Justice Department to review how best to fight hate crimes
(Kevin Dietsch/Pool via AP)WASHINGTON โ Attorney General Merrick Garland on Tuesday ordered a review of how the Justice Department can best deploy its resources to combat hate crimes during a surge in incidents targeting Asian Americans. They should also focus on improving the FBIโs collection of data on hate crimes, which is โcritical to understanding the evolving nature and extent of hate crimes and hate incidents in all their forms,โ he wrote in the memo. A main criticism from lawmakers and civil rights groups has been that the U.S. government vastly undercounts hate crimes because the FBIโs reporting system is voluntary. In some states, just 5% of police departments reported any hate crimes last year. The review is aimed at determining how the Justice Department can better prioritize investigations and prosecutions, increase and track reporting of hate crimes and other incidents that could violate federal law and use civil remedies to address bias incidents that donโt amount to federal hate crimes.
Pelosi pledges swift work on major infrastructure package
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)WASHINGTON โ House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday pledged swift work by Congress on a job and infrastructure package that will be โfiscally sound,โ but said she isn't sure whether the next major item on President Joe Bidenโs agenda will attract Republican backing. AdBut work on passing infrastructure legislation in a Senate split 50-50 with Vice President Kamala Harris providing a tiebreaking vote will probably prove more difficult. Moderate Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., recently made clear he will block infrastructure legislation if Republicans aren't included. 3 Senate Republican, said he wants to see bipartisan support for an infrastructure legislation. Cost will be a major hurdle in passing an infrastructure plan.
Auto industry urges emissions deal weaker than Obama's
Whether people want them or not, automakers are rolling out multiple new electric vehicle models as the auto industry responds to stricter pollution regulations worldwide and calls to reduce emissions to fight climate change. Asked Friday about the proposal, the White House said discussions with the auto industry on a fuel emissions standard were still early. Under the Obama-era standards, automakers got double credit for fully electric vehicles toward meeting their fuel economy and pollution requirements. AdBiden also has made boosting electric vehicles a top priority. They described credits granted to automakers for electric vehicles as โloopholesโ that do little to reduce emissions in the short term.
Garland vows return to 'normal' Justice Dept. on 1st day
President Joe Biden's pick for attorney general Merrick Garland, addresses staff on his first day at the Department of Justice, Thursday, March 11, 2021, in Washington. Welcome to the new Justice Department, likely a much tamer place to be after four years of blaring headlines under Donald Trump. The former president insisted that his attorney general, and entire department, be loyal to him personally, battering the departmentโs reputation for political independence. โWhen I walked in the door of Main Justice this morning, it really did feel like I was coming home,โ Garland said, referring to Justice Department headquarters. AdAbout 15 minutes later, he took the oath of office, administered by Assistant Attorney General Lee Lofthus.
Family of Americans held in Iran want any deal to free them
The Obama administration closed the nuclear deal without making the freeing of American citizens in Iran a prerequisite. The Trump administration then failed to push for the release of the Namazi father and son as hard as it did other Americans held by Iran, Babak Namazi said. Jake Sullivan, the U.S. national security adviser, called Iranโs continued detention of American citizens a โhumanitarian catastropheโ on a news show this Sunday. โMy family expects that President Biden and his administration will not make concessions or deals with Iranโ absent a requirement that Iran free the father and son, Babak Namazi told reporters. The 84-year-old found that Iran's Revolutionary Guard had unexpectedly placed a new block on his travel out of Iran, however, Babak Namazi said.
Effort to put Tubman on $20 bill restarted under Biden
With a change of administrations, it looks like Harriet Tubman is once again headed to the front of the $20 bill. Obama administration Treasury Secretary Jack Lew had selected Tubman to replace Andrew Jackson, the nations seventh president, on the $20 bill. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)WASHINGTON โ With a change of administrations, it looks like Harriet Tubman is once again headed to the front of the $20 bill. Obama administration Treasury Secretary Jack Lew had selected Tubman to replace Andrew Jackson, the nation's seventh president, on the $20 bill. Under the schedule Mnuchin announced in May 2019, the redesigned $20 bill would not have come out until 2028 with final designs for the bill not announced until 2026.
