WASHINGTON - John Lewis, the civil rights warrior who died Friday aged 80, excelled at what he liked to call "good trouble" -- standing up against racial injustice to forge a better United States.
The African-American icon marched with Martin Luther King Jr., was nearly beaten to death by police, and later as a sitting congressman was arrested multiple times for protesting genocide or leading immigration reform sit-ins.
"From a historical standpoint, there are few who are able to become giants," Martin Luther King III, the oldest son of the civil rights icon, told CNN. "John Lewis really became a giant through his examples that he set for all of us."
Lewis was a sharecropper's son whose fights for justice helped define an era, and whose moral authority as an indomitable elder statesman left a permanent imprint in Congress.
He was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer in late 2019.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany tweeted on Saturday: "Rep. John Lewis was an icon of the civil rights movement, and he leaves an enduring legacy that will never be forgotten. We hold his family in our prayers, as we remember Rep. John Lewis' incredible contributions to our country."
But Lewis had clashed with President Donald Trump on multiple occasions -- boycotting his inauguration and citing Russian interference in the 2016 election to question his legitimacy.
Trump in turn said Lewis's Georgia district was "horrible" and the congressman was "all talk" and "no action."
In a statement announcing he was ordering flags lowered to half staff at the White House and other public buildings and embassies for a day, Trump's only mention of Lewis was to say he was acting "as a mark of respect for the memory and longstanding public service of Representative John Lewis, of Georgia."
He tweeted later: "Saddened to hear the news of civil rights hero John Lewis passing, Melania and I send our prayers to he and his family."
- Risked 'life and blood' -
Lewis was just 21 when he became a founding member of the Freedom Riders, who fought segregation of the US transportation system in the early 1960s, eventually becoming one of the nation's most powerful voices for justice and equality.
He was the youngest leader of the 1963 March on Washington, in which King delivered his famous "I have a dream" speech.
Two years later Lewis nearly died while leading hundreds of marchers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama when state troopers, seeking to intimidate those demonstrating for voting rights for black Americans, attacked.
Lewis suffered a fractured skull that day, which would become known as "Bloody Sunday."
Fifty years later in 2015, he walked across the bridge arm in arm with Barack Obama, the nation's first black president, to mark the march's anniversary.
Obama presented Lewis with the Medal of Freedom, among the nation's highest civilian honors, in 2011.
"Not many of us get to live to see our own legacy play out in such a meaningful, remarkable way. John Lewis did," Obama tweeted early Saturday.
"He loved this country so much that he risked his life and his blood so that it might live up to its promise," Obama added.
Another civil rights giant also died Friday.
Reverend CT Vivian staged anti-segregation sit-ins in the 1940s, was an early advisor to King and helped organize the Freedom Rides. He died early Friday at 95.
- 'Conscience of Congress' -
John Lewis was born in Troy, Alabama on February 21, 1940, the third of 10 children.
His community was almost entirely black, and he quickly learned about the segregation that afflicted Alabama.
Lewis, who organized sit-ins at segregated lunch counters and was arrested two dozen times for non-violent protests, was a founder and eventual chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, where he wrote speeches against police brutality and campaigned to register black voters.
He was elected to Congress in 1986 and quickly became a figure of moral authority.
Tributes poured in from Democrats and Republicans alike.
"Today, America mourns the loss of one of the greatest heroes of American history," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said of the 17-term congressman. She described Lewis as "a titan of the civil rights movement."
Republican Senator Mitt Romney called Lewis a man of "unwavering principle, unassailable character, penetrating purpose, and heartfelt compassion."
In recent months, Lewis stepped away from congressional duties as he underwent cancer treatment.
But he returned to Washington in early June, in the midst of fiery demonstrations following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, to walk in Black Lives Matter Plaza, the renamed intersection near the White House that was the site of protests against injustice.
"The winds are blowing, the great change is going to come," Lewis said days earlier during a lawmakers' discussion on race.
Agence France-Presse
WASHINGTON - Former President Barack Obama described President Donald Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic as "chaotic" in a conference call with former members of his administration, a source said on Saturday.
Obama has largely kept out of the fray even as Trump has blamed him and his Democratic administration for a variety of problems related to having sufficient supplies to battle the pandemic that has killed more than 75,000 Americans.
But in his call on Friday with 3,000 members of the Obama Alumni Association, people who served in his administration, Obama urged his supporters to get behind Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, who is trying to unseat Trump in the Nov. 3 election.
The contents of the call were first reported by Yahoo News. A source familiar with the call confirmed them to Reuters.
Obama said the election "is so important because what we're going to be battling is not just a particular individual or a political party."
"What we're fighting against is these long-term trends in which being selfish, being tribal, being divided, and seeing others as an enemy -- that has become a stronger impulse in American life," he said.
He said this is one reason why "the response to this global crisis has been so anemic and spotty."
"It would have been bad even with the best of governments. It has been an absolute chaotic disaster when that mindset -- of 'what's in it for me' and 'to heck with everybody else' -- when that mindset is operationalized in our government," Obama said.
"That's why, I, by the way, am going to be spending as much time as necessary and campaigning as hard as I can for Joe Biden," he said.
Obama's office declined to comment.
White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said Trump's response to the coronavirus "has been unprecedented" and has saved American lives.
She harked back to the Ukraine inquiry launched by Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives last year that led to House passage of articles of impeachment against Trump. The Republican-led Senate acquitted Trump early this year.
"While Democrats were pursuing a sham witch hunt against President Trump, President Trump was shutting down travel from China. While Democrats encouraged mass gatherings, President Trump was deploying PPE, ventilators, and testing across the country," she said.
