Kamala Harris forced to return to Maryland on way to Guatemala due to ‘technical issue’ – Fox News
Kamala Harris forced to return to Maryland on way to Guatemala due to ‘technical issue’ – Fox News

Good morning and welcome to Fox News First. Here’s what you need to know as you start your day

Kamala Harris’ diplomatic trip to Latin America gets off to bumpy start as plane forced to turn around
Vice President Kamala Harris’ diplomatic trip to Guatemala and Mexico got off to a bumpy start Sunday after her plane was forced to return to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland about 25 minutes after it had taken off.

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Air Force Two landed safely. Spokesperson Symone Sanders told reporters the plane returned because of a “technical issue” and said there were no major safety concerns.

“I’m good, I’m good,” Harris told reporters after getting off the plane. “We all said a little prayer, but we’re good.”

Harris later arrived in Guatemala’s capital, where she was greeted by Guatemala’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Pedro Brolo. 

A video shared by Sanders on Twitter shows the vice president and Brolo waving to a crowd upon arrival.

Harris’ two-day trip to Central America – her first foreign trip as vice president – is part of her efforts to lead diplomatic talks to tackle what the administration describes as the “root causes” of the crisis at the southern border. 

President Joe Biden appointed Harris in March to lead the diplomatic outreach, just as the administration was dealing with a massive surge in migration at the border. CLICK HERE FOR MORE ON OUR TOP STORY.

In other developments:
– Kamala Harris’ Mexico, Guatemala visit: Everything you need to know
– Harris to make anti-corruption efforts ‘front and center’ of visit to Guatemala, Mexico
– Harris announces business investments in Central America as part of migrant strategy
– Mayorkas defends handling of migrant crisis, claims ‘the border is closed’ amid GOP criticism

Former professor slams NYC psychiatrist who talked about shooting White people as ‘unfit to practice medicine’
Former Princeton professor Dr. Carol Swain argued on “Fox & Friends Weekend” on Sunday that the New York City psychiatrist who told a Yale School of Medicine audience that she had fantasies of “unloading a revolver into the head of any White person” that got in her way is “unfit to practice medicine.”

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 “She should not be practicing medicine,” Swain told host Lawrence Jones. “What she says matters.” 

“There are lunatics that may be listening to her speech right now that will go out and act on her fantasy,” Swain explained. “She has planted that in someone’s mind.”

Dr. Aruna Khilanani made the remarks at the Ivy League institution’s Child Study Center on April 6, adding that she’d walk away from the shooting “with a bounce in my step” and that White people “make my blood boil” and “are out of their minds and have been for a long time,” the New York Post reported. Audio of the talk was posted on the substack online platform of former New York Times opinion writer and editor Bari Weiss on Friday. 

 “That statement should have ended the career of that doctor because she is unfit to practice medicine,” Swain said on Sunday. 

“This is ridiculous, this is unprofessional, it’s un-American, it’s probably illegal. If not, it should be,” she added. 

Khilanani did not respond to Fox News’ request for comment. CLICK HERE FOR MORE.

In other developments:
– NYC shrink tells Yale audience she fantasizes about shooting White people in head
– Mom fights anti-White training in daughter’s kindergarten class: ‘They reduce everything down’ to skin color

California shooting: 2 arrested in road rage shooting death of 6-year-old, report
Two suspects were nabbed Sunday in connection to the road rage shooting death of a 6-year-old being driven to school by his mother last month, Fox 11 Los Angeles reported, citing law enforcement sources.

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The station identified the suspects as Eriz Marcus Anthony, 24, and Lee Wynne, 23. The report said they were arrested at their homes in Costa Mesa and are expected to be charged with murder. California Highway Patrol did not respond to an email from Fox News.

The May 21 shooting death of Aiden Leos, 6, while his mother was driving him to school on the northbound 55 Freeway in Orange, has gripped the county and the reward for information reached $500,000. Joanna Cloonan, the boy’s mother, said she was cut off by a couple in what appeared to be a white Volkswagen. She said she heard a loud noise and her son, who was behind her, said, “Ow.”

He had been shot. She pulled over as soon as she could. She called 911 and did her best to save him, but he was losing a lot of blood. 

He was rushed to Children’s Hospital of Orange County where he was pronounced dead. CLICK HERE FOR MORE.

In other developments:
– Boy, 6, shot dead in California on way to school in apparent road-rage incident
– Aiden Leos shooting: Image of suspect vehicle in road rage killing released as California DA issues warning
– Reward in suspected road rage shooting of California 6-year-old up to $450,000

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#TheFlashback: CLICK HERE to find out what happened on “This Day in History.”

SOME PARTING WORDS

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Mark Levin discussed what happens when district and city attorneys use their powers of office to advance their own personal political agendas on Sunday’s “Life, Liberty & Levin.” 

“We pride ourselves in this nation on being a nation of laws,” Levin said, “We have something called due process – we have all kinds of systems in place to protect the individual. What happens when a district attorney in a city or an attorney general in a state use their power to advance a political agenda? Politicians dressed up as prosecutors. And what happens when one individual – a prominent individual – is focused on a target by an entire political party, including their prosecutors? Is that what we want in America?”

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Fox News First was compiled by Fox News’ Jack Durschlag. Thank you for making us your first choice in the morning! We’ll see you in your inbox first thing Tuesday.

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/us/kamala-harris-forced-to-return-to-maryland-on-way-to-guatemala-due-to-technical-issue

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Chris Wallace grills Joe Manchin over ‘naive’ hopes for bipartisanship – Business Insider
Chris Wallace grills Joe Manchin over ‘naive’ hopes for bipartisanship – Business Insider
  • Sen. Joe Manchin wrote an op-ed article reiterating his reluctance to end the filibuster.
  • On “Fox News Sunday,” Chris Wallace pressed Manchin on his hopes for bipartisan cooperation.
  • “Haven’t you empowered Republicans to be obstructionists?” Wallace asked.
  • Sign up for the 10 Things in Politics newsletter.

