Andrew Young was at Martin Luther King's side throughout often violent struggle for civil rights
Andrew Young, one of the last surviving members of Martin Luther King Jr.'s inner circle, recalls the journey to the signing of the Voting Rights Act as an arduous one, often marked by violence and bloodshed.
Sterling Lord, uniquely enduring literary agent, dies at 102
The uniquely enduring literary agent who worked for years to find a publisher for Jack Kerouacโs โOn the Roadโ and over the following decades arranged deals for everyone from true crime writer Joe McGinniss to the creators of the Berenstain Bears has died.
New this week: 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,' Kanye and 'From'
This weekโs new entertainment releases include a musical reunion of Leon Bridges and Khruangbin, the first take of a multi-part documentary on Kanye West and the return of โThe Marvelous Mrs. Maiselโ for its pandemic-delayed fourth season.
Schumer: 'We made progress' on voting bill, filibuster rules
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says Democrats "made progressโ toward changing the Senateโs filibuster rules to advance voting legislation, despite the dramatic collapse of the package that his party says is central to protecting democracy.
Officials say COVID cases pushing Houston health care system to near โbreaking pointโ
Houston area officials say the latest wave of COVID-19 cases is pushing the local health care system to nearly โa breaking point,โ resulting in some patients having to be transferred out of the city to get medical care, including one who had to be taken to North Dakota.
Congressional leaders urge FCC to perform equity audit
Congressional leaders and a media advocacy organization are urging the Federal Communications Commission to investigate how policy decisions have disparately harmed Black Americans and other communities of color, according to a letter sent Tuesday to the acting FCC chair.
Biden says โvery graciousโ queen โreminded me of my motherโ
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden visited Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle on Sunday, and afterward the president told reporters traveling with him that the 95-year-old monarch was โvery graciousโ and reminded him of his mother.
Why did it take so long for Fatherโs Day to be created?
On May 9, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation declaring the second Sunday of each May would be โa public expressions of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country,โ also known as, the creation of Motherโs Day.
At Camp David retreat, Biden hangs out, shows he's got game
FILE - In this July 1981 file photo released by The White House, U.S. President Ronald Reagan, left, and Vice President George Bush go horseback riding at Camp David, Md. He capped it off by beating one of his granddaughters at Mario Kart during his first presidential visit to Camp David, the historic retreat for U.S. leaders. Thatโs what Camp David has traditionally offered presidents: a respite from Washington where they can shed their ties and relax with family. Bill Clinton tried to replicate that diplomatic alchemy when he invited Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to Camp David for Mideast peace talks in 2000. He said when foreign leaders descend on Camp David, it can be like an โadult sleepover.โโGoing to camp in the cabins creates an atmosphere where leaders are very close together.
Biden's dilemma in virus aid fight: Go big or go bipartisan
FILE - In this Feb. 5, 2021, file photo President Joe Biden speaks about the economy in the State Dinning Room of the White House in Washington. One featured a public show of trying to reach across the political aisle, with bipartisan rhetoric and a White House invitation for Republican senators. But it's more likely that the White House will need to choose between the two extremes. โPresident Bidenโs got some pretty big tests in front of him when it comes to domestic policy. AdThe process of securing the $787 billion package โ aid broadly credited for helping boost an economy in free fall โ left a bad taste for the Obama-Biden White House.
At 78 and the oldest president, Biden sees a world changed
WASHINGTON โ When Joe Biden took the oath of office as the 46th president, he became not only the oldest newly inaugurated U.S. chief executive in history but also the oldest sitting president ever. Thatโs 78 days older than President Ronald Reagan was when he left office in 1989. A look at how the country Biden now leads has changed over his lifetime and how his presidency might reflect that. The world population in Bidenโs lifetime has grown from about 2.3 billion to 7.8 billion. The month Biden was born, a dozen eggs averaged about 60 cents in U.S. cities -- two hours of minimum wage work.
Trump shuns 'ex-presidents club' โ and the feeling is mutual
Now that he's left office, it's hard to see him embracing the stately, exclusive club of living former presidents. โHe kind of laughed at the very notion that he would be accepted in the presidents club,โ said Kate Andersen Brower, who interviewed Trump in 2019 for her book โTeam of Five: The Presidentsโ Club in the Age of Trump." Obama, Bush and Clinton recorded their video after accompanying Biden to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider following the inauguration. When Hurricane Katrina blasted the Gulf Coast, Bush, father of the then-current president George W. Bush, called on Clinton to boost Katrina fundraising relief efforts. Obama tapped Clinton and the younger President Bush to boost fundraising efforts for Haiti after its devastating 2010 earthquake.
โRooting hard for youโ: Will departure notes end with Trump?
Ron.โThus was born the tradition of departing presidents leaving a handwritten note in the Oval Office for their successors. President Donald Trump has refused to accept the results of Novemberโs election and vowed not to attend Joe Bidenโs inauguration on Wednesday. I know you will feel that, too,โ Bush wrote in the note, adding, "I wish you great happiness here. Updegrove said even if the note tradition stops with Trump, it could easily start again when Biden leaves office. He has already been vice president and spent 36 years in the Senate, where tradition and bipartisan congeniality are strong.
Biden's long political evolution leads to his biggest test
Now Bidenโs central political identity faces the ultimate trial. Biden's answer follows two tracks: defending the fabric of society and institutions of government that Trumpโs tenure has stressed and calling for sweeping legislative action. The outcome will determine the reach of Bidenโs presidency and further test the lifetime politicianโs ability to evolve and meet events. Bidenโs longtime friend, California Rep. Nancy Pelosi, is the House speaker, but presides over a diminished Democratic majority and slim margin for error. โThey believe in his compassion and they believe in, quite frankly, his leadership skills.โAnzalone loosely compared Biden's appeal to Ronald Reagan's.
Deceptions in the time of the 'alternative facts' president
It meant buying into โalternative factsโ โ a phrase that spurred sales of George Orwellโs dystopian book โ1984โ when it was coined by a Trump aide. โIโm shocked to hear that,โ Trump told his crowd. โAnd we now have the greatest, most modern military in the history of our country,โ Trump told his Georgia crowd. But the systematic deceptions of the โalternative factsโ president were unlike anything before. Attempting to explain her phrase, Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway said there are alternative ways of arriving at the truth.
'MLK/FBI' probes when bureau bugged Martin Luther King Jr.
Yet only two days later, on Aug. 28, 1963, the FBIโs head of domestic intelligence, William C. Sullivan, sounded an internal alarm on King. Absolutely not.โ In some ways, you could even say we were a little bit complicit.โOn one hand, โMLK/FBIโ enhances the legacy of King. Not just Kingโs indiscretions but an explosive and controversial allegation discovered by Garrow in FBI records that King watched while a woman was sexually assaulted. โA big part of my thinking two years ago is that everyone needs to be prepared for what will be in the full transcripts and the surviving tapes," Garrow said. The FBIโs recordings of King are under court seal at the National Archives until Jan. 31, 2027.
Biden faces challenge in guiding America past Trump era
When Biden takes office later this month, his biggest challenge may be navigating a deeply divided country past the turmoil of the Trump era. Biden essentially framed his presidential campaign as a response to Trump, pledging to โrestore the soulโ of America. He has said he decided to seek the White House after watching Trump say there were โvery fine people on both sidesโ of a deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. โBiden has to be very conscious of dealing with President Trump," Updegrove continued. But the senator said the inauguration itself may offer the most important opportunity for Biden to set a forward-looking tone.
Trump's legacy: He changed the presidency, but will it last?
โFor all four years, this is someone who at every opportunity tried to stretch presidential power beyond the limits of the law,โ said presidential historian Michael Beschloss. I think heโs done tremendous damage in the last several weeks.โJeopardizing the peaceful transfer of power was hardly Trump's first assault on the traditions of the presidency. He rage tweeted at members of his own party and used government property for political purposes, including the White House as the backdrop for his renomination acceptance speech. Trump used National Guard troops to clear a largely peaceful protest across from the White House for a photo-op. He held superspreader events at the White House and contracted the virus himself.
'Something very historical': Push for diverse Biden Cabinet
African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans and other people of color played a crucial role in helping Biden defeat President Donald Trump. "It's nice to know that a Native American is under consideration," said Haaland, who says she is concentrating on her congressional work. A record six Native American or Native Hawaiian lawmakers were elected to Congress. Tribal officials concur there has never been a Native American as head of interior. The department's websites cite six Native American heads of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which was transferred to the Interior Department from the War Department in 1849.
Texas prisons, jails worst COVID-19 hotspots of any in US
At least 231 inmates and staff members have died of COVID-19 in Texas prisons and jails, according to the report by the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas. Other states that started off with a higher number of COVID-19 prison deaths have been dramatically more successful in reducing deaths than Texas, the study found. Seven out of the 106 prisons in the Texas system account for over half of the COVID-19 deaths in prison in Texas. Almost 6% of the inmate population at the Duncan Unit geriatric prison near Lufkin in East Texas has died of COVID-19, and more than 80% of the COVID-19 Texas prison fatalities were over age 55, the report states. Twenty-one prison inmates died behind bars with less than two years left to serve on their sentences.
