Omar and Tlaib Cartoons

New Jersey's assisted suicide law blocked by temporary restraining order

A state judge in New Jersey issued a temporary restraining order Wednesday blocking the state's right-to-die law from being implemented two weeks after it took effect.
The move came after Dr. Yosef Glassman, a Bergen County physician, filed a lawsuit, saying he refused to participate in assisted suicides, including referring patients to another doctor if he decides to opt-out of prescribing life-ending medication, which is a stipulation in the law.
Glassman said in the lawsuit that the law conflicts with his religious beliefs as an Orthodox Jew as well as his obligations as a doctor to heal people.
Glassman said that being required to transfer medical records under the law is "not only a violation of the rights to practice medicine without breaching the fiduciary duties owing to those patients ... but also violations of their First Amendment rights under the United States Constitution to freely practice their religions in which human life is sacred and must not be taken."
Gov. Phil Murphy, a first-term Democrat who signed the Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act into law April 12, said he would fight back against Mercer County Superior Court Judge Paul Innes's decision.
Murphy also asked Attorney General Gurbir Grewal to release guidance for New Jersey residents in light of the judge's order.
“It is really hard for me, particularly given growing up as a Catholic,” Murphy said Thursday at a news conference. “This one was not an easy one to get to, but I got convinced that it shouldn’t be the law that dictates how things end. But it should be you and your loved ones.”

“It is really hard for me, particularly given growing up as a Catholic. This one was not an easy one to get to, but I got convinced that it shouldn’t be the law that dictates how things end. But it should be you and your loved ones.”
— New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy

The law, which took effect at the beginning of August but required a two-week wait period before doctors could administer prescriptions, permits adult patients with six months or less to live to obtain and self-administer life-ending medication. Patients must be diagnosed by two medical doctors and must also sign a written declaration with two witnesses present who can attest that the patient is acting voluntarily. The patient must also take the medication themselves.
“New Jersey’s assisted suicide law is a bad public policy that leaves many New Jersey residents at risk of abuse and coercion," Kristen Hanson, a community advocate for the Patients Rights Action Fund said in a statement to Fox News on Thursday. "The temporary restraining order issued, which prevents the policy from going into effect, is a welcome reassessment of a law that threatens the lives of the poor, older people, the terminally ill, and people with disabilities. New Jersey deserves better end-of-life-care, not assisted suicide.”

“New Jersey’s assisted suicide law is a bad public policy that leaves many New Jersey residents at risk of abuse and coercion. ... New Jersey deserves better end-of-life-care, not assisted suicide.”
— Kristen Hanson, community advocate, Patients Rights Action Fund

The next court date is scheduled for Oct. 23.
Seven states -- California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Oregon, Vermont and Washington -- and Washington, D.C., all have similar legislation for medically assisted suicide, according to the Death With Dignity National Center and the Death With Dignity Political Fund.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' hit with hefty fine for using emergency alert tones

Alert tones used in a "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" episode earlier this year to poke fun at a presidential alert test that occurred last year cost ABC $395,000 in fines, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said in a Thursday statement announcing a handful of settlements with TV networks.
The FCC said it had settled with the networks for the misuse of the emergency alert system (EAS) tone. The tone is broadcast via TV, radio and other devices to warn of emergencies such as hurricanes and other national disasters.
“We remain concerned about the misuse of the EAS codes and EAS and WEA Attention Signals, or simulations thereof, to capture audience attention during advertisements; dramatic, entertainment and educational programs, and at any other time that there is no genuine alert,” the agency said in a statement. “The FCC may issue sanctions for such violations, including, but not limited to, monetary forfeitures.”
The comedian's late-night show used a tone three times during an Oct. 3, 2018, sketch. Earlier that day, roughly 225 million electronic devices across the U.S. received the "Presidential Alert" that read  "THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed."
The network said the tones were improperly used in the episode. ABC signed a consent decree with the FCC, in which it admitted using the tones.
The network said Thursday, "ABC takes regulatory compliance seriously and we are pleased to have resolved this issue."
Other networks also reached a settlement for similar violations.
AMC Networks agreed to pay $104,000 in civil fines for using an alert tone in a February episode of "The Walking Dead."
Discovery's Animal Planet and Meruelo Radio Holdings were also fined. Discovery agreed to pay $68,000 for using an actual wireless emergency alert tone in an episode of Animal Planet's "Lone Star Law."
Crew members received the tone on their phones during filming Texas game wardens following Hurricane Harvey.
And Meruelo paid $67,000 for broadcasting a signal during a promotion for Southern California-based radio stations.

