March 23, 2017, 12:06 AM


March 22, 2017

London Terrorist Attack 12:43 PM, and continuing. Then to other news, especially Bernie Sanders updates.

News and Views, updates and other stories

LONDON SITUATION UPDATES:


https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/22/world/europe/london-attack-what-we-know.html
London Attack: What We Know and Don’t Know
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
MARCH 22, 2017

Photograph -- Witnesses said a driver mowed down people Wednesday on Westminster Bridge, which spans the Thames. Credit Toby Melville/Reuters

The latest in what we know, and don’t, about the deadly attack on Wednesday in London, where a man driving a sport utility vehicle crushed panicked pedestrians on Westminster Bridge and then stabbed and killed a police officer outside Parliament.

What We Know

• At least five people were killed, including the attacker and a police officer, and 40 were wounded in an attack in London on Wednesday, the head of London’s Metropolitan Police counterterrorism unit said.

• The driver of a large vehicle mowed down pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, which leads to Parliament, around 2:40 p.m. After the crash, he left the vehicle and approached Parliament, where he fatally stabbed a police officer. The police then fatally shot him.

• Parliament was locked down and a search was conducted for any other assailants in the area. The police said they believed there was only one attacker.

• Three people who were run over on the bridge died, and the Port of London Authority said another woman was pulled from the River Thames with severe injuries.

• The police officer who was killled, Keith Palmer, 48, had 15 years of service and was a member of the parliamentary and diplomatic protection division of the Metropolitan Police.

• Others injured on the bridge included three police officers and several French high school students.

• The police said officers had been summoned to the bridge after reports of “a firearms incident,” and witnesses reported gunfire near an office building for lawmakers and their staff members.

• The police said a “full counterterrorism investigation was underway.”

• Prime Minister Theresa May was taken from the scene in a silver Jaguar as the gunfire erupted. She later denounced “the sick and depraved terrorist attack on the streets of our capital this afternoon.”

• One of the busiest sections of London was cordoned off and evacuated, the Westminster station of London’s subway system was closed, and additional police officers have been stationed across the capital.

What We Don’t Know

• The identity and motives of the attacker, although Scotland Yard officials said they believed they knew who he was. No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack. The “working assumption” of the police is that the attacker was inspired by “international terrorism,” according to Mark Rowley, the acting deputy commissioner and national lead for counterterrorism with the Metropolitan Police.

• The severity of the injuries among many of the 40 who were wounded in the attack.

[THE FOLLOWING ARE CAPTIONS TO SOME OF THE 20 OR MORE PHOTOGRAPHS WHICH SHOW MAGNIFICENTLY THE ACTIONS AND POIGNANCY OF THE DAY. GO TO THE WEBSITE.]

Pedestrians wounded
Palace of Westminster
British Parliament
Westminster Bridge
RIVER THAMES
Big Ben
Attacker
shot
A car hit a fence here
By The New York Times. Source: Terrain and aerial imagery by Google

Photographs — some of them graphic — show victims lying on the Westminster Bridge on the sidewalk outside the Parliament building.

A woman tended to an injured person on Westminster Bridge on Wednesday. Credit Toby Melville/Reuters
Photo

The House of Commons was put on lockdown and police officers cordoned off the area. Credit Matt Dunham/Associated Press
Photo

Security officers responded to the attack outside Parliament. Credit Stefan Wermuth/Reuters
Photo

On Westminster Bridge. The Metropolitan Police said officers were summoned to the area at about 2:40 p.m. Credit Toby Melville/Reuters
Photo

Bystanders helped the wounded on Westminster Bridge. Credit Toby Melville/Reuters
Photo

Police officers surrounded a man on the ground outside the Palace of Westminster. Credit Stefan Rousseau/Press Association, via Associated Press
Photo

Police officers and emergency workers escorted the wounded. Credit Carl Court/Getty Images
Photo

Tobias Ellwood, center, a minister in the Foreign Office, tried to save the life of a police officer who was stabbed by giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, but the officer died. Credit Stefan Rousseau/Press Association, via Associated Press
Photo

The evacuation from Parliament. Credit Daniel Leal-Olivas/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Photo

Emergency workers transported a victim. Credit Carl Court/Getty Images
Photo

People checked their phones near the London Eye, a Ferris wheel on the bank of the Thames where some riders were trapped almost two hours after the attack. Credit Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times
Photo

The police blocked off a bank of the River Thames, which runs parallel to the Palace of Westminster, the site of Parliament. Credit Andrew Testa for The New York Times



MARCH 22, 2017 UPDATE
6:04 PM EASTERN STANDARD TIME

http://abcnews.go.com/International/firearms-incident-reported-uk-houses-parliament/story?id=46300284
LIVE FEED WATCH FOR MOMENT TO MOMENT COVERAGE -- 4 dead, at least 20 injured in UK terror incident

Four people were killed, and at least 20 others were injured in an attack in London that authorities have declared a terrorist incident. A police officer and the man believed to be an attacker are among the dead.

PHOTO: A woman assists an injured person after an incident on Westminster Bridge in London, March 22, 2017.Toby Melville/Reuters
A woman assists an injured person after an incident on Westminster Bridge in London, March 22, 2017.
PHOTO: Injured people are assisted after an incident on Westminster Bridge in London, March 22, 2017.Toby Melville/Reuters
Injured people are assisted after an incident on Westminster Bridge in London, March 22, 2017.
The attack began when a driver struck pedestrians and three police officers on Westminster Bridge, London's Metropolitan Police said.

Witness Richard Tice told ABC News that he saw injured people on the pavement. According to him, the car jumped the curb, knocking people over.

PHOTO: Emergency services workers respond to the scene of an incident near Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament in London on March 22, 2017.APTN
Emergency services workers respond to the scene of an incident near Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament in London on March 22, 2017.more +
The car then crashed into the fence around the Houses of Parliament, and at least one man armed with a knife attacked an armed officer who was guarding Parliament, police said.

PHOTO: A body is covered by a sheet outside the Houses of Parliament, London, March 22, 2017.Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP
A body is covered by a sheet outside the Houses of Parliament, London, March 22, 2017.
PHOTO: Emergency services attend to injured people after an incident outside the Palace of Westminster in London, March 22, 2017.Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP
Emergency services attend to injured people after an incident outside the Palace of Westminster in London, March 22, 2017.more +
PHOTO: Conservative Member of Parliament Tobias Ellwood, center, helps emergency services attend to an injured person outside the Houses of Parliament, London, March 22, 2017.Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP
Conservative Member of Parliament Tobias Ellwood, center, helps emergency services attend to an injured person outside the Houses of Parliament, London, March 22, 2017.more +
The suspect, who authorities believe acted alone, was shot and killed by police.

As police swarmed the area, Tom Peck, a British journalist, told ABC News that he heard a bang, lots of screaming and then several gunshots from his office in London.

Attack near Parliament in London
How the deadly attack in London unfolded
Parliament member seen aiding victim of London terror attack
Authorities said they received different reports today involving a person in the River Thames, a car that collided with pedestrians and a man armed with a knife.

A seriously injured woman was pulled from the River Thames and was receiving medical treatment, an official with the Port of London Authority told ABC News.

Three French high school students were among the injured, according to French officials.

Twelve people were hospitalized and treated for serious injuries, and eight others were treated for less serious injuries at the scene, according to the London Ambulance Service.

Tobias Ellwood, a member of Parliament, was seen giving first aid to a victim.

Mark Rowley of the Metropolitan Police said, "This is a day we plan for but hope it will never happen. Sadly, it is now a reality."

"We will continue to do all we can to protect the people of London," he added.

PHOTO: Police secure the area on the south side of Westminster Bridge close to the Houses of Parliament in London, March 22, 2017.Matt Dunham/AP Photo
Police secure the area on the south side of Westminster Bridge close to the Houses of Parliament in London, March 22, 2017.more +
The Parliament building had been on lockdown after the attack, and hundreds of people have since left.

Both the House of Commons and the House of Lords will resume normal operations on Thursday.

PHOTO: MPs in House of Commons, London after a major security alert at the Palace of Westminster in London, March 22, 2017.PA via AP
MP's in House of Commons, London after a major security alert at the Palace of Westminster in London, March 22, 2017.more +
PHOTO: A police officer is led away by a colleague at the scene of an incident outside the Palace of Westminster, London, March 22, 2017.Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP
A police officer is led away by a colleague at the scene of an incident outside the Palace of Westminster, London, March 22, 2017.more +
U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May described the attack as “appalling” and “sick and depraved” in a press conference Wednesday evening.

May said the chosen location for the attack was “no accident” and that Britain’s threat level will remain at “severe,” where it has been for some time.

“The terrorists chose to strike at the heart of our capital city, where people of all nationalities, religions and cultures come together to celebrate the values of liberty, democracy and freedom of speech.”


Follow
BBC Breaking News ✔ @BBCBreaking
UK PM @theresa_may describes #Westminster terror attack at "heart of our capital city" as "sick and depraved" http://bbc.in/2mUCkxi
5:04 PM - 22 Mar 2017
1,607 1,607 Retweets 2,056 2,056 likes
She continued: “These streets of Westminster -- home to the world’s oldest Parliament -- are engrained with a spirit of freedom that echoes in some of the furthest corners of the globe. And the values our Parliament represents -- democracy, freedom, human rights, the rule of law -- command the admiration and respect of free people everywhere.”

