 of this year, three women were killed in France, each allegedly by a partner or ex-partner, in what feminist campaigners described as an “unbearable” start to another year’s tally of violence. In 2021, 113 women were murdered in France by their current or former partners, according to French advocacy group Féminicides par compagnons ou ex (Femicides by partners or exes).

    The number of women killed in gender-based violence in Spain in 2021 reached 48, according to official data from the Spanish government.

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  • Aaron Carter’s son turns 1 just weeks after dad’s death | CNN

    Aaron Carter’s son turns 1 just weeks after dad’s death | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Melanie Martin celebrated her son Prince’s first birthday, while also honoring her child’s late father, singer Aaron Carter.

    The boy celebrated his first birthday just three weeks after his dad was found dead in the bathtub at his Lancaster, California home. Carter was 34.

    Martin, who had been engaged to Carter, shared a video compilation on her verified Instagram account of their time as a family.

    “Happy birthday to my baby boy Prince Lyric Carter,” the caption read. “Today is going to be a tough one for me but I know your daddy is playing birthday songs for you up in heaven I love you baby boy!!!”

    The LA County Coroner is still working to determine the cause of Carter’s death.

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  • A record number of women will serve in the next Congress | CNN Politics

    A record number of women will serve in the next Congress | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    A record number of women will be elected to Congress this year, CNN projects – but barely.

    The 149 women who will serve in the US House and Senate in the 118th Congress will expand the ranks of female representation by just two members above the record set by this Congress.

    Alaska carried women across that threshold on Wednesday night when the state determined through its ranked-choice voting system that Rep. Mary Peltola, a Democrat, will represent the state’s at-large House seat for a full term after winning the special election earlier this year, while Sen. Lisa Murkowski will win reelection.

    Women will break an overall record in the House, with 124 taking office in January.

    And not only will women of color break records in the 118th Congress, but within the House alone, there will also be a record number of both Latinas and Black women. There will be four more Latinas in the House for a total of 18 – the most ever – and one more Black woman, bringing their total from 26 to 27.

    More than half of the incoming class of 22 freshman women in the House will be women of color, showing the increasing diversity of that chamber.

    “We’ve seen a pretty steady increase in the racial and ethnic diversity of women as candidates, nominees, and then officeholders at the congressional level, but more specifically, in the US House,” said Kelly Dittmar, director of research at the Center for American Women and Politics at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers.

    “That diversity is still hugely lacking in the US Senate. … We’re seeing stasis there in terms of the number of women of color overall. The number of Asian and Latino women specifically will stay the same, and the number of Black women will stay the same at zero.”

    Rep.-elect Sydney Kamlager of California is one of those new voices coming to the House. A state senator, she was elected to replace retiring Rep. Karen Bass, who will become the first female mayor of Los Angeles. Kamlager said while she is excited about the diversity of the freshman class, there is still a long way to go.

    “I think folks have to stop giving lip service to Black women and brown women and put the money where the mouth is. The fact remains that Black and brown women face higher barriers of entry into this work than other women and men,” the Democrat said. “When we run, our contributions are less oftentimes than men. We are held to higher and double standards,” she added, noting that female candidates are still often asked why they are not “home taking care of your husband or your children.”

    “Folks are OK with a mediocre male candidate but expect the female candidate to be off the charts,” she said.

    Rep.-elect Yadira Caraveo, a Democrat, is the first Latina elected to Congress from Colorado. A state representative and the daughter of Mexican immigrant parents, she’ll also be just the second female doctor who’s a voting member of Congress. (The first, Democratic Rep. Kim Schrier, won reelection in Washington state.)

    “Kind of sad that it took until 2022,” Caraveo said, reflecting on both milestones.

    Her experience in medicine and state politics, she said, prepared her for having to work harder to get “less credit” than her male counterparts.

    “It is, unfortunately, something that I’ve seen throughout my time, both in medicine and in politics, and, sadly, a challenge that one gets used to, in some ways, but also, in other ways, continues to be painful,” said Caraveo, a pediatrician.

    “Even members of my staff, you know, as they came on board, really noted the different way in which I was treated or perceived as a woman of color compared to some of the other candidates that were able to more easily get meetings or support from different groups,” she added.

    Still, the moment isn’t lost on these women.

    “In Colorado, I didn’t grow up seeing what I am now,” said Caraveo. “The idea of being the first Latina – so not just that it’s a woman but it’s a woman of color – serving in Congress, I hope is going to be make things a little bit easier for the little girls that I’ve taken care of in clinic. So that one day they don’t have to talk about being first of something, their candidacy and their ability to be in office is just a given.”

    And Caraveo, who will be representing a new district that Colorado gained in the reapportionment process, also stressed the significance of what more female representation could mean for legislating.

    “That sense of collaboration that we approach things with is very different than, I think, what my male counterparts often do,” she said.

    On the other side of the aisle, Republicans will break a record with 42 women serving in Congress. Murkowski and Republican Sen.-elect Katie Britt of Alabama help bring the number of Republican women in the Senate to nine. And 33 Republican women will serve in the House next year, up from 32 this year.

    The incoming class of seven House Republican freshmen includes three Latinas, bringing the total number of Republican Latinas in the House to five.

    “Having the diversity of thought and experience is, you know, it’s critical to our representative democracy,” said Rep.-elect Erin Houchin, who noted that she’s the first woman to represent her Indiana district.

    “It feels like we’re accomplishing something for the next generation,” she said. “It is meaningful for me in particular to set that example for my own daughters, for young women.”

    Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio has seen and beat plenty of records before as the longest-serving woman in the House. When she’s sworn in for another term in January, on the heels of her first competitive reelection in years, she’ll become the longest-serving woman in all of Congress, beating the record set by former Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski.

    First elected in 1982, Kaptur has been sounding the alarm about her party being dominated by leadership from the coasts, while the heartland and industrial America – and its struggling middle class – is often forgotten in Washington.

    “My most heart-warming achievement is that the tenure represents a voice from the working class of people – who happens to be a woman,” she said.

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  • Harris dives into Asian diplomacy amid questions back home about her political future | CNN Politics

    Harris dives into Asian diplomacy amid questions back home about her political future | CNN Politics

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    Palawan, Philippines
    CNN
     — 

    Vice President Kamala Harris is sticking close to her script when responding to what Democrats hope will once again be their greatest electoral mobilizer: Donald Trump and his third White House bid.

    “The president said he intends to run and if he does, I will be running with him,” she told CNN on Tuesday – the first time she’d been asked about Trump’s 2024 candidacy, which he announced last week. She was addressing a gaggle of reporters aboard the Teresa Magbanua, a Philippine Coast Guard vessel stationed at the edge of the South China Sea.

    Her cautious response at the end of a weeklong gaffe-free trip to Thailand and the Philippines could serve as a reflection of Harris’ vice presidency in its second year: toe the line but don’t make waves.

    As she returns from Asia, she’s stuck in a swirl of uncertainty about her place in the party if the now 80-year-old President Joe Biden does not seek a second term. The President is expected to consider the decision over Thanksgiving and upcoming holidays with family, whose advice he’ll seek about running for reelection.

    Harris’ trip to Asia – her third to the region since taking office – was another chance for America’s first South Asian vice president to showcase her ability to lead in the traditional ways of the vice presidency without overstepping her role as No. 2.

    She attended a series of bilateral meetings and greetings with Asian prime ministers and presidents alike, including China’s President Xi Jinping, called a last-minute high-profile meeting with Indo-Pacific countries after North Korea launched a long-range ballistic missile hours before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ summit began and went on a symbolic visit to the Philippines’ archipelago island of Palawan, which could potentially heighten tensions with China.

    With Biden in Washington, DC, for his granddaughter’s wedding, Harris continued her role as his top-ranking envoy in a trip meant to deepen ties to mostly friendly Asian nations and cast the US as the region’s best option for economic stability –part of an ongoing effort to counter China’s growing influence.

    The vice president called the trip a success, as she brandished her policy chops in the region, attempting to fashion herself as a deft leader who speaks for Biden in his absence.

    “It is very important that we were here today to restate the United States commitment to international rules and norms. This trip and this visit in particular has also been about demonstrating the strength and importance of our relationship with the Philippines both as it relates to economic issues and also security issues,” Harris said in Palawan, in a speech where she rejected China’s aggression in the South China Sea and announced funding initiatives ameant to beef up the country’s systems and deepen security ties.

    Still, Harris’ events were tightly scripted and the trip itself, highly choreographed.

    Harris’ “brief greeting” with Xi, as her office described it, was her first face-to-face meeting with the world leader, happening on the margins of APEC. It was likely Harris’ most high-profile moment of the trip, despite the lack of US press in the room to witness it. The vice president met with him just a week after Biden’s first in-person bilateral with Xi, which lasted three hours.

    But unlike the president, who can share as much of a conversation as he pleases, there was an obvious limit to how much Harris felt comfortable sharing. She repeatedly declined to go far beyond what was written in a carefully calculated statement on her meeting with Xi.

