Roy Cooper's Senate Bid Could Do More Than Flip a Seat
While Cooper has the best political pedigree his party could hope for to replace retiring Republican Senator Thom Tillis, the race is still considered a toss-up by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. Cooper's expected rival, outgoing Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley, is a political insider with less name recognition and no governing experience. But he has something more valuable: the enthusiastic endorsement of President Donald Trump and the fundraising advantage that carries.
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Yahoo
4 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump escalates crime rhetoric ahead of Washington crackdown announcement
By Nandita Bose WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump has spent days escalating his rhetoric on crime in Washington, calling the U.S. capital "totally out of control" and ordering a federal law enforcement surge ahead of a Monday press conference to outline a sweeping crackdown. On Sunday, Trump wrote on Truth Social, "The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY. We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital. The Criminals, you don't have to move out. We're going to put you in jail where you belong." The Democratic mayor of Washington, Muriel Bowser, pushed back on Trump's claims, saying the city is "not experiencing a crime spike" and highlighting that violent crime has fallen to a 30-year low. Trump called Bowser "a good person who has tried" but said she's been given many chances while crime numbers continue to worsen. Violent crime fell 26% in the first seven months of 2025 and overall crime dropped 7%, according to the city's police department. But gun violence remains an issue. In 2023, Washington had the third-highest gun homicide rate among U.S. cities with populations over 500,000, according to gun control advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety. Over the past week, Trump has intensified his messaging, demanding the swift eviction of homeless residents and vowing to jail offenders. He has raised the prospect of stripping the city of its local autonomy and signaled a possible full federal takeover. The Trump administration is also preparing to deploy hundreds of National Guard troops to Washington, a U.S. official told Reuters, a controversial tactic that Trump used recently in Los Angeles to respond to immigration protests over the objections of local officials. Trump has not made a final decision, the official said, adding that the number of troops and the role they would play are still being determined. The District of Columbia, established in 1790, operates under the Home Rule Act, which gives Congress ultimate authority but allows residents to elect a mayor and city council. Trump said last week that lawyers are examining how to overturn the law, a move that would likely require Congress to revoke it and him to sign off. Trump has cited a recent assault on a federal staffer and viral videos of youth crime to argue the nation's capital is in crisis. His response marks a renewed focus on crime as a political priority and grounds for increased federal intervention, which could challenge Washington's autonomy and reshape the balance of local and federal power. The president's order last week to deploy more federal law enforcement also marks a major escalation. Officers from over a dozen agencies, including the FBI, ICE, DEA, and ATF, have already spread across the city. A White House official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said multiple arrests were made on Friday, with over 450 federal officers deployed throughout the city on Saturday. The official added the deployment targets "high-traffic tourist areas and known hotspots," with officers "highly visible," referencing criticism of previous immigration crackdowns involving masked agents and unmarked vehicles. The White House has not clarified what legal authority Trump would use to evict people from Washington, where he only controls federal land and buildings. Since the 1980s, Trump has used crime, especially youth crime in cities, as a political tool. His 1989 call for the death penalty in the Central Park jogger case, involving five Black and Latino teens later exonerated, remains one of the most controversial moments of his public life. Trump is expected to outline further details during a press conference at 10 a.m. (1400 GMT) Monday at the White House.
USA Today
5 minutes ago
- USA Today
A federal takeover of DC?