National polls show a tight race between Trump and Biden with six months to go until the election. Biden leads in several battleground states.
-reuters-
As newly liberated royals, Britain's Prince Harry and his wife Meghan have the world at their feet with the potential to make money in areas ranging from fashion and speaking engagements to forming their own production company.
But the couple, formally known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, should move wisely to make themselves financially independent in a world where social media influencers like Kim Kardashian reign and where their visibility will be magnified rather than reduced, branding experts and Hollywood observers say.
"Brand Sussex is a global brand and could end up making an absolute fortune, from public speaking to Meghan reinventing her lifestyle blog, to merchandising or brand endorsements," said Nick Bullen, editor-in-chief of True Royalty TV.
Harry and Meghan shocked Queen Elizabeth when they announced on Wednesday they wanted to lead a more independent life, and finance it themselves.
Meghan's background as an actress on the US television show "Suits" immediately prompted speculation she could return to acting.
But the range of options open to them is far wider. It could include establishing an independent production company to make television shows, documentaries, podcasts or movies along the lines of the Higher Ground company formed by ex-President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle.
Harry already has teamed up with Oprah Winfrey to produce a forthcoming documentary focusing on mental health for Apple's new streaming service. Apple declined to respond to queries about further collaborations with the prince.
"The Obamas are a great model for how to make money and keep it classy. They could find projects that are moving and sometimes Meghan could be in them. If it's a documentary, maybe Harry could narrate it," said veteran Hollywood public relations strategist Howard Bragman.
Bragman said the pair should be judicious about their choices because "the level of scrutiny they are going to get is going to be ridiculous, and not always fair."
The booming public speaking circuit in North America could prove to be a lucrative source of income.
"Big name speakers get well into 6 figures to make an appearance or give a speech at an event. If they choose to pursue that avenue, they would be considered in the top echelon of speakers," said Jeff Jacobson, co-founder of Canada-based Talent Bureau.
ECLIPSED ON INSTAGRAM
Meghan has considerable clout in the fashion world. Global fashion search platform Lyst in November named her the world's most powerful dresser of 2019 and last year she launched a clothing collection in Britain to benefit an organization that helps underprivileged women secure employment.
Britain's Sun newspaper reported on Friday that the duchess was discussing a project with French fashion house Givenchy, which made her wedding dress in 2018. Reuters could not confirm the report.
The "half-royal" duo will also face stiff competition from established celebrities and YouTubers, who can earn hundreds of thousands of dollars from a single endorsement on social media.
"Harry and Meghan have a combined Instagram following of 10 million, which is eclipsed by the likes of (soccer player) Cristiano Ronaldo with nearly 200 million," said Los Angeles branding expert Jeetendr Sehdev, author of "The Kim Kardashian Principle."
Building a social media following means being candid, fearless and transparent. "That is a challenge for the royal family because they have always tried to be the most neutral people," he said.
"The Meghan and Harry brand is like a start-up. There is lots of potential but no proven value yet," Sehdev added.
Bragman however said that the mixed race couple "are very representative of what brands are looking for today."
"If Harry and Meghan call you up and say, 'Hey, we'd like to have a meeting to talk about a project', who's not going to go to that meeting?," he said.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump's spokeswoman claimed Tuesday that Barack Obama staffers left behind catty notes in White House offices for the incoming administration, telling them "you will fail."
Press secretary Stephanie Grisham's comment, first made to a CNN reporter, prompted swift denials from ex-Obama officials and a torrent of online mockery from Trump opponents.
"We came into the WH, I’ll tell you something. Every office was filled with Obama books and we had notes left behind that said 'you will fail,' 'you aren’t going to make it,'" a tweet from CNN's Abby Phillip quoted Grisham as saying.
"This is a complete and utter lie," tweeted Obama administration lawyer Daniel Jacobson.
"Quite the opposite -- we left them briefing books to try to help with the transition as much as possible," he said.
Jon Wolfsthal, a former senior director at Obama's National Security Council, called it "an outrageous lie.... Shameless and disgusting.@PressSec should be fired."
Faced by the heated denials -- and snarky online gags about the "you will fail" prediction proving true -- Grisham said her remark had been over-played.
"I don't know why everyone is so sensitive!" she told AFP.
Grisham said she "certainly wasn’t implying every office had that issue" and recalled finding a "lovely note" for her in the White House East Wing.
"I just saw it as kind of a prank, and that it was something that always happened," Grisham said.
A famous case of such humor was the reported practical joke by aides of president Bill Clinton who are said to have removed the "W" key from White House computers ahead of George W. Bush taking office.
sms/jm
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TORONTO -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau held on to his job in Monday's election, securing his spot as one of the world's few high-profile progressive leaders, but tarnished by scandal and with his power diminished.
The man former US President Barack Obama privately anointed as a successor in global diplomacy survived a blackface scandal and the disclosure that he sought to interfere with a federal corruption prosecution, but just barely.
Trudeau's Liberals, who won power four years ago with a strong parliamentary majority, were projected by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp to form a minority government after a tight election battle with the Conservative Party led by Andrew Scheer. That would leave Trudeau needing the support of smaller opposition parties to govern.
"The hype was so great when he ran before, it would be hard to match that," said Jonathan Rose, a political science professor at Queen's University. "The burden of governing both wore him down and wore voters down."
Alternately charming and awkward, the former teacher and snowboard instructor swept to power in 2015 at the age of 43. Born on Christmas Day in 1971 to a sitting Canadian prime minister, Pierre Trudeau, the younger Trudeau grew up in the spotlight.