Biden shores up fragile 'blue wall' in industrial north
โItโs a mistake to ever have thought Wisconsin was a safely blue state,โ said state Democratic Chairman Ben Wikler. To reverse Clinton's losses in the โblue wallโ states, Biden benefited from both strong suburban turnout and in the urban centers of Philadelphia, Detroit and Milwaukee. Even in losing Republican-heavy Waukesha County, Wisconsin, Biden's suburban gains were part of his winning Wisconsin formula. Trump also lost Saginaw County, Michigan, a struggling former General Motors supply manufacturing county Obama carried before the president flipped. But we're still a manufacturing economy and nearly stagnant in our growth,โ Erie County Democratic Party Chairman Jim Wertz said.
It's here: What to watch on Election Day in America
Election Day is finally here. Or at least what we still call Election Day, since nearly 100 million Americans had already cast ballots by Tuesday. Here's what to watch as the final votes for President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden are cast:WHAT DO AMERICANS WANT FROM A PRESIDENT? So itโs an open question how aggressive those official poll watchers will be in monitoring voters or even challenging eligibility. Trump is likely to counter with a lead among Election Day voters.
6 key questions going into the 2020 presidential election
Here are some key questions we are considering as the final votes are cast and counted:WHAT DO AMERICANS WANT FROM A PRESIDENT? Democrats can point to their early voting success, including from notable slices of new voters. Bidenโs expected to lead comfortably among early voters, for example. Trump is likely to counter with a lead among Election Day voters. ___APโs Advance Voting guide brings you the facts about voting early, by mail or absentee from each state: https://interactives.ap.org/advance-voting-2020/.
Trump's diversity training order faces lawsuit
NEW YORK โ Three civil rights groups filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging President Donald Trump's executive order that prohibits federal agencies, contractors and grant recipients from offering certain diversity training that the president deems โanti-American." The lawsuit argued that Trump's order violates free speech rights and strangles workplace attempts to address systemic race and sex discrimination. The National Urban League and the National Fair Housing Alliance both have federal contracts and plan to apply for future ones. Critics say Trump's order twists President Lyndon B. Johnsonโs 1965 initiative into vehicle for white grievances. The government has also canceled training programs at the State Department, Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Veteran Affairs.
White evangelicals hope to keep changing Texas red for Trump
During a break between morning church services, Beverly Sides, right, with the Prestonwood Cultural Impact Team shows Suzie Brewer election voter guides for various north Texas counties at Prestonwood Baptist Church Sunday, Oct. 11, 2020, in Plano, Texas. He spoke in the parking lot of a pizza place in McKinney, Texas, the county seat. Jeffress, the leader of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, also sees the changes underway in his state. Despite the United Statesโ troubles with the pandemic and economic crash, white evangelicals remain among the presidentโs most loyal supporters. Texas evangelicals expect Barrett, whose confirmation hearings are underway in the U.S. Senate this week, to uphold more limits to abortion.
Trump administration targets diversity hiring by contractors
Trumpโs Labor Department is using a 55-year-old presidential order spurred by the Civil Rights Movement to scrutinize companies like Microsoft and Wells Fargo over their public commitments to diversity. The agency has oversight over the hiring practices of thousands of federal contractors that employ roughly a quarter of all American workers. But he said itโs more likely the Trump administration is using the move as a political tactic ahead of the presidential election. โItโs a chicken-and-egg problem.โThe latest actions affecting contractors align with a broader Trump administration trend on matters of race. At least one university, the University of Iowa, suspended its diversity efforts in response the order.
Of presidents and health, history replete with secrecy, lies
The White House issued a vaguely worded statement at first, although Trump's doctors answered some questions from reporters on Saturday. Like many administrations before him, the White House tried to keep Wilson's sickness a secret. But with an election coming on, Roosevelt and the White House staff issued a statement saying the problem was far less serious. The first known instance of a so-called pool reporter inside the White House was in 1881 when James A. Garfield was shot. โI listen for every sound,โ Trusdell wrote to his wife in a note about his overnight Garfield watch at the White House.
Who's a hypocrite? GOP, Dems debate past comments on court
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., departs the chamber after speaking about the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Sept. 21, 2020. Democrats accuse the Kentucky Republican of blatant hypocrisy after McConnell refused to consider President Barack Obamaโs Supreme Court nominee, Judge Merrick Garland, eight months before the 2016 election. โThe American people,'' McConnell said then, "should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court justice.'' So we stuck with the historical norm," McConnell said Monday as he recounted past fights over the Supreme Court. โAll the rights enshrined in our Constitution that are supposed to be protected by the Supreme Court of the United Statesโ are at stake.