New Hampshire jury acquits consultant behind AI robocalls mimicking Biden on all charges
Steven Kramer, 56, of New Orleans, admitted orchestrating a message sent to thousands of voters two days before the state's Jan. 23, 2024, presidential primary. Recipients heard an AI-generated voice similar to the Democratic president's that used his catchphrase 'What a bunch of malarkey' and, as prosecutors alleged, suggested that voting in the primary would preclude voters from casting ballots in November.
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Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Trump shares First Lady Melania's letter to Putin as he rages over coverage of Alaska summit
President Donald Trump has posted the full letter from First Lady Melania that he hand-delivered to Russia's Vladimir Putin at Friday's summit in Alaska regarding the fate of the Ukraine war. In the letter, which Putin reportedly read 'immediately' in front of delegates at the summit, the first lady urged the Russian leader to remember the innocence of the children caught in the midst of the fighting. 'In protecting the innocence of these children, you will do more than serve Russia alone — you serve humanity itself,' the letter reads. 'Such a bold idea transcends all human division, and you, Mr. Putin, are fit to implement this vision with the stroke of the pen today. It is time.' The president revealed the letter on Truth Social, after making multiple posts criticizing reaction from the media and Democrats to the Alaska summit, which did not result in a deal to end the Ukraine war. Senator Chris Murphy, the ranking Democratic member of the Foreign Affairs subcommittee on European security cooperation, said the VIP welcome for Putin gave the Russian 'everything he wanted' and was an 'embarrassment for the United States.' "It's incredible how the Fake News violently distorts the TRUTH when it comes to me," Trump wrote in an earlier post. "There is NOTHING I can say or do that would lead them to write or report honestly about me." "If I got Russia to give up Moscow as part of the Deal, the Fake News, and their PARTNER, the Radical Left Democrats, would say I made a terrible mistake and a very bad deal,' he wrote in another. Following the Alaska summit, both Trump and Putin claimed the controversial meeting had been 'productive' and a 'success,' though little concrete information has emerged about what the two leaders discussed behind closed doors. 'We had an extremely productive meeting, and many points were agreed to,' Trump told reporters. 'There are just a very few that are left. Some are not that significant. One is probably the most significant, but we have a very good chance of getting there. We didn't get there, but we have a very good chance of getting there.' Speaking to Fox News's Sean Hannity after the summit, Trump said both Putin and Zelensky would like him to be present at a potential second meeting. 'They both want me there, and I'll be there,' he said. On Sunday, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said Putin agreed to allow the U.S. and its European allies to offer Ukraine a NATO-like security guarantee. 'We were able to win the following concession: That the United States could offer Article 5-like protection, which is one of the real reasons why Ukraine wants to be in Nato," Witkoff told CNN. The reported concession 'was the first time we had ever heard the Russians agree to that,' Witkoff added, calling the step 'game-changing.' The envoy also signaled that the fate of the occupied Donbas region, which Putin reportedly demands Ukraine cede to Russia to end the invasion, will be a major topic during continued discussions around ending the war. Following Trump's meeting with Putin, European leaders head to Washington Monday for continued talks with the president. The European delegation includes Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky, the UK's Sir Keir Starmer, France's Emmanuel Macron, Germany's Friedrich Merz, Finland's Alexander Stubb, EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and NATO chief Mark Rutte.
Boston Globe
2 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Black mayors of cities Trump decries as ‘lawless' tout significant declines in violent crimes
'It gives us an opportunity to say we need to amplify our voices to confront the rhetoric that crime is just running rampant around major US cities. It's just not true,' said Van Johnson, mayor of Savannah, Ga., and president of the African American Mayors Association. 'It's not supported by any evidence or statistics whatsoever.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up After deploying the first of 800 National Guard members to Washington, the Republican president is setting his sights on other cities including Baltimore, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Oakland, Calif., calling them crime-ridden and 'horribly run.' One thing they all have in common: They're led by Black mayors. Advertisement 'It was not lost on any member of our organization that the mayors either were Black or perceived to be Democrats,' Johnson said. 'And that's unfortunate. For mayors, we play with whoever's on the field.' Advertisement The federal government's actions have heightened some of the mayors' desires to champion the strategies used to help make their cities safer. Trump argued that federal law enforcement had to step in after a prominent employee of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, was attacked in an attempted carjacking. He also pointed to homeless encampments, graffiti, and potholes as evidence of Washington 'getting worse.' However statistics published by Washington's Metropolitan Police contradict the president and show Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson scoffed at Trump's remarks, hailing the city's 'historic progress driving down homicides by more than 30 percent and shootings by almost 40 percent in the last year alone.' Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles, where homicides fell 14 percent between 2023 and 2024, called the federal takeover nothing but a performative 'power grab.' In Baltimore, officials say they have seen historic decreases in homicides and nonfatal shootings this year, and those have been on the decline since 2022, according to the city's public safety data dashboard. Carjackings were down 20 percent in 2023, and other major crimes fell in 2024. Only burglaries have climbed slightly. The lower crime rates are attributed to tackling violence with a 'public health' approach, city officials say. In 2021, under Mayor Brandon Scott, Baltimore created a Comprehensive Violence Prevention Plan that called for more investment in community violence intervention, more services for crime victims, and other initiatives. Scott accused Trump of exploiting crime as a 'wedge issue and dog whistle' rather than caring about curbing violence. 