On taking over as prime minister, Trudeau said he would tackle climate change, overhaul the electoral system, legalize marijuana and have Canada take in 25,000 Syrian refugees. He proclaimed himself a feminist, and unveiled a gender-balanced Cabinet. Mobbed for selfies, Trudeau brought style to an office that is usually dour, and broadcast much of it on social media.
But before long, key allies turned hard to the right - the UK voted to leave the European Union, and the United States elected Republican Donald Trump as president.
In time, Trudeau concentrated power in the prime minister's office and abandoned electoral reform. His government bought the troubled Trans Mountain oil pipeline, infuriating environmentalists, even as it moved to put a price on carbon, alienating the energy industry.
The run-up to the campaign was marked by high-profile Cabinet defections, and a watchdog report that found Trudeau and his team tried to undermine a federal prosecutor's decision to put construction firm SNC-Lavalin Group Inc on trial for corruption.
Then, as the campaign began, a 2001 photograph emerged that showed Trudeau, then 29, at a party, his face covered in dark makeup. More photographs of him in blackface quickly followed, as Trudeau apologized. The images, which briefly dented the Liberals' popularity, ran counter to a carefully managed public persona.
Trudeau also promised "reconciliation" with Canada's indigenous peoples, who make up about 5 percent of the country.
Ahead of Monday's election, the indigenous political group Assembly of First Nations (AFN) said there had been "concrete action and investments" but "we have considerable ground to make up to ensure First Nations and Canadians share an equal quality of life."
'VOICE TO BE NEEDED MORE'
On the eve of the election, the race looked close. Trudeau had a shot at a dispiriting honor: the first prime minister since 1935 to lose power in the next election after winning a first-term majority.
"It was inevitable that some of that shine was going to come off, and I think we've seen that," said Andrew MacDougall, who was spokesman for former Prime Minister Stephen Harper, whose Conservative government was ousted by Trudeau's Liberals in 2015. "But he's not that far away from where he was when he was elected."
The friendship Trudeau forged with Obama in another era seems to endure. The two were spotted dining together in Ottawa earlier this year, and the former president tweeted his endorsement last Wednesday of Trudeau's re-election.
In a recent book, former Obama adviser Ben Rhodes described a 2016 meeting between the two leaders.
"Justin, your voice is going to be needed more," Obama said, according to Rhodes. "You're going to have to speak out when certain values are threatened."
source: news.abs-cbn.com
Former US President Barack Obama voiced his support on Wednesday for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who faces a tough battle for re-election next week.
"I was proud to work with Justin Trudeau as President," Obama said in a tweet. "He's a hard-working, effective leader who takes on big issues like climate change. The world needs his progressive leadership now, and I hope our neighbors to the north support him for another term."
The two progressive leaders formed a close friendship that has remained a popular topic on social media since Obama, a Democrat, left the White House in January 2017. They were spotted having dinner together at an Ottawa restaurant earlier this year.
"Thanks my friend," Trudeau responded on Twitter. "We're working hard to keep our progress going."
Trudeau was the first Canadian prime minister the United States honored with a state dinner in almost two decades when Obama invited him and his wife to Washington in March 2016 after Trudeau won power the previous October.
Trudeau has had a rockier relationship with Obama's Republican successor, Donald Trump.
Opinion polls strongly suggest Trudeau will lose his parliamentary majority in Monday's election.
It is not the first time Obama has endorsed a foreign leader. He tweeted his support for Emmanuel Macron ahead of France's 2017 presidential election.
The US Embassy in Ottawa declined to comment on the endorsement on the grounds that Obama is a private citizen.
The Conservatives and left-leaning New Democrats - the two main opposition parties contesting the election - did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Elections Canada, the country's nonpartisan elections administrator, said Obama's tweet did not contravene regulations on foreign interference.
"It's free speech. The only issue would be if Mr. Obama started to spend money on Mr. Trudeau's campaign," spokesman Pierre Cadieux said by phone.
"A foreign citizen tweeting, or speaking at an event organized in Canada, does not by itself constitute an instance of undue foreign influence," he later clarified by email.
"Whether expenses were incurred, who incurred them and for what reason would be among the factors that need to be considered before determining if undue foreign influence has taken place."
source: news.abs-cbn.com
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Barack and Michelle Obama made their Hollywood debut on Wednesday with a documentary set in industrial Ohio that film reviewers are calling compelling and timely.
“American Factory,” the story of what happened when a Chinese company took over an abandoned General Motors plant, is the first product of a multi-year collaboration between Netflix and Higher Ground, the production company formed last year by the former U.S. president and first lady.
“A good story gives you the chance to better understand someone else’s life. It can help you find common ground. And it’s why Michelle and I were drawn to Higher Ground’s first film,” Obama said in a Twitter posting on Wednesday.
The documentary traces the lives of thousands of workers laid off from their auto jobs in Moraine, Ohio, in the 2008 recession, some of whom were hired six years later by Chinese company Fuyao Glass America to make automotive glass in the same plant.
The Washington Post called “American Factory,” which arrived on Netflix on Wednesday, “a perfect vehicle for (Higher Ground’s) mission to lift up stories from underrepresented groups.”
“We want people to be able to get outside of themselves and experience and understand the lives of somebody else,” Obama told filmmakers Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar in a promotional video released by Netflix.
Michelle Obama told the filmmakers she was particularly struck by the opening scenes of workers on the factory floor.
“That was my background, that was my father,” she said.