Man says he witnessed CNN host Don Lemon's alleged assault: 'I was kind of making fun, I feel bad now'

The former boss of a bartender who earlier this week filed an explosive lawsuit against CNN host Don Lemon, accusing the newsman of a strange, sexually charged assault, told Fox News he witnessed the incident and corroborated his one-time employee's claim.
In an exclusive interview, George Gounelas, who managed Dustin Hice at the Old Stove Pub in July of 2018, detailed what allegedly occurred on the night of the bizarre encounter at Murf’s Backstreet Tavern, which is located in the prestigious Hamptons area east of New York City. Gounelas is named in the suit filed by Hice.
Lemon, through CNN, has vehemently denied Hice's allegations.
“Dustin worked for me as a bartender [and] we went out after work one night. We were standing there and he said, ‘Hey, that’s Don Lemon,’” Gounelas said. “Murf’s is a place you go to drink after you’ve been out drinking. We had just gotten off of work. So that’s why we ended up there, because we worked in the restaurant business. So by the time everything is done, we can only hit a late-night spot.”
Hice approached Lemon to strike up a conversation but the newsman declined, according to Gounelas, who said he and Hice then offered to buy Lemon a drink, which the CNN host also declined.
Gounelas said that a few moments later, Lemon came up to them.

Dustin Hice says CNN host Don Lemon assaulted him during the summer of 2018.

“Don Lemon has now come around the corner and is standing face to face with us. There is a beam, a pole, in the place. Don’s standing up against the pole, face to face with Dustin, I turn around and I’m standing right there between the two of them,” Gounelas said. “He’s saying, ‘So you like me? Is that why you’re bothering me?’”
Hice responded, “Nah, man, I just wanted to say, 'What’s up?’” according to Gounelas.
Gounelas told Fox News he couldn’t recall what Lemon said verbatim, but it was “along the lines of, 'Do you like me? Is that why you’re bothering me, because you wanna f--- me?'”
Gounelas said Lemon appeared “pretty drunk” when he confronted the duo at the wee-hours watering hole.
“He put his hands down his pants, inside his board shorts, grabbed his [genitals], and then came out with two fingers and, like, clipped Dustin’s nose up and down with two fingers asking ‘do you like p---- or d---?’” Gounelas said.

George Gounelas told Fox News he witnessed CNN’s Don Lemon assault his former colleague at Murf’s Backstreet Tavern in Sag Harbor, New York.

Gounelas said he laughed during the alleged incident and immediately mocked Hice as “gross” because of Lemon’s alleged actions – but Hice didn’t think it was a laughing matter.
“Dustin was in this shock mode saying, ‘Bro, did that just happen? That was disgusting,’” Gounelas said before explaining that he didn’t think it was too unusual at the time. “The whole thing is like, I go out in the Hamptons, I live out here, I have a restaurant, I get it, people get crazy. To me, it was just another thing. To [Dustin], he was like shocked.”
Gounelas said he isn’t sure if Lemon, who is openly gay, was being confrontational or simply flirting.
“I guess it’s a little of both. If someone had done that to me, I probably would have punched him. But I think it might have been flirting. I think Dustin was more in shock… If someone was flirting with me like that I’d say, ‘alright man I’m not gay,’” Gounelas said. “I wouldn’t go up to a girl like that. It could be his way of flirting.”
Hice continued to work for Gounelas at the now-shuttered Old Stove Pub for the duration of the summer, where his former boss said the bartender was regularly teased about the incident.
“As his boss, I was kind of making fun. I feel bad now,” Gounelas said.
Gounelas told Fox News that the incident allegedly happened in the presence of others and he’s seen Lemon in Murf’s Backstreet Tavern on other occasions.
“The place was packed. I’m sure other people saw. It was a known thing in the Hamptons, not like this quiet thing. Everybody knew Dustin and what happened to him,” Gounelas said. “Every time we went out, every bartender offered him a Lemon drop shot, making fun of him. He got some sh-t for it.”
Multiple attempts to contact Murf’s Backstreet Tavern management by Fox News have gone unanswered.
Gounelas said Hice was “a little messed up” from the alleged incident.
“This is the only thing he could talk about, not in a good way, like ‘I can’t believe that sh-t happened,’” Gounelas said.
Murf’s Backstreet Tavern is located in Sag Harbor, a part of the Hamptons where New York’s wealthiest residents have multi-million dollar weekend homes. Lemon apparently hosted a star-filled bash at his Sag Harbor home only two months before the alleged incident occurred.
In May 2018, a former aide to Andrew Cuomo, the Democratic Governor of New York and brother of fellow CNN host Chris Cuomo, tweeted -- and then deleted – a photo of herself with Lemon and now-disgraced lawyer Michael Avenatti, who was a regular CNN guest at the time.