The Fox News anchor Chris Wallace pressed Sen. Joe Manchin on Sunday over his strategy and hopes for bipartisanship in the Senate.

Democrats continue to express increasing interest in scrapping the legislative filibuster, a rule that essentially requires 60 votes for bills to pass in the US Senate, but Manchin is one of the few standing in the way of his colleagues’ wishes.

The West Virginia Democrat has repeatedly said he does not support eliminating the rule and instead prefers passing bills with bipartisan consensus. He appeared on “Fox News Sunday,” during which Wallace asked him about his stance.

“If you were to keep the idea that maybe you would vote to kill the filibuster, wouldn’t that give Republicans an incentive to actually negotiate,” Wallace asked. “By taking it off the table, haven’t you empowered Republicans to be obstructionists?”

Read more: He talks to Biden. We talked to him.

Manchin disagreed, saying that there were “seven brave Republicans that continue to vote for what they know is right and the facts as they see them” and that he believed there were more who felt the same way, adding that he saw “good signs.”

Wallace pointed out that Republicans did not support a bipartisan commission to study the January 6 Capitol insurrection and that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he was “100%” focused on stopping President Joe Biden.

“Aren’t you being naive about this continuing talk about bipartisan cooperation?” Wallace said.

“I’m not being naive. I think he’s 100% wrong in trying to block all the good things that we’re trying to do for America,” Manchin responded, adding he believed McConnell put politics before policies. “I’m going to continue to keep working with my bipartisan friends, and hopefully we can get more of them.”

The appearance came on the heels of an op-ed article the senator wrote in the Charleston Gazette-Mail. Manchin used the piece to announce he wouldn’t be voting in favor of the Democrats’ sweeping voting-rights legislation, the For the People Act, calling it overly partisan.

“Some Democrats have again proposed eliminating the Senate filibuster rule in order to pass the For the People Act with only Democratic support,” Manchin wrote. “They’ve attempted to demonize the filibuster and conveniently ignore how it has been critical to protecting the rights of Democrats in the past.”

The filibuster is a prolonged debate that can be used by the minority party to block a bill from going to a vote and can be ended only by a supermajority vote of 60 senators.

The Senate is split 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats, with Vice President Kamala Harris as the tiebreaking vote.

Source Article from https://www.businessinsider.com/chris-wallace-grills-joe-manchin-over-naive-hopes-for-bipartisanship-2021-6

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3 killed, 3 injured in domestic-related shooting in southwest Miami-Dade – WPLG Local 10
3 killed, 3 injured in domestic-related shooting in southwest Miami-Dade – WPLG Local 10

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Miami-Dade police are investigating a shooting that left three people dead and another three people injured.

The domestic-related shooting was reported around 1:40 a.m. Monday at the St. Verde Gardens apartment complex in the area of Southwest 126th Court and 283rd Street.

According to authorities, a 38-year-old woman and a 15-year-old boy were found dead inside a home, and the 42-year-old gunman, who police said was the woman’s boyfriend, fatally shot himself outside of the home while police negotiators were trying to speak with him.

Police said three other people were also injured in the shooting. They were identified only as an 18-year-old man, an 11-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy.

According to Detective Angel Rodriguez, the two minors were airlifted to Kendall Regional Medical Center and the other victim was taken to Jackson South Medical Center.

The younger child is listed in critical condition, while the teen is stable.

Further details about the shooting were not immediately released.

Source Article from https://www.local10.com/news/local/2021/06/07/3-killed-3-injured-in-domestic-related-shooting-in-southwest-miami-dade/

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‘Get used to me:’ Postmaster evokes Trump style in Biden era – Yahoo News
‘Get used to me:’ Postmaster evokes Trump style in Biden era – Yahoo News

WASHINGTON (AP) — Louis DeJoy is uninterested in the niceties of Washington. The wealthy longtime businessman with an outer borough New York accent prides himself as a problem solver ready to disrupt an unwieldy bureaucracy. And he’s facing potential legal troubles. 

In other words, the postmaster general may be the closest thing to former President Donald Trump left in the nation’s capital. But there’s little President Joe Biden can do about it. 

“Get used to me,” DeJoy told critics in Congress during a hearing earlier this year.

As he approaches his first anniversary at the U.S. Postal Service’s helm, DeJoy is under mounting pressure to resign. He’s been criticized by lawmakers from both parties for changes to the agency that have resulted in service slowdowns. Democrats are particularly worried that he’s purposefully undermining the post office, which is critical to the conduct of elections and is one of the few federal agencies a vast majority of Americans like. 

The scrutiny of DeJoy, 63, has intensified as the Justice Department investigates him over political fundraising at the North Carolina-based company he ran prior to his work at the post office. 

“Postmaster General DeJoy would not be in his job if he worked for any other company,” said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a New York Democrat who chairs the House oversight committee.

DeJoy spokesman Mark Corallo said the postmaster general “never knowingly violated” campaign finance laws. 

DeJoy was born in Brooklyn and still retains its distinct accent, despite long living in Greensboro, North Carolina. After growing up in New York, he took over his father’s small, declining trucking business in the 1980s, transforming it into New Breed Logistics, which he sold in 2014. His firm offered logistical services nationwide, which critics are quick to note sometimes competed with the post office. 

DeJoy became postmaster general shortly after Trump declared the post office “a joke.” DeJoy implemented cost-cutting mechanisms he said would help make the agency — which has lost $9.2 billion in the 2020 budget year — more fiscally solvent. Those included reducing employee overtime and removing mail-sorting machines from postal facilities around the country.

“I am direct and decisive,” DeJoy said in a video message to employees last summer. “And I don’t mince words.”

After the changes, mail slowed enough that Democrats worried about an electoral crisis. The coronavirus pandemic prompted a voting-by-mail surge in last year’s presidential election, and widespread delays sparked concerns that millions of ballots wouldn’t arrive on time. 

