Comey tells CNN how interview with Secret Service went amid social media controversy
Following public criticism of his controversial Instagram post, former FBI Director James Comey discusses his meeting with the Secret Service with CNN's John Berman.
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CNN
8 minutes ago
- CNN
Bush and Obama fault Trump's gutting of USAID on agency's last day
Former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush delivered rare open criticism of the Trump administration – and singer Bono held back tears as he recited a poem – in an emotional video farewell on Monday with staffers of the US Agency for International Development. Obama called the Trump administration's dismantling of USAID 'a colossal mistake.' Monday was the last day as an independent agency for the six-decade-old humanitarian and development organization, created by former President John F. Kennedy as a peaceful way of promoting US national security by boosting goodwill and prosperity abroad. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has ordered USAID absorbed into the State Department on Tuesday. The former presidents and Bono spoke with thousands in the USAID community in a video conference, which was billed as a closed-press event to allow political leaders and others privacy for sometimes angry and often teary remarks. Parts of the video were shared with The Associated Press. They expressed their appreciation for the thousands of USAID staffers who have lost their jobs and life's work. Their agency was one of the first and most fiercely targeted for government-cutting by President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, with staffers abruptly locked out of systems and offices and terminated by mass emailing. Trump claimed the agency was run by 'radical left lunatics' and rife with 'tremendous fraud.' Musk called it 'a criminal organization.' Obama, speaking in a recorded statement, offered assurances to the aid and development workers, some listening from overseas. 'Your work has mattered and will matter for generations to come,' he told them. Obama has largely kept a low public profile during Trump's second term and refrained from criticizing the monumental changes that Trump has made to US programs and priorities at home and abroad. 'Gutting USAID is a travesty, and it's a tragedy. Because it's some of the most important work happening anywhere in the world,' Obama said. He credited USAID with not only saving lives, but being a main factor in global economic growth that has turned some aid-receiving countries into US markets and trade partners. The former Democratic president predicted that 'sooner or later, leaders on both sides of the aisle will realize how much you are needed.' Asked for comment, the State Department said it would be introducing the department's foreign assistance successor to USAID, to be called America First, this week. 'The new process will ensure there is proper oversight and that every tax dollar spent will help advance our national interests,' the department said. USAID oversaw programs around the world: providing water and life-saving food to millions uprooted by conflict in Sudan, Syria, Gaza and elsewhere; sponsoring the 'Green Revolution' that revolutionized modern agriculture and curbed starvation and famine; preventing disease outbreaks; promoting democracy; and providing financing and development that allowed countries and people to climb out of poverty. Bush, who also spoke in a recorded message, went straight to the cuts in a landmark AIDS and HIV program started by his Republican administration and credited with saving 25 million lives around the world. Bipartisan blowback from Congress to cutting the popular President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR, helped save significant funding for the program. But cuts and rule changes have reduced the number getting the life-saving care. 'You've showed the great strength of America through your work – and that is your good heart,'' Bush told USAID staffers. 'Is it in our national interests that 25 million people who would have died now live? I think it is, and so do you,' he said. Former Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, former Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and former US Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield also spoke to the staffers. So did humanitarian workers, including one who spoke of the welcome appearance of USAID staffers with food when she was a frightened 8-year-old child in a Liberian refugee camp. A World Food Program official vowed through sobs that the US aid mission would be back someday. Bono, a longtime humanitarian advocate in Africa and elsewhere, was announced as the 'surprise guest,' in shades and a cap. He jokingly hailed the USAID staffers as 'secret agents of international development' in acknowledgment of the down-low nature of Monday's unofficial gathering of the USAID community. Bono held back tears at times as he recited a poem he had written to the agency and its gutting. He spoke of children dying of malnutrition, a reference to millions of people who Boston University researchers and other analysts say will die because of the US cuts to funding for health and other programs abroad. 'They called you crooks. When you were the best of us,' Bono said.