'He has actively undermined efforts that are making a difference saving lives in cities across the country in favor of militarized policing of Black communities,' Scott said via email. Advertisement The Democratic mayor pointed out that the Justice Department has slashed over $1 million in funding this year that would have gone toward community antiviolence measures. He vowed to keep on making headway, regardless. 'We will continue to closely work with our regional federal law enforcement agencies, who have been great partners, and will do everything in our power to continue the progress despite the roadblocks this administration attempts to implement,' Scott said. Just last week Oakland officials touted significant decreases in crime in the first half of this year compared with the same period in 2024, including a 21 percent drop in homicides and a 29 percent decrease in all violent crime, according to the midyear report by the Major Cities Chiefs Association. Officials credited collaborations with community organizations and crisis response services through the city's Department of Violence Prevention, established in 2017. 'These results show that we're on the right track,' Mayor Barbara Lee said at a news conference. 'We're going to keep building on this progress with the same comprehensive approach that got us here.' After Trump gave his assessment of Oakland last week, she rejected it as 'fearmongering.' Social justice advocates agree that crime has gone down and say Trump is perpetuating exaggerated perceptions that have long plagued Oakland. Nicole Lee, executive director of Urban Peace Movement, an Oakland-based organization that focuses on empowering communities of color and young people through initiatives such as leadership training and assistance to victims of gun violence, said much credit for the gains on lower crime rates is due to community groups. 'We really want to acknowledge all of the hard work that our network of community partners and community organizations have been doing over the past couple of years coming out of the pandemic to really create real community safety,' Lee said. 'The things we are doing are working.' Advertisement She worries that an intervention by military forces would undermine that progress. 'It creates kind of an environment of fear in our community,' Lee said. In Washington, agents from multiple federal agencies, National Guard members and even the United States Park Police have been seen Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson Savannah's Johnson said he is all for partnering with the federal government, but troops on city streets is not what he envisioned. Instead, cities need federal assistance for things like multistate investigation and fighting problems such as gun trafficking, and cybercrimes. 'I'm a former law enforcement officer. There is a different skill set that is used for municipal law enforcement agencies than the military,' Johnson said. There has also been speculation that federal intervention could entail curfews for young people. But that would do more harm, Nicole Lee said, disproportionately affecting young people of color and wrongfully assuming that youths are the main instigators of violence. 'If you're a young person, basically you can be cited, criminalized, simply for being outside after certain hours,' Lee said. 'Not only does that not solve anything in regard to violence and crime, it puts young people in the crosshairs of the criminal justice system.' Advertisement For now, Johnson said, the mayors are watching their counterpart in Washington, Muriel Bowser, closely to see how she navigates the unprecedented federal intervention. She has been Johnson praised Bowser for carrying on with dignity and grace. 'Black mayors are resilient. We are intrinsically children of struggle,' Johnson said. 'We learn to adapt quickly, and I believe that we will and we are.'
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Murphy dismisses Trump's DC crime crackdown as a ‘stunt'
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Sunday dismissed President Trump's recent crackdown on Washington, D.C., as a 'stunt.' 'What's happening here in Washington, D.C., is just a stunt. Donald Trump didn't like the fact that the walls were closing in on him, that his own base was questioning why he wouldn't release the Epstein files, why he was protecting very powerful people,' Murphy told NBC News's Kristen Welker on 'Meet the Press.' 'He didn't want to talk anymore about the fact that our health care system is about to collapse because of the cuts that they have made, that premiums are going to go up by 75 percent on Americans,' he added. 'And so, true to form, he just decided to create a new news cycle.' Earlier this week, Trump announced he was taking federal control of D.C.'s police department and deploying the National Guard in the city in an effort to fight crime. Trump's recent moves in the nation's capital have drawn heavy blowback from Democrats and reignited calls for statehood for the District, which does not have voting representation in Congress. On Saturday, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) announced that he had authorized the deployment of 200 National Guard troops to help 'restore law and order' in D.C., also saying that they could be recalled if there was a South Carolina disaster. 'I've authorized the deployment of 200 S.C. National Guardsmen to support President Trump in his mission to restore law and order to our nation's capital. The federal government will pay for this deployment under Title 32,' McMaster said on the social media platform X. 'Our National Guard will work to assist President Trump's mission, and should a hurricane or natural disaster threaten our state, they can and will be immediately recalled home to respond,' the governor added. When reached for comment, White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said that 'Democrats continue to be so unpopular among everyday Americans' because 'they think the President of the United States cracking down on crime in our nation's capital is a bad thing.' This story was updated at 4:36 p.m. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
