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Tag: President Joe Biden

  • Special counsel Jack Smith provides fullest picture yet of his 2020 election case against Trump in new filing

    Special counsel Jack Smith provides fullest picture yet of his 2020 election case against Trump in new filing

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    (CNN) — A federal judge in Washington, DC, has released the most comprehensive narrative to date of the 2020 election conspiracy case against Donald Trump, outlining what special counsel Jack Smith describes as the former president’s “private criminal conduct.”

    The 165-page document comes from Smith’s office and is the fullest accounting yet of evidence in the election subversion case against Trump.

    Throughout the document, Smith argues that the actions Trump took to overturn the election were in his private capacity – as a candidate – rather than in his official capacity, as a president. That argument flows from the Supreme Court’s decision in July, which granted the former president sweeping immunity for official actions but left the door open for prosecutors to pursue Trump for unofficial steps he took.

    ”At its core, the defendant’s scheme was a private one,” prosecutors wrote in the motion. “He extensively used private actors and his campaign infrastructure to attempt to overturn the election results and operated in a private capacity as a candidate for office.”

    The filing weaves together what prominent witnesses told a federal grand jury and the FBI about Trump, along with other never-before-disclosed evidence investigators gathered about the former president’s actions leading up to and on January 6, 2021.

    Releasing the motion, which was previously filed under seal, is the latest major development in Smith’s longstanding effort to prosecute Trump for actions he took to overturn the 2020 election, even as the former president is seeking a second term in a tight race with Vice President Kamala Harris. The case, which has already reached the Supreme Court once, has repeatedly been delayed as Trump has attempted to push off the prosecution until after the next month’s election.

    The document is broken into four sections. The first section lays out the case prosecutors said they would attempt to prove at trial, including a summary of evidence; the second section gives US District Judge Tanya Chutkan a roadmap for how to assess which actions are official – and therefore potentially covered by immunity – and which are not; the third section walks through how the principles should apply in Trump’s case; the fourth is a brief conclusion that asks Chutkan to rule that the actions described are not protected by immunity and that Trump “is subject to trial on the superseding indictment.”

    Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung called Smith’s narrative “falsehood-ridden” and “unconstitutional” in a statement provided to CNN after the former president’s team had fought the unsealing of the document.

    “Deranged Jack Smith and Washington DC Radical Democrats are hell-bent on weaponizing the Justice Department in an attempt to cling to power. President Trump is dominating, and the Radical Democrats throughout the Deep State are freaking out. This entire case is a partisan, Unconstitutional Witch Hunt that should be dismissed entirely, together with ALL of the remaining Democrat hoaxes,” Cheung said.

    Campaign operative said ‘Make them riot’

    Prosecutors describe an effort by Trump operatives to “create chaos” in the immediate aftermath of the 2020 election when the voting looked to be going for Joe Biden.

    In Philadelphia, prosecutors allege campaign operatives sought to create confrontations at polling places and then “falsely claim that his election observers were being denied proper access” as a predicate to claim fraud.

    Prosecutors also raised the fracas at the Detroit Counting Center, pointing to evidence that a campaign staffer, upon learning a heavy incoming batch of votes leaned Biden, asked for “options to file litigation” even if (it) was “itbis[sic}.”

    The same campaign operative said “make them riot” when told that protests at the counting center were heading in the direction of the so-called Brooks Brothers Riot that disrupted the 2000 Florida count between Al Gore and George W. Bush.

    Prosecutors frame Trump conversations with Pence as ‘running mates’

    Even as they face a high bar for introducing evidence from former Vice President Mike Pence, Smith’s team sought to do so by framing a series of interactions between the two as conversations between “running mates,” where Pence tried to convince Trump he needed to accept his electoral defeat.

    They include a November 7, 2020, conversation where Pence allegedly told Trump that he should focus on how he revived the Republican Party, as well as Pence’s recollection of a Trump meeting with campaign staff, during which Trump was told the prospects of his election challenges looked bleak.

    At a November 12 lunch, Pence told Trump that he didn’t have to concede but he could “recognize process is over,” prosecutors said, and during a November 23 phone call, Trump allegedly told Pence that one of his private attorneys were skeptical about the election challenges.

    As part of those private conversations, prosecutors say, Pence “tried to encourage” Trump “as a friend” after news networks called the election for Biden. In other interactions, Pence encouraged Trump to consider running for reelection in 2024. Those interactions, prosecutors argued, were not at all related to Trump’s official duties as president.

    “The content of the conversations at issue – the defendant and Pence’s joint electoral fate and how to accept the election results – have no bearing on any function of the Executive Branch,” they wrote in the filing.

    Trump told family ‘it doesn’t matter if you won or lost the election’

    Prosecutors allege they have a witness who will testify that Trump told family members “it doesn’t matter if you won or lost the election. You still have to fight like hell.”

    The witness, Smith’s team said in the filing, will testify that he was aboard Marine One when then-President Trump made the statement to his wife Melania Trump, his daughter Ivanka Trump, and his son-in-law Jared Kushner.

    Prosecutors did not name the official in the filing, but they said he was the director of Oval Office operations. “He witnessed an unprompted comment that the defendant made to his family members in which the defendant suggested that he would fight to remain in power regardless of whether he had won the election,” prosecutors wrote.

    At the time, Ivanka and Jared were White House employees, serving as advisers to the president; and Melania was first lady.

    However, prosecutors claim that the conversation aboard Marine One was “plainly private” and had nothing to do with the Trump family’s official government responsibilities.

    “The defendant made the comment to his family members, who campaigned on his behalf and served as private advisors (in addition to any official role they may have played),” prosecutors wrote.

    Trump told advisers he would declare victory

    Prosecutors say that Trump was told by advisers that the 2020 vote likely would not be finalized on Election Day and that he could misleadingly look ahead in the ballot count on election night only to fall behind once all of the ballots were counted. Nonetheless, Trump told his advisers that he would claim victory before the ballots were fully counted, prosecutors say.

    One private political adviser, three days before Election Day 2020, described Trump’s plan as: “He’s going to declare victory. That doesn’t mean he’s the winner, he’s just going to say he’s the winner,” according to the filing.

    That adviser, not identified by name by prosecutors, also described the Democratic lean of the mail ballot vote “a natural disadvantage” and said “Trump’s going to take advantage of it. That’s our strategy.”

    Trump sought to ‘perpetuate himself in power’

    Smith’s office stressed the private and political nature of Trump’s actions around the 2020 election.

    “The executive branch,” prosecutors wrote, “has no authority or function to choose the next president.”

    That argument appeared designed for federal appeals courts, including the Supreme Court, that have placed a heavy emphasis in recent years on the historical understanding of the separation of powers.

    In other words, Smith is arguing that Trump’s effort to overturn the election was necessarily private because the Constitution gives a president no official authority for choosing his successor.

    “The defendant’s charged conduct directly contravenes these foundational principles,” the motion reads. “He sought to encroach on powers specifically assigned by the Constitution to other branches, to advance his own self-interest and perpetuate himself in power, contrary to the will of the people.”

    White House staffer ‘P9’ details planning meetings

    Prosecutors focus in particular in the filing on what Trump learned from a White House staffer referred to in the filings as “P9,” as they try to show that Trump was well aware he had lost the election as he pressed on with the reversal schemes.

    The person, identified only as “P9,” appears to have personally had discussions over the phone about the fake electors strategy with Trump, and had repeated text conversations with other people in the campaign about how the strategy was “crazy” or “illegal,” according to the filing.

    When Trump told the staffer he would not pay the private lawyer spearheading his legal challenges unless the challenges were successful, the staffer told Trump that the private attorney would never be paid. That prompted a laugh and a “we’ll see” from Trump, the filings said. (The private attorney is identified by prosecutors as co-conspirator 1, who CNN has previously identified as Rudy Giuliani.)

    In a follow up conversation, the White House official told Trump that Giuliani would not be able to prove his false claims in a court and Trump told the staffer, “The details don’t matter.”

    The brief lays out several other interactions between the White House staffer and Trump in which Trump was told that the election fraud claims wouldn’t hold up in court.

    Prosecutors say they would call election officials in battleground states at Trump trial

    In the filing released Wednesday, prosecutors identify witnesses they hope to call at a trial to testify against Trump – including election officials in battleground states and his White House deputy chief of staff.

    The prosecutors say they also want to show a jury at trial Trump’s campaign speech on January 4, 2021, in Georgia, and his campaign speech on the Ellipse on January 6, 2021, just before the riot at the US Capitol.

    And, they’d like to show the jury tweets that they say can prove Trump was driving the public campaign of fraud in the election, as he knew there was none that was widespread enough to overturn his loss. They argue those tweets weren’t part of Trump’s official work as president.

    At trial, prosecutors say they would like to call the only other adviser to Trump who had access to his Twitter account to testify that Trump was sending tweets on January 6, 2021, that would put pressure on then-Vice President Mike Pence to stop the counting of the electoral votes at the Capitol. The person is described as White House deputy chief of staff.

    “The Government will elicit from Person 45 at trial that he was the only person other than the defendant with the ability to post to the defendant’s Twitter account, that he sent tweets only at the defendant’s express direction, and that person 45 did not send certain specific Tweets” – specifically a tweet Trump sent that said Pence didn’t have the courage to block the certification of the vote.

    That type of testimony would allow prosecutors to assert in court they have evidence of a moment like this:

    “At 2:24 p.m., Trump was alone in his dining room,” prosecutors write in the filing, “when he issued a Tweet attacking Pence and fueling the ongoing riot: ‘Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!’”

    FBI experts can testify about how Trump used his phone on January 6, prosecutors say

    FBI experts have mapped out what Trump was doing on his phone while the US Capitol riot unfolded, Smith said.

    An FBI Computer Analysis Response Team forensic examiner can testify about “the news and social media applications” on Trump’s phone, Smith wrote in the filing, “and can describe the activity occurring on the phone throughout the afternoon of January 6.”

    Those logs show that Trump “was using his phone, and in particular, was using the Twitter application, consistently throughout the day after he returned from the Ellipse speech.”

    Smith said that three unidentified witnesses are also prepared to testify that on the afternoon of January 6, the television in the White House dining room where Trump spent much of the day was “on and tuned into news programs that were covering in real time the ongoing events in the Capitol.”

    That testimony would allow prosecutors to show a future jury what Trump saw unfolding on TV while he made comments and posted online that afternoon.

    Prosecutors lean on Hatch Act to bolster Trump charges

    Smith is again using the Hatch Act – which limits the political activities of federal employees – to bolster their 2020 election subversion charges against former President Donald Trump.

    Prosecutors said in a new filing that the Hatch Act allows White House staffers to “wear two hats,” separating out their official conduct to serve the public from their political conduct to help a candidate.

    Therefore, even if some of Trump’s alleged wrongdoing occurred on White House grounds and in front of White House staff, he doesn’t have immunity because that fell under the “political” umbrella, Smith’s team wrote.

    “When the defendant’s White House staff participated in political activity on his behalf as a candidate, they were not exercising their official authority or carrying out official responsibilities,” prosecutors wrote. “And when the President, acting as a candidate, engaged in Campaign-related activities with these officials or in their presence, he too was not engaging in official presidential conduct.”

