Media covers Biden with lighter touch after four years of Trump

Former Obama White House spokesman Josh Earnest, now with United Airlines, offers analysis on 'Bill Hemmer Reports'

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  • Where is President Trump going to live after he leaves office?

    Since he changed his legal address from Trump Tower in New York City to his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Fla., some have assumed that’s where he'll go after leaving Washington. There’s just one problem.

  • He killed a woman and held her roommate hostage on Thanksgiving, cops say. He’s charged.

    A man is facing charges including murder and attempted murder, after Broward Sheriff’s Office detectives say he broke into a home on Thanksgiving Day, choked and battered one victim and killed another.

  • Barr Appoints Durham as Special Counsel to Continue Probe under Biden

    Attorney General William Barr has appointed U.S. attorney John Durham as special counsel to secure his probe into the origins of the Russia investigation as president-elect Joe Biden prepares to take office.The authority of the special counsel will make it more difficult for the incoming Biden administration to fire Durham, allowing the attorney to continue his work on the probe. The order appointing Durham special counsel is dated October 19; however, Barr wrote that the order should not be made public until after the general election, “because legitimate investigative and privacy concerns warrant confidentiality.”> News: Here is a copy of the order from Barr appointing John Durham as special counsel of the investigation into the origins of the Russia probe pic.twitter.com/rUFbDO6Amj> > -- Alayna Treene (@alaynatreene) December 1, 2020"I decided the best thing to do would be to appoint them under the same regulation that covered [Robert] Mueller, to provide Durham and his team some assurance that they’d be able to complete their work regardless of the outcome of the election," Barr told the Associated Press.Durham's investigation "is focused on the activities of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation within the FBI," Barr said.Crossfire Hurricane was the name given to the FBI's investigation of possible collusion between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russian operatives. The more than two-year probe yielded no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia to disrupt the 2016 election.As a result of Durham’s investigation, former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith pleaded guilty to altering an email that he used to apply for a FISA warrant against former Trump-campaign adviser Carter Page. Clinesmith was involved in the Crossfire Hurricane investigation from its early stages. In August 2016, the FBI agents who opened the Crossfire Hurricane investigation gave Trump his first intelligence briefing, and Clinesmith approved a summary of that briefing along with former agent Peter Strzok.

  • Freshly pardoned Michael Flynn shares message telling Trump to 'suspend the Constitution' to hold a new presidential election

    Retired Gen. Michael Flynn is fresh off a presidential pardon and ready to get back into some trouble.President Trump pardoned his short-lived national security adviser last week, after Flynn had previously pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with a Russian ambassador. Flynn has since been sharing dubious allegations of voter fraud, and on Wednesday, boosted a message telling Trump to take some radical actions to stop it.In a full-page Washington Times ad from something called the We the People Convention, Ohio Tea Party leader Tom Zawistowski tries to draw a comparison between Lincoln trying to save the union in 1863 and Trump trying to claw back the 2020 election, using some disputed facts along the way. Zawistowski alleges a lot of similarities between the two times, from "Democrat/Socialist federal officials plotting to finish gutting the U.S. Constitution" to big tech "actively censoring free speech and promoting leftist propaganda." So to counter that, the We the People Convention suggests Trump "declare limited Martial Law to temporarily suspend the Constitution" in order to hold a presidential election re-vote overseen by the military.> Big pro-authoritarian energy in Trumpland today:> > The president's (recently pardoned) former national security adviser, Mike Flynn, shared a message encouraging President Trump to "temporarily suspend the Constitution," impose martial law and "silence the destructive media." pic.twitter.com/cQh0wl7oWw> > — Brad Heath (@bradheath) December 2, 2020Flynn shared the ad on Twitter on Wednesday, seemingly trying to encourage a bunch of Fox News hosts and QAnon supporters to share it. It's just one of many disputed facts and allegations about the election that are apparently flowing through the mind of the man who used to oversee America's national security.More stories from theweek.com Trump gives 45-minute speech about voter fraud — which 1 analyst says he'd be making in court if it had any merit Our parents warned us the internet would break our brains. It broke theirs instead. The naked corruption of Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue

  • EU's Barnier says UK trade deal still hangs in balance: source

    The European Union's Brexit negotiator told the 27 national envoys to Brussels on Wednesday that differences in UK trade talks persisted, according to a senior EU diplomat who was present at the closed-door briefing. "Differences still persist on the three main issues," the diplomat said, when asked for the overall thrust of Barnier's update to EU member states on the latest in Brexit trade talks.

  • Republican Sen. David Perdue's stock portfolio shows he'd occasionally make at least 20 trades in one day, per a New York Times investigation

    He made 2,596 trades over his first term, according to the New York Times. He faces a runoff election for his seat on Jan. 5.

  • Sweden: Mother suspected of locking up her son for 28 years

    Police in Stockholm are investigating a woman in her 70s suspected of having kept her son locked up — reportedly for 28 years — in an apartment south of the Swedish capital, investigators said Tuesday. Prosecutor Emma Olsson, who heads the preliminary investigation, said the woman who was held on suspicion of unlawful deprivation of liberty and grievous bodily harm. Olsson said the 41-year-old son was found by a relative who then alerted authorities.