Welcome to your week!🙋🏼♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert. Feeling itchy? Hundreds of federal officers deployed to DC streets as homeless pushed out President Donald Trump appears poised on Monday to take federal actions to address crime in Washington. He teased a White House news conference about "Crime and 'Beautification,'" an initiative that will also target homeless individuals in the city. Ahead of the announcement, The White House said 450 officers from multiple federal agencies were deployed in high-traffic D.C. areas and other hotspots over the weekend. The moves come despite the fact violent crime declined by 35% in D.C. in 2024, according to data compiled by the D.C. Metropolitan Police. Zelenskyy rejects conceding land to Russia after Trump suggests 'swapping' territories President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are scheduled to meet this week in Alaska to discuss an end to the three-year Russian war on Ukraine in the first in-person session between the two world leaders since Trump returned to the White House in January More news to know now Buying a new car? Check out USA TODAY's new Cars hub, with reviews, news and more. Authorities have not released a potential motive for CDC shooting Officer David Rose, 33, was the sole casualty after a shooter opened fire on Centers for Disease Control buildings near Emory University in Atlanta on Friday. The suspected gunman was found dead on the second story of a building housing a CVS and died at the scene from a gunshot wound. It was unclear if it came from officers or was self-inflicted. Rose joined the DeKalb Police Department in September 2024 and served in the North-Central Precinct, officials have said. He was a father of two with a third child on the way, county officials said. How Texas Democrats are living on the run ~ Texas state legislator John Bucy to USA TODAY about his self-imposed exodus from his family. Bucy is among the more than 50 Democratic lawmakers who've fled the Lone Star State to thwart President Donald Trump's effort to protect his razor-thin Republican majority in Congress. He packed his suitcase to be gone for 30 days – maybe longer. Today's talkers A Pennsylvania softball team versus the world Pennsylvania made its first Little League Softball World Series championship game appearance since 2018, and the West Suburban LL squad did not disappoint. Johnstown, representing the Mid-Atlantic region, recorded four consecutive shutout wins to end the tournament and capture the 2025 LLSWS championship 1-0 over Floyds Knobs, Indiana, which was representing the Central region. The victory marks the first Little League Softball World Series title for a team from Pennsylvania since 1978. Photo of the day: Meet Hezly Rivera Hezly Rivera served notice that she's going to be a gymnast to watch in the leadup to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games. The 17-year-old won her first title at the U.S. gymnastics championships on Sunday night, establishing herself as a favorite for the all-around at the world championships this fall. Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at USA TODAY, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@
CBS News
7 minutes ago
- CBS News
Texas House to attempt another quorum on Monday as Democrats extend walkout
Texas Republicans will again try to convene the House on Monday for a vote on redrawing congressional maps in their party's favor, an effort that already sparked a national political brawl and prompted Democratic lawmakers to leave the state to deny Republicans the quorum they need. The Republican majority is seeking to redraw five U.S. House districts at President Donald Trump's urging as he tries to avoid a replay of the 2018 midterms. Those elections installed a new Democratic majority in the U.S. House that stymied the president's agenda and twice impeached him. Now, Democratic-controlled states including California, New York and Illinois are threatening to retaliate against Texas and Trump by proposing their own redistricting, putting the nation on the brink of a tit-for-tat overhaul of congressional boundaries that are typically redrawn only once a decade. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he'll call lawmakers back to the House again and again until enough Democrats show up to reach the 100-member threshold required to vote on the bill. Democratic leaders in other states are planning out their retaliatory redistricting plans if Abbott succeeds. "Texas, knock it off. We'll knock it off. Let's get back to governing," said New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on "Fox News Sunday." As for the Democratic lawmakers who bolted from Texas — some of whom have been appearing alongside the likes of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker at news conferences — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is asking the state's Supreme Court to remove some of them from office or give them a 48-hour warning to return. "If they show back up in the state of Texas, they will be arrested and taken to the Capitol," said Abbott on "Fox News Sunday." When pressed about blue states' threats to retaliate — such as Newsom's proposal to effectively cut five GOP-held seats in California — Abbott argued that many had already squeezed the juice out of their gerrymandering and would be hard-pressed to push it further. Democratic leaders have said that Abbott's plans are nothing more than a power grab. "They know that they're going to lose in 2026 the Congress, and so they're trying to steal seats," Pritzker said on NBC's "Meet the Press." Past attempts by Texas Democrats to halt votes by leaving the state were typically unsuccessful, and several of the blue states face more hurdles to redistricting than Texas does. California, for example, has an independent commission that runs redistricting after each decade's census. Changes require approval from both voters and state lawmakers, who have said they plan to call a special election in November to set the process in motion.