“One of the many things I love about this film... is that you let people tell their own story. “American Factory’ doesn’t come in with a perspective; it’s not an editorial.”
The Los Angeles Times called the documentary “compelling,” and pop culture website Vox.com said it was “a fascinating peek into the challenges of globalization.” It received a 97% approval rate on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
Under the Netflix deal, Higher Ground will produce, curate and acquire content for distribution on the streaming service. The value of the deal is not known.
Upcoming programming will include an adaptation of Pulitzer Prize-winning book “Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom” by David W. Blight about the slavery abolitionist, a period drama set in the fashion world and a series for pre-schoolers focusing on healthy eating.
Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall
source: news.abs-cbn.com
WASHINGTON -- Former President Barack Obama responded to the weekend mass shootings in Ohio and Texas on Monday with a plea to Americans to reject the language of hatred, fear and intolerance from any of their leaders.
"We should soundly reject language coming out of the mouths of any of our leaders that feeds a climate of fear and hatred or normalizes racist sentiments," Obama said in a statement posted on Twitter that did not refer to President Donald Trump by name.
The shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, killed 31 people.
A 21-year-old white man has been charged with capital murder in Saturday's shooting spree in Texas. Police in El Paso cited a racist, anti-immigrant manifesto posted online shortly before the shooting, which they attributed to the suspect.
Democrats said Trump was indirectly to blame for the attack in Texas, with some drawing connections between his rhetoric to a resurgence in nationalism and xenophobic sentiment.
Trump on Monday proposed tighter monitoring of the internet, mental health reform and wider use of the death penalty in response to mass shootings.
Trump did not address accusations that his own anti-immigrant and racially charged comments have contributed to a rise in race tensions, nor did he call for broad gun control measures.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
NEW YORK, United States - Barack and Michelle Obama's production company Higher Ground has signed a deal with Spotify to create a series of podcasts for the music streaming service, which is seeking to diversify its content.
"We're excited... because podcasts offer an extraordinary opportunity to foster productive dialogue, make people smile and make people think, and, hopefully, bring us all a little closer together," the former US president said in a statement released by Spotify and Higher Ground.
The former first lady also said she was "thrilled to have the opportunity to amplify voices that are too often ignored or silenced altogether."
For the past year, Spotify -- better known for streaming music playlists -- has been moving into the business of podcasting. In February, it paid $230 million for the respected US podcast production house Gimlet Media.
Several major players in the industry are seeking to shift podcast production away from the current model, where the audio broadcasts are free and producers earn revenue from advertising, towards a platform where users pay for content.
Luminary, which has already raised $100 million from investors, launched its new platform for a monthly subscription fee of $7.99 in April.
On Tuesday, the French service Majelan was launched with programs accessible in 50 countries for a monthly fee of 4.99 euros ($5.63).
The Obamas' production company was created in 2018 and has already signed an exclusive deal with Netflix to produce films, television series and documentaries for the streaming giant.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Barack Obama sent a letter, Stevie Wonder sang, and Snoop Dogg called slain rapper Nipsey Hussle a “peace advocate” at a Los Angeles memorial on Thursday attended by family members, friends and thousands of fans.
Obama wrote a letter to the family that was read by Karen Civil, Hussle’s friend and business partner. The former president praised Hussle’s attempts to revitalize the gang-plagued neighborhood where he was raised, and where he was gunned down last month.
“While most folks look at the Crenshaw neighborhood where he grew up and see only gangs, bullets and despair, Nipsey saw potential. He saw hope,” Obama’s letter said, referencing his efforts to build a skills-training center and a co-working space.
The 21,000-capacity Staples Center, a sports and pop concert venue, was packed with fans wearing white and blue for the three-hour memorial. It was followed by a 25-mile (40-km) procession through the streets of south Los Angeles.
Fellow California rapper Snoop Dogg recalled Hussle’s former connections with the notorious Crips gang that the musician later parlayed into efforts to combat gang violence.
Hussle, 33, was shot on March 31 outside a clothing store he owned in south Los Angeles. Last week, a stampede erupted at a local vigil for Hussle after reports of a gunman in the crowd.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave us a good Crip, the late great neighborhood Nip. Rest in peace,” Snoop Dogg said. He called the Grammy-nominated singer “a peace advocate” because of his work with all members of the community.
Wonder played his 1980 hit “Rocket Love” and a version of Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven.”
Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan said Hussle has become “to hip hop and rap what Bob Marley was to reggae.”
“He lived the gang life but he didn’t stay there. He lived the life of the ‘hood but he rose above the pull of gravity,” Farrakhan said in a speech.
Hussle’s two year-old son, dressed in a blue suit, was brought on stage in the arms of the musician’s girlfriend, model Lauren London.
A 29-year-old man last week pleaded not guilty to murder charges. Police said Hussle’s shooting was motivated by a personal dispute, although it took place in a surge of gang-related violence in south Los Angeles in March.
Hussle, whose real name was Ermias Asghedom, was Grammy-nominated earlier this year for his debut studio album “Victory Lap.”
Reporting by Jill Serjeant; editing by David Gregorio and Chris Reese
source: news.abs-cbn.com
LONDON -- Former US first lady Michelle Obama expressed confidence on Monday that the social progress made by having the first black couple in the White House could not be overturned.
Without directly addressing her husband's successor, Donald Trump, Obama said change was "not a straight line" but the election of Barack Obama to the White House showed people were open to change.
Earlier in the day she encouraged some London schoolgirls to ensure they played a role in tackling the "the bitterness, the nastiness that we see in politics" by never wasting their vote.