For first time in 5 years, US gas mileage down, emissions up
(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)DETROIT โ A new government report says gas mileage for new vehicles dropped and pollution increased in model year 2019 for the first time in five years. The Environmental Protection Agency says the changes show that few automakers could meet what it called unrealistic emissions and mileage standards set by the Obama administration through the 2020 model year. The EPA report released Wednesday says gas mileage fell 0.2 miles per gallon for model year 2019, while greenhouse gas emissions rose by 3 grams per mile traveled, compared with 2018 figures. Mileage dropped to 24.9 miles per gallon while greenhouse gas emissions rose to 356 grams per mile, the report said. It was updated on Jan. 14, 2021, to correct the second paragraph to show that new vehicle gas mileage for 2019 decreased rather than increased.
Biden adds Obama administration veterans to top staff
WASHINGTON โ President-elect Joe Biden is adding four Obama-Biden administration veterans to his top ranks as he continues to build out his White House team. Cathy Russell, who was Jill Bidenโs chief of staff during the Obama administration, will serve as director of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, evaluating applicants for administration roles. Louisa Terrell, who served as a legislative adviser to the president in the Obama administration and worked as deputy chief of staff for Biden in the Senate, will be director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs. Carlos Elizondo, who was social secretary for Jill Biden during the Obama administration, will reprise his role and serve as social secretary for the incoming first lady. Her role hints at what Biden may focus on as first lady โ Adiga previously worked as a director for higher education and military families at the Biden Foundation, and also advised Jill Biden on policy during the Obama administration.
The Latest: Trump tries to explain lower fundraising numbers
Thatโs well short of the $383 million his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, and the Democratic National Committee reported raising last month. ___HEREโS WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE:President Donald Trump is holding rallies in Ocala, Florida, and Macon, Georgia, on Friday night. ___5 p.m.President Donald Trump is predicting a โred waveโ of Republican voting in Florida. Most polls show a close race in the important battleground state that both the Republican incumbent and Democrat Joe Biden are courting heavily. ___2:35 p.m.President Donald Trump says heโs moving โheaven and earthโ to protect older people from the coronavirus.
Trump on defense, courting voters in two must-win states
Trump campaigned in Florida and Georgia, neighboring states he carried four years ago and must win again to extend his presidency. And earlier this week, Trump had to court voters in Iowa, a state he carried by almost 10 points four years ago. More to the point for Trump's Florida audience, he spoke directly to seniors who have increasingly soured on his handling of the pandemic. โMishandling the pandemic isnโt enough for Trump,โ Biden charged. While decidedly on the defensive on the ground in key states, Trump released a scathing new ad on Friday attacking Biden's record on race.
Trump promotes health care 'vision' but gaps remain
Trump spoke at an airport hangar in swing-state North Carolina to a crowd that included white-coated, mask-wearing health care workers. For Trump, health care represents a major piece of unfinished business. Democrats, unable to slow the Republican march to Senate confirmation of a replacement for Ginsburg, are ramping up their election-year health care messaging. The gap narrowed for lowering costs of health care: 48% named Biden, while 42% picked Trump. The scramble to show concrete accomplishments on health care comes as Trump is chafing under criticism that he never delivered a Republican alternative to Obamacare.
Trump administration wonโt accept new DACA applications
Roughly 66,000 more would be eligible if new applications were accepted because they met the age requirement โ 15 โ after the Trump administration tried to end the program in 2017, according to the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute. The administrationโs monthlong silence had unnerved many DACA recipients and those who wanted to join. โItโs infuriating that we continue to be the punching bag for the administration,โ she said of fellow DACA recipients. Trump has tried unsuccessfully to work with Congress on a broader immigration package that would couple DACA with tougher enforcement measures. โWeโre going to work with a lot of people on DACA,โ Trump told reporters.
EPA drops regulation for contaminant harming babies' brains
The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday ended an Obama-era drive to regulate a widespread contaminant in drinking water linked to brain damage in infants. Administrator Andrew Wheeler's announcement was the latest in a series of Trump administration rollbacks or eliminations of existing or pending public health and environmental protections, targeting Obama administration initiatives in particular. The Trump administration says the regulations are burdensome to business and are unnecessary. He said that partly because of the steps that some states and public drinking water systems have taken to reduce perchlorate contamination, federal regulation was not warranted. The EPA required some nationwide testing for perchlorate in drinking water only from 2001 to 2005, making it impossible to determine how severe a problem remains nationally, Olson said.