    “We discussed that we are keeping open lines of communication, that we do not seek conflict or confrontation, but we welcome competition,” Harris told reporters in a press conference wrapping up her trip to Thailand, dodging twice whether that conversation touched on North Korea or Taiwan.

    If the goal was to remain gaffe free, the planning seems to have paid off. The Republican National Committee only clipped on Twitter moments thatmay have been awkward but didn’t lend themselves to real criticism –unusual treatment for one of their most attacked Democrats.

    On the first day of APEC, a “deeply concerned” Harris rushed aides to convene a last-minute unannounced multi-lateral emergency meeting with Indo-Pacific region allies, according to a senior administration official, after North Korea launched a long-range ballistic missile Friday morning– her second most high-profile moment of the trip.

    Harris directed her team once she was briefed on the latest launch, a White House official said utilizing the Indo-Pacific nation’s presence at the APEC Leaders Summit to do so. At the head of a u-shaped table inside a small room in the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, the vice president accused North Korea of “brazen violation of multiple UN security resolutions.”

    “This conduct by North Korea most recently is a brazen violation of multiple UN Security resolutions. It destabilizes security in the region, and unnecessarily raises tensions. We strongly condemn these actions, and we again call North Korea to stop further unlawful destabilizing,” Harris said. “On behalf of the United States, I reaffirmed our ironclad commitment to our Indo Pacific Alliance.”

    Her statement closely tracked one the National Security Council issued hours earlier on Biden’s behalf, almost to a tee.

    The last-minute nature of the meeting caused aides to move quickly to corral the US press, but without time to pre-set cameras, press from the US, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Korea were fighting for an angle – causing the photo-op visuals to be at times shaky and askew.

    Still, it was a moment that looked almost presidential for Harris as it was reminiscent of the emergency in-person meeting Biden convened with top allies during his final day at the G20 in Indonesia, when a Russian-made missile fell inside the borders of a NATO ally.

    But the presidential posturing had limits. During the weeklong trip, the vice president only answered political and policy questions on two separate occasions from the group of all women reporters traveling with her from Washington – taking two or three questions each time.

    Harris didn’t stray from talking points in her answers, careful not to move beyond Biden’s position on a multitude of issues.

    Harris has long sought opportunities to showcase her own interests and craft her own lane as a younger vice president with potential presidential ambitions.

    Domestically, she has taken the lead for the administration on abortion rights. And on foreign trips, Harris has told aides she wants to go outside of the box when it comes to the schedule. A major part of that has been to meet with women and families in different countries.

    That directive was evident in Manila, when she participated in a moderated conversation about women’s empowerment and entrepreneurship inside a ballroom in the Sofitel.

    “On the issue of the economic wellbeing of women, I think we all know, and I feel very strongly, you lift up the economic status of a woman, her family will be lifted. Her community will be lifted,” Harris said as the Filipino women nodded in agreement. “All of society will benefit. Lift up the economic status of women, and all of society benefits.”

    In the Palawan fishing village of Tagburos, Harris watched women clean fish in front of a picturesque backdrop to talk about the devastation climate change and illegal fishing has had on the village.

    “Hi ma’am,” they yelled as she approached. Harris’ translator introduced the women as her best friends.

    “Best friends,” Harris said, with a laugh and a wave.

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  • Finding a star for ‘Wednesday’ who embodies ‘Family’ values with her own kooky twist | CNN

    Finding a star for ‘Wednesday’ who embodies ‘Family’ values with her own kooky twist | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    There was a lot riding on the casting choice for the titular character of the new Netfilx series “Wednesday.” In addition to someone who could pull off creepy, kooky, mysterious and spooky, the role of raven-haired, pigtail-braided Wednesday Addams needed to go to a young actress who could rise to the occasion of playing a character from such an iconic property.

    “It’s always a little bit daunting when you start a process with such legacy and storied roles around it,” casting director John Papsidera said in a chat with CNN.

    The show marks a return to the Addams Family world, based on the cartoons by Charles Addams and first presented on screen in the iconic 1960s black-and-white sitcom and later in the much-loved early 90s films by Barry Sonnenfeld. In the new series, Wednesday finds herself at a boarding school called the Nevermore Academy where all manner of outcast and freak can roam free.

    For those expecting a tongue-in-cheek rehash of “The Addams Family” – complete with the double-snap theme song – think again. This “teen-centric dark comedy,” as described by showrunners Al Gough and Miles Millar, is not a reboot, but rather a closer examination and celebration of the majorly macabre and sharp-as-a-razor older sister of the Addams clan.

    In searching for their perfect Wednesday, Gough and Millar worked with casting directors Papsidera and Sophie Holland, among others, and said in an email to CNN that it “was always our intention to cast a Latina actress” for the role, because they wanted to honor Gomez Addams’s heritage. While the character of family patriarch Gomez was portrayed by White actor John Astin in the “Addams Family” sitcom from the 1960s, he was portrayed by Puerto Rican actor Raul Julia in the Sonnenfeld movies. In “Wednesday,” Gomez is played by veteran performer Luis Guzmán, also from Puerto Rico.

    The role of daughter Wednesday eventually went to teen it-girl Jenna Ortega (“Scream,” “You,” “X”), an actress of Mexican and Puerto Rican descent. Gough and Millar knew they had found their Wednesday as soon as they met Ortega, they said.

    “I had talked about Jenna a lot in going into (the casting process),” Papsidera said of Ortega. “It’s also a thin world of girls that can be number one on the call sheet and handle the pressure of that, and also is accomplished in her own right. When you start to talk about a young Latina actress, she rises to the top of the heap.”

    Millar and Gough said the show employed a Mexican creative consultant to “help ensure that the scripts reflected Jenna’s specific heritage.”

    “This generation is all about authenticity. We were very intentional in every aspect of the casting process,” the showrunners added. “We wanted to ensure the students at Nevermore Academy were truly reflective of modern American society. It’s not only about series regulars, it is about the depth of casting across the entire series, including background extras.”

    Another coup scored by the casting team on “Wednesday” was to snag actress Christina Ricci, who timelessly portrayed the character in Sonnenfeld’s movies, in the smaller role of Marilyn Thornhill. It almost didn’t happen, due to Ricci’s schedule and commitment to her hit Showtime series “Yellowjackets.”

    “It was really a lovely long game with Christina,” Papsidera said. “We had always talked about her from the beginning. And it wasn’t until almost the very end that her schedule opened up, and then we pivoted there and Tim (Burton, director of “Wednesday”) got on the phone with her and it all worked out.”

    Ricci and Burton, who marks his first foray into directing a television series with the new series, had previously worked together on the 1999 film “Sleepy Hollow.”

    “I think the idea of working with Tim again was probably the biggest bonus in our camp,” Papsidera said of landing the veteran actress. “I also think that she got the idea of participating in something that she loves too, that it was really special for everybody involved.”

    “Wednesday” certainly wastes no time in surreptitiously honoring Ricci’s contributions to the character. Without spoiling too much, the pilot episode features a group of people dressed as pilgrims who meet with an unfortunate fate, calling to mind Ricci’s more-than-memorable Thanksgiving scene in 1993’s “Addams Family Values.”

    “There’s a certain serendipity to the whole series in that way,” Holland added of nabbing Ricci. “It’s like things came together sometimes very last minute, sometimes when we were pulling our hair thinking, ‘We can’t find this, we can’t find this.’ And then something would lock into place. And the whole series, you’ll see once you watch the whole thing, is that it all sort of works together almost like a Rubik’s cube.”

    “Wednesday” also stars Gwendoline Christie, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Joy Sunday, among others.

    The casting team operated under the direction of Burton, who Papsidera said had a clear vision for the show and characters.

    “If anything, that’s where we all kind of started and ended our discussions – with what Tim saw and who he felt he was drawn to as these characters,” Papsidera said.

    Venturing into such an established world, the goal was to “try and reinvent what it is without throwing away the spirit of it,” he added.

    “There’s a certain amount of pressure because also…we are fans,” echoed Holland.

    Holland said she wanted to “fulfill everybody’s needs and wants” and give “proper care to what we do” with regard to the franchise.

    “You want the essence of what those original characters were, but you want it in a new way. So that’s always the challenge, and the reward when you get it,” Papsidera said.

    “Wednesday” is streaming now on Netflix.

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  • What we know about the suspect in the Colorado Springs LGBTQ nightclub shooting | CNN

    What we know about the suspect in the Colorado Springs LGBTQ nightclub shooting | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The suspect in a shooting at a Colorado LGBTQ nightclub this weekend has been identified as 22-year-old Anderson Lee Aldrich, who police say walked into Club Q in Colorado Springs and immediately opened fire, killing five people and injuring 25 others.

    Investigators have yet to determine a motive, Police Chief Adrian Vasquez said Sunday, though they are considering whether the attack was a hate crime. Aldrich has yet to be formally charged.

    Here’s what we know about the suspected gunman.

    Police received several 911 calls about the shooting beginning at 11:56 p.m., according to police. Officers were dispatched at 11:57 p.m. and an officer arrived at Club Q at midnight. The suspect was detained at 12:02 a.m., police said.

    The shooting lasted only minutes because people inside the club were able to subdue the suspect, police said.

