Community organizer elected New Orleans' first woman mayor

Community organizer like Obama?

LaToya Cantrell, a liberal community organizer whose political career began as she helped her storm-ravaged neighborhood recover from Hurricane Katrina, was decisively elected the first woman mayor of New Orleans in a historic win Saturday.

The 45-year-old Democrat, who currently serves on the City Council, will succeed term-limited fellow Democrat Mitch Landrieu as the city celebrates its 300th anniversary next year.

"Almost 300 years, my friends. And New Orleans, we're still making history," Cantrell told a cheering crowd in her victory speech.
Cantrell, who grew up in Los Angeles, also became the first non-native to be elected mayor in New Orleans in recent history -- and perhaps since the city's inception, according to Brian Brox, a political science professor at Tulane University.
Display nothing; This is on Publish with no configured Image She won support from activist groups by pledging to work to raise the local minimum wage to $15 an hour, as well as to support laws guaranteeing equal pay to women and prohibiting employers from asking about applicants' criminal records, the Advocate reported.
But those reforms will be difficult to achieve, because the state legislature prohibits local governments from setting the minimum wage for non-government workers, the Advocate reported.
Nevertheless, Cantrell, who had led in most polls conducted before Saturday, never trailed as votes were counted.
Her opponent, former municipal Judge Desiree Charbonnet, conceded the race and congratulated Cantrell late Saturday. Later, complete returns showed Cantrell with 60 percent of the vote.
"I do not regret one moment of anything about this campaign," Charbonnet said.
The two women led a field of 18 candidates in an October general election to win runoff spots.
Landrieu earned credit for accelerating the recovery from Hurricane Katrina in an administration cited for reduced blight, improvements in the celebrated tourism economy and economic development that included last week's announcement that a digital services company is bringing 2,000 new jobs to the city.
But Cantrell will face lingering problems. Crime is one. Another is dysfunction at the agency overseeing the city's drinking water system and storm drainage — a problem that became evident during serious flash flooding in August.
About 32 percent of the city's voters took part in last month's election. It was unclear whether turnout would surpass that on Saturday.
Cantrell faced questions about her use of a city credit card. Charbonnet had to fight back against critics who cast her as an insider who would steer city work to cronies.
Katrina was a theme in the backstory of both candidates. Cantrell moved to the city from California. Her work as a neighborhood activist in the aftermath of Katrina in the hard-hit Broadmoor neighborhood helped her win a seat on council in 2012.
Charbonnet, from a well-known political family in New Orleans, was the city's elected recorder of mortgages before she was a judge. In the campaign she made a point of saying hers was the first city office to re-open after Katrina, providing critical property records to the displaced.
Cantrell entered the race as the perceived front-runner, leading in fundraising and in various polls.
Former state civil court Judge Michael Bagneris, who finished third in last month's race, endorsed Cantrell, as did Troy Henry, a businessman who also ran for the post last month.
UNO political science professor Edward Chervenak said the endorsements appeared to help Cantrell overcome revelations that she had used her city-issued credit card for thousands of dollars in purchases without clear indications that they were for public purposes. The money was eventually reimbursed but questions lingered about whether she had improperly used city money for personal or campaign expenditures.

Jerry Jones vs. Roger Goodell: The battle for the NFL's soul

Jerry Jones is not backing down in his duel with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Long after a Super Bowl winner is crowned, these two NFL heavyweights may still be going at it.

And the battle could get messy.

Jones, the fiery, outspoken owner of the Dallas Cowboys, has threatened to sue the NFL and several team owners if the league agrees to a new contract with Goodell, the buttoned-down, highly-criticized commish whose contract will expire in 2018.

Video

NFL accuses Jerry Jones of 'detrimental' conduct

The NFL said the issue is settled. The owners already voted in May -- unanimously -- to extend Goodell's contact. Jones, however, said circumstances have changed.
The personalities and management styles of the men couldn't be more different.
Jones, an Arkansas-native, played college football before striking it rich in the oil industry. He's taken an active role in building his team. But his vocal approach and rags-to-riches success story haven't made him popular with his fellow owners.
Goodell was a New Yorker, born to a U.S. Senator, Charles Ellsworth Goodell. The suave and polished Washington & Jefferson graduate started working in the NFL in 1982 and rose to become commissioner by 2006. During the 2013-2014 season, he reportedly earned $44 million.
Jones blames Goodell for the escalation of national anthem protests that have divided Americans and drawn the ire of the fan-in-chief: President Trump. Jones also said “behavior policies” have been an issue since May.
It doesn't help that total viewership of NFL games is down, with Sports Illustrated reporting an eight percent decrease during the season's first six weeks.

