theblaze--2020-03-02--Alabama man accused of slashing 'Baby Trump' balloon ordered to get counseling and do community serv

Alabama man accused of slashing 'Baby Trump' balloon ordered to get counseling and do community service

Alabama man accused of slashing 'Baby Trump ' balloon ordered to get counseling and do community service 'It comes a @ @ @ @ @ take a stand , ' the suspect previously said .

A court ordered an Alabama man who reportedly slashed a "Baby Trump" balloon at a football game last year to get counseling and do community service in an effort to get the charges against him dropped.
The Associated Press reported Friday:
If Hoyt Hutchinson, 32, finishes the Tuscaloosa County District Attorney's diversion program without any other infractions, the case and charges against him could be removed from his record. Hutchinson will also be required to pay $3,500 to the group that rents out the inflatable for the damages.
Hutchinson is accused of deflating the diaper-clad "Baby Trump" during a University of Alabama football game the President attended in November. The 20-foot-tall inflatable, commonly used as a protest symbol, was set up in a nearby park.
After Hutchinson's arrest, the Tuscaloosa Police Department put out a statement on Facebook that said the suspect "attempted to flee the area" but that police "apprehended the suspect and took him into custody on a charge of Criminal Mischief First Degree."
In the wake of his arrest, a GoFundMe page raised tens of thousands of dollars in order to help Hutchinson "pay legal fees and restitutions," according to The Hill.
"It comes a point when you gotta take a stand," Hutchinson later told the "Rick & Bubba Show" of his thinking. "We don't have two parties anymore. We have good versus evil. When you got one party that says it's OK to kill babies and by the way, this is the first time I've ever seen a liberal get mad about chopping up a baby."
WIAT-TV reported Thursday that the court-ordered counseling and community service were part of Tuscaloosa County District Attorney's Second Chance program, which is a pre-trial diversion program. Hutchinson was charged with first-degree criminal mischief related to the widely covered slashing.
The Alabama deflation wasn't the first run-in a large, inflatable likeness of the U.S. president in a diaper has had with a sharp object. In June, a woman stabbed a "Baby Trump" blimp in the back at a protest near the House of Commons as Trump was visiting the United Kingdom.
"The president of the United States is the best president ever, shame on you!" the woman said after the stabbing, according to Mashable.


theblaze--2020-03-02--Chicago mayor defends 'sanctuary city' policy after police release immigrant who later rapes 3-year-

Chicago mayor defends 'sanctuary city' policy after police release immigrant who later rapes 3-year-old girl

Chicago mayor defends 'sanctuary city ' policy after police release immigrant who later rapes 3-year-old girl 'If ICE is complaining @ @ @ @ @ their job better '

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) is defending the Windy City's "sanctuary city" policy after an illegal immigrant, who the city refused to turn over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, raped a 3-year-old girl in a McDonald's restroom.
According to WLS-TV, Christopher Puente, 34, was being held in Chicago police custody stemming from a June 2019 arrest for theft. ICE said they expected CPD to hold Puente until he could be transferred into ICE custody, so that he could be deported.
However, CPD did not hold Puente, and he was subsequently released into the general public.
Then, last month, Puente allegedly lured a 3-year-old girl inside his restroom stall at a Chicago McDonald's and raped the child, leading to her hospitalization.
WLS reported:
According to prosecutors, Puente motioned for the girl to enter his stall, when she did so, the defendant closed the stall and locked it. Puente said that he had the victim by the back of the head, covered mouth, and told her "shhhh."
Prosecutors said the girl's father heard his daughter's cries and desperately tried to open the locked stall. He could see her feet dangling off the ground, so he grabbed her legs and pulled her out from under the stall. He ran out of the bathroom with her, leaving Puente inside the bathroom.
After his arrest, Puente admitted to the crime.
"(Puente) said ... what happened with the little girl was 'wrong and a very bad thing,'" Assistant State Attorney James Murphy said, WLS reported.
Despite the horrific crime, Lightfoot lashed out at ICE and claimed the crime occurred because immigration authorities are not properly doing their jobs.
"If ICE is complaining, then they should do their job better," she said, according to WLS.
"They're critical because we have said very clearly we are a welcoming city, a sanctuary city. Chicago Police Department will not cooperate with ICE on any immigration-related business," she said. "And that's affected their ability to conduct immigration raids across the city. But that's exactly our intention. We have to make sure our police department is seen as a legitimate force in all our communities."
Meanwhile, the Chicago Police Department said it will continue not cooperating with ICE despite the vile crime.
"The Chicago Police Department remains committed to protecting all Chicago residents regardless of their immigration status," CPD said in a statement. "Our pledge to restrict ICE access to our information systems and our refusal to cooperate with ICE immigration enforcement measures has not changed."
Puente was previously deported in 2014 and has multiple aggravated felony convictions. He is currently being held without bond.


theblaze--2020-03-02--Amy Klobuchar's homecoming rally canned after Black Lives Matter protesters seize stage

Not the homecoming she was hoping for

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D) was forced to cancel a presidential campaign rally in her home state on Sunday after protesters occupied the stage for over an hour shouting "Black Lives Matter," "Free Myon," and "Klobuchar has got to go."
The rally in suburban St. Louis Park, Minnesota, was supposed to be a homecoming event for Klobuchar ahead of the state's primary vote on Tuesday, but it ended up turning into a nightmare for the candidate.
At least 50 protesters seized the stage before Klobuchar's arrival and demanded that the senator drop out of the presidential race following an Associated Press investigation that questioned Klobuchar's handling of a 2002 case that sent a black teen, Myon Burrell, to prison for life. Klobuchar was the county's top prosecutor at the time.
According to CBS News, the protesters traded chants for over an hour with supporters, who countered with "Amy, Amy" chants of their own.
The video below, posted to Twitter by a local news reporter, shows protesters loudly chanting over supporters as people gathered in a gymnasium for the event. They shouted "black lives matter" and carried a large banner, saying, "Stop Mass Incarceration."
Another video shows the moment that an announcer took to the loudspeaker to report the event was cancelled.
"I'm sorry for any inconvenience, please remember to vote on Tuesday," the announcer can be heard saying.
Klobuchar has struggled to corral support among black Americans in the campaign and this recent clash with protesters will likely only make matters worse as the senator looks to boost her campaign with a win in her home state on Tuesday.
"Amy Klobuchar is not as progressive as she seems," Leslie Redmond, president of the Minneapolis NAACP, told CBS News. "We're talking about someone who wants to be president of the United States, and yet you're from a state that has some of the worst racial disparities in the nation and the lead prosecutor convicting a 16 year old who was innocent of the crime."
Klobuchar has maintained a slight edge in her home state, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average, but Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is within striking distance.
The Minnesota senator has failed to sustain any momentum following her surprising third-place finish in New Hampshire last month. But despite mounting pressure to drop out, she has vowed to stay in the race at least through Super Tuesday.
Update: On Monday, Klobuchar suspended her campaign for president.
Editor's Note: This article has been updated to include the fact that Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) has suspended her presidential campaign.


theblaze--2020-03-02--Houston ex-cop charged with murder may have wrongly put 69 people in prison using false evidence

Houston ex-cop charged with murder may have wrongly put 69 people in prison using false evidence The cases are being @

The Houston District Attorney's office will review 69 convictions that were based solely on evidence provided by a former Houston Police Department officer who is known to have falsified evidence, and who has been charged with murder after a raid based on his fabricated evidence resulted in two deaths.
Dozens of people went to prison on charges based only on evidence provided by former Officer Gerald Goines. After a review of Goines' cases, Houston DA Kim Ogg determined that "defendants in cases during the period from 2008 to 2019 in which Goines played a substantial role are entitled to a presumption that he provided false evidence to secure their convictions."
"We need to clear people convicted solely on the word of a police officer whom we can no longer trust," Ogg said.
Most of the cases involve delivery of a controlled substance and nearly all resulted in the loss of liberty, ranging from a few months in the Harris County Jail to four years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. In all cases, Goines was the sole witness to the offense.
Goines' methods came to light in January 2019 when a Houston PD raid based on a tip from Goines that a couple was selling heroin led to police killing that couple, and several police officers being shot. Goines has been charged with murder for his role in that situation. TheBlaze reported in 2019:
Relying on information provided by Goines, the HPD conducted a no-knock raid in order to serve a search warrant at the home of civilians Dennis Tuttle, 59, and Rhogena Nicholas, 58, early this year. By the time it was over, four officers were shot — two critically injured — a fifth officer suffered a knee injury, and Tuttle and Nicholas were dead.
Reason reported that according to police, "the gunfire began after the first officer through the door used a shotgun to kill the couple's dog." A search of the residence found no evidence of drug dealing or heroin — the purpose of the raid — although KTXA-TV reported that police did find "small amounts of marijuana and cocaine at the home."
Goines initially claimed that the couple had bought heroin from an informant. He later claimed that he had purchased the heroin from them. Goines' partner at the time, Steven Bryant, told investigators he only knew that Goines had the heroin in his car, not that he bought it from the couple as he claimed in the warrant.
Prosecutors filed motions last week for all 69 defendants in question to have lawyers assigned to their cases to determine whether they were wrongly convicted based on false evidence from Goines. If that is determined to be the case, the convictions may be overturned.
(H/T Hot Air)


theblaze--2020-03-02--Public defender fatally shoots man who reportedly threatened him, charged at him, bit him on face an

Public defender fatally shoots man who reportedly threatened him, charged at him, bit him on face and head outside home

Public defender fatally shoots man who reportedly threatened him , charged at him , bit him on face and head @ @