    “At least two heroic people inside the club confronted and fought with the suspect and were able to stop the suspect,” Vasquez said. “We owe them a great debt of thanks.”

    Matthew Haynes, one of the club’s owners, told The New York Times one of the customers “took down the gunman and was assisted by another.”

    “He saved dozens and dozens of lives,” Haynes said of the first patron. “Stopped the man cold. Everyone else was running away, and he ran toward him.”

    The suspect was taken into police custody and was being treated at a hospital Sunday, police said, adding officers did not shoot at the suspect.

    A long rifle was used in the shooting, according to the police chief. Two firearms were recovered at the scene.

    Two law enforcement sources told CNN records indicate the suspect purchased both weapons, an AR-style rifle and a handgun. CNN has not confirmed when those purchases were made.

    The gunman appeared heavily armed and wearing a military-style flak jacket as he arrived at the club, the club’s owners told the Times, citing their review of surveillance footage.

    Haynes said the gunman entered with “tremendous firepower,” the Times reported.

    Aldrich was arrested in June 2021 in connection with a bomb threat which led to a standoff at his mother’s home, according to a news release from the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office at the time and his mother’s former landlord. Colorado Springs is in El Paso County.

    Two law enforcement sources confirmed the suspect in Saturday’s shooting and the bomb threat were the same person based on his name and date of birth.

    Video obtained by CNN shows Aldrich surrendering to law enforcement last year after allegedly making a bomb threat. Footage from the Ring door camera of the owner of the home shows Aldrich exiting the house with his hands up and barefoot, and walking to sheriff’s deputies.

    Sheriff’s deputies responded to a report by the man’s mother he was “threatening to cause harm to her with a homemade bomb, multiple weapons, and ammunition,” according to the release. Deputies called the suspect, and he “refused to comply with orders to surrender,” the release said, leading them to evacuate nearby homes.

    Several hours after the initial police call, the sheriff’s crisis negotiations unit was able to get Aldrich to leave the house, and he was arrested after walking out the front door. Authorities did not find any explosives in the home.

    Leslie Bowman, who owns the house where Aldrich’s mother lived, provided CNN with the videos. Aldrich’s mother rented a room in the house for a little over a year, Bowman said, and Aldrich would come visit his mother there. Attempts by CNN to reach Aldrich’s mother for comment were unsuccessful.

    It is not immediately clear how the bomb threat case was resolved, but the Colorado Springs Gazette reported the district attorney’s office said no formal charges were pursued in the case. The district attorney’s office did not respond to a request for comment from CNN.

    Aldrich’s arrest in connection to the bomb threat would not have shown up in background checks, according to the law enforcement sources who said records indicate he purchased the weapons, because the case was never adjudicated, the charges were dropped, and the records were sealed. It’s unclear what prompted the sealing of the records.

    Aldrich also called the Gazette in an attempt to get an earlier story about the 2021 incident removed from the website, the newspaper reported. “There is absolutely nothing there, the case was dropped, and I’m asking you either remove or update the story,” Aldrich said in a voice message, according to the Gazette.

    The revelation about the suspect’s run-in with law enforcement last year has raised questions about Colorado’s red flag law and whether it should have applied to Aldrich, or if it would have prevented the shooting at Club Q.

    Colorado, which has been the site of numerous high-profile mass shootings in the last two decades, passed its red flag law in 2019. It’s intended to temporarily prevent an individual in crisis from accessing firearms through a court order, triggered by the individual’s family, a member of their household or a law enforcement officer.

    It’s not clear if Aldrich had purchased firearms prior to his June 2021 arrest.

    Asked Monday if the red flag law should have been implemented in Aldrich’s case, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said it was “too early to make any decisions.”

    “It’s still a new tool that we are learning how to use,” Weiser said. “We know that each tragedy is a learning opportunity to ask what did we miss? What can we do better in the future?”

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  • Mass shooting at LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs leaves at least 5 dead, 18 wounded | CNN

    Mass shooting at LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs leaves at least 5 dead, 18 wounded | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    An armed 22-year-old entered an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado, just before midnight Saturday night and immediately opened fire, killing at least five people and injuring 18 others, before patrons stopped and disarmed him, police said Sunday.

    The suspect in the shooting at Club Q was identified as Anderson Lee Aldrich, according to Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez. He used a long rifle in the shooting, and two firearms were found at the scene, he said.

    At least two people inside the club confronted and fought the gunman and prevented further violence, Vasquez said. “We owe them a great debt of thanks,” he said.

    The incident lasted just minutes. Police received numerous 911 calls starting at 11:56 p.m., officers were dispatched at 11:57 p.m., an officer arrived at midnight and the suspect was detained at 12:02 a.m., police said. A total of 39 patrol officers responded in all, police said.

    Of the 18 people injured, several are in critical condition with gunshot wounds, though the exact number was unclear, officials said.

    The suspect is being treated at a hospital, police added. Officers did not shoot at him, police said.

    Police declined to speak about a possible motive in this latest shooting, though authorities noted Club Q’s relationship with the LGBTQ community.

    “Club Q is a safe haven for our LGBTQ citizens,” Vasquez said. “Every citizen has a right to feel safe and secure in our city, to go about our beautiful city without fear of being harmed or treated poorly.”

    The location of the shooting is reminiscent of the 2016 attack at an LGBTQ nightclub in Orlando, Florida, in which a gunman who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State killed 49 people and wounded at least 53. Colorado has been the site of some of the most heinous mass shootings in US history, including the 1999 shooting in Columbine High School and the 2012 movie theater shooting in Aurora.

    In a statement on social media, Club Q said it was “devastated by the senseless attack on our community” and thanked “the quick reactions of heroic customers that subdued the gunman and ended this hate attack.”

    Club Q posted earlier in the day that its Saturday night lineup would feature a punk and alternative show at 9 p.m. followed by a dance party at 11. The club also planned to hold a drag brunch and a drag show on Sunday for Transgender Day of Remembrance. The club’s website now says it will be closed until further notice.

    Colorado Springs Fire Capt. Mike Smaldino said 11 ambulances responded to the scene after multiple 911 calls were received.

    “We will be here for many, many hours to come,” said Castro, adding that the FBI is on the scene and assisting.

    At least five patients are being treated at UCHealth Memorial Hospital Central, vice president for hospital communications Dan Weaver said.

    Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, the nation’s first openly gay governor, issued a statement calling the attack “horrific, sickening and devastating” and offered state resources to local law enforcement.

    “We are eternally grateful for the brave individuals who blocked the gunman likely saving lives in the process and for the first responders who responded swiftly to this horrific shooting,” he said. “Colorado stands with our LGTBQ community and everyone impacted by this tragedy as we mourn together.”

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  • A timeline of the killings of four University of Idaho students | CNN

    A timeline of the killings of four University of Idaho students | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The killings of four University of Idaho students Sunday in their off-campus home has brought in the investigative powers of the local Moscow Police, state police and the FBI.

    Days after the deaths, there is no suspect or murder weapon, and police have been tight-lipped on what they know.

    Still, they have provided some information on the killings, and a preliminary timeline reveals some of their final hours as well as the investigative response.

    Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle were students at the University of Idaho who lived at a nearby off-campus residence in Moscow, a college town of about 25,000 people.

    They had two other roommates at the residence, a three-floor, six-bedroom apartment.

    Goncalves posted a series of photos on her Instagram at some point with the caption “one lucky girl to be surrounded by these ppl everyday.” One of the photos shows Mogen sitting on Goncalves’ shoulders, with Chapin and Kernodle standing next to them.

    That night, Chapin and Kernodle went to a party on campus, and Mogen and Goncalves went to a downtown bar, police said.

    Mogen and Goncalves ordered at a late-night food truck at about 1:41 a.m., the food truck’s live Twitch stream shows.

    They ordered $10 worth of carbonara from the Grub Truckers and wait for about 10 minutes for their food. As they waited, they could be seen chatting with each other and with other people standing by the truck.

    Joseph Woodall, 26, who manages the truck, said the two students did not seem to be in distress or in danger in any way.

    Grub Wandering Kitchen video

    Video shows two University of Idaho victims at food truck on night of killings

    Mogen, Goncalves, Chapin and Kernodle returned to the home at some point in the early morning hours.

    At about noon Sunday, a call came in to 911 about an unconscious person at an off-campus residence. Police did not say who called 911.

    Arriving officers found the door to the residence open and discovered the bodies of four fatally stabbed students.

    “It was a pretty traumatic scene to find four dead college students in a residence,” Latah County Coroner Cathy Mabbutt later told CNN affiliate KXLY.

    There was no sign of forced entry or damage, police said.

    Officers investigate a homicide at an apartment complex south of the University of Idaho campus on Sunday, November 13.

    Moscow Police issued a statement saying four people were found dead in a home off campus. University of Idaho President Scott Green announced that the four victims were students and canceled classes on Monday.

    Moscow Police issued a statement identifying the four homicide victims as Chapin, Goncalves, Kernodle and Mogen.

    Police said details were limited and no one was in custody. They added that Moscow Police “does not believe there is an ongoing community risk based on information gathered during the preliminary investigation.”