    Bill Barr decided to speak out against Trump’s election lies after seeing him on Fox News

    Then-Attorney General Bill Barr decided in 2020 to publicly rebut Trump’s false claims that the election was rigged after watching Trump spread these lies on Fox News, prosecutors say.

    “On November 29, [Barr] saw the defendant appear on the Maria Bartiromo Show and claim, among other false things, that the Justice Department was ‘missing in action’ and had ignored evidence of fraud,” prosecutors wrote.

    They continued, “[Barr] decided it was time to speak publicly in contravention of the defendant’s false claims, set up a lunch with a reporter for the Associated Press, and made his statement.”

    This was the December 1, 2020, statement in which Barr infamously said the Justice Department had looked into potential election irregularities but didn’t find any widespread fraud that could’ve tipped the results. This was a major move by Barr, a lifelong Republican who at the time was a staunch Trump ally.

    Barr’s name is redacted in the filing, and he is referred to as “P52.” But P52 is described as the “attorney general,” and Barr was the attorney general at that time.

    Barr resigned just before Christmas 2020.

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  • Dow sets a record as Wall Street drifts to the finish of another winning week

    Dow sets a record as Wall Street drifts to the finish of another winning week

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    NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks closed another record-setting week with a muted performance Friday, as hope built on Wall Street that the U.S. economy can manage the rare feat of suppressing high inflation without causing a recession.

    The S&P 500 edged down by 0.1% from its all-time high set the day before, its 42nd of the year so far. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 137 points, or 0.3%, to set its own record, while the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.4%.

    Treasury yields eased in the bond market after a report showed inflation slowed in August by a bit more than economists expected. It echoed similar numbers from earlier in the month about inflation, but Friday’s report has resonance because it’s the measure that officials at the Federal Reserve prefer to use.

    For more than a year, the Fed had kept its main interest rate at a two-decade high in hopes of slowing the economy enough to drive inflation toward its 2% target. Now that inflation has eased substantially from its peak two summers ago, the Fed has begun cutting rates to ease conditions for the slowing job market and prevent a recession.

    Of course, the risk of a downturn still looms. U.S. employers have slowed their hiring, and the inflation report on Friday also showed growth in U.S. consumer spending in August fell shy of economists’ expectations. That’s important because consumer spending is the main engine of the economy.

    Part of the shortfall may have been because incomes for Americans grew less in August than economists expected. As the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates, Americans will get lower interest payments on their savings accounts and other similar holdings.

    The boost that lower interest rates can give to borrowers, meanwhile, can take longer to come to fruition, “so consumption spending will likely get squeezed,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management.

    More encouraging data arrived later in the morning, when a report said sentiment among U.S. consumers is stronger than economists expected.

    On Wall Street, Costco Wholesale fell 1.8% after delivering weaker revenue in the latest quarter than analysts expected. That was even though its profit topped expectations.

    Another company that depends on people spending money, ski-resort operator Vail Resorts, sank 3.9% after reporting a larger loss for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Scant snowfalls at its Australian resorts hurt its results, and it gave a forecast for profit in its upcoming fiscal year that fell short of forecasts.

    On the winning side of Wall Street, Bristol-Myers Squibb rose 1.6% after receiving U.S. federal approval for its new approach to treat schizophrenia in adults.

    Trump Media & Technology Group climbed 5.5% following the first disclosure of a major investor selling its shares now that a restriction for insiders has lifted.

    A Florida firm owned by former contestants on “The Apprentice” dumped nearly all of its 5.5% ownership stake in TMTG, which owns former president Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform, according to a filing made with U.S. regulators on Thursday..

    Trump has said he does not plan to sell any of his shares, and he owns more than half of the company, but the stock has been shaky amid speculation about whether he may.

    All told, the S&P 500 slipped 7.20 points to 5,738.17, but it still closed out a third straight winning week and its sixth in the last seven. The Dow rose 137.89 to 42,313.00, and the Nasdaq composite lost 70.70 to 18,119.59.

    Markets overseas made bigger moves, as stocks in Shanghai rallied 2.9% to close their best week since 2008. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 3.6% to cap its best week since 1998.

    They soared following a barrage of announcements through the week from China’s central bank and government in hopes of propping up the world’s second-largest economy. Investors aren’t convinced all the stimulus will ultimately succeed, but they say they’re impressed by the size of it all following earlier piecemeal efforts.

    In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury eased to 3.75% from 3.80% late Thursday.

    The two-year Treasury yield, which moves more closely with expectations for what the Fed will do with short-term rates, fell to 3.56% from 3.63%.

    Traders are betting on a 55% probability the Fed will cut the federal funds rate by another half of a percentage point at its next meeting in November, according to data from CME Group. It usually moves rates by just a quarter of a percentage point.

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  • Biden tells U.N. General Assembly peace still possible in conflicts in Mideast and Ukraine

    Biden tells U.N. General Assembly peace still possible in conflicts in Mideast and Ukraine

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    MIDTOWN EAST, Manhattan — President Joe Biden declared the U.S. must not retreat from the world, as he delivered his final address to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday as Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon edged toward all-out war and Israel’s bloody operation against Hamas in Gaza neared the one-year mark.

    Biden used his wide-ranging address to speak to a need to end the Middle East conflict and the 17-month-old civil war in Sudan and to highlight U.S. and Western allies’ support for Kyiv since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

    His appearance before the international body also offered Biden one of his last high-profile opportunities as president to make the case to keep up robust support for Ukraine, which could be in doubt if former President Donald Trump, who has scoffed at the cost of the war, defeats Vice President Kamala Harris in November. Still, Biden insisted that despite global conflicts, he remains hopeful for the future.

    CeFaan Kim reports the Lower East Side.

    “I’ve seen a remarkable sweep of history,” Biden said. “I know many look at the world today and see difficulties and react with despair but I do not.”

    “We are stronger than we think” when the world acts together, he added.

    Biden came to office promising to rejuvenate U.S. relations around the world and to extract the U.S. from “forever wars” in Afghanistan and Iraq that consumed American foreign policy over the last 20 years.

    “I was determined to end it, and I did,” Biden said of the Afghanistan exit, calling it a “hard decision but the right decision.” He acknowledged that it was “accompanied by tragedy” with the deaths of 13 American troops and hundreds of Afghans in a suicide bombing during the chaotic withdrawal.

    Biden in farewell U.N. address says peace still possible in conflicts in Mideast and Ukraine

    But his foreign policy legacy may ultimately be shaped by his administration’s response to two of the biggest conflicts in Europe and the Middle East since World War II.

    “There will always be forces that pull our countries apart,” Biden said, rejecting “a desire to retreat from the world and go it alone.” He said, “Our task, our test, is to make sure that the forces holding us together are stronger than the forces pulling us apart.”

    The Pentagon announced Monday that it was sending a small number of additional U.S. troops to the Middle East to supplement the roughly 40,000 already in the region. All the while, the White House insists Israel and Hezbollah still have time to step back and de-escalate.

    “Full scale war is not in anyone’s interest,” Biden said, and despite escalating violence, a diplomatic solution is the only path to peace.

    Biden had a hopeful outlook for the Middle East when he addressed the U.N. just a year ago. In that speech, Biden spoke of a “sustainable, integrated Middle East” coming into view.

    At the time, economic relations between Israel and some of its Arab neighbors were improving with implementation of the Abraham Accords that Israel signed with Bahrain, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates during the Trump administration.

    Biden’s team helped resolve a long-running Israel-Lebanon maritime dispute that had held back gas exploration in the region. And Israel-Saudi normalization talks were progressing, a game-changing alignment for the region if a deal could be landed.

    “I suffer from an oxymoron: Irish optimism,” Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when they met on the sidelines of last year’s U.N. gathering. He added, “If you and I, 10 years ago, were talking about normalization with Saudi Arabia … I think we’d look at each other like, ‘Who’s been drinking what?’”

    Eighteen days later, Biden’s Middle East hopes came crashing down. Hamas militants stormed into Israel killing 1,200, taking some 250 hostage, and spurring a bloody war that has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians in Gaza and led the region into a complicated downward spiral.

    Now, the conflict is threatening to metastasize into a multi-front war and leave a lasting scar on Biden’s presidential legacy.

    Israel and Hezbollah traded strikes again Tuesday as the death toll from a massive Israeli bombardment climbed to nearly 560 people and thousands fled from southern Lebanon. It’s the deadliest barrage since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.

    Israel has urged residents of southern Lebanon to evacuate from homes and other buildings where it claimed Hezbollah has stored weapons, saying the military would conduct “extensive strikes” against the militant group.

    Hezbollah, meanwhile, has launched dozens of rockets, missiles and drones into northern Israel in retaliation for strikes last week that killed a top commander and dozens of fighters. Dozens were also killed last week and hundreds more wounded after hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah militants exploded, a sophisticated attack that was widely believed to have been carried out by Israel.

    Israel’s leadership launched its counterattacks at a time of growing impatience with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah’s persistent launching of missiles and drones across the Israel-Lebanon border after Hamas started the war with its brazen attack on Oct. 7.

    Biden has seemed more subdued in recent days about the prospects of Israel and Hamas agreeing to a temporary cease-fire and hostage deal. But he insists that he hasn’t given up.

    Biden used his remarks to condemn the “horrors” of the Hamas attack on Oct. 7 and said hostages taken by the group are “are going through hell.” He added, “Innocent civilians in Gaza are also going through hell.” Biden also condemned settler violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.

    Biden reiterated his call on the parties to agree to a cease-fire and hostage release deal, saying it’s time to “end this war” – even as hopes for such a deal are fading as the conflict drags on.

    Biden, in his address, called for the sustainment of Western support for Ukraine in its war with Russia. Biden helped galvanize an international coalition to back Ukraine with weapons and economic aid in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s February 2022 assault on Ukraine.

    “We cannot grow weary,” Biden said. “We cannot look away.”

    Biden has managed to keep up American support in the face of rising skepticism from some Republican lawmakers – and Trump – about the cost of the conflict.

    At the same time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is pressing Biden to loosen restrictions on the use of Western-supplied long-range missiles so that Ukrainian forces can hit deeper in Russia.

    So far Zelenskyy has not persuaded the Pentagon or White House to loosen those restrictions. The Defense Department has emphasized that Ukraine can already hit Moscow with Ukrainian-produced drones, and there is hesitation on the strategic implications of a U.S.-made missile potentially striking the Russian capital.

    Putin has warned that Russia would be “at war” with the United States and its NATO allies if they allow Ukraine to use the long-range weapons.

    Biden and Harris are scheduled to hold separate meetings with Zelenskyy in Washington on Thursday. Ukrainian officials were also trying to arrange a meeting for Zelenskyy with Trump this week.

    In Sudan, where a humanitarian disaster has been created by a brutal civil war, Biden said “the world needs to stop arming the generals” and to tell them to “stop tearing this country apart.”

    The entirety of Midtown East in Manhattan is expected to be snarled as numerous streets have been closed in anticipation of the week-long session.