Colin Kaepernick sparked the national anthem debate.  (AP)

Some of that decline is believed due to the controversial player protests during the playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner." The demonstrations were sparked last season when former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick knelt during the national anthem to protest what he believed was a rise in police violence against minorities. While few players initially joined Kaepernick on one knee, the quarterback's absence from the league in 2017 has apparently inspired others to take up the cause, and each week dozens of players -- sometimes nearly entire teams -- have joined in.
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The protests particularly escalated after President Trump said during a September campaign rally that players should be "fired" if they disrespect the flag. The Sunday after Trump made his remarks, Sept. 24, hundreds of players knelt together during the national anthem in a show of unity.
Even Jones participated -- but he knelt before the anthem played, standing up with the rest of the Dallas players when the music began.
Trump continued to criticize the NFL for its “lack of leadership,” and apparently the public agreed. Deadline reported last week’s “Monday Night Football” game viewership was nearly a season low.

Roger Goodell of NFL just put out a statement trying to justify the total disrespect certain players show to our country.Tell them to stand!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 23, 2017

But Goodell's response has been to downplay the situation or express his admiration of the NFL players who knelt to rebuke Trump.
“The way we reacted today, and this weekend, made me proud,” Goodell said after the league-wide display. “I’m proud of our league.”
The last straw for Jones seems to have come after his team’s star running back, Ezekiel Elliott, was suspended in August by Goodell.

Ezekiel Elliott gave up his legal fight and will begin serving his suspension.  (AP)

The NFL investigated for a year claims Elliott assaulted his former girlfriend in the summer of 2016. Elliott denied the alleged physical altercations and said the ex-girlfriend, Tiffany Thompson, was only trying to exact revenge. Elliot was never charged by police. But the NFL, which has shown considerable muscle in regards to domestic allegations since fumbling its response to the Ray Rice incident, concluded there were three incidents over the course of five days.
Jones said his objection to Goodell getting a new contract was not specifically due to the Elliott situation; however, the timing of Jones' opposition coincided with a court ruling last week, after several appeals, Elliot would have to begin serving the six-week suspension.
"I've been dealing with this commissioner for almost 28 years as an employee of the NFL," Jones said. "Zeke's been involved here a year, year and a half. Those are really separate issues as to Zeke. The policy we have that has impacted Zeke is more of my issue with the commissioner."
Jones' continued public fued with Goodell has achieved at least one thing: The New York Times reported several NFL owners sent a cease-and-desist warning to Jones.

Jerry Jones called it "laughable" that NFL owners would try to push him out of his ownership of the Cowboys.  (AP)

If he continues his vocal critique of Goodell, Jones could face suspension, fines or the loss of draft picks. Some owners have even discussed a "nuclear option" -- pushing Jones out as an owner, Pro Football Talk reported.
Jones called the threat “laughable.”
"I've had not one inkling of communication from the league office or any owner that would suggest something that laughable, ridiculous, and that's about where that is," Jones told 105.3 The Fan.
But the saga has continued, and the NFL is accusing Jones of attempting to sabotage contract negotiations with Goodell, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, citing a letter sent by the NFL to Jones.
In the document, the NFL said Jones’ “antics, whatever their motivations, are damaging the league.”
The letter, reportedly sent to all 32 NFL owners, also confirmed Jones had been booted as a non-voting member of the compensation committee due to his threats to sue.
NFL owners “said they were unhappy with Jones because he had circulated a three-month-old document with details of [salary and health benefit] requests from Goodell that Jones ‘personally knows to be an outdated historical artifact of no relevance whatsoever in the context of these lengthy negotiations,’” The New York Times reported.
Goodell, for his part, has had a less-than-sterling term as commissioner, often serving as a punching bag for fans and a useful foil for owners.