Yahoo
10 minutes ago
- Yahoo
How NYC mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani is tied to Mississippi
Long before Zohran Mamdani shocked New York City's political establishment, his mother, filmmaker Mira Nair, told a different story of immigration and identity — set in Greenwood. Nair, an Indian-American filmmaker, directed the 1991 movie "Mississippi Masala," starring a young Denzel Washington and Sarita Choudhury. The film tells a love story between an Indian-Ugandan woman, forced to flee her home in Uganda, and a Black man living in Mississippi. Set against the backdrop of racial tensions in the American South and the perils of forced migration, the film explores themes of identity, belonging and interracial relationships. Mamdani, a 33-year-old Democratic socialist and New York Assembly member, shocked the nation when he beat out former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary, securing his place as the party's nominee. Cuomo, who was seen as the frontrunner, conceded to Mamdani after polls closed on Tuesday, June 24. Mamdani's win also drew the attention — and scorn — of President Donald Trump, who mocked Mamdani on social media as 'a 100% Communist Lunatic." In response, Mamdani, unfazed, laughed and doubled down on his platform. In an interview with ABC News on Thursday, June 26, he said, 'It probably won't be the first time that President Trump is going to comment on myself.' In a February-post shared to social media, Mamdani, who was born the same year the film was release, explained that his parents met while Nair was filming "Mississippi Masala." "She taught me that if we don't tell our own stories no one else will and too often when it comes to stories about people of color, by people of color, we don't have that funding in New York City and across the world," Mamdani said, adding that, if elected, he plans to prioritize funding for art projects that reflect New York City's full diversity. Mississippi influencers: He's not from MS — but 'Papa Mississippi' is one of its greatest advocates on TikTok, Instagram While location scouting for the film, Nair met Mahmood Mamdani, the mayoral hopeful's father, who was among the Indian minority expelled from Uganda under dictator Idi Amin in the 1970s. The elder Mamdani was an author and academic, and after marrying, the pair moved for his work sporadically before settling in New York City, where their son is now gunning to be the city's leader. Other major films Nair has directed include, 2001's "Monsoon Wedding," which won a Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival, and "Salaam Bombay!" — an Indian-Hindi language film that received a nomination for best international film feature at the 1989 Academy Awards. More recently, Nair directed the 2016 film "Queen of Katwe," a biographical drama about Ugandan professional chess player Phiona Mutesi. Local Jackson news: Jackson's mayor, council will get raises after all — they just have to wait Mamdani will now head to the general election in November, where he will face multiple challengers, including incumbent New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who recently had federal corruption charges dropped in April. Adams, a fellow Democrat, opted to run as an independent this year so he did not participate in the Democratic primary. Contributing: Anna Kaufman and Eduardo Cuevas, USA Today Contact Charlie Drape at cdrape@ This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mayor NYC nominee Zohran Mamdani Mississippi connection, explained
Fox News
13 minutes ago
- Fox News
Trump, Paramount in 'advanced' settlement negotiations over '60 Minutes' lawsuit, court filing says
The latest court filing in President Donald Trump's lawsuit against Paramount Global signals a settlement is potentially in reach, possibly before the July 4th holiday weekend. Lawyers for both parties requested a pause of all proceedings "until July 3, 2025," according to Monday's filing. "The Parties respectfully submit that good cause to stay all proceedings exists because the Parties are engaged in good faith, advanced, settlement negotiations," the lawyers told a Texas judge. Paramount did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. Representatives for Trump's legal team declined to comment. Last week, it was reported that a mediator suggested a $20 million settlement that would include $17 million towards a presidential library in addition to paying legal fees and airing public service announcements on all Paramount networks about combating antisemitism. Trump previously rejected Paramount's $15 million settlement offer, demanding at least $25 million and an apology, something Paramount wasn't willing to give. "President Trump is committed to holding those who traffic in fake news, hoaxes, and lies to account," Trump attorney Ed Paltzik told Fox News Digital in a statement last week. "CBS and Paramount targeted the President in an attempt to harm his reputation while committing the worst kind of election interference and fraud in the closing days of the most important presidential election in history. President Trump will pursue this vital matter to its just and rightful conclusion." Last October, Trump sued CBS News and Paramount for $10 billion over allegations of election interference involving the "60 Minutes" interview of then-Vice President Kamala Harris that aired weeks before the presidential election (the amount later jumped to $20 billion). The lawsuit alleges CBS News deceitfully edited an exchange Harris had with "60 Minutes" correspondent Bill Whitaker, who asked her why Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wasn't "listening" to the Biden administration. Harris was widely mocked for the "word salad" answer that aired in a preview clip of the interview on "Face the Nation." However, when the same question aired during a primetime special on the network, Harris had a different, more concise response. Critics at the time accused CBS News of deceitfully editing Harris' "word salad" answer to shield the Democratic nominee from further backlash leading up to Election Day. The raw transcript and footage released earlier this year by the FCC showed that both sets of Harris' comments came from the same response, but CBS News had aired only the first half of her response in the "Face the Nation" preview clip and aired the second half during the primetime special. CBS News has denied any wrongdoing and stands by the broadcast and its reporting. Shari Redstone, Paramount's controlling shareholder who recused herself from settlement discussions in February, made clear that she wanted to settle Trump's lawsuit in hopes of clearing the pathway for Paramount's multibillion-dollar planned merger with Skydance Media, which needs approval from the Trump administration's FCC. There has been newsroom drama in recent months involving Redstone's efforts to "keep tabs" on the network's reporting of Trump, at least until the merger closes. That led to the abrupt resignations of "60 Minutes" executive producer Bill Owens, who claimed he could no longer maintain editorial independence, in April, and CBS News CEO Wendy McMahon in May.
