Gov. Henry McMaster authorizes deployment of National Guard to Washington, DC
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Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Fox News host Bret Baier pulled over, ticketed amid Trump's DC crackdown
No one seems to be safe amid President Trump's crime crackdown in Washington, D.C. — not even Fox News host Bret Baier, who was caught on video being pulled over by police in the nation's capital. The 'Special Report' host was stopped by a D.C. cop for distracted driving while behind the wheel of a white Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon. The footage, which shows Baier being given a ticket, was captured by real estate firm The Mollaan Babbington Group and shared on Instagram Sunday. 'With Trump's federal takeover of DC in full swing, you can't make this up: I watched even FOX's Bret Baier get pulled over in Georgetown. And for what? I honestly couldn't tell,' read the video's caption. Baier, who has interviewed Trump and occasionally played golf with him, fessed up to the police-involved incident and offered more details on Tuesday. 'I picked up my ringing phone as I drove past an officer while driving my wife's car in Georgetown,' tweeted the 55-year-old New Jersey native. 'He pointed to have me pull over — I did,' he continued. 'He was very professional. I had to dig for the registration card. Got a ticket and left. I didn't know there was paparazzi.' Trump announced last week he wanted to 'liberate' Washington, D.C., and placed the Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control. He also deployed around 800 National Guard troops to 'rescue' D.C. from 'crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor.' The controversial overhaul has occurred despite official statistics stating that violent crime in the city has declined in recent years. On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced there have been 465 arrests in D.C. since the start of the crackdown on Aug. 7. _____
Associated Press
27 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Ranger fired for hanging transgender flag in Yosemite and park visitors may face prosecution
A Yosemite National Park ranger was fired after hanging a pride flag from El Capitan while some visitors face potential prosecution for alleged violations of protest restrictions that have been tightened under President Donald Trump. Shannon 'SJ' Joslin, a ranger and biologist who studies bats, said they hung a 66-foot wide transgender pride flag on the famous climbing wall that looms over the California park's main thoroughfare for about two hours on May 20 before taking it down voluntarily. A termination letter they received last week accused Joslin of 'failing to demonstrate acceptable conduct' in their capacity as a biologist and cited the May demonstration. 'I was really hurting because there were a lot of policies coming from the current administration that target trans people, and I'm nonbinary,' Joslin, 35, told The Associated Press, adding that hanging the flag was a way to 'tell myself ... that we're all safe in national parks.' Joslin said their firing sends the opposite message: 'If you're a federal worker and you have any kind of identity that doesn't agree with this current administration, then you must be silent, or you will be eliminated.' Park officials on Tuesday said they were working with the U.S. Justice Department to pursue visitors and workers who violated restrictions on demonstrations at the park that had more than 4 million visitors last year. The agencies 'are pursuing administrative action against several Yosemite National Park employees and possible criminal charges against several park visitors who are alleged to have violated federal laws and regulations related to demonstrations,' National Park Service spokesperson Rachel Pawlitz said. Joslin said a group of seven climbers including two other park rangers hung the flag. The other rangers are on administrative leave pending an investigation, Joslin said. Flags have long been displayed from El Capitan without consequences, said Joanna Citron Day, a former federal attorney who is now with the advocacy group Public Employees For Environmental Responsibility. She said the group is representing Joslin, but there is no pending legal case. On May 21, a day after the flag display, Acting Superintendent Ray McPadden signed a rule prohibiting people from hanging banners, flags or signs larger than 15 square feet in park areas designated as 'wilderness' or 'potential wilderness.' That covers 94% of the park, according to Yosemite's website. Parks officials defend restriction on protests Parks officials said the new restriction on demonstrations was needed to preserve Yosemite's wilderness and protect climbers. 'We take the protection of the park's resources and the experience of our visitors very seriously, and will not tolerate violations of laws and regulations that impact those resources and experiences,' Pawlitz said. It followed a widely publicized instance in February of demonstrators hanging an upside down American flag on El Capitan in the wake of the firing of National Park Service employees by the Trump administration. Among the small group of climbers who helped hang the flag was Pattie Gonia, an environmentalist and drag queen who uses the performance art to raise awareness of conservation issues. For the past five years, Gonia has helped throw a Pride event in Yosemite for park employees and their allies. She said they hung the transgender flag on the granite monolith to drive home the point that being transgender is natural. Trump has limited access to gender-affirming medical treatments, banned trans women from competing in women's sports, removed trans people from the military and changed the federal definition of sex to exclude the concept of gender identity. Gonia called the firing unjust. Joslin said they hung the flag in their free time, as a private citizen. 'SJ is a respected pillar within the Yosemite community, a tireless volunteer who consistently goes above and beyond,' Gonia said. Jayson O'Neill with the advocacy group Save Our Parks said Joslin's firing appears aimed at intimidating park employees about expressing their views as the Trump administration pursues broad cuts to the federal workforce. Since Trump took office, the National Park Service has lost approximately 2,500 employees from a workforce that had about 10,000 people, Wade said. The Republican president is proposing a $900 million cut to the agency's budget next year. Parks have First Amendment areas Pawlitz said numerous visitors complained about unauthorized demonstrations on El Capitan earlier in the year. Many parks have designated 'First Amendment areas' where groups 25 or fewer people can protest without a permit. Yosemite has several First Amendment areas, including one in Yosemite Valley, where El Capitan is located. Park service rules on demonstrations have been around for decades and withstood several court challenges, said Bill Wade, executive director of the Association of National Park Rangers. He was not aware of any changes in how those rules are enforced under Trump. ___ Associated Press journalist Brittany Peterson contributed reporting from Denver.