  • Seattle to Slash Police Budget as Homicides Hit Highest Level in over a Decade

    Seattles is preparing to slash the city's police budget just as homicides in the city climb to their highest level in more than a decade.Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan is set to sign a city budget that includes an 18 percent cut to the Seattle Police Department, a move that comes after police reform activists demanded the police budget be reduced by half. Calls for police reform have abounded in cities across the country since May, when George Floyd died at the hands of police in Minneapolis.The city council voted last week to slash about $69 million in funding for officer training, salaries and overtime, and get rid of vacant positions in the police department as well as transfer parking officers, mental health workers, and 911 dispatchers out of the department. The goal is to ultimately reinvest in alternatives to police in situations such as mental health crises.Meanwhile, Seattle had seen 55 murders this year as of Monday, the highest level since at least 2008, the last year of data available. The troubled city is also suffering a spike in violent crime, with 8,418 burglary incidents, up from to 7,634 last year, according to police.The mayor, a Democrat, said last week that she believes the city is "laying the groundwork to make systemic and lasting changes to policing.""We have rightly put forward a plan that seeks to ensure SPD has enough officers to meet 911 response and investigative needs throughout the city, while acknowledging and addressing the disproportionate impacts policing has had on communities of color, particularly Black communities," Durkan said in a statement.Police Chief Carmen Best resigned over the summer amid disagreements with the city council over the cuts to the police budget.In June, rioters claimed and barricaded off several blocks in the city’s downtown Capitol Hill neighborhood, calling it the “Capitol Hill Occupied Protest” zone, or CHOP, after police abandoned their East Precinct to vandals and arsonists. Police agreed not to respond to calls from within the “autonomous zone” unless they were life-threatening.Later that month, however, Durkan, who previously predicted the autonomous zone would usher in a “summer of love” and said her decision to withdraw police from the area reflected her “trust” in protesters, announced the city would begin dismantling the zone, citing incidents of violence. A shooting inside the zone left a 19-year-old dead and another critically injured. Police said they were met by a violent crowd that blocked their access to the victims.

  • Army sergeant arrested after boy forced out of car, killed by vehicle

    An Alabama soldier was charged with reckless murder after allegedly forcing his girlfriend's unruly 5-year-old son to get out of a car at night along a road where the boy was hit and killed by another vehicle, authorities said.

  • Joint Chiefs chair sparks backlash after stating U.S. has 'achieved a modicum of success' in Afghanistan

    Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Mark Milley, speaking during a Brookings Institution event Wednesday, said that, after nearly 20 years in Afghanistan the U.S. has "achieved a modicum of success" with its military operations in the country. That's true, he argued, despite a current "state of strategic stalemate" and the inability to defeat the Taliban militarily.The comments, which come as the military looks to execute President Trump's partial troop withdrawal order, sparked a backlash, with critics suggesting -- some more explicitly -- that a "modicum" is a fairly paltry amount of success to earn for such a high cost> CJCS Gen. Milley, asked about Afghanistan withdrawal, says 20 years of constant U.S. effort has produced a "modicum" of success. > > Quite the optimist.> > -- Brian Everstine (@beverstine) December 2, 2020> Milley, on the state of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan: > > "We believe now that after 20 years, two decades of consistent effort, that we he have achieved a modicum of success."> > More than 775,000 service members have deployed to Afghanistan. Nearly 2,400 dead, and 20K wounded.> > -- Dan Lamothe (@DanLamothe) December 2, 2020Others added that Milley's analysis of the situation, even if it's interpreted as defeatist, still downplays the reality on the ground over the last two decades. > Some people will give Milley some credit here. Oh he's telling the truth. No. It's been an abject failure. By every metric. Especially when most of the metrics are currently classified. They don't usually do that when they are successful.> > -- Paul Szoldra (@PaulSzoldra) December 2, 2020More stories from theweek.com Trump gives 45-minute speech about voter fraud — which 1 analyst says he'd be making in court if it had any merit Our parents warned us the internet would break our brains. It broke theirs instead. The naked corruption of Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue

  • Biden told this immigrant rights activist 'vote for Trump' in a blunt exchange. He voted for Biden but is ready to push him hard on immigration reform.

    Carlos Rojas Rodriguez confronted then-candidate Joe Biden about deportations in 2019. Here's what Rodriguez wants to see from the president-elect.

  • 80-year-old woman’s ex son-in-law charged with repeatedly raping her, taking pictures

    For more than a year, an 80-year-old Hialeah woman refused to tell her daughter that she was being forcibly raped by her daughter’s ex-husband, according to police.

