“If you’re leaving 10% behind, I don’t think the war is over,” Gutfeld said plainly. “You can play with the rhetoric and talk about it,” he went on, “but it doesn’t feel that way.”
Biden, in his first address since American troops left Afghanistan, claimed that 90% of Americans who wanted to leave were able to. The White House has acknowledged that roughly 200 people remain in the region which has fallen under Taliban control.
Fox News host and Army veteran Pete Hegseth said he believes the number to be closer to 500.
“Imagine saying ‘we leave nobody behind except for the 10%,’” Hegseth said. “Last time I did the math, 5,000 Americans came out, which means 10% is 500 – a larger number than they reported previously.”
“We’re a country that is paralyzed by smartphone videos of police brutality. Do you know what you can do to this country with 500 hostages, 500 executions?” Gutfeld responded.
“You can do whatever you want. I don’t trust anything out of this government. I’m hoping that maybe they’re lying and that they’re working to get these people out but they can’t talk about it, right? Maybe this is just a smokescreen…I think there are pieces of good news that they put out there but it’s like we’re not hearing the truth.”
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki maintained that the White House remains focussed on “getting every American citizen out during her press briefing Tuesday.
“That has not changed,” Psaki said.
“The president remains committed to getting every American citizen who wants to get out, out,” she went on. “That’s an enduring commitment, one that will not change and one we’re going to focus on every single day.”
Fox News contributor Tammy Bruce and Trump 2020 campaign press communications director Erin Perrine weigh in.
The Democrats’ presumptive nomination of Joe Biden shows the party has no new ideas and needs “a vessel for the radical social agenda,” Trump campaign press communications director Erin Perrine told “Hannity” Friday.
Perrine told host Jason Chaffetz that Biden’s delayed choice of a running mate helps prove her point.
“We have seen him delay and delay and delay,” she said. “Remember, if they had the [Democratic] convention at the normal time, it would have happened a month ago. Why is it so delayed?”
“Joe Biden has bad choices across the board, between crazy or even crazier when it comes to who he will try to pick,” Perrine went on, describing Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., as “Comrade Karen Bass who praises socialist dictators,” a reference to Bass’ warm words for Cuban despot Fidel Castro.
She added that another presumed contender, former National Security Adviser Susan Rice, has an “abysmal record from the Obama/Biden administration.”
“It truly doesn’t matter who Joe Biden picks because it is a bad choice pool all around for him,” Perrine said. “Not only is this who he thinks will be the future of the Democrat Party — he says he is the transition candidate — but look who he is talking about. He is floating ‘Pretend Governor’ [of Georgia] Stacey Abrams or Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Queen of Do-As-I-Say-Not-As-I-Do with her tyrannical hold in Michigan.”
“It truly doesn’t matter, Joe Biden is an empty vessel filled by the radicals.”
‘Hannity’ host weighs in on Democrats’ response to the South Carolina Republican’s rebuttal to President Biden’s Congressional address
Sean Hannity blasted far-left Democrats on Thursday’s “Hannity” for attacking South Carolina Senator Tim Scott with a “stream of nasty, racist, despicable comments,” saying the individuals “lecturing America” on being a “racist country” are the “very same people” who insulted Tim Scott with “vile smears and slander.”
HANNITY: Only 26 million people tuned in to Joe’s address. That’s just over half the audience that President Trump received during his first joint speech in 2017. But the star of the night was not even close to Joe Biden. Instead, it was South Carolina Senator Tim Scott. He delivered the Republican response. And instead of vilifying America, Senator Scott, well, he used his own incredible, inspiring life story to lift up everybody.
While Senator Scott made it very clear that America is not a racist country, he did talk about and acknowledge the racism that he faces regularly and described it as much of it coming from so-called progressives on the left… Right on cue, far-left Twitter, they responded to Senator Scott with a stream of nasty, racist, despicable comments. The slur “Uncle Tim” was allowed by “@Jack” to trend on Twitter for a whopping 12 hours. Jack, you want to explain that to us? The same “@Jack” that suspends and then cancels conservative voices all the time.
Over at NBC, the rhetoric was just as bad. Joy Reid attempted to, well, basically just smear Scott’s life experience as an African-American senator… This is the same Joy Reid on NBC News, once referring to Senator Scott as a token in the Republican Party, the same Joy Reid that used a racist slur to describe Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas… Apparently, according to Joy Reid, NBC News. I guess it’s perfectly OK to say racist things about African-Americans so long as they’re conservative, Republican.
The people lecturing America all the time, that America is a racist country filled with racist people, racist institutions, racist police, racist conservatives, the very same people who rushed on to Twitter last night, national TV insulting Senator Tim Scott with vile smears and slander. Senator Scott is a leader in the Republican Party. He has a powerful life story we can all learn from. He has principled values and beliefs. He’s earned his reputation as a US senator, gets things done. Anyone who minimizes Senator Scott on the basis of race is by definition racist, even if they have Democrat beside their name or show on NBC News.