Trump administration revokes transgender health protection
WASHINGTON The Trump administration Friday finalized a regulation that overturns Obama-era protections for transgender people against sex discrimination in health care. The policy shift, long-sought by the president's religious and socially conservative supporters, defines gender as a person's biological sex. The Obama regulation defined gender as a person's internal sense of being male, female, neither or a combination. LGBTQ groups say explicit protections are needed for people seeking sex-reassignment treatment, and even for transgender people who need medical care for common conditions such as diabetes or heart problems. The Trump administration says the notice requirement has become a needless burden on health care providers, requiring billions of paper notices to be mailed annually at an estimated five-year cost of $3.2 billion.
VIDEO: Woman gives impassioned plea to looters in her neighborhood
HOUSTON โ Video of a New York womanโs pleas to looters to stop is going viral. The video, published Tuesday, has more than three million views on YouTube. Photographer Dan Ladue captured what she said to the group, reprimanding them for damaging a neighborhood where working people live and depend on the small markets and businesses in the area. There are human beings that live in this neighborhood." Watch the video of her message, as published by ABC7, below.
Obama on death of George Floyd: This shouldnt be normal in 2020 America
(CNN) -- Former President Barack Obama on Friday said the death of a black man, George Floyd, in police custody, "shouldn't be 'normal' in 2020 America." Obama said it will mainly fall on officials in Minnesota to ensure Floyd's death is fully investigated "and that justice is ultimately done." Four Minneapolis police officers involved in Floyd's death were fired, but Floyd's family wants them to be charged with murder. The former president also put Floyd's death in context of other recent events: "It's natural to wish for life 'to just get back to normal' as a pandemic and economic crisis upend everything around us. In his statement, Obama shared parts of conversations he has had over the past week about Floyd's death.
RuPaul built a drag empire -- now itโs time to pay attention
Since then, more than 100 drag queens have sashyed into the Werk Room to launch their careers, and the show has gone on to win 13 Emmy Awards, including two for Outstanding Competition Show. RuPaul became the most recognizable drag queen in America, but it wouldnโt be until the premiere of โRuPaulโs Drag Raceโ that took Ru and his empire to the global level. The premise of the show is pretty simple: RuPaul and his esteemed panel of judges are searching for Americaโs next drag superstar. Itโs hard to imagine an out and proud drag queen becoming such a success, let alone a drag queen of color to become the face and name of the art of drag. Itโs like what RuPaul says at the end of every episode of โDrag Race:" If you canโt love yourself, how in the hell can you love somebody else?
Income growth greatest in tech hubs over past 5 years
Other congressional districts that had the highest household income growth were in or around Houston; Pittsburgh; Provo, Utah; parts of South Florida and the wealthy retirement haven of Sarasota, Florida. Most of the income growth in these areas came from wages, said Mark Vitner, a senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities. Household income grew more in Democratic-leaning districts than Republican ones, according to an Associated Press analysis of the data by congressional districts. Household income grew by an average of more than $12,000 in Democratic-leaning congressional districts, compared to more than $9,000 in Republican-leaning districts. In other areas, income growth was significantly more modest.
Aug. 26: Texas Experts weigh in on RNC expectations
HOUSTON โ There was no shortage of opinion or passion as political experts joined Khambrel Marshall on this weeks' Houston Newsmakers. Calhoun's organization works to recruit African Americans into the Republican Party and says this is the year when Blacks will return in big numbers to the Republican fold to defeat President Obama. Jenard Jenkins is the Communications Chair for the Harris County Democratic Party and says the Republican party is "reeling" and is engaging in an "assault on women's rights and reproductive health." Professor Mark Jones is the Chair of the Political Science Department at Rice University. Professor Franklin Jones is Chairman of the Political Science Department at Texas Southern University and Professor Jeremy Bailey is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Houston, specializing in U.S.