CBS News
29 minutes ago
- CBS News
AT&T plans to replace legacy copper network in California finds resistance from landline holdouts
AT&T is pushing to get rid of its legacy copper landline services and instead replace them with advanced fiber optic networks. But not everyone is on board with getting rid of their landline. If Assembly Bill 470 passes, the company said it will implement a phased, multi-year approach to eliminate the old copper network, which a spokesperson said less than 5% of customers are currently on. AT&T is the designated carrier of last resort in many parts of the state, which means it must provide traditional landline phone service to any customer in the service territory. AB 470 would allow AT&T to request relief from its COLR obligations in certain eligible areas, where there is no population or areas served by multiple fiber optic or wireless providers with comparable service prices. "No customer will be left without access to voice or 911 service. We're committed to working with state leaders and community members on policies that create a thoughtful transition to bring more reliable, modern communications to all Californians," Susan Santana, president of AT&T California, said in an email to CBS News Bay Area. "We're the largest and fastest growing fiber provider in the nation and continue to invest to bring reliable, high-speed connectivity to our customers across the state. This bill also includes a requirement to build fiber to additional residential locations across California." For at least one Berkeley woman, however, there is more at stake in this landline battle. "This landline phone is my lifeline," author Cynthia Larson told CBS News Bay Area. "I absolutely need it. This is the way I would get notification, whether it's time to evacuate or if it's just high winds and we're okay, there's a big difference." Larson, who does not own a cellphone, says she needs her landline to inform her of fire danger in her area. "Rolling power shutoff, because they sometimes do those shutoffs for the utilities to be fire safe in high wind situations," she said. "And so whenever that is happening, I rely upon my landline to find out what's going on outside of my area." Larson said having a beeper at her IT several years ago put her off from ever purchasing a cellphone for herself. "There's no way that I wanted to be on call to anyone, answering anything that rings," Larson said. "Because it just makes me jump out of my skin. They would be calling at all the worst times." And so she would use her landline or the internet to communicate with her loved ones. "I'm not against technology, but I recognize it should be a partner and a friend," Larson said. "Not something we should give our brains and minds away to." But now, her lifeline, the AT&T copper services landline, is in jeopardy. State Assemblymember Tina McKinnor penned the carriers of last resort bill. The Public Utilities Commission rejected a similar proposal last year, but this year the legislation is now headed to the Senate Appropriations Committee for a vote on August 29. "Nobody will be without phone service, 99.9% of Californians will have phone service," McKinnor told CBS News Bay Area. "They have to have three other services. Two wireless and one hardline service, which is a [Voice over Internet Protocol]. If you don't have that in your area, they can't pull out, and you'll just keep your copper lines. But if you have that, we'll be able to go into certain areas, pull out those copper lines and put in fiber optics." She added, "In the next 10 to 15 years, copper will be obsolete. No one will have a home phone anymore. So we'll still need to do those upgrades in those areas that we didn't do in this round." Utility watchdog groups say, however, the bill would impact about 1.5 million Californians who rely on copper services, especially when cell service is down. "It wants to be able to turn out the lights and walk away from serving areas that it thinks that are not as profitable as others," Regina Costa, the telecommunications policy director of The Utility Reform Network, told CBS News Bay Area. "In a major power outage that happens during a disaster like an earthquake or when the power's shut off during the fire, those lines continue to work. They do not need electricity from PG&E in order to keep functioning." "If you only have a wireless phone, you're not going to have service. You will not be able to call 911, you will not be able to get emergency alerts," Costa added. "Because if you're in a place where the power is out and there's a wildfire and people are not getting the information because the networks are down, that house might be the only one getting those alerts." Meanwhile, the Californians for a Connected Future coalition fully supports the legislation. "Assembly Bill 470 includes a careful, phased-in, multi-year approach that protects all Californians during the transition to a next-generation communications network. Importantly, AB 470 includes a number of consumer protections to ensure that no one is left without reliable communications service and is an infrastructure investment bill that includes an aggressive buildout requirement that is unmatched in scale," a spokesperson told CBS News Bay Area. "That's why such a broad and diverse coalition of Tribal leaders, social justice advocates, veterans, ethnic businesses, education, youth, community and non-profit organizations supports AB 470. The bill outlines a responsible, balanced approach to expanding California's broadband network and accelerating investments in communication technologies that will strengthen connectivity and prepare California for the future. Larson, however, said she is concerned about the reliability of these new services in areas that already have spotty connections. "The issue with the cell service is that it's not that reliable inside the house, and not even outside the house," Larson said. "So, for example, sometimes my family or friends, they need to go outside on the porch to use the phone." She said she hopes that AT&T will answer their call to continue offering copper services to longtime customers like her. "They know what they're doing and they're maintaining the copper wires for landline networks and giving us reliable phone services that so many of us depend upon," Larson said. "Do we really have something that's equal or better than copper landlines in these emergency situations?"