ORINDA — A mansion rented through Airbnb for a Halloween party turned into a chaotic scene Thursday evening, when gunfire broke out, killing five people, injuring several others and sending more than 100 frightened partygoers fleeing from the posh neighborhood of this affluent city where violent crime is rare.
After confirming the deaths of four men in their 20s earlier in the day, police announced late Friday night that a fifth shooting victim, a 19-year-old woman, died at a local hospital.
Police still don’t know whether more than one shooter was involved or have any motives.
The Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office and Orinda Police Department released the names of the dead victims — Tiyon Farley, 22, of Antioch; Omar Taylor, 24, of Pittsburg; Ramon Hill Jr., 23, of San Francisco/Oakland; and Javin County, 29, of Sausalito/Richmond. Hours later, the sheriff’s office said a fifth victim had been pronounced dead at a hospital and identified her as Oshiana Tompkins, 19, of Vallejo/Hercules. They said several injured victims were transported by ambulance, and others took themselves, to hospitals. They either suffered from gunshot wounds or were injured while fleeing the scene. No other information was immediately available.
According to authorities, the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office crime lab is analyzing two firearms retrieved from the house to determine whether they were used in the shooting or any other crimes. Numerous shell casings found there are also being processed and analyzed.
Romand Reynolds, of Vallejo, told this news organization that his 24-year-old son Armani mentioned that he was going to a Halloween party on Thursday night “and the next thing I know he was shot” three or four times. He said his son is now in a coma.
Police went to the four-bedroom home at 114 Lucille Way after getting a report at 10:45 p.m. of gunshots being fired inside a short-term rental. Dozens of partygoers were running away from the property when officers arrived, and three people were pronounced dead at the scene.
“There was a lot of noise and yelling and people running,” Orinda police Chief David Cook said.
Warning: The video contains graphic images and profanity.
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The fourth victim was pronounced dead at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, said hospital spokesman Ben Drew. Some eyewitnesses were interviewed by police, but no suspects had been arrested by Friday evening. Police had not publicly confirmed whether there was more than one shooter. “We’re still trying to wrap our arms around what exactly transpired,” Cook said.
Friends drove Armani Reynolds to a local hospital, and he later was transferred to Highland Hospital in Oakland, where he remained in a coma Friday morning, his father said that morning. Romand Reynolds came to the blocked-off crime scene on Lucille Way on Friday morning to try to retrieve his son’s car.
“As far as I know, he was a victim,” Reynolds said. “He was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
The property had been reported by neighbors for having large parties before but had not been on the city’s radar for months, officials said. City regulations on short-term rentals prohibit more than 13 people from occupying a property, City Manager Steve Salomon said. The owner had been cooperative with city officials after the reports of large gatherings — including one in February that resulted in a violation notice for the owner — and said he would comply with the regulations, Salomon said.
“Up until last night, it appeared they had complied,” Salomon said. City officials said someone had emailed a complaint to the city at 9:35 p.m. Halloween night about a large party underway at the home, and Salomon added that he believed the person also had called police. Neither police nor the city would say whether police responded to that complaint.
Several hours after the violence, the streets were in darkness as a group of cars wound their way up and parked on a street as close as possible to the crime scene. People in the cars got out and huddled together, some crying. They appeared to have been at the party or to know some of the victims. A woman in the group told a reporter they did not want to talk. The group left a short time later.
The killings represent the largest number of homicides in the city in recent memory: Orinda’s last homicide was in 2012, Orinda Mayor Inga Miller said, when a man hacked his longtime girlfriend to death with a machete.
“We are focused on the four people who have lost their lives, their families and the other victims of this tragedy, including the four other people who have been wounded,” Miller said. “Our Orinda police are focused on finding the parties responsible. This is a tragedy of unimaginable gravity.”
The party home is accessed via narrow, twisting streets lined with multimillion-dollar homes on a hill southwest of downtown Orinda. The city of around 19,000 in central Contra Costa County is known as a quiet bedroom community.
But area residents said the Lucille Way house was known for hosting large, rowdy parties. Once there was a hit-and-run, and another time a liquor bottle was thrown into an adjacent property, according to two residents who did not want their names used.
Property records list the owner of the 3,972-square-foot home as Michael Young Wang and show a 2005 purchase price of $1.25 million. Residents from four homes in the neighborhood said he never appeared to move in or live there. Records show that Wang’s primary residence is in Concord. At the Concord home Friday, a Subaru SUV sat in the driveway, and although someone could be seen moving behind the curtains of a window, no one answered the door.
Police Chief Cook said that on Halloween the Lucille Way house was being rented by people “not from Orinda.” He declined to elaborate.
A screenshot of the Airbnb listing for the home, provided by Airbnb, showed that the owner specified there should be no weapons, smoking or marijuana, and warned that “neighbors are close” so the time between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. was supposed to be quiet.
“We are horrified by this tragedy and are in close communication with Chief David Cook of Orinda Police to offer our support with his investigation into who committed this senseless violence,” Airbnb spokesperson Ben Breit said.