A federal judge wrote in September that “the Postal Service’s actions are not the result of any legitimate business concerns” but instead consistent with the Trump administration’s goals “to disrupt and challenge the legitimacy” of elections. 

Ultimately, while there were complaints about mail delays affecting some balloting and counting, fears of widespread electoral disruptions from DeJoy’s larger changes mostly proved unfounded. The Postal Service says it delivered at least 135 million ballots to or from voters — and delivered 99.89% of those mailed after Sept. 4, ahead of Election Day on Nov. 4, within seven days, as promised.

“Some people may have breathed a sigh of relief,” Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union, which represents more than 200,000 post office employees, said of passing the election test. “But as important as mail ballots are … all mail is important.”

DeJoy nonetheless apologized to customers affected by service delays that occurred during last year’s holiday season rush, and said his whole agency would “strive to do better” amid bipartisan criticism at a House hearing in February. 

Such frustrations were new. A Pew Research Center poll released before DeJoy took over found that 91% of Americans had a favorable view of the post office. 

“I think the postmaster general’s intentions were good but the implementation was far less so,” said John McHugh, a former Republican congressman from Ohio who now heads the Package Coalition, an advocacy group of businesses that rely on package delivery. “I’d like to think he’s learned his lesson.” 

The Postal Service lost $87 billion over the past 14 budget years, according to the Government Accountability Office. While much of the budgetary concerns stem from a 2006 law requiring the agency to fully fund costly retiree health benefits for the next 75 years, the post office has also been hurt by an inevitable, internet-fueled decline in mail volume. That was exacerbated by the pandemic.

In March, DeJoy announced a 10-year plan he says can help the post office avoid $160 billion in further projected losses over the next decade by cutting post office hours, relaxing delivery standards so some mail takes longer, and other austerity measures. 

The Postal Service is also seeking to increase the cost of a first-class stamp to 58 cents in late August. 

DeJoy’s proposed overhaul could help the post office operate more like a business than a public service. But he’s bristled at suggestions he’s a Trump holdover with an ideology that now conflicts with a Democratic administration. 

“I’m not a political appointee,” DeJoy told the House hearing. “I was selected by a bipartisan board of governors and I’d really appreciate if you’d get that straight.” When pressed on how long he’d remain in his post, DeJoy responded, “A long time. Get used to me.” 

Wisconsin Rep. Mark Pocan, who organized a letter signed by 90 House Democrats in August calling for DeJoy’s removal, said the postmaster general “is a guy who obviously has a lot of confidence in himself.” 

“He doesn’t seem to understand that one of the few services that the federal government does that’s in the Constitution is the Postal Service,” Pocan said “and we have a higher obligation to do the job correctly.” 

DeJoy can only be removed by a vote of the Postal Service’s governing board, which has nine members in addition to DeJoy and the deputy postmaster general. The Senate recently approved three new, Biden-appointed members. By law, though, no more than five of the nine voting board members can be from the same party and two existing, Democratic members have publicly supported DeJoy and his 10-year plan. 

Biden could dismiss existing board members and replace them with his own appointees who might support replacing DeJoy — but he’d have to show cause for doing so. 

Meantime, Congress may forge ahead with post office changes with DeJoy still in charge. A bipartisan plan to scrap requirements that the Postal Service pre-fund retiree health benefits, potentially saving the agency billions of dollars, is advancing. That’s surprising because lawmakers have fought over that issue for years. 

Republican supporters say the move would complement DeJoy’s 10-year plan rather than supplant it. A Democratic proposal that could defy the postmaster general’s overhaul remains stalled. 

When Pocan pressed him during another House hearing about what grade he would give himself as postmaster general, DeJoy resisted answering, then finally replied, “An ‘A’ for bringing strategy and the planning and effort.”

Recalling the exchange, Pocan joked that almost no one would give DeJoy’s performance an ‘A,’ “Unless it was followed by a derogatory name.”

Source Article from https://news.yahoo.com/used-postmaster-evokes-trump-style-045731686.html

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Senate Poised to Pass Huge Industrial Policy Bill to Counter China – The New York Times
Senate Poised to Pass Huge Industrial Policy Bill to Counter China – The New York Times

“Around the globe, authoritarian governments smell blood in the water,” Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, warned in a recent speech on the Senate floor. “They believe that squabbling democracies like ours can’t come together and invest in national priorities the way a top-down, centralized and authoritarian government can. They are rooting for us to fail so they can grab the mantle of global economic leadership and own the innovations.”

Mr. Schumer and the bill’s other sponsors have steered clear of the phrase “industrial policy,” knowing that would revive a 30-year-old debate about whether the government was picking winners and losers, or championing certain industries over others. That argument goes back to the days of the Reagan administration, when the biggest threat to America’s semiconductor and auto industries seemed to be Japan, and the federal government started some small-scale initiatives, including one called Sematech, to reinvigorate the semiconductor industry. (The federal government’s participation in Sematech ended a quarter-century ago.)

In an interview on Friday, Mr. Schumer pushed back on the idea that the United States was seeking to back industrial champions, as China does. “Industrial policy means we’re going to pick Ford and give them money,” he said.

“This means we’re going to invest in quantum computing or A.I. or biomedical research, or storage, and then let the private sector take that knowledge and create jobs,” Mr. Schumer said, adding later: “These are the areas of dominance that we need research in, and these are the areas of potential industrial growth; great job growth.”

One difference from the debate in the 1980s is that Japan is both an industrial competitor and a military ally. China, of course, is a rising geopolitical rival, and that has changed the nature of the debate. No one argued in the 1980s that Japan would use its largest companies as a tool for surveillance or a potential weapon of war; that is exactly the concern about China.

Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/07/us/politics/senate-china-semiconductors.html

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Three dead in Florida drive-by, week after area’s last mass shooting – New York Post
Three dead in Florida drive-by, week after area’s last mass shooting – New York Post

Three people were killed and at least five others injured in a drive-by shooting in southern Florida early Sunday – just a week after a mass shooting in the same area.

One or two cars pulled up to a strip mall and opened fire on a crowd of people leaving a graduation party, Miami-Dade police said.

Two of the dead were passengers in a car that crashed into a wall nearby as it fled the scene, police said. A gun was found in the car, cops said.

Correction Officer Tyleisha Taylor died from gunshot wounds, police said. She had worked for the Florida Department of Correction (FDC) at the Dade Correctional Institution since 2020, NBC 6 reported.

“We are devastated to learn a member of our FDC family, Officer Taylor, was killed in a fatal shooting,” department spokesman Mark Inch reportedly said.

“Our prayers are with her family as they navigate this unimaginable loss.”

Correction Officer Tyleisha Taylor, who was fatally shot on June 6, 2021.

Alfredo “Freddy” Ramirez, director of the Miami-Dade Police Department, railed against continued shootings in the area and discussed the loss of Taylor.

“It just goes to show you the magnitude of this gun violence issue doesn’t just affect community members, it affects the law enforcement community,” he said, a video of a briefing shows.

The drive-by shooting occurred as people were leaving a graduation party.
Miami Herald via AP

“This violence has to stop,” he added.

Miami-Dade Police officers at the crime scene after the shooting on June 6, 2021.
Daniel A Varela/Miami Herald via AP

“This is extremely frustrating. Every weekend it’s the same thing. And we just got to band together.”

The shooting is still under investigation and police were asking for the public’s help in getting information.

Ramirez tweeted condolences to the families later Sunday.

“Our community was again painfully struck by gun violence overnight,” he wrote.

“No one is immune, this shooting took the life of a correctional officer. We all have the responsibility to report these killers.”

The shooting came exactly a week after two were killed and more than 20 hurt in a mass shooting outside a rap concert in northwest Miami-Dade County.

Source Article from https://nypost.com/2021/06/06/three-dead-in-florida-drive-by-week-after-areas-last-mass-shooting/

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Bernie Sanders Reminds Americans ‘Not a Single Republican Voted’ for $1,400 Stimulus Checks – Newsweek
Bernie Sanders Reminds Americans ‘Not a Single Republican Voted’ for $1,400 Stimulus Checks – Newsweek

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders on Sunday reminded Americans that “not a single Republican voted” for President Joe Biden‘s American Rescue Plan, which provided $1,400 stimulus checks.

In March, the Democratic-controlled House passed the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill in a 220-211 vote, with all Republicans and one Democrat opposing it. The final House vote on the amended legislation came after Senate Democrats used a budget process called reconciliation to pass the legislation in the upper chamber without Republican support.

“Here’s a radical idea: majority rule. Not a single Republican voted to provide a $1,400 direct payment to the working class or a $3,000 Child Tax Credit. The Senate passed this important legislation with 51 votes. We must do the same with the American Jobs and Family plans,” tweeted Sanders, an independent.

Here’s a radical idea: majority rule. Not a single Republican voted to provide a $1,400 direct payment to the working class or a $3,000 Child Tax Credit. The Senate passed this important legislation with 51 votes. We must do the same with the American Jobs and Family plans.

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) June 6, 2021

Apart from the direct payments, the landmark stimulus measure also included $350 billion in aid to state and local governments, an extension of the federal unemployment benefits, $130 billion to assist school re-openings and $160 billion for the development and distribution of coronavirus vaccines.

Democrats decided to use reconciliation after weeks of negotiations with party moderates and Republicans. At the time, progressives condemned the concessions made to appease moderate Democrats, including as lowering the federal unemployment benefit boost from $400 to $300 and applying stricter income thresholds to the checks.

The $15 federal minimum wage measure was also removed after Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough determined that it violated the rules of the chamber.

Sanders has previously called for Democrats to pass Biden’s $2.3 trillion American Jobs Plan, which would boost infrastructure, create high-paying jobs to facilitate innovation, and strengthen manufacturing, and the $1.8 trillion American Families Plan, which would allocate funds for education and tax cuts for families, without Republican support.

In an interview with Axios last month, the progressive senator said he doesn’t “agree” with Biden’s effort to reach across the aisle to strike a deal. “The bottom line is the American people want results,” he said. “Frankly, when people got a, you know, $1,400 check or $5,600 check for their family, they didn’t say, ‘Oh, I can’t cash this check because it was done without any Republican votes.'”

On Saturday, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told CNN that Democrats will begin preparing the infrastructure bill on Wednesday for a House vote, after Biden rejected the latest offer presented by Republicans.

“The president still has hope, Joe Manchin still has hope” a bipartisan deal can be reached, she added.

Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment. This story will be updated with any response.

Senator Bernie Sanders on Sunday urged Democrats to pass Joe Biden’s infrastructure without GOP support.
Melina Mara/Getty Images

Source Article from https://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-reminds-americans-not-single-republican-voted-1400-stimulus-checks-1598007

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Kamala Harris’ trip kicks off after "technical issue" with plane causes delay – CBS News
Kamala Harris’ trip kicks off after "technical issue" with plane causes delay – CBS News

Vice President Kamala Harris’ first international trip got off to a rocky start when her plane was forced to fly back to Joint Base Andrews due to a “technical issue” about 30 minutes after it took off. The vice president departed in another plane about an hour and a half later.

“I’m good, I’m good. We all said a little prayer, but we’re good,” Harris told reporters after disembarking from the plane. She also gave a thumbs up.

Senior aide Symone Sanders said there were “no major safety issues” on the flight. 

Harris is traveling to Guatemala and Mexico, her first trip abroad as vice president. In March, President Joe Biden tasked her with leading the administration’s diplomatic efforts with the Northern Triangle countries and Mexico to help stem the flow of migration at the southern border. Harris is set to spend two days meeting with the presidents of the two nations and checking in with organizers on the ground.

Vice President Kamala Harris deplanes Air Force Two after a technical issue forced the aircraft to return and land at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, on Sunday, June 6, 2021, as she was heading to Guatemala City.

Jacquelyn Martin / AP


Sanders said last week that the vice president will be addressing issues that include COVID-19 vaccination, natural disasters, food insecurities and climate change, as well as poverty, violence and corruption.  

Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei, who is set to host Harris on Monday, told CBS News that Harris “doesn’t hold back, which is good. She is frank.”

Ed O’Keefe, Tim Perry and Fin Gomez contributed to this report. 

Source Article from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kamala-harris-plane-technical-issues-international-trip/

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Technical issue turns Kamala Harris’ plane around just after takeoff for Guatemala – USA TODAY
Technical issue turns Kamala Harris’ plane around just after takeoff for Guatemala – USA TODAY

Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/06/06/kamala-harris-plane-guatemala-turns-back-after-technical-issue/7576265002/

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Trump Memes, Jokes Flood Internet Amid Speculation He Wore Pants Backwards During NC Speech – Newsweek
Trump Memes, Jokes Flood Internet Amid Speculation He Wore Pants Backwards During NC Speech – Newsweek

Former President Donald Trump has become the subject of a wave of jokes and memes on Twitter after some viewers accused him of wearing his pants backwards during his address to the North Carolina Republican Party state conference.

On Saturday night, Trump made his first official public speech since the Conservative Political Action Conference in February at the Greenville Convention Center in North Carolina.

He spent a large portion of his lengthy speech bashing President Joe Biden‘s handling of the border crisis, economy and foreign policy, and repeating his baseless claim that widespread voter fraud caused his 2020 election defeat.

Viewers took to Twitter on Sunday morning to accuse Trump of wearing his pants backwards during the speech, with writer Brandon Friedman sharing a close-up video of the ex-president’s pants as he moved away from the podium. “Others are noting this, but it can’t be shared enough: Donald Trump gave his big speech today with his pants on backwards,” he wrote. “Look close and tell me I’m wrong.”

The hashtag #TrumpPants trended on the platform for most of Sunday as thousands of users shared memes and jokes mocking his pants. In the afternoon, a Snopes fact-checker concluded that Trump did not wear his pants backward after noticing a zipper in the front in photos on Getty Images.

Star Wars actor Mark Hamill, a frequent critic of Trump, tweeted, “He’s clearly on the ‘no fly’ list.”

“Why can’t he dress himself? #Trumppants @FUPA,” tweeted writer and former radio personality Tara Dublin, alongside two side-by-side photos of the ex-president.

User @sirDukeDevin tweeted, “It looks like he has a My Pillow stuffed into the front of his pants.”

“And just like that, elastic suit pants are selling out. Every GOP congressman will be sporting these. #Trumppants #DiaperDon,” tweeted @southernliving.

Oscar and Grammy-nominated composer Shawn Patterson tweeted, “This is one of the most ill-fit, sloppy and clearly untailored suits I’ve ever seen on an adult. And he claims to be a ‘billionaire’!? It’s shocking and that’s without even dissecting his obvious speech struggles.”

“I was today old when I found out what ‘FUPA’ is, thanks to #Trumppants… and now I’m emotionally scarred. So thanks for that, Twitter,” tweeted MSNBC host Joy Reid.

History teacher Sari Beth Rosenberg tweeted, “Former Blogger Living in Mar-A-Lago Starter Pack #Trumppants.”

“Trump just released a statement about his speech last night, claiming, ‘I am big! It’s the pants that got small!’ #Trumppants,” tweeted screenplay writer Paul Rudnick.

More tweets below:

Social media users on Sunday accused former President Donald Trump of wearing his pants backwards during his speech in North Carolina, prompting the hashtag #Trumppants to trend.
Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images

Source Article from https://www.newsweek.com/trump-memes-jokes-flood-internet-amid-speculation-he-wore-pants-backwards-during-nc-speech-1597995

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Kamala Harris’ plane safely returns to air base after technical issue – New York Post
Kamala Harris’ plane safely returns to air base after technical issue – New York Post

Vice President Harris’ airplane was forced to turn around and return to Joint Base Andrews shortly after takeoff Sunday because of a “technical issue.”

“I’m good, I’m good,” Harris said after getting off the plane, which landed safely 30 minutes after taking flight.

“We all said a little prayer, but we’re good,” Harris said, according to The Associated Press.

She had been on her way to Guatemala City in her first international trip as vice president.

Spokesperson Symone Sanders said there were “no major safety concerns.”

Members of the media getting off of Air Force Two on June 6, 2021.
REUTERS/Carlos Barria
Vice President Harris boarding Air Force Two for the first time before the technical difficulties were announced on June 6, 2021.
AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

When Harris boarded a second plane about an hour and a half later, Sanders tweeted a video of the veep climbing the steps.

“The journey continues!!” she wrote. “Looking forward to touching down in Guatemala City for Vice President Kamala Harris’s first international trip as @VP.”

Harris’ two-day trip has scheduled stops in Guatemala and Mexico. She is expected to discuss the surge of migrants from Mexico and Central America heading north and seeking asylum at the US border.

With Post wires

Source Article from https://nypost.com/2021/06/06/kamala-harris-plane-returns-to-base-after-technical-issue/

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3 dead, multiple injured after mass shooting at graduation party in Miami-Dade area – KABC-TV
3 dead, multiple injured after mass shooting at graduation party in Miami-Dade area – KABC-TV
KENDALL, Fla. — At least three people were fatally shot and multiple others were injured early Sunday in the second mass shooting to erupt on consecutive weekends in Miami-Dade County, Florida, ABC News Miami affiliate WPLG reported.

The shooting happened at around 2 a.m. in a strip mall hookah lounge restaurant following a graduation party in Kendall, Miami-Dade Police director Freddy Ramirez said at a news conference.

He said a barrage of gunfire broke out when two cars pulled up into the strip mall and someone inside one of the vehicles opened fire on people leaving the hookah lounge.

Police said two men and a woman were killed and at least six others, three men and three women, were injured and were rushed to hospitals in private vehicles.

The woman who was fatally shot was a Florida corrections officer, police said.

An all-points bulletin was issued for a dark-colored Chevrolet Malibu and a white Toyota Camry witnesses saw speeding away from the chaotic scene, police said.

One car, carrying two victims who died from gunshot wounds, crashed into a wall at nearby Miami Dade College’s Kendall campus, authorities said. A firearm was discovered in the vehicle, but it remained unclear if it was used during the shooting.

Police said the six people who were injured were listed in stable condition at hospitals.

No arrests have been made.

“This violence has to stop. This is completely frustrating. Every weekend is the same thing,” Ramirez said. “We’ve got to stop it here in Miami-Dade County. We’ve got other victims and their families that are destroyed over senseless violence, over stupidness, reckless shooting, innocent people getting hit.”

In a Twitter post Sunday, Ramirez wrote, “We all have the responsibility to report these killers.”

The shooting came a week after a mass shooting outside a banquet hall in Hialeah, Miami-Dade County, left three people dead and 20 wounded.

No arrests have been made in the shooting in Hialeah, which is about 17 miles north of Kendall. Police released a security video showing a stolen SUV pull up to the El Mula banquet hall and open fire on victims leaving a concert celebrating a local rapper’s birthday.

The banquet hall shooting occurred two days after one person was killed and six were injured in a drive-by shooting in Miami’s Wynwood arts district.

The surge in gun violence in the area spurred Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava on Friday to order stepped-up enforcement and protection across the county, specifically in commercial areas with a history of criminal activity and where businesses operating illegally have been shut down.

“The safety and wellbeing of all our families and neighborhoods is my top priority, and we must put an end to this cycle of violence and senseless killings,” Levine Cava said in a statement. “I am fully committed to making sure Miami-Dade Police Department has all the resources needed to pursue these criminals and keep our community safe.”

Source Article from https://abc7.com/miami-dade-mass-shooting-graduation-party-at-kendall/10753176/

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Manchin: ‘All the confidence in the world’ for bipartisan infrastructure deal – POLITICO
Manchin: ‘All the confidence in the world’ for bipartisan infrastructure deal – POLITICO

The remarks from Manchin — the Senate Democrat perhaps most crucial to the success of the president’s legislative agenda — came after Biden last Friday rejected a revised counteroffer from Capito, who increased Senate Republicans’ previous proposal of $257 billion in new spending by roughly $50 billion, according to the White House.

In an earlier meeting last Wednesday, Biden had pushed Capito to support $1 trillion in new spending, after decreasing his roughly $2.3 trillion initial demand to $1.7 trillion. Biden and Capito are scheduled to speak again on Monday.

Manchin remained bullish about the state of the talks on Sunday, praising both the White House and Senate Republicans for amending their respective offers. “I still have all the confidence in the world, Chris, we’re going to get there. My goodness, the president has gone from $2.25 trillion down to $1 trillion. The Republicans have come up quite a bit from where they started,” he told Wallace.

Still, Manchin acknowledged that “we’re not there yet” and urged patience until Biden and Capito’s next conversation on Monday. “We’ll wait. We’ll talk to Sen. Capito after those meetings. We’ll talk to the White House. And we think we can find a pathway forward. We’re not that far apart,” he said.

Source Article from https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/06/manchin-bipartisan-infrastructure-deal-492004

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Some Washingtonians experiencing issues verifying COVID-19 vaccine records – KING5.com
Some Washingtonians experiencing issues verifying COVID-19 vaccine records – KING5.com

The first drawing for vaccinated Washingtonians is on June 8.  The Washington State lottery will use a random number generator system to conduct two drawings, one for Washington residents over the age of 18, and one for residents between the ages of 12 and 17 who will be eligible to win one year of college tuition with the Guaranteed Education Tuition program. The state will conduct one drawing for $250,000 every week for four weeks, and there will be an additional drawing for the $1 million prize on July 13. 

Source Article from https://www.king5.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/vaccine/some-washingtonians-experiencing-issues-verifying-covid-19-vaccine-records/281-be2042cd-8224-4329-807f-fd9e55ca1f0b

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Yellen Won a Global Tax Deal. Now She Must Sell It to Congress. – The New York Times
Yellen Won a Global Tax Deal. Now She Must Sell It to Congress. – The New York Times

To determine if inflation is more than a temporary matter, Ms. Yellen is monitoring two key metrics: inflation expectations and wage increases for low-paid workers. Rising pay for the lowest-wage workers could potentially lead to “an inflationary trend” if there is broad excess demand for workers in the labor market, she warned.

“We don’t want a situation of prolonged excess demand in the economy that leads to wage and price pressures that build and become endemic,” Ms. Yellen said. “Looking at wage increases, you can have a wage price spiral, so you need to be careful.”

She added: “I do not see that happening now.”

At the G7 meeting, Ms. Yellen raised eyebrows when she said that inflation could remain higher for the rest of the year, with rates around 3 percent. However, in the interview, she said that the comment was misinterpreted. She said that she expected inflation rates to be elevated for the next few months but then settle down to be consistent with the 2 percent rate that is the Federal Reserve’s long-term target.

“I don’t see any evidence that inflation expectations are getting out of control,” Ms. Yellen said.

Critics have suggested that the Biden administration’s extension of pandemic unemployment insurance is fueling the labor shortage by encouraging workers to stay at home and collect generous benefits. At least 20 states have moved to cut off benefits early to encourage people to go back to work.

Ms. Yellen said the difference in how states were handling jobless benefits could shed new light on the dynamic, but that she still saw no evidence that the supplement was slowing job creation. She pointed to a lack of child care and positions that were permanently lost because of the pandemic as the more probable reason that employers in some sectors were struggling to find staff.

“We wanted to support people,” Ms. Yellen said. “This isn’t something that should be in place forever.”

Although the economy is improving, Ms. Yellen said that seven million jobs that were lost since the pandemic still had not been restored. Some of them might never come back.

“We’re not in a tight labor market at this point,” she said.

Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/06/business/economy/yellen-global-tax-rate.html

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C.I.A. Scrambles for New Approach in Afghanistan – The New York Times
C.I.A. Scrambles for New Approach in Afghanistan – The New York Times

Two decades of war in Afghanistan have helped transform the spy agency into a paramilitary organization: It carries out hundreds of drone strikes in Afghanistan and Pakistan, trains Afghan commando units and maintains a large presence of C.I.A. officers in a string of bases along the border with Pakistan. At one point during President Barack Obama’s first term, the agency had several hundred officers in Afghanistan, its largest surge of personnel to a country since the Vietnam War.

These operations have come at a cost. Night raids by C.I.A.-trained Afghan units left a trail of abuse that increased support for the Taliban in parts of the country. Occasional errant drone strikes in Pakistan killed civilians and increased pressure on the government in Islamabad to dial back its quiet support for C.I.A. operations.

Douglas London, a former head of C.I.A. counterterrorism operations for Afghanistan and Pakistan, said that the agency was likely to rely on a “stay behind” network of informants in Afghanistan who would collect intelligence on the Taliban, Al Qaeda, the stability of the central government and other topics. But without a large C.I.A. presence in the country, he said, vetting the intelligence would be a challenge.

“When you’re dealing offshore, you’re dealing with middlemen,” said Mr. London, who will soon publish a book, “The Recruiter,” about his C.I.A. experience. “It’s kind of like playing telephone.”

Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/06/us/politics/cia-afghanistan-pakistan.html

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Rep. Mo Brooks served with lawsuit related to his role in Capitol insurrection – CNN
Rep. Mo Brooks served with lawsuit related to his role in Capitol insurrection – CNN

By Katelyn Polantz, CNN

Updated 8:12 PM ET, Sun June 6, 2021

Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/06/politics/mo-brooks-eric-swalwell-lawsuit-capitol-insurrection/index.html

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Higher interest rates would be good for the country, Treasury Secretary Yellen says – CNBC
Higher interest rates would be good for the country, Treasury Secretary Yellen says – CNBC

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that President Joe Biden‘s $4 trillion spending proposal would be positive for the country, even if it leads to a rise in interest rates.

During an interview with Bloomberg News, the former Federal Reserve chair said the president’s plans would total about $400 billion each year — a level of spending she argued was not enough to create an inflation over-run.

“If we ended up with a slightly higher interest rate environment it would actually be a plus for society’s point of view and the Fed’s point of view,” Yellen told Bloomberg.

“We’ve been fighting inflation that’s too low and interest rates that are too low now for a decade,” she said. She added that if the packages help at all to “alleviate things then that’s not a bad thing — that’s a good thing.”

Read the full Bloomberg report here.

Source Article from https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/06/higher-interest-rates-would-be-good-for-the-country-treasury-secretary-yellen-says-.html

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Kamala Harris’ plane forced to turn back because of ‘technical issue’ – Fox News
Kamala Harris’ plane forced to turn back because of ‘technical issue’ – Fox News
Video

Kamala Harris tapped for a number of projects, but what has she accomplished?

Fox News contributor Ari Fleischer discusses the vice president’s performance as her responsibilities increase.

A plane carrying Vice President Kamala Harris was forced to return to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland Sunday about 25 minutes after it had taken off for a trip to Guatemala.

The plane landed safely. The vice president was expected to depart in another plane in about an hour, spokesperson Symone Sanders told reporters traveling with Harris.

“It is a technical issue. There are no major safety concerns,” Sanders said.

“I’m good, I’m good,” Harris told reporters after getting off the plane. “We all said a little prayer, but we’re good.” 

Sanders told reporters the vice president was expected to depart in another plane within the hour.

KAMALA HARRIS’ MEXICO, GUATEMALA VISIT: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

Harris’ two-day trip to Central America is part of her efforts to lead diplomatic talks to tackle what the administration describes as the “root causes” of the crisis at the southern border. 

President Joe Biden appointed Harris in March to lead the diplomatic outreach, just as the administration was dealing with a massive surge in migration at the border. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Harris has since come under criticism for not having visited the border, and for not holding a press conference on the issue. 

Fox News’ Adam Shaw contributed to this report. 

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/kamala-harris-plane-technical-issue

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Joe Manchin opposes For the People Act in blow to Democrats’ voting rights push – The Guardian
Joe Manchin opposes For the People Act in blow to Democrats’ voting rights push – The Guardian

In a huge blow to Democrats’ hopes of passing sweeping voting rights protections, the West Virginia senator Joe Manchin said on Sunday he would not support his party’s flagship bill – because of Republican opposition to it.

The West Virginia senator is considered a key vote to pass the For the People Act, which would ensure automatic and same-day registration, place limits on gerrymandering and restore voting rights for felons.

Many Democrats see the bill as essential to counter efforts by Republicans in state government to restrict access to the ballot and to make it more easy to overturn election results.

It would also present voters with a forceful answer to Donald Trump’s continued lies about electoral fraud, which the former president rehearsed in a speech in North Carolina on Saturday.

In a column for the Charleston Gazette-Mail, Manchin said: “I believe that partisan voting legislation will destroy the already weakening binds of our democracy, and for that reason, I will vote against the For the People Act.”

Manchin’s opposition to the bill also known as HR1 could prove crucial in the evenly split Senate. His argument against the legislation focused on Republican opposition to the bill and did not specify any issues with its contents.

Manchin instead endorsed the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, a measure named for the late Georgia Democratic congressman and campaigner which would reauthorize voting protections established in the civil rights era but eliminated by the supreme court in 2013.

Manchin also reiterated his support for the filibuster, which gives 41 of 100 senators the ability to block action by the majority.

Democrats are seeking to abolish the filibuster, arguing that Republicans have repeatedly abused it to support minority positions on issues like gun control and, just last month, to block the establishment of an independent commission to investigate the attack on the US Capitol.

Republicans have used the filibuster roughly twice as often as Democrats to prevent the other party from passing legislation, according to a study by the Center for American Progress.