Ray Rice was captured on video knocking out his then-fiancee Janay Palmer.  (Reuters)

Goodell was highly criticized for his reaction to Rice’s domestic violence case involving Rice's then-fiancee Janay Palmer in 2014. With only reports of the alleged assault leaking to the media, Goodell initially suspended the Baltimore Ravens running back for two games. But then a video of the assault was released showing Rice knocking Palmer unconscious in a hotel elevator with a single, vicious punch. Rice was then seen dragging Palmer’s unconscious body from the elevator.
The leak prompted Goodell to suspend Rice indefinitely and Rice hasn't played in the NFL since. Critics, however, bashed Goodell and the NFL’s handling of the case -- and other domestic violence cases. Some have argued Goodell and the NFL may have known the stomach-churning details of the Rice assault even before the horrific video was leaked, The New York Times reported.
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“The NFL is absolutely its own worst enemy,” David Gregory, the executive director of the Center for Labor and Employment Law at St. John’s University, told The New York Times. “If you’re going to have a commissioner’s office, you need to step up. This guy thought he could bluster his way through.”
Goodell has also been criticized for the number of penalties, the types of penalties and the timing of the penalties he's implemented. After the NFL was criticized for not doing more to prevent players from getting concussions -- a conclusion the NFL was slow to recognize and tried to downplay -- Goodell eventually said he would suspend athletes for helmet-to helmet hits.

Roger Goodell has been applauded for making the NFL profitable.  (AP)

On the other hand, Goodell has been applauded for turning the league into the money machine it is.
In 2013, the NFL was worth $9 billion. In 2017, the league was expected to generate about $14 billion, NBC Sports reported. Goodell said previously he hoped the NFL would be able to reach a staggering $25 billion in annual revenue by 2027.
Jones has been equally successful at monetizing his team. The Cowboys were worth $4.2 billion in 2017 -- the most valuable team in the world, according to Forbes.
The fight between Goodell and Jones seems to be nowhere near over, at least until Goodell’s contract is -- or isn't -- extended.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe dismissed as country's leader

Zimbabwe’s ruling party fired President Robert Mugabe on Sunday, ending his 37-year reign as the African country’s leader after being placed under house arrest days ago, a party official said. 

Recently fired Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa was appointed as the new leader of the ZANU-PF party and is expected to lead a new government. Party members said Mugabe must resign by 12 p.m. Monday or will “definitely” face impeachment. Innocent Gonese with the MDC-T party said they had been in discussions with the ruling ZANU-PF party to act jointly.

"If Mugabe is not gone by Tuesday, then as sure as the sun rises from the east, impeachment process will kick in," Gonese said.
Senior figures of the party gathered early Sunday for an emergency meeting of the party's Central Committee to discuss calls to expel the 93-year-old leader. First lady Grace Mugabe was also recalled as head of the women's league. The now-former leader’s talks with army commander Constantino Chiwenga are in the second round of negotiations on an exit as the military tries to avoid accusations of a coup.
Mugabe remained under house arrest with his wife and resisted calls to step aside. Vast throngs of demonstrators turned Zimbabwe's capital into a carnival ground on Saturday in a peaceful outpouring of disdain for their longtime leader and calls for him to quit immediately. People in Harare clambered onto tanks and other military vehicles moving slowly through the crowds, danced around soldiers walking in city streets and surged in the thousands toward the building where Mugabe held official functions.
“The old man should be allowed to rest,” former Zimbabwe finance minister and activist Tendai Biti told South African broadcaster eNCA.
On Friday, all 10 of the provincial branches of the Zanu-PF party demanded Mugabe’s resignation.
Meeting chair Obert Mpofu said party members were gathering with “a heavy heart” because Mugabe had served the country and contributed "many memorable achievements." However, he added that the leader’s wife “and close associates have taken advantage of his frail condition” to loot national resources.
Mugabe’s decision to fire his deputy set in motion his abrupt fall from power.
The military intervened when Mugabe decided to fire his deputy, setting in motion his abrupt fall from power. Without the military's intervention, first lady Grace Mugabe likely would have replaced him as vice president and been in a position to succeed her husband.
But the 52-year-old first lady is unpopular among many Zimbabweans for her lavish spending on mansions, cars and jewels. Last month she went to court to sue a diamond dealer for not supplying her with a 100-carat diamond that she said she had paid for.

Draining the Swamp Cartoons

Crackdown on MS-13 gang nets more than 200 arrests

More than 200 MS-13 gang members were arrested in a major sweep called "Operation Raging Bull," the Trump administration announced Thursday.  (Reuters)

Underscoring its promise earlier this year to crack down on a brutal gang, the Trump adminstration on Thursday announced the arrests of dozens of members of MS-13.