    Several protests are slated to take place, which will add to the congestion and heightened security in the area of the United Nations.

    RELATED | NYC Gridlock Alert Days 2024 are back with the start of the U.N. General Assembly

    Heather O’Rourke has the latest on the UN General Assembly.

    Miller reported from Washington. AP writer Darlene Superville contributed to this report.

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    AP

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  • Trump-backed Georgia State Election Board mandates ALL paper ballots be hand-counted in 2024 Elections

    Trump-backed Georgia State Election Board mandates ALL paper ballots be hand-counted in 2024 Elections

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    The Georgia State Election Board approved a rule that forces poll workers to count paper ballots by hand. The measure passed 3-2 Friday. Despite the new rule flying against the advice of the Attorney General’s office, the Secretary of State’s office and a group of county election officials. 

    Here is how the new rules would work: three poll workers hand count ballots, sorting them into stacks of fifty ballots until all have been counted. The three workers must arrive at the same total. If that number doesn’t match those recorded on the voter check-in system, the electronic voting machines and the scanner recap forms, the poll manager is to determine the reasons for inconsistency. If possible, the workers and the poll manager must correct the errors.

    Attorney General Chris Carr warned of possible illegal condct. In his letter, he says:

    “The Board has no authority to promulgate rules regarding the classification or retention of documents,”and promulgation of the rule would very likely go beyond the scope of the Board’s authority and be subject to challenge as invalid.

    Full Chris Carr letter to State Election Board

    The fallout from 2020 continues to persist

    In August, former President Donald Trump praised the three officials that would eventually affirm the measure. 

    “They’re on fire. They’re doing a great job.” “Janice Johnston, Rick Jeffares and Janelle King, three people are all pit bulls fighting for honesty, transparency and victory,” Trump said.

    Janelle King, a member voting in favor of the new rule, argued that the board was “creating more stability in our election process”. She believes they are providing election officials the room to ensure that the final results are accurate.

    On August 15th, Georgia Secretary of State (and the previous administrator of Georgia’s elections) Brad Raffensperger lampooned the proposed rules.

    “Activists seeking to impose last-minute changes in election procedures outside of the legislative process undermine voter confidence and burden election workers,” Raffensperger said in a news release.

    These actions are a result of a series of actions taken by Trump allies over the past three years. Their goal since Trump lost in 2020 has been to fundamentally reshape election administration in Georgia. After Raffensperger refused to ‘find 11,780 votes’, the Georgia Legislature stripped him of his powers. In August 2024, the Georgia State Election Board voted for Attorney General Carr to investigate the Fulton County government. This request has been long on the minds of MAGA Republicans and Donald Trump alike. 

    Democrats and some Republicans are fighting back

    Democrats said during an August press conference that these moves could sow chaos and uncertainty following the elections. 

    “What is unfolding in Georgia is nothing less than an effort to subvert democracy and move us backward,” U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta, said Monday during a news conference at the state Capitol. “We must not allow our State Election Board to be taken over by Donald Trump.”

    Two Georgia Republicans and a non-profit organization filed a lawsuit challenging anti-democratic rules passed by the MAGA members of the State Election Board (SEB).

    “These misguided, last-minute changes from unelected bureaucrats who have never run an election and seem to reject the advice of anyone who ever has could cause serious problems in an election that otherwise will be secure and accurate,” Raffensperger said in a statement released on August 15.

    Also, the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Party of Georgia Sued the State Election Board for taking similar stances.

    The final day to register to vote in the 2024 Presidential Election in Georgia is Monday, October 7th. Early voting in Georgia begins on October 15.  The earliest possible date new rules could take effect if passed is October 14, which is just 22 days before the General Election. 

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    Itoro N. Umontuen

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  • Ukraine suffering high losses due to slow arms supplies, says Zelenskiy

    Ukraine suffering high losses due to slow arms supplies, says Zelenskiy

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    (Reuters) – Ukrainian troops are suffering high losses because Western arms are arriving too slowly to equip the armed forces properly, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told CNN in an interview aired on Sunday.

    Russia has been gaining ground in parts of eastern Ukraine including around Pokrovsk. Capture of the transport hub could enable Moscow to open new lines of attack.

    Zelenskiy said the situation in the east was “very tough”, adding that half of Ukraine’s brigades there were not equipped.

    “So you lose a lot of people. You lose people because they are not in armed vehicles … they don’t have artillery, they don’t have artillery rounds,” said Zelenskiy, speaking in English. CNN said the interview had been conducted on Friday.

    Zelenskiy said weapons aid packages promised by the United States and European nations were arriving very slowly.

    “We need 14 brigades to be ready. Until now … from these packages we didn’t equip even four,” he said.

    White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Saturday said Washington was working on a “substantial” new aid package for Ukraine.

    Zelenskiy is due to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden this month and will present a plan for ending the war. The main elements are security and diplomatic support, as well as military and economic aid, he said.

    The only thing Russian President Vladimir Putin fears is the reaction of his people if the cost of the war makes them suffer, Zelenskiy said. “Make Ukraine strong, and you will see that he will sit and negotiate”.

    Zelenskiy will also reiterate to Biden demands for Ukraine to be allowed to use U.S. long-range weapons to strike military targets deep into Russia.

    Kyiv needs this permission because Russian jets blasting infrastructure had begun operating up to 500 km (310 miles) from the front lines compared with 150 km earlier, he told CNN.

    (Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Leslie Adler)

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  • Speaker Mike Johnson’s next steps on government funding fight could determine whether he gets to keep leading the House GOP

    Speaker Mike Johnson’s next steps on government funding fight could determine whether he gets to keep leading the House GOP

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    (CNN) — Speaker Mike Johnson has a decision to make.

    With the election looming and another government funding deadline just around the corner, the speaker must find a way in the next several days to both govern for the country, avoid a shutdown that could cost his members in swing districts and keep the right flank of his party pacified enough to not imperil his own political future.

    It’s a tightrope he’s walked time and time again in government funding showdowns in the last year, on Ukraine aide and when it came to reauthorizing a key national security program, but this time the course Johnson charts could determine whether he can stay atop his leadership post after the election.

    “I don’t think he thinks about his speakership first. I think he thinks about the (future) of the country first. But let’s be honest. With him, it’s a very difficult needle to thread,” Rep. Lisa McClain, a Republican from Michigan, told CNN.

    While many of his allies are bullish on House Republicans’ chances to keep the House in November, they acknowledge there are still a lot of variables that need to play out. If Republicans keep the House, Johnson will need to secure  218 votes to become the speaker in January, a major lift if Johnson once again has a slim or even shrunken majority.

    Johnson for his part has maintained widespread popularity. Even many of the Republicans who once privately questioned whether Johnson was too green for the job have argued he’s grown quickly into it, taking on his right flank and surviving leadership challenges his predecessor could not weather.

    “It’s just hard from my standpoint no matter how this fight goes if we come back into the majority, it would be tough to make the argument that he shouldn’t be speaker,” said Rep. Drew Ferguson, a Republican from Georgia.

    There is also the potential that Republicans lose the House. Then, Johnson would need to convince a majority he’s still up for the job of leading the conference as minority leader, an easier mathematical problem that requires just a simple majority vote but one that could be complicated by a challenger if Republicans lose in a landslide.

    “When you lose the Superbowl by two touchstones, you fire the coach,” one GOP aide lamented on Johnson’s future if Republicans lose big.

    Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, a key critic to Johnson, warned she didn’t see Johnson sticking around if Republicans lose the House.

    “That’s to be determined, but, you know, based on things that I’ve heard, and I’m not naming names, naming members, I don’t see that happening,” she said.

    On Wednesday, Johnson announced he was pulling the GOP spending bill that would have funded the government for six months and included the SAVE Act, legislation that requires proof of citizenship to register to vote. The bill was on the cusp of failure after at least eight House Republicans said publicly they wouldn’t support it. But Johnson said that he would continue trying to build support for the bill.

    “We’re in the consensus building business here in Congress. With small majorities that’s what you do,” Johnson told reporters.

    But while Johnson maintained he planned to keep whipping the votes on the plan, there is no indication that the dynamics will change, forcing the Louisiana Republican to at some point consider his other options.

    Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia speaks to media outside the US Capitol, in Washington, DC, on July 22, 2024. (Sipa USA/Sipa USA/Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA via CNN Newsource)

    A date that could matter (a lot) for Johnson

    If Johnson needs to build bipartisan consensus to get a funding bill across the finish line as he has had to do time and time again, Democratic leaders warn he’ll need to drop the SAVE Act from being tied directly to the funding bill. But whether Johnson will relent on the six-month spending bill remains to be seen in part because it could unlock a much easier path for his future.

    Punting another spending showdown until March could insulate Johnson from having to pass a massive end-of-year spending bill in December and then turn around and convince hardliners that he should keep the speaker’s gavel.

    Keeping the House might give him a victory to campaign on, but there are several Republicans including Greene who challenged Johnson’s speakership in the spring and who have already publicly registered their displeasure with Johnson.

    “I think it’s going to be really difficult for him,” Greene told CNN about Johnson’s chances of winning the gavel again if he cuts a spending deal with Democrats. “Eleven of my colleagues voted with me for a motion to vacate. However, you’re seeing a good number of my colleagues that weren’t part of that eleven now turning on him with a CR and SAVE Act because they know the writing on the wall.”

    Getting Democrats to sign onto a March deadline would be a hard sell for Johnson. Many Democrats want to clear the deck for a potential Harris administration, and the Biden administration has warned that a six-month continuing resolution could have devastating effects on military preparedness and even the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is facing a $12 billion shortfall going into the new fiscal year. A December funding bill would also provide Biden his last opportunity to include other legacy items that often ride along on a massive end-of-year spending bill.

    The next several days will be critical for Johnson to navigate carefully.

    “I think he’s doing the best job that he can, small margins that we have. It’s such a tight schedule. I mean, to me, it’s the job that he has I would not want,” Rep. Beth Van Duyne, a Republican from Texas, told CNN.

    The next several weeks could play out in several ways. Johnson could opt to quickly pivot after Wednesday to a plan to move a short-term spending bill until March that drops the SAVE Act in an effort to win over Democratic votes.

    On the other hand, Senate Democrats could act swiftly to force Johnson’s hand by offering a short-term spending bill that goes just to December and dare Johnson to reject it and risk a shutdown just months before an election.

    “He’s in the majority so he’s gotta figure out what the right combination is,” Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, told CNN of Johnson’s calculation. “It’s kind of like a Rubik’s cube.”

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  • Inside Kamala Harris’ yearslong crash course in foreign diplomacy

    Inside Kamala Harris’ yearslong crash course in foreign diplomacy

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    Washington (CNN) — Vice President Kamala Harris has met more than 150 world leaders since becoming vice president. But a July sit-down with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu felt different.

    Coming days after President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race and as Democrats were coalescing around her candidacy, perhaps no other sit-down would garner as much attention or carry as much weight.

    “We have a lot to talk about,” she said, before dismissing reporters — the exact same words Biden used to begin his own meeting. But Harris’ were delivered in a manner that said something entirely different.

    The moment, which amounted to Harris’s debut on the world stage as the Democratic standard-bearer, captured the complicated dynamics that have colored her foreign policy ambitions, and offered a preview of the type of statesmanship she would pursue as president.

    By virtue of her position as vice president to a commander in chief whose “first love” was foreign policy, according to his aides, Harris had little room over the past three-and-a-half years to stake out her own distinct doctrine or worldview.

    Instead, she has hewn closely to the views of her boss, even as she’s become more involved over time in the US response to various roiling global conflicts. In meetings and on trips abroad, she’s acted as a clean-up artist and bearer of bad news on behalf of Biden, traditional roles for a vice president.

    Republicans, led by Donald Trump, have argued Harris sat alongside Biden as the world went up in flames. They point to her assertion, made during an interview on CNN, that she was the last person in the room as Biden was deciding to go ahead with his planned US withdrawal from Afghanistan, which ended in chaos and deadly violence.

    Harris said in the interview that she was comfortable with Biden’s decision and praised the president’s “courage” in making it. On the campaign trail, she’s argued that Trump’s “chaotic actions” as president led to “catastrophic consequences” in Afghanistan.

    Harris herself has shown little daylight between herself and her boss. Asked directly during an August CNN interview – twice – whether she would be doing anything differently than the current president on the Middle East, Harris offered few specifics beyond pointing to a long-negotiated hostage and ceasefire deal.

    “No,” she told Dana Bash. “I – we have to get a deal done. Dana, we have to get a deal done.”

    Yet for all the close ties between Biden and Harris on the world stage, there are some signs she would not act entirely as a carbon copy of her former boss’s approach. As vice president, she has been a booster for important allies that Biden did not have time to lavish his full attention upon. And she has been a louder voice for causes that haven’t always received the full spotlight of the presidency — in particular the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza.

    Israel

    Harris’ unusual step of delivering remarks following her July meeting with Netanyahu was a move she would not likely have made were Biden still running for a second term. White House officials made a concerted decision to allow her short statement to stand as the only substantive comment following Netanyahu’s visit.

    While reiterating her steadfast support for Israel – as she had done every time the issue arose over the previous 10 months – she also struck an urgent tone on the plight of the Palestinians.

    “We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering,” Harris said outside her ceremonial office, next door to the White House, “and I will not be silent.”

    Senior White House officials – even as they insisted that there was no daylight between the president and vice president when it comes to Middle East policy – have more readily acknowledged over the last year that their respective tones when discussing the Israel-Hamas war were, in fact, distinct.

    “They have different styles, is the reality, when it comes to expressing themselves,” one senior Biden adviser said earlier this year on how the president and Harris tended to publicly discuss the ongoing conflict.

    As a result, the vice president’s public statements criticizing Israel’s handling of the Gaza conflict and lamenting the plight of Palestinian civilians had, more than once since the onset of the war, raised questions about whether Harris was on a different page from Biden.

    Harris herself has been sensitive to that scrutiny. As one senior Democrat close to the vice president put it, Harris “understands that there’s a perception that she is left of (Biden) on Israel.”

    Privately, this Democrat said, the vice president has insisted that she believes it is possible to be both “strongly pro-Israel” and capable of articulating the belief that “this fight is not with the Palestinian people.”

    Last December, the vice president also traveled to the Middle East to attend a climate summit – and juggled multiple high stakes meetings and calls with Arab leaders amid heightening tensions, marking her foray into wartime diplomacy and forcefully sending a message of restraint.

    As the Israel-Hamas war has unfolded, Harris has displayed a genuine desire to take the pulse of the Arab American community in the US, sources familiar with her engagements said.

    Harris has made phone calls to Arab American leaders in the US to understand their perspective and to listen to their criticism of the Biden administration’s policy approach to the conflict, explained two sources. Some have been shocked to receive a call from the vice president, they said.

    A Harris aide said that as vice president, she has “strongly condemned Hamas’ brutal terrorist attack on October 7, denounced atrocious acts of sexual violence, advocated relentlessly to bring the hostages home, and worked to ensure Israel remains a secure, democratic and Jewish state.”

    Learning on the job

    Harris did not enter the job with vast experience on the world stage. Both her advisers and foreign officials she’s interacted with say Harris managed to take what was essentially a supporting role and turn it into a crash course in foreign diplomacy. One former senior adviser described the vice president taking home massive briefing books and often peppering staffers with questions as she was briefed on multiple foreign policy issues.

    She began, some said, rather scripted and uncertain but emerged within her first year in office a more confident voice. In meetings, she can appear alternatively warm – searching for commonalities over food or family – and steely, as she holds a firm line on US policy.

    Harris advisers argue nothing could have better prepared her to step onto the global stage, should she to win the election in November, than her time as vice president.

    They point to her travels abroad, meetings with world leaders and the time that she has spent with Biden navigating a number of major foreign policy crises – including the wars in Ukraine and Gaza – as giving her a certain gravitas that she did not have when she was first seeking the presidency in 2020.

    Harris has visited 21 countries in her current role, according to an aide, and met with more than 150 world leaders — including China’s President Xi Jinping, with whom Biden has long sought to cultivate more stable ties.

    “There’s no better preparation to be president of the United States than what the vice president has done over the past three-and-a-half years,” a senior administration official said.

    Still, Harris has not always been the first phone call for foreign leaders or officials looking to get a line into the White House. Others on Biden’s team, including his secretary of state and national security adviser, have been seen as more central to American decision making, according to diplomats.

    As she heads toward November’s election on a swell of Democratic momentum, some foreign governments are looking to know her better.

    In the run-up to this month’s United Nations General Assembly, the yearly marathon of diplomacy that brings a parade of foreign leaders to New York, dozens of countries have been reaching out in hopes of setting up a meeting with Harris, multiple US officials said. Some countries have even offered to accommodate or change their schedules to lock in a meeting with her.

    Harris currently does not plan to travel up to New York for the assembly, a source familiar with the plans said. As she has done in previous years, it’s possible she will take time to meet with foreign leaders who are visiting the US for the UN gathering in Washington, DC.

    US diplomats said it would be to her benefit to sit down with world leaders, but they also understand her team is deciding whether she can afford to be off the campaign trail.

    “Every second she is not in Michigan or Pennsylvania is a loss. It is a cost-benefit analysis,” said one US official.

    Among those who have worked most closely with Harris on foreign policy matters over the past three-and-a-half years and seen as the vice president’s foreign policy brain trust are Phil Gordon, her national security adviser; Rebecca Lissner, her principal deputy national security adviser; and Dean Lieberman, her deputy national security adviser for strategic communications.

    One stalwart of the Biden national security brain trust – with whom Harris held periodic lunch meetings to discuss foreign affairs – suggested this week he would not stay on for a potential Harris presidency.

    “All I’m looking at right now is the balance of this administration, in January,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at the conclusion of a news conference in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. “And I can tell you, from having spent some time over the last week on bit of a break with my kids, I will relish having a lot more time with them.”

    When asked where the vice president’s foreign policy views may ultimately differ from Biden’s, her advisers insist that so long as she is in her current job, they would decline to address what they see as “hypothetical policy questions.”

    “She remains the vice president of the United States and stands by the Biden-Harris administration policies,” Lieberman said. That is certainly the case, he added, when it comes to the vice president’s views on the Israel-Hamas war.

    Ukraine

    A month after Russia invaded Ukraine, Harris was dispatched to NATO’s eastern flank on a reassurance mission – one that also came with some sensitive diplomatic smoothing-over. Moments before she took off for Poland, a rift had emerged between Warsaw and Washington over the transfer of fighter jets to Ukraine.

    Aboard Air Force Two, Harris took a phone call from Biden, making sure she was up to speed on the matter. In meetings with leaders, both in Poland and a later stop in Romania, Harris sought both to assert American support for Ukraine and its NATO allies while avoiding any public spat.

    For a foreign policy novice with aspirations for higher office, the war in Ukraine was a rigorous introduction to wartime diplomacy.

    Days before the 2022 invasion by Russia, Harris met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Munich Security Conference and discussed with him the latest American intelligence about what might be coming. She has met with Zelensky six times in total since the war began.

    “The Zelensky meeting was a pivotal moment in her journey of leading on foreign policy,” said Nancy McEldowney, who served as national security advisor to Harris from 2021 to early 2022.

    “In that meeting, we conducted an unprecedented exchange of detailed intelligence,” McEldowney recalled of the hourslong meeting. “We laid out all of the information, and then talked about what it meant and talked about how the Ukrainians could respond.”

    Speaking at the Munich Security Conference the following year in 2023, Harris said Russia had committed crimes against humanity.

    Still, while Harris attended the Munich forum as the top Biden administration official twice and met with Zelensky each time, the Ukrainians were frustrated both times when they learned that she was being sent instead of Biden, sources said. In their view, there was no evidence that Harris was – at either time – deeply involved in US policymaking when it came to the war.

    During Harris’s meeting with the Ukrainians at Munich in 2024, one private message she delivered was that the US urged the Ukrainians to stop hitting Russian energy inside of Russia, sources said. This was not the first time the Ukrainians had heard the message from US officials, but Harris delivered the message empathically and they were not thrilled, sources said.

    Today, Ukrainian officials don’t know exactly what to expect from a Harris presidency if she wins the election.

    “They don’t see her as solid as Biden when it comes to supporting Ukraine. Their best bet is that she will uphold that status quo of US support,” said one source close to the Ukrainians.

    “Vice President Harris has been a strong proponent of enduring US support for Ukraine and has repeatedly expressed an unwavering commitment to support the people of Ukraine as they defend themselves against Russia’s brutal aggression. She has vowed to continue to support Ukraine and impose costs on Russia,” an aide to the vice president said.

    Personal touch

    As the US sought to repair the relationship with France after the rollout of a submarine deal that didn’t include the old European ally, the Biden administration sent a number of high-ranking officials to Paris: Blinken, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan and then climate envoy John Kerry. The Biden administration then decided to send Harris as the final visitor, which a European official described as a very successful crescendo.

    Harris spent four days in the country and developed a “good personal relationship” with French President Emmanuel Macron, the official said.

    “At the time she was perceived to not have much experience, but she gave off a really good impression,” the official said. “She displayed what is rare in high-level politicians: She took her time.”

    Indeed, unlike Biden – who rarely departed from his schedule of meetings to take in any culture during his trips abroad – Harris made time for a quintessentially Parisian pursuit: Shopping.

    Stopping at the E. Dehillerin, the famous cookware shop on Rue Coquilliere near the Louvre, Harris declared she needed some pots for her Thanksgiving meal.

    Pointing to the racks of copper ware, she inquired – in French – whether they had a smaller model: “Comme ça, mais plus petit?”

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    Priscilla Alvarez, MJ Lee, Kevin Liptak, Kylie Atwood and CNN

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  • Biden says Netanyahu not doing enough to secure hostage and ceasefire deal as he nears presenting a final proposal

    Biden says Netanyahu not doing enough to secure hostage and ceasefire deal as he nears presenting a final proposal

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    Washington (CNN) — President Joe Biden said Monday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not doing enough to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas and added he is “close” to presenting a final deal to negotiators working to strike a hostage and ceasefire agreement in Gaza.

    “We’re very close to that,” he said when asked by CNN if he was planning to present a final proposal.

    The president’s comments came as he was returning to the White House to huddle with American officials who have been working to secure a deal that would pair a release of hostages held in Gaza with a pause in the fighting.

    Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, was also planning to attend the meeting before joining Biden for a campaign event in Pittsburgh.

    The hostage release efforts gained new urgency over the weekend with the discovery of the bodies of six hostages in a tunnel beneath the southern Gaza city of Rafah, including the Israeli-American citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin.

    The deaths have sparked outrage inside Israel, leading to enormous protests and a nationwide strike Monday. Demonstrators have called on Netanyahu to put aside political ambitions to strike an agreement that would allow hostages to be released.

    Asked Monday whether Netanyahu was doing enough to reach an agreement, Biden said simply: “No.”

    His one-word answer kept with Biden’s reluctance to criticize Netanyahu in public, but nonetheless reflected deep frustrations inside the White House at how the Israeli leader has handled the conflict and the hostage talks.

    A senior Israeli source criticized Biden’s statement, saying: “It is remarkable that President Biden is trying to pressure Prime Minister Netanyahu, who agreed to both the president’s proposal on May 31st and to the American bridging proposal on August 16th, and not Hamas’s leader Sinwar who continues to oppose any deal.”

    “The president’s statement is also dangerous because it comes days after Hamas executed 6 hostages, including an American citizen.”

    A US official responded to that criticism by saying, “The president has been clear that Hamas is responsible for killing Hersh and the others and Hamas leaders will pay for their crimes. He is also calling for urgency from the Israeli government in securing the release of the missing remaining hostages.”

    American officials said the deaths of the six hostages over the weekend would likely apply new pressure on Netanyahu to reach an agreement, though the officials also said it raised questions about how serious Hamas is toward striking a deal.

    Asked Monday how the new deal being finalized would be different than other failed proposals, Biden responded: “Hope springs eternal.”

    Biden, who spoke Sunday with Goldberg-Polin’s parents, said his message to them was “we’re not giving up, we’re going to continue to push as hard as we can.”

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  • Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson signals support for Supreme Court code of ethics in CBS interview

    Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson signals support for Supreme Court code of ethics in CBS interview

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    (CNN) — Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson indicated in an interview Sunday that she supports a binding code of ethics for the Supreme Court, adding that such requirements are “pretty standard” for the federal judiciary.

    “From my perspective, I don’t have any problem with an enforceable code,” Jackson, the newest member of the high court, told “CBS News Sunday Morning” in an interview about her new memoir.

    “A binding code of ethics is pretty standard for judges. And so I guess the question is, ‘Is the Supreme Court any different?’” Jackson said. “And I guess I have not seen a persuasive reason as to why the court is different than the other courts.”

    Asked whether she was considering supporting the idea, Jackson said she was “as a general matter.”

    Jackson is the latest justice to indicate an openness to an enforceable code of ethics at a time when the Supreme Court is facing heavy scrutiny — and near record low approval ratings — because of private jet flights and luxury travel accepted by some members of the court. President Joe Biden called for an enforceable code of conduct in late July.

    Jackson, Biden’s first and only nominee to the Supreme Court, declined to endorse any particular ethics policy.  She also declined to discuss Justice Clarence Thomas, who has been at the center of the court’s ethics controversies. Thomas initially failed to disclose trips and other gifts from GOP megadonor Harlan Crow, though the conservative justice has said he was following the court’s disclosure rules as he understood them at the time.

    The high court adopted its own code of conduct last year. But the measure, while historic, was heavily criticized by ethics experts because it included no way to enforce its requirements. Justice Elena Kagan, a member of the court’s liberal wing, defended the code of conduct this summer but also conceded it would be more effective if it included an enforcement mechanism.

    Jackson’s interview comes as she is promoting a new memoir, “Lovely One,” to be published Tuesday. She will also be speaking at events in New York, Washington and Atlanta this week.

    Critics of a binding code of ethics have pointed to concerns about how to enforce rules against members of a tribunal who are supposed to be the final word on the law. Some proposals, including one advanced by Senate Democrats, would create a panel of lower court judges to review ethics matters.

    “It really boils down to impartiality,” Jackson told CBS. “That’s what the rules are about. People are entitled to know if you’re accepting gifts as a judge, so that they can evaluate whether or not your opinions are impartial.”

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  • Warnock to speak on Monday at Democratic National Convention

    Warnock to speak on Monday at Democratic National Convention

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    Senator Raphael Warnock (D-Ga) (above) believes The Stitch is more than just another real estate development taking place in downtown Atlanta. Much more in fact. Photo by Kerri Phox/The Atlanta Voice

    Georgia Senator Rev. Raphael Warnock will be representing the state of Georgia at the Democratic National Convention later today. He will be among a who’s who of political stars, both past and present, that will be taking the stage in the United Center, including former United States President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama, former United States President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State and First Lady Hillary Clinton, and current United States President Joseph R. Biden, who is slated to speak on Monday. 

    Democratic presidential nominee and current United States Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to accept her party’s nomination on Thursday night.

    Warnock, the Senior Pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church for the past 19 years, will speak today and will focus his speech on democracy and freedom, according to the Harris/Walz campaign. He will also be the speaker at the Georgia Delegation Breakfast earlier this morning.

    Warnock has been a surrogate for both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in the past, speaking on their behalf several times, including at a rally in Atlanta in late July. During that rally Warnock came out on stage with fellow Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff. 

    The themes for the four-day convention are “For the People,” “A Bold Vision for America’s Future,” “A Fight for Our Freedoms,” and “For Our Future.” 


    Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Donnell began his career covering sports and news in Atlanta nearly two decades ago. Since then he has written for Atlanta Business Chronicle, The Southern Cross…
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  • Kamala Harris outlines plans to build an “Opportunity Economy”

    Kamala Harris outlines plans to build an “Opportunity Economy”

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    RALEIGH, N.C. – The speech was billed as the first major economic address of her presidential campaign, and United States Vice President Kamala Harris did not disappoint. Addressing a small but vocal crowd of supporters at the Scott Northern Wake Campus of Wake Tech Community College in Raleigh, the Vice President outlined a series of economic reforms designed to provide much-needed relief to those struggling through tough economic times.

    “This election is about two different visions for our nation,” Harris said as she began her remarks. “One, ours, is focused on the future, and the other is focused on the past. We see that contrast in many ways, including the way we see the economy. We sadly remember the millions of Americans who were out of work. We were facing one of the worst economic crises in history. And today, by virtually every measure, our economy is the strongest in the world.”

    Photo by Julia Beverly/The Atlanta Voice

    It was the first among many enthusiastic applause lines for Harris, who gave a detailed breakdown of the policy areas she plans to address as President of the United States, while also touting the success of the Biden/Harris administration. Harris spoke about the creation of 16 million new jobs, historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy, and the lowering of inflation to less than three percent during the Joe Biden presidency.

    “As president, I will be laser focused on creating opportunities for the middle class that advance their economic security, stability and dignity. Together, we will build what I call an ‘opportunity economy.’ Building up the middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency.”

    (Photo by Julia Beverly/The Atlanta Voice)

    Harris’ plans include several major policy initiatives, which include the following:

    ·      The elimination of medical debt impacting consumer credit scores

    ·      A ban on price gouging for groceries

    ·      A cap on prescription drug costs

    ·      A $25k subsidy for first time home buyers

    ·      A child tax credit that would provide $6k per child for families for the first year of a child’s life

    Prior to Harris’ speech, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, the Democratic Candidate for Governor, and current Democratic Governor Roy Cooper, each took the stage, both receiving raucous cheers from the audience.

    “Vice President Harris is here today to shed a bright light on the urgency of lowering costs and make life more affordable for the people of North Carolina,” said Stein, who is in a tight race with Republican candidate Mark Robinson, the current Lt. Governor.

    “I believe that if you work hard, where you come from should never limit how far you can go. To deliver on that promise, we must invest in our people and their future,” Stein added.

    (Photo by Julia Beverly/The Atlanta Voice)

    Cooper, who describes himself as a longtime friend and supporter of Harris, was on the short list for VP before taking himself out of the running. Harris ultimately choose Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate.

    “I have been out there on the campaign trail and talking to people, and I have that 2008 feeling!” said Cooper, evoking memories of the presidential campaign of Barack Obama, and sparking an additional round of cheers.

    “Vice President Harris has ignited a firestorm of excitement as we head into the final stretch of this election and today she has chosen us, North Carolina, to unveil key highlights of her economic agenda.”

    Cooper described Harris as tough, focused, and as someone who will fight for the people who need her.

    Several times during her speech, the crowd interrupted Harris to chant “We’re not going back! It was a line Harris used herself as she continued to contrast her plans with those of Donald Trump, and what she called his backward-looking agenda of Project 2025. On that point, the audience was in enthusiastic agreement.

    “If you want to know who someone cares about,” Harris said in closing, “look who they fight for. Now is the time to chart a new way forward.”

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  • Biden announces $150 million in research grants as part of his ‘moonshot’ push to fight cancer

    Biden announces $150 million in research grants as part of his ‘moonshot’ push to fight cancer

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    NEW ORLEANS (AP) — President Joe Biden is zeroing in on the policy goals closest to his heart now that he’s no longer seeking a second term, visiting New Orleans on Tuesday to promote his administration’s “moonshot” initiative aiming to dramatically reduce cancer deaths.

    The president and first lady Jill Biden toured medical facilities that receive federal funding to investigate cancer treatments at Tulane University. Researchers used a piece of raw meat to demonstrate how they are working to improve scanning technology to quickly distinguish between healthy and cancerous cells during surgeries.

    The Bidens then championed the announcement of $150 million in awards from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health. Those will support eight teams of researchers around the country working on ways to help surgeons more successfully remove tumors from people with cancer. It brings the total amount awarded by the agency to develop breakthrough treatments for cancers to $400 million.

    Cancer surgery “takes the best surgeons and takes its toll on families,” Biden said. He said the demonstration of cutting-edge technology he witnessed would offer doctors a way to visualize tumors in real time, reducing the need for follow-on surgeries.

    “We’re moving quickly because we know that all families touched by cancer are in a race against time,” Biden said.

    The teams receiving awards include ones from Tulane, Dartmouth College, Johns Hopkins University, Rice University, the University of California, San Francisco, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the University of Washington and Cision Vision in Mountain View, California.

    Before he leaves office in January, Biden hopes to move the U.S. closer to the goal he set in 2022 to cut U.S. cancer fatalities by 50% over the next 25 years, and to improve the lives of caregivers and those suffering from cancer.

    “I’m a congenital optimist about what Americans can do,” Biden said. “There’s so much that we’re doing. It matters”

    Experts say the objective is attainable — with adequate investments.

    “We’re curing people of diseases that we previously thought were absolutely intractable and not survivable,” said Karen Knudsen, CEO of the American Cancer Society and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.

    Cancer is the second-highest killer of people in the U.S. after heart disease. This year alone, the American Cancer Society estimates that 2 million new cases will be diagnosed and 611,720 people will die of cancer diseases.

    Still, “if all innovation ended today and we could just get people access to the innovations that we know about right now, we think we could reduce cancer mortality by another 20 to 30%,” Knudsen said.

    The issue is personal enough for Biden that, in his recent Oval Office address about bowing out of the 2024 campaign, the president promised to keep fighting for “my cancer moonshot so we can end cancer as we know it.”

    “Because we can do it,” Biden said then.

    He said in that speech that the initiative would be a priority of his final months in office, along with working to strengthen the economy and defend abortion rights, protecting children from gun violence and making changes to the Supreme Court, which he called “extreme” in its current makeup during a recent event.

    Both the president and first lady have had lesions removed from their skin in the past that were determined to be basal cell carcinoma, a common and easily treated form of cancer. In 2015, their eldest son, Beau, died of an aggressive brain cancer at age 46.

    “It’s not just personal,” Biden said Tuesday. “It’s about what’s possible.”

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    The president’s public schedule has been much quieter since he left the race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, making Tuesday’s trip stand out.

    Advocates have praised Biden for keeping the spotlight on cancer, bringing stakeholders together and gathering commitments from private companies, nonprofit organizations and patient groups.

    They say that the extra attention the administration has paid has put the nation on track to cut cancer death rates by at least half, preventing more than 4 million deaths from the disease, by 2047. It has done so by bolstering access to cancer treatments and reminding people of the importance of screening, which hit a setback during the coronavirus pandemic.

    “President Biden’s passion and commitment to this effort has made monumental differences for the entire cancer community, including those who are suffering from cancer,” said Jon Retzlaff, the chief policy officer at the American Association for Cancer Research.

    Looking ahead, Retzlaff said, “The No. 1 thing is for us to see robust, sustained and predictable annual funding support for the National Institutes of Health. And, if we see that through NIH and through the National Cancer Institute, the programs that have been created through the cancer moonshot will be allowed to continue.”

    Initiatives under Biden include changes that make screening and cancer care more accessible to more people, said Knudsen, with the American Cancer Society.

    For instance, Medicare has started to pay for follow-up colonoscopies if a stool-based test suggests cancer, she said, and Medicare will now pay for navigation services to guide patients through the maze of their cancer care.

    “You’ve already paid for the cancer research. You’ve already paid for the innovation. Now let’s get it to people,” Knudsen said.

    She also said she’d like to see the next administration pursue a ban on menthol-flavored cigarettes, which she said could save 654,000 lives over the next 40 years.

    Scientists now understand that cancer is not a single disease, but hundreds of diseases that respond differently to different treatments. Some cancers have biomarkers that can be targeted by existing drugs that will slow a tumor’s growth. Many more targets await discovery.

    “We hope that the next administration, whoever it may be, will continue to keep the focus and emphasis on our national commitment to end cancer as we know it,” said Dr. Crystal Denlinger, CEO of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, a group of elite cancer centers.

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  • Biden-Harris Cracking Down on Corporate Scams and Tricks that Waste Consumers’ Time

    Biden-Harris Cracking Down on Corporate Scams and Tricks that Waste Consumers’ Time

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    The Biden-Harris administration’s new “Time Is Money” takes on “corporate tricks and scams like excessive paperwork, long wait times, and more that pad the profits of big business at the expense of everyday Americans’ time and money.” And even better yet, because it can be done administratively, it doesn’t require the Do-Nothing GOP-led Congress and will begin rolling out… on Monday and over the coming months.

    If you’re like most people, you’ve spent hours trying to unsubscribe from a service that only took a few clicks to sign up for. Not only is that annoying, but for working people, it can be next to impossible to unsubscribe, because as the Biden-Harris administration puts it, “Time is Money” — hence the name of this initiative.

    The initiative was announced by White House Domestic Policy Advisor Neera Tanden in a call with reporters in which PoliticusUSA took part.

    The initial actions will begin rolling out on Monday, August 12th, and will happen over the course of the next several weeks or months. But get this: The Federal Communications Commission’s work on allowing consumers to press a single button to talk to a real person will be rolled out TODAY. Later this summer or early fall, we can anticipate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s work on bypassing bank chatbots.

    This administration has done a lot of important policy work for this country, but I have to say this could be a game changer for our every day lives.

    Think of the different sectors this is meant to impact (some of these are pending rules):

    • Subscription services and memberships – e.g. gym memberships, beauty and newspaper subscription (the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) proposed rule)
    • Cable, internet, and phone companies (under the jurisdiction of the Federal Communications Commission)
    • Banks and financial services (under the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau)
    • Health insurance companies and the healthcare industry
    • Airlines and the travel industry (with the new Department of Transportation rule on automatic refunds)

    Goals of these actions include making it easier to cancel subscriptions and memberships. It should be as easy to cancel as it was to sign up, they say, because they understand that burdensome cancellation policies can lead to people losing money by being subscribed longer than they want.

    A Senior Administration Official explained that the goal is instill a practice that ensures that companies across the board are fundamentally reorienting so that the consumer experience is is front and center. And yes, they started with themselves: an example being through the Social Security Administration making it easier for people to get direct services, which is different from (and I’d say BETTER THAN) a chat bot.

    They also seek to improve access to customer service. This is enough to make a person giddy — the hours spent every week trying to speak to a human being could be spent doing important things like taking a walk. The regulation will put an end to the phone trees you can’t navigate your way through. They will require a single button to reach a real person.

    It also seeks to streamline claims and paperwork processes, like in health insurance. No more needing to physically print out and mail claim forms.

    The new Department of Transportation rule will require airlines to provide automatic refunds when flights are canceled, rather than forcing consumers to jump through hoops.

    Overall, the key aim is to reduce the “general aggravation” and “headaches” that consumers face when dealing with companies, and to make it easier for people to manage their finances, subscriptions, and access services without unnecessary obstacles.

    This new initiative goes along side the Biden-Harris Junk Fees initiative. In fact, it’s so aggressive toward The People that one reporter asked on the call in which PoliticusUSA participated what their response was to being seen as hostile to corporations, saying “People in the business community feel like they’ve been vilified… Is this about kind of shaming companies into doing the right thing?”

    While the administration explained that they seek to even the playing field among corporations so that those who do not routinely take advantage of consumers aren’t hurt by those who do, it’s also worth us noting that this question goes right to the heart of the failed conservative idea that the “market” will solve any problems like corporate greed.

    Reader, it does not.

    As they’ve shown consistently shown us, too many corporations require a muscular federal government in order to not feast upon the carcass of the vulnerable public for their own profit. The fact that some corporations see being asked to behave well as being vilified begs the question: What do they think they are doing to consumers, if not being the villain by taking advantage of people through tricks and scams?

    Perhaps we should be asking why some corporations routinely take advantage of consumers and only stop when the government steps in to force them to stop. They are not regulating themselves; contrary to their promise that if only the federal government would leave them alone, they would self-regulate. This concept is one of the fundamental failures of conservative economic theory that has dominated the United States for decades to the detriment of the working people.

    This is yet another reason why it matters who is in the White House, and why people need to do the bare minimum of their civic duty of voting, because voting is when The People get to have a say over how they’re treated by corporations.

    Sarah Jones
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  • Kamala Harris decides on Tim Walz as running mate

    Kamala Harris decides on Tim Walz as running mate

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    (CNN) — Vice President Kamala Harris has made a decision on her running mate, with four people close to the process saying Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota is her choice.

    The selection caps the Midwestern Democrat’s short but swift ascent from a relative unknown to a leading driver of the party’s attacks on Donald Trump and the MAGA agenda.

    Harris had not formally called Walz to offer him the position, a source familiar with process told CNN.

    A former educator, Walz is currently in his second term as Minnesota governor and chairs the Democratic Governors Association. He previously served 12 years in Congress, representing a conservative-leaning rural district that, both before and after his tenure, has been mostly dominated by Republicans.

    In the time leading up to his selection as Harris’ running mate, Walz had first been an outspoken defender of Joe Biden following his disastrous debate performance as calls for the president to end his reelection bid escalated. When Biden did drop out, Walz endorsed Harris the next day and has since emerged as a reliable, energetic and cutting advocate for the presumptive Democratic nominee.

    Picking Walz also underscores the Harris campaign’s focus on a path to victory that puts a premium on the “blue wall” states of the Midwest. Minnesota is slightly outside that sphere, but Walz, once a high school football coach, has evolved during his time in office into something of a progressive populist folk hero – the exact kind of pugilistic voice that Democrats taking on Trump are keen to highlight.

    He has over the past week delivered a handful of memorable haymakers against Republicans, though his most notable contribution has been a determination to label the GOP, especially its presidential ticket of Trump and Ohio Sen. JD Vance. Walz has referred to the duo as “weird dudes,” before lighting into their political agenda.

    The phrase has stuck, becoming a central meme in the new, post-Biden version of the campaign, a development that is delighting Democrats and apparently frustrating many on the right.

    During recent remarks at a “White Dudes for Harris” fundraiser, Walz made a rough-and-ready case for the vice president before would-be small-dollar donors.

    “How often in 100 days do you get to change the trajectory of the world? How often in 100 days do you get to do something that’s going to impact generations to come?” Walz asked. “And how often in the world do you make that bastard wake up afterwards and know that a Black woman kicked his a**, sent him on the road?”

    The line was well received on the call and almost immediately grabbed headlines. For many Democrats, at least, the online virality – with apologies to Biden’s “Dark Brandon” meme – was the kind they have pined for over the past few years.

    Walz also has a personal story befitting the zeitgeist – a family history, as he discussed last month, of infertility troubles, with his wife of three decades, Gwen, which allows him to speak with some authority against opponents or skeptics of in vitro fertilization, or IVF.

    “My oldest daughter’s name is Hope. That’s because my wife and I spent seven years trying to get pregnant, needed fertility treatments, things like IVF – things (MAGA Republicans) would ban,” Walz told Harris supporters. “These guys are the anti-freedoms.”

    And to draw a bright, cheeky line under his own childhood experience, Walz – not for the last time – recounted that he “grew up in a small town: 400 people, 24 kids in the class, 12 cousins.”

    Prior to Congress, Walz was a high school teacher and football coach and served in the Army National Guard. Over more than a decade in Congress, he assembled a fairly centrist voting record. As a first-time campaigner, he opposed a ban on same-sex marriage and supported abortion rights. And once in Congress, he balanced that out with comparatively more conservative positions on gun rights, which resulted in scoring a National Rifle Association endorsement. Walz has since fallen out of favor with the gun lobby over his support for gun safety actions as governor.

    “I think he was a solid Democratic member of the House with a few twists – focus on ag, farmers, rural areas,” said Democratic strategist Jeff Blodgett, a longtime aide to the late Sen. Paul Wellstone. “I think that he wanted to protect rifles and things of that nature as a rural congressman.”

    Walz ran for governor in 2018, emerging victorious by a double-digit margin. He won reelection in 2022 with 52 percent of the vote. As governor Walz had to grapple with divided government and slim majorities in the state Legislature. But in 2022, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (as the state’s Democratic Party is known) won control of both the state House and Senate giving Walz’s party a slim “trifecta” of legislative control.

    That allowed Walz to sign into law a raft of expansive social welfare programs such as free lunch for public school students, expansive access to Medicaid, increased protections that allow workers to unionize and expanded medical and family paid family leave.

    Through the trifecta, Minnesota Democrats were also able to codify abortion rights into law, increase transgender rights protections, pass a marijuana legalization bill and install new gun safety laws. Progressives hailed the work as an example of all that Democrats could achieve. Former President Barack Obama wrote in a tweet praising the most recent legislative session that it was a “reminder that elections have consequences.”

    Walz touted the trifecta’s work in a combative 2023 State of the State address.

    “There’s nowhere quite like Minnesota right now,” he told the audience of lawmakers. “Together, we’re not just showing the people of Minnesota what we’re capable of in delivering on our promises. We’re showing the entire American people just how much promise is contained in that progressive vision held by so many people.”

    “As governor, he’s embraced the idea that it’s really important to invest in people and infrastructure to grow the economy,” Blodgett said. “And to do it in a way that really helps people in the middle and down below. To me, it’s just a huge focus on economic issues that are kitchen table issues that people care about.”

    When speculation began about who Harris would pick as a running mate, Walz started out as the darkest of dark horses. He did get support from a few members of Congress such as Minnesota Rep. Angie Craig and Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, as well as encouragement from labor unions. In the end, Walz’s background as a governor experienced in working with Democrats and Republicans and his roots in rural Minnesota made him an appealing choice for Harris.

    Walz was also a surprise to Republicans.

    “Tim Walz doesn’t even register on the fear-o-meter,” Minnesota Republican strategist Kevin Poindexter said before the announcement, adding that Republicans had been more worried about Harris picking either Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly or Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. “Him joining the ticket as VP does not bring anything.”

    Walz’s selection means that both the Trump and Harris campaigns have vice presidential nominees who their backers hope will help rally support across the Midwest. Democrats hope Walz’s Minnesota roots will attract a wide swath of voters throughout the region, while Republicans feel that Ohio Sen. JD Vance’s history of growing up in Ohio, as documented in his memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” will find appeal in blue states like Michigan or even Minnesota.

    Democratic strategist Raghu Devaguptapu, a former Democratic Governors Association political director, characterized Walz as a “real steady hand” more than anything else as a governor.

    “He’s not the most charismatic guy, but he’s a steady hand. He’s really thoughtful, very likeable. He’s done a really nice job of building a broad coalition of support. … That’s the center of strength around Tim Walz,” Devaguptapu said.

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  • Pelosi says she has not spoken to Biden since he dropped out of the race

    Pelosi says she has not spoken to Biden since he dropped out of the race

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    (CNN) — Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she has not spoken to President Joe Biden since he dropped out of the presidential race last month.

    Asked by CNN’s Dana Bash on Monday whether she would like to speak with him in the future, Pelosi said, “Yes.”

    “Is everything OK with your relationship?” Bash asked.

    “You’d have to ask him, but I hope so,” Pelosi said. “Look, I love Joe Biden, respected him for over 40 years.”

    Last month, the president stepped down from the Democratic ticket and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris.

    CNN previously reported that Pelosi privately told Biden that polling showed he could not beat former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, and his run could destroy Democrats’ chances of winning back the House. One source told CNN at the time that the president pushed back, telling her that he had seen polls that indicated he could win. Another source described Biden as getting defensive about the polls.

    A source with direct knowledge later described Biden as “seething” at Pelosi. This source said the sentiment only grew when California Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a longtime Pelosi ally, released a letter urging Biden to step aside. Aides to Harris also expressed unhappiness with Pelosi and her talk of a quick process to find a new candidate if the president were to step aside as the party’s presumptive nominee.

    Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris days later.

    In an oval office address on July 24, Biden framed the decision as a matter of saving democracy and passing “the torch to a new generation.”

    “You know, in recent weeks it’s become clear to me that I need to unite my party in this critical endeavor. I believe my record as president, my leadership in the world, my vision for America’s future all merited a second term,” Biden said. “But nothing, nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy. That includes personal ambition.”

    He went on describe Harris as experienced, tough and capable.

    “She’s been an incredible partner to me, and a leader for our country,” he said.

    On Monday evening, Pelosi described Harris, who on Friday earned enough votes from Democratic delegates to win the party’s nomination for president, as “very politically astute,” pointing toward Harris’ experience winning a competitive primary for California attorney general.

    “She pulled that off because of her astuteness,” Pelosi said, “and I can go more into that but the fact is, you’ve seen in the past three weeks how she has managed the opportunity that is there.”

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  • Tropical Storm Debby expected to rapidly strengthen to a Category 1 hurricane and could bring historic rainfall to Southeast

    Tropical Storm Debby expected to rapidly strengthen to a Category 1 hurricane and could bring historic rainfall to Southeast

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    (CNN) — Tropical Storm Debby is now forecast to rapidly intensify into a hurricane before it makes landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region and bring potentially historic amounts of rainfall to parts of the Southeast, due to near-record warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico.

    Authorities in Florida and Georgia are urging residents to prepare as the storm makes its way through the Gulf, with Debby now expected to undergo rapid intensification, which occurs when a storm’s top-end winds increase 35 mph in 24 hours. It could become a hurricane by Sunday evening after being upgraded to a tropical storm a day prior, according to the National Hurricane Center.

    Debby has sustained winds of 65 mph — up 30 mph from a day ago — and is located about 130 miles west–southwest of Tampa, Florida, according to the National Hurricane Center’s 11 a.m. ET Sunday update, warning that the threats of heavy rain and storm surge could lead to flooding in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina in the coming days.

    Hurricane conditions are expected to arrive by Monday morning, with the outer bands of the storm system making their way on shore during the day Sunday. The storm is forecast to reach the coast of Florida’s Big Bend early Monday, at which point Debby is expected to then crawl across northern Florida and southern Georgia throughout the day and into Tuesday, the hurricane center said.

    The main threat will be flooding, both from storm surges up to 10 feet and heavy rainfall. Freshwater flooding, which is caused by rainfall, has become the deadliest aspect of tropical systems in the last decade, according to research conducted by the National Hurricane Center — a threat made more dangerous as the world warms from fossil fuel pollution.

    Track the Storm: Spaghetti models and more maps here

    The strengthening storm tracking up the Florida Peninsula’s western coast prompted county and state officials to issue a string of voluntary and mandatory evacuation orders as the hurricane center posted hurricane watches and warnings across several parts of the state, including near Tampa and the Big Bend region.

    Tropical storm and storm surge watches have also been issued for coastal Georgia and parts of South Carolina. The cities of Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina, could both see a month’s worth of rain in a single day — and perhaps even an entire summer’s worth of rain over the course of the storm.

    A tornado watch has also been issued for much of the Florida Peninsula and parts of southern Georgia until Sunday night, covering more than 13 million people, including the cities of Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Tampa, and Orlando.

    Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp have declared states of emergency for their states in advance of the storm’s arrival. DeSantis on Sunday said in a news conference that he’d activated the Florida National Guard so it would be poised to assist with humanitarian needs as well as search and rescue.

    DeSantis called on residents to finish their preparations and to brace for power outages, “particularly in parts of the state like here in Tallahassee.”

    “There’s going to be a lot of trees that are going to fall down. You’re going to have debris. You are going to have power interruption,” the governor said, “so just prepare for that.”

    President Joe Biden on Sunday approved a disaster declaration for Florida, the White House announced, authorizing federal resources to respond to any disaster relief efforts.

    Storm expected to intensify over Gulf

    The slower Debby moves and the longer it sits over warm waters, the more likely the storm is to intensify. Studies have shown tropical systems are slowing down over time, making them more likely to produce greater rainfall totals over a given area.

    Oceans are also getting warmer and supercharging storms, pumping them full of moisture. A 2022 study published in the journal Nature Communications found climate change increased hourly rainfall rates in tropical storms by 5 to 10% and in hurricanes by 8 to 11%.

    “Conditions are favorable for strengthening over the Gulf of Mexico with warm sea surface temperatures and light shear. Intensification is likely to be slow during the first 12–24 hours, then proceed at a faster rate after the cyclone develops an organized inner core,” the National Hurricane Center said of Debby.

    By early Monday, Debby is expected to move into the Apalachee Bay area of Florida as it moves northward over the Gulf, according to the Weather Prediction Center.

    The Apalachee Bay area, which includes parts of Taylor, Jefferson, Wakulla, and Franklin counties, can expect to get drenched with heavy rain from Debby on Sunday, increasing the possibility of flash flooding in several spots, the hurricane center said.

    In the meantime, county officials have urged residents in communities along Florida’s Gulf Coast to evacuate ahead of the storm. Mandatory evacuation orders are in effect for parts of Franklin, Citrus and Levy counties, with voluntary orders issued in Hernando, Taylor and Pasco counties.

    “I am worried about the aftermath and seeing how much damage we get (and) how we are going to fix it,” Sue Colson, the mayor of Cedar Key in Levy County, told CNN Sunday. The city sits on the island of Way Key in the Gulf of Mexico, about four miles off the coast. She cited high amounts of anticipated rain as well as the threat of storm surge.

    “That is always concerning when you are a low-lying island in the middle of the Gulf,” she said.

    On Saturday, Florida Highway Patrol knocked on doors to tell residents to consider leaving, Colson said. Residents were continuing to finish their preparations on Sunday morning.

    “I think everybody needs to make wise decisions for themselves and not endanger others by endangering yourself,” she said. “If you’re endangering yourself, you are endangering others, because then they have to rescue you.”

    Heavy rain could linger for days

    As a slow-moving Debby churns along the Georgia-Carolina coastline heading into the new week, it could lead to seemingly endless amounts of rain for days, with totals potentially reaching over 2 feet.

    The heaviest rain amounts could even top 30 inches or more, depending on how long Debby meanders, with some forecast models showing the storm could linger through at least Thursday. “This rainfall will likely result in areas of considerable flash and urban flooding, with significant river flooding expected,” the National Hurricane Center said.

    Such exceptional rainfall would challenge state records for rain from a tropical cyclone: In Georgia, the record is 27.85 inches from 1994’s Alberto, while South Carolina’s record is 23.63 inches from Florence in 2018.

    A warmer atmosphere holds more moisture and can dump heavier rain. Warmer oceans can fuel stronger hurricanes, packing a punch with higher storm surge thanks to sea-level rise.

    With an uptick in the intensity forecast comes an increase in forecasted storm surge, which occurs when ocean water is pushed inland by the onshore winds of a hurricane. Storm surge flooding above ground could rise to 6 to 10 feet along Florida’s Big Bend, and coastal Georgia and South Carolina could see surges reach 2 to 4 feet.

    Tampa Bay is expecting 2 to 4 feet of storm surge. Marco Island and other areas of southwest Florida will see 1 to 3 feet of storm surge.

    Warmer air and ocean temperatures fueled by human-induced climate change can lead to wetter tropical systems.

    The North Florida region nestled between the Panhandle and the rest of the state’s peninsula took a devastating hit last August from Category 3 Hurricane Idalia, and now faces a new threat from Debby.