Obama, 54, said she was surprised as anyone when her husband was elected the first black president, taking office in 2009 - especially because when "he was elected he looked like he was 12" - and hopes were high.
"We mistakenly thought Barack Obama was going to erase hundreds of years of history in 8 years," Obama told a full house of 2,900 people at the Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall as part of a tour to promote her memoir "Becoming."
"We made progress and going backwards doesn't mean it wasn't real," she said, adding that actions taken now helped to pave the way for people's grandchildren.
Receiving a standing ovation as she strode onto the stage, Obama spoke about everything from convincing her parents to let her eat peanut butter for breakfast, to her father talking about the joy of sex, to dealing with his death in 1991.
She also joked about breaking protocol when she touched Queen Elizabeth, wanting to sometimes push her husband out of a window, and her drive to protect her 2 daughters, now aged 20 and 17, from the public spotlight and online attacks.
But she also had a serious message about the need for girls to get a good education and to overcome self-doubt - particularly young black girls.
Earlier this year, Obama was named the world's second-most admired woman, behind Angelina Jolie, in a YouGov poll, but she said she still sometimes questioned if she was good enough.
"I still feel at some level I have something to prove because of the color of my skin, the shape of my body," she said.
NO FORGIVENESS
"My advice to young women is that you have to start by trying to get those demons out of your head," she said.
"Your task is to get yourself ready because people will try to hold you back ... it will crush you if you are not ready."
Obama, who brought up in a working class family in Chicago, said she watched girls strive as she had and she would continue her campaign for girls' education that became a passion while in the White House alongside her work on childhood obesity.
Returning to a central London school for girls - Elizabeth Garrett Anderson - that she first visited in 2009, Obama encouraged students to find their passion, mentors, and help each other, adding "there's no room for mean girls".
Obama said it was important to give young people a reason to hope, particularly in the current divisive political climate.
"The one challenge we have ... is harnessing the power we do have and not relinquishing that and by that I mean voting," Obama, a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School, told 300 rapt teenagers.
Asked often about her political ambitions, Obama makes it clear in her book she has no intention of going down that route.
"I have no intention of running for office, ever," she wrote. "I have never been a fan of politics and my experience over the past 10 years has done nothing to change that."
While Obama has not criticized Trump directly at events to promote her memoir, she does criticize him in the book.
Trump with "his loud and reckless innuendos" about her husband's birth certificate put "my family's safety at risk."
"And for this, I'd never forgive him," she wrote.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
WASHINGTON - Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Barack Obama made dueling election appearances on Sunday, offering sharply different views on the country's problems but agreeing on the high stakes for voters in the final 48 hours of a tight campaign.
With opinion polls showing dozens of tight US congressional and gubernatorial races in Tuesday's election, the current and former presidents said the results would determine what kind of country Americans live in for the next 2 years.
"This election will decide whether we build on this extraordinary prosperity we have created," Trump told a cheering crowd in Macon, Georgia, warning that Democrats would "take a giant wrecking ball to our economy."
Trump campaigned with Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp, who is in a tight race with Democrat Stacey Abrams for the governor's office.
Obama condemned Trump, without addressing him by name, and Republicans for what he described as their divisive policies and repeated lies. He hammered Trump and Republicans for trying to repeal his signature healthcare law, a move they have repeatedly made while also claiming to support protections for those with pre-existing conditions that the law includes.
"The only check right now on the behavior of these Republicans is you and your vote," Obama told supporters in Gary, Indiana, during a rally for endangered Democratic Senator Joe Donnelly.
Trump and Obama are the most popular figures in their parties, and their appearances on the campaign trail are designed to stoke enthusiasm among core supporters in the late stages of a midterm congressional election widely seen as a referendum on Trump's first two years in the White House.
Opinion polls and election forecasters have made Democrats favorites on Tuesday to pick up the 23 seats they need to capture a majority in the US House of Representatives, which would enable them to stymie Trump's legislative agenda and investigate his administration.
Republicans are favored to retain their slight majority in the US Senate, currently at 2 seats, which would let them retain the power to approve US Supreme Court and other judicial nominations on straight party-line votes.
In the midst of a 6-day national blitz of rallies ahead of Tuesday's election, Trump will also appear later on Sunday in Tennessee, which hosts a vital US Senate race.
HARD-LINE RHETORIC
In the final stages of the campaign, Trump has ramped up his hard-line rhetoric on immigration and cultural issues including warnings about a caravan of migrants headed to the border with Mexico and of liberal "mobs."
He repeated those themes in Georgia, urging voters to "look at what is marching up - that's an invasion." He said Democrats encouraged chaos at the borders because it was good politics.
Ronna McDaniel, head of the Republican National Committee, said on ABC's "This Week" program that the media had chosen to focus on Trump's immigration rhetoric but the president was also emphasizing economic and job gains under his presidency.
The Labor Department on Friday reported sharply better-than-expected job creation in October, with the unemployment rate steady at a 49-year low of 3.7 percent and wages notching their best annual gain in almost a decade.
But in Indiana, Obama said Republicans were taking credit for the economic renewal that started under his presidency. "You hear those Republicans brag about how good the economy is, where do you think that started?" he asked.
Obama also will appear later on Sunday in his old home state of Illinois, which hosts a competitive governor's race and several tight US House of Representative races. Obama's appearance on the campaign trail is his second in three days.
In the battle for the Senate, Democrats are defending seats in 10 states that Trump won in the 2016 presidential election, including a handful that he won by double digits.