“Operation Raging Bull,” conducted Oct. 8-Nov. 11 across the United States, resulted in 214 arrests, officials said.

The operation was led by the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) unit of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in conjunction with local and federal officials.
It was the second phase of a two-part operation. Authorities made 53 arrests in Venezuela in September after an 18-month investigation.
"We will not rest until every member, associate and leader of MS-13 has been held accountable for their crimes," said Thomas Horman, director of ICE.
More than 1,200 gang members have been convicted so far this year, and about 4,000 have been arrested and charged, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement.
Sessions promised an all-out assault on the violent gang last month, designating it a "priority" for the Department of Justice's Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.
“They leave misery, devastation and death in their wake. They threaten entire governments. They must be and will be stopped," the attorney general said in Philadelphia last month.
In the most recent roundup, charges included murder, aggravated robbery, racketeering, narcotics trafficking, firearms offenses and assault, with roughly 60 arrests being illegal border crossings by unaccompanied children, officials said.
The gang originated in Los Angeles in the 1980s, then entrenched itself in Central America when its leaders were deported.
MS-13’s motto is “mata, viola, controla” – which means "kill, rape, control," according to Robert Hur, a Justice Department official.

Mueller subpoenas Trump campaign for Russia-related documents, source says

Letting the Alligators run the swamp? 

Robert Mueller's investigators subpoenaed more than a dozen Trump campaign officials requesting Russia-related documents last month.  (REUTERS/Joshua Roberts)

Special counsel Robert Mueller's investigators have subpoenaed the Trump campaign for documents from a number of people as part of his probe of Russian interference in last year's election campaign, a source with knowledge of the investigation told Fox News late Thursday.

The subpoena, which was issued last month, was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

The Journal reported that the special counsel's office is seeking documents and emails from more than a dozen campaign officials that reference certain Russia-related keywords. The paper described it as Mueller's first official order for the Trump campaign to produce information.
The source described the subpoena to Fox as a "cleanup operation" aimed at collecting any missing information and ensuring that Mueller had the same documents as the three congressional committees conducting their own investigations.
Separately, the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee said earlier Thursday that White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner -- President Trump's son-in-law -- hasn't been fully forthcoming with the panel's probe into Russian election interference, asking him to provide emails sent to him involving WikiLeaks and a "Russian backdoor overture and dinner invite."
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., sent a letter to Kushner's lawyer saying the collection of documents he has provided the committee is "incomplete." The committee gave Kushner a Nov. 27 deadline to provide the additional documents, including the emails and Kushner's security clearance form that originally omitted certain contacts with Russian officials.
The senators noted they have received documents from other campaign officials that were copied to or forwarded to Kushner, but which he did not produce. Those include "September 2016 email communications to Mr. Kushner concerning WikiLeaks." Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., corresponded with WikiLeaks that month and, according to The Atlantic, sent an email to several Trump campaign advisers to tell them about it.
Grassley and Feinstein wrote that other parties have produced documents concerning a "Russian backdoor overture and dinner invite" that Kushner forwarded but has not given to the committee. It is unclear what overture and dinner invite they are referring to.
The senators are also asking Kushner for correspondence with former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who is a subject of an investigation by Mueller.
Abbe Lowell, Kushner's lawyer, said in a statement that Kushner has been "responsive to all requests."
"We provided the Judiciary Committee with all relevant documents that had to do with Mr. Kushner's calls, contacts or meetings with Russians during the campaign and transition, which was the request," Lowell said. "We also informed the committee we will be open to responding to any additional requests and that we will continue to work with White House Counsel for any responsive documents from after the inauguration."
The new request is a sign that the panel is still moving forward with its probe into the Russian interference and whether Trump's campaign was involved.
In the letter to Kushner, the senators noted they had asked him to provide documents to, from, or copied to him "relating to" certain individuals of interest to investigators, but Kushner responded that no emails had been found in which those individuals were sent emails, received emails, or were copied on them.
"If, as you suggest, Mr. Kushner was unaware of, for example, any attempts at Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, then presumably there would be few communications concerning many of the persons identified in our second request, and the corresponding burden of searching would be small," the senators wrote.
The committee also asked for the additional documents related to Flynn, detailing a long list of search terms, and rebuffed Kushner's lawyer's arguments that his security clearance is confidential and unavailable because it has been submitted to the FBI for review.
The Senate and House intelligence committees interviewed Kushner in July. The Judiciary panel has also sought an interview with Kushner, but his lawyers offered to make the transcripts available from the other interviews instead, according to the letter. The senators say those panels haven't provided them with those transcripts, and ask Lowell to secure that access.
Then "we will consider whether the transcript satisfies the needs of our investigation," Grassley and Feinstein wrote.

Bill Clinton should have resigned after Lewinsky affair, New York Democrat says

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., listens to testimony on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 28, 2009.  (Associated Press)

Recent news about prominent men facing allegations of sexual misconduct apparently has some Democrats reassessing the presidency of Bill Clinton.

The second-guessers include at least one Democrat who has long been considered a Clinton supporter.

On Thursday, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., asserted that, in retrospect, Clinton should have resigned from the presidency after the disclosure of his extramarital affair with intern Monica Lewinsky.
“Yes, I think that is the appropriate response,” Gillibrand told the New York Times, when asked if Clinton should have left the White House.

"Yes, I think that is the appropriate response."

- U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., on whether President Bill Clinton should have resigned.

Gillibrand’s remarks were reported on the same day that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and other prominent lawmakers from both sides of the aisle on Capitol Hill called for U.S. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., to face a Senate ethics investigation into his 2006 conduct with a Los Angeles radio host during a USO tour.
On Thursday, Gillibrand announced that she would donate $12,500 she received from Franken’s political action committee to Protect Our Defenders, a group working to end rape and sexual assault in the U.S. armed forces, the Hill reported.
Gillibrand’s comments Thursday made her the most prominent Democrat to link this year’s increasingly low tolerance for mistreatment of women to the Clinton years. The senator noted, however, that sexual misconduct was regarded less harshly in the 1990s than today.
The senator added that perhaps President Donald Trump’s past behavior and comments about women also deserve more scrutiny.
“And I think in light of this conversation, we should have a very different conversation about President Trump, and a very different conversation about allegations against him,” she said.
Gillibrand has been a U.S. senator since 2009, after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives.
On Wednesday, Gillibrand and U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., introduced legislation to improve the prevention and reporting of sexual harassment on Capitol Hill, PBS NewsHour reported.

Senate panel OKs tax bill, drawing Trump, GOP closer to major legislative win

The Senate Finance Committee voted late Thursday in favor of the House GOP tax bill, paving the way for the first major legislative victory for the Trump administration.

The panel's 14-12 vote means the bill will likely reach the Senate floor sometime after Thanksgiving.

Earlier Thursday, the House passed its bill in a 227-205 vote.
"For the millions of hard-working Americans who need more money in their pockets and the chance of a better future, help is on the way," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in a statement.

"For the millions of hard-working Americans who need more money in their pockets and the chance of a better future, help is on the way."

“When the Senate returns after Thanksgiving, I will bring this must-pass legislation to the floor for further debate and open consideration," he added.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), slightly altered by Finance Committee Chairman and U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, during the four-day markup, would temporarily cut taxes for individuals and ax the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent.
It would also include a repeal of the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate, adding an estimated $338 billion in revenue over 10 years. Earlier this year, Republicans failed to repeal the ACA, the 2010 health care measure commonly called ObamaCare.
“This is a good bill that delivers on our promise to provide middle-class tax relief and grow our economy,” Hatch told reporters before the Senate panel's vote, according to the Hill.
The earlier House vote drew praise on Twitter from President Donald Trump. “Big win today in the House for GOP Tax Cuts and Reform, 227-205. Zero Dems, they want to raise taxes much higher, but not for our military!” Trump tweeted.
Republicans celebrated the potential tax overhaul, claiming it would support the middle class in America, and denied Democratic Party lawmakers' accusations that the bill favors the wealthy and big corporations and will potentially leave millions of Americans without health insurance.
“I come from the poor people," said Hatch, 83, who was the first member of his family to attend college. "And I’ve been working my whole stinking career for people who don’t have a chance. And I really resent anybody saying I’m just doing this for the rich. Give me a break.”
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., meanwhile, called the bill “indefensible, partisan legislation," the Hill reported. Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., said the bill was “flawed.”
"It’s not surprising that a flawed process has produced a flawed product, but we can change course," Carper said in a statement, according to Business Insider. "I implore Chairman Hatch and our colleagues on the other side of the aisle: Let’s go back to the drawing board and start anew on a real bipartisan basis."