May offered prayers for the victims and their families, and commended the bravery of authorities during the attack “who risk[ed] their lives to keep us safe.”

“Once again today, these exceptional men and women ran towards the danger even as they encouraged others to move the other way,” she said.

PHOTO: A member of the public is treated by emergency services near Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament on March 22, 2017 in London.Carl Court/Getty Images
A member of the public is treated by emergency services near Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament on March 22, 2017 in London.more +
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said in a statement that "there will be additional armed and unarmed police officers on our streets from tonight in order to keep Londoners, and all those visiting our city, safe."

"I want to reassure all Londoners, and all our visitors, not to be alarmed. Our city remains one of the safest in the world," Khan said. "London is the greatest city in the world, and we stand together in the face of those who seek to harm us and destroy our way of life. We always have, and we always will. Londoners will never be cowed by terrorism.”

He went on, "My heart goes out to those who have lost loved ones and to everyone who’s been affected. Tragically, a Metropolitan Police officer who was doing his duty protecting our city is amongst those who have been killed, and my thoughts are with his family this evening. I want to express my gratitude, on behalf of all Londoners, to the police and emergency services who’ve shown tremendous bravery in exceptionally difficult circumstances."

PHOTO: Armed police officers enter the Houses of Parliament in London, March 23, 2017 after the House of Commons sitting was suspended as witnesses reported sounds like gunfire outside.Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP Photo
Armed police officers enter the Houses of Parliament in London, March 23, 2017 after the House of Commons sitting was suspended as witnesses reported sounds like gunfire outside.more +
Police said a flag with the Metropolitan Police emblem would be flown at half-mast over Scotland Yard in honor of the victims.

View image on Twitter
View image on Twitter
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Metropolitan Police ✔ @metpoliceuk
Flag at half-mast over Scotland Yard tonight to mark the death of our officer & the other victims of this afternoon’s attack in #Westminster
2:57 PM - 22 Mar 2017
3,796 3,796 Retweets 6,077 6,077 likes
American Taylor Davis was at the top of the London Eye at the time of the incident.

"We saw a lot of commotion, ambulances, policemen. We kind of thought it was a car accident at first then a bunch of black detective cars came in a line. That’s kinda when we knew it was more serious than that," Davis told ABC News. "It was just surreal how lucky we felt. We felt very safe up there and just being in the right place at the right time."

PHOTO: People are seen inside the pods of the London Eye opposite the Houses of Parliament after an incident in central London on March 22, 2017.Niklas Hallen/AFP/Getty Images
People are seen inside the pods of the London Eye opposite the Houses of Parliament after an incident in central London on March 22, 2017.more +
Anyone with videos or images from the incident is asked to turn them over to police.

PHOTO: A police officer tapes off Parliament Square after reports of loud bangs, in London, Britain, March 22, 2017.Stefan Wermuth/Reuters
A police officer tapes off Parliament Square after reports of loud bangs, in London, Britain, March 22, 2017.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a statement, "I express my condolences to the victims and their families. The American people send their thoughts and prayers to the people of the United Kingdom. We condemn these horrific acts of violence, and whether they were carried out by troubled individuals or by terrorists, the victims know no difference."

ABC News' Kelley Robinson and Kirit Radia contributed to this report.



5:45 PM EASTERN TIME

http://abcnews.go.com/International/firearms-incident-reported-uk-houses-parliament/story?id=46300284
Suspect shot dead after killing 3, injuring 20 in London
By EMILY SHAPIRO JULIA JACOBO Mar 22, 2017, 5:33 PM ET

Four people were killed, and at least 20 others were injured in an attack in London that authorities have declared a terrorist incident. A police officer and the man believed to be an attacker are among the dead.

PHOTO: A woman assists an injured person after an incident on Westminster Bridge in London, March 22, 2017.Toby Melville/Reuters
A woman assists an injured person after an incident on Westminster Bridge in London, March 22, 2017.
PHOTO: Injured people are assisted after an incident on Westminster Bridge in London, March 22, 2017.Toby Melville/Reuters
Injured people are assisted after an incident on Westminster Bridge in London, March 22, 2017.
The attack began when a driver struck pedestrians and three police officers on Westminster Bridge, London's Metropolitan Police said.

Witness Richard Tice told ABC News that he saw injured people on the pavement. According to him, the car jumped the curb, knocking people over.

PHOTO: Emergency services workers respond to the scene of an incident near Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament in London on March 22, 2017.APTN
Emergency services workers respond to the scene of an incident near Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament in London on March 22, 2017.more +
The car then crashed into the fence around the Houses of Parliament, and at least one man armed with a knife attacked an armed officer who was guarding Parliament, police said.

PHOTO: A body is covered by a sheet outside the Houses of Parliament, London, March 22, 2017.Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP
A body is covered by a sheet outside the Houses of Parliament, London, March 22, 2017.
PHOTO: Emergency services attend to injured people after an incident outside the Palace of Westminster in London, March 22, 2017.Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP
Emergency services attend to injured people after an incident outside the Palace of Westminster in London, March 22, 2017.more +
PHOTO: Conservative Member of Parliament Tobias Ellwood, center, helps emergency services attend to an injured person outside the Houses of Parliament, London, March 22, 2017.Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP
Conservative Member of Parliament Tobias Ellwood, center, helps emergency services attend to an injured person outside the Houses of Parliament, London, March 22, 2017.more +
The suspect, who authorities believe acted alone, was shot and killed by police.

As police swarmed the area, Tom Peck, a British journalist, told ABC News that he heard a bang, lots of screaming and then several gunshots from his office in London.

Attack near Parliament in London
How the deadly attack in London unfolded
Parliament member seen aiding victim of London terror attack
Authorities said they received different reports today involving a person in the River Thames, a car that collided with pedestrians and a man armed with a knife.

A seriously injured woman was pulled from the River Thames and was receiving medical treatment, an official with the Port of London Authority told ABC News.

Three French high school students were among the injured, according to French officials.

Twelve people were hospitalized and treated for serious injuries, and eight others were treated for less serious injuries at the scene, according to the London Ambulance Service.

Tobias Ellwood, a member of Parliament, was seen giving first aid to a victim.

Mark Rowley of the Metropolitan Police said, "This is a day we plan for but hope it will never happen. Sadly, it is now a reality."

"We will continue to do all we can to protect the people of London," he added.

PHOTO: Police secure the area on the south side of Westminster Bridge close to the Houses of Parliament in London, March 22, 2017.Matt Dunham/AP Photo
Police secure the area on the south side of Westminster Bridge close to the Houses of Parliament in London, March 22, 2017.more +
The Parliament building had been on lockdown after the attack, and hundreds of people have since left.

Both the House of Commons and the House of Lords will resume normal operations on Thursday.

PHOTO: MPs in House of Commons, London after a major security alert at the Palace of Westminster in London, March 22, 2017.PA via AP
MP's in House of Commons, London after a major security alert at the Palace of Westminster in London, March 22, 2017.more +
PHOTO: A police officer is led away by a colleague at the scene of an incident outside the Palace of Westminster, London, March 22, 2017.Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP
A police officer is led away by a colleague at the scene of an incident outside the Palace of Westminster, London, March 22, 2017.more +
U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May described the attack as “appalling” and “sick and depraved” in a press conference Wednesday evening.

May said the chosen location for the attack was “no accident” and that Britain’s threat level will remain at “severe,” where it has been for some time.

“The terrorists chose to strike at the heart of our capital city, where people of all nationalities, religions and cultures come together to celebrate the values of liberty, democracy and freedom of speech.”


Follow
BBC Breaking News ✔ @BBCBreaking
UK PM @theresa_may describes #Westminster terror attack at "heart of our capital city" as "sick and depraved" http://bbc.in/2mUCkxi
5:04 PM - 22 Mar 2017
1,510 1,510 Retweets 1,878 1,878 likes
She continued: “These streets of Westminster -- home to the world’s oldest Parliament -- are engrained with a spirit of freedom that echoes in some of the furthest corners of the globe. And the values our Parliament represents -- democracy, freedom, human rights, the rule of law -- command the admiration and respect of free people everywhere.”

May offered prayers for the victims and their families, and commended the bravery of authorities during the attack “who risk[ed] their lives to keep us safe.”

“Once again today, these exceptional men and women ran towards the danger even as they encouraged others to move the other way,” she said.

PHOTO: A member of the public is treated by emergency services near Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament on March 22, 2017 in London.Carl Court/Getty Images
A member of the public is treated by emergency services near Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament on March 22, 2017 in London.more +
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said in a statement that "there will be additional armed and unarmed police officers on our streets from tonight in order to keep Londoners, and all those visiting our city, safe."

"I want to reassure all Londoners, and all our visitors, not to be alarmed. Our city remains one of the safest in the world," Khan said. "London is the greatest city in the world, and we stand together in the face of those who seek to harm us and destroy our way of life. We always have, and we always will. Londoners will never be cowed by terrorism.”

He went on, "My heart goes out to those who have lost loved ones and to everyone who’s been affected. Tragically, a Metropolitan Police officer who was doing his duty protecting our city is amongst those who have been killed, and my thoughts are with his family this evening. I want to express my gratitude, on behalf of all Londoners, to the police and emergency services who’ve shown tremendous bravery in exceptionally difficult circumstances."