    Moscow Mayor Art Bettge released a statement calling the deaths “senseless acts of violence.” Bettge said only limited information can be shared without “jeopardizing the integrity of the investigation.”

    Green issued a statement offering condolences to the victims’ families and the community.

    “Moscow police do not believe there is an ongoing community risk based on information gathered during the preliminary investigation, however, we ask our employees to be empathetic, flexible and to work with our students who desire to return home to spend time with their families,” he said.

    Moscow Police issued a statement saying that an “edged weapon such as a knife” was used in the killings. Police said no suspects were in custody and they had not found the murder weapon.

    “Also, based on information from the preliminary investigation, investigators believe this was an isolated, targeted attack and there is no imminent threat to the community at large,” police said.

    Later in the day, police released another statement that attempted to calm fears of a killer on the loose.

    “We hear you, and we understand your fears,” police said. “We determined early in the investigation that we do not believe there is an ongoing threat for community members. Evidence indicates that this was a targeted attack.”

    Moscow Police Department Chief James Fry speaks during a press conference in Moscow, Idaho, on November 16.

    Police Chief James Fry held a press conference – the department’s first in the case – and reiterated there was no suspect. He also backtracked on the assurances that no one is at risk.

    “We cannot say there’s no threat to the community,” Fry said. “And as we have stated, please stay vigilant, report any suspicious activity and be aware of your surroundings at all times.”

    The two other roommates were home at the time of the attack and were not injured, Fry said.

    “There was other people home at that time, but we’re not just focusing just on them, we’re focusing on everybody that may be coming and going from that residence,” he said.

    The university’s often-packed parking lots had many empty spots after scores of students decided to return home or leave the area.

    “Everybody kind of just went back home because they’re scared. … It’s definitely uneasy on campus right now,” student Nathan Tinno told CNN.

    Tinno, who said the community is trying to approach the tragedy with sympathy, added the fact that no perpetrator has been caught in the case has elevated the sense of fear on campus.

    Investigators have released a map depicting the movements of four University of Idaho students the night they were murdered.

    Hoping for tips from the community, investigators release a map and timeline of the victims’ movements last weekend.

    The map shows the four students spent most of the night separated in pairs.

    “Most definitely someone somewhere has a tidbit of information that will help break this case open and we believe the public around here will have that information for us,” Idaho State Police Communications Director Aaron Snell said.

    The victims were found on the second and third floors of their home, Snell told CNN.

    Mabbutt, the coroner, told CNN she saw “lots of blood on the wall” when she arrived at the scene. She confirmed there were multiple stab wounds on each body – likely from the same weapon – but would not disclose how many wounds nor where most were located.

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  • Tosca Musk, Elon’s sister, has a business venture of her own — and it’s all about romance and female sexuality | CNN

    Tosca Musk, Elon’s sister, has a business venture of her own — and it’s all about romance and female sexuality | CNN

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    Atlanta, Georgia
    CNN
     — 

    Tosca Musk strides onto the red carpet at a Regal Cinemas, statuesque in a white pant suit and glistening burgundy silk top.

    A hush comes over a group gathered outside the theater’s doors. Some whip out cell phones and start recording her every move.

    It’s a chilly October night in Atlanta, and the fans are here for the premiere of “Torn,” the second in a trilogy of romantic fantasy movies based on books by author Jennifer Armentrout. The group of mostly female fans range in age from their twenties to their seventies, and some flew in from Boston, Detroit and other cities.

    This is a big night for Musk and her five-year-old streaming service Passionflix, the backer of the movie. It’s their first public film premiere since the pandemic started.

    She floats from one group to another, chatting effortlessly with Passionflix’s superfans, known as Passionistas. Her older brother, Elon Musk, may be the most famous sibling in the family, but he’s not the only one who’s founded a company.

    Musk, 48, is the force behind Passionflix, which adapts romance novels into movies and streams them to a devoted niche audience. Romance novels are the most popular genre of books in the United States, and Musk is tapping into that market with stories about sultry, powerful female leads and handsome men with chiseled abs. She directs some of the films herself.

    “Passionflix focuses on adapting romance novels exactly as the fan and the author envision it,” Musk says in a separate CNN interview. “We focus on connection, communication and compromise – and remove the shame from sexuality, specifically for women, because it empowers women to both acknowledge and ask for pleasure.”

    Days earlier, on the set of a Passionflix movie, “The Secret Life of Amy Bensen,” Musk provides a few glimpses into life with her famous family.

    Perched on a navy blue couch in a room tucked inside a warehouse in suburban Atlanta, she chooses her words carefully when asked about her older brother, who was on the verge of his Twitter acquisition.

    The Musk children – Elon, Tosca and another brother, middle child Kimbal – were born in South Africa and spent time in Canada before coming to the United States. Their father, Errol, is an engineer and property developer, while their glamorous mother, Maye, is a model.

    From left to right: Tosca Musk, Kimbal Musk, mother Maye Musk and Elon Musk at Maye's 50th birthday party in 1998.

    Tosca Musk attended film school at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and moved to California after graduation. For three months, she worked for one of Elon Musk’s companies, Zip2.

    “I realized every time I stepped out of the film world, I was just not happy,” she says. “It just wasn’t my thing.”

    After a brief stint at the Los Angeles office of Canadian media company Alliance Atlantis, she began directing and producing films while still in her twenties.

    Musk produced romance films for the Lifetime and Hallmark channels and in 2005 launched a comic web series, Tiki Bar TV, which was hailed by Apple CEO Steve Jobs as ahead of its time in the emerging field of vodcasts – or video podcasting.

    Then came Passionflix. Its origin story is a classic tale of when one door closes, another one opens.

    About five years ago, Musk got an email from a woman who wanted her to turn her script into a movie. Musk loved the script, but there wasn’t much interest from production companies.

    “People weren’t really that interested because it was too risque … It was an adult movie with a little bit of reincarnation, things like that,” she says. “It just wasn’t one of those things that regular network television wanted to do.”

    But Musk met the woman, Joany Kane, in Los Angeles, and they bonded over their shared passion for romance novels. During that conversation, Kane brought up the idea of turning romance novels into movies and creating a streaming platform for them.

    And with that, Passionflix was born – with Musk at the helm and Kane as a co-founder.

    “We had no investors. We had to go out and find every investor. So it was a matter of going out and pitching every single person,” Musk says. “We pitched every friend, every family member, everybody just for that small bit of angel investment. It was hard. The first money in is always the hardest money.”

    Kevin Joy on the red carpet at the premiere of Passionflix's

    Musk declines to say whether her brother Elon was one of her original investors. But she says she can always count on her two brothers, including restaurateur Kimbal Musk, to give her advice on her business ventures. She tries not to ask unless she really needs to.

    “I get advice from them to a certain degree when I ask for it. But no unsolicited advice,” she says. “If I ask for advice, I have no doubt that he (Elon) will give it to me. And then I have to take it, because he’s going to be right. So you have to really want to know what you want to ask. But most of the time when I’m with my family, we talk about family things.”

    So what does she think about her brother’s new role as CEO of Twitter – and the flurry of headlines surrounding it?

    No comment.

    Passionflix’s first film was “Hollywood Dirt,” based on a best-selling novel by Alessandra Torre about a Southern woman who finds romance with a Hollywood star when he comes to her small town to film a movie.

    “During that shooting of that movie, we were struggling,” Musk says. “Are we going to get money? Are we going to be able to finish it? We were not really sure. We basically were just sort of piecing the dollars together.”

    In May 2017, Musk played a trailer of the movie at a romance novel convention and asked attendees to prepay $100, as founding members, for a two-year Passionflix subscription. About 4,000 people signed up, Musk says, and she and Kane used that to show potential investors they were onto something.

    “Trying to raise money for a female-driven platform on romance was just not high on anybody’s priority list at the time,” she says. “But as soon as we showed there was that many people that would come on board, the investors just started flying in.”

    Fans take photos of people on the red carpet at the premiere of Passionflix's

    Passionflix has since produced more than two dozen feature-length and short films, according to the Internet Movie Database.

    The company remains lean – it has a core team of seven people who each wear a lot of hats. In addition to producing its own content, Passionflix also licenses films for its platform.

    “I think the biggest challenge for Passionflix is we can’t produce enough content to satiate the fans,” Musk says. “It’s a struggle with so many streaming platforms, when people want original content all the time.”

    With more than 200 streaming services now competing for viewers, such niche markets face a myriad of challenges, says Dan Rayburn, a streaming media expert and consultant.

    Creating, licensing and marketing content is very costly, he said. And while romance is the biggest-selling genre of books in the US, that doesn’t necessarily mean its popularity translates to movies.

    “That’s comparing apples to oranges. Books are different,” Rayburn says. “This business is beyond tough. It’s highly competitive and requires an absolute large sum of money.”

    Passionflix charges a subscription fee of $5.99 a month. The company does not disclose its subscriber numbers. Musk says subscribers are in the “six figures,” but declines to offer specifics.

    Rayburn says it’s hard to determine the company’s profitability without knowing its expenses, including production and licensing costs.