An Illinois public defender fatally shot a man late last week after the intruder threatened him, charged at him, and bit him on the face and head outside his home, authorities told the Pantagraph.
What are the details?
Tazewell County public defender Luke Taylor, 54, heard someone yelling outside his Delavan home on Boynton Road around 8 p.m. Thursday and went to investigate, Tazewell County Sheriff Jeff Lower told the paper.
Image source: WEEK-TV video screenshot
Taylor then encountered 41-year-old Daniel L. Williamson, who threatened Taylor with bodily harm and then charged him and bit him on the face and head, Lower added to the Pantagraph.
Taylor fired in self-defense, the sheriff told the paper.
Williamson of rural San Jose was pronounced dead at the scene at 10:10 p.m., Tazewell County Coroner Charles Hanley added to the Pantagraph, which reported that an autopsy was scheduled for Friday.
There was no immediate information on the extent of Taylor's injuries or if the incident was connected to Taylor's work, the paper said.
Williamson had one recent minor traffic charge in Tazewell County, which was closed last year, the Pantagraph said, citing online court records.
What else?
Tazewell County State's Attorney Stu Umholtz confirmed to WEEK-TV that the homeowner who fatally shot the intruder is the Tazewell County public defender.
The station said it did not hear back from Lower after asking if Taylor and Williamson knew each other.
Taylor was appointed public defender for Tazewell County in December 2015, the Journal Star reported, adding that the Arcadia, Florida, native is a 1997 magna cum laude graduate of Northern Illinois University College of Law. Taylor also served four years in the U.S. Army as a military intelligence specialist, the report said.


theblaze--2020-03-02--Supreme Court rejects hearing challenge to admin’s bump stock ban; Justice Gorsuch explains why

'Waiting should not be mistaken for lack of concern '

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up a legal challenge to the Trump administration's regulatory ban on bump stocks, with one of the court's Trump-appointed justices explaining that the issue needs more time to work through in the lower courts.
The case at hand — Guedes v. ATF — turns heavily on a Supreme Court precedent known as "Chevron deference." The term was coined after the 1984 Chevron v. NRDC ruling, which provided a framework for when courts should defer to federal agencies' "reasonable interpretation" of vague laws passed by instead of imposing their own. Conservatives have long taken issue with the precedent, arguing that it gives too much power to the administrative state.
Guedes, which was brought by a group of individual plaintiffs and gun rights organizations, asks whether Chevron deference apples to the administration's 2018 decision to ban bump stocks by reinterpreting federal statute dealing with machine guns rather than having Congress address the matter by deliberating a new law.
In 2018, the Justice Department announced the new regulation classifying bump stocks as "machine guns" under federal law, despite the fact that they do not change the firing action of a semi-automatic firearm.
In their petition for the Supreme Court to take up the case, the plaintiffs argued that lower courts had incorrectly applied Chevron precedent in upholding the bump stock ban, and should have instead applied a different, less deferential standard for evaluating it.
"That holding conflicts with numerous holdings of this Court, mischaracterizes the nature of Chevron deference, distorts the litigation process and the government's prerogative regarding whether and how to exercise any implicitly delegated authority, and undermines fundamental tenets of our constitutional structure," the petition said of the lower court ruling.
In an opinion explaining why the Guedes petition was denied, Justice Neil Gorsuch agreed with the idea that the Chevron deference had been incorrectly applied, noting that the administration had even asked the lower court to waive it.
"The executive branch and affected citizens asked the court to do what courts usually do in statutory interpretation disputes: supply its best independent judgment about what the law means," the justice wrote. "But, instead of deciding the case the old-fashioned way, the court placed an uninvited thumb on the scale in favor of the government.
Gorsuch went on to write that deferring to the government's interpretation of the law might not be appropriate for other reasons, too.
"The agency used to tell everyone that bump stocks don't qualify as 'machine guns.' Now it says the opposite," the justice wrote.
"The law hasn't changed, only an agency's interpretation of it. And these days it sometimes seems agencies change their statutory interpretations almost as often as elections change administrations," he continued. "Why should courts, charged with the independent and neutral interpretation of the laws Congress has enacted, defer to such bureaucratic pirouetting?"
However, the justice agreed with his colleagues that the court should wait, noting that other courts lower courts are currently dealing with the regulatory ban as well.
"Before deciding whether to weigh in, we would benefit from hearing their considered judgments — provided, of course, that they are not afflicted with the same problems," Gorsuch concluded. "But waiting should not be mistaken for lack of concern."


theblaze--2020-03-02--Top adviser to Iran’s supreme leader is dead after falling ill from the coronavirus

Top adviser to Iran ’ s supreme leader is dead after falling ill from the coronavirus Several key officials have @ @

A member on the advisory council for Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei died Monday after falling ill from the coronavirus, the Associated Press reported.
Mohammad Mirmohammadi, who sat on the Expediency Council, which advises the supreme leader and settles disputes between Parliament and the Guardian Council, died at a north Tehran hospital, according to state media. In the past, he had also served as the head of the presidency under former Presidents Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Ali Khamenei.
Mirmohammadi, 71, became the first top official to die as a result of the virus in Iran, which has the highest death toll outside of the epicenter in China. As of Monday, 66 people have reportedly died in the country and more than 1,500 have tested positive for the virus. In response, Iran is set to mobilize 300,000 troops to combat the virus.
Coronavirus, formally known as COVID-19, continues to wreak havoc in Iran, having infected several of the country's key government officials.
According to the Associated Press:
Those sick include Vice President Masoumeh Ebtekar, better known as "Sister Mary," the English-speaking spokeswoman for the students who seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979 and sparked the 444-day hostage crisis, state media reported. Also sick is Iraj Harirchi, the head of an Iranian government task force on the coronavirus who tried to downplay the virus before falling ill.
Experts are concerned that the coronavirus outbreak in Iran may be much worse than government officials have been letting on. Despite their attempts to downplay the seriousness of the situation, doctors in the country have expressed concern that the virus has reached "epidemic" level.
The country's percentage of deaths to infections — now at around 4.4% — is significantly higher than other countries dealing with an outbreak, leading experts to wonder if Iran is underreporting the extent of the outbreak.
Over the weekend, the death toll in Iran from the coronavirus jumped by 11 in a single day.


theblaze--2020-03-02--CDC coronavirus test-kit lab may have been contaminated; US lagging behind other countries in testin

CDC coronavirus test-kit lab may have been contaminated; US lagging behind other countries in testing

CDC coronavirus test-kit lab may have been contaminated ; US lagging behind other countries in testing There may be more @ @ @ @ @

The Trump administration has ordered an investigation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after a Food and Drug Administration diagnostic scientist found possible contaminants during a visit to a CDC lab in Atlanta that produces coronavirus test kits, according to Axios.
Timothy Stenzel, the director of the FDA's Office of In Vitro Diagnostics and Radiological Health, visited the facility last week as pressure mounts on the government to meet growing demand for coronavirus test kits. While he was there, Axios reported he "happened to stumble upon the inappropriate procedures and possible contaminants."
Officials have not released the specific details of Stenzel's concerns, but the production of the test kits has been moved out of the Atlanta facility.
"Upon learning about the test issue from CDC, FDA worked with CDC to determine that problems with certain test components were due to a manufacturing issue," FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn told Axios. "We worked hand in hand with CDC to resolve the issues with manufacturing. FDA has confidence in the design and current manufacturing of the test that already have and are continuing to be distributed. These tests have passed extensive quality control procedures and will provide the high-level of diagnostic accuracy we need during this coronavirus outbreak."
A statement from the Department of Health and Human Services did not shed more light on what exactly the problem is in the Atlanta lab. From Axios:
"HHS/CDC have been transparent with the American people regarding the issue with the manufacturing of the diagnostic and will be transparent with the findings of this investigation." (But the administration was not transparent about the senior FDA official's concerns about the conditions and procedures in the Atlanta laboratory.)
The United States is not testing at nearly the volume of other countries which have been hit harder by coronavirus, although an increasing number of cases in the U.S. has put pressure on government officials to ramp up testing.
About 3,600 people have been tested in the U.S. Testing has mostly been limited to people who have traveled to Wuhan, China, or to people known to have had contact with someone who traveled there. But in the past week, several cases with no apparent connection to Wuhan have been diagnosed in the U.S.
The U.S. has opted to produce its own test kits, rather than accept the test kits being distributed to other nations by the World Health Organization. Last month it was reported that labs have had issues validating the CDC tests.


theblaze--2020-03-02--Transgender marathoner doesn’t qualify for Olympics, loses to over 200 biological females at trial r

Transgender marathoner doesn’t qualify for Olympics, loses to over 200 biological females at trial race

Transgender marathoner doesn ’ t qualify for Olympics , loses to over 200 biological females at trial race The Olympics @ @ @ @ @ male athletes who identify as female

A biological male identifying as a woman will not be a part of the U.S. Olympic women's marathon team this summer.
The U.S. Olympic marathon trials for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, were held over the weekend on a windy Saturday in Atlanta. And while the the three men and three women who will represent the United States of America have been chosen, the first transgender athlete to compete in the trial didn't make the cut.
Last month, news broke that Megan Youngren, a biological male who identifies as female, had become the first openly transgender athlete to qualify for the U.S. Olympic marathon trials. The Sports Illustrated coverage of the athlete's story notes that Youngren started taking hormones in 2011 and publicly came out as transgender in 2012.
According to ESPN, Youngren came in behind 229 biological women in 230th place with a marathon time of 2 hours, 50 minutes, 27 seconds. The women's field for the trial race consisted of 390 Olympic hopefuls.
"People will try to put it down by saying, 'That's too easy because you're trans,'" Youngren told Sports Illustrated last month. "But what about the 500 other women who will qualify? There's probably someone with the exact same story. I trained hard. I got lucky. I dodged injuries. I raced a lot, and it worked out for me. That's the story for a lot of other people, too."
However, in order to compete in the trial, Youngren had to comply with the transgender competition rules put forward by the International Olympic Committee and followed by USA Track and Field, which were put in place to address concerns that biological males identifying as transgender could unfairly upend women's competitions.
While biological women who identify as male can compete in men's events without restriction, the policy imposes the following conditions on biological males who wish to compete with biological women:
2.1. The athlete has declared that her gender identity is female. The declaration cannot be changed, for sporting purposes, for a minimum of four years.
2.2.The athlete must demonstrate that her total testosterone level in serum has been below 10 nmol/L for at least 12 months prior to her first competition (with the requirement for any longer period to be based on a confidential case-by-case evaluation, considering whether or not 12 months is a sufficient length of time to minimize any advantage in women's competition).
2.3.The athlete's total testosterone level in serum must remain below 10nmol/L throughout the period of desired eligibility to compete in the female category.
2.4.Compliance with these conditions may be monitored by testing. In the event of non-compliance, the athlete's eligibility for female competition will be suspended for 12 months.
The three women who qualified for marathon team were Aliphine Tuliamuk, with a finish time of 2 hours, 27 minutes, 23 seconds; Molly Seidel with a finish time of 2 hours, 27 minutes, 31 seconds and Sally Kipyego who finished at 2 hours, 28 minutes, 52 seconds.
But despite not qualifying, Youngren recalled receiving an outpouring of support from other people at the event, ESPN reported.
"It's always weird when someone comes up to you and says, 'Hey, I read about you. I heard about you.' But then also goes, 'Good work. I'm glad you're here,'" Youngren told ESPN. "It's gratifying. It's totally bizarre, also, because I'm just some person."
The first transgender athlete to actually make the U.S. national team was duathlete Chris Mosier, a biological woman who identifies as male. Mosier competed in the men's Oilympic trial for race walking in late January, but had to pull out of the race early due to a knee injury.