  • I saw Donald Trump’s presidency come crashing down at Four Seasons Total Landscaping

    The Trump presidency ended in the parking lot of a landscaping company next to an adult bookstore. Richard Hall was there

  • 10 Remote Airbnbs As Stunning As They Are Secluded

    From a private island to a tiny Vermont tree houseOriginally Appeared on Architectural Digest

  • 'Stop the Steal' rally asks Trump supporters not to vote in Georgia's Senate runoffs

    A team of Trump-adjacent lawyers are turning on the electoral process as a whole.Sidney Powell, a former lawyer for the Trump campaign who has since been disavowed, and high-profile lawyer Lin Wood, along with a bunch of other people falsely alleging the whole 2020 election was rigged, gathered Wednesday in Georgia for a so-called "Stop the Steal" rally. There, they brought up some old favorite Trump rally chants and election conspiracy theories, though with a decidedly non-GOP-approved twist.With Trump campaign flags flying, the scantily masked crowd was reminiscent of a rally for the outgoing president. But the "lock him up" chants at this rally were actually targeted at Brian Kemp, Georgia's Republican governor. Wood initiated the chants, calling for a protest outside Kemp's house and his resignation because he hasn't moved to overturn President-elect Joe Biden's win in the state.Powell added to that, calling for ballots that are signed and marked with a thumbprint -- an idea that doesn't jibe with the secret ballots mandated in Georgia and most of the U.S. "I would encourage all Georgians to make it known that you will not vote at all unless your vote is secure," Powell added, essentially advocating for a boycott of the January runoffs that will decide control of the Senate. And when Rep. Vernon Jones (R-Ga.) tried to butt in and encourage people to turn out, Wood jumped back in, telling everyone to stay home until Trump is given the win and even suggesting Trump should split from the GOP altogether.If all that wasn't enough, someone brought a literal pitchfork to the event. > Someone at the rally literally carrying a pitchfork. pic.twitter.com/y4lteN9Xwn> > -- Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) December 2, 2020More stories from theweek.com Trump gives 45-minute speech about voter fraud — which 1 analyst says he'd be making in court if it had any merit Our parents warned us the internet would break our brains. It broke theirs instead. The naked corruption of Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue

  • US Supreme Court asked to block Biden win in Pennsylvania

    Republicans attempting to undo President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in Pennsylvania asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to take up their lawsuit, three days after it was thrown out by the highest court in the battleground state. In the request to the U.S. Supreme Court, Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly of northwestern Pennsylvania and the other plaintiffs are asking the court to prevent the state from certifying any contests from the Nov. 3 election, and undo any certifications already made, such as Biden’s victory. Biden beat President Donald Trump by more than 80,000 votes in Pennsylvania, a state Trump had won in 2016.

  • Operation Warp Speed's top scientist predicts more than 100 million Americans could be immunized with coronavirus vaccines within the next 100 days

    By the end of February, 100 million Americans could be vaccinated, Operation Warp Speed's Moncef Slaoui predicted.

  • 'This is shameful!': Fox News co-host goes off on Trump voter fraud claims as 'nonsense' and 'ridiculous' in heated exchange

    Juan Williams, normally a mild mannered liberal co-host on 'The Five,' finally had enough on Wednesday's show.

  • McConnell's latest COVID relief plan includes GOP priorities, 1-month unemployment extension

    A few hours after a bipartisan group of senators unveiled a $908 billion coronavirus relief bill proposal Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) circulated his own plan among Republican lawmakers. Several news organizations obtained a copy of the outline.McConnell's plan, Bloomberg notes, appears to be a tweaked version of his previous $500 billion proposal (although the full price tag is not yet known), with funds earmarked for a second round of the Payroll Protection Program and coronavirus vaccine distribution and development. It doesn't seem likely to serve as an overture to Democrats and instead caters to several Republican senators by including measures like COVID-19 liability shields for businesses, which the other side of the aisle opposes.> McConnell's "revised" bill includes lots of goodies for his members:> > \- Toomey proposal ensuring Fed can't use unspent CARES money > \- school choice tax credits for Cruz > \- Tim Scott's tax deduction for biz meals > \- Cornyn's liability shield bill > \- $20B in additional aid to farmers> > -- Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) December 1, 2020Unlike the bipartisan framework from earlier in the day, McConnell's bill does not include any money for state, local, and tribal governments, another nod toward Republicans who remain staunchly opposed to the notion. It does extend the deadline for enhanced unemployment benefits, but only by a month, whereas the other bill proposal would push end date to April.McConnell said he was bearish on his colleagues' framework because the clock is ticking, and he seems to believe the White House will sign off on his version. > I asked @senatemajldr McConnell why not push for the bipartisan, presumably more popular, COVID Relief framework. His response: pic.twitter.com/iekHQkkues> > -- Garrett Haake (@GarrettHaake) December 1, 2020More stories from theweek.com Trump gives 45-minute speech about voter fraud — which 1 analyst says he'd be making in court if it had any merit Our parents warned us the internet would break our brains. It broke theirs instead. The naked corruption of Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue

  • Biden facing growing pressure over secretary of defense pick

    President-elect Joe Biden is facing escalating pressure from competing factions within his own party as he finalizes his choice for secretary of defense. Black leaders have encouraged the incoming president to select an African American to diversify what has so far been a largely white prospective Cabinet, while others are pushing him to appoint a woman to lead the Department of Defense for the first time. At the same time, a growing collection of progressive groups is opposing the leading female contender, Michèle Flournoy, citing concerns about her record and private-sector associations.