Don Lemon threw a “Sag Harbor soiree” weeks before he allegedly assaulted Dustin Hice at a Sag Harbor bar, according to Juanita Scarlett.

The former Andrew Cuomo aide, Juanita Scarlett, wrote that she was at “the Sag Harbor soiree” of her “second favorite on-air journalist,” with a photo that included her husband, New York Daily News columnist Errol Louis, CNN contributor Margaret Hoover, Avenatti and Lemon.
Hice’s lawsuit against Lemon, first reported by Mediaite, was filed Aug. 11 in Suffolk County Court. In the suit, Hice also said Lemon's off-screen demeanor was in stark contrast to the "Me Too" advocate whom he often saw on TV.
"When the cameras are turned off, however, Mr. Lemon’s actions are in stark and disturbing contrast to the public persona he attempts to convey," the suit reads.
Lemon offered a six-figure settlement before talks broke down and Hice filed the formal complaint, according to a source close to Hice's attorney.
CNN denied Hice's account and said Hice seemed to have animosity toward the cable news network.
"The plaintiff in this lawsuit has previously displayed a pattern of contempt for CNN on his social media accounts," a CNN spokesperson told Fox News in a statement. "This claim follows his unsuccessful threats and demands for an exorbitant amount of money from Don Lemon.
“Don categorically denies these claims and this matter does not merit any further comment at this time," the CNN spokesperson added.
CNN did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment.
Fox News’ Liam Quinn and Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.

Trump tells NH rallygoers 'we have a bunch of socialists or communists to beat' -- as Dem rivals gather nearby

With several of his Democratic rivals hosting competing events down the street, President Trump confidently told raucous rallygoers Thursday evening in New Hampshire, the state that gave him his first presidential primary win, that they have "no choice" but to vote for him again in 2020 -- if they want their 401(k)s to remain intact.
"Are we sure we're in New Hampshire?" Trump asked at one point, as the crowd roared and he discussed the state's soaring economy. "You have a reputation as a very staid, very elegant people, and you're not acting it tonight, and that's a good thing."
And after a protester briefly interrupted the rally, Trump remarked, "That guy has a serious weight problem. Go home, start exercising. Get him outta here."
When the sparks died down, Trump turned to domestic and foreign policy, with a focus on the economy. Responding to recent mass shootings in Texas and Ohio, the president emphasized the importance of mental health treatment and vowed, to sustained applause, "We will always uphold the Second Amendment."
Trump also promised to work more on the opioid epidemic, which, according to The Washington Post, has claimed more lives in 2017 alone than mass shootings have in the past five decades.

"Now we have a bunch of socialists or communists to beat."
— President Trump

"We have reduced the total amount of opioids prescribed by 34 percent," Trump said, noting that thousands of defendants have been prosecuted federally in opioid-related cases.
A fiery stage was set hours before Thursday's rally, when the president told reporters at a New Jersey airport that Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., were "very anti-Jewish and anti-Israel" -- and said he supported Israel's decision to bar them from entering the country.
"Now we have a bunch of socialists or communists to beat," Trump said, as the Manchester crowd jeered. "They're not far away. Does anybody want to pay a 95-percent tax?"
Trump went on to say that recent episodes in which people threw water on New York City police officers were indicative of a larger trend among progressives.

Supporters cheering at President Trump's campaign rally on Thursday. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

"They view everybody as fascists and Nazis ... They accuse our heroic border agents of running concentration camps," Trump said, in an apparent reference to New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. "And, they look down upon the hardworking citizens who truly make our country run."
Less than a month ago, Trump supporters in North Carolina erupted in a chant of "send her back" directed at Omar as Trump spoke, prompting the president to urge future rallygoers not to use that language. At a later rally, Trump avoided mentioning Omar by name -- but, on Thursday, he directly named her and other members of the so-called progressive congressional "Squad."
The president was making the quick trip to Southern New Hampshire University as he spends the week at his New Jersey golf club. The event gave Trump a chance to address the heightened fears about the economy, fueled by a development in the bond market that had predicted previous recessions.
Avoiding an economic slump would be critical to Trump's reelection hopes.
During the rally, Trump talked up the economy extensively. "We've created over 6 million new jobs since the election," Trump said, adding that more than 7 million Americans "have been lifted off food stamps."
"America is working again, America is winning again -- and America is respected again, like never before," Trump said.
A nearly full house roared its approval throughout the speech. Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale told Fox News there were roughly 12,000 in attendance at the Southern New Hampshire University Arena. A handful of rows of empty seats were visible mid-rally in the uppermost seating areas.
Trump added that China was "eating" the cost of his tariffs, and losing scores of jobs amid the ongoing trade war.
"We had a couple of bad days, but we're going to have some very good days 'cause we had to take on China," Trump said. "I never said China was gonna be easy. ... And again, China's devaluing their currency, they're pouring at money, the prices haven't gone up -- so that means we're taking in" money.
The markets in the early afternoon had clawed back some of their steep losses from the previous day. Trump told rallygoers that the markets would have "crashed" entirely if he were not president, and that they should focus on the big picture, rather than short-term losses.
"You have no choice but to vote for me," Trump said. "Your 401(k)'s gonna be down the tubes" otherwise.
He continued: "Whether you like me or hate me, you've got to vote for me."