PHOTO: Armed police officers enter the Houses of Parliament in London, March 23, 2017 after the House of Commons sitting was suspended as witnesses reported sounds like gunfire outside.Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP Photo
Armed police officers enter the Houses of Parliament in London, March 23, 2017 after the House of Commons sitting was suspended as witnesses reported sounds like gunfire outside.more +
Police said a flag with the Metropolitan Police emblem would be flown at half-mast over Scotland Yard in honor of the victims.

View image on Twitter
View image on Twitter
Follow
Metropolitan Police ✔ @metpoliceuk
Flag at half-mast over Scotland Yard tonight to mark the death of our officer & the other victims of this afternoon’s attack in #Westminster
2:57 PM - 22 Mar 2017
3,732 3,732 Retweets 5,974 5,974 likes
American Taylor Davis was at the top of the London Eye at the time of the incident.

"We saw a lot of commotion, ambulances, policemen. We kind of thought it was a car accident at first then a bunch of black detective cars came in a line. That’s kinda when we knew it was more serious than that," Davis told ABC News. "It was just surreal how lucky we felt. We felt very safe up there and just being in the right place at the right time."

PHOTO: People are seen inside the pods of the London Eye opposite the Houses of Parliament after an incident in central London on March 22, 2017.Niklas Hallen/AFP/Getty Images
People are seen inside the pods of the London Eye opposite the Houses of Parliament after an incident in central London on March 22, 2017.more +
Anyone with videos or images from the incident is asked to turn them over to police.

PHOTO: A police officer tapes off Parliament Square after reports of loud bangs, in London, Britain, March 22, 2017.Stefan Wermuth/Reuters
A police officer tapes off Parliament Square after reports of loud bangs, in London, Britain, March 22, 2017.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a statement, "I express my condolences to the victims and their families. The American people send their thoughts and prayers to the people of the United Kingdom. We condemn these horrific acts of violence, and whether they were carried out by troubled individuals or by terrorists, the victims know no difference."

ABC News' Kelley Robinson and Kirit Radia contributed to this report.


1:54 PM

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/gunfire-reported-outside-uk-parliament-in-london/
London attack: Cop stabbed, suspect shot in deadly attack near U.K. Parliament
CBS/AP March 22, 2017, 10:56 AM

LONDON -- A vehicle mowed down pedestrians on London’s Westminster Bridge, killing at least one woman and leaving others with injuries described as catastrophic. Around the same time Wednesday, a knife-wielding attacker stabbed a police officer and was shot on the grounds outside Britain’s Parliament, sending the compound into lockdown.

British port officials say they pulled a woman from the Thames river. She was injured but alive after the attack.

Authorities said they were treating the attacks, which took place in the same area, as a terrorist incident.

London police treating Parliament attack as terror incident
Play VIDEO
London police treating Parliament attack as terror incident

There was no immediate claim of responsibility and it was not clear if there was more than one attacker. London Police Commander B.J. Harrington said a full counter-terrorism investigation was underway.

The area in which the incidents took place is home to popular tourist sites, CBS News Jonathan Vigliotti reports. The area was blocked off and metro stations in the area were shutdown as an investigation was underway.

The London Eye, a large Ferris wheel with pods that have views over the capital, stopped rotating and footage showed the pods full as viewers watched police and medical crews on the bridge, which has at its north end Big Ben and Parliament, two iconic symbols.

“The whole length of the bridge there were people on the ground,” Richard Tice, a witness, told Sky News. The London Ambulance Service said it had treated at least 10 people on the bridge.

Colleen Anderson of St. Thomas’ Hospital said a female pedestrian died and around a dozen people were hurt.

“There were people across the bridge,” she said. “There were some with minor injuries, some catastrophic. Some had injuries they could walk away from or who have life-changing injuries.”

Romain Nadal, a spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry, said three students from Saint-Joseph high school in Concarneau who were on a school trip were among the injured.

London’s Metropolitan Police said they were called at approximately 2:40 p.m. local time to reports of the incident on Westminster Bridge, which is located just outside the Palaces of Westminster, home of the Parliament.

Photos posted on social media showed a dark SUV had come to rest with its front end smashed into a fence around the perimeter of the Houses of Parliament compound.

View image on Twitter
View image on Twitter
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James West @westicles69
Terror attack outside U.K. Parliament. 2 men down on road. Man with knife/machete got into Parliament and stabbed policeman. He's been shot
10:45 AM - 22 Mar 2017
2,504 2,504 Retweets 805 805 likes

A medivac helicopter landed in the area as police cordoned off the streets in the area.

Rick Longley told the Press Association that he heard a bang and saw a car plow into pedestrians and come to a crashing stop. Images from the scene showed pedestrians sprawled on the ground, with blood streaming from a woman surrounded by a scattering of postcards.

“They were just laying there and then the whole crowd just surged around the corner by the gates just opposite Big Ben,” he said. “A guy came past my right shoulder with a big knife and just started plunging it into the policeman. I have never seen anything like that. I just can’t believe what I just saw.”

At Parliament, a body was seen lying in the yard. It wasn’t clear if it was the attacker.

Prime Minister Theresa May, who had been in the Parliament complex when the incident occurred, was whisked away from the area and was safe.

Photograph -- london.jpg, A policeman points a gun at a man on the floor as emergency services attend the scene outside the Palace of Westminster, London, Wednesday, March 22, 2017. STEFAN ROUSSEAU/PA VIA AP

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson expressed his condolences to the victims and their families on behalf of the United States.

“The American people send their thoughts and prayers to the people of the United Kingdom,” he said in a statement. “We condemn these horrific acts of violence, and whether they were carried out by troubled individuals or by terrorists, the victims know no difference.”

The White House said earlier that U.S. President Donald Trump was briefed on a gun and knife incident at Britain’s Parliament in London. Trump himself said during a brief appearance Wednesday before reporters at the White House that he was just getting the news. He called it “big news.”

Trump’s spokesman, Sean Spicer, said that the U.S. will continue to monitor the situation and update the president.

The U.S. State Department said it is closely monitoring the incident outside London’s Parliament and urged Americans in London to avoid the area.

Spokesman Mark Toner said Wednesday: “We stand ready to assist in any way the U.K. authorities would find helpful.”

He added that the U.S. Embassy in London is closely following the news and stands ready to help any affected Americans.

He said: “Our hearts go out to those affected.”

The incident comes on the one year anniversary of a double suicide bombing attack on the Belgian capital, Brussels, that left more than 30 people dead. ISIS was behind that attack.

Photograph -- parliament-shooting-656453870.jpg, Armed police officers guard at a police cordon outside the Houses of Parliament in central London, March 22, 2017 during an emergency incident. GETTY

British security thwarted some 13 terror plots over the past four years, but the U.K. has largely been spared major international terror attacks such as the ones seen in Belgium and France.

Last year, a far-right supporter shot and killed British lawmaker Jo Cox, who had campaigned for the U.K. to remain in the European Union. Prior to that, an attacker stabbed three people at a train station in east London in response to the Royal Air Force’s bombing of the Islamic State group in Syria.

The most gruesome recent attack occurred in 2013 when two Muslim converts of Nigerian descent attacked Lee Rigby, a British Army soldier who was walking down the street. The men ran Rigby down with their vehicle and then used a cleaver to hack him to death as bystanders watched in horror.

The worst peace time attack on Britain this century was on July 7, 2005, when four al Qaeda-inspired bombers blew themselves up on three subway trains and a bus in London, killing 52. Three of the bombers were British-born, all of Pakistani descent; the other emigrated from Jamaica.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/london-attack-witnesses-assault-parliament-police-officer/
London attack witnesses describe assault on Parliament police officer
CBS/AP March 22, 2017, 1:36 PM

LONDON -- Witnesses said a heavy-set man wearing black clothes and brandishing a big knife attacked a police officer on the grounds outside Britain’s Parliament Wednesday, sending the compound into lockdown.

Daily Mail reporter Quentin Letts told CBSN that the attacker ran through a gate where cars enter the parliamentary estate. Letts described the man as “thick-set” and dressed in black.

Loud "bang" heard just before Parliament lockdown
Play VIDEO
Loud "bang" heard just before Parliament lockdown

“He then started striking a policeman who was on the ground,” Letts said.

Rick Longley told Britain’s Press Association that he saw a man stab an officer.

“A guy came past my right shoulder with a big knife and just started plunging it into the policeman,” Longley said. “I have never seen anything like that. I just can’t believe what I just saw.”

Letts told CBSN the attacker then ran toward an entrance used by members of Parliament.

“He got about 15 yards, I guess, before two plainclothes officers with guns shouted out and warned him and then about three shots, and the attacker fell,” Letts said.

British lawmaker Grant Shapps said on Twitter that he was walking through the cloisters of the House of Commons to vote when he heard four gunshots. Police told lawmakers to get down on the ground and crawl to cover.

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Grant Shapps ✔ @grantshapps
Police response instant. Heard commotion, looked round. Police weapons drawn, 4 shots, police ordered us to hit ground & get back, get back.
11:12 AM - 22 Mar 2017
127 127 Retweets 71 71 likes

“Police response instant. Heard commotion, looked round. Police weapons drawn, 4 shots, police ordered us to hit ground & get back, get back,” he tweeted.