theblaze--2020-03-02--Man dies in a homemade rocket while reportedly trying to prove flat-earth theory

Michael "Mad Mike" Hughes is dead following an attempt to prove the earth is flat, according to the BBC.
Other reporting, however, insists that Hughes was not attempting to prove his theory and was simply a rocket science-loving daredevil.
What are the details?
Hughes, 64, who believed the world is flat, crash-landed in a steam-powered rocket in the California desert on Feb. 22. The outlet reported that Hughes was attempting to enter space with his rocket during the experiment in order to prove that the earth is flat.
During the launch, Hughes' parachute came loose. Video of the incident shows the self-made projectile rocketing high into the air before crash landing moments later.
Hughes' launch was reportedly being filmed as part of a new Science Channel series called "Homemade Astronauts."
The Science Channel also reported Hughes' death, calling the experiment his "dream."
"Michael 'Mad Mike' Hughes tragically passed away today during an attempt to launch his homemade rocket. Our thoughts & prayers go out to his family & friends during this difficult time. It was always his dream to do this launch & Science Channel was there to chronicle his journey," the tweet read.
According to Space.com, Hughes said he previously was able to launch himself about 1,875 feet into the air in a younger iteration of his homemade rocket.
"It's a dangerous thing to do," he told the website in 2018. "Anything [going wrong] could be catastrophic."
What else?
Space.com reported, however, that Hughes "meant for this launch to be a stepping stone to the creation of what [he and a partner] called their 'rockoon,' a combination of a rocket and balloon."
The outlet noted that the "'rockoon' would work by means of a balloon taking a rocket up fairly high into the air (about 22 to 25 miles), where it would disconnect from the rocket, which would soar to the Kármán line, or the line signifying the beginning of space."
Hughes talked about his dream in 2017, as TheBlaze reported, saying, "If you're not scared to death, you're an idiot. It's scary as hell, but none of us are getting out of this world alive. I like to do extraordinary things that no one else can do, and no one in the history of mankind has designed, built and launched himself in his own rocket. I'm a walking reality show."


theblaze--2020-03-02--Youthful and spry Joe Biden, 77, is now the youngest man in the Democratic primary

Youthful and spry Joe Biden , 77 , is now the youngest man in the Democratic primary

At 77 years old, former Vice President Joe Biden is now remarkably the youngest male candidate for president in the Democratic primary.
The status was shifted to Biden after former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, 38, announced he would be dropping out of the race on Sunday following a disappointing finish in the South Carolina primary. Also ending his campaign following the primary contest over the weekend was the second youngest candidate, 62-year-old billionaire hedge fund manager, Tom Steyer.
Critics of the former vice president have repeatedly expressed concern about his age throughout the nominating contest, questioning whether he has the physical health and mental sharpness to endure the presidency.
Speaking to a crowd of conservatives at CPAC over the weekend, President Donald Trump joked that, if elected, Biden would be governing from a home for the elderly.
"How could you be easier to beat than Joe? The guy can't put two sentences together," Trump said.
He added that Biden's "not going to be running the government. He's just going to be sitting in a home someplace and people are going to be running it for him."
But now, quite ironically, Biden can cast himself as the spring chicken of the race — at least among the men. Biden's two remaining male challengers are Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, both 78 years old. Bloomberg turned 78 last month and Sanders will turn 79 in September.
The female candidates still in the race are Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), 38, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), 59, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, (D-Mass.), 70.
Trump, who was also the target of questions about his age and health during the 2016 campaign, currently holds the record for oldest president in U.S. history. He was 70 years and 220 days old on the day of his inauguration, a figure which pales in comparison to the age of the leading male candidates on the Democratic side in 2020.
(H/T: The Daily Caller)


theblaze--2020-03-02--San Antonio mayor blasts CDC for releasing man into public who later tested positive for coronavirus

San Antonio mayor blasts CDC for releasing man into public who later tested positive for coronavirus 'We will hold the @ @ @

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the government agency responsible for managing disease outbreaks, released a
Texas patient from quarantine who later tested positive for COVID-19, otherwise known as coronavirus.
The CDC said in a statement the man was being monitored in isolation after returning from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak. But after several weeks of quarantine, the CDC said "the patient was asymptomatic and met all of CDC's criteria for release — resolution of any symptoms and two consecutive sets of negative test results, collected more than 24 hours apart."
But less than 24 hours after his release into the general public of San Antonio, the man was returned to quarantine on Sunday because a pending test showed he had coronavirus.
"The discharged patient had some contact with others while out of isolation, and CDC and local public health partners are following up to trace possible exposures and notify them of their potential risk," the CDC said.
In a statement, San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg (I) blasted the CDC's actions as "unacceptable" and vowed to hold the agency accountable.
"The fact that the CDC allowed the public to be exposed to a patient with a positive COVID-19 reading is unacceptable. We will hold the CDC accountable to providing complete transparency for the public. This situation is exactly why we have been asking for federal officials to accept the guidance of our medical community," Nirenberg said.
As of 10 a.m. ET Monday, the U.S. has 88 confirmed cases of coronavirus; half of those were Diamond Princess cruise ship passengers who were returned to the U.S. last month after being quarantined off the coast of Japan for several weeks.
On Sunday, new cases in Rhode Island, New York, and Florida were confirmed, while the second American unfortunately died from the disease.


theblaze--2020-03-02--MSNBC's Chris Matthews missing from SC primary coverage after sexism allegations, recent on-air cont

MSNBC's Chris Matthews missing from SC primary coverage after sexism allegations, recent on-air controversies

MSNBC host Chris Matthews was not involved with his network 's South Carolina Democratic primary coverage over the weekend , indicating that he may have been sidelined after a recent allegation of sexism from a former guest in addition to other on-air controversies .
Laura Bassett , a journalist who has been an MSNBC guest in the past , wrote an op-ed for GQ that was published Friday accusing Matthews , 74 , of using sexist and inappropriate language toward her while she was in studio .
Fox News reported : Bassett wrote an op-ed about these allegations in 2017 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It 's also not the first time Matthews has faced misconduct allegations in the workplace .
MSNBC reportedly paid $ 40,000 in 2017 to a producer who claimed Matthews sexually harassed her .
The sexual harassment issue follows an apology Matthews had to issue last week after comparing Sen. Bernie Sanders ' ( I-Vt. ) Nevada caucuses victory to the Nazi invasion of France .
Matthews also mistook Jaime Harrison , the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in South Carolina , for Republican South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott during an interview with Harrison @ @ @ @ @ @ @ played a clip showing Scott standing next to Sen. Lindsey Graham ( R-S.C. ) , who Harrison is running to unseat .
Matthews asked Harrison on air , `` Jaime , I see you standing next to the guy you 're going to beat right there , maybe ?
Maybe ?
Maybe , maybe ?
Lindsey Graham ? ''
Matthews realized his mistake shortly after , saying , `` What am I saying ?
Big mistake .
Mistaken identity , sir .
Sorry . ''

MSNBC host Chris Matthews was not involved with his network's South Carolina Democratic primary coverage over the weekend, indicating that he may have been sidelined after a recent allegation of sexism from a former guest in addition to other on-air controversies.
Laura Bassett, a journalist who has been an MSNBC guest in the past, wrote an op-ed for GQ that was published Friday accusing Matthews, 74, of using sexist and inappropriate language toward her while she was in studio. Fox News reported:
She recalled Matthews looking at her in an adjacent makeup chair before an appearance in 2016 and asking: 'Why haven't I fallen in love with you yet?'" Bassett said she laughed nervously but Matthews kept making comments to the makeup artist. "Keep putting makeup on her, I'll fall in love with her," Matthews allegedly said.
She said he made another comment about her makeup during a separate appearance. "Make sure you wipe this off her face after the show," she wrote he said to the makeup artist. "We don't make her up so some guy at a bar can look at her like this."
Bassett wrote an op-ed about these allegations in 2017, but didn't name Matthews. It's also not the first time Matthews has faced misconduct allegations in the workplace. MSNBC reportedly paid $40,000 in 2017 to a producer who claimed Matthews sexually harassed her.
The sexual harassment issue follows an apology Matthews had to issue last week after comparing Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) Nevada caucuses victory to the Nazi invasion of France.
Matthews also mistook Jaime Harrison, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in South Carolina, for Republican South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott during an interview with Harrison. Both men are black.
Matthews played a clip showing Scott standing next to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who Harrison is running to unseat. Matthews asked Harrison on air, "Jaime, I see you standing next to the guy you're going to beat right there, maybe? Maybe? Maybe, maybe? Lindsey Graham?"
Matthews realized his mistake shortly after, saying, "What am I saying? Big mistake. Mistaken identity, sir. Sorry."


