Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg
has yet to formally announce whether he will run for president in 2020,
but during remarks where he looked to the future before a
majority-black church in Brooklyn,
he apologized for his controversial “stop and frisk” policy that sowed
distrust of police in black and Latino communities during his
administration.
That policy, which was later repealed, allowed
police to stop individuals on the street and briefly question and frisk
them if they had reasonable suspicion that the person may be committing,
had committed or is about to commit a crime. During his Sunday speech,
Bloomberg recognized that this led to “far too many innocent people”
being stopped, many of them black or Latino.
“Over time I’ve come
to understand something that I’ve long struggled to admit to myself,”
Bloomberg told congregants at the Christian Cultural Center in the East
New York neighborhood of Brooklyn. “I got something important wrong. I
got something important really wrong.”
“I got something important wrong. I got something important really wrong.” — Michael Bloomberg, former mayor of New York City
Bloomberg,
who has filed paperwork to enter the presidential primaries in Alabama
and Arkansas, said that as he looked to the future, he also reflected on
instances in the past where he “came up short.” He said that he had
worked hard to build trust between communities and police, but that the
stop-and-frisk policy eventually resulted in resentment when too many
innocent people were being stopped.
“The erosion of that trust bothered me,” Bloomberg said. “And I want to earn it back.”
Michael Bloomberg, mulling a 2020 presidential run, apologized
Sunday for an anti-crime policy he implemented while mayor of New York
City. The city's police union called the policy "misguided."
The former three-term mayor defended his intentions,
which were to reduce gun violence, but admitted that he made an error in
how he went about it, even noting that when he put in safeguards to
reduce police stops, crime did not go up.
“Today, I want you to know that I realize that back then I was wrong,” he said. “And I’m sorry.”
The
city's top police union hit back Sunday. “Mayor Bloomberg could have
saved himself this apology if he had just listened to the police
officers on the street. We said in the early 2000s that the quota-driven
emphasis on street stops was polluting the relationship between cops
and our communities. His administration’s misguided policy inspired an
anti-police movement that has made cops the target of hatred and
violence, and stripped away many of the tools we had used to keep New
Yorkers safe. The apology is too little, too late,” Police Benevolent
Association President Patrick J. Lynch said.
"Mayor Bloomberg could have saved himself this apology if he had just listened to the police officers on the street." — Patrick J. Lynch, president, New York City PBA
Patrick J. Lynch, president of the Patrolmen's Benevolent
Association of the City of New York, speaks to reporters, Aug. 2, 2019.
(Associated Press)
Despite
repeated references to the future and promises to keep fighting gun
violence, Bloomberg would not make any declaration on what his next
steps will be.
“I don’t know what the future holds for me,” he
said, but promised that he will continue to working to stop gun
violence, “and creating a more equal and just society for everyone.” Fox News' Tamara Gitt contributed to this report.
President Trump has been constantly bombarded by rival Democrats and an angry media since his first day in the White House and is worthy of defending, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said in a Sunday television interview.
Johnson told "Meet the Press" host Chuck Todd of NBC News that he's sympathized with Trump throughout the impeachment process, after seeing him treated unfairly for purely partisan reasons following his election victory.
"I'm sympathetic with President Trump as he has been tormented from the day after his election," he said.
Johnson then read a 2017 tweet from the Ukraine whistleblower's attorney, Mark Zaid, in which he wrote of a coup to remove Trump from office.
"This
is ten days after [Trump's] inauguration -- 'Coup has started. First of
many steps, rebellion, impeachment will follow ultimately.'" Now. if
this whistleblower... is to be lionized by the Washington Post, maybe we
ought to take a look at who he hired," Johnson said.
"He could
have hired an unbiased officer of the court. Instead, he hired Mark
Zaid... That's not an unbiased officer of the court," Johnson
continued. "So, there's something going on here... it's dividing
this country."
Todd
pressed Johnson on his outspoken criticism of Hillary Clinton's
mishandling of her private email server in 2016 and said his rhetoric
leading up to the election was identical to what he's accused Democrats
of doing in recent months.
"We've
been investigating the whole Hillary Clinton email scandal, the
exoneration of her, that was not an investigation to really dig out the
truth," Johnson replied.
"I was just pointing out what
Hillary Clinton had done and I was hoping that people would not elect
her and they didn’t and that's, I think, one of the main reasons that
she was not elected -- is what she did with that private server," he
continued, "which was completely intentional. It baffles me that she was
not indicted, quite honestly... That's a part of the problem."