London police treating Parliament attack as terror incident
Play VIDEO
London police treating Parliament attack as terror incident

Around the same time, a vehicle mowed down pedestrians on nearby Westminster Bridge, killing at least one woman and leaving others with injuries described as catastrophic. Authorities said they were treating the attack as a “terrorist incident until we know otherwise.”

It was not clear whether more than one attacker was involved. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Poland’s former foreign minister, Radek Sikorski, said he was in a taxi leaving Westminster and was checking his email when he heard something like a car crash, “something like a car hitting metal sheet.”

Special Report: U.K Parliament on lockdown after shots fired
Play VIDEO
Special Report: U.K Parliament on lockdown after shots fired

“I look up and I see that a person is lying on the pavement. I started my camera and I saw more people lying on the street and on the pavement,” Sikorski said on Poland’s TVN24.

“People started running up to them. I saw one person who gave no sign of life, another man was bleeding from his head. In all, I saw five people who were at least seriously injured,” he said.

“The taxi driver immediately called the emergency number. I heard ambulances within two or three minutes, so the rescue action was really very quick. There is a hospital near there.”

“It all happened so fast that there was no time to get scared,” said Sikorski who posted his video on Twitter.

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Radosław Sikorski @sikorskiradek
A car on Westminster Bridge has just mowed down at least 5 people.
10:47 AM - 22 Mar 2017
8,146 8,146 Retweets 2,736 2,736 likes



NOTE: READERSHIP STATS FOR TODAY’S BLOG JUMPED AT THE NEWS OF THE LONDON ATTACK.
https://lucywarner2013.blogspot.com/2017/03/march-22-2017-640-pm-eastern-standard.html


NOW TO SOMEWHAT HAPPIER USA NEWS

THE INDECENT WAGE GAP -- FOR BEST RESULTS, GO TO THE WEBSITE CHART AT EPI.ORG TO VIEW THESE CHANGES.

http://www.epi.org/publication/ceo-pay-has-grown-90-times-faster-than-typical-worker-pay-since-1978/
CEO Pay Has Grown 90 Times Faster than Typical Worker Pay Since 1978
Economic Snapshot • By Lawrence Mishel and Alyssa Davis • July 1, 2015

Over the last several decades, inflation-adjusted CEO compensation increased from $1.5 million in 1978 to $16.3 million in 2014, or 997 percent, a rise almost double stock market growth. Over the same time period, a typical worker’s wages grew very little: the annual compensation, adjusted for inflation, of the average private-sector production and nonsupervisory worker (comprising 82 percent of total payroll employment) rose from $48,000 in 1978 to just $53,200 in 2014, an increase of only 10.9 percent. Due to this unequal growth, average top CEOs now make over 300 times what typical workers earn.

CEO pay is up 997% since 1978

Percent change in CEO compensation, stock prices, and typical worker compensation, 1978-2014

CEO pay S&P 500 Typical worker pay
1978 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
1979 0.0% -2.2% -1.3%
1980 0.0% 1.5% -3.8%
1981 0.0% -0.1% -4.3%
1982 0.1% -11.9% -4.1%
1983 0.1% 13.3% -3.6%
1984 0.1% 8.8% -4.0%
1985 0.1% 22.5% -4.2%
1986 0.1% 52.2% -3.5%
1987 0.1% 78.8% -4.6%
1988 0.2% 59.7% -5.0%
1989 86.2% 86.1% -5.3%
1990 86.3% 83.6% -5.6%
1991 86.4% 99.2% -5.7%
1992 229.9% 114.7% -4.5%
1993 270.0% 127.6% -4.1%
1994 192.8% 127.2% -3.8%
1995 294.2% 161.1% -4.2%
1996 401.4% 214.8% -4.1%
1997 663.0% 301.3% -3.0%
1998 1036.7% 391.9% -0.7%
1999 904.3% 489.2% 0.8%
2000 1270.8% 513.0% 1.4%
2001 668.6% 398.9% 2.9%
2002 579.0% 308.7% 5.0%
2003 768.3% 288.2% 6.2%
2004 854.2% 342.7% 6.0%
2005 1017.2% 357.4% 5.5%
2006 1144.3% 380.7% 5.6%
2007 1163.3% 427.0% 6.5%
2008 792.4% 319.1% 6.5%
2009 611.2% 226.9% 10.9%
2010 751.5% 286.7% 11.9%
2011 765.1% 316.8% 10.5%
2012 908.6% 344.4% 9.5%
2013 956.6% 421.9% 10.1%
2014 997.2% 503.4% 10.9%
CEO pay
997.2%
S&P 500
503.4%

Typical worker pay
10.9%
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
2015
0
250
500
750
1,000
1,250
1,500
ChartData

Source: Economic Policy Institute analysis of data from Compustat's ExecuComp database, Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the Current Employment Statistics program, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis NIPA tables, as seen in Top CEOs Make 300 Times More than Typical Workers.

Although corporations are posting record-high profits and the stock market is booming, the wages of most workers remain stagnant, indicating they are not participating equally in prosperity. Meanwhile, CEO compensation continues to rise even faster than the stock market.

In order to curtail the growth of CEO pay, we need to implement higher marginal income tax rates and promote rules such as “say on pay.” At the same time, we need to implement an agenda that promotes broad-based wage growth so typical workers can share more widely in our economic growth.

Methodology

Our measure of CEO pay covers chief executives of the top 350 U.S. firms and includes the value of stock options exercised in a given year plus salary, bonuses, restricted stock grants, and long-term incentive payouts. Full methodological details can be found in Methodology for Measuring CEO Compensation and the Ratio of CEO-to-Worker Compensation, 2012 Update.

See related work on Wages, Incomes, and Wealth

See more work by Lawrence Mishel and Alyssa Davis


MORE ABOUT TRUMP CAMPAIGN AND RUSSIA

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fbi-probe-russia-trump-manafort/
What we know in the FBI probe of Trump campaign's Russia ties
By JEFF PEGUES CBS NEWS
March 21, 2017, 7:39 PM

The FBI director confirmed Monday the bureau is investigating whether anyone in the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to sway the election. Here’s what we’ve learned so far -- beginning with the man who once ran the campaign.

One of Paul Manafort’s most vocal critics is in Ukraine. Politician Serhiy Leshchenko claims to have proof that Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman, was part of a money laundering scheme in 2009. Leshchenko says a contract shows Manafort was paid $750,000 for about 500 computers.

But Leshchenko says the money was actually for work Manafort had done on behalf of former Ukranian President Viktor Yanukovych, who had ties to the Kremlim and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Photograph -- pegues-manafort-russia-3-2017-3-21.jpg, Paul Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman. CBS NEWS

“One of these payments ... we now can prove was done to Paul Manafort,” Leshchenko says.

Manafort’s spokesperson questioned the validity of the documents and said the “allegations are baseless.”

Manafort was hired by the Trump campaign in March 2016. Beginning in late June, websites considered to be fronts for the Russians -- DC Leaks, Guccifer 2.0 and WikiLeaks -- began disclosing emails and data obtained in a wave of cyberattacks on Democratic Party officials.

At Monday’s hearing, FBI Director Comey confirmed the bureau opened its investigation in late July.

Photograph -- pegues-manafort-russia-2-2017-3-21.jpg, FBI Director James Comey testified to Congress that the bureau is trying to determine whether there was any coordination between the Trump campaign and Russian officials CBS NEWS

That same month, then-candidate Trump encouraged more cyberattacks on his rival Hillary Clinton.

“Russia - if you are listening - I hope you are able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” Mr. Trump said in July.

Then in August, Manafort left the campaign amid questions about his ties to the pro-Russian former Ukrainian leader.

As part of its investigation, the FBI is trying to determine whether there was any coordination between the Trump campaign and Russian officials.

But according to this declassified intelligence assessment, the Russian hacking efforts date back to as early as 2015.

Eric O’Neill is a former FBI counterintelligence operative.

“There are no hackers, there are only spies,” O’Neill says. “A spy is someone who is stealing information to further a cause or to gain information that helps the policies of the government, or as we’ve seen in recent years disrupt another government.”

On Monday, Comey suggested that it was possible that people colluded with Russia without knowing it. Law enforcement calls those people co-optees.



I’M OF THE OPINION THAT MADDOW, THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS, AND OTHERS OF THEIR TYPE SHOULD GET AN AWARD FOR COURAGE AND THE DOGGED PURSUIT OF TRUTH AND JUSTICE. WE COULD CALL IT THE SUPERMAN AWARD. IF ONLY HE WERE REAL!

http://www.politicususa.com/2017/03/21/liberals-fight-america-rachel-maddow-exposes-fake-russian-bernie-sanders-page.html
Liberals Fight For America After Rachel Maddow Exposes Fake Russian Bernie Sanders Page
By Jason Easley on Tue, Mar 21st, 2017 at 9:54 pm
Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Photograph -- After Rachel Maddow drew attention to a fake Bernie Sanders supporters Facebook page that appears to be part of the Russian information warfare effort against the United States liberal and progressive patriots have flooded the page to fight back.

After Rachel Maddow drew attention to a fake Bernie Sanders supporters Facebook page that appears to be part of the Russian information warfare effort against the United States liberal and progressive patriots have flooded the page to fight back.