theblaze--2020-03-02--Dr. Drew says it's 'fake news' that VP Pence — now leading Coronavirus Task Force — improperly respo

Dr. Drew says it's 'fake news' that VP Pence — now leading Coronavirus Task Force — improperly responded to epidemics as Indiana governor

Dr. Drew says it 's 'fake news ' that VP Pence — now leading Coronavirus Task Force — improperly responded @ @ @ @ @ ' I do n't know what the hell people are talking about '

Dr. David Drew Pinsky — a well-known addiction medicine specialist known as Dr. Drew on television — pushed back hard on media reports saying Vice President Mike Pence, now leading the Coronavirus Task Force, improperly handled epidemics as governor of Indiana.
The Daily Blast Live spoke on the phone with Pinsky late last week and noted that Pence "mishandled the HIV epidemic in 2015 with the needle-exchange program which one study said actually contributed to more deaths."
'I don't know what the hell people are talking about'
"I don't know what they're talking about," Pinsky replied regarding reports about Pence. "We used to point at the way Indiana responded to the opiate of the HIV epidemic as the model for the country. I don't know what they're talking about. The only reason I felt comfortable with Pence as vice president was I was aware of his track record in Indiana in handling these serious problems, and they handled them better than most states did, almost any other states. So, I don't know what the hell people are talking about. That is fake news."
More from Pinsky:
Yes, it took everybody a while to respond properly to it, but they really took care of business in Indiana, so I have no idea what people are talking about. Whether Pence is the right person? Look, the right people are Anthony Fauci of the [Centers for Disease Control]. ... Dr. Fauci will tell you what's going on, when you need to worry … I worked with him on the HIV epidemic back in the 80s; that guy's been on top of infectious disease for 30 years. When there's a problem, he will let us know, and he's been saying exactly what I've been saying the whole way. Look to him, not me, and not even Vice President Pence; look at guys like Anthony Fauci whose responsibility is to contain these things.
Dr. Drew also 'furious' about media 'overreacting' to Coronavirus
Pinsky's comments about Pence came a few weeks after he told the Daily Blast Live he was "furious" at the media for "overreacting" to the Coronavirus.
“The press should not be reporting medical stories as though they know how to report it," he said on the show in early February. “If we have a pandemic, I won't know how to tell that we're actually having a pandemic because everything is an emergency. People that are infectious disease specialists, the CDC, the epidemiologist[s], need to take this very seriously. The press needs to shut up because you're more likely to die of influenza right now."
Dr. Drew doubles down
During the phone chat with the Daily Blast Live in which he defended Pence, Pinsky doubled down on his earlier comments about the media and the Coronavirus: "Let me frame it this way: We have in the United States 24 million cases of flu-like illness, 180,000 hospitalizations, 16,000 dead from influenza. Why is that not being reported? Why isn't the message, 'Get your flu shot'?"
He added that while the Coronavirus is "coming here" and that it will be "much more widespread than we knew," it also will be "much milder than we knew; the 1.7 percent fatality rate is going to fall. Where was the press during the Mediterranean Corona outbreak where the fatality rate was 41 percent? If they wanted to get crazed about something, why didn't they get crazed about MERS or SARS? This is an overblown press-created hysteria."
Dr. Drew also said the U.S. and other countries "are responding appropriately and very diligently. We're gonna contain this thing. We've already got a vaccine in study right now in human subjects. So, this thing is well in hand. President Trump is absolutely correct. He allocated $2.5 billion dollars for this. [U.S. Sen.] Chuck Schumer asked for $8 billion; my response is, 'Hey man, we've got a homeless problem in southern California and in Denver. Would you please give us some of that $8 billion and forget about the Coronavirus? We've got that taken care of.'"
Here's video of Pinsky's comments to the Daily Blast Live; his comments about Pence come after the 3:45 mark:
youtu.be
(H/T: The Daily Wire)


theblaze--2020-03-02--Vulnerable Democratic senator spends thousands in campaign dollars on fundraising trip to Europe

Vulnerable Democratic senator spends thousands in campaign dollars on fundraising trip to Europe He 's actually taken in a lot @ @ @ @ @

Vulnerable Democratic Sen. Doug Jones (Ala.) dropped more than $3,000 in campaign funds to visit some swanky European hotels in an effort to court donations from American Democrats living abroad.
According to Federal Election Commission numbers reported by Fox News on Sunday, the expensive getaway took place in December:
The Alabama Democrat spent $487 to stay at the K+K Hotel Cayre in Paris, billed as "a beautiful historic building located in heart of Saint Germain Des Prés" that's within walking distance to Eiffel Tower and the Louvre. The hotel boasts "soundproofed" luxury rooms and private black marble bathrooms with underfloor heating.
The red-state politician up for reelection in November also spent $1,296 at the Baglioni Hotel in London, which describes itself as "one of the finest 5-star luxury hotels in London" that's located in "one of the most exclusive, elegant and celebrated parts of the city."
Jones' getaway included $1,164 spent on Eurostar rail travel and $533.66 for Easy Jet airfare in England, according to campaign reports that Jones filed with the Federal Election Commission on Feb. 20.
The report adds that Jones' campaign-funded trip was related to a reception in Paris hosted by Democrats Abroad, which is "the official Democratic Party arm for the millions of Americans living outside the United States."
And while Democrats Abroad chronicled the senator's appearance at the early December event on the organization's website with pictures of attendees with the senator along with a glowing description of the evening, Fox reported, it appears that the information about the event has since been taken down, though the URL still mentions Jones and the event.
"Senator Jones came to Paris to support Democrats Abroad! As he explained, the race to hold his seat is going to be tough. Every vote will count! Senator Jones knows the importance of the overseas vote. In tight races, Democrats Abroad is the margin of victory!" the website description initially said, according to Fox. A Facebook event page for the reception indicates that it took place Dec. 7.
"Republican and Democratic candidates for the U.S. House and Senate often meet with Americans living abroad during their travels around the world. Any fundraising is required to be reported to the FEC and will be detailed in candidates' FEC reports," read an emailed statement from Democrats abroad to Fox. "By law, Republican and Democratic candidates may only accept contributions from American citizens."
Jones is no stranger to expat fundraising. This time last year the vulnerable incumbent made headlines for reporting more campaign donations from Americans living abroad that people actually living in the state he's representing during the final quarter of 2018. During that time period, the Yellowhammer News reported, Jones took in $55,000 from inside Alabama while raking in $48,000 from donors in the United Kingdom, $17,270 from donors in France, $5,500 from donors in Belgium, and $5,400 from Hong Kong donations, among others. During that quarter he was also slated to appear at a reception in Geneva, Switzerland, where top-line recommended contributions were over $5,400.
Jones was elected to the Senate during the 2017 Alabama special Senate election that was thrown into chaos by sexual misconduct allegations against the Republican nominee, Roy Moore. He is now widely viewed as the upper chamber's most vulnerable incumbent in November's general election, a position further cemented by his recent vote to impeach President Donald Trump and his laughing off of a question about late-term abortion last month.


theblaze--2020-03-03--News station's good deed turns into a social media disaster when they omit one crucial detail

News station 's good deed turns into a social media disaster when they omit one crucial detail This did not @ @ @ @ @

A local news station's attempt at a good deed completely backfired on them in a social media disaster because they omitted one crucial fact of the story.
ABC 13 News in Lynchburg, Virginia, tweeted about the "AWESOME" gift that they granted to a woman who had experienced two emotional disasters in a row.
"This is AWESOME! @gflickinger surprised a Halifax County woman who lost her sister in an accident AND her home in a fire on the same night with a new ABC13 umbrella," they tweeted, adding an umbrella emoji.
The station sent their chief meteorologist George Flickinger to present the umbrella to Mary and record the momentous gift.
"We have an umbrella," said Flickinger, "and I've actually never signed one of these before!"
"You have your own ABC 13 umbrella, to you, bringing you sunshine on a rainy day," he added.
"OK!" said Mary.
Social media response was ... not positive
The station and the meteorologist were pilloried on social media for what appeared to be a thoughtless gift out of proportion with the tragedy.
"Hey, sorry about the tragedies that killed your sister and burnt down your home. Here's a cheap umbrella with our logo on it. Smile at the camera so we can post it on social media to take advantage of your pain," read one sarcastic tweet. "You really should just stick to the weather."
"This is so outstandingly tone deaf I has to check your account to see if it's a satire account. Oh my g*d go stick that umbrella up your a**," responded another.
"Hello @ABC13News I lost my family in a boating accident, can I have a new tape dispenser?" joked another account.
The news station account compounded their error by not responding well to the online mockery. They deleted the original tweet, and scrubbed the story from their website.
Here's what was left out of the story
The station responded by clarifying a crucial detail left out of their tweet, and the video posted: The woman had lost her ABC 13 umbrella in the fire, and her daughter had specifically asked the station to bring her another umbrella.
"The family was okay with it. They had already been on TV previously about the fire," explained Flickinger to one angry tweeter. "My visiting the family in South Boston was a welcomed surprise to Mary (who lost her home) and the family made a large gathering of it."
They posted a copy of the email to prove it:
But it appears too late, as they continue to face criticism from snarky commenters on social media.
"The original story headline should have been worded better," admitted Flickinger.


theblaze--2020-03-03--'You're gonna take care of the gun problem with me,' Joe Biden tells Beto O'Rourke after receiving h

'You're gonna take care of the gun problem with me,' Joe Biden tells Beto O'Rourke after receiving his endorsement

'You 're gon na take care of the gun problem with me , ' Joe Biden tells Beto O'Rourke after @ @ @ @ @ to Americans during his campaign , 'Hell yes , we 're gon na take your @ @

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden received the endorsement of former rival Beto O'Rourke on Monday, and apparently he has future plans for the Texan, who promised gun confiscation during his failed campaign.
As the two shook hands on stage at a rally in Dallas, Biden told O'Rourke, "You're gonna take care of the gun problem with me."
What are the details?
Biden won the South Carolina primary handily on Saturday, in a revival that simultaneously broke front-runner Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) winning streak and breathed life into the former vice president's campaign ahead of Super Tuesday.
At his rally Monday night, Biden enjoyed the endorsements of former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), both of whom suspended their Democratic presidential campaigns hours earlier and flew to Texas to join him.
Near the end of the event, O'Rourke appeared on stage in a surprise moment, Fox News reported, to also throw his support behind Biden, telling the crowd, "Ladies and gentlemen, tomorrow, March 3, 2020, I will be casting my ballot for Joe Biden."
After O'Rourke's speech, Biden told his audience, "I want to make something clear: I'm gonna guarantee you, this is not the last you've seen of this guy."
Then, addressing O'Rourke, Biden declared, "You're gonna take care of the gun problem with me. You're gonna be the one that leads this effort. I'm counting on ya. I'm counting on ya. We need you badly — the state needs you, the country needs you, you're the best."
Isn't Beto the gun control guy?
During his short presidential campaign, a major pillar of O'Rourke's agenda was that if he were to make it to the White House, he would confiscate Americans' firearms as part of a broad gun control effort.
At a Democratic primary debate in September 2019, O'Rourke announced to the American public, "Hell yes, we're gonna to take your AR-15, your AK-47, we're not gonna allow it to be used against our fellow Americans any more."


theblaze--2020-03-03--Surveillance video shows man who stole a car at a gas station — with a six-month-old baby inside

Surveillance video shows man who stole a car at a gas station — with a six-month-old baby inside They have @ @ @ @ @ he stopped to abandon the baby at a Walmart

Police are looking for a man who stole a car with a baby inside while the father stopped at a gas station in Phoenix, Arizona.
They have video from a nearby Walmart, where the suspect dropped off the 6-month-old child and sped away.
The thief nabbed the car and the baby from a Quik Trip gas station on Sunday afternoon after the father went inside to pay for the gas he had pumped into his car.
The father said that he watched as the thief drove away with his baby.
About 10 minutes later, an off-duty police officer discovered the baby abandoned at a Walmart. The child was still in his car seat.
The surveillance video from the Walmart shows the man walk in with the child and drop him off.
www.youtube.com
The child was later reunited with his family and is unharmed.
Police are looking for the suspect and the stolen car, which they say is a gray 2007 Kia Sorento with a temporary license plate.
The man is described as Hispanic, in his 30s with short, curly hair, and wearing a red shirt with white letters, tan shorts, and black shoes.
Here's a local news video about the incident:


theblaze--2020-03-03--Voter asks Mike Bloomberg how he can 'justify' his gun control agenda while having armed security fo

Voter asks Mike Bloomberg how he can 'justify' his gun control agenda while having armed security for himself

Voter asks Mike Bloomberg how he can 'justify ' his gun control agenda while having armed security for himself 'Does @ @ @ @ @ mine , or my family 's , or these people 's ? '

Democratic presidential candidate and gun control advocate Mike Bloomberg was asked by a voter on Monday how he can "justify" his agenda aimed at restricting his fellow Americans' right to defend themselves while he himself enjoys the security of having armed guards protect him.
What are the details?
During a Fox News town hall, Virginia voter Clarke Chitty rose from the audience to ask Bloomberg, "How do you justify pushing for more gun control when you have an armed security detail that is likely equipped with the same firearms and magazines that you seek to ban the common citizen from owning? Does your life matter more than mine, or my family's, or these people's?"
The crowd erupted in cheers before Bloomberg replied, "Look, I probably get 40 or 50 threats every week, OK, and some of them are real. That just happens when you're the mayor of New York City or you're very wealthy and if you're campaigning for president of the United States. You get lots of threats. So, I have a security detail, I pay for it all myself, and ... they're all retired police officers who are very well trained in firearms."
Bloomberg continued with an apparent attempt to put Chitty's mind at ease, saying, "The Second Amendment gives you the right to bear arms. Nobody suggests that we're going to change the Constitution — even if you wanted to, I don't think you'd get it done — so nobody's going to take away your right to bear arms."
The former mayor argued, "The Supreme Court said you can have reasonable restrictions, and the only restrictions which I am in favor of is to prevent us from selling guns to people with psychiatric problems, criminals, or people that are minors, OK?"
He went on to claim background checks do "not apply to guns sold over the internet or in gun shows."
Radio host and former NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch reacted on Twitter to Bloomberg's comment, saying, "NO, you can't just buy a gun and have it Amazon delivered to your house."
She added, "Private sales are STILL subjected to federal restrictions. Bloomberg should be embarrassed, it's the height of cringe for a presidential candidate to be this uneducated on the law he demands to change."
Cam Edwards, editor of Bearing Arms, wrote on Twitter, "Bloomberg saying the only thing he wants is universal background checks is a huge lie. He's promoting a national gun licensing system and bans on commonly owned firearms on his campaign website."
Bloomberg's plan, as outlined on his website, calls for (in part):
Requiring "every gun buyer to get a permit before making a purchase"
The passage of "a federal red flag law that expands extreme risk orders to 50 states — and funds state efforts to maximize the policy"
Reinstating "the federal ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines," noting "current assault weapons owners will be allowed to keep their guns, but will have to report them to federal officials"
The plan also states that Bloomberg "will require secure storage of firearms when they are not in use."


theblaze--2020-03-03--'Trump can't win the 2020 election': Dr. Robert Epstein warns of the REAL threat to US democracy

'Trump ca n't win the 2020 election ' : Dr. Robert Epstein warns of the REAL threat to US democracy @ @ @ @ @ of democracy as we know it '

Dr. Robert Epstein, senior research psychologist at the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology in California, has been researching the impact of online censorship since 2013. He joined the "Glenn Beck Program" on Monday to expose the power that leftist tech giants, such as Google and Facebook, have to sway U.S. elections through search-result manipulation, censorship, and content suppression.
"We're facing the end of democracy as we know it," Epstein told Glenn. "I understand the mechanisms that are being used now to shift votes, without people's knowledge and without leaving a paper trail."
He explained how the tech companies are dramatically stacking the odds against Republican candidates, especially President Donald Trump, through aggressive election manipulation techniques that are "worth more than gold."
"They're not only making enormous donations, that you can see," said Epstein. "But behind the scenes, they're shifting votes. So they're giving something to Democrats that is worth more than gold. They're giving them gold and votes.
"I'm actually understating the gravity of the problem. ... I'm telling you, this stuff is frightening. And the fact that mainstream media and that my friends the Democrats are pretty much ignoring what I'm saying — not all of them but most of them are — that's outrageous! And that's because they're the ones benefiting at the moment from these manipulations," added Epstein, who is neither a conservative nor a Trump supporter.
In an Epoch Times article titled, "Why Republicans Can't Win in 2020," Epstein wrote, "No matter which weak candidate the Democrats ultimately nominate ... President Donald Trump cannot win the 2020 election."
Watch the video below to catch more of the conversation:
Watch the full episode here.
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theblaze--2020-03-03--MSNBC host Chris Matthews opens show by announcing his retirement, and apologizes

MSNBC host Chris Matthews opens show by announcing his retirement , and apologizes The beleaguered veteran host had faced various @ @

Longtime liberal MSNBC host Chris Matthews opened his show on Monday with the announcement that he is retiring from "Hardball."
"Let me start with my headline tonight," Matthews said. "I'm retiring."
The iconic political pundit had been plagued by criticism and scandal after he decried the primary victories of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and scolded Democrats for preferring the socialist over safer centrist candidates.
"This is the last Hardball on MSNBC, and obviously, this isn't for lack of interest in politics," Matthews continued.
"As you can tell, I've loved every minute of my twenty years as host of Hardball," he said. "Every morning I read the papers, and I'm gung-ho to get to work. Not many people have had this privilege."
Matthews was also recently hit with accusations that he made sexist and suggestive comments to female guests during his show. He mentioned those accusations and apologized in his comments about retiring.
"After my conversation with MSNBC, I decided tonight will be my last Hardball. So let me tell you why. The younger generation's out there, ready to take the reins. We see them in politics, in the media, and fighting for their causes," Matthews explained.
"They're improving the workplace. We're talking here about better standards than we grew up with. Fairer standards," he said.
"A lot of it has to do with how we talk to each other. Compliments on a woman's appearance, that some men, including me, might have once incorrectly thought were OK were never OK. Not then, and certainly not today," Matthews added.
"And for making such comments in the past," he said, "I'm sorry."
Matthews said he is working on another political book and will keep commenting on politics, before he signed off.
"So let's not say goodbye, but 'till we meet again,'" he concluded.
Here are Matthews last comments:


theblaze--2020-03-03--Bye-bye: Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar are the latest campaign casualties

Bye-bye : Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar are the latest campaign casualties Buttigieg and Klobuchar are set to endorse Biden

On Monday's episode of "White House Brief," Jon Miller discussed the peace deal with the Taliban that was released over the weekend.
Of course, the deal upset the warmongers like John Bolton, but it is an encouraging step to ending our 18-year involvement in that wasteland. However, recent rocket attacks may have posed a potential threat to the deal being executed and might mean America would have to recommit to Afghanistan indefinitely.
Then, drag queen shows are thriving with their new target audience: children! These over-sexualized performances continue to traumatize America's youth.
Plus, bye-bye, Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar. We wave a less-than-fond farewell to two Democratic presidential candidates who are now set to endorse Joe. Biden.
Watch the video below for more.
Use code WHB to save $10 off one year of BlazeTV.
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theblaze--2020-03-03--Judge orders Hillary Clinton to appear for deposition in lawsuit over emails, Benghazi records

Judge orders Hillary Clinton to appear for deposition in lawsuit over emails , Benghazi records The court found that Clinton @ @ @ @ @ many more questions than answers '