“I have always said, ‘If I can’t go home and explain it, I can’t vote for it,’” Manchin wrote. “And I cannot explain strictly partisan election reform or blowing up the Senate rules to expedite one party’s agenda.”

In a sign of growing frustration within Manchin’s own party, Mondaire Jones, a progressive congressman from New York, tweeted that his op-ed “might as well be titled, ‘Why I’ll vote to preserve Jim Crow.’”

Jim Crow was the name given to the system of legalised segregation which dominated southern states between the end of the civil war in 1865 and the civil rights era of the 1960s.

On the Sunday talk shows, hosts pressed Manchin on whether his expectations of a bipartisan solution on voting rights were realistic in such a divided Congress, and with a Republican party firmly in thrall to Donald Trump.

Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace told him that if he were to threaten to vote against the filibuster, it could incentivize Republicans to negotiate on legislation.

“Haven’t you empowered Republicans to be obstructionists?” Wallace asked.

“I don’t think so,” Manchin said. “Because we have seven brave Republicans that continue to vote for what they know is right and the facts as they see them, not worrying about the political consequences.”

Seven Republican defections from the pro-Trump party line is not enough to beat the filibuster, even if all 50 Democrats remain united. Manchin said he was hopeful other Republicans would “rise to the occasion”.

Wallace asked if he was being “naive”, noting that the Republican Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, said in May: “One hundred percent of our focus is on stopping this new administration.”

“I’m not being naive,” Manchin said. “I think he’s 100% wrong in trying to block all the good things that we’re trying to do for America. It would be a lot better if we had participation and we’re getting participation.”

With the Arizona senator Kyrsten Sinema, Manchin has emerged as one of the most powerful figures in Washington, by virtue of his centrist views in a Senate split on starkly partisan lines. In Tulsa this week, in a remark that risked angering Manchin, Biden said the two senators “vote more with my Republican friends”, though their voting record does not actually reflect this.

On CBS’s Face the Nation, host John Dickerson asked Manchin if his bipartisan ideals were outdated.

Dickerson noted that since the 2020 election put Democrats in control of Washington, Republicans in the states have introduced more than 300 bills featuring voting restrictions. Furthermore, Republicans who embraced baseless claims about the election being stolen are now running to be chief elections officials in several states.

Dickerson asked: “Why would Republicans, when they’re making all these gains in the statehouses and achieving their goals in the states, why would they vote for a bill someday in the Senate that’s going to take away all the things they’re achieving right now in those statehouses?”

Manchin said those state-level successes could ultimately damage Republicans.

“The bottom line is the fundamental purpose of our democracy is the freedom of our elections,” Manchin said. “If we can’t come to an agreement on that, God help us.”

Source Article from https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jun/06/joe-manchin-opposes-for-the-people-act-democrats-voting-rights

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Dunkin’ Store Manager Shot, Killed During Early Morning Robbery In North Philadelphia Identified As Christine Lugo – CBS Philly
Dunkin’ Store Manager Shot, Killed During Early Morning Robbery In North Philadelphia Identified As Christine Lugo – CBS Philly

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — A manager of a donut shop in North Philadelphia’s Fairhill section was shot and killed during a robbery early Saturday morning, police said. The incident took place at the Dunkin’ located on the 500 block of West Lehigh Avenue just before 5:30 a.m.

Coworkers identified the victim to Eyewitness News as 41-year-old Christine Lugo, a mother of two with a “kind heart and smile.”

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This case still has so many questions to be answered including why. Why senselessly kill this mother of two at a point-blank distance after surveillance video shows her giving the gunman cash from the register? Police need your help to find a man they say is armed and dangerous.

Surveillance video released by Philadelphia police shows a gunman, armed with a revolver, approaching a Dunkin’ manager as she was opening her North Philadelphia store just after 5 a.m. Saturday.

Police said a man approached the 41-year-old woman as she was opening the store. According to police, the man, armed with a revolver, forced the woman inside toward a safe in the kitchen and eventually into a supply closet where the victim hands the suspect cash. According to police, the man then shot her in the head and fled the scene. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

Philadelphia police released surveillance video of the incident.

 

Eyewitness News was there as customers and coworkers found out it was their friend, 41-year-old Christine Lugo.

“She started this thing about paying for the person behind you,” Randall Fleming said. “I’m not a rich man, but I would find out how much it would cost for their coffee or doughnuts or whatever they got, and I would pay for it behind me, and I got that from Christine.”

“This was really the dagger, it hurts so much, so hard because innocent people are getting killed,” Danny Davis said.

“She was a people person, oh God, it’s hard,” Ariel Rodriguez, a regular customer at the Dunkin’, said.

Over and over, those who knew her, remembering how the mother of two always made everyone feel welcome.

“My favorite coffee, she always knew it was extra-large, eight sugars and extra cream, every single day,” Rodriguez said.

“She helped everybody if you came here,” one customer said. “You wanted something to eat, something to drink, she’d give it to you, without a problem.”

As a memorial in her honor continues to grow, many are now asking why this happened.

“It must be something deeper in a person for you, you got the money, you still do it,” a customer said.

“We are aware of the tragic incident that occurred at the Dunkin’ restaurant on Lehigh Street in Philadelphia. All of us at Dunkin’ are saddened to learn of the death of a restaurant manager, and our thoughts go out to her family and friends. The franchise owner is cooperating fully with the local authorities in their investigation. As this is an active police investigation, we defer any further comment to the Philadelphia Police Department.,” Dunkin’ said in a statement.

Police said there is a $20,000 reward for information that leads the suspect’s arrest and conviction.

Anyone with information about the suspect’s whereabouts is being asked to contact Philadelphia police.

MORE NEWS: Philadelphia Weather: Dangerous Heat Sunday As Temperatures To Rocket Into Middle 90s

CBS3’s Alicia Roberts contributed to this report.

Source Article from https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2021/06/06/christine-lugo-dunkin-donuts-fairhill-manager-killed-robbery/

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