Video of Rachel Maddow:

[NOTE: ON TRYING TO SEE MADDOW’S VIDEO OF THIS IF FOUND THE FOLLOWING ANNOUCEMENT:
“www.youtube.com unexpectedly closed the connection.” THIS IS THE FOURTH OR FIFTH TIME THAT MADDOW HAS BEEN EITHER DELAYED OR CLIPPED ENTIRELY IN THE LAST MONTH OR SO. IS TRUMP THE DRUMPF DOING THIS? THE CIA? OR PERHAPS EVEN MOTHER RUSSIA? MADDOW IS ONE OF THOSE COMMENTATORS WHO RESEARCHES THOROUGHLY, IS UNQUESTIONABLY PROGRESSIVE AND COMMITTED TO FAIRNESS IN GOVERNMENT, AND SPEAKS WITH THAT CHARACTERISTIC COMBINATION OF HUMOR AND DEADLY INCISIVENESS THAT DICK CAVEAT, THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS, MICHAEL MOORE AND SOME OTHERS HAVE. RICHARD NIXON HAD THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS TV SHOW CANCELLED FOR THEIR DARING, AND IT SEEMS TO ME THAT CAVEAT MOVED TO ANOTHER CHANNEL. AT ANY RATE, HE DROPPED OUT OF SIGHT FOR AWHILE.

RICHARD NIXON WAS KNOWN, AMONG OTHER THINGS, FOR HIS LIST OF “ENEMIES.” TRUMP HAS GIVEN EVERY EVIDENCE OF DOING THE SAME THING. UNFORTUNATELY, WHAT WE DON’T HAVE YET IS A MILLION OR MORE STUDENTS AND OTHER ACTIVISTS MARCHING IN THE STREETS EVERYDAY. I WANT TO SEE SOMETHING DONE ABOUT THIS. IT’S NOT ONLY AGAINST THE SPIRIT AND WORD OF THE CONSTITUTION, IT IS DESPICABLE AND COWARDLY. WHAT PEOPLE IN POWER, AT LEAST IN THIS COUNTRY, DON’T EVER SEEM TO REALIZE IS THAT IT WILL INSPIRE SUCH AN UPSURGE OF ACTIVITY AGAINST THEM THAT THEY WILL NOT WIN THE WAR, SO THEY WOULD HELP THEMSELVES BY CEASING THAT KIND OF TECHNIQUE. THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE LIKE “MOTHER NATURE” IN THAT WONDERFUL OLD MARGARINE COMMERCIAL, WHEN SHE COMMENTED ACERBICALLY, “IT’S NOT NICE TO FOOL MOTHER NATURE,” FOLLOWED BY A FIERCE LOOKING LIGHTNING BOLT.]

Maddow explained that the Russians are using information warfare to confuse, divide, distract, demoralize and ultimately defeat their rival.

The MSNBC host said, “When The Huffington Post did their dive on how Bernie supporters online got targeted in this Russia attack in part on a Bernie Sanders Facebook page called Bernie Sanders Lovers which says it is based in Burlington, Vermont. It is not based in Burlington, Vermont. It’s based in Albania, and nobody who’s not from Albania appears to have anything to do with that site. The important thing here is that Bernie Sanders page run out of Albania. It’s still there. It’s still running. It’s still churning this stuff out. Now. This is not part of American politics. This is not partisan warfare between Republicans and Democrats. This is international warfare.”

This is what the Bernie Sanders Lovers page looked like during and after Maddow’s segment:

Republicans pretend to be patriots, but it is liberals, progressives, and Democrats who are fighting back against the Russian attempt to destroy our democracy. The real patriots are those people who are standing up to the Russian efforts, not the Republicans who are turning a blind eye and pretending that the problem doesn’t exist.

Trump promised to make America great, but it is the left that is fighting to keep America great.

Bernie Sanders Lovers, Rachel Maddow Show, Rachel Maddpw, Russian information warfare

Follow Jason Easley on Twitter
Liberals Fight For America After Rachel Maddow Exposes Fake Russian Bernie Sanders Page added by Jason Easley on Tue, Mar 21st, 2017
View all posts by Jason Easley →


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/intel-chair-says-trumps-personal-communications-may-have-been-picked-up-through-incidental-collection/
Intel chair says Trump personal communications may have ended up in "incidental collection"
By REBECCA SHABAD CBS NEWS
March 22, 2017, 2:13 PM

PHOTOGRAPH FROM FILE: House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., speaks as CIA Director John Brennan, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, FBI Director James Comey, National Counterterrorism Center Director Nicholas Rasmussen, NSA Deputy Director Richard Ledgett, and Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. Vincent Stewart appear at a House Intelligence Committee hearing on world wide threats on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 25, 2016. AP PHOTO/ANDREW HARNIK

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes revealed Wednesday that it’s possible that President Trump’s personal communications might have been picked up by the intelligence community through “incidental collection.”

Speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill, the California Republican said that he learned of “significant developments” that he’s now “alarmed” by since his panel heard testimony Monday from FBI Director James Comey and National Security Agency Director Admiral Mike Rogers.

“First, I recently confirmed that on numerous occasions, the intelligence community collected information about U.S. citizens involved in the Trump transition. Details about U.S. persons associated with the incoming administration, details with little or no apparent foreign intelligence value were widely disseminated intelligence community reporting,” Nunes said.

“I have confirmed that additional names of Trump transition team members were unmasked,” he said. “Fourth and finally, I want to be clear: None of this surveillance was related to Russia or the investigation of Russian activities or of the Trump team.”

He said the collection occurred post-election and during the transition period in November, December and January.

Nunes said he wasn’t sure where the collection occurred when he was asked if it had taken place at Trump Tower. He said that his panel will thoroughly investigate the surveillance to determine who was aware of it, why it was not disclosed to Congress, who requested it and authorized the additional unmasking.

“I believe it was all done legally. I think it was all obtained legally. The question is why was it unmasked?” Nunes said.

Asked if the president was part of the incidental collection, Nunes initially said, “Yes,” but then later clarified, “I know there was incidental collection regarding the president-elect and his team.”

Nunes said he will brief the president Wednesday afternoon at the White House on the developments and he already briefed Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin. Nunes already spoke to the NSA director, CIA director and is waiting to speak to FBI Director James Comey, who said Monday that neither the bureau nor the Justice Department has evidence to support the president’s claim that President Obama ordered the wiretapping of Trump Tower during the 2016 campaign.

Just last week, Nunes said, “I don’t think there was an actual tap of Trump Tower.”


IF YOU CRAVE A LIFE OF INTRIGUE, SECRECY, CODE WORDS, AND POWER STRUGGLE, DON’T JOIN THE MASONS. RUN FOR THE LEGISLATURE. HOWEVER, I THINK AT FIRST AT LEAST, THIS RAMSPECKING ISN’T DONE BY AN INDIVIDUAL TO DEFEAT THE NEW PRESIDENT BY ULTERIOR MEANS, BUT TO KEEP A GOOD GOVERNMENT JOB.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-is-ramspecking/
What is "ramspecking"?
By SHAYNA FREISLEBEN CBS NEWS
March 21, 2017, 4:30 PM

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s reference to an obscure law at Tuesday’s briefing left many members of the press corps scratching their heads — and turning to Google.

A reporter asked Spicer if President Donald Trump believes in the “deep state” — a conspiracy theory circulated among some Trump supporters that purports Obama holdovers in the federal government are attempting to undercut the president’s agenda.

“There are people that burrow into government after an administration — this has been going back since the beginning of time,” Spicer answered. “They used to call it ‘ramspecking.’”


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CBS News ✔ @CBSNews
"There are people who burrow into the government.. they used to call it 'ramspecking'" - Spicer
"What is ramspecking?"
"Google it!" - Spicer
2:43 PM - 21 Mar 2017
94 94 Retweets 155 155 likes

Spicer’s use of the term prompted some quizzical follow-up questions. His response? “Google it,” he instructed reporters.

Here’s how the New York Times defined “ramspecking” in 1989:

“Ramspecking” is the process whereby a congressional staffer who has become unemployed through “involuntary acts” (due to a member’s death, lack of congressional funds, or as a result of his boss getting beat like a redheaded mule) bypasses others in line for a federal job, allowing him to obtain a highly secure, low-exertion civil service post. This is also known as “burrowing in.”

According to The New Yorker, the word was coined from the Ramspeck Act of 1940. That law, in turn, shares the name of Rep. Robert Ramspeck, a Democrat from the Atlanta area who served in Congress from 1929 to 1945 and later chaired the U.S. Civil Service Commission.