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been ordered by a federal judge to appear in person to answer questions under oath as part of a yearslong lawsuit over her use of a private email server and records regarding the 2012 attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, during her tenure in the Obama administration.
What are the details?
U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth granted the request of government watchdog group Judicial Watch on Monday to have Clinton deposed over whether or not she intentionally used a private email server during her time as head of the State Department to circumvent Freedom of Information Act requests.
The Daily Caller noted:
Several reporters filed FOIA requests for Clinton's State Department emails while she was in office, only to be told that the agency did not have any responsive records.
Clinton did not provide her State Department emails to the agency until late 2014, in response to congressional requests as part of an investigation into the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya.
Clinton handed over only around half of the 60,000 emails that were stored on her server. She claimed that the others were private in nature and did not involve State Department business.
Clinton previously answered interrogatories in the case brought by Judicial Watch, which Judge Lamberth acknowledged. He wrote in his order that "the Court believes those responses were either incomplete, unhelpful, or cursory at best. Simply put, her responses left many more questions than answers."
Judge Lamberth added, "To avoid the unsatisfying and inefficient outcome of multiple rounds of fruitless interrogatories and move this almost six-year-old case closer to its conclusion, Judicial Watch will be permitted to clarify and further explore Secretary Clinton's answers in person and immediately after she gives them. The Court agrees with Judicial Watch—it is time to hear directly from Secretary Clinton."
Judicial Watch celebrated the judge's decision. President Tom Fitton said in a statement, "Judicial Watch uncovered the Clinton email scandal and we're pleased that the court authorized us to depose Mrs. Clinton directly on her email conduct and how it impacted the people's 'right to know' under FOIA."
Anything else?
According to The Hill, the order by Judge Lamberth "is the first requiring Clinton to testify under oath in person on the subject of the 2012 attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi and the Obama administration's response at the time."


theblaze--2020-03-03--'Finally aware of the gravity': Obama FEMA chief blasts Trump  coronavirus response — but here's how

'Finally aware of the gravity': Obama FEMA chief blasts Trump  coronavirus response — but here's how Obama admin handled swine flu outbreak

'Finally aware of the gravity ' : Obama FEMA chief blasts Trump coronavirus response — but here 's how Obama @ @ @ @ @

Former FEMA chief of staff under President Barack Obama Michael Coen has joined the left and mainstream media in criticizing the Trump administration's response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, suggesting the threat to the U.S. has not been taken seriously.
"To me this is another indication that the president and the White House are finally aware of the gravity of the situation," Coen said of President Donald Trump's expected emergency declaration on Monday. "They need to consider all tools available to them and have contingencies for action."
But contrary to the liberal narrative, the White House unveiled an urgent $2.5 billion plan to address the "situation" on Feb. 24, well before a single U.S death was reported. Also, President Trump declared a public health emergency by Jan. 31 and imposed travel restrictions from China, for which he was called racist, xenophobic, and a fearmonger. The U.S. has also expanded travel restrictions on Iran and parts of Italy and South Korea.
On the radio program Tuesday, Glenn Beck and Stu Burguiere compared the Trump administration's response to the coronavirus outbreak to the Obama administration's response to the H1N1 (or swine flu) outbreak that caused 12,469 deaths and infected nearly 61 million people in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Glenn also gave a rundown of the latest coronavirus numbers as of Tuesday morning:
Total confirmed cases 92,275 (up from 89,842 Monday)
Total confirmed dead 3,130 (up from 3,069 Monday)
77 countries have confirmed cases (up from 70 Monday)
18% of active cases are considered serious (requiring Hospitalization) including 5% that require ICU treatment
U.S. has 103 confirmed cases, and now 6 deaths (all in Washington state)
CDC website no longer directly reporting total number of U.S. citizens tested since regional hospitals can now directly test
Daily Stats as of 6:30 a.m. ET
Read more here.
Watch the video clip below for more details:
Watch the full episode here.
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theblaze--2020-03-03--Ex-DNC chair — who shared debate questions with Hillary Clinton — tells RNC chief to 'go to hell' ov

Ex-DNC chair — who shared debate questions with Hillary Clinton — tells RNC chief to 'go to hell' over prospect of brokered Dem convention

Ex-DNC chair — who shared debate questions with Hillary Clinton — tells RNC chief to 'go to hell ' over @ @ @ @ @

Former Democratic National Committee chairwoman turned Fox News contributor Donna Brazile lost her cool Tuesday, lashing out on air at Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and telling the GOP chief to "go to hell."
Brazile — who famously shared debate questions with Hillary Clinton ahead of time during the Democratic primary against Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in 2016 — was apparently fired up over the suggestion that the DNC could be looking at a brokered convention in 2020.
What are the details?
On Fox News' "America's Newsroom," Ms. McDaniel weighed in on the Democratic presidential primary, saying, "It does depend on how big the lead that Sanders takes out of California is, if he picks up a huge proportion of delegates, but I don't see anybody getting out soon and it's leading towards potentially a brokered [DNC] convention, which will be rigged against Bernie if those superdelegates have their way on that second vote."
Co-hosts Ed Henry and Sandra Smith then turned to Brazile for her reaction, and the Democratic operative came unglued.
"First of all, I want to talk to my Republicans," Brazile began. "First of all, stay the hell out of our race. Stay the hell out of our race. I get sick and tired, Ed and Sandra, of listening to Republicans tell me and the Democrats about our process."
The ex-DNC chair continued, "First of all, they don't have a process. They're canceling primaries. They have winner take all. They don't have the kind of democracy that we see on the Democratic side. And for people to use Russian talking points to sow division among Americans — that is stupid."
"So, Ronna, go to hell!" Brazile said. "This is not about — no, go to hell, I'm tired of it, Ed. ... We are not trying to prevent anyone from becoming the nominee."
Following the 2016 election, Brazile wrote a book wherein she claimed the DNC and the Clinton campaign rigged the primaries against Sanders. She later walked back that claim, but told her Democratic critics at the time to "go to hell."
How did McDaniel respond?
McDaniel wrote on Twitter after the interview, "It's ok, @donnabrazile. I'd be having a bad day too if my party was still hopelessly divided. Talk of a brokered convention and the DNC trying to stop Bernie obviously hit a little close to home."
This story has been updated.


theblaze--2020-03-03--WHO head says that coronavirus is deadlier than the seasonal flu, but that containing it is possible

WHO head says that coronavirus is deadlier than the seasonal flu , but that containing it is possible 'We ca @ @ @ @ @ same way we treat flu '

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday that coronavirus, formally known as COVID-19, may spread less efficiently than the seasonal flu, but that it's deadlier and more severe.
At a press briefing from the international organization's headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made a point of explaining the "important differences" between the new virus currently breaking out across the globe and other diseases like influenza.
"This virus is not SARS, it's not MERS, and it's not influenza. It is a unique virus with unique characteristics," Tedros said at the briefing.
While the coronavirus and the flu both spread the same way, which is by "small droplets of fluid from the nose and mouth of someone who is sick," the director-general explained, "there are some important differences between COVID-19 and influenza."
First among those differences Tedros listed is how easily the diseases spread, with coronavirus transmitting less efficiently.
"With influenza, people who are infected but not yet sick are major drivers of transmission, which does not appear to be the case for COVID-19," Tedros explained.
However, while it may not spread as efficiently, COVID-19 is deadlier and "more severe" than influenza once contracted.
"While many people globally have built up immunity to seasonal flu strains, COVID-19 is a new virus to which no one has immunity; that means more people are susceptible to infection, and some will suffer severe disease," Tedros explained. "Globally, about 3.4 percent of reported COVID-19 cases have died; by comparison, seasonal flu generally kills far fewer than 1 percent of those infected."
Another key difference between the diseases is that we have medicines and remedies to combat one, but not the other.
"We have vaccines and therapeutics for seasonal flu, but at the moment there is no vaccine and no specific treatment for COVID-19," Tedros said. "However, clinical trials of therapeutics are now being done, and more than 20 vaccines are in development," he added.
But the director-general also noted that containing the spread of COVID-19 is possible, while "we don't even talk about containment for seasonal flu."
In summary, Tedros said that the differences he listed are why "we can't treat COVID-19 exactly the same way we treat flu" but added that "there are enough similarities to mean that countries are not starting from scratch" in how they address it.
During the briefing, Tedros also went on to decry "rising demand, hoarding, and misuse," which are leading to a shortage of medical supplies and hampering countries' ability to respond to the outbreak.
"Shortages are leaving doctors, nurses, and other frontline health workers dangerously ill-equipped to care for COVID-19 patients, due to limited access to supplies such as gloves, medical masks, respirators, goggles, face shields, gowns, and aprons," Tedros explained. He also said that the organization had sent medical gear to 27 countries, but that "supplies are rapidly depleting."
The coronavirus and flu comparison was prominent during the earlier stages of the outbreak, when several doctors and medical experts warned that influenza was a far greater threat to Americans' health than COVID-19.
That COVID-19 is more deadly than the flu was also pointed out in analysis reported by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention last month, which reported a 2.3 percent mortality rate.
As of Tuesday, COVID-19 had infected over 92,000 people and killed over 3,100 worldwide, according to the Associated Press. The vast majority of those cases and deaths have been in China, where the disease originated.
The United States currently has at least 60 confirmed cases and saw its ninth death from the virus as of Tuesday.


theblaze--2020-03-03--Democratic Kentucky governor blasts 'homophobic' criticism of his photo with drag queens — one who a

Democratic Kentucky governor blasts 'homophobic' criticism of his photo with drag queens — one who appeared to wear 'devil horns'

Democratic Kentucky governor blasts 'homophobic ' criticism of his photo with drag queens — one who appeared to wear 'devil @ @ @ @ @ take that picture again '

Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear blasted criticism of his photograph with drag queens at a recent gay rights rally as "homophobic," the Associated Press reported.
What are the details?
Beshear made history last month when he became the first Kentucky governor to appear at a rally for the Louisville-based Fairness Campaign, a group promoting LGBTQ rights, NBC News said. At the event, Beshear posed for a photo with members of two drag queen troupes, the network said.
Last week, Republican state Sen. Phillip Wheeler pulled out his cellphone at a political event and showed his constituents the image of the governor with the drag queens, NBC News said.
"This is what our Democrat governor is about today," Wheeler said, according to the network. "These are the values that the Democratic Party of today is out there trying to convince our children's the right way to live.
"I would have never thought that there'd be a day where we'd have people dressed in devil horns celebrating with our governor in our beautiful capitol in Frankfort, Kentucky," Wheeler added, NBC News said, adding that he said Beshear "celebrates it being defiled."
The governor hits back
But Beshear said he'd repeat the photo op, WLWT-TV reported: "Everyone in Kentucky counts ... I would absolutely take that picture again."
The governor also called Wheeler's comments "absolutely homophobic" and said he owes "an apology to every single person in that picture" and "should do it personally," NBC News said.
Wheeler told WLWT his comments weren't directed at homosexuals but only objected to what the drag queens wore, such as a Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket that was modified to resemble a nun's habit.
What did the drag queens have to say?
The Derby City Sisters sent the following statement, WLWT said:
"The Derby City Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence is an order of sacred clown nuns whose goal is to bring education and awareness of the LGBT+ community. We strive to be present in the community so that others can see they are allowed to be comfortable as they are, where they are in their journey. We would love for anyone (especially Senator Wheeler and Representative White) to come and get to know us! We look atypical as a goal, however, our mission can be easily skewed when someone doesn't know who we are."


theblaze--2020-03-03--Super Tuesday preview: It's a two-man race between Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden, but who will seize

Super Tuesday preview: It's a two-man race between Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden, but who will seize the moment?

Super Tuesday preview : It 's a two-man race between Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden , but who will seize @ @ @ @ @ biggest night of the 2020 Democratic primary

Super Tuesday is the biggest day of the 2020 Democratic primary campaign.
Voters from 14 states are set to cast ballots for their favorite Democratic candidate with 1,357 pledged delegates on the line — about one-third of the total count. To put things into perspective, only 155 delegates, or less than 4% of the total, have been awarded so far in the race.
Needless to say, Tuesday night's results will go a long way in determining who will be the party's nominee heading into the general election against President Trump later this year.
What are the details?
In addition to Democrats abroad category and the American Samoa, the states up for grabs are Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia.
The biggest delegate prize is California, boasting 415 delegates, which is more than the nine Super Tuesday contests with the lowest delegate totals combined. Next up is Texas, which has 228 delegates up for grabs.
After that comes North Carolina (110), Virginia (99), Massachusetts (91), and Minnesota (75).
The states set to vote are all over the map and the voter demographic is likely to be diverse. In the biggest nominating contests — California and Texas — minority voter such as Latinos and blacks are expected to play a major role. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has done well among Latinos thus far in the race, while former Vice President Joe Biden has won the black vote.
It's a two-man race
All indicators coming into Tuesday night point to a two-man race between Sanders and Biden. The latest polls shows the two candidates competing for the top spot in every state except Massachusetts, where the home-state candidate, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D), holds a slight edge.
Sanders, who draws support from the progressive wing of the party, is considered the front-runner. He started off the election cycle strong with top finishes in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada and has built a strong organization in many of the Super Tuesday states. Sanders has also outpaced his opponents in campaign fundraising.
But Biden's decisive win in South Carolina, along with a recent string of dropouts and endorsements, has catapulted him back into the race. The more moderate candidate will look to capitalize on a less-crowded field and position himself as the only viable alternative to Sanders.
As it stands, according to the RealClearPolitics polling averages, Sanders is enjoying a comfortable 12-point lead in California but only has a narrow 1.5-point lead on Biden in Texas. The latest Texas poll, conducted by Data for Progress, shows Biden slightly ahead of Sanders.
Sanders is also enjoying leads in northeastern and western states: Minnesota, Maine, Vermont, Colorado, and Utah. Biden, on the other hand, is up in southern and midwestern states: Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, and Oklahoma.
Anything else?
The other candidates still in the race — former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg and Sen. Elizabeth Warren — will look for surprise finishes Tuesday to boost their campaigns.
As a progressive who likely shares supporters with Sanders, Warren is running on fumes. The Massachusetts senator is hoping that a win in her home state and strong finishes elsewhere could reignite her campaign.
Bloomberg, who has not yet been on the ballot for any primary contests, has quite literally been banking his chances on Super Tuesday. The billionaire has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on advertisements in Super Tuesday states. As the field of candidates trims down, Bloomberg hopes his money will give him staying power.
Ahead of the voting Tuesday, Bloomberg said at a news conference that he plans to remain in the race and force a contested convention:


theblaze--2020-03-03--Mike Bloomberg advisers reportedly wanted him to drop out and endorse Joe Biden before Super Tuesday

Mike Bloomberg advisers reportedly wanted him to drop out and endorse Joe Biden before Super Tuesday They do n't see @ @ @ @

Campaign advisers to former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg reportedly tried to convince him to drop out of the Democratic presidential primary before Super Tuesday and endorse former Vice President Joe Biden, according to Vanity Fair.
Bloomberg, the multibillionaire who skipped the first four primary states in order to invest hundreds of millions of dollars into Super Tuesday states, finds himself in a position where he is a long shot to actually win the nomination, and he is most likely just taking votes away from Biden as Biden seeks to catch Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). From Vanity Fair:
Campaign officials are privately frustrated that Bloomberg rejected their advice to drop out and pour their resources into helping Biden, sources said. "The dynamic of the race clearly changed," a Bloomberg adviser told me. Bloomberg disagreed that Biden's resurgence in South Carolina fundamentally nullified Bloomberg's candidacy. "Mike is a data guy, and he's looking at the numbers thinking, I'll be damned if I walk away before a single vote is cast for me," one source said, explaining Bloomberg's thinking.
Bloomberg has spent about a half a billion dollars on his self-funded campaign so far, and dropping out before Super Tuesday would've meant he spent all that money only to exit the race before ever getting on the ballot — essentially a total waste. He participated in the previous two debates, and his performances were generally received poorly.
At the same time, Biden — who at one point looked to be heading for a complete collapse — dominated the South Carolina primary and earned the endorsement of two of the other primary candidates, Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) Suddenly, Biden appears that he may again have the support to challenge Sanders.
Bloomberg believed he could fill the centrist lane that would've been vacant if Biden faltered. Now, Bloomberg stands to win crucial delegates that Biden needs, while still having little-to-no chance of getting more than Sanders.
Bloomberg is likely hoping that no candidate will get enough delegates to seal the nomination before the convention, and that he could make enough deals and win enough superdelegates on the second ballot to somehow take the nomination, since the establishment of the Democratic Party is generally hostile to Sanders' candidacy.


theblaze--2020-03-03--Trump campaign files suit against WaPo for ‘false and defamatory’ collusion claims in opinion pieces

Trump campaign files suit against WaPo for ‘ false and defamatory ’ collusion claims in opinion pieces 'The campaign files @ @ @ @ @ truth '

President Donald Trump's re-election campaign filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Washington Post, claiming that the national newspaper knowingly published false and defamatory claims in two opinion pieces that came out in June 2019.
The eight-page lawsuit, which was filed in D.C. District Court, points to June 13 post written by Greg Sargent, titled, "Trump just invited another Russian attack. Mitch McConnell is making one more likely." and a June 20 post written by Paul Waldman, titled, "Trump: I can win reelection with just my base".
In Sargent's piece, the campaign takes issue with "the defamatory claim that Special Counsel Robert Mueller concluded that the Campaign 'tried to conspire with' a 'sweeping and systematic' attack by Russia against the 2016 United States presidential election" and counters that "the Mueller Report concluded there was no conspiracy between the Campaign and the Russian government."
In regards to Waldman's post, the campaign singles out a line that reads, "who knows what sort of aid Russia and North Korea will give to the Trump campaign, now that he has invited them to offer their assistance?" which it also says is defamatory.
"There has never been any statement by anyone associated with the Campaign or the administration 'inviting' Russia or North Korea to assist the Campaign in 2019 or beyond," the lawsuit says in rebuttal. "There also has never been any reporting that the Campaign has ever had any contact with North Korea relating to any United States election."
The suit also goes on to allege that the newspaper "was well aware at the time of publishing the foregoing statements that they were not true" and that the articles containing them "are part of the The Post's systematic pattern of bias against the Campaign, designed to maliciously interfere with and damage its reputation and ultimately cause the organization to fail."
"The statements were and are 100 percent false and defamatory," said Trump campaign Senior Legal Adviser Jenna Ellis in a statement announcing the lawsuit. "The campaign files suit to publicly establish the truth and seek appropriate legal remedies for the harm caused by false reporting."
In relief, the campaign is asking for "Compensatory damages in the millions of dollars," the cost of the lawsuit and "Such other and further relief as the Court may deem proper."
Last week, the Trump campaign also filed a similar defamation suit against the New York Times over a March 2019 post that made claims about Russian collusion in an effort to hold the newspaper "accountable for intentionally publishing false statements against President Trump's campaign."
UPDATE:
In a statement to Blaze Media, at The Washington Post VP of Communications Kristine Coratti Kelly said "It's disappointing to see the President's campaign committee resorting to these types of tactics and we will vigorously defend this case."


theblaze--2020-03-03--High school closes gender-neutral bathroom after student is arrested for sexually assaulting another

High school closes gender-neutral bathroom after student is arrested for sexually assaulting another student

Authorities arrested an 18-year-old student at Rhinelander High School in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, after the student allegedly sexually assaulted one of his fellow students.
What are the details?
According to WSAW-TV, authorities arrested the 18-year-old student — identified as Austin Sauer — on Thursday on charges of child enticement, fourth-degree sexual assault, and exposing genitals to a child.
The Wisconsin Legislature defines fourth-degree sexual assault as "sexual contact with a person without the consent of that person."
A spokesperson for the Oneida County Sheriff's Office said the incident took place in the school's gender-neutral bathroom. The school has now closed the bathroom to its student population.
Capt. Terri Hook said the school did not notify parents of the incident because it was reportedly an isolated occurrence.
In a statement, Rhinelander School District Superintendent Kelli Jacobi said that "both students went into the bathroom voluntarily."
"This was not a random incident, both students went into the bathroom voluntarily," she said. "That bathroom is no longer available to students. The male student will no longer be able to be on the school grounds."
WSAU-TV reported that Sauer, who was released on a $1,500 bond, is set to appear in court in April.
What else?
WAOW-TV reported on the bathroom's opening in October.
The school refurbished a former men's bathroom and turned it into a gender-neutral space in order to make comfortable the students who were transgender or "gender expansive."
Maggie Peterson, then-director of learning support, said it was imperative to address the school's diverse student body.
"[W]e started having discussions about what policies and practices ... [w]e need to examine so that we can better meet their needs," she said at the time. "This was a very cost-effective way to do it. All we had to do was swap out the stalls."
One trans student said that such bathrooms make a big difference in the lives of transgender or questioning students.
"If I go into the bathroom and there are other students in there, then I have to go all the way down to the first floor and use the nurse's bathroom," the student said at the time.


theblaze--2020-03-03--Poll finds Buttigieg, Klobuchar departures helped put Joe Biden back at the top of 2020 Dem field

Poll finds Buttigieg , Klobuchar departures helped put Joe Biden back at the top of 2020 Dem field Will he @ @ @ @ @ ?