    “OK, if you don’t have subscriber numbers, what’s the usage? How many hours per month do people watch it? How much are you spending on content licensing?”

    A deep dive into Passionflix’s online movie catalog reveals a mix of contemporary romance, fantasy romance, paranormal romance, erotic fan fiction and related sub-genres.

    The films, which stream on the Passionflix site and on Amazon Prime Video, are rated on an escalating steaminess scale Musk calls a “barometer of naughtiness.”

    The five categories: Oh So Vanilla, for wholesome romcoms; Mildly Titillating; Passion and Romance; Toe Curling Yumminess; and NSFW (Not Safe for Work). The latter category has risque plot lines and more sex – think “Fifty Shades of Grey.”

    But Musk says that even the naughtiest Passionflix movies don’t reach the soft-core porn threshold.

    “When we first started Passionflix, somebody asked us if we’re going to rate using MPAA,” she says, referring to the Motion Picture Association of America’s movie ratings such as PG-13, R, etc. “I don’t actually like any of those ratings. They’re not specific to women. I wanted something that could rate our shows and create more of a tongue-in-cheek conversation.”

    Attendees watch the premiere of Passionflix's

    Musk says she’s a romantic at heart and is a big fan of the genre.

    “Love is amazing, it’s incredibly powerful. I love to tell stories of love, all kinds of love,” she says. “So parental love, friend love, family love, and love between any kind of couple.”

    That broad range of romantic genres, and its sexy content, are what sets Passionflix apart from channels such as Hallmark and Lifetime Movie Network, says romance novelist Tamara Lush. She believes the romance genre has been especially popular during the pandemic because people seek comfort in stories with happy-ever-after endings.

    “Hallmark is romance-centered but the stories are very, very sweet. Passionflix tells a wider range of stories, and the ones romance readers want to watch,” Lush says.

    “The popularity of ‘Bridgerton,’ ‘After’ and ’365 Days’ on Netflix should tell streaming services all they need to know: that romance is a lucrative and sure bet for viewers.”

    Passionflix’s original subscribers, known as founding members, get access to movie premieres and filming sets.

    Last month in Atlanta, about four dozen of them piled into the Regal theater for the premiere of “Torn.” Following the movie, Musk hosted a question-and-answer session with the lead actors, followed by an after-party at a bar across the street. Fans and actors mingled over drinks.

    Debbie Parziale, 67, says she flew in from Boston for the event. One of the founding members, she says she spent the pandemic years curled up on her couch, watching Passionflix movies.

    “I love Tosca’s premise of empowering women and making sex not such a taboo subject,” she says. “She’s so true to the romance novels. When you read a book and watch one of her movies, it’s the book you read.”

    Debbie Parziale, Deborah Thornton and Amanda Cromer, from left, at the premiere of

    Amanda Cromer, 32, says she signed up for Passionflix at a romance book convention. She loves the camaraderie that comes with being part of the Passionistas. The group has a virtual book club, called Passion Squad.

    As one of the original members, Cromer can visit sets and interact with the actors. Cromer, who lives in a suburb of Atlanta, says that during a visit to the set of “Torn” she became an extra in a cafe scene.

    “I love the empowerment the movies bring,” says Cromer, who attended last month’s “Torn” premiere with her mother.

    “They choose books with strong female leads. They’ve done such a good job of portraying the female persona as a strong independent female, and not a timid person.”

    Back on the set of her latest romance movie, Tosca Musk moves from one sparsely furnished room to another.

    Musk lives in suburban Atlanta with her two children, 9-year-old twins who were conceived through in vitro fertilization using an anonymous sperm donor.

    She’s getting ready to fly to Italy with the twins to film “Gabriel’s Redemption,” the third book in a series by Sylvain Reynard about a Dante scholar and his passionate affair with a younger graduate student. She says they plan to enjoy lots of gelato in Florence and visit Oxford, England, so the kids can see some of the locations where the Harry Potter movies were filmed.

    As a single mother, Musk says she marvels at the path that led her to a job she loves.

    Tosca Musk poses for a portrait in Fairburn, Georgia, on October 11, 2022.

    She hopes Passionflix will help convince the film industry’s big names that adopting romance novels into movies is a worthy investment.

    “The entertainment world is controlled mostly by men. At the end of the day, the decisions tend to sway toward the male audience as opposed to the female audience,” she says. “They also tend to be more about the victimization of women than they are about sexually free or sexually empowered stories about women.”

    And for Musk, there’s also a simpler reason for her filmmaking ventures.

    “I’m a storyteller at heart,” she says. “I just want to be able to tell stories.”

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  • Children’s deaths ‘must stop’ in Iran, says UNICEF, as protests continue | CNN

    Children’s deaths ‘must stop’ in Iran, says UNICEF, as protests continue | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The United Nations children’s agency, UNICEF, said it remains deeply concerned by reports of children being killed, injured, and detained in Iran, it said in a statement on Friday, adding that the reported deaths of children at anti-government protests “must stop.”

    An “estimated 50 children have reportedly lost their lives in the public unrest in Iran,” UNICEF said in the statement.

    This comes as the unrest in Iran has continued for more than two months, and amid increasing calls from protesters and activists online to UNICEF, Amnesty International and other human rights organizations to take action on human rights violations and crimes against children taking plane in Iran.

    Many tell CNN that they feel their voices have not been heard. “They just say, hey, Islamic Republic, what are you doing is bad,” one protester in Iran told CNN. “Yes, everybody knows it’s bad. Three-year-old children know it’s bad, but we need actual action. Do something. I don’t know. I believe they know better than us what they can do.”

    “In Iran, UNICEF remains deeply concerned by reports of children being killed, injured, and detained,” the statement read, citing the death of a young boy named Kian Pirfalak, one of seven people killed during Wednesday’s protests in the southwestern city of Izeh. “This is terrifying and must stop,” the organization added.

    UNICEF reported Pirfalak’s age as 10-years-old. Iranian state media has reported his age as nine.

    The child was traveling in a car on Wednesday with his family when he was shot dead and his father injured by gunfire, his mother told state media in an interview with Tasnim Friday.

    According to Iran’s state-aligned news agency ISNA, protesters set a seminary on fire around the same time as people were shot and killed in Izeh in what state media outlets are calling a “terror attack.”

    Activists are accusing the Iranian regime of killing Kian and others in Izeh.

    The Islamic Republic is facing one of the biggest and unprecedented shows of dissent in recent history following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman detained by the morality police allegedly for not wearing her hijab properly.

    At least 378 people have been killed since demonstrations began, according to an Iranian human rights group, as the country’s Supreme Leader issued a warning that the protest movement is “doomed to failure.”

    The organization Iran Human Rights published the estimated death toll Saturday, adding that it includes 47 children killed by security forces.

    CNN cannot independently verify arrest figures, death tolls, and many of the accounts of those killed due to the Iranian government’s suppression of independent media, and internet shutdowns which decrease transparency in reporting on the ground. Nor can media directly access the government for their account on such cases, unless there is reporting on state media, the mouthpiece of the government.

    Video shared by activist group 1500 Tasvir and others showed a large crowd gathered for Pirfalak funeral in his hometown in Izeh Friday.

    Surrounded by mourners, his mother Zeynab Molaeirad is heard singing a children’s song, replacing the lyrics with words against Ayatollah Khamenei and the regime. She then reveals new details about the fatal incident, according to a video shared on social media.

    “Hear it from my mouth what really happened to Kian,” she told the crowd, “So the regime doesn’t lie and say it was a terrorist.”

    Molaeirad, who was traveling with her family in their car, said people on the street yelled at the vehicle to turn back and that her son told his father not to worry.

    “Kian said: ‘Baba trust the police for once and turn around, they are looking out for us,’” she said.

    His father made a U-turn and drove towards the police, his mother said. But “because the car windows were rolled up, the police thought we may have wanted to shoot at them,” she said.

    “They opened a barrage of fire on the car.”

    Kian’s mother also posted a photo with her son in her Instagram post. “My broken flower. Curse on the Islamic Republic,” she wrote.

    Human rights groups have accused Iranian authorities of scaring victims’ families to silence. Iranian authorities are “systematically harassing and intimidating victims’ families to hide the truth” of their deaths, as Amnesty International’s Heba Morayef said in a recent report.

    The United Nations on Friday said it was “deeply worried about growing violence related to the ongoing popular protests in Iran,” said deputy spokesman for the UN Secretary-General Farhan Haq.

    “We condemn all incidents that have resulted in death or serious injury, including the shooting in the city of Izeh on 16 November 2022. We are also concerned about the reported issuance of death sentences against five unnamed individuals in the context of the latest protests,” Haq said.

    Haq urged Iranian authorities to respect international human rights law and avoid the use of excessive force against peaceful protesters.

    Despite the UN’s condemnation, Iranians have been highly critical of the global organization and its agencies, saying the its words are not enough and that there is a lack of action against human rights violations taking place in Iran.

    Stories like Parfalik’s “have led Iranians inside and outside the country to really be demanding justice asking what UNICEF is doing on the ground to stop this,” said Iranian American human rights lawyer Gissou Nia said in an interview with CNN’s Isa Soares Friday.