Follow
Jen Psaki ✔ @jrpsaki
Briefing summary: ramspecking, not ruling out @POTUS addressing comey hearing this week
2:37 PM - 21 Mar 2017
6 6 Retweets 11 11 likes

Follow
Zeke Miller ✔ @ZekeJMiller
Hot briefing room topic: ramspecking.
2:31 PM - 21 Mar 2017
5 5 Retweets 22 22 likes



AN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CRIME, OR AN ASSUMPTION OF GUILT? THIS YOUNG MAN LOOKS MORE LIKE A MENTALLY CHALLENGED PERSON THAT AN ANGRY VILLAIN. HE LACKS THAT COCKY SNEER THAT I SEE SO OFTEN.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/maryland-high-school-rape-gets-drawn-into-immigration-debate/
Maryland high school rape gets drawn into immigration debate
By CRIMESIDER STAFF CBS/AP
March 22, 2017, 11:08 AM

Photograph -- Henry Sanchez (inset), an undocumented immigrant accused of raping a Maryland girl in a Rockville High School (background) bathroom on March 16, 2017. CBS AFFILIATE WUSA

ROCKVILLE, Md. — As officials reported that one of two students charged with raping a 14-year-old girl in a Maryland high school bathroom entered the United States illegally, the crime became part of a national debate on immigration.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer, in response to a reporter’s question at Tuesday’s press briefing, called the crime “shocking, disturbing, horrific.”

“I think part of the reason that the president has made illegal immigration and crackdown such a big deal is because of tragedies like this,” he said.

Henry Sanchez, 18, and Jose Montano, 17, were charged in the Thursday assault at Rockville High School. The Washington Post reports that Sanchez lived in Guatemala until he was 17.

Matthew Bourke, spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said in a statement that a border patrol agent encountered Sanchez in Texas in August. Sanchez was ordered to appear before an immigration judge, Bourke said, but that appearance has not been scheduled. ICE has since lodged an immigration detainer against Sanchez

According to court records, Montano, who was charged as an adult, was born in El Salvador, where he lived for 16 years. ICE officials would not discuss Montano’s immigration status because he is a juvenile.

Jack Smith, superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools, pushed back against the focus on the immigration status of the accused students.

“Some try to make this into an issue of immigration,” Smith said at a news conference Tuesday. “We would like to change the conversation.”

While expressing horror at the crime and repeatedly assuring parents that their children are safe at school, Smith said, “We serve every student who walks in the door. It is not only the right thing to do, it is the law.”

CBS affiliate WUSA reports representatives of the school district met with concerned parents for more than an hour and a half on Tuesday night. The meeting was closed to the press, but some attendees told the station that officials were unable to answer many of their questions about the circumstances of the on-campus assault.

“This is really a tragedy for a young lady and there are really no answers for her and that’s my concern,” said Rockville High School parent Ben Pauwles.

On Monday, Maryland’s House of Delegates approved a measure to prevent authorities from detaining immigrants to ask about their immigration status.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, said on WBAL radio that the crime represents a “worst-case scenario.” He said the bill would prevent Maryland from cooperating with immigration authorities.

He vowed to veto the bill if it reaches his desk.

Preliminary hearings are set for Montano on March 31 and for Sanchez on April 14.


ROAD RAGE TAKEN TO A NEW LEVEL

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/aging-mobster-arrested-in-car-torching-road-rage-incident/
Aging mobster arrested in car torching road rage incident
AP March 22, 2017, 1:33 PM

Photograph -- Vincent Asaro, 78, is escorted by FBI agents after being arrested on Thursday, January 23, 2014 CBS NEWS

NEW YORK - An aging mobster who made headlines two years ago by beating charges in a legendary heist retold in the hit film “Goodfellas” was rearrested on Wednesday for a far less noteworthy crime - the alleged torching of a car that cut him off in traffic.

Vincent Asaro, a third generation member of the secretive Bonanno crime family, was to be arraigned later Wednesday on arson charges. Also charged in the arson and in an unrelated bank robbery was John J. Gotti, the namesake grandson of the notorious Gambino crime family boss John “Dapper Don” Gotti.

The defendants “are charged with committing an assortment of violent crimes - arson to exact punishment for a perceived slight and robberies to unjustly enrich themselves,” acting U.S. Attorney Bridget Rohde said in a statement announcing the arrests.

Asaro’s attorney didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Attempts to reach the attorney for the 23-year-old Gotti were unsuccessful.

Mobster acquitted in 1978 "Goodfellas" heist
Play VIDEO
Mobster acquitted in 1978 "Goodfellas" heist

In a surprise verdict in 2015, a Brooklyn jury found the 82-year-old Asaro not guilty of charges he orchestrated the Lufthansa robbery with James “Jimmy the Gent” Burke, the late Lucchese crime family associate that inspired Robert De Niro’s role in the film. At the time, the heist was called one of the largest cash thefts in American history, with gunmen looting about $5 million in untraceable U.S. currency that was being returned to the United States from Germany, along with about $1 million in jewelry, from the airline’s cargo terminal.

Photograph of an extremely good pencil drawing of Asaro -- vincent-asaro-judge-allyne-ross-jury1.jpg, In this artist's rendering, Vincent Asaro, left, listens as a member of the jury reads the verdict in a his trial at Brooklyn Federal Court on Nov. 12, 2015. Asaro was found not guilty of helping plan a notorious 1978 heist. JANE ROSENBERG

Asaro later survived a bloodbath portrayed in “Goodfellas,” with De Niro’s character going ballistic over fellow mobsters’ purchases of flashy cars and furs and, fearing they would attract law enforcement attention, having them whacked. Prosecutors - relying on the testimony of turncoat mobsters who came forward decades later - claimed Asaro collected at least $500,000 from the score but had a gambling problem and squandered it away at the racetrack

Three years before his arrest in the Lufthansa case, Asaro was driving in the Howard Beach section of Queens when another motorist cut him off at a traffic light, prosecutors in the new case said. An enraged Asaro provided the home address of the driver to a Bonanno associate, who recruited Gotti and another man to douse the man’s car with gasoline and torch it, the prosecutors said.

The alleged arsonists fled in a Jaguar sedan driven by Gotti that briefly led a police car on a high-speed chase before officers “terminated the pursuit for safety reasons due to Gotti’s reckless driving,” prosecutors said.

Earlier this month, Gotti was sentenced to eight years in state prison after pleading guilty to selling oxycodone pills. His grandfather died in prison in 2002.

If convicted on the federal charges, Asaro and Gotti face terms of up to 20 years.

Photograph -- gotti.gif, Authorities say called the oxycodone case “Operation Beach Party” CBS NEW YORK



I KNOW SOME PEOPLE HATE THE AMERICAN HABIT OF SUING FOR DAMAGES, BUT I THINK IT IS VERY FAIR HERE. I REMEMBER THE COUPLE OF ARTICLES AT THE TIME IT HAPPENED ON MATEEN’S WIFE’S KNOWLEDGE ABOUT HIS INTENTIONS, AND HER MYSTERIOUS INACTION. IT WAS RAISED AS A CRITICISM AGAINST HER THEN, ALSO. AS FOR THE SECURITY COMPANY, I AM REMINDED OF THE CHARGES AGAINST BLACKWATER FOR THE ABU GHRAIB TORTURING SCANDAL. THOSE COMPANIES DON’T USUALLY HAVE GOOD OVERSIGHT, AND PROBABLY SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO OPERATE THAT WAY. THE PENTAGON USES THEM TO (WHAT ELSE??) SAVE MONEY. SOME GOOD OLD CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT OR DEPARTMENTAL REGULATIONS SHOULD MANDATE BETTER MANAGEMENT OF THOSE SITUATIONS. IT’S LIKE THE PRIVATE PRISONS AND THIS BUSINESS OF “DEBTOR’S PRISONS.” (SEE THIS STORY FROM SEVERAL DAYS AGO ON ONE OF THOSE IN ALABAMA. (http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/alabama-city-agrees-pay-dozens-jailed-debtors-prison-n734946.)


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/omar-mateen-employer-noor-salman-sued-nightclub-shooting-victims/
Omar Mateen employer, Noor Salman sued by nightclub shooting victims
AP March 22, 2017, 11:53 AM

Photograph -- Noor Salman and Omar Mateen are seen in this photo from Salman’s Facebook page, which has been deleted.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A personal injury attorney representing some of the survivors of the Orlando nightclub massacre and families of the victims filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the gunman’s employer and wife, claiming they were able to stop Omar Mateen before the attack but didn’t.

The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in federal court in South Florida on behalf of more than four dozen of the survivors and family members of those killed at Pulse nightclub last June. Forty-nine people were killed during the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history at the gay nightclub. Dozens more were injured.

Related: Orlando shooting victims: Remembering the 49
The lawsuit claims wrongful death, negligence and other counts.

Personal injury attorney Antonio Romanucci said Mateen’s employer, international security company G4S, knew he was mentally unstable yet allowed him to carry a gun in his job as a security guard. Mateen had a firearm license through his job, Romanucci told The Associated Press in an interview.

“Mateen gave out so many warnings that someone should have reined this guy in,” Romanucci said. “They should have said, ‘You are not stable. You shouldn’t have a weapon.’”

Antonio Davon Brown was one of the victims of the shooting massacre at the Pulse nightclub of Orlando, Florida, on June 12, 2016. HANDOUT FROM MILITARY SOURCE

While working as a security guard at the St. Lucie County Courthouse, Mateen was investigated by the FBI in 2013 after he told co-workers he had connections to terrorists and a mass shooter. He later told his bosses he had made that up to get his co-workers to stop teasing him about being Muslim and the FBI determined he was not a threat.

A spokeswoman for the security firm, Monica Lewman-Garcia, said she couldn’t comment without seeing the lawsuit.

Romanucci said Mateen’s wife, Noor Salman, knew her husband was going to carry out the killings.