Acting
Customs and Border Protection director Mark Morgan speaks with
reporters in the briefing room at the White House, Thursday, Nov. 14,
2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
OAN Newsroom
The White House is praising Customs and Border Protection officers
for regaining control of U.S. borders. In a Saturday tweet, acting CBP
Commissioner Mark Morgan highlighted some of the agency’s
accomplishments — including a 70 percent drop in apprehensions since
May.
Ever since President @realDonaldTrump took action in the face of Congress’ neglect, border apprehensions have plummeted by 70% (!) since the peak of the crisis.
He said with President Trump’s aid to border officials, October
marked the fifth month in a row agents saw a drop in detainments. May
was the peak of the border crisis, which resulted in 140,000
apprehensions.
“We’ve all but ended catch and release,” stated Morgan. “Migrants are
no longer allowed to come to the interior of the United States based on
fraudulent claims and the cartels are no longer able to profit on the
backs of these migrants.”
During a Thursday press conference, the CBP commissioner noted that
the Trump administration’s strategies are successfully sending a message
to Mexico’s drug cartels and other criminal organizations contributing
to the national security crisis at the border. He reported that the U.S.
is continuing to see an overall decline in migrant apprehensions and an
increase in drug seizures.
“The month of October has continued with that trend, reaching a 14
percent decline compared to September — with just over 42,000
apprehensions,” stated Morgan. “Last month on the southwest border, CBP
seized more than 47,000 pounds of drugs — a 50 percent increase from
this time last year.”
He added though there is progress, there still needs to be more wall
constructed in order to put the cartels permanently out of business. He
is urging Congress to pass legislation to assist the ongoing border
crisis.
President
Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the CenturyLink Center,
Thursday, Nov. 14, 2019, in Bossier City, La. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)
OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 8:10 PM PT — Sunday, November 17, 2019
GOP congressmen are coming to the president’s defense amid the
ongoing impeachment inquiry. Representative Chris Stewart is saying
evidence the Democrats are looking to find against President Trump is
“crumbling.” During a Sunday interview, Stewart said there was no
evidence building through ongoing impeachment hearings.
He pointed to Marie Yovanovitch’s testimony last week, where she told
lawmakers she had no knowledge of criminal activity related to the
Trump administration.
The representative accused Democrats of reaching for reasons to
impeach President Trump. He added the longer the public hearings go on,
the less Americans will support impeachment — because the evidence just
doesn’t support it.
“I think the Democrats know they’re in trouble on this — which is why
we keep moving the goal post,” stated Stewart. “We went from some
supposed quid pro quo, and as you said, tying these investigations to
withholding military aid — but we know that didn’t happen.”
Rep.
Chris Stewart, R-Utah, holds up the transcript summary of the call
between President Donald Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky
as he questions top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine William Taylor, and career
Foreign Service officer George Kent, at the House Intelligence Committee
hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2019. (AP
Photo/Alex Brandon)
GOP representative Jim Jordan also came to the president’s defense,
saying there was never a quid pro quo. On Sunday, Jordan pointed out
Ukraine’s president met with U.S. senior officials multiple times before
the security aid was released. He said aid was never talked about being
linked to investigations in those meetings.
Jordan suggested the funding was released after officials became
convinced Ukraine’s president was the “real deal” and not corrupt. He
also noted the aid was provided before it actually had to be.
“The Ukrainians did nothing to…get the aid released,” stated Jordan.
“There was never this quid pro quo — that the Democrats all promised
existed — before President Trump released the phone call.”
Rep.
Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, questions former Ambassador to Ukraine Marie
Yovanovitch as she testifies before the House Intelligence Committee on
Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Nov. 15, 2019, during the second
public impeachment hearing of President Donald Trump’s efforts to tie
U.S. aid for Ukraine to investigations of his political opponents. (AP
Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Trump has been accused of withholding aid from Ukraine to
pressure the foreign country to investigate 2020 hopeful and former Vice
President Joe Biden. In regards to the alleged quid pro quo, House
Minority Whip Steve Scalise slammed claims the commander-in-chief cared
more about investigating the Bidens than Ukraine policy.
Scalise pointed out that in the original phone call transcript that
was released, President Zelensky thanked President Trump for all he’s
done to help Ukraine. He stressed this included when the White House
sold javelin missiles to Ukraine to help the country stand up to Russia.