    Nia, who is also director of the Strategic Litigation Project at the Atlantic Council went on to say that the UN Human Rights Council is meeting in Geneva on Thursday in a special session to address “the deteriorating human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

    “The outcome of that special session will likely be an investigative mechanism or some kind of independent body that can collect, preserve and analyze evidence of what’s happening here for accountability purposes,” Nia said.

    “What would be absolutely shameful is if that 47-member body votes no” to creating such a mechanism, she added.

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  • ‘We’re leaving as fast as we can’: University of Idaho reels with unease days after killing of 4 students and no suspect identified | CNN

    ‘We’re leaving as fast as we can’: University of Idaho reels with unease days after killing of 4 students and no suspect identified | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Five days after four University of Idaho students were found stabbed in their off-campus home, a deep sense of apprehension and grief shrouded the community as authorities released a map and timeline of the victims’ movements and worked to identify a suspect.

    The university’s often-packed parking lots had many empty spots Thursday after scores of students decided to return home or leave the area after the quadruple homicide last weekend shocked the college town of Moscow, Idaho.

    “Everybody kind of just went back home because they’re scared. … It’s definitely uneasy on campus right now,” student Nathan Tinno told CNN.

    Tinno, who said the community is trying to approach the tragedy with sympathy, added the fact that no perpetuator has been caught in the case has elevated the sense of fear on campus.

    Four college students – Ethan Chapin, 20; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Madison Mogen, 21 – were found stabbed to death Sunday in their shared off-campus home near the university.

    The victims were found on the second and third floors of the home, Idaho State Police Communications Director Aaron Snell told CNN Friday.

    Latah County Coroner Cathy Mabbutt told CNN she saw “lots of blood on the wall” when she arrived at the scene. She confirmed there were multiple stab wounds on each body – likely from the same weapon – but would not disclose how many wounds nor where most were located.

    Stab wounds on the hands of at least one victim appear to be defensive wounds, according to Mabbutt. She said there was no sign of sexual assault on the bodies during the autopsies.

    Moscow Police Department

    Hoping for tips from the community, investigators on Friday released a map and timeline of the victims’ movements last weekend. The map shows the four students spent most of the night separated in pairs.

    Chapin and Kernodle attended a party at the young man’s Sigma Chi fraternity house from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. local time Saturday.

    Goncalves and Mogen were at the Corner Club sports bar between 10 p.m. and 1:30 a.m. They picked up food at a food truck at 1:40 a.m. before heading home.

    The four victims were back at the house by 1:45 a.m. Sunday.

    Two other roommates were inside the home at the time of deaths – neither was injured nor held hostage, according to university president Scott Green.

    Investigators are speaking with the two surviving roommates, Snell told ABC.

    “Potentially they are witnesses, potentially they are victims,” Snell said in an interview with ABC’s Kayna Whitworth. “Potentially they’re the key to this whole thing.”

    Police have said they don’t have a suspect. Snell said no one has been “included or excluded as a person of interest and/or a suspect.”

    Investigators hope the roommates will help them “figure out what occurred and why.”

    “That’s their story to tell,” he said.

    The causes of death has been determined a homicide, according to a statement by Mabbutt. The autopsies are completed, and the findings will be released when available, an employee at the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office told CNN.

    The killings, which happened little more than a week before Thanksgiving break, have instilled harrowing sentiments among students as authorities investigate leads to identify a suspect or locate a murder weapon.

    “It’s so dark. It’s just like a dark cloud over everything,” Ava Driftmeyer said. “We’re leaving as fast as we can.”

    Driftmeyer, who said she lives near where the four students were killed, described that it’s been a difficult situation to process, both mentally and emotionally.

    “I just don’t even think it’s like set in yet. … You know how insane this is? And the fact that there’s no answers is like the worst feeling ever,” she said.

    Police said Wednesday they could not definitively determine that the public was not a risk, backtracking an earlier statement that the attacks were targeted.

    “We cannot say there’s no threat to the community,” Moscow Police Department Chief James Fry said Wednesday during a news conference. “And as we have stated, please stay vigilant, report any suspicious activity and be aware of your surroundings at all times.”

    The university also reminded students that mental health support is available for them.

    “We are all still working though our grief and a range of emotions. Compounding this is the frustration and concern that no one has been arrested for these crimes,” Green said in a statement.

    “Students, you are encouraged to do what is right for you. Whether this is going home early or staying in class, you have our support,” Green added.

    Four University of Idaho students were found stabbed to death on November 13 in their shared home near campus in Moscow, Idaho.

    As many details remain unclear, one of the victim’s parents revealed his child’s struggle with the attacker.

    The father of Xana Kernodle said he spoke with his daughter midnight Sunday, just hours before she was attacked and killed. Citing an autopsy, he said she fought off her attacker through the end.

    “Bruises, torn by the knife. She’s a tough kid,” Jeffrey Kernodle told CNN affiliate KPHO/KTVK in Avondale, Arizona.

    Kernodle said Xana stayed in regular communication with her family. “I think midnight was the last time we heard from her, and she was fine,” he told the station, adding that he doesn’t understand why his daughter and her roommates were killed in their own home.

    “They were just hanging out at home. Xana was just hanging out at home with her boyfriend,” he said.

    Just hours before the four students were killed, Goncalves had posted a photo of the group with the caption, “one lucky girl to be surrounded by these ppl everyday,” adding a heart emoji.

    The scant information available regarding the case has been frustrating those closest to the victims as well as the campus community. Yet a video showing two of the victims has helped police get a clearer idea of the hours leading up to the homicides.

    In a live Twitch stream from a food truck called Grub Truckers, Mogen and Goncalves were last seen alive while ordering $10 worth of carbonara around 1:40 a.m. local time Sunday in Moscow. As they waited for about 10 minutes for their food, they chatted with each other as well as other people standing by the truck.

    Joseph Woodall, who manages the food truck, told CNN the two students did not seem to be in distress or in danger in any way.

    Chapin and Kernodle were at a party on campus Saturday night, Fry said. All four students returned home early Sunday sometime after 1:45 a.m., Fry added.

    Later Sunday morning, the four were killed inside their home, authorities said. Police responded to the residence after receiving a 911 call around noon reporting that someone was unconscious.

    When police arrived at the home, they walked into a grisly, bloody crime scene.

    “It was a pretty traumatic scene to find four dead college students in a residence,” coroner Mabbutt told CNN affiliate KXLY earlier this week.

    All four were pronounced dead at noon, and police have not revealed who made the 911 call.

    “They were smart, they were vigilant, they were careful and this all still happened,” Goncalves’ older sister, Alivea, said in a statement on behalf of the family to the Idaho Statesman.

    “No one is in custody and that means no one is safe. Yes, we are all heartbroken. Yes, we are all grasping. But more strong than any of these feelings is anger. We are angry. You should be angry.”

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  • Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt welcome second child | CNN

    Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt welcome second child | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Heidi Montag Pratt and husband Spencer Pratt have welcomed their second child.

    “The Hills” couple introduced their new baby boy on Thursday, with Montag posting to Snapchat from the hospital. She shared that he was born at 11:31 a.m., weighing 7 lbs. and 9 oz., but did not reveal a name.

    Earlier, Montag had posted herself doing breathing exercises and rubbing her baby bump as Pratt drove her to the hospital.

    “Okay, this is the real deal. Oh yeah, definitely gonna have this baby very quickly. Oh my gosh, this is the real thing. I couldn’t tell if my water broke or not because it’s just a little at first, I mean, not a little, and these contractions are just nonstop now,” she said in the video.

    Montag and Pratt also share 5-year-old son, Gunner. The duo announced they were expanding their family in June.

    “I have been hoping and praying for this moment for so long!” Montag said on social media at the time. “Once I saw the word ‘pregnant’ I started hysterically crying, overwhelmed with joy and shock and I sprinted upstairs to show Spencer.”

    Montag and Pratt eloped in 2008 and had another ceremony in 2009.

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  • Nancy Pelosi announces she won’t run for leadership post, marking the end of an era | CNN Politics

    Nancy Pelosi announces she won’t run for leadership post, marking the end of an era | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced on Thursday that she will relinquish her leadership post, after leading House Democrats for two decades, building a legacy as one of the most powerful and polarizing figures in American politics.

    Pelosi, the first and only woman to serve as speaker, said that she would continue to serve in the House, giving the next generation the opportunity to lead the House Democrats, who will be in the minority next year despite a better-than-expected midterm election performance.

    “I will not seek reelection to Democratic leadership in the next Congress,” said Pelosi in the House chamber. “For me, the hour has come for a new generation to lead the Democratic caucus that I so deeply respect, and I’m grateful that so many are ready and willing to shoulder this awesome responsibility.”

    Pelosi, 82, rose to the top of the House Democratic caucus in 2002, after leading many in her party against a resolution authorizing the use of force in Iraq. She then guided Democrats as they rode the waves of popular opinion, seeing their power swell to a 257-seat majority after the 2008 elections, ultimately crash to a 188-seat minority, and then rise once again.