Orlando shooter's wife appears in court
Play VIDEO
Orlando shooter's wife appears in court

Salman currently is in jail awaiting trial. She has pleaded not guilty to federal charges of aiding and abetting, and obstruction of justice. Prosecutors have said Salman accompanied her husband when he cased locations for potential terrorist attacks and knew ahead of time that he was planning the attack.

“Rather than warn authorities, she kept it a secret and acted as his accomplice,” Romanucci said.

Salman’s defense attorney in her criminal case did not respond to an email seeking comment.

The most recent effort to hold an outside company liable for a mass shooting has failed, at least for the time being. A judge in Connecticut last fall dismissed a lawsuit brought against the manufacturer of the rifle used in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting massacre, saying a federal law shields gun manufacturers from most lawsuits over criminal use of their products. The Connecticut Supreme Court, though, has agreed to hear an appeal brought by the victims’ families.

AG Lynch: Orlando shooter made no mention of LGBT community in 9-11 calls
Play VIDEO
AG Lynch: Orlando shooter made no mention of LGBT community in 9-11 calls

The advantage of suing Mateen’s employer, rather than the firearms manufacturer or seller, is that the victims don’t have the obstacle of the federal law, said Sachin Pandya, a law professor at the University of Connecticut.

But even if the plaintiffs can show Mateen’s employer should have taken some precautions, “you still have to show that what the employer failed to do caused the mass shooting,” Pandya said.

This isn’t the first lawsuit to be filed by family members or victims of the Pulse massacre. Families of three patrons killed in the nightclub sued Facebook, Google and Twitter, claiming Mateen was radicalized through propaganda found through social media.

Woman claims she was stalked by Omar Mateen
Play VIDEO
Woman claims she was stalked by Omar Mateen

A fund that was formed after the massacre has distributed almost $30 million to the survivors and family members of victims.

UCLA law professor Adam Winkler said the plaintiffs are going to have to show that the security firm had a duty, failed in its duty and is responsible for what happened. With Salman, they are going to have to show that she was a co-conspirator or that her failure to report that her husband was dangerous led to the attack.

“This will be a very challenging lawsuit,” Winkler said. “Victims of gun violence are looking for second-best options and that is what this is.”


I EXPECTED TO FIND A MAFIOSO STYLE THREAT HERE, BUT NO. IT’S JUST A PEP TALK.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-tells-house-gop-if-they-fail-to-pass-health-care-bill-itll-cost-them/
Trump tells House GOP if they fail to pass health care bill, it'll cost them
CBS NEWS March 21, 2017, 12:07 PM

President Trump told the House GOP conference that failure to pass their health care bill would cost many of them their seats, if not Republican control of the House, a person in the room told CBS News.

What Trump’s address to House Republicans will mean

On a trip to Capitol Hill Tuesday morning, the president, who was greeted by the conference with a loud and enthusiastic standing ovation, spent much of his time with them trying to convince them to vote for the GOP health care bill. He reminded them that many of them had been elected on their pledge to repeal and replace Obamacare. He told them, I honestly think many of you will lose your seats in 2018 if you don’t get this done.

Moreover, if the House doesn’t pass this bill, he predicted that Republicans would lose the House in 2018. The House is scheduled to vote on the Republican bill, named the American Healthcare Act, on Thursday.

The president said to Republicans, we’re going to be so embarrassed Thursday if we vote this down. This legislation is one of the great victories, and we don’t want to blow it, Mr. Trump added.

The president pointed out that the House has in the past easily voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

“I say -- you vote how many times to repeal? How many times, Paul? You kept passing it and passing and passing.”

And now, he said, you have the chance to pass it, and some of you don’t want to get it done? We’re gonna get it done, he told the lawmakers. This majority won’t last long if you blow it, he told them pointedly, adding, “And I don’t care if the press prints that.”

Trump on the road to push GOP health care bill
Play VIDEO
Trump on the road to push GOP health care bill

The president pointed to Freedom Caucus Chairman Rep. Mark Meadows and said he believed Meadows and his caucus would vote with Republicans on the bill. “Because honestly, a loss is not acceptable, folks,” Mr. Trump said.

He also reiterated his commitment to getting Senate Democrats to vote for phase three of the bill. And then, he told them that he wanted to move on to what he referred to as an aggressive 200-day agenda.

“The higher the vote the better,” Mr. Trump said, in closing his push for the bill.

On his way out of the meeting, the president called the health care plan “tremendous.” He said that “there are going to be adjustments made” to the bill, “but I think we’ll get the vote on Thursday.”

But it’s not yet clear that Speaker Paul Ryan has the votes to pass the Affordable Care Act (ACA) replacement. Late Monday night, GOP leaders released a list of proposed changes to the American Healthcare Act aimed at appealing to both conservatives and moderates who do not yet support the bill. The changes would provide help for older people, accelerate the repeal of some of the ACA tax hikes and stop Medicaid’s growth this year instead of in 2018.

After the president’s meeting, Ryan was optimistic, though. He told reporters that the president had come to “close the deal,” and, turning to a baseball metaphor, said, “The president just came here and knocked the ball out of the park....He knocked the cover off the ball.”

CBS News’ Catherine Reynolds contributed to this story.



REMEMBER THE ARREST OF PROFESSOR HENRY LOUIS GATES, WHO COULDN’T FIND HIS KEY? REMEMBER HOW PRESIDENT OBAMA WAS CASTIGATED BY CONSERVATIVES AND RIGHTWING CITIZENS BECAUSE HE COMMENTED, APPARENTLY WITHOUT THINKING IT OUT, “THE POLICE ACTED STUPIDLY.” YOU JUST CAN’T SAY THINGS LIKE THAT, EVEN IF YOU’RE THE PRESIDENT, UNLESS YOU ARE A WHITE BIGOT, AND THEN YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH NEARLY ANYTHING. FOR THAT SOMEWHAT OUTDATED REFERENCE, GO TO: http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/23/politics/donald-trump-shoot-somebody-support/index.html.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/wyclef-jean-requests-formal-investigation-into-racial-profiling-after-run-in-with-police/
Wyclef Jean requests formal investigation into racial profiling after run-in with police
By ANDREA PARK CBS NEWS March 22, 2017, 12:39 PM

Photograph -- Recording artist Wyclef Jean performs onstage at the 2014 American Music Awards at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on November 23, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. KEVIN WINTER, GETTY IMAGES
VIEW INSTAGRAM VIDEO -- wyclefjean Verified, “Why am I in Handcuffs!!!!!????? This is what I said to the LAPD after they put me in Handcuffs for mistaken identity !!!!!!!” -- 42.9k views, 246 comments


Wyclef Jean is asking for an investigation, alleging racial profiling, after police mistook him for a robbery suspect and handcuffed the singer.

Jean’s rep said that he is “requesting a formal investigation into racial profiling by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, LAPD chief Charlie Beck and the LA Sheriff’s Department while calling upon the ACLU and Black Lives Matter to join him in defense of civil liberties and racial bias.”

Wyclef Jean handcuffed, set free as police search for robbery suspect
Jean wrote on social media that he was detained and handcuffed on Tuesday.

“I was asked by the police to Put my hands up. Then I was told do not move. I was instantly hand cuffed before being asked to identify myself and before being told why. In the process I said my name and told them they have wrong person,” Jean said. “They proceeded to ignore me and I was treated like a criminal.”

Wyclef Jean on Fugees reunion, feminism and Avicii’s retirement

“I am sure no father wants his sons or daughters to see him in Handcuffs especially if he is innocent. As some one who has law enforcers in my family, I was appalled by the bahaivoir of the LAPD,” Jean said.

The former Fugees singer and rapper posted a video that appears to show the incident on Instagram, during which he vowed to sue the LAPD. The incident was actually carried out by the L.A. Sheriff’s Department.


COMMENT CROSS TALK:

wyclefjeanWhy am I in Handcuffs!!!!!????? This is what I said to the LAPD after they put me in Handcuffs for mistaken identity !!!!!!!

warrior_clevlandYou getting deported 😂😂😂
chronocrushrollWàrá ni won! They crazy Clef.....However, since you were not arrested a case may not hold. 🙏🏿

kaychi03_leprinceThanks God you dont get kill. Cant wait to see u in 30th,MD.
michelle_mi_belle_🐖🐖🐖

trey_peter_boy@warrior_clevland 😂😂😂😂😂
fiddynflysome one please call 911

desirae2223It was LA SHERIFF DEPT ! Sue them

queenification04 ALL LIVES MATTER RIGHT 🤔🤔🤔😂😂😂😂😂
trickiemaster@winterfreshhh say what now?

roctobaThis kind of behavior is never going to change! 🇭🇹🇭🇹🇭🇹

power.j@prettygirlprn I wouldn't have mentioned it if it wasn't in the story I read from usnews.com. I thought it was pointless to note that kind of details, hence the reason I commented on it. Check it out here: "he suspect was in "either a gold or tan Toyota or Honda, older model sedan" and Jean was in a 2002 tan Toyota, the statement said. The driver and Jean exited the vehicle as the deputies approached." - For an easier search, simply google this term: "wyclef 2002 tan toyota".

pies_onWhy clef
neasworld@theshaderoom
line9949Le racisme existe encore et encore .