US Senator Chris Van Hollen, who heads the Democratic Senate campaign arm, said it was "remarkable" that Democrats were even in striking distance of capturing the Senate given the unfavorable map they faced.
"The fact we still have a narrow path to a majority is a sea change from where we were 2 years ago," he said on ABC. "These are some very close races and they are in states where Trump won big."
As of Sunday morning, almost 34.4 million people had cast ballots early, according to the Election Project at the University of Florida, which tracks turnout. That is up 67.8 percent from the 20.5 million early votes cast in all of 2014, the last federal election when the White House was not at stake.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
After boasting about the economy and raising fears over immigration, US President Donald Trump is facing pushback from his predecessor Barack Obama, who is taking on an increasingly prominent role in the final weekend of campaigning before midterm elections in which Republican control of Congress is threatened.
With rallies planned in Montana and Florida, a state he had already visited on Wednesday, Trump on Saturday is keeping up his relentless campaign schedule before Tuesday's ballot, which has become a referendum on his unconventional presidency.
"Heading to Montana and Florida today! Everyone is excited about the Jobs Numbers - 250,000 new jobs in October. Also, wages rising. Wow!" Trump said on Twitter Saturday morning.
The campaigning comes one week after a gunman, who allegedly hated immigrants and Jews, killed 11 people at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, and after a fanatical Trump supporter was arrested in Florida on charges of mailing homemade bombs to more than a dozen Trump opponents, including Obama.
At a moment of deep national division, with the political temperature soaring, the president's critics say he has helped create an atmosphere in which the two attackers felt comfortable to carry out their crimes.
Trump says his Republicans are in a good position ahead of the midterm congressional elections, particularly with new employment figures out showing the economy booming.
But polls point to the Democrats capturing at least the House of Representatives, threatening the billionaire president with the specter of an opposition finally able to block policies and dig into his highly opaque personal finances.
In the last stages of the campaign, Trump is dueling with former president Obama, who came out of relative seclusion to appear at a Florida rally on Friday.
Obama is to campaign again Sunday in his hometown of Chicago, as well as in Indiana, where the seat of Democratic Senator Joe Donnelly is in danger.
- America at 'a crossroads' -
At a rally on Friday, Trump called America's first black president "Barack H. Obama," a reference to Obama's middle name of Hussein. Before his presidential run, Trump fanned conspiracy theories about the origins of Obama, who was born in Hawaii.
Obama explained his re-emergence on Friday at a Georgia rally in support of Stacey Abrams, who is seeking to be the first black female governor of any US state.
"I'm here for one simple reason: to ask you to vote," Obama said. "The consequences of any of us staying home are profound because America is at a crossroads... The character of our country is on the ballot."
Trump has brought an unprecedented brand of confrontational politics to the White House, and clearly enjoys a fight.
Friday's latest official jobs figures, which showed 250,000 net new positions in October -- ahead of forecasts -- gave him a golden opportunity to crow over what he almost daily claims to be the world's "hottest economy."
But if, on the one hand, the president has been touting the United States as a land of plenty with jobs for all, on the other he has stirred fear and loathing.
Even as illegal immigration has dipped to a quarter of what it was in 2000, Trump claims that the country faces an "invasion" of Central Americans.
He has ordered regular army troops to the US-Mexican border as a caravan of a few thousand impoverished migrants slowly marches toward the boundary. He has also announced "tent cities" to detain people demanding political asylum, and claimed the power to scrap the right to citizenship for anyone born on US soil -- until now considered protected by the US Constitution.
A military spokesman said that more than 7,000 US soldiers will be positioned in states bordering Mexico by the end of the weekend.
Newsweek reported that it had obtained documents which showed intelligence officials did not anticipate high involvement of criminal gangs among the migrants, and that the administration anticipates only a minority of those in the caravan would actually reach the border.
Trump last week tweeted that "many Gang Members and some very bad people are mixed into the Caravan."
Obama decried Trump's troop deployment as a "political stunt" serving to "get folks angry and ginned up."
He added: "There's just constant fear-mongering to distract from the record."
At his rally in Indianapolis on Friday, Trump warned against voting for Democratic blue instead of Republican red.
"A Republican Congress means more jobs, less crime," he said.
"A blue wave would equal a crime wave, very simple. And a red wave equals jobs and security."
source: news.abs-cbn.com
Actor Robert De Niro, one of the intended targets of a bomb plot and an outspoken critic of US President Donald Trump, urged Americans on Friday to get out and vote.
"I thank God no one's been hurt, and I thank the brave and resourceful security and law enforcement people for protecting us," De Niro said in a brief statement.
"There's something more powerful than bombs, and that's your vote," the 75-year-old Hollywood star said. "People MUST vote."
The United States is to hold mid-term elections on November 6.
US law enforcement is engaged in a frantic search for the person or persons who sent explosive devices in the mail to De Niro and other people.
Since Monday, crude homemade bombs have been addressed to Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, the CNN television network, liberal billionaire donor George Soros and other figures loathed by Trump's supporters.
Packages have been intercepted in New York, Maryland, Florida, Delaware and Los Angeles. So far, no one has been hurt, but the bomb spree has frayed nerves and raised tensions ahead of mid-term elections in less than two weeks.
A suspected explosive device was sent to double Oscar-winner De Niro at his Tribeca Productions company in New York.
De Niro has been a frequent critic of Trump and used an expletive to condemn the president at the televised Tony Awards last June, receiving a standing ovation.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK - Another suspected bomb was found in New York City on Thursday morning as a manhunt was under way for a serial bomber targeting high-profile Democrats and CNN, less than two weeks ahead of elections that could alter the U.S. political landscape.