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  • ANALYSIS: What to expect in the sprint to Election Day – and beyond

    ANALYSIS: What to expect in the sprint to Election Day – and beyond

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    (CNN) — Far from the boring rematch that had many Americans tuning out politics, the 2024 presidential election has had wild twists and scary turns.

    Nobody expected President Joe Biden’s campaign to implode in less than a month, from the shock of his performance at CNN’s debate in late June to his decision to step aside in the race in late July. Democrats went from literally freaking out about his candidacy to a new excitement about Vice President Kamala Harris as his replacement.

    Nobody expected an assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump, an event that unified Republicans around him and has many in his party showing a sort of divine reverence for his near-death experience.

    So we don’t know specifically what will happen in the sprint to Election Day on November 5, or what could come after, when the country’s unique Electoral College process gets going. But we do have some idea of what to expect:

    August: Nominating Harris, picking a VP and a convention in Chicago

    Harris earned enough votes from Democratic delegates to win the party’s nomination in a virtual roll call August 2, a day after voting began and weeks before its convention. The early nomination process was a backstop maneuver to ward against ballot changes.

    Harris will also need to pick a running mate. Look for that to occur soon, according to CNN’s Jeff Zeleny, and not right before the convention, as frequently occurs.

    In late August, Democrats will convene in Chicago for their convention. Expect the most incredible reception for Biden. Democrats have pivoted from worrying over his election prospects to lionizing him as a hero.

    Early in the month, Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, turned 40. He’d be the third-youngest vice president in US history and the first millennial in nationwide elected office if the Republican ticket wins. With Biden out of the race, Vance is on the ticket with the oldest major-party nominee in history with Trump, a baby boomer.

    September: Debates, anyone? A Trump sentencing?

    Biden and Trump had agreed to a second debate, hosted by ABC News, to occur on September 10. But with Biden out of the race, Trump has suggested he might not take part in a debate sponsored by ABC. Instead, the Trump campaign suggested a debate on Fox News, and that network has suggested September 17.

    Both sides seem eager to debate, so look for details to emerge.

    The first early voting will also get underway in September. North Carolina is the first state to send mail-in ballots, on September 6, but other states will follow suit in the weeks after.

    Back in school and back to work, many Americans may start to pay more attention to the election in September. There will also be some touchstone moments in the cultural zeitgeist, such as when “Saturday Night Live” premiers at the end of the month with Maya Rudolph returning as Harris – and we find out who will play Vance.

    Trump also faces sentencing for his conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to hush money payments before the 2016 election. That September 18 date could slip as the court reacts to new immunity granted to presidents by the Supreme Court.

    October: Voting is well under way

    Election Day isn’t until November 5, but most states allow some kind of early voting, either by mail or in person, and that process will kick into overdrive in October.

    Most Americans, nearly 70%, voted early or by mail in 2020, according to census figures, although that figure was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

    The campaigns will be focused on getting out the vote in the few key battleground states they think are up for grabs. In 2020, Biden won five states that Trump won in 2016. Those states – Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – could again be the focus in 2024 when Harris, who turns 60 in October, takes on Trump.

    November: Election Day and beyond

    US law requires federal elections to take place on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. This year, that’s November 5.

    People who don’t vote early will hit their local voting location. Polls will close at different times around the country. Due to the rise of voting by mail, if key states are close, like they were in 2020, we probably won’t know the winner on Election Day.

    Regardless, expect lawsuits in certain states and the potential for recounts in others. Election Day is far from the end of the election.

    Toward the end of November, Biden turns 82.

    December: Electoral votes are cast

    After questions about the election are settled, states confirm, or ascertain, their statewide results. Electors gather in their respective state capitols to cast electoral votes for their statewide winner.

    Nebraska and Maine also allocate some electoral votes by congressional district, and these could be pivotal in a close race.

    January: Someone will solemnly swear

    The new Congress takes the oath of office on January 3. It’s this new Congress that, in the unlikely event of an Electoral College tie, would settle the election. Each state would get one vote for president in the House of Representatives.

    In any event, lawmakers gather on January 6, as everyone should remember from 2020, to count electoral votes. Harris will preside. She could either be the fifth vice president in history to oversee her own Electoral College victory, or the fourth in history to oversee her own Electoral College defeat.

    On January 20, 2025, the next president takes the oath of office.

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  • Team USA women’s basketball squad emphasizes endorsement of Kamala Harris for president

    Team USA women’s basketball squad emphasizes endorsement of Kamala Harris for president

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    (CNN) — The head coach and players of Team USA’s women’s basketball emphasized their endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential bid on Wednesday.

    It’s the first major political statement from a top American team at this year’s Olympics and comes as the presidential race is heating up back home.

    Harris took over the Democratic nomination earlier this month after President Joe Biden decided to end his reelection bid and endorse his No. 2. She’s now attempting to gain momentum in the race against former President Donald Trump, who is running to regain the office he lost to Biden in 2020.

    The players on Team USA – and the WNBA in general –have been far more willing to engage in political statements than some of their other professional sports peers.

    “We have been talking, especially with the social justice committee, finding a way to make sure that we can obviously back Kamala as much as we can. Because everything that we’ve been kind of working for this year … has been about voting rights, reproductive rights,” said Breanna Stewart, a power forward who plays her professional ball for the New York Liberty, on July 27.

    “The things she stands for, we also stand for. So making sure that we can definitely stay united and continue to push the message of registering to vote, knowing where to vote and all the resources behind it.”

    Women’s basketball players have had influential voices in key elections before.

    In 2020, the Atlanta Dream protested against their then co-owner – then Sen. Kelly Loeffler, who was running for reelection against Rev. Raphael Warnock – over her opposition to the Black Lives Matter movement. That race ended up going to a run-off and Warnock defeated Loeffler. He’s now serving as a senator from Georgia.

    “I think that’s a really important thing that our league has done through the years, using our voice as a vehicle for change, and I think no question that we would step to the plate in this scenario,” said Team USA head coach Cheryl Reeve, who also coaches the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx, on Wednesday.

    “I think it’s really important that we don’t go backwards as we’ve seen, some of the threats to basic human rights, the things that we care about in our league, and so I’m proud to stand with the players in this in backing Kamala Harris.”

    WNBA legend Diana Taurasi added Wednesday that she was thrilled to see Harris taking over the Democratic presidential ticket. Ultimately, it comes down to policy, she said.

    “What are you going to do for the people of America that need you? And I think there’s a big portion of us that see a lot of us in her and what she wants to do with our country,” Taurasi said. “For me, that is one of the proudest and most amazing moments, so yeah, we’re going to back her and we’re going to do everything we can to make sure she wins and we go forward in this country in the right way.”

    The endorsement from the women’s Team USA comes a little less than a week after men’s star Stephen Curry said he was excited about Harris’ candidacy. Harris had visited the men’s basketball team during their training camp ahead of the Games.

    “If she’s on the ticket winning the election, like it’s, it’s a big, big deal to say the least and she represents the Bay Area,” Curry said last week. “She’s been a big supporter of us. And so I want to give that energy right back to her and just excited knowing, obviously, we’re representing our country here and this is a very monumental next couple of months for, for our country and the direction that we’re headed.”

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    CNN

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  • Biden administration announces $2 billion in direct payments for Black and minority farmers

    Biden administration announces $2 billion in direct payments for Black and minority farmers

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    COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — The Biden administration has doled out more than $2 billion in direct payments for Black and other minority farmers discriminated against by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the president announced Wednesday.

    More than 23,000 farmers were approved for payments ranging from $10,000 to $500,000, according to the USDA. Another 20,000 who planned to start a farm but did not receive a USDA loan received between $3,500 and $6,000.

    Most payments went to farmers in Mississippi and Alabama.

    USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters that the aid “is not compensation for anyone’s loss or the pain endured, but it is an acknowledgment by the department.”

    The USDA has a long history of refusing to process loans from Black farmers, approving smaller loans compared to white farmers, and in some cases foreclosing quicker than usual when Black farmers who obtained loans ran into problems.

    National Black Farmers Association Founder and President John Boyd Jr. said the aid is helpful. But, he said, it’s not enough.

    “It’s like putting a bandage on somebody that needs open-heart surgery,” Boyd said. “We want our land, and I want to be very, very clear about that.”

    Boyd is still fighting a federal lawsuit for 120% debt relief for Black farmers that was approved by Congress in 2021. Five billion dollars for the program was included in the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus package.

    Handy Kennedy Jr of AgriUnity speaks during a tour of the Bugg Family Farm on Monday, May 15, 2023 at Pine Mountain, Georgia. (Photo: Itoro N. Umontuen/The Atlanta Voice) Credit: Itoro N. Umontuen / The Atlanta Voice

    But the money never came. White farmers in several states filed lawsuits arguing their exclusion was a violation of their constitutional rights, which prompted judges to halt the program shortly after its passage.

    Faced with the likelihood of a lengthy court battle that would delay payments to farmers, Congress amended the law and offered financial help to a broader group of farmers. A new law allocated $3.1 billion to help farmers struggling with USDA-backed loans and $2.2 billion to pay farmers who the agency discriminated against.

    Wardell Carter, who is Black, said no one in his farming family got so much as access to a loan application since Carter’s father bought 85 acres (34.4 hectares) of Mississippi land in 1939. He said USDA loan officers would slam the door in his face. If Black farmers persisted, Carter said officers would have police come to their homes.

    Without a loan, Carter’s family could not afford a tractor and instead used a horse and mule for years. And without proper equipment, the family could farm at most 40 acres (16.2 hectares) of their property — cutting profits.

    When they finally received a bank loan to buy a tractor, Carter said the interest rate was 100%.

    Boyd said he’s watched as his loan applications were torn up and thrown in the trash, been called racial epithets, and was told to leave in the middle of loan meetings so the officer could speak to white farmers.

    “We face blatant, in-your-face, real discrimination,” Boyd said. “And I did personally. The county person who was making farm loans spat tobacco juice on me during a loan session.”

    At age 65, Carter said he’s too old to farm his land. But he said if he receives money through the USDA program, he will use it to get his property in shape so his nephew can begin farming on it again. Carter said he and his family want to pitch in to buy his nephew a tractor, too.

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    Associated Press

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  • Netanyahu To Meet With President Biden And Vice President Harris – KXL

    Netanyahu To Meet With President Biden And Vice President Harris – KXL

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    This combination photo shows President Joe Biden, left, on March 8, 2024, in Wallingford, Pa., and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, Israel, Oct. 28, 2023. Biden and Netanyahu spoke Monday, March 18,  in their first interaction in more than a month as the divide has grown between allies over food crisis in Gaza, conduct of war. (AP Photo)

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to make a long-awaited White House visit to meet with President Joe Biden and likely Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at an important moment for all three politicians.

    Netanyahu’s White House visit Thursday comes during growing pressure on all three leaders to find an endgame to Israel’s war in Gaza and engineer the return of hostages held there.

    Biden is aiming to get Israel and Hamas to seal his proposal to release hostages in Gaza over three phases as a legacy-affirming achievement.

    White House officials say the negotiations are in the closing stages but there are issues needing to be resolved.

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    Grant McHill

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