    Her political career was marked by an extraordinary ability to understand and overcome those political shifts, keeping conflicting factions of her party united in passing major legislation. She earned the Speaker’s gavel twice – after the 2006 and 2018 elections – and lost it after the 2010 elections.

    Of late, she has conducted a string of accomplishments with one of the slimmest party splits in history, passing a $1.9 trillion pandemic aid package last year and a $750 billion health care, energy and climate bill in August.

    Her legislative victories in the Biden era cemented her reputation as one of the most successful party leaders in Congress. During the Obama administration, Pelosi was instrumental to the passage of the massive economic stimulus bill and the 2010 Affordable Care Act, which provides over 35 million Americans health care coverage.

    Over the past 20 years, the California liberal has been relentlessly attacked by Republicans, who portray her as the personification of a party for the coastal elite. “We have fired Nancy Pelosi,” said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Fox News on Wednesday, after Republicans won back the chamber.

    In recent years, the anger directed toward her has turned menacing. During the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, pro-Trump rioters searched for her — and last month, a male assailant attacked Paul Pelosi, the speaker’s husband, with a hammer at the couple’s home in San Francisco, while she was in Washington.

    Pelosi told CNN’s Anderson Cooper this month that her decision to retire would be influenced by the politically motivated attack. Paul Pelosi was released from the hospital two weeks ago after surgery to repair a skull fracture and injuries to his arm and hands.

    After thanking her colleagues for their well-wishes for Paul, the House chamber broke out into a standing ovation.

    Pelosi’s long reign became a source of tension within her own party. She won the gavel after the 2018 elections by promising her own party that she would leave her leadership post by 2022.

    Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton, who previously tried to oust Pelosi, told CNN it’s time for a new chapter.

    “She’s a historic speaker who’s accomplished an incredible amount, but I also think there are a lot of Democrats ready for a new chapter,” said Moulton.

    But some Democrats praised Pelosi and said they wished she would remain leader. Asked about her decision, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer clutched his chest and said he had pleaded with her to stay.

    “I told her when she called me and told me this and all that, I said ‘please change your mind. We need you here,’” Schumer said.

    House Democrats appear likely to choose New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, 52, to succeed Pelosi as leader, though Democrats won’t vote until November 30.

    After her speech, Pelosi wouldn’t tell reporters who’d she support. But House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn announced they would also step down from their leadership posts, and endorsed Jeffries to succeed Pelosi. Hoyer said Jeffries “will make history for the institution of the House and for our country.” Clyburn added that he hoped Massachusetts Rep. Katherine Clark and California Rep. Pete Aguilar would join Jeffries in House Democratic leadership.

    Before Pelosi’s announcement, Ohio Rep. Joyce Beatty, chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, told CNN that she expects her caucus to throw their support behind Jeffries, and help him become the first Black House Democratic leader.

    “If she steps aside, I’m very clear that Hakeem Jeffries is the person that I will be voting for and leading the Congressional Black Caucus to vote for,” said Beatty.”I don’t always speak for everybody, but I’m very comfortable saying I believe that every member of the Congressional Black Caucus would vote for Hakeem Jeffries.”

    Retiring North Carolina Rep. G.K. Butterfield, a former CBC chairman, told CNN that Jeffries “is prepared for the moment” if Pelosi steps aside. Butterfield said he thought Jeffries would run.

    The longtime Democratic leader told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union” on Sunday that members of her caucus had asked her to “consider” running in the party’s leadership elections at the end of the month, adding: “But, again, let’s just get through the election.”

    Any decision to run again, Pelosi said, “is about family, and also my colleagues and what we want to do is go forward in a very unified way, as we go forward to prepare for the Congress at hand.”

    “Nonetheless, a great deal is at stake because we’ll be in a presidential election. So my decision will again be rooted in the wishes of my family and the wishes of my caucus,” she continued. “But none of it will be very much considered until we see what the outcome of all of this is. And there are all kinds of ways to exert influence.”

    Pelosi is a towering figure in American politics with a history-making legacy of shattering glass ceilings as the first and so far only woman to be speaker of the US House of Representatives.

    Pelosi was first elected to the House in 1987, when she won a special election to fill a seat representing California’s 5th Congressional District.

    When she was first elected speaker, Pelosi reflected on the significance of the event and what it meant for women in the United States.

    “This is an historic moment,” she said in a speech after accepting the speaker’s gavel. “It’s an historic moment for the Congress. It’s an historic moment for the women of America.”

    This story has been updated with additional developments Thursday.

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  • Idaho police say there were other people in the home at the time of quadruple homicide, but declined to say who called 911 | CNN

    Idaho police say there were other people in the home at the time of quadruple homicide, but declined to say who called 911 | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    More questions than answers continue to plague the Moscow, Idaho, community after the fatal stabbing of four University of Idaho students – and police said they cannot assure the community is safe.

    Moscow Police Chief James Fry gave an update Wednesday, saying two additional roommates were in the home at the time of the killings who were neither injured nor held hostage. Fry also said two of the victims – Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle – were at a party on campus, while the other two victims – Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves – were at a downtown bar prior to their deaths.

    All four arrived back home sometime after 1:45 a.m. local time, Fry said. They were killed “sometime in the early morning hours of Sunday, November 13,” Fry said.

    But there were no calls to 911 until noon Sunday. Fry did not say who called 911, despite two people being at the home when the killing took place and when officers responded. Fry also declined to say if the two people spoke with police.

    “We’re not going to go any further into what they know and what they don’t know,” he said.

    He did say the call came in for an unconscious person, not a person with a stab wound.

    There was also no evidence of forced entry, the chief said. Fry did admit all four victims were killed with a knife, though no weapon has been located at this time.

    As of Wednesday evening, there is neither identity nor location of a suspect, Fry said.

    “We cannot say there’s no threat to the community and as we have stated, please stay vigilant, report any suspicious activity and be aware of your surroundings at all times,” Fry said.

    Fry’s comments come just one day after the Moscow Police Department said in a news release there was no threat to the public and evidence led investigators to believe this was a “targeted attack.”

    The killings and lack of information have rankled Moscow, a 25,000-strong city nestled on the Idaho-Washington border. The college town has not recorded a murder since 2015, according to state police data. Residents there are anxious and are “getting out of Dodge,” Latah County Sheriff’s Deputy Scott Mikolajczyk told the Idaho Statesman.

    The father of one of the victims issued a statement Wednesday calling on police to release further information about the killings.

    “There is a lack of information from the University of Idaho and the local police, which only fuels false rumors and innuendo in the press and social media,” Jim Chapin, the father of Ethan Chapin, said in the statement. “The silence further compounds our family’s agony after our son’s murder. For Ethan and his three dear friends slain in Moscow, Idaho, and all of our families, I urge officials to speak the truth, share what they know, find the assailant, and protect the greater community.”

    University of Idaho President Scott Green offered condolences in a statement Monday and deferred to the police’s belief that there was no threat to the public.

    “Moscow police do not believe there is an ongoing community risk based on information gathered during the preliminary investigation, however, we ask our employees to be empathetic, flexible and to work with our students who desire to return home to spend time with their families,” he said. “We do not know the investigation timeline, but we will continue to communicate to campus as we learn more.”

    Green said Wednesday the university is encouraging students and employees to take care of themselves as they head into Thanksgiving break.

    Blaine Eckles, university dean of students, did say there would be a candlelight vigil on November 30. Details are still being finalized, he said.

    CNN has reached out to the university for comment and information on the case.

    What little the public does know is grisly. Latah County Coroner Cathy Mabbutt told CNN affiliate KXLY what she saw at the gruesome crime scene.

    “There’s quite a bit of blood in the apartment and, you know, it was a pretty traumatic scene to find four dead college students in a residence,” she said.

    Mabbutt said the coming autopsies could provide further information about what happened.

    “There could be some, you know, some evidence of the suspect that we get during the autopsies which would be helpful,” Mabbutt said.

    Kaylee Goncalves (bottom left) posted this photo of the group on her Instagram on Saturday night.

    The University of Idaho identified the victims as:

    • Ethan Chapin, 20, of Conway, Washington, a freshman majoring in recreation, sport and tourism management and a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity.
    • Xana Kernodle, 20, of Avondale, Arizona, a junior majoring in marketing and a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority.
    • Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, a senior majoring in marketing and a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority.
    • Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum, Idaho, a senior majoring in general studies and a member of the Alpha Phi sorority.

    Just hours before their deaths, Goncalves posted a photo of the foursome with the caption, “one lucky girl to be surrounded by these ppl everyday,” adding a heart emoji.

    Chapin was one of three triplets, all of whom are enrolled at the University of Idaho, the family said in a statement.

    “Ethan lit up every room he walked into and was a kind, loyal, loving son, brother, cousin, and friend,” his mother Stacy Chapin said. “Words cannot express the heartache and devastation our family is experiencing. It breaks my heart to know we will never be able to hug or laugh with Ethan again, but it’s also excruciating to think about the horrific way he was taken from us.”