The company now has banned the person who booked the house from its platform, Breit said, adding that parties were specifically prohibited in the property listing.
Mayor Miller said the City Council would “discuss the issue of short-term rentals” at its next meeting, an indication the city might consider additional restrictions.
According to social media posts, an “AirBNB mansion party” had been advertised for Halloween night. The flier was adorned with crime-scene tape and told attendees to send a direct message to obtain the location and to “BYOB” and “BYOW” (Bring Your Own Weed).
This is a flyer advertising the “Air BNB Mansion Party” that ended with a shooting that killed five people. The Instagram account of the person who posted the flyer has since been deleted. (Instagram screen shot)
Neighborhood resident Willie Yee said he was watching the news Halloween night when he heard “dozens” of people running in a panic for their cars.
“I knew right away this wasn’t anything ordinary going on,” Yee said.
The town is generally so quiet, Yee said, that people call it “Bor-inda.”
Even so, it’s not the first time an Airbnb party has made headlines in Orinda. In 2016, a party at a short-term rental on Camino Encinas led to a brawl, leaving one man in critical condition. The following year, the City Council adopted an ordinance requiring residents to register with the city and abide by various regulations if they wished to offer their homes as vacation rentals through Airbnb and other services.
Halloween parties, often festive affairs, have seen striking upticks of fatal violence last year and this year. In Long Beach this week, three men died and nine others were injured late Wednesday during a joint birthday-Halloween party. In an off-campus college party Sunday in Greenville, Texas, two people were fatally shot and 12 others injured. Last year, a private Halloween party in East Palo Alto left two men dead and two others critically injured.
Staff writers Angela Ruggiero, Jon Kawamoto, Levi Sumagaysay, George Kelly Alejandra Armstrong and Martha Ross contributed to this report.
Cinco personas murieron y una más se encuentra herida luego de que el avión de carga en el que se transportaban se accidentara tres minutos después de haber despegado del Aeropuerto Germán Olano que sirve a la ciudada de Puerto Carreño, Vichada.
A través de un comunicado, Aeronaútica Civil confirmó el deceso de cinco personas que fueron identificadas como Jaime Cantillo (capitán), Mauricio Guzmán (copiloto), Pedro Duarte (ingeniero de vuelo), Felipe Vargas (despachador) y Nelson David Rojas (operario de montacarga).
La aeronave accidentada es un Boeing 727 de matrícula HK4544 de la aerolínea colombiana Aerosucre, que iba con destino a Bogotá desde la ciudad de Puerto Carreño, en el departamento de Vichada, fronterizo con Venezuela, dijo César Urueña, director de Socorro Nacional de la CRC.
El vehículo de carga se desplomó a las 17H10 locales (23H10 GMT) a 10 kilómetros del aeropuerto Germán Olano, que sirve a Puerto Carreño, sostuvo.
El portavoz de la Aeronáutica Civil explicó que las causas del siniestro se desconocen, pero que a la zona ya se trasladó un equipo de investigadores.
A house under foreclosure in Las Vegas displays a sign on Oct. 15, 2010, saying that it’s now bank-owned. Sen. Sherrod Brown has vowed increased scrutiny of Wall Street banks, in part after a surge in foreclosures in his hometown in Ohio over a decade ago.
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A house under foreclosure in Las Vegas displays a sign on Oct. 15, 2010, saying that it’s now bank-owned. Sen. Sherrod Brown has vowed increased scrutiny of Wall Street banks, in part after a surge in foreclosures in his hometown in Ohio over a decade ago.
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Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) hasn’t forgotten the Great Recession.
In the first half of 2007, Brown recalls, there were more foreclosures in his hometown than anywhere else in the country. It was a period that led to the Global Financial Crisis: Millions of Americans lost their homes, while banks and other corporate sectors were rescued by billions of dollars in bailouts.
More than a decade later, Democrats control all three branches of government, and Brown and fellow populists like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., are in powerful perches to oversee the Big Banks.
And Brown, like many of these top Democrats, believes that too many American are still getting the short end of the stick.
“They never get bailed out,” Brown says in an interview with NPR. “They never get a second chance. They’re just not in a position in an economy like this, where Wall Street writes the rules, where they can get ahead.”
That anger has been magnified at a time when banks have seen their profits soar during the pandemic, in part, thanks to strong actions by the Federal Reserve to support markets.
And top Democrats believe they are justified in pushing for change at Big Banks.
They want to push the country’s largest financial institutions to be agents of social change. And they have specific goals, like expanding access to loans and impose fewer fees for average Americans, or more outreach to unbanked and underserved communities.
“They did very well during the pandemic,” Brown notes about the banks. “We’ve seen stratospheric compensation levels. We see stock buybacks and dividend distribution. Yet, wages throughout our economy are essentially flat.”
Sen. Sherrod Brown talks with reporters in Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C., on Feb. 4. As chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Brown has pledged to increase scrutiny of major banks.
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Sen. Sherrod Brown talks with reporters in Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C., on Feb. 4. As chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Brown has pledged to increase scrutiny of major banks.
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Brown is the chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, which also includes Warren, another Democrat with a reputation for being tough on Wall Street.
The Massachusetts senator played a key role in the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis.
“You know, most people think of congress in terms of passing legislation, and yeah, that’s part of the job,” she tells NPR. “But the other part of the job is oversight.”
That oversight was in evidence when Brown’s committee this week brought in the chief executives of the country’s top six banks for questioning as part of an annual oversight.
During that hearing, Warren asked Jamie Dimon, the chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, about overdraft fees the bank charged its customers during the pandemic, which she estimated at nearly $1.5 billion.
The heated exchange ended when Warren asked Dimon if he would volunteer to refund that money. He declined.
Warren is unapologetic about pushing banks to do more given their roles as critical institutions in society.
Bank executives, Warren says, “have a responsibility to execute on making their banks part of the solution to our economic and racial problems across this nation.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren heading to a news conference in Washington, D.C., in April 27. Warren, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, tells NPR that a key part of her job as a lawmaker will be oversight.
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren heading to a news conference in Washington, D.C., in April 27. Warren, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, tells NPR that a key part of her job as a lawmaker will be oversight.
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But Republican lawmakers disagree with that very premise. They criticize executives for comments they have made – about voting rights, in particular, and they are critical of companies making business decisions based on environmental considerations.
“That ought to be left to elected lawmakers,” says Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Penn., the ranking Republican on Brown’s Banking Committee.
Bankers aren’t naïve to the politics at play. Democrats have a small majority in the House of Representatives and a razor-thin majority in the Senate. And the midterm elections are less than two years away.
But even with a change in power in Congress, analysts warn banks are likely to face continued presure from Democrats — and society — on key aspects of their operations, from whom they lend money to where they invest.
“Banks have no choice but to address these issues, because it impacts their communities, their customers, and their employees,” says Mike Mayo, a banking analyst at Wells Fargo Securities. “You have to live in the real world, and the real world has these issues as part of the banks’ businesses.”
Rep. Maxine Waters fist bumps President Biden at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on April 28. Waters warns banks she will not be undermined in an interview with NPR.
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Rep. Maxine Waters fist bumps President Biden at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on April 28. Waters warns banks she will not be undermined in an interview with NPR.
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That message was made clear by Waters, a California lawmaker in a powerful position to influence banks as chair of the House Financial Services Committee.
“You know, what I have discovered about the banking community is that they have had a way of operating traditionally, historically, and they don’t change easily,” Waters tells NPR.
But Waters adds she will still demand changes in Wall Street.
“I think that many of them have come to understand that I can be dealt with, but I cannot be tricked. I cannot be fooled,” she says. “And I don’t accept being undermined.”
“He went to the National Stadium in Warsaw and literally met with hundreds of Ukrainians. He heard their heroic stories as they were fleeing Ukraine in the wake of Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine. In the moment, I think that was a principled human reaction to the stories that he had heard that day,” Biden’s ambassador to NATO, Julianne Smith, said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
An indictment Friday night charged a member of the Proud Boys, Dominic Pezzola, 43, of Rochester, N.Y., with conspiracy, saying his actions showed “planning, determination, and coordination.” Another alleged member of the Proud Boys, William Pepe, 31, of Beacon, N.Y., also was charged with conspiracy.
“This president, who helped create the hatred that made Saturday’s tragedy possible, should not come to El Paso,” he tweeted Monday. “We do not need more division. We need to heal. He has no place here.”
This president, who helped create the hatred that made Saturday’s tragedy possible, should not come to El Paso. We do not need more division. We need to heal. He has no place here.
O’Rourke’s comments came after the Texas congresswoman who represents El Paso on Monday said Trump is not welcome in her district as the community mourns the death of the shooting victims.
The El Paso shooter allegedly wrote a white nationalist manifesto ahead of his attack in the area near the U.S.-Mexico border, and many Democrats have pointed to the president’s rhetoric as encouraging violence.
Escobar said it is “probably unfair” to say the shooter came to El Paso because Trump held a February rally in the city, but she said Trump needs to reflect on his words and actions at rallies that could be inciting violent attacks such as the shooting.
Another mass shooting occurred within one day of the El Paso massacre when a gunman opened fire in Dayton, Ohio, killing nine.
California’s government faces a $54.3-billion budget deficit through next summer according to an analysis released Thursday by advisors to Gov. Gavin Newsom, the deepest projected fiscal hole in state history.
The estimate accounts for both an alarming erosion of tax revenues and a growing need for health and human services programs. While it measures the gap between revenues and expenditures based on projections made by Newsom in January rather than existing funds, the assessment nonetheless reflects a record-shattering collapse of the state’s economy, one created in just a matter of weeks by the fast-moving COVID-19 pandemic.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has caused enormous hardship for families, businesses and governments across the world, the United States and California,” states the analysis released by the California Department of Finance. “It has endangered health, stressed the healthcare system, and caused devastating losses in family and business income.”