The latest device was addressed to actor Robert De Niro, according to CNN.
None of the eight devices went off and no injuries were reported, but some top Democrats called the threats a symptom of a coarsening brand of political rhetoric promoted by President Donald Trump, who also condemned the acts.
All the targets are frequently maligned by right-wing critics, including former U.S. President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Obama's Attorney General Eric Holder.
Former CIA Director John Brennan, prominent Democratic Party donor George Soros and California Representative Maxine Waters, an outspoken critic of Trump, were also targets.
On Thursday morning, the New York City bomb squad removed a suspicious package addressed to De Niro and similar to the other bombs, CNN reported. After the Oscar-winning actor's expletive-laden attack on the president at the Tony Awards in June, Trump called him a "very low IQ individual."
The bomb packages were sent as the nation prepares for Nov. 6 elections that will decide whether Democrats take control of one or both houses of Congress from Republicans and deny Trump the majority his party now holds in both.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
An FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies "will continue to work to identity and arrest whosoever is responsible for sending these packages," FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement.
Several politicians, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, described it as an act of terrorism.
Investigators were trying to track down another suspicious parcel they believe was addressed to Obama's vice president, Joe Biden, a federal official told Reuters late on Wednesday.
The CNN bureau in New York received a package addressed to Brennan, who has appeared as an on-air CNN analyst, leading police to evacuate the Time Warner building in a busy Manhattan neighborhood near Central Park.
The package contained an envelope of white powder that experts were analyzing, Police Commissioner James O'Neill said.
Trump told a political rally in Wisconsin on Wednesday his government would conduct "an aggressive investigation."
"Any acts or threats of political violence are an attack on our democracy itself," Trump said. "We want all sides to come together in peace and harmony."
He also said the media had a responsibility "to stop the endless hostility and constant negative and oftentimes false attacks and stories."
Last week, Trump, who has joined other Republicans in accusing Democrats of encouraging "mob" tactics, heaped praise on a Montana congressman who assaulted a reporter in 2017.
At an event in Texas on Wednesday, Brennan faulted Trump for frequent inflammatory rhetoric.
MANILA ENVELOPES
The first package, which turned up on Monday, was addressed to Soros, the billionaire financier and advocate of liberal, open-border values who is a frequent target of right-wing conspiracy theories.
The parcel intended for Holder ended up rerouted to the return address printed on all the packages - the Florida office of U.S. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who formerly chaired the Democratic National Committee, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The FBI said late on Wednesday it had confirmed that two additional packages, similar in appearance to the others, were addressed to Waters.
An FBI statement said the other packages consisted of a manila envelope with a bubble-wrap interior containing "potentially destructive devices". Each bore a computer-printed address label and six "Forever" postage stamps.
Other officials said the devices contained in the envelopes were all similar to one found in the mailbox of the Soros home and later detonated by police. At least one bomb was packed with shards of glass, one federal source said.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
NEW YORK/MOSINEE - US authorities pressed ahead Thursday with an all-out probe into who was behind pipe bombs sent to former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, other top Democrats, and CNN, all of them hate figures for supporters of President Donald Trump.
Trump critics accused him of encouraging violence just days before a bitterly divided America votes November 6 in midterm elections.
Trump reacted to the rapid fire spate of bomb alerts by first calling for unity, but then reverting to attacking the media and its "endless hostility."
CNN is known for its often critical coverage of the Trump administration and has constantly provoked the ire of the president, who succeeded Obama and defeated Clinton in 2016.
The spree began Monday with a device at the New York home of billionaire liberal donor George Soros. "So far the devices have been what appear to be pipe bombs," said FBI agent Bryan Paarmann.
"Whether it's one person or a network, not really sure at this point," New York police chief James O'Neill told CNN, saying he expected those responsible to be identified and arrested within the next few days.
At least seven suspicious packages were sent in New York, Washington and Florida, including to prominent African American Democrats, Obama's attorney general Eric Holder and Maxine Waters, a California lawmaker.
Late Wednesday, police in Los Angeles said another suspicious package had been found at a mail facility, also addressed to Waters. Bomb disposal experts rendered it safe, authorities said.
The packages were sent in manila envelopes with bubble wrap, marked with computer-printed address labels. Each listed Debbie Wasserman Schultz, former chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, as the sender.
The return address included misspellings of Wasserman Schultz's last name, the Miami Herald and other news outlets reported.
A photo of the device sent to CNN showed it to be a short length of pipe wrapped in black tape, with wires sticking out of either end.
From the White House, Trump initially appealed for unity, saying "acts of political violence" have "no place in the United States."
"Those engaged in the political arena must stop treating political opponents as being morally defective," he later told a campaign rally in Wisconsin, before switching his criticism back to the media.
'FALSE ATTACKS AND STORIES'
"The media also has a responsibility to set a civil tone and stop the endless hostility and constant negative and often times false attacks and stories," he added. "They've got to stop."
#MAGABomber trended as users flooded Twitter with accusations that Trump had incited the attempted attacks and highlighting the toxic remarks he has leveled against the targets in the past.
Liberal and left-wing critics accuse his rhetoric-laden "Make America Great Again" presidency of emboldening right-wing extremists. He has endorsed the body-slamming of a reporter and denounces critical press.
"There is a total and complete lack of understanding at the White House about the seriousness of their continued attacks on the media," said CNN president Jeff Zucker.
"Words matter. Thus far, they have shown no comprehension of that."