    Alivea Goncalves, Kaylee’s sister, sent a statement to the Idaho Statesman on behalf of her family and Mogen’s.

    “They were smart, they were vigilant, they were careful and this all still happened,” she said. “No one is in custody and that means no one is safe. Yes, we are all heartbroken. Yes, we are all grasping. But more strong than any of these feelings is anger. We are angry. You should be angry.”

    Jazzmin Kernodle, Xana’s older sister, described her as “positive, funny and loved by everyone who met her.”

    “Xana was one of the best people I have ever known. I am lucky to have had her as a sister. She was loved by so many and had the best friends surrounding her. You rarely get to meet someone like Xana,” she said.

    “She was so lighthearted, and always lifted up a room. She made me such a proud big sister, and I wish I could have had more time with her. She had so much life left to live. My family and I are at a loss of words, confused, and anxiously waiting for updates on the investigation.”

    She also offered condolences to the other victims and their families. “My sister was so lucky to have them in her life.”

    Due to the killings, the city canceled its long-standing Artwalk festival “in respect for the victims of this week’s tragedy on the University of Idaho campus as well as those in the Vandal and Moscow community who are united in mourning.”

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  • Donald Trump faces billionaires in retreat and tabloid trolling a day after campaign announcement | CNN Politics

    Donald Trump faces billionaires in retreat and tabloid trolling a day after campaign announcement | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    A day after Donald Trump announced his third bid for the presidency, he faced public defections from billionaire backers and vicious trolling from a once-friendly New York tabloid – underscoring his early challenges in mounting a political comeback nearly two years after the end of his divisive presidency.

    Stephen Schwarzman, the CEO of the private equity firm Blackstone and a one-time Trump ally, announced Wednesday that he would not support Trump’s bid for the Republican nomination, saying it’s time “for the Republican party to turn to a new generation of leaders.”

    A spokesman for another billionaire supporter – cosmetic heir Ronald Lauder – confirmed to CNN on Wednesday that Lauder would not back Trump’s bid to become only the second US president elected to two nonconsecutive terms.

    And in another sign that the once-supportive conservative media empire controlled by Rupert Murdoch has moved on from Trump, the New York Post on Wednesday topped its story of his campaign announcement with a brutal headline, “Been there, Don That.” (By contrast, a front-page Post headline last week heralded Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as “DeFuture,” after the Republican cruised to a second term.)

    The pullback by some donors shows that some of the party’s elite figures are open to alternatives two years out from the next presidential election. Trump, who has relied on a small-donor base to fuel his political ambitions, remains a formidable fundraising force. In an unprecedented move, he never stopped fundraising after leaving the White House, and his array of political committees has amassed more than $100 million in cash reserves.

    Trump is the first major Republican candidate to announce his candidacy. Over the weekend, DeSantis – a potential rival for the nomination – is slated to address one of the Republican Party’s most influential donor groups when he delivers a speech at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual gala dinner. Former US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, another Republican viewed as a possible presidential contender, also is slated to speak at the Saturday night event in Las Vegas.

    Trump remains a “big factor” in Republican politics and has earned accolades from coalition members for his staunch support of Israel, said Matthew Brooks, RJC’s executive director.

    But “people are window-shopping right now,” Brooks added. “There are people who are asking if we need a new direction and a new face.”

    Brooks said Trump was invited to the RJC gathering but had a scheduling conflict.

    CNN has reached out to Trump aides for comment.

    Schwarzman’s retreat from Trump is particularly significant because he’s one of the biggest donors in Republican politics and contributed $3 million in 2020 to a super PAC supporting Trump’s unsuccessful reelection campaign.

    In the midterms alone, Schwarzman donated more than $35 million to Republican candidates and groups active in federal elections, according to OpenSecrets, a nonprofit group that tracks political money.

    “America does better when its leaders are rooted in today and tomorrow, not today and yesterday,” Schwarzman said in his statement, first reported by Axios. Schwarzman said he would support one of the GOP’s “new generation of leaders” but did not say whom he is considering backing.

    Another Republican megadonor, Citadel’s Ken Griffin, recently indicated he would back DeSantis in 2024, should the Florida governor seek the GOP nomination.

    Lauder, a long-time Trump friend and financial supporter of Republican candidates and causes, has not indicated who would win his support.

    This story has been updated with additional developments.

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  • Senate clears key procedural step on bill to protect same-sex marriage | CNN Politics

    Senate clears key procedural step on bill to protect same-sex marriage | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    The Senate on Wednesday cleared a key procedural hurdle toward historic passage of the bipartisan bill to protect same-sex and interracial marriage, voting 62-37 to break a filibuster.

    There could be additional votes before final passage, but Wednesday’s successful test vote signals the bill is on a glide path to succeed, a remarkable turn of events given how contentious the issue of same-sex marriage was just a few years ago.

    While the bill would not set a national requirement that all states must legalize same-sex marriage, it would require individual states to recognize another state’s legal marriage. So, in the event the Supreme Court might overturn its 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision that legalized same-sex marriage, a state could still pass a law to ban same-sex marriage, but that state would be required to recognize a same-sex marriage from another state.

    All 50 members of the Democratic caucus voted to start debate on the bill as well as 12 Republicans.

    It’s unclear when the chamber will vote on final passage. Without an agreement to speed up passage of the bill which needs consent from all 100 senators, final passage will likely occur after the Senate returns from Thanksgiving recess.

    Still, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told CNN he wants his chamber’s bill to pass by Thursday before senators leave for their Thanksgiving recess all next week.

    “We’re hoping that could happen,” he said.

    Earlier this week, Schumer expressed “hope” that after the vote Wednesday, “both sides can work quickly together to move this bill through the Senate and on to the president’s desk.”

    “It already passed the House earlier this year with significant 47 Republican votes and I’m optimistic we can achieve a significant result in this chamber,” he added.

    Once the bill passes the Senate, it will need to be passed again through the House before going to President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed into law. Supporters of the bill hope to pass the legislation through the House before the end of the year as Republicans appear on track to take control of the chamber in the next Congress.

    Earlier this week, the bipartisan negotiators who worked on the legislation, announced they were “confident” the bill has enough votes to pass and were hoping the bill could be put to the floor for a vote.

    The bipartisan group, which includes Republican Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio, Susan Collins of Maine and Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Democratic Sens. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, said in a statement Monday that they “look forward to this legislation coming to the floor.”

    Lawmakers had hoped to pass the bill before leaving for recess ahead of the midterm elections, but the chamber punted on a vote until after the November elections as negotiators asked for more time to lock down support. That gamble appears to have paid off for the bill’s supporters given the 12 Republican votes to break the filibuster Wednesday.

    In a sign of how much support has grown in recent years for same-sex marriage, the bill found backing from GOP senators including those in deeply red states.

    Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming told CNN’s Manu Raju that she voted to advance the Senate’s same-sex marriage bill due to “Article 1, Section 3 of the Wyoming Constitution,” which she read to reporters and includes an anti-discrimination clause.

    “That’s why we’re called the equality state,” she added.

    Utah Sen. Mitt Romney said the “bill made sense” and “provides important religious liberty protections.”

    “While I believe in traditional marriage, Obergefell is and has been the law of the land upon which LGBTQ individuals have relied,” Romney said in a statement. “This legislation provides certainty to many LGBTQ Americans, and it signals that Congress—and I—esteem and love all of our fellow Americans equally.”

    This story and headline have been updated to reflect additional developments.

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  • Candace Cameron Bure criticized by JoJo Siwa and others over ‘traditional marriage’ comment | CNN

    Candace Cameron Bure criticized by JoJo Siwa and others over ‘traditional marriage’ comment | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Months after they had a public back and forth, JoJo Siwa is voicing her disappointment with Candace Cameron Bure.

    The singer/dancer, 19, posted on her verified Instagram about Bure after the former “Full House” star talked to the Wall Street Journal about her work with the faith-based channel, Great American Family.

    When asked if the Great American Family will include LGBTQ storylines in their projects, Cameron Bure said, “I think that Great American Family will keep traditional marriage at the core.”

    Siwa identifies as queer and shared a screen grab of a headline which read, “Candace Cameron Bure’s plans for new cable channel: No gays.”

    “Honestly, I can’t believe after everything that went down just a few months ago, that she would not only create a movie with intention of excluding LGBTQIA+, but then also talk about it in the press,” Siwa wrote. “This is rude and hurtful to a whole community of people.”

    In July Siwa posted a video on TikTok that went viral in which she shared a photo of Cameron Bure as the “rudest celebrity” she had ever met, later revealing she had felt ignored by the star at an event when she was a child and tried to meet her.

    Cameron Bure responded in a video on her verified Instagram account explaining that she was “shocked” by the designation and said everything was “all good” after the pair connected and discussed it.

    Siwa wasn’t the only one upset by Cameron Bure’s recent comment.

    Actress Hilarie Burton slammed her and Bill Abbott, chief executive of Great American Media, for “bigotry.”

    “That guy and his network are disgusting,” Burton tweeted. “You too Candy. There is nothing untraditional about same-sex couples.”

    CNN has reached out to reps for Bure and Great American Media for comment.

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