A CNN Town Hall: America Asks Congress - CNN Town Halls & Debates - Podcast on CNN Audio
A CNN Town Hall: America Asks Congress CNN Town Halls & Debates 83 mins
On April 10, 2025 CNN hosted a Town Hall with Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-PA), Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-CT) and Rep. Derek Tran (D-CA), hosted by Jake Tapper and Kaitlan Collins
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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
10 killed in Austrian school shooting: A rare event for the country
10 people, including teenagers, were killed after a shooter opened fire at a high school in Austria on Tuesday. The shooting was one of the worst in the country's history. According to CNN, at first Austrian police said eight people were killed and then the number was raised to nine. Gerhard Karner, the country's interior minister, said that six of the victims were female and three were male. The victims also included children between 14 and 18 years old. Later in the day the Graz Regional Hospital said that a woman who was wounded in the attack died of her injuries, per NBC. There were 12 students also injured in the shooting, some of them seriously. During a press conference following the shooting, Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker described Tuesday as a 'dark day in the history of our country.' 'There are no words to express the pain, disbelief and grief felt by the whole of Austria. Our country stands still in this moment of horror,' Stocker added. The country of Austria will be holding a period of mourning over the next three days to pay respect to the victims. A minute of silence will be held on Wednesday and the flag will be flown at half-staff at all public buildings, per The Washington Post. The incident occurred at the Bundesoberstufenrealgymnasium Dreierschützengasse school in Graz, Austria's second largest city. Police first responded to reports of 'several' suspected gunshots at the school around 10 a.m. local time. Several vehicles, ambulance, a police helicopter and a special task force were deployed to the scene, per NBC. Over 300 police officers were sent to the scene to ensure an evacuation and cordon off the school. The injured students were taken to nearby hospitals for treatment, per The Washington Post. The lone suspect in the shooting was identified as a 21-year-old Austrian male who had previously attended the school but did not graduate. He carried out the killing spree using a rifle and a handgun before fatally shooting himself in a bathroom, per CNN. 'According to the current state of the investigation, the alleged perpetrator committed suicide in a toilet facility,' said Gerald Ortner, director of the police for the state of Styria. Officials did not give a motive for the gunman, but they did share that he acted alone and they believe he obtained the weapons legally. Austria has a low prevalence of gun violence and school shootings are uncommon, per The Washington Post. Not including Tuesday's attack, Austria has had two public mass shootings since 2000, neither of which occurred at a school. The U.S. has had 119 in the same time period. According to The Washington Post, the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium at the Rockefeller Institute of Government defines a public mass shooting as those that take place 'in a public or populated location' in which at least four people were killed and some victims 'were targeted at random and/or for their symbolic value.' The country's most recent mass shooting was in 2020, when a man killed four people in Vienna, before being fatally shot by police. Credit for the attack was claimed by The Islamic State.
Black America Web
an hour ago
- Black America Web
Op-Ed: CNN Host Says Question To Education Secretary About Tulsa Race Massacre Was A ‘Gotcha' Question. Umm…No!
Source: Here's the thing: white conservatives want to do away with DEI, critical race theory, and everything else that gets their racial resentment flowing, but they don't really want to get into the weeds of whether their anti-progress stances have merit, or whether the people in charge of deciding what constitutes DEI and CRT are equipped to make such assessments. All white conservatives do is make claims with little to nothing to substantiate them and dismiss any challenges to those claims as 'woke,' 'leftist,' or, in the case of CNN host Scott Jennings and his ilk, fraught with 'gotcha' questions. Last week, Education Secretary Linda McMahon was grilled during a congressional hearing about the Trump administration's efforts to ban what it considers to be 'illegal DEI practices' at K-12 public schools. She was asked for examples of what historical teachings might fall under that category, specifically, whether teaching students about the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 would violate federal policy. 'I'd have to get back to you on that,' McMahon responded multiple times, including after she was asked if she even knew the massacre happened — indicating that the white person in charge of the office that is deciding how much Black history is too much Black history wasn't aware of arguably the most well-known race riot in American history. The importance of why someone in McMahon's position should be better versed in Black history — especially if she's involved in deciding what should and shouldn't be taught — eluded Jennings, apparently. During a Wednesday segment of CNN's 'News Night with Abby Phillip,' Phillip noted correctly that McMahon has shown herself to be a woefully underqualified Cabinet member in the administration of President Donald Trump, despite the administration presenting its anti-DEI agenda as a campaign for meritocracy. Jennings responded by deflecting to his perceived failing of the Biden administration (because MAGA supporters have nothing if they don't have, 'But…but…but Sleepy Joe' ) before segueing to his actual point, which was generally no real point at all. 'The only thing I care about for the education secretary — the literal only thing I care about — is what they are doing to close the Department of Education,' Jennings said. 'I don't care how many books she's read; I don't care what answers to 'gotcha' questions she had. I just want to know how quickly we can close the department.' See, this is what I call mindless Trumpetting . First of all, Jennings is out here gleefully admitting on live air that he doesn't care how educated the Secretary of Education is as long as she shuts down the department she's in charge of, an agenda of President Donald Trump that is transparently rooted in ideology, not merit or practicality. Secondly, everything isn't a 'gotcha' question just because a MAGA official who doesn't know things got 'got.' McMahon was asked about Tulsa and Ruby Bridges in a discussion about what her office considers 'illegal DEI' curriculum. (She wasn't even asked the more relevant question: What does school curriculum have to do with diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the first place, unless we're simply otherizing any teachings that don't center white America?) McMahon wasn't asked any difficult questions, but she was asked questions that would have forced her to present Trump's anti-DEI mission in a way that isn't so vague and ambiguous. And the Trump administration couldn't have that because people might find out the anti-diversity and critical race theory war is actually just a bunch of racist nonsense. That would be the ultimate 'gotcha,' wouldn't it? SEE ALSO: Education Secretary Linda McMahon Didn't Know About The Tulsa Race Massacre When Asked About 'Illegal DEI' In Education Trump's Job Corps 'Pause' Is MAGA's Plan To Eliminate Poor Youth SEE ALSO Op-Ed: CNN Host Says Question To Education Secretary About Tulsa Race Massacre Was A 'Gotcha' Question. Umm…No! was originally published on Black America Web Featured Video CLOSE
Washington Post
an hour ago
- Washington Post
With reporters shot and roughed up, advocates question whether those covering protests are targets
More than two dozen journalists have been injured or roughed up while covering protests against immigration raids in Los Angeles, leading press freedom groups to question whether law enforcement has been deliberately targeting reporters on the story. Journalists have been pelted with rubber bullets or pepper spray, including an Australian TV reporter struck while doing a live shot and a New York Post reporter left with a giant welt on his forehead after taking a direct hit. A CNN crew was briefly detained then released on Monday night. The advocacy group Reporters Without Borders said there have been at least 27 attacks on journalists — 24 from law enforcement — since the demonstrations started. The Committee to Protect Journalists, the First Amendment Coalition and Freedom of the Press Foundation were among the groups to express concern to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. In a letter, they said 'federal officers appear to have deliberately targeted journalists who were doing nothing more than their job covering the news.' Noem hasn't replied, David Loy, legal director of the First Amendment Coalition, said Tuesday. A Noem spokesperson didn't have an immediate comment for The Associated Press. Experts say the apparent hostility toward journalists, or a disregard for their role and safety, became particularly apparent during demonstrations following the death of George Floyd in 2020. A troubling indication of a decline in press freedom is the rapid escalation of threats journalists face in the United States, said Bruce Shapiro, executive director of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma at Columbia University. While most journalists covering wars receive training and safety equipment, it is apparent that many — particularly freelancers — don't have similar protection when assigned to events like the Los Angeles demonstrations, he said. 'It's not like covering a war zone,' Shapiro said. 'But there are some very specific skills and strategies that people need to employ. The First Amendment is only as strong as the safety of the journalists covering these events.' On Sunday, Australian journalist Lauren Tomasi was shot in the leg by a rubber bullet while reporting live, with a microphone in her hand, from protests in downtown Los Angeles. Widely circulated video shows her crying out in pain and clutching her lower leg as she and her camera operator quickly move away from a police line. She told 9News later that she was safe and unharmed. New York Post photographer Toby Canham was overlooking the 101 freeway when he was hit. He spent Monday in the hospital with whiplash and neck pain, and left with a red mark on his forehead. Shortly before he was shot, he said he saw someone throwing a water bottle with liquid at authorities. 'I completely understand being in the position where you could get injured,' Canham said. 'But at the same time, there was no justification for even aiming the rifle at me and pulling the trigger, so I'm a bit pissed off about that, to be honest.' Ben Camacho, a reporter at the local news website The Southlander, reported being shot twice. 'Unsure of what hit me both times but they hit like a sledgehammer and without immediate warning,' he wrote online. 'Elbow is wrapped with gauze and knee is weak.' Photojournalist Nick Stern was standing near some people waving a Mexican flags when he was shot in the thigh. He later had emergency surgery. 'I thought it was a live round because of the sheer intensity of the pain,' he told the AP. 'Then I passed out from the pain.' Lexis Olivier-Ray of L.A. Taco, an alternative independent media platform, thought he was safely positioned with some television crews but instead had pepper balls shot at him. Some reporters may have taken less care: one posted a clip from film he shot about 10 yards (9.1 meters) from a police officer with a rifle pointed at him. Not all of the incidents involved law enforcement. AP photographer Jae Hong was kicked and hit with sticks by protesters on Monday, his protective gear enabling him to escape injury. A Los Angeles TV reporter and her crew were forced away by demonstrators, one loudly yelling, 'get out of here.' CNN aired video of its correspondent, Jason Carroll, and his crew with their hands behind their backs being led away from a protest by officers. They were later released. In many past conflicts, journalists had a measure of protection because opposing sides wanted them to record their side of the stories, Shapiro said. Now many journalists are seen as superfluous by people who have other ways of delivering their messages, or a target by those who want to spread fear, he said. It illustrates the importance of proper training and protection, he said. For reporters in the middle of the story now, they should plan carefully — being aware of exit routes and safe zones, working in tandem with others and in constant communication with their newsrooms. 'We need everyone from major news outlets to television to citizen journalists,' he said. 'We need them on the street. But we need them to be safe.' ___ AP correspondent Jake Offenhartz in Los Angeles contributed to this report. David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at and