Newsom’s budget team forecasts a $41.2-billion drop in tax revenues compared to their estimates from just four months ago. Most of that — $32.2 billion — would appear in the fiscal year that begins in July. Current year tax revenues, according to the report, are expected to miss the mark by $9.7 billion, even though most of the state’s budget year had already passed by the time the virus became an immediate concern in March.
Expenses are also projected to skyrocket. The fiscal report released Thursday assumes some $13 billion in higher state costs due to the pandemic, with a combined $7 billion in higher-than-expected caseloads for programs such as Medi-Cal, which provides free healthcare, and CalWorks, the state’s welfare assistance program. As much as $6 billion in expenses are assumed to be the result of the state’s COVID-19 response.
The decision to release the dire estimate early — Newsom won’t present his revised state spending plan to the Legislature for another week — was likely prompted by a desire to calibrate the expectations of lawmakers and interest groups about what lies ahead. Lawmakers and a variety of state Capitol insiders were briefed about the projection on Wednesday, and many who reviewed the deficit projection predicted a bleak road ahead.
“It’s a really frightening number,” said Kevin Gordon, a veteran education lobbyist.
The impact on K-12 education funding could be especially severe. Schools receive roughly 40% of the state’s general fund revenues and, under a series of complicated constitutional formulas, could see their minimum funding cut by more than $18 billion under the Newsom administration analysis.
“The cuts allowed would eviscerate school budgets,” Gordon said.
And the reductions could come as state officials are asking schools to do more to help children, especially those from low-income families, when it comes to distance learning and provided meals.
In January, with the economy still expanding, Newsom proposed a $222.2-billion budget plan that projected upticks in spending on K-12 schools and healthcare programs. But that plan, introduced less than eight weeks before the governor declared a state of emergency to combat the coronavirus crisis, assumed a steady growth in personal income of 4% a year and continued low unemployment.
Those expectations have vanished. The state has processed more than 4.2 million unemployment claims since mid-March, nearly equivalent to all of the jobs in Los Angeles County. The Newsom administration estimates almost 478,000 jobless claims were filed in just the past week. The state received approval this week for an $8-billion loan from the federal government to cover the rising cost of those benefits.
The projected $54.3-billion shortfall is the largest such estimate since the $40-billion deficit predicted by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger during the Great Recession in January 2009. In 2011, then-Gov. Jerry Brown said the state stared down a $27-billion fiscal hole. The Newsom analysis notes that projected deficits of the past may have been smaller from a total dollar amount, but also constituted a smaller percentage of the general fund than what lawmakers face this year.
A steady uptick in jobs and tax revenues erased the red ink of the past, with some of the money set aside in cash reserves. California voters boosted the maximum size of deposits in the state’s “rainy day” fund in 2014.
The efforts by state lawmakers, led by Newsom and Brown, to sock cash into that reserve fund could help soften the blow. The independent Legislative Analyst’s Office estimated last month that the state’s cash reserves total around $17.5 billion — money that could provide a cushion, but only under a series of strict conditions.
Lawmakers are also hoping that the crushing weight of a historic deficit will be alleviated by the federal government. Many of California’s emergency coronavirus expenses could be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In addition, the stimulus effort signed into law by President Trump provided $9.5 billion in relief to the state budget, with an additional $5.8 billion sent directly to California’s largest local governments.
On Tuesday, Newsom said he hoped federal officials would do much more.
“I imagine we would be front and center in that consideration,” he said of additional federal help.
Democratic strategists Doug Schoen and Nathan Rubin weigh in on what 2020 Democratic presidential candidates have to say about the conclusion of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.
A top Senate Democrat on the Judiciary Committee conceded in a conference call with reporters Saturday that when the special counsel’s principal findings are released by Attorney General William Barr, there may well be cause for celebration among President Trump’s supporters — many of whom have stood by the president for more than two years amid a torrent of unproven allegations that the Trump campaign illegally conspired with Russia in the 2016 election.
“It’s the end of the beginning but it’s not the beginning of the end,” Delaware Democrat Sen. Chris Coons said, echoing his party’s strategy of moving forward on to other investigations, including probes into Trump’s financial dealings. “Once we get the principal conclusions of the report,” he added later, “I think it’s entirely possible that that will be a good day for the president and his core supporters.”
The timing of that potentially good day now seems to be shifting toward Sunday, after sources said a Saturday disclosure of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s primary conclusions in his now-concluded Russia investigation wasn’t expected. A personal lawyer for President Trump told Fox News that Barr’s report on Mueller’s findings was now expected about noon Sunday, though it had earlier been expected on Saturday and the timing remains fluid.
Mueller is not recommending any further indictments as part of his inquiry, which effectively ended Friday, according to a senior Justice Department official.