The departures of former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) from the 2020 Democratic presidential primary field have given former Vice President Joe Biden a substantial boost, according to Morning Consult polling released late Tuesday morning.
The polling, which was conducted between 3 p.m. Monday and 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, found the former vice president with 36% support among Democratic primary voters — a considerable 8-point lead over rival and current delegate front-runner Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who sits at 28%. The survey also showed former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg with 19% support and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) with 14%.
Biden claimed a decisive win in the South Carolina Democratic primary election Saturday, taking home 48.4% of the vote and 39 delegates in contrast to Sanders' 19.9% and 15 delegates. In the days following the election, Klobuchar and Buttigieg dropped out to endorse the former vice president, who has also recently garnered the support of former rival candidate Beto O'Rourke as well as former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
"The latest figure, which has a margin of error of 4 percentage points, marks his highest share of nationwide support since June, and is up 10 points from polling conducted Sunday after his big victory in the South Carolina primary," Morning Consult reporter Eli Yokley noted of Monday's numbers. He also pointed out that the poll was conducted after Klobuchar and Buttigieg had both dropped out and "as they announced their support for Biden's nomination."
The Morning Consult numbers came the same day as Hill/HarrisX's numbers, which show Biden with 28% support to Sanders' 23% among Democratic voters or voters who lean Democratic. That survey was conducted on Sunday and Monday, after Biden's decisive South Carolina victory.
The results of those two polls helped increase Biden's RealClear national polling average on Tuesday to 24.6%, putting him just behind Sanders' average of 26.0. The day before the South Carolina primaries, Biden's national average was trailing Sanders' by over 10 points.
The recent wave of support for Biden came as part of an apparent widespread effort to stymie Sanders' momentum ahead of the Super Tuesday elections. Those contests take place across 14 different states and will account for 1,357 convention delegates, leaving some to worry that the results could provide Sanders with a runaway lead. In order to win the Democratic party's nomination on the first convention ballot, a candidate will have to win a 1,991 majority.


theblaze--2020-03-03--Security guard orders man with 'Trump 2020' flag to leave college's Bernie rally, follows Trump back

Security guard orders man with 'Trump 2020' flag to leave college's Bernie rally, follows Trump backer to parking lot — then grabs his flag, tackles him

Security guard orders man with 'Trump 2020 ' flag to leave college 's Bernie rally , follows Trump backer to @ @ @ @ @ his flag , tackles him 'There are criminal and civil actions that are going to @ @ @ @

Video shows a security guard at a college rally for Democratic socialist presidential candidate Bernie Sanders telling a man holding a "Trump 2020" flag to leave the area outside the rally. After some discussion, the man holding the flag complies.
Image source: WAVY-TV video screenshot
But more video shows the security guard following the man with the "Trump 2020" flag all the way to a parking lot on the campus of Virginia Wesleyan University in Virginia Beach.
Image source: WAVY-TV video screenshot
Finally video shows the security guard grabbing the pole of the "Trump 2020" flag and tackling the supporter of President Donald Trump to the ground.
Image source: WAVY-TV video screenshot
What are the details?
"I'm not an aggressive person," Markus Gohring, the man who held the "Trump 2020" flag, told WAVY-TV after Saturday's incident.
Gohring and his friends simply wanted to exercise their First Amendment rights, the station said.
"I wanted to tell the people that go there that I'm not with them," he said.
Image source: WAVY-TV video screenshot
Gohring stood outside the venue for an hour waving the flag before he was approached by security, WAVY said.
"I didn't know who he was, what his authority is, and so I asked who authorizes him to tell [me] that I have to go off-grounds," Gohring recounted to the station. "We had a little discussion, but he was not approachable in any way."
What did the security guard say?
Cellphone video after the 1:20 mark shows the security guard approaching Gohring and his friends, telling them to leave or he'll have them "arrested" — even getting right in Gohring's face and saying, "Don't try me. Don't try me":
Image source: Facebook video screenshot
As Gohring and his friends readied to depart, the guard screamed, "Leave! And I'm not gonna tell you again!" and then insisted, "You're on my property! This is private property!"
While Gohring and his friends walked toward the parking lot, followed by security, one of Gohring's friends told the aggressive guard, "You're very violent, sir."
The guard's reply? "You ain't seen violent, buddy."
The guard also refused to give his name or badge number.
Getting physical
Finally, video captures the moment that the guard got physical with Gorhing in the parking lot.
"He approached me then from behind and the rest is [on] video," Gohring told WAVY.
Video shows the security guard grabbing the pole of Gohring's "Trump 2020" flag, and when Gohring pulled back, the guard grabbed Gohring from behind by the shoulders and tackled him to the parking lot's surface — while Sanders' supporters cheered in the background.
Gohring suffered scrapes on his knees, the station said, adding that he got scared after the guard pulled out a baton.
"I saw he was pulling a weapon, and that's when I ran," Gohring told WAVY.
Lawyering up
"It was a matter of getting that Trump flag off of that campus property," Gohring's attorney Tim Anderson told the station. "That was the 100-percent motivation of that campus security guard."
Image source: WAVY-TV video screenshot
Anderson added to WAVY that he plans to press assault charges against the officer as soon as he learns his name.
"Well, there's consequences to actions, and so we are going to explore those consequences," Anderson also told the station. "There are criminal and civil actions that are going to be explored here."
According to Campus Reform, while VWU is a private university, the college advertised the Sanders rally on its website as "open to the public."
What did the school have to say?
Virginia Wesleyan spokeswoman Stephanie Smaglo in a statement to WAVY said Gohring was "disruptive" and that the video circulating on social media "does not depict the preceding actions of the individual that necessitated the officer to take action."
She also told WAVY that the university, Virginia Beach police, and private security with Sanders' campaign provided security for the rally. It isn't clear which agency the security guard in question represented.
Smaglo added to the station that the school "holds freedom of speech and open dialogue at the deepest core of its values. However, when the conversation turns to physical violence and becomes a threat to public safety, it will not be tolerated on our campus."
TheBlaze on Tuesday asked Smaglo if she could detail what Gohring did that wasn't seen on video that necessitated the actions against him; she replied that "both sides now have legal representation, and as such, the university can unfortunately provide no further comment."


theblaze--2020-03-03--Abortion case before Supreme Court could deal serious blow to Roe v. Wade and give pro-lifers a huge

Abortion case before Supreme Court could deal serious blow to Roe v. Wade and give pro-lifers a huge win States @ @ @ @ @ restrict abortion

The United States Supreme Court will hear a case out of Louisiana on Tuesday that could significantly increase states' ability to enact laws restricting abortion and make it harder for doctors or clinics to challenge them in court, CBS News reported.
What's the case?
June Medical Services v. Russo is a case that challenges a 2014 Louisiana law known as the Unsafe Abortion Protection Act. That law requires doctors and abortion clinics to have admitting privileges to a nearby hospital in order to operate. Pro-abortion advocates view the law as a backdoor way to severely restrict abortion access, while the stated intent of the law is to ensure the safety of patients at abortion clinics.
A federal judge struck down the law based on a 2016 Supreme Court ruling that blocked an allegedly similar law in Texas. But an appeals court reversed that decision, saying the Louisiana law was different enough from the Texas law that it could stand, with one of the reasons being that driving distances in Louisiana were not as great in Texas, so the impact of potentially fewer abortion clinics in the state was less significant.
A question at the heart of this case is whether doctors or clinics have legal standing to challenge state regulations. If it is determined that they don't, it could become more difficult for abortion advocates to oppose pro-life laws.
What could the impact be?
Opponents of the admitting privileges law say that hospitals often only extend admitting privileges to clinics that will regularly send patients. Since abortions are generally safe, they argue, it is difficult for them to get admitting privileges. Additionally, some medical institutions in a place like Louisiana don't want to be associated with abortion. So an admitting privileges requirement would effectively eliminate most abortion clinics in the state.
While bans on abortion procedures are often struck down due to Roe v. Wade, bans on abortion access are another way states could limit abortion. Louisiana is certainly a state that would seek to eliminate abortion to any extent possible under the law, and a win in this case would be a huge step toward that.
"If the court allows the Louisiana law to stand, we will probably look back on this case as the acceleration of the total demise of the right to abortion in this country," said Gretchen Borchelt, vice president for reproductive rights at the National Women's Law Center, according to the Los Angeles Times. "Without overruling Roe, the court could gut what is left of the constitutional right to abortion."
Where do the justices stand?
This case takes on additional interest due to the current makeup of the Supreme Court, including the most recent additions of Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the liberal justices to put the Louisiana law on hold until a full appeal, but the conservative lean of the court presents a real chance of a legal win for pro-life advocates after arguments have been heard.