CNN evacuated its New York bureau after the pipe bomb was found in the mailroom together with an envelope containing white powder. A bomb squad secured the device, police said.
The packaging was addressed care of CNN to former CIA director John Brennan, who has appeared on the channel as a guest and is perhaps Trump's toughest critic from the national security community.
The Secret Service intercepted the package addressed to Clinton at the home she shares with her husband, former president Bill Clinton, north of Manhattan on Tuesday, and a second package addressed to Obama's Washington home on Wednesday.
There has been no claim of responsibility and no one was yet known to have been arrested.
Top Democrat lawmakers Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer accused Trump of condoning "physical violence and dividing Americans."
'EFFORT TO TERRORIZE'
"It's a time of deep divisions, and we have to do everything we can to bring our country together," said Clinton, who has remained an outspoken political force despite her stunning loss to Trump in 2016.
In New York, Mayor Bill de Blasio condemned "an effort to terrorize," saying an "atmosphere of hatred is contributing to the choices people are making."
The Secret Service said the packages were "identified during routine mail screening procedures" and that neither Clinton or Obama were ever at risk of receiving them.
Republican lawmakers followed the White House in issuing condemnations, just over a year after a shooter angry about Trump shot four people at a congressional baseball practice near Washington.
"Violence and terror have no place in our politics or anywhere else," tweeted senior Republican lawmaker Steve Scalise, who was seriously injured at the baseball practice in June 2017.
The top Republican lawmaker, Mitch McConnell, slammed "attempted acts of domestic terrorism."
Soros, the target of the first device, has long been a hate figure for right-wing groups and lives in Bedford, New York, not far from the Clintons.
The 88-year-old is one of the world's richest men and supported Clinton in 2016. He has been accused by nationalists of sponsoring protests and seeking to push a liberal, multicultural agenda.
Trump has accused Soros of paying demonstrators opposed to Brett Kavanaugh, whose nomination to the Supreme Court was almost derailed after he was accused of attempted rape as a teenager.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK - Police intercepted suspected explosive devices sent to former U.S. President Barack Obama, former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and the CNN bureau in New York that apparently targeted figures disparaged by right-wing critics two weeks before U.S. congressional elections.
With the country deeply polarized under President Donald Trump, the packages brought a new level of tension to political contests that will decide whether Democrats can challenge the majorities now held by Trump's Republicans in Congress.
The package to Clinton was found late Tuesday while the one addressed to Obama was recovered early Wednesday, both during routine off-site mail screenings, the Secret Service said. Obama and Clinton were not at risk, they said.
A bomb was delivered earlier this week to the suburban New York home of George Soros, a major Democratic Party donor.
The Time Warner Center housing a CNN newsroom in New York was evacuated "out of an abundance of caution" after a suspicious package was received in the mail room, CNN President Jeff Zucker said in a note to employees. He said CNN was checking its bureaus worldwide.
New York police issued an emergency alert urging people around the building, which is on the southern edge of Central Park, to "shelter in place." Police later said they had safely removed the suspicious device from the Time Warner Center.
CNN is a frequent target of Trump, who routinely calls the news media the "enemy of the people" and belittles critical coverage as "fake news."
CNN reported the package it received was addressed to former CIA director John Brennan, a periodic guest commentator on the cable network.
Brennan, who led the CIA under Obama, has been an outspoken critic of Trump, calling the president's performance during a July joint news conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki "nothing short of treasonous."
Trump in August revoked Brennan's security clearance in retaliation for the criticism.
The White House, in a statement, condemned the attempted attacks on Obama and Clinton.
"These terrorizing acts are despicable, and anyone responsible will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said. "The United States Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies are investigating and will take all appropriate actions to protect anyone threatened by these cowards."
Trump was briefed on the suspicious packages "and we're taking it very seriously," said a senior White House official.
In Florida, the building that houses the office of U.S. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a former Democratic Party national chairwoman, was evacuated after a suspicious package arrived in the mail, WFOR-TV in Miami reported, citing Sunrise police.
Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers condemned the attempted attacks, saying political violence has no place in the United States, even as some Democrats said Trump's rhetoric was escalating tensions.
"Words matter. Leadership matters. This is the country @realDonaldTrump has created, and he must condemn such acts of terrorism in the strongest terms," Democratic U.S. Representative David Price tweeted.
U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, the top Republican in Congress, called the acts "reprehensible," adding, "We cannot tolerate any attempt to terrorize public figures."
The package addressed to Clinton at her home in the New York suburb of Chappaqua was an explosive device, the New York Times reported.
Former President Bill Clinton was home when the device was intercepted at a Secret Service facility not near the Clintons' home, MSNBC reported. It said Hillary Clinton was in Florida attending fundraising events.
A federal law enforcement official told Reuters that more than one of the packages appears to have the same construction or design. Another source told Reuters the FBI was still evaluating whether the suspicious packages contained dangerous or explosive materials.
The Chappaqua Patch, a local news website, citing a law enforcement official, reported the devices sent to Soros, Obama and Clinton appeared to be a pipe bomb. "Not fancy but definitely functional," the official said.
The New York Police Department's bomb squad said the package at the Time Warner Center, which also houses stores and restaurants, appeared to be an explosive device, CNN reported.
The discovery of the packages came after a small bomb was found earlier this week at the home of billionaire liberal donor Soros in the New York City suburb of Katonah, about 10 miles (16 km) from the Clintons' home.
"Nothing made it to their home," Bill Clinton's spokesman said in an email. A spokesman for Hillary Clinton referred queries to the Secret Service statement.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