The crowd at the Southern New Hampshire University Arena on Thursday. (Fox News' Paul Steinhauser)

Trump also criticized Democrats for supporting late-term abortions, saying the governor of Virginia, Ralph Northam, had endorsed "executing" infants post-birth.
“The infant would be delivered," Northam said in a radio interview earlier this year. "The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother."
He also said his administration will have appointed nearly 200 federal court judges by the end of the year.
New Hampshire, which Trump lost by about 2,700 votes in the 2016 general election, has been doing very well economically. According to June government figures, New Hampshire had the fourth-lowest jobless rate in the country.
"You have the most successful state in the history of your state, and the history of our country, and you're gonna vote for somebody else?" Trump asked sarcastically. "We have the best numbers we've ever had. Let's vote for somebody else! I don't think that's gonna happen. Only with fixed polls is that gonna happen."
Despite the rosy numbers, a recent poll from the University of New Hampshire Survey Center poll found 42 percent of New Hampshire adults approved of Trump while 53 percent disapproved. The poll also showed 49 percent approved of Trump's handling of the economy and 44 percent disapproved.
And, a national Fox News poll released Thursday showed Trump trailing Joe Biden by 12 points (50-38 percent), Bernie Sanders by 9 (48-39), and Elizabeth Warren by 7 (46-39). Those leads were outside the poll’s margin of error. It was the first Fox News Poll to show a lead for Warren outside the margin of error.
"I saw some fake polls put out by the fake news media," Trump said in New Hampshire, as the crowd booed. "We have taken this big, beautiful ship, and it's being turned around -- very quickly."
Some Democrats' presidential campaigns were holding events to capitalize on Trump's trip. Biden's campaign set up down the street from the arena to talk to voters and enlist volunteers.
Responding to reports that Biden was considering scaling back campaign events because of his frequent gaffes, Trump called the former vice president a "disaster" and repeated a frequent attack, labeling his rival "Sleepy Joe Biden."
As Trump spoke, a group for Pete Buttigieg's campaign gathered in nearby Concord to call voters about his support for new gun safety laws.
And, Cory Booker urged Trump to cancel the speech and instead urge Congress to take immediate action to prevent gun violence.
How New Hampshire receives the president on Thursday likely will offer a fresh test of whether voters will give credit to Trump for the state's economy in 2020.
At 2.4 percent, New Hampshire's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for May was among the lowest in the nation. But, wage growth was significantly below national gains. Average hourly earnings rose a scant 1.1 percent in New Hampshire in 2018, lagging the 3-percent gain nationwide, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In other ways, like the homeownership rate — first in the nation — and median household income — seventh in the U.S. — the state has been thriving, according to census data.
New Hampshire's four Electoral College votes are far fewer than what key swing states such as Florida, Wisconsin and Michigan would provide, but its influence has proven powerful in close election years such as 2000, when George W. Bush's victory in the state gave him the edge needed to win the White House.
Meanwhile, Trump on Thursday threw his support behind his former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, who has been considering a run for Senate in his home state of New Hampshire.
Trump praised Lewandowski as "a very outstanding guy" in the "New Hampshire Today" interview. Trump said he thought Lewandowski would be hard to beat if he decided to challenge Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat.
At Thursday's rally, Trump touted Lewandowski as "tough" and "smart," and predicted he would be "tough to beat" in the Senate. But, the president noted Lewandowski was still mulling a run.
"Corey, let us know please, if you don't mind," Trump said.
The comments came hours before the House Judiciary Committee announced it was subpoenaing Lewandowski and an ex-White House aide as part of its investigation into Trump's conduct in office. Lewandowski responded in a tweet writing that it was "sad and pathetic" that the committee's chairman, Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., "is harassing private citizens."
Fox News' Paul Steinhauser in Manchester, Dana Blanton, Andrew O'Reilly and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