He also noted the Obama administration had refused to sell Ukraine
those missiles.
Scalise also pointed out the law required President Trump to ensure
Ukraine is rooting out corruption before any taxpayer money went to the
nation.
FILE
– In this Aug. 27, 2018 file photo, House Majority Whip U.S. Rep. Steve
Scalise, R-La., recalls the prayers he received after getting shot
during a congressional baseball practice in Virginia in 2017, during a
press availability in Jackson, Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Despite these comments, it appears Democrats have little interest in listening to their Republican colleagues.
During a Sunday interview, main spokesperson for the impeachment
inquiry House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she has no interest in
responding to her Republican colleagues about their impeachment
concerns. She rejected opening a dialogue with the GOP, calling it “a
waste of time.”
Pelosi went on to say she has a “real level of discomfort” in regards
to hearing out issues brought forward by those on the other side of the
aisle.
Speaker
of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., talks to reporters on the morning
after the first public hearing in the impeachment probe of President
Donald Trump on his effort to tie U.S. aid for Ukraine to investigations
of his political opponents, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday,
Nov. 14, 2019. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Executive Director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, courtesy of USICH online.
The Trump administration is ousting an Obama-era official who oversaw
efforts to combat homelessness. On Friday, Matthew Doherty announced
his departure from his role as the Executive Director of the U.S.
Interagency Council on Homelessness.
In an email to coworkers, Doherty said administration “no longer
wishes” to have him in the position, which he had held since April 2015.
He also took to Twitter with a similar message, saying it was the
administration’s request he resign.
As Tweets from faster fingers than mine have been hinting, today was my last day in service as Executive Director at @USICHgov,
at the administration’s request (as is their right.) Incredibly honored
to have had the opportunity to serve in this role, and, as importantly …
(1/4)
Doherty’s ousting comes as the White House continues its efforts to solve the country’s homelessness crisis. “The people of San Francisco are fed up, and the people of Los
Angeles are fed up,” President Trump said last month. “We’re looking at
it and we’ll be doing something about it.”
The
Senate on Thursday voted to confirm Trump nominee Steven Menashi to a
federal appeals court despite fierce opposition from Democrats.
Menashi, who will be seated on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals,
was confirmed by a 51-41 vote. He had been criticized by liberals in
Congress and in the media over accusations of a lack of professionalism
and bias, though Menashi has said the attacks mischaracterize him and
his writings.
"Mr. Menashi is one of the most contemptible
nominees to come before the Senate in all my time in this body," Senate
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Senate floor
Thursday. "He would be a disgrace, a disgrace to the seat once held by
the great Thurgood Marshall. Sitting before the Judiciary Committee, he
refused to answer simple questions. He showed a breathtaking contempt
for senators on both sides of the aisle. His record on race, women's
equality, LGBTQ rights and the rights of immigrants should be
disqualifying."
Menashi was
grilled during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing over his past
writings and his work with the White House counsel’s office. A segment
on Rachel Maddow’s MSNBC show discussed a law journal article Menashi
wrote in 2010, titled "Ethnonationalism and Liberal Democracy." Maddow
cited Menashi’s use of the term “ethnonationalism” to suggest he is
aligned with white nationalists, alleging he's on the “fringe of racial
thinking.”
During questioning, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said that Menashi had faced “unusually personal” and “vicious” attacks.
Menashi denied the white nationalism allegations, saying, “It’s hurtful and I think it misrepresents what I’ve written.”
Senate
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has steadily advanced nearly 50
Trump picks to circuit court posts while also shepherding two Supreme
Court nominees and dozens of district court nominees through
confirmations, complimented Menashi's credentials on the Senate floor
this week.
"Mr. Menashi is a graduate of Dartmouth College and
Stanford University Law School, he's accrued an impressive record in
private practice and earned clerkships on the D.C. Circuit and with
Justice [Samuel] Alito," McConnell said of Menashi this week. "I hope my
colleagues will join me in advancing each of these nominations."
Conservatives,
including Judicial Crisis Network policy director Carrie Severino, who
co-authored "Justice on Trial," a book chronicling the confirmation of
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, have stepped up to defend Menashi's record.
Severino wrote
in the Washington Examiner last month that the criticism levied by
Maddow is unfair because Menashi's take on Israel as a Jewish state that
is also a democracy, "has roots in his family history. The nominee’s
grandparents suffered anti-Semitism in Iraq and the former Soviet Union —
his grandmother survived a pogrom in Baghdad — before emigrating to the
United States, as did his in-laws, who were Soviet refugees."
Severino also wrote that other liberal attacks on Menashi for his college writings were baseless.
"Most
people would be embarrassed to reread their musings from their teen and
early adult years," she wrote. "But even as a young college student and
recent graduate, Menashi managed to address divisive topics
thoughtfully, respectfully, and fairly.
"It is merely because some
of those arguments took conservative positions that he has been
subjected to unrelenting and misleading attacks from biased news media."
The
American Bar Association (ABA), which evaluates federal judicial
nominees, rated Menashi as “Well Qualified,” its highest mark. That has
not been the case for some other Trump judges confirmed by the Senate,
like Judge Justin Walker, who was confirmed to the Western District of
Kentucky last month.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., bashed Republicans for the pick.
"I
find it hard to believe there's a shortage of experienced conservative
attorneys and state court judges in Kentucky," he said.
Even as the Senate voted to confirm Menashi Thursday, Democrats continued to rail against the pick.
"The
Senate is voting right NOW on Steven Menashi, one of the MOST extreme
and LEAST forthcoming judicial nominees I have seen in my 45 years in
the Senate," Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., tweeted. "His refusal to answer
even basic Qs from both parties made a mockery of our constitutional
duty to provide advice & consent." Fox News' Ronn Blitzer contributed to this report.
Rep.
Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., emerged this week as a central figure on the
Republican side of the House Intelligence Committee in the public impeachment hearings -- and a top antagonist of Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif.
The
35-year-old lawmaker featured prominently as tensions boiled over
between lawmakers on Friday during the questioning of former Ukraine
Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch. Ranking Member Devin Nunes, R-Calif.,
attempted to give up the remainder of his time to her. But as Stefanik
spoke, Schiff slammed down the gavel, arguing that it was not allowed
under committee rules: "The gentlewoman will suspend."
"What is the interruption for now?" she shot back.
What
followed was a debate between Nunes and Schiff as to whether the
Republican could offer his time to a fellow member of Congress, rather
than minority counsel. Stefanik repeatedly tried to speak, only for
Schiff to bang his gavel again.
"You're gagging the young lady from New York?" Nunes laughed at one point.
"This
is the fifth time you have interrupted a duly-elected member of
Congress," Stefanik told Schiff, who repeatedly told her she was "not
recognized" to speak.
Before the testimony began Friday, Schiff
shut down Stefanik for the first time after Stefanik asked if he would
“continue to prohibit witnesses from answering Republican questions.”
Schiff said it wasn’t a “proper” point of order, and then declined to
recognize her colleague Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who also tried to raise
a parliamentary question.
“We know clearly you're going to interrupt us throughout this hearing,” Stefanik complained within minutes of the gavel.
Tensions
and spats between Republicans and Democrats were expected amid the
partisan impeachment hearing, but eyes were generally on Nunes and
Jordan -- who normally play the roles of attack dog at hearings. But
instead, it was Stefanik who generated significant buzz, as well as
viral clips that quickly zipped around conservatives and Republicans on
Twitter.
Another
moment came later in the hearing when Stefanik read out comments from
Schiff about how the whistleblower was going to testify “very soon” --
comments that he had not allowed to be submitted for the record. As she
did so, Schiff sat emotionless with his arms folded.
In this case,
the fact that we are getting criticized by [Schiff] for statements he
himself made early on in this process shows the duplicity and the abuse
of power we are continuing to see," she said.
She also scored some
key narrative points for the Republican side too. In the questioning of
Yovanovitch, she asked the ex-ambassador whether it was accurate that
“defensive lethal aid” that she had pushed for was provided to Ukraine
not by the Obama administration, but by the Trump administration.
“That’s correct,” Yovanovitch responded.
Her performance in the hearings drew praise from fellow Republicans.
“She’s
effective. She’s a great spokesperson,” said Rep. John Ratcliffe,
R-Texas, another member of the Intelligence committee, to The Associated
Press. “And these issues are in her wheelhouse.”
It was for
Republicans, something of a mirror of another viral 2017 moment when
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., shut down remarks from
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. When McConnell subsequently complained
that he warned her she was breaking Senate rules, he added
that “nevertheless, she persisted.” Those words formed a slogan for
Democrats -- and sympathetic media outlets -- that carries on to this
day.