In a show of confidence, for his part, President Trump waved and flashed two thumbs up to supporters as he returned to his Florida Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday. The entertainer Kid Rock later uploaded a photograph of his golf outing with Trump earlier in the day.
“Another great day on the links!” Kid Rock wrote. “Thank you to POTUS for having me and to EVERYONE at Trump International for being so wonderful. What a great man, so down to earth and so fun to be with!! KEEP AMERICA GREAT!! -Kid Rock.”
Trump himself remained off Twitter into Saturday evening — an unusual move that prompted speculation in various news outlets and on social media.
Fox News is told that Barr may run the conclusions past White House Counsel Pat Cipollone and Emmett Flood, who were in Mar-a-Lago along with Trump, before they are released. It will likely take longer for the facts supporting the conclusions to come out, Fox News is told, because there may be materials that are either classified, or subject to executive privilege in the factual material.
House Democrats planned meetings by phone on Saturday to share what they know about the probe and to discuss how to move forward. Some prominent Democrats are floating the idea of issuing a subpoena to Mueller himself if his report is not made public.
People with signs supporting President Trump are seen from the media van in the motorcade accompanying the president in West Palm Beach, Fla., Friday. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Fox News is told that although impeachment was not mentioned on the Democrats’ conference call, a primary purpose of the discussion among top Democrat committee members was to signal that just because the Mueller probe is over, that doesn’t mean that the House’s work is over.
Democrats also discussed Congress’ oversight role given that a sitting president, under DOJ guidelines, cannot be indicted.
Both parties have pushed the Justice Department to allow lawmakers to publicly discuss the report’s conclusions, once lawmakers have received them from Barr.
The conclusion of Mueller’s probe comes as House Democrats have launched several of their own into Trump and his personal and political dealings.
Supporters of President Donald Trump are seen from the media van in the motorcade accompanying the president in West Palm Beach, Fla., Saturday, March 23, 2019, en route to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
“It’s the end of the beginning but it’s not the beginning of the end.”
— Delaware Democrat Sen. Chris Coons
Democrats have said they have to see the full report from Mueller, including underlying evidence, before they can assess it. Those demands for information are setting up a potential tussle between Congress and the Trump administration that federal judges might eventually have to referee.
Six Democratic committee chairmen wrote in a letter to Barr on Friday that if Mueller has any reason to believe that Trump “has engaged in criminal or other serious misconduct,” then the Justice Department should not conceal it.
“The president is not above the law and the need for public faith in our democratic institutions and the rule of law must be the priority,” the chairmen wrote.
Attorney General William Barr leaves his home in McLean, Va., on Saturday morning, March 23, 2019. Special counsel Robert Mueller closed his long and contentious Russia investigation with no new charges, ending the probe that has cast a dark shadow over Donald Trump’s presidency. (AP Photo/Sait Serkan Gurbuz)
It’s unclear what Mueller has found related to the president, if anything. In his investigation of whether Trump’s campaign coordinated with Russia to sway the 2016 election, Mueller has brought charges against 34 people, including six aides and advisers to the president, and three companies.
Supporters of President Donald Trump are seen from the media van in the motorcade accompanying the president in West Palm Beach, Fla., Saturday, March 23, 2019, en route to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Barr testified at his confirmation hearings that he wants to release as much information as he can about the inquiry.
But anything less than the full report won’t be enough for Democrats — who on Saturday warned that they may soon set their sights on Mueller.
“If the AG plays any games, we will subpoena the report, ask Mr. Mueller to testify, and take it all to court if necessary,” said Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-N.Y. “The people deserve to know.”
Fox News’ Ed Henry, Mike Emanuel, Brooke Singman, Chad Pergram, Jake Gibson, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Troops parade for Queen Elizabeth II as she arrives in Kingston, Jamaica, in 2002.
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Troops parade for Queen Elizabeth II as she arrives in Kingston, Jamaica, in 2002.
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Queen Elizabeth II’s death has garnered a spectrum of feelings around the world about her life, legacy and the monarchy.
When she took the throne in 1952, more than a quarter of the world’s population was under British imperial power. That was more than 700 million people — including in parts of Africa, Asia, the Middle East and the Pacific islands.
While her 70-year reign saw the British Empire become the Commonwealth of Nations — and the decline of the United Kingdom’s global influence — the scars of colonialism linger. Many note the enslavement, violence and theft that defined imperial rule, and they find it difficult to separate the individual from the institution and its history.
Moses Ochonu, a professor of African studies at Vanderbilt University, told NPR the queen’s death brought attention to “unfinished colonial business.”
“There is a sense in which Britain has never fully accounted for its crimes,” Ochonu said.
Elizabeth was associated with colonial and de-colonized Britain
The memory of Elizabeth is complicated by the fact that during her rule, more than 20 countries gained independence, Ochonu said.
“It’s her dual status as the face of colonialism, but also a symbol of decolonization that defines how she is perceived in many former British African colonies.”
Ochonu’s own feelings toward the queen’s death are mixed — in part because of his childhood. He was born in Nigeria, a little over a decade after the country saw an end to colonial rule.
He recalled how the queen continued to be fondly associated with prestige and grandeur. Images of Elizabeth as a young woman visiting parts of Africa humanized the crown and the monarch.
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip wave from an open Land Rover to a crowd of schoolchildren at a rally held in Nigeria in 1956. The country would gain independence four years later.
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Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip wave from an open Land Rover to a crowd of schoolchildren at a rally held in Nigeria in 1956. The country would gain independence four years later.
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But coupled with that nostalgia is “residual anger” over the brutal price paid for many countries’ independence. Ochonu said in Nigeria, many are still haunted by Britain’s role in their civil war, when the global power secretly tried to prevent the Republic of Biafra’s secession efforts. In Kenya, Britain tortured thousands of rebels in detention camps, for which it apologized in 2013.
That’s why Ochonu said her death prompts a time of reflection rather than mourning.
Elizabeth was a symbol of Britain’s denial for colonial crimes
Others find it difficult to celebrate the queen’s life — in part because they feel she should be held accountable for what her country did.
“We essentially have to respect her for her very long service, but as the monarch, she cannot be disentangled from colonization of South Asia,” Mou Banerjee, a professor of South Asian history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told NPR.
Banerjee is from India, which gained independence from Britain in 1947. Although Elizabeth was crowned five years later, Banerjee said many Indians hoped the queen would express remorse for the damages of colonialism.
That was the case in 1997 during what would be the queen’s last visit to India. Elizabeth told Indians “history cannot be rewritten” in reference to the1919 massacre in Jallianwala Bagh, where hundreds of Indians were shot and killed by British troops.
Those sentiments have resurfaced as many wonder what will happen to the queen’s crown jewel following her death. During colonial times, India was forced to hand over the 105-carat Kohinoor diamond to Britain. Many are also calling for the return of the Cullinan diamond back to South Africa.
“The jewels represent a history of coercion, subjugation, loot, loss, grief,” Banerjee said.
Similarly, the queen’s death has also reminded many people of the lack of reparations to former colonies.
People calling for slavery reparations protest outside the entrance of the British High Commission during the visit of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in Kingston, Jamaica, earlier this year.
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People calling for slavery reparations protest outside the entrance of the British High Commission during the visit of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in Kingston, Jamaica, earlier this year.
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Opal Palmer Adisa, the former director of the Institute for Gender and Development Studies at the University of the West Indies, told All Things ConsideredBritain has yet to even apologize to the African diaspora.
Palmer Adisa said in Jamaica, children were not taught specifics about what happened under British rule — even when discussing slavery.
“The implications and the horrendous actions of the British … were never delineated,” she said.
Many people are wondering why the British monarchy still exists
For some, the queen’s death has reignited conversations around the purpose and place for a monarch today.
Banerjee has been skeptical of the crown from a young age, when she would hear her grandparents’ anecdotes of the Bengal famine of 1943, where at least 3 million people died of starvation as a result of Britain’s overseas economic policies.
Although Elizabeth’s eldest son now sits on the throne, Banerjee believes this can still be a time of reckoning over the institution.
“They say, the sun never sets on the British Empire. I think it has set with the death of Queen Elizabeth,” Banerjee said.
“It is time that we come to terms with that history of enslavement, that history of colonization.”
Chris Cuomo attends The Hollywood Reporter’s annual Most Powerful People in Media cocktail reception in 2019 in New York. CNN fired Cuomo for the role he played in defense of his brother, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as he fought sexual harassment charges.
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Chris Cuomo attends The Hollywood Reporter’s annual Most Powerful People in Media cocktail reception in 2019 in New York. CNN fired Cuomo for the role he played in defense of his brother, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as he fought sexual harassment charges.
Evan Agostini/Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
LOS ANGELES — Fired CNN anchor Chris Cuomo said he’s dropping his SiriusXM radio show, a decision that followed a sexual harassment allegation.
“While I have a thick skin, I also have a family, for whom the past week has been extraordinarily difficult,” Cuomo said in a Twitter post Monday. He said he’s stepping back to “focus on what comes next.”
After the announcement, SiriusXM said that Cuomo’s “Let’s Get After It” will no longer air and thanked him for his work. The show began in 2018.
Cuomo was criticized for breaching journalism ethics by trying to help his older brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, deal with his own harassment allegations. CNN had suspended the younger Cuomo after learning that his actions were more extensive than previously thought, then fired him Saturday.
Chris Cuomo has said he was simply trying to help his brother.
The harassment claim became known shortly after CNN cut ties with him. The woman, who has chosen to remain anonymous, took her allegations to CNN on Wednesday through her lawyer, Debra Katz.
Katz did not give any specifics about the alleged behavior which, if it happened, may have occurred before Cuomo joined CNN in 2013. Prior to that, he worked at ABC News, which didn’t immediately respond Monday to questions about Cuomo’s tenure there.
Chris Cuomo, through a spokesman, has said the harassment claims were untrue. “If the goal in making these false and unvetted accusations was to see Mr. Cuomo punished by CNN, that may explain his unwarranted termination,” the spokesman said.
Katz also tied Cuomo’s firing to the accusations, saying in a statement that “CNN acted promptly on my client’s complaint and fired Mr. Cuomo.”
In his post Monday, Cuomo said the way his time at CNN ended was “hard.” He was grateful for the support he’s received from SiriusXM, Cuomo said, thanking his “loyal listeners” and adding that he looks forward to “being back in touch with you all in the future.”
Meteorologist Jim Weber explains where Hurricane Eta may go next.
TAMPA, Fla. – As Tropical Storm Eta continues to cause heavy rainfall and flooding in Central America, the storm — or whatever is left of it — could make a loop and head back into the Caribbean, and then, maybe, onto Florida.
Much of Florida is inside Eta’s cone of uncertainty, as of the National Hurricane Center’s Wednesday update. NHC forecasters says those residing in South Florida and the Keys should monitor Eta’s progress.
If there are any impacts to Tampa Bay, it wouldn’t be until Monday or Tuesday of next week, says FOX 13’s chief meteorlogist Paul Dellegato. The confidence in the current track is still low.
The slow-moving storm has weakened, but the main threat continues to be rainfall over Central Florida. After, the question remains: Where will Eta go?
Eventually, it will venture back out to the western Caribbean, explained FOX 13’s meteorologist Dave Osterberg.
“Herein lies the big problem. Does it have a nice core structure still when that happens or is it disorganized completely? Where does it come back out over the western Caribbean?,” he asked. “Once we can answer these couple of questions, then you can determine, from there, where the remnants or perhaps a reorganization can occur and where it goes.”
If it does take the projected path provided by the NHC, it could head up to South Florida as a tropical storm.
“But it can also mean a lot of rain for central and South Florida as well late weekend and into early next week,” Osterberg said. “I promise you that is not set in stone and that could change. So stay with us.”
On Wednesday, Eta continued to spin across northern Nicaragua after lashing the country’s Caribbean coast for much of Tuesday, isolating already remote communities and setting off deadly landslides in two countries that killed at least three people.
The storm had weakened by late Tuesday, but was moving so slowly and dumping so much rain that much of Central America was on high alert.
Eta came ashore Tuesday afternoon south of the Nicaraguan city of Bilwi as a powerful Category 4 hurricane after stalling just off the coast for hours. The city of about 60,000 had been without power since Monday evening. Corrugated metal roofing and uprooted trees were scattered through its streets. Some 20,000 of the area’s residents were in shelters.
It is the eighth Atlantic storm this season to hit the meteorologists’ definition for rapid intensification — a gain of 35 mph (56 kph) in wind speed in just 24 hours. It’s also the fifth to reach major hurricane status. Over the past couple of decades, meteorologists have been increasingly worried about storms that just blow up in strength.
Eta is the 28th named Atlantic storm this season, tying the 2005 record for named storms. It’s the first time the Greek letter Eta has been used as a storm name because after the 2005 season ended, meteorologists went back and determined a storm that should have been named wasn’t.
Hurricane season still has a month to go, ending Nov. 30. In 2005, Zeta formed toward the end of December.
Fox News Flash top headlines for Feb. 4 are here. Check out what’s clicking on Foxnews.com.
President Trump tweeted his wishes for a speedy recovery to talk radio king Rush Limbaugh Monday after the conservative pioneer ended his broadcast with an announcement saying he’d been diagnosed with “advanced lung cancer.”
“Many people do not know what a great guy & fantastic political talent the great Rush Limbaugh is. There is nobody like him. Looking for a speedy recovery for our friend!,” the president tweeted.
Limbaugh, 69, announced the news to his audience at the end of his broadcast, adding he hopes to return later this week after undergoing treatment.
“This day has been one of the most difficult days in recent memory, for me, because I’ve known this moment was coming,” Limbaugh said. “I’m sure that you all know by now that I really don’t like talking about myself and I don’t like making things about me… one thing that I know, that has happened over the 31-plus years of this program is that there has been an incredible bond that had developed between all of you and me.”
President Trump tweeted wishes for a speedy recovery to conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh on Monday, Feb. 3, 2020 after Limbaugh announced he has been diagnosed with ‘advanced lung cancer.’
He then told his audience his job has provided him with the “greatness satisfaction and happiness” of his life.
“So, I have to tell you something today that I wish I didn’t have to tell you. It’s a struggle for me because I had to inform my staff earlier today,” he said. “I can’t help but feel that I’m letting everybody down. The upshot is that I have been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer.”
Limbaugh explained the disease will keep him off the air on certain days when he’ll receive treatment. He said two medical institutions confirmed the diagnosis after he realized something was wrong following a Jan. 12 episode when he experienced shortness of breath.
Limbaugh said he will undergo further testing and planned to “push ahead and keep everything as normal” as he could.
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