China & Hong Kong Cartoons

Trump suggests 'personal meeting' with China's Xi on Hong Kong protests

President Trump in a tweet Wednesday evening suggested a “personal meeting” with Chinese President Xi Jinping amid tensions in Hong Kong and fears that an escalating trade war could trigger a global recession.
“I have ZERO doubt that if President Xi wants to quickly and humanely solve the Hong Kong problem, he can do it,” Trump tweeted. Personal meeting?”
The president’s tweet came after weeks of sometimes violent clashes between pro-democracy protesters and police in Hong Kong that started over a now-defunct extradition bill that would allow defendants to be tried in mainland China. The unrest included massive protests at Hong Kong's airport that resulted in more than 100 flight cancellations.
One possibility for a face-to-face meeting between Trump and Xi could be in advance of the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York City, which is scheduled to begin Sept. 17.
In a separate tweet, Trump also mentioned his decision to delay new tariffs on $156 billion in Chinese goods from September until December.
“The American consumer is fine with or without the September date, but much good will come from the short deferral to December,” he wrote. “It actually helps China more than us, but will be reciprocated."
The administration decided this week to delay the new tariffs over concerns about the adverse effect it could have on the holiday shopping season.
The tweets also come as the Dow fell 800 points Wednesday amid worsening fears of a recession.

Hickenlooper will end 2020 presidential run Thursday, according to source

Facing the likelihood that he won’t make the stage at next month’s Democratic presidential debates, former two-term Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper will end his 2020 run for the White House on Thursday, a source close to him told the Associated Press.
Advisers close to Hickenlooper’s inner circle previously told Fox News that Hickenlooper was facing mounting national pressure to end his longshot bid for the White House and jump into Colorado's crowded Democratic U.S. Senate primary for the chance to face off next year against first-term GOP Sen. Cory Gardner.
Hickenlooper, 67, struggled to raise funding and his poll numbers as he pursued the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. Advisers reportedly say he'd be better off running against Gardner, a former two-term congressman who narrowly defeated incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Udall in 2014. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee views Gardner as vulnerable in 2020.
A Democratic source familiar with Hickenlooper’s recent conversations with Senate Democratic leadership regarding a potential Senate run told Fox News “the DSCC wants him to drop (his White House bid) and they want this recruit really badly.”
Hickenlooper, a geologist by training who started a successful brewery in downtown Denver and then served two terms as the city’s mayor before winning the governorship, left office in January with an approval rating nearly 20 percentage points above water.
A new poll in Colorado released this week suggested Hickenlooper would be far ahead of the rest of the already-crowded field of candidates for the Democratic Senate nomination if he were to join that race.
The source, who asked to remain anonymous in order to speak more freely, said that at a meeting in New York City earlier this month between Hickenlooper and Sen. Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the chamber, “Schumer made the point that if the governor were to run for the Senate, he would be a total hero. ... The governor could be the firewall between Mitch McConnell remaining as Senate majority leader and the Democrats taking back the Senate.”
A separate source, close to Hickenlooper’s inner circle, told Fox News that “everyone has come to him and said, ‘We need you, we need you, we need you,’ and I think the message of ‘You need to do this for the sake of the country’ resonates with him.”
Hickenlooper faced a large uphill climb to meet the two Democratic National Committee thresholds – campaign contributions from 130,000 individual donors and at least 2 percent in four qualifying polls – to make the stage at the next two debates, which will be held next month and in October.

Democratic presidential candidate and former two-term Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper speaks with Fox News in the spin room, following the second round of primary debates, in Detroit on July 30.

And the clock’s ticking: He has just two weeks left to qualify for the September showdown.
Fox News also confirmed a New York Times report on Tuesday evening that Hickenlooper met privately with Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado – a rival for the Democratic presidential nomination – when the two crossed paths while campaigning in Iowa over the past week. Aides to both campaigns have been tight-lipped about what the two discussed.
Bennet – he was superintendent of Denver’s schools under then-Mayor Hickenlooper – also refused during an MSNBC interview on Wednesday to divulge the topic of their conversation.
But Bennet described his former boss as a phenomenal governor and mayor and added, “I don’t see any reason why he wouldn’t be a phenomenal senator, but he’s got to make his own decision.”
Bennet, who also faces a steep climb to make the upcoming debates, said he’d stay in the race even if he doesn’t qualify for the showdowns.
Hickenlooper had a lackluster second quarter of fundraising, bringing in just $1 million during the April-June period. And six weeks ago, much of his senior staff left the campaign over differences with the candidate over the future of the effort.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.