Some of those media outlets appeared less sympathetic to Stefanik, however, The Washington Post, which had once called Warren’s moment a “battle cry” called Stefanik’s a "transparently" "manufactured" moment and a "gender-centric stunt." It also accused her of making "political hay."
Stefanik has indeed used the Friday moment, as well as the controversy it generated, to follow up with a fundraising push.
“Since
I’ve exposed Adam Schiff, radical liberals & never-Trumpers are
launching disgusting attacks against me in an attempt to silence me,” she said.
But so has her Democratic opponent Tedra Cobb, tweeting that “partisan political theatre is beneath the dignity of her office.”
"She
skipped several important private hearings— now with the cameras on,
she has repeatedly attempted to derail the public hearings," Cobb
tweeted. "Stefanik should take her oath to the Constitution seriously."
Hearings
continue next week on Tuesday, and it will remain to be seen the role
that Stefanik plays during those hearings as well. Fox News’ Joseph A. Wulfsohn and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
FILE
– In this Jan. 15, 2017 file photo, former U.S Secretary of State John
Kerry speaks with the media after attending the Mideast peace conference
in Paris. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool, File)
OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 8:18 PM PT — Saturday, November 16, 2019
Corrupt actions by the former Obama-era vice president and secretary
of state are coming to light after new leaked documents surfaced. In a
bombshell tweet, activist and entrepreneur Michael Coodrey released a
series of leaked documents from the Ukrainian General Prosecutor’s
Office, which allegedly detail a so-called ‘slushfund’ collecting large
sums of money from foreign sources.
Leaked transaction and bank records indicate an
influx of large payments from Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings
Limited to Rosemont Seneca Bohai LLC, in what appears to be monthly
payments of $83,333.33. pic.twitter.com/BZXi61NnOO
The report claimed this fund is owned and operated by former
Secretary of State John Kerry and Hunter Biden, the son of former Vice
President Joe Biden.
In 2014, Hunter Biden was appointed to the board of directors of
Ukrainian oil company Burisma. GOP senators are calling on the State
Department to release records of business dealings within the company.
This comes after $1.8 billion in U.S. and IMF funds to Ukraine allegedly
disappeared.
Career
Foreign Service officer George Kent and top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine
William Taylor, right, are sworn in to testify during the first public
impeachment hearing of the House Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill,
Wednesday Nov. 13, 2019, in Washington. (Joshua Roberts/Pool via AP)
State Department official George Kent claimed he has no idea what
qualified Hunter Biden to serve on the board of a Ukrainian gas company.
Kent testified on Capitol Hill this week, saying he doesn’t know
anything about Biden’s background or how he could be tied to Burisma.
“I heard nothing about prior experience,” stated Kent. “Do you know
if he possesses any other element — other than the fact that he is the
son of, at the time, the sitting vice president?”
This comes after Ukrainian investigators alleged the only reason
Biden was on the company’s board was to protect Burisma from
anti-corruption scrutiny — which eventually happened when Joe Biden
forced Ukraine’s top prosecutor to resign in 2016.
FILE
– In this Jan. 30, 2010, file photo, former Vice President Joe Biden,
left, with his son Hunter, right, at the Duke Georgetown NCAA college
basketball game in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, File)
At the same time, Ukraine’s foreign minister released a statement
saying the U.S. envoy was never linked to probes into the Bidens’
alleged corruption. The minister added the Bidens were mentioned during
U.S.-Ukrainian talks, but were not conditionally attached to the
investigation.
The president weighed in on that statement during a ‘Keep America Great’ rally in Louisiana.
“Here it is — Ukrainian Foreign Minister said on Thursday that the
United States ambassador did not link financial military assistance to a
request for Ukraine to open up an investigation into former Vice
President and current Democratic presidential (candidate Joe Biden),”
stated President Trump.
#NEW:
Pres. Trump reads a statement from the Ukrainian official who said the
U.S. Ambassador to the European Union did not attempt to link a military
aide freeze to Kiev investigating Joe Biden and his son Hunter. pic.twitter.com/uXJwQwi1Dm
Patrick J. Lynch, president of the Patrolmen's Benevolent
Association of the City of New York, speaks to reporters, Aug. 2, 2019.
(Associated Press)