jeremiasrobertsj'atime existe
blacklouneThis country messed so many celebrities immigrants black or white on different scenes. You're a peace man Cliff.

woman.ofthe.woodsU just admitted it was mistaken identity, people make mistakes. They were just doing their job. So now u want to ruin the lives of these cops because they were doing their job of protecting Los Angeles? Not everything is about race, @wyclefjean - how do u know these cops don't have families they're supporting? Most likely they do. I'd like to see u do their job for some time and then maybe you'll understand why filing a lawsuit isn't the best option. How about you take the platform that you have and use it to educate and bring awareness to racial profiling if you feel so strongly about it. Work WITH the police to make sure this doesn't happen again. It boggles my mind how so many people just jump to "I'm going to file a lawsuit..."
teckzilla108this is sad

raliq@woman.ofthe.woods The reality is this. This has been going in the communities our poor people since the conception of the police. The awareness is already there. It's a systematic culture rooted in this behavior. Ask yourself, how log have police departments being doing this in the black and all poor communities? From slave patrols up until the the formation of police and marshals. Study the history of the culture and you'll get to the root. The police today are the fruit from a tainted root. It's not their fault, but the system it was constructed from. It's been hundreds of years since it formation. Marching, awareness, communities bridging the gap, and what has happened. The same things that happened to our ancestors.

view all 247 comments


OTHER HOPEFULLY LESS SAD NEWS FOR TODAY


I’VE FOUND A BOUNTIFUL SUPPLY OF NEWS ITEMS TODAY, NOT TO MENTION THE FRIGHTENING SITUATION IN LONDON, BUT I WANTED TO SEE WHAT BERNIE SANDERS HAS BEEN UP TO LATELY. IF I DON’T HAPPEN TO SEE HIM IN THE NEWS I GOOGLE HIM EVERY WEEK OR TWO. HE’S LIKE THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND. THERE’S ALWAYS SOMETHING THERE OF INTEREST. I HAVE A NUMBER OF GOOD ONES HERE.


APOLOGIES DUE, ONE DELIVERED IF GRUDGINGLY

http://www.citywatchla.com/index.php/important-reads/12874-bernie-sanders-three-overdue-apologies
Bernie Sanders’ Three Overdue Apologies
DANIEL GUSS 20 MARCH 2017

@THE GUSS REPORT-The axiomatic history of white men hashing out shady political deals in smoke-filled backrooms has come a long way, baby. On Friday, Donna Brazile, the former CNN commentator and interim chair of the Democratic National Committee, finally confessed to that which most already knew and that she spent the past half-year denying: rigging a March 2016 Democratic primary debate on CNN by funneling to the Hillary Clinton campaign at least one pre-screened audience question that she did not also provide to the Bernie Sanders campaign, which she had planned to do again in subsequent debates.

In a defensive, just-published essay she wrote for Time Magazine, Brazile said she would regret that decision for the rest of her life. But while she deserves credit for finally coming clean, she continues to blame the Russians for her own actions, and fell short of apologizing to Sanders and every registered voter who deserved the opportunity to hear him make his case for the presidency on a level playing field.

But the situation is actually worse than that.

On the literal eve of the DNC convention last July, Brazile was suddenly appointed to the interim DNC job when President Obama persuaded her predecessor, Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, to step down from the role because Wikileaks had just released scores of internal DNC emails showing significant bias for Clinton and against Sanders -- including snarky comments about whether and how they should use Sanders’ Judaism, or perceived atheism, to sow distrust of him among Southern Baptists who, DNC officials figured, would trust Sanders if they felt he was Jewish, but not if they could be persuaded he was atheist.

Immediately upon her appointment, Brazile published an apology on behalf of the DNC (that was not signed by Wasserman-Schultz) which read, “On behalf of everyone at the DNC, we want to offer a deep and sincere apology to Senator Sanders, his supporters, and the entire Democratic Party for the inexcusable remarks made over email…. These comments do not reflect the values of the DNC or our steadfast commitment to neutrality during the nominating process. The DNC does not — and will not — tolerate disrespectful language exhibited toward our candidates.”

But at the same time Brazile was apologizing for DNC misconduct under Wasserman-Schultz, promising neutrality going forward, she knew that just a few months earlier, she committed similarly egregious acts prior to the March 6 CNN debate. The public didn’t find out about it until just a few days before the general election, when in late October Wikileaks dumped proof of it.

Right up until Election Day on November 8, Brazile refused to verify that the October Wikileaks emails were hers, even playing the victim card in a riveting live interview with then-Fox News host Megyn Kelly, with Brazile claiming that she is a persecuted Christian woman.

The DNC and Clinton campaign were perplexed and frightened throughout the election cycle by the organic enthusiasm that imbued Sanders’ entire run. It was completely unanticipated by them for a man from the state with the second lowest population, and who was portrayed by Larry David on Saturday Night Live as a lovable, impossibly honest, curmudgeon.

Clinton, for her part, also has yet to apologize for the misconduct of those on her campaign staff. Wasn’t the buck supposed to stop with her? What heroes they would all have been if they made it known to the public prior to the debates that they were given an unfair advantage!

About the same time as Brazile’s confession this past Friday, Clinton delivered a speech in Pennsylvania, hinting about returning to public life, jokingly saying, “it’s time to come out of the woods,” a reference to the numerous selfies taken by people encountering her on trail walks near her home in Chappaqua, N.Y. With the 2018 mid-terms not looking too rosy for the DNC, it will need all the help it can get gearing up for 2020. Clinton, Wasserman-Schultz and Brazile, women who didn’t just occupy, but owned, the smoke-filled backroom in 2016, would be wise to each offer a clear, concise and unequivocal two words to Sanders and every registered 2016 voter across all party lines: I apologize.

(Daniel Guss, MBA, is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club, and has contributed to CityWatch, KFI AM-640, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Daily News, Los Angeles Magazine, Movieline Magazine, Emmy Magazine, Los Angeles Business Journal and elsewhere. Follow him on Twitter @TheGussReport. His opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of CityWatch.) Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.


http://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-latest-fight-about-ceo-pay-and-wall-street-reform-572333
BERNIE SANDERS' LATEST FIGHT IS ABOUT CEO PAY AND WALL STREET REFORM
BY TIM MARCIN ON 3/22/17 AT 3:36 PM

A group of lawmakers including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) are dismayed by the delay of a Dodd-Frank rule that would require CEO's to disclose how their pay compares to that of their workers. The senators wrote a letter this week to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) acting chairman Michael Piwowar, a Republican, to say they were "extremely troubled" and "opposed any delay" in the rule that was supposed to go into effect this year.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act put in place by the administration of President Barack Obama required companies to disclose a ratio comparing CEO pay to worker pay, but the SEC delayed the requirement last month because of "unanticipated compliance difficulties."

That delay prompted the letter from Democratic senators Bob Menendez (New Jersey), Jack Reed (Rhode Island), Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts), Chris Van Hollen (Maryland), Dick Durbin (Illinois), Jeff Merkley (Oregon), Al Franken (Minnesota) and independent Sanders, who sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016 before losing to nominee Hillary Clinton.

The letter said that the rule would be an important tool for investors, while noting that in 2015 the average S&P 500 CEO made $335 for every dollar a typical worker earned, a statistic pulled from the AFL-CIO.

"Pay ratio disclosure helps investors evaluate the relative value a CEO creates, which facilitates better checks and balances against insiders paying themselves runaway compensation," wrote the senators.

Related Stories
Former Sanders Staffers Threaten Midterms Challenge
Wall Street’s Pink Flamingos

Alongside Warren, Sanders has been one of the most high-profile critics of Wall Street; he largely built his presidential campaign around that fight. During a rally against President Donald Trump's controversial immigration policies Tuesday, he continued his attacks on the financial industry.

"President Trump thinks he's a tough guy because he's taking on farm workers who make nine or ten bucks an hour; he's a tough guy because he can throw moms and dads out of this country," Sanders said. "Well, I say to Mr. Trump, 'If you're such a tough guy, why don't you take on the insurance companies and the drug companies and Wall Street? Instead of appointing half of Wall Street on your cabinet, why don't you take on the crooks on Wall Street who have destroyed this economy?'"


http://www.rawstory.com/2017/03/americans-still-favor-bernie-sanders-over-donald-trump/
Americans still favor Bernie Sanders over Donald Trump
Newsweek NEWSWEEK
18 MAR 2017 AT 07:41 ET
March 17, 2017
Janice Williams
Posted with permission from Newsweek

Two Very Good Photographs – Trump and Sanders

Americans favor Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Vice President Mike Pence over President Donald Trump. A majority of Americans also disapprove of Trump’s job performance so far as president.

A Fox News poll asked 1,008 registered voters whether or not they had a favorable or unfavorable view of people including the president, vice president, Sanders and several other political figures. The poll also asked voters to rate their opinions of organizations and policies like Planned Parenthood and Obamacare.

Sixty-one percent of voters had a favorable opinion of Sanders compared to just 44 percent of voters who had a favorable opinion of Trump. Only 32 percent of voters had an unfavorable view of Sanders while 53 percent found Trump unfavorable. Trump’s vice president was also more popular, receiving 47 percent of favorable opinions compared to an unfavorable 43 percent.

Even Planