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Herbert J. Siegel, Investor in Major Media Deals, Dies at 95 2023-08-10 - Herbert J. Siegel, a maverick investor who became a billionaire entertainment-industry mogul most notable for finally enabling the merger of Warner Communications and Time Inc. in 1989 and for selling 10 television stations to Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation in 2000, died on Saturday at his home in Manhattan. He was 95. His wife, Jeanne, said the cause was heart failure. Mr. Siegel, the gregarious son of an immigrant garment manufacturer, combined his boyhood passions — deal-making and an infatuation with the film industry — to reap massive profits. The humorist Art Buchwald once said that Mr. Siegel deserved an Academy Award for having earned the most money in Hollywood without ever making a movie. Mr. Siegel got started young; he was still in college when, flush with a trust fund from his father, he sought to purchase a 20 percent stake in the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League for $60,000. His bid was unsuccessful, so instead he bought an interest in a company that packaged television programs and that was partly owned by his father-in-law, an organizer of the Columbia Broadcasting System.
Russia Tries to Bolster Ruble as Inflation Adds to Economic Woes 2023-08-10 - After Russia’s ruble hit a 16-month low against the U.S. dollar, raising fears of rising inflation, even one of President Vladimir V. Putin’s top cheerleaders in state media lashed out at the country’s financial authorities on Thursday over an exchange rate that he said was a subject of global mockery. The Russian central bank took measures on Thursday to stabilize the currency, amid the latest squall of financial volatility unleashed by Mr. Putin’s war against Ukraine. This time, the challenges are seen in both a struggling ruble that is fueling inflation, but also in government budget deficits that raise concerns about the sustainability of Russia’s intense spending on the war. The weakening ruble neared an exchange rate of 100 per U.S. dollar earlier this week, down by roughly 25 percent since the start of the year. The decline prompted the Bank of Russia on Thursday to halt purchases of foreign currency for the remainder of the year “to reduce volatility.” The central bank’s move should help shore up the ruble, because when the bank spends rubles to buy foreign currency, it increases the supply of rubles in circulation, lowering their value. The ruble was roughly flat in trading on Thursday.
Supreme Court Pauses Opioid Settlement With Sacklers Pending Review 2023-08-10 - The Supreme Court agreed on Thursday to consider the government’s challenge of a bankruptcy settlement involving Purdue Pharma, putting on pause a deal that would have shielded members of the wealthy Sackler family from civil opioid lawsuits in exchange for payments of up to $6 billion to thousands of plaintiffs. In doing so, the court sided with the Justice Department, which had requested the court put the settlement plan on hold while it considered reviewing the agreement. The government has argued that the family behind Purdue Pharma, maker of the prescription painkiller OxyContin, should not be able to take advantage of legal protections meant for debtors in “financial distress.” The court’s order, which was unsigned, gave no reasons and included no public dissents, adds to the uncertainty around the plan to compensate states, local governments, tribes and individuals harmed by the opioid crisis while offering protection for the Sackler family. The order specified that the justices would hear arguments in the case in December. The court’s decision to take up the challenge to the bankruptcy agreement is the latest twist in the yearslong legal battle over compensation for victims of the prescription drug crisis.
U.S. Watchdog Halts Studies at N.Y. Psychiatric Center After a Subject’s Suicide 2023-08-10 - Federal regulators have suspended research on human subjects at the Columbia-affiliated New York State Psychiatric Institute, one of the country’s oldest research centers, as they investigate safety protocols across the institute after the suicide of a research participant. A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Kate Migliaccio-Grabill, confirmed on Wednesday that the agency’s Office for Human Research Protections was investigating the psychiatric institute “and has restricted its ability to conduct H.H.S.-supported human subject research.” About two weeks before the federal order, on June 12, the institute had “voluntarily paused all studies that included ongoing interactions with human subjects,” according to Carla Cantor, the institute’s director of communications. The decision affected 417 studies, of which 198 have continuing participation. Of those, 124 receive federal funding. It is unusual for the U.S. regulatory office to suspend research, and this suggests that investigators are concerned that potential violations of safety protocols occurred more broadly within the institute. Almost 500 studies, with combined budgets totaling $86 million, are underway at the institute, according to its website.
Judge Strikes Down F.D.A. Rule Regulating Premium Cigars 2023-08-10 - Not Everyone Is Celebrating Public health groups including the American Lung Association, American Heart Association, American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Cancer Society had filed briefs in court urging the judge to keep the regulations in place. On Thursday, Thomas Carr, the national director of policy for the American Lung Association, called the ruling deeply disappointing. “All cigars, including premium cigars, can cause death and disease, and no tobacco product should be without regulation of any kind,” he said. “Even luxury cars need to have seatbelts and airbag warnings. Premium cigars should be no different.” Mr. Carr also cited the National Cancer Institute’s conclusion: “Cigar smoking causes cancer of the oral cavity, larynx, esophagus and lung.” In a court filing, the public health groups warned that an exemption would “create the misimpression that premium cigars are safer tobacco products because they are unregulated.” How the Cigar Battle Began The F.D.A. effort to regulate these cigars stems from the Tobacco Control Act of 2009, under which Congress specifically awarded the agency broad authority over cigarettes and smokeless tobacco. It also allowed the agency to “deem” or identify other products that were to be subject to the law. So in 2014, the F.D.A. began a process to regulate cigars. The agency did ask for public comment over whether premium cigars could be regulated less rigorously. Cigar Rights of America, an advocacy group and plaintiff in the case, urged the F.D.A. to tread lightly, saying that the smoking of premium cigars was an occasional past time and that many users “do not inhale at all.” The group also argued that most users were mature adults outside the age and scope of the population needing the protections provided by Congress in passing the law. In turn, the F.D.A. opted to require premium cigar makers to conduct extensive studies of their products, list ingredients and register them annually. The agency noted that the cigar industry did not offer persuasive evidence about health effects or youth use that would warrant an exemption. The agency concluded that regulating all cigars equally “more completely protects the public health.” Groups supporting the cigar industry, in turn, sued. The Bigger Picture The F.D.A. is still busy enforcing numerous parts of the landmark 2009 law. Legal challenges are frequent, particularly as the agency attempts to take thousands of e-cigarette products off the market. Michael Edney, a partner at Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP who represented the cigar plaintiffs, said the decision had broader implications for tobacco enforcement. “I think what the court is saying here is that the decision whether and how to regulate certain tobacco products is complicated,” he said. “When industry and retail groups come in and provide evidence about a different path,” the F.D.A. really has to analyze it, he said. “They can’t just say, ‘We want to regulate you folks, and our decision is final.’” The American Lung Association said it is discussing the decision internally with other public health groups. The F.D.A. said Thursday that it did not comment on litigation. It was unclear whether the agency would appeal.
Striking Writers and Studios Agree to Restart Negotiations 2023-08-10 - The announcement of a return to the bargaining table was the first positive development in a dual labor walkout — tens of thousands of actors went on strike in mid-July — that has brought Hollywood production to a halt. Late-night television shows immediately went dark, and broadcast networks have retooled their fall seasons to include mostly reality series. Last week’s session, which lasted about an hour, was the first time the lead negotiators from each side had sat down in person since May 1, when talks collapsed. Both sides had characterized it as a meeting to determine whether it made sense to restart talks. With a strike starting to hurt companies and writers alike, was there a give-and-take to be had? Pressure has been increasing from multiple directions to reach an agreement. “It is critical that this gets resolved immediately so that Los Angeles gets back on track, and I stand ready to personally engage with all the stakeholders in any way possible to help get this done,” Karen Bass, the mayor of Los Angeles, said in a statement last Friday. Screenwriters and actors are worried about not receiving a fair share of the spoils of a streaming-dominated future. They say streaming-era business practices have made their profession an unsustainable one. Many streaming shows have eight to 12 episodes per season, compared with more than 20 made for traditional television. Writers are fighting for better residual pay, a type of royalty for reruns and other showings, which they have said is a crucial source of income for the middle-class writer whose compensation has been upended by streaming.
Inflation Picks Up, but Details Under the Surface Are Encouraging 2023-08-10 - Fresh inflation data offered the latest evidence that price increases were meaningfully cooling, good news for consumers and policymakers alike more than a year into the Federal Reserve’s campaign to slow the economy and wrestle cost increases back under control. The Consumer Price Index climbed 3.2 percent in July from a year earlier, according to a report released on Thursday. That was the first acceleration in 13 months, and followed a 3 percent reading in June. But that tick up requires context. Inflation was rapid in June last year and slightly slower the next month. That means that when this year’s numbers were measured against 2022 readings, June looked lower and July appeared higher than if the year-earlier figures had been more stable. Economists were more keenly focused on another figure: the “core” inflation index, which strips out volatile food and fuel prices. That picked up by 4.7 percent from last July, down from 4.8 percent in June. And on a monthly basis, core inflation roughly matched an encouragingly low pace from the previous month.
Utah man killed by FBI joins a growing list of people willing to die for Trump 2023-08-10 - Hours before President Joe Biden traveled to Utah on Wednesday, FBI agents shot and killed a man in his home in Provo as they were serving an arrest warrant. According to FBI documents, the man had threatened to kill the president and other government officials, most of whom he apparently believed to be mistreating former President Donald Trump. According to FBI documents, the man had threatened to kill the president and other government officials he apparently believed to be mistreating former President Donald Trump. The FBI affidavit in support of the search warrant request describes the alleged conduct and threats it attributes to Craig Deleeuw Robertson, a retired steel and welding inspector. Those threats reportedly include Robertson’s social media posts indicating his desire to also harm the FBI agents investigating him and kill Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who leads the New York “hush money” case against Trump. No one should be surprised by this development. In fact, I’d be surprised if we don’t see more violent threats against government officials, given the incendiary rhetoric from Trump and his supporters. Robertson’s threats against those officials appear to be an end result of stochastic terrorism, generally defined as the public vilification of a particular group of people that randomly and unpredictably leads to violence against members of that group. According to a July report from the University of Chicago Project on Security and Threats, "From April 6, 2023 to June 26, 2023, Americans agreeing that 'the use of force is justified to restore Donald Trump to the presidency' increased from 4.5% to 7%, or the equivalent of an estimated shift from 12 million to 18 million American adults." That research institute found that the increase "likely reflects the response of more intense commitment to Trump following the announcement of the federal indictment against him for mishandling 3 classified documents on June 9, 2023 — about two and a half weeks before our June 26, 2023, survey." According to the FBI's affidavit, Robertson was a self-described “MAGA Trumper,” who was spotted during FBI surveillance wearing a hat emblazoned with the word “Trump” and attired in the quintessential Trump costume of blue suit, white shirt and red tie. While emulating a former president’s attire isn’t criminal, threatening to kill his enemies certainly is. Apparently, that’s what got the FBI’s attention. Robertson was likely to be charged with three distinct federal violations related to making various and repeated ominous threats on two different social media platforms: The first count, making interstate threats, related to what authorities say were his threats to kill Bragg. FBI officials and other law enforcement officers outside the home of Craig Robertson in Provo, Utah, on Wednesday. George Frey / Getty Images According to that document, he made a detailed description of how he’d like to kill Bragg, including where he’d hide out and what weapon he’d used to kill him. Agents were also investigating him for threats against the FBI. According to the agency, he wrote, “Hey FBI agents, you still monitoring my social media? Checking to make sure I have a loaded gun handy in case you drop by again.” As for his reported threats on Biden, the Utah man allegedly posted, “I HEAR BIDEN IS COMING TO UTAH,” before saying he was preparing his sniper rifle. Reportedly, Robertson made threatening posts that mentioned U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, New York Attorney General Letitia James (who is overseeing a civil case against the Trump Organization), Vice President Kamala Harris and California Gov. Gavin Newsom. The Utah man allegedly posted, “I HEAR BIDEN IS COMING TO UTAH,” before saying he was preparing his sniper rifle. You need not be clairvoyant to have predicted those reported threats. While Trump and his GOP have a long record of publicly denouncing the FBI and the Department of Justice, those verbal assaults are now even more heated. Since Trump has been indicted in a state court in Manhattan, and by federal grand juries in Florida and Washington, D.C., he has responded with vile and dangerously inciteful rhetoric. In posts on Truth Social, he’s called special counsel Jack Smith “deranged,” referred to former Vice President Mike Pence — a potential witness against Trump in the latest federal indictment — as “delusional” and claimed he could never get a fair trial from U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who was randomly assigned to that case. If it seems to you that you’ve seen this kind of thing before, you’re right. Trump used similar provocative and accusatory language after he lost the 2020 election. Then, on Jan. 6, 2021, many of his supporters violently attacked police officers, breached security and tried to stop certification of the Electoral College vote. About 1,000 people have been arrested in connection with the Jan. 6 attack. Many of those defendants who've been charged have claimed as a defense that they did what they did because Trump wanted them to. The founder of the Oath Keepers, now convicted of seditious conspiracy, asserted that his militia was waiting that day for Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act. Ashli Babbitt, who was consumed by Trump conspiracy theories, was one of many who breached the U.S. Capitol, and she was wrapped in a Trump flag when a U.S. Capitol Police officer shot and killed her. You saw it, too, in Cincinnati. A man upset about the FBI executing a search warrant at Trump’s Florida home, Mar-a-Lago, reportedly posted a call to action on social media that encouraged likeminded people to “get whatever you need to be ready for combat.” He later walked into the FBI field office in Cincinnati, tried to breach security, and, after a standoff that lasted hours, was shot dead. More than 1,000 people have been charged with Jan. 6 crimes. Many claimed they did what they did because Trump wanted them to. Expecting to soon be indicted on state charges in Fulton County, Georgia, for his attempts to overturn Biden’s 2020 victory in that state, Trump this week called District Attorney Fani Willis a “young racist in Atlanta” and made a scurrilous and unfounded allegation about her sex life. Even if Trump is eventually issued a gag order from a judge in one of his cases for continuing his violence-inducing rhetoric, that doesn’t mean his proxies in Congress and on far-right media will stop. But the poll indicating that millions of Americans think it’s OK to commit violence on behalf of Trump is why his inflammatory language, and that of his proxies, is so dangerous. And why law enforcement can’t afford to be less than vigilant.
Appeals court strikes gun restriction implicated in Hunter Biden case 2023-08-10 - In a case from Mississippi, a federal appeals court just ruled against a prohibition on drug users having guns. This issue may sound familiar if you've been paying close attention to the Hunter Biden case unfolding in Delaware. Whatever impact the ruling has on the president’s son, it’s a significant nationwide issue that’s worth watching as the Supreme Court inevitably addresses it. Wednesday’s ruling in United States v. Daniels comes from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the right-wing court based in New Orleans that covers Texas and Mississippi in addition to Louisiana. In the case of confessed cannabis consumer Patrick Daniels, a three-judge 5th Circuit panel said the federal law barring gun possession by such an “unlawful user” violates the Second Amendment. The opinion was authored by Ronald Reagan appointee Jerry Smith, joined by Donald Trump appointee Don Willett and Barack Obama appointee Stephen Higginson, who wrote a concurring opinion that demonstrated the absurd state of Second Amendment jurisprudence. Higginson also observed that, even though the panel only struck down the law as applied to Daniels, its reasoning would likely apply to others, too. Of course, it was the Supreme Court’s decision in the Bruen case last year that unleashed new attacks on gun laws. The 6-3 party-line ruling made them presumptively unlawful unless they’re consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. Unsurprisingly, that historical test has led to some funky outcomes, like when the 5th Circuit struck down a prohibition on domestic abusers having guns. The Supreme Court is reviewing that case, United States v. Rahimi, in the coming term that starts in October. Hunter Biden at the White House on July 7, 2022. Saul Loeb / AFP via Getty Images file As for Hunter Biden, who was charged in June with possessing a firearm while being addicted to a controlled substance, he was already looking at a diversion agreement for the gun charge that could result in its dismissal. Plus, he also faces tax charges. So practically speaking, the prospect of the gun law being struck down nationwide might not change his bottom line — especially if he and the prosecution can reach an agreement covering both the tax and gun charges after the plea deal went off the rails last month. There’s an irony, of course, in the Democratic president’s son — a favorite political target of Republicans — benefiting from right-wing court rulings that his father's administration is challenging. Still, whether United States v. Biden becomes a landmark Second Amendment case is far from clear. It's unclear if it becomes much of a case at all, if the parties sort out their plea deal. But whatever the fate of that Delaware case and its subject, we’ll be watching the Supreme Court to see how much further it takes that amendment.
'It looks apocalyptic' Maui resident describes experience with deadly wildfires 2023-08-10 - 'To the right of this government, is only a wall' Impact of new judicial law in Israel 05:32
The political relevance of Trump’s preference for the south of France 2023-08-10 - It was just four days ago when Donald Trump responded to the United States coming up short in the World Cup by celebrating the defeat of his own country’s team. While common sense suggests the bare minimum of patriotism would lead an American politician to root for American athletes in international competition, the former Republican president actually taunted the U.S. women’s soccer team. As part of an online harangue, Trump went so far as to argue, “Many of our players were openly hostile” to the United States. That wasn’t true — none of the women on the team expressed any such hostility — though there was a degree of irony to the circumstances: The former president was questioning the athletes’ patriotism while simultaneously rejoicing in the loss of his country’s team. Two days later, as HuffPost noted, Trump expressed a preference for enjoying the south of France rather than being in the United States. Trump, who has frequently expressed disdain for America and Americans, made the comment during a campaign rally in New Hampshire on Tuesday as he griped about the criminal charges against him and lamented ever getting into politics. “I could have been relaxing at Mar-a-Lago or in the south of France ― which I would prefer being in this country, frankly,” he said. As a video clip of the comments suggested, this was not a scripted comment: The former president apparently just said what he was thinking. After seeing this, my first thought was about partisan asymmetry. Indeed, it’s worth pausing to imagine what the reaction might be if a Democratic presidential hopeful, after rooting against an American team, said he or she would prefer to be in the south of France rather than the United States. It’s also worth noting that if Trump acted on this preference, he might not enjoy the reception: As recently as 2020, the Republican’s final full year in the White House, a report from the Pew Research Center found that Trump was wildly unpopular in France. But it was the back-to-back comments that struck me as especially notable: On Sunday, the former president applauded a U.S. defeat in the World Cup tournament, and on Tuesday, he’d rather be in France than his own country. This comes less than a year after Trump used to his social media platform to describe the United States as, among other things, “evil.” Given this, I continue to find it remarkable that questions about the former president’s patriotism aren’t louder. Indeed, none of this is especially new. Revisiting our previous coverage, it was two weeks after his 2017 inauguration when Trump sat down for an interview in which he was reminded that Russia’s Vladimir Putin is “a killer.” Trump replied, “There are a lot of killers. We’ve got a lot of killers. What, do you think our country’s so innocent?” As we discussed at the time, Americans generally weren’t accustomed to hearing their president be quite this critical of the United States. What’s more, the idea that the American chief executive saw a moral equivalence between us and a brutal autocrat came as a reminder that Trump didn’t always hold his country in the highest regard. It was part of an unsubtle larger pattern. In December 2015, then-candidate Trump was asked about Putin’s habit of invading countries and killing critics. “He’s running his country, and at least he’s a leader,” Trump replied, “unlike what we have in this country.” Reminded that Putin has been accused of ordering the murder of critics and journalists, Trump added, “Well, I think our country does plenty of killing also.” In a July 2016 interview with The New York Times, the Republican went on to argue that the United States lacks the moral authority to lead, because we’re just not a good enough country to command respect. “When the world looks at how bad the United States is, and then we go and talk about civil liberties, I don’t think we’re a very good messenger,” he said. There’s never been a president, from either party, who’s been so cavalier about America lacking in credibility. Sentiments such as “When the world looks at how bad the United States is...” are usually heard from America’s opponents, not America’s president. The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg noted during the 2016 campaign that Barack Obama “has never spoken as negatively about America as Donald Trump has.” The Republican also explicitly rejected the idea of “America exceptionalism,” questioning aloud whether the United States really is “more outstanding” than other nations. To be sure, it’s a free country. If Trump wants to argue that the United States is “evil,” that’s his right. If he’s convinced that the United States is not a force for good in the world, he’s welcome to make the case. He can also root against U.S. athletes and dream of spending time on foreign soil. All of this, of course, is his business. But it’s more than a little jarring to see the Republican, at different times, both claim the moral high ground on patriotism and run down his own country in ways no former president has ever done. This post updates our related earlier coverage.
Federal prosecutors propose Jan. 2 trial date for Trump election interference case 2023-08-10 - Federal prosecutors from special counsel Jack Smith's office have proposed a trial date of January 2, 2024 for the case involving former President Trump's alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election. NBC News' Garrett Haake reports.Aug. 10, 2023
Here are some of the top hip-hop moments in U.S. political history 2023-08-10 - Hip-hop is inherently political. It was born in the Bronx by Black and Latin American artists who came from disadvantaged communities often seen as an afterthought to lawmakers. And from the jump, it was common for emcees to speak about these struggles and use their political predicaments as inspiration for their art. (“The Message” by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five is often cited as an example of this.) Over time, the genre gained more popularity — and more scrutiny, too. And it eventually became an art form that was impossible for politicians themselves to ignore, for better or worse. For “Hip-Hop Is Universal,” The ReidOut’s celebration of the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, here are some of the most memorable hip-hop moments in U.S. political history. Eazy-E goes to Washington (1991) When Republican Senate leader Bob Dole sent an invite to Eric Wright for a fundraising luncheon with President George H.W. Bush in 1991, he apparently had no clue he was inviting Eazy-E of N.W.A fame. The rapper’s appearances in songs like “F--- tha Police” had made him a pariah among many conservatives, but he told The Washington Post that previous charitable donations might have led to the invite for the event, hosted by a group called Republican Senatorial Inner Circle. What a spectacle. 2 Live Crew prevails in court (1992) Luther Campbell (better known as “Uncle Luke”) and his group 2 Live Crew helped set important legal precedents for artists in the early 1990s. After a federal judge ruled that the “As Nasty as They Wanna Be” album was legally obscene — and after group members faced arrest for performing the songs — the ruling eventually was overturned in federal court in 1992, establishing case law on obscenity in music. The group also won a copyright case at the Supreme Court in 1994, setting precedent for artists to be able to record parody tracks after they dropped “Pretty Woman,” a parody of Roy Orbison’s original song. Check out an explainer on that historic case here: Bill Clinton’s Sister Souljah moment (1992) Clinton’s attack on rapper Sister Souljah at an event for Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow Coalition is one of the most infamous hip-hop moments ever. The presidential candidate criticized remarks the artist had made as promoting violence against white people. Today, to say a politician had a “Sister Souljah moment” is essentially synonymous with saying they’re grandstanding. Watch the original Sister Souljah moment below — and then check out her response here. Dan Quayle targets Tupac (1992) Ahead of the 1992 presidential election, Vice President Dan Quayle was crusading against artistic creations he deemed unfit for the American public. And the Republican found an easy target in Tupac Shakur. As The New York Times wrote at the time: Having fired a few value volleys at Murphy Brown — and taken a few hits in return — he [Quayle] now is targeting a rap performer, Tupac Amaru Shakur, and his record company, Interscope Records of Los Angeles. In 1992, a man named Ray Howard fatally shot a police officer during a traffic stop. Howard told authorities that he might have been inspired to kill the officer by a cassette of Shakur’s album “2Pacalypse Now,” which he said was playing in the stolen truck he was driving. Quayle pushed, unsuccessfully, for the record label to pull the album — which includes a song about a violent encounter with police — from stores, saying it has “no place in our society.” Of course, Quayle and President George H.W. Bush went on to lose their re-election bid handily. Orrin Hatch ‘raps’ on the House floor (1996) In 1996, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, railed against record companies during a speech decrying cannabis use among young folks. The late senator’s delivery here was lacking, to say the least. Kanye West goes at George W. Bush (2005) Days after Hurricane Katrina battered Louisiana, Kanye West’s observation that “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people” wasn’t novel — plenty of Black people before him had felt this way and said as much. But West saying so on live television did reignite public discussions about racism. And it prompted an unbelievable response from Bush himself: The architect of the Iraq War claimed that it was “one of the most disgusting moments of my presidency.” ‘MC Rove’ takes the floor (2007) This video of Karl Rove “dancing” around as “MC Rove” is from 2007, which is odd since the White House deputy chief of staff appears to be mimicking hip-hop artists from about two decades prior. Nonetheless, this clip is full of cringeworthy moments. David Banner testifies on Capitol Hill (2007) Rapper/activist David Banner spoke at a House hearing in 2007 about stereotypes in media after radio host Don Imus lost his job over a racist diatribe in which he insulted Black women — and pointed the finger at hip-hop. This excerpt from Banner’s testimony hits the hardest: Traditionally, multibillion-dollar industries have thrived on the premise of violence, sexuality and derogatory content. This capitalistic trend was not created nor introduced by hip-hop. It has been here. It is the American way. And I can admit that there are some problems in hip-hop. But it’s only a reflection of what’s taking place in our society. Watch here: Obama’s brush-off (2008) This is a key moment in Barack Obama’s character arc. In 2008, he upped his coolness in the public eye when — responding to criticism from Hillary Clinton during the Democratic presidential primaries — he channeled his pal Jay-Z, who had released “Dirt Off Your Shoulder” a few years earlier. This was Obama saying, “I’m not sweating Hillary.” And the rest is history. Conservatives go crazy over Common (2011) Republicans lost their damn minds in 2011 when Common, the renowned poet and emcee from Chicago, was invited to perform poetry at the Obama White House. Nothing says “I don’t know about Black culture — or pop culture more broadly” like framing Common as a menace to society, but that’s precisely what conservatives did. Figures like Sarah Palin and Bill O’Reilly falsely claimed he had endorsed violence against law enforcement. And Common was labeled “vile” elsewhere on Fox News, despite the network’s positive portrayal of him less than a year earlier. The GOP’s tantrum was a noteworthy moment in the history of right-wing hysteria. Ben Carson’s rap ad (2015) During Ben Carson’s long-shot Republican bid for president, his team apparently thought tapping a conservative rapper named Aspiring Mogul for an ad would resonate among young Black voters. It did Carson no good, but he can find solace in knowing that it has given me a good laugh ever since. Hakeem Jeffries shouts out Biggie (2017) Outside of emcees dining with the president, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., honoring the late, great Christopher Wallace (aka Biggie Smalls) is about as close to a full-circle moment as you’ll find for hip-hop and politics. This post is part of MSNBC’s “Hip-Hop Is Universal” series, which celebrates the genre’s 50th anniversary and examines its future.
On Devon Archer interview, Dems make a plea: ‘Read the transcript’ 2023-08-10 - Congressional Republicans began last week with high expectations. Members of the House Oversight Committee were poised to sit down with a man named Devon Archer, a former Hunter Biden business associate, which raised GOP hopes about explosive revelations. Those hopes were quickly dashed. Archer testified under oath that President Joe Biden wasn’t involved with Burisma, didn’t talk business with his son’s associates, and didn’t take bribes, effectively shredding each of the Republicans’ core claims. We know this for certain because the GOP-led panel released a transcript of the Q&A. That was last week. This week, the same Republican-led Oversight Committee tried to pretend the developments weren’t an embarrassing failure for the party. Here’s a message the panel’s majority published online: “Self-appointed Biden defender [Rep. Dan Goldman] came to the Devon Archer interview with an agenda. Unfortunately for Rep. Goldman, the interview didn’t quite go the way he tried to push it.” Two hours later, the Democratic New York congressman responded with a simple plea: Goldman asked people to simply read the transcript. In fact, historian Heather Cox Richardson soon after responded that she’d taken the congressman’s advice. “I did, in fact, read the transcript, and Goldman is right,” she wrote. “The Republicans on the Oversight Committee are expecting their loyalists won’t read it.” Let's note that last sentence again for emphasis: “The Republicans on the Oversight Committee are expecting their loyalists won’t read it.” Richardson’s point resonated with me because it’s a dynamic that comes up with remarkable frequency. Indeed, it came to the fore just last week, as the editorial page of The Kansas City Star practically begged people, especially Republicans, to read the latest indictment against Donald Trump. Please read it. ... Even if you are among those who say yes, he committed serious crimes and you’ll happily vote for him anyway, you still owe it to your country to acquaint yourself with what crimes it is that you’re willing to overlook. ... If you don’t trust us to characterize what it says, read it for yourself. The Star’s editors added, “If you are right that this is a political prosecution, or that if he did do something wrong it was nothing serious, or was in any case nothing others haven’t done, then this 45 pages will do nothing to challenge that view. If you’re not right, then don’t you want to know that?” Reality-based observers also urged people to read Trump’s first indictment. And the Mueller report. And the Durham report. And the Senate Intelligence Committee’s findings on the Russia scandal. In each instance, Republicans made all sorts of claims about the documents, but they made very little effort to actually read them. Not to put too fine a point on this, but when there’s a political dispute, and one side urges the public to read the original source materials, while the other side doesn’t, it tends to give away the game. This post updates our related earlier coverage.
Massachusetts couple denied foster care application over LGBTQ views, complaint says 2023-08-10 - A Massachusetts couple filed a complaint this week against the state’s health secretary and multiple officials in the Department of Children and Families after their application to become foster parents was denied over their stance on LGBTQ people. Michael and Catherine “Kitty” Burke began the monthslong application process with the DCF to foster or adopt a child in January 2022, according to the complaint. The process involved screenings to gauge the couple’s views on raising children from historically marginalized groups, including LGBTQ children. A social worker’s report attached to the complaint said the couple was asked how they would feel if a child in their care identified as LGBTQ or struggled with their gender identity. Kitty Burke responded by saying “let’s take the T out of it” and called gender-affirming care “chemical castration,” according to the report. She also said, “I’m going to love you the same,” but that the child “would need to live a chaste life.” Both Kitty and Michael Burke expressed hesitation around using a transgender or nonbinary person’s preferred pronouns, the social worker’s report noted. Michael Burke told the social worker he’d been to gay weddings and would “likely attend” his child’s wedding if they were LGBTQ, according to the report, and the couple said they wouldn’t kick a child out of their home for being LGBTQ or subject them to conversion therapy. Following the interview, the social worker issued an “approval with conditions, specifically around religion and LGBTQIA++ related issues.” Their application was later denied by the department’s Licensing Review Team, the complaint states. An official at the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families said the department does not comment on pending litigation and said neither DCF nor the state’s Office of Health and Human Services had been served. The couple cites five violations of their First Amendment rights. One of the Burkes’ attorneys, Lori Windham, senior counsel at Becket Law, a nonprofit legal group focused on religious liberty, told NBC News in a statement that the couple was “shocked” when their application was denied. “The Burkes were devastated to learn that they were denied a license to foster or adopt any child in the Massachusetts child welfare system. They’re asking the court to get rid of that discriminatory denial so that they will not be barred from fostering or adopting children in the future, in Massachusetts or elsewhere,” Windham said. Becket previously represented Sharonell Fulton and Toni Simms-Busch in Fulton v. Philadelphia, a 2021 Supreme Court case that unanimously ruled in favor of a Catholic adoption agency’s right to refuse to place children with LGBTQ couples.
Trump is winning — even as some backers worry he’s a liability in 2024 2023-08-10 - WINDHAM, N.H. — Unlike most of the voters who lined up in the rain for former President Donald Trump's rally at a high school gym here Tuesday, Heather O'Connor had not decided which Republican she will vote for in next year's presidential primary. The 49-year-old physician said she is leaning toward South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, but is also considering Vivek Ramaswamy and Trump — whose policies as president matched up well with her views. Her fear about Trump — shared by some of the die-hards who vow to vote for him come hell, high water or imprisonment — is that the criminal charges he faces could harm his chances of beating President Joe Biden in next year's general election. "If we had a different candidate other than Trump, I think the Republicans might do better in the general," O'Connor said. "That's my concern." While it's clear that Trump's legal troubles have helped him build a commanding lead in the GOP primary, interviews with more than two dozen voters across the country this month revealed a recurring worry that Trump's legal woes could sink the GOP in 2024. But the reactions to that conclusion vary wildly — from fear to indifference to indignance. "I voted for him. I still like him. I think he would do great as in a second term," Karen Scott, a CPR first-aid instructor from New Boston, New Hampshire, said. "But at this moment, for myself, I just feel that this election is so important because it’s either going to be a continuation of a failed nation, or we’re going to get back on track." She is leaning toward Ramaswamy, but is also open to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, she said. General election polls mostly show a dead heat between Biden and Trump in a hypothetical general election matchup. The former president's lead in the Republican primary expanded to more than 40 points in surveys released this week by Morning Consult and Fairleigh Dickinson University. Any concerns about how the indictments could affect Trump's viability next November have been dwarfed by loyalty to him — and by the failure of any other candidate to gain real traction in the race. "They don't sway me," David Farrell, a 32-year-old Massachusetts voter who made the short trip to New Hampshire to see Trump, said of the criminal charges. "Sure," Farrell said, the indictments could weaken Trump in a general election, "but, I mean, there's always some hiccup for any candidate." There is also a camp of Trump loyalists who say the indictments are not only politically motivated but irrelevant to their view of Trump and his chances. Outside the Trump's rally, John Zampini of Gilmanton, New Hampshire, and Brian Courtney of Haverill, Massachusetts, both told NBC News they would vote for Trump if he's in prison at the time of the election. "Wouldn't matter," said Courtney, who believes Biden should be in prison for retaining classified documents after his time as vice president. The charges Trump faces for retaining classified documents include counts related to an alleged scheme to illegally hide material from federal investigators. In separate cases, Trump has been charged with illegally attempting to overturn his 2020 election defeat and with crimes related to hush money payments to pornographic actress and director Stormy Daniels. Many Republican voters, whether they support Trump or not, are upset by the string of prosecutions. Some believe they are evidence that Biden and Democrats fear facing Trump in a general election, despite overwhelming evidence that they have strengthened Trump in primary polls. "I’m not that concerned about them, I really do believe what a lot of people you know have been reporting that I’ve watched is, you know, this is interference," Bill Neverett, a Republican voter from Florida, said. "They’re trying to find a way — you know, they are afraid to have him run one-on-one with Biden." But some voters who backed Trump in 2016 and 2020 have been permanently turned off either by his performance in the presidency, his efforts to overturn the last election or his personality. "Some of his policies were very good," said former state Sen. Nancy Stiles, who is considering North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Ramaswamy and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. "But his persona is worse than a 5-year-old. He’s just never going to get my vote again." In New Hampshire, where independents have a long tradition of temporarily affiliating with a party to vote in its primary, the audience at former Gov. Chris Christie's town hall meeting in New London Tuesday was decidedly more moderate than Trump's crowd. Jeff Nintzel, 72, a semi-retired photographer, said he tends to vote in the presidential primary that is most interesting each cycle. He said that's the GOP side this time, and, while he hasn't picked a candidate yet, he said Christie "speaks a truth that many, if not most, of the other Republican candidates are [not] willing to state." Nintzel has one primary goal in trying to help pick a GOP nominee. "I don’t want to see Donald Trump anymore," he said. "I wish Donald Trump would simply go away.” That sentiment is shared even by some voters who believe the justice system is being tilted to target Trump. "Everywhere you go, he's getting indicted for something, right?" Ron Kobrenski, an independent who plans to vote in the GOP primary, said at an event featuring former Vice President Mike Pence last week. "And it just seems a little bit strange that the guy running for president against Biden is being attacked so viciously like that right now." But Kobrenski, who backed Trump in the last two elections, wants to make sure that there's fresh blood in the White House in 2025 and worries that nominating Trump could lead to a second Biden term. "He's just too old," the 73-year-old Kobrenski said of Trump. "There's too much baggage. There's too many things going on in his life. And we want a president that can be president, not having to take care of all his legal problems all the time."
CDC data finds that suicides reached all-time high in 2022 2023-08-10 - About 49,500 people took their own lives last year in the U.S., the highest number ever, according to new government data posted Thursday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which posted the numbers, has not yet calculated a suicide rate for the year, but available data suggests suicides are more common in the U.S. than at any time since the dawn of World War II. “There’s something wrong. The number should not be going up,” said Christina Wilbur, a 45-year-old Florida woman whose son shot himself to death last year. “My son should not have died,” she said. “I know it’s complicated, I really do. But we have to be able to do something. Something that we’re not doing. Because whatever we’re doing right now is not helping.” Experts caution that suicide is complicated, and that recent increases might be driven by a range of factors, including higher rates of depression and limited availability of mental health services. But a main driver is the growing availability of guns, said Jill Harkavy-Friedman, senior vice president of research at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Suicide attempts involving guns end in death far more often than those with other means, and gun sales have boomed — placing firearms in more and more homes. A recent Johns Hopkins University analysis used preliminary 2022 data to calculate that the nation’s overall gun suicide rate rose last year to an all-time high. For the first time, the gun suicide rate among Black teens surpassed the rate among white teens, the researchers found. “I don’t know if you can talk about suicide without talking about firearms,” Harkavy-Friedman said. U.S. suicides steadily rose from the early 2000s until 2018, when the national rate hit its highest level since 1941. That year saw about 48,300 suicide deaths — or 14.2 for every 100,000 Americans. The rate fell slightly in 2019. It dropped again in 2020, during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some experts tied that to a phenomenon seen in the early stages of wars and natural disasters, when people pull together and support each other. But in 2021, suicides rose 4%. Last year, according to the new data, the number jumped by more than 1,000, to 49,449 — about a 3% increase vs. the year before. The provisional data comes from U.S. death certificates and is considered almost complete, but it may change slightly as death information is reviewed in the months ahead. The largest increases were seen in older adults. Deaths rose nearly 7% in people ages 45 to 64, and more than 8% in people 65 and older. White men, in particular, have very high rates, the CDC said. Many middle-aged and elderly people experience problems like losing a job or losing a spouse, and it’s important to reduce stigma and other obstacles to them getting assistance, said Dr. Debra Houry, the CDC’s chief medical officer. Suicides in adults ages 25 to 44 grew about 1%. The new data indicates that suicide became the second leading cause of death in that age group in 2022, up from No. 4 in 2021. Despite the grim statistics, some say there is reason for optimism. A national crisis line launched a year ago, meaning anyone in the U.S. can dial 988 to reach mental health specialists. The CDC is expanding a suicide program to fund more prevention work in different communities. And there’s growing awareness of the issue and that it’s OK to ask for help, health officials say. There was a more than 8% drop in suicides in people ages 10 to 24 in 2022. That may be due to increased attention to youth mental health issues and a push for schools and others to focus on the problem, CDC officials said. But even the smaller number masks tragedy for families. Christina Wilbur lost her 21-year-old son, Cale, on June 16 last year. He died in her home in Land O’ Lakes, Florida. Cale Wilbur had lost two friends and an uncle to suicide and had been dealing with depression. On that horrible morning, he and his mother were having an argument. She had confronted him about his drug use, his mother said. She left his bedroom and when she returned he had a gun. “I was begging him not too, and to calm down,” she said. “It looked like he relaxed for a second, but then he killed himself.” She describes her life since as black hole of emptiness and sorrow, and had found it hard to talk to friends or even family about Cale. “There’s just this huge 6-foot-2 hole, everywhere,” she said. “Everything reminds me of what’s missing.” It’s hard to find professionals to help, and those that are around can be expensive, she said. She turned to support groups, including an organization called Alliance of Hope for Suicide Loss Survivors that operates a 24/7 online forum. “There’s nothing like being with people who get it,” she said.
Ron DeSantis says he’s open to drone strikes on Mexican drug cartels 2023-08-10 - CORALVILLE, IOWA — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said on Thursday that he would be open to using drone strikes against Mexican drug cartels if elected president. “We will absolutely reserve the right if they’re invading our country and killing our people,” DeSantis said when asked by a voter if he would be willing to use drones against the cartels. When asked later by NBC News to clarify, DeSantis said, “I said I would use whatever force we need to defend the country.” “We’d be willing to lean in against them, and we reserve the right to defend our country,” he added. DeSantis has been leaning hard into immigration as a theme in his presidential campaign, pushing to the right in an effort to distinguish himself from former President Donald Trump. In June, DeSantis endorsed the use of “deadly force” against migrants suspected of trafficking drugs. He reiterated that policy again on Thursday when speaking to a crowd of more than 150 voters in a packed restaurant here. “We’re authorizing deadly force. They try to break into our country? They will end up stone-cold dead,” the Florida governor said to a rousing round of applause. In a recent interview with NBC News, DeSantis discussed how he would distinguish between migrants who are smuggling drugs and those who are not. “Same way a police officer would know,” he said. “Same way somebody operating in Iraq would know. You know, these people in Iraq at the time, they all looked the same. You didn’t know who had a bomb strapped to them. So those guys have to make judgments.” In May, DeSantis authorized 1,100 members of Florida law enforcement and the National Guard to be sent to the southern border. And long before announcing his run for president, he flew migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts — a stunt he frequently brags about on the campaign trail. “We banned sanctuary cities, we sent support to Texas to help secure the border, and we even helped transport illegal aliens to beautiful Martha’s Vineyard,” DeSantis said Thursday. He’s also pledged to end birthright citizenship, a policy where children who are born in the U.S. automatically become citizens, regardless of whether or not their parents are citizens. A few other Republicans, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, have also said they'd back military attacks on Mexico. The American military has used drone strikes in Syria as early as this spring, retaliating to a deadly Iranian attack. The military has also used drone strikes in Afghanistan in the past but never employed the tactic in Mexico.
9-year-old Chicago girl enjoying ice cream, playing on scooter before neighbor fatally shot her in head 2023-08-10 - A 9-year-old girl in Chicago was playing on her scooter and enjoying some ice cream on Saturday only moments before her adult neighbor walked across the street, shot her in the head and killed her, according to court records. The girl has been identified as Serabi Medina. Michael Goodman, 43, is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting and was held without bond Tuesday. He remained in jail on Thursday, court records said. The child was seemingly enjoying a typical summer night in her Portage Park neighborhood shortly before 9:30 p.m. when a shot rang out across the street from her, according to the bond proffer presented in court Tuesday during a bail hearing for Goodman. According to the bond proffer, after the gun was fired, Serabi’s father, who was holding ice cream given to him by his daughter, instructed her to take her scooter and get inside their apartment. Serabi Medina. Juanita Miranda via NBC Chicago That’s when Goodman appeared with a gun in his hand. He walked toward Serabi near the apartment building’s entrance. The child’s father shouted at Goodman, asking what he was doing, but Goodman ignored him and continued toward the apartment vestibule. Serabi’s father then ran toward his daughter but did not get to her in time — Goodman raised the firearm and shot the child in the head, court records said. The girl’s father managed to tackle Goodman into the vestibule, and as the pair fell to the ground, the gun discharged and struck Goodman in the eye, court records said. A motive for the shooting was not specified in the bond proffer. Police on Monday said Goodman was taken to the hospital and was in critical condition. Megan Kelley, a neighbor and friend of the girl’s family, told the Chicago Sun-Times that the gunman confronted the girl and her father about noise. “Yesterday, when he came out, before he shot her, he had said something about them being too loud,” Kelley said. She also told the newspaper that the suspect had a history of complaining about children playing in the neighborhood. “He would come out just yelling about the noise. It just didn’t make sense. None of it made sense,” Kelley said. “Everybody in the community would just tell him they are just kids having fun playing, just let them be.” Fiona Ortiz, a spokesperson for the Cook County Public Defender’s Office, said on Thursday that Goodman is represented by a public defender. Goodman’s lawyer told the court Tuesday he suffers from severe mental health issues and a mental health care order for immediate psychiatric treatment was entered into the court, Ortiz said. The bond proffer said in addition to the girl’s father, three witnesses also identified Goodman as the gunman. Investigators recovered a 9mm shell casing outside the vestibule, and a 9mm Canik firearm from the vestibule. A search of Goodman’s apartment revealed a 9mm bullet lodged in the wall, the bond proffer said.
Black riverfront worker said he ‘hung on for dear life’ during Montgomery attack 2023-08-10 - In his written deposition to Montgomery police, filed hours after he was attacked at the city’s riverfront last weekend, dock worker Damien Pickett said he “hung on for dear life” as he was pummeled by a group of white boaters who disregarded his requests to move their boat so a dinner cruise vessel could dock. NBC News obtained the handwritten account Pickett filed with law enforcement after the Aug. 5 melee. Pickett, who has yet to speak publicly about the incident and did not respond to a request for comment, detailed the moments leading up to the fracas, which was captured on video. In his statement, he recounts the battle between white disruptive boaters and the cadre of Black people who came to his aid. Mary Todd, one woman who jumped into the melee, was taken into custody Thursday by the Montgomery Police Department and charged with third-degree assault. On Wednesday night, two of the three men initially charged in the altercation — Allen Todd, 23, and Zachary Shipman, 25 — turned themselves in to face third-degree assault charges. Richard Roberts, 48, was already in custody. They did not answer requests for comment about Pickett’s account of events. Pickett wrote that crew members asked the occupants of the pontoon boat, through an intercom, to move it “five or six times.” When Pickett left the cruise vessel, Harriott II, to confront the passengers of the smaller boat, he heard passengers shouting to the rowdy boaters to “move your boat. You’re in the way.” The men on the pontoon responded by “giving us the finger” for about three minutes, Pickett wrote. Eventually, he and a dockhand untied the pontoon boat and moved it “three steps to the right” and tied it back to a post so the Harriott II could dock. “By that time, two people ran up behind me,” Pickett wrote. One of the men, in a red hat, yelled to Pickett, “Don’t touch that boat motherf— or we will beat your ass.” “I told them, ‘No, you won’t,’” he wrote. Pickett said they were unaware that he had given the captain the go-ahead to dock the Harriott II. The men continued to threaten Pickett, he said, and he told them: “Do what you’ve got to do, I’m just doing my job.” One white man called another white man over to the scene. “They both were very drunk,” Pickett wrote. Another man came over to “try to calm them down” and then the boat’s owner came over. Pickett explained that the signs denoting where to park had been taken down by someone, so he had to tell them where to move the boat to make room for the Harriott II. The boat’s owner, wearing a gray shirt and red shorts with a sun visor, “started getting loud … He got into my face. ‘This belongs to the f— public.’ I told him this was a city dock.” Soon, the melee began. “By that time,” Pickett wrote, “a tall, older white guy came over and hit me in the face. I took my hat off and threw it in the air. Somebody hit me from behind. I started choking the older guy in front of me so he couldn’t anymore, pushing him back at the same time. “Then the guy in the red shorts came up and tackled me … I went to the ground. I think I hit one of them.” He said the attackers littered him with threats as they ganged up on him. “I’m gonna kill you, motherf—--. Beat your ass, motherf—--.” “I can’t tell you how long it lasted,” Pickett wrote. “I grabbed one of them and just held on for dear life.” Eventually, Pickett said he looked up and help had arrived. “Two people were pulling them off me.” He described the assistance as coming from a tall Black man and a security guard. After struggling to his feet, Pickett said he looked up and “one of my co-workers had jumped into the water and was pushing people and fighting.” While being held by someone, Pickett asked to be released so he could dock the boat. He gave the necessary orders to the captain to park the vessel. Witnesses say a large brawl that broke out on the riverfront in Montgomery, Ala., on Saturday was fueled by alcohol and adrenaline. Courtesy Christa Owen Meanwhile, “my nose was running … and I could hear passengers and co-workers arguing with the people who attacked me.” The Harriott II docked and when the ramp came down for passengers to disembark, Pickett’s nephew “ran off the boat and went after them. I was screaming for him to come back.” The nephew did not come back and the encounter escalated. “The security guard was trying to get the lady in red to leave; she wouldn’t listen. People from off the boat and spectators were coming down the back end of the dock. The guy who started it all was choking my sister. I hit him, grabbed her and moved her … I turned around and MPD had a taser in my face. I told him I was the one being attacked and could I finish doing my job.” The back of the cruise vessel had not been tied to the dock. Pickett, despite the chaos around him, helped passengers off the boat with the aid of police. He apologized to them “for the inconvenience. They all said I did nothing wrong,” he wrote. “Some of them were giving me cards with their names and numbers on it. Some said they had it all on film, so I pointed them out to MPD.” At some point, Pickett said he was led to a medic, “where I sat for 25 or 30 minutes. My head was hurting. I felt a knot in the back of my head and the front.” With coaxing, he sought treatment in the emergency room, where he was shown to have bruised ribs and bumps on his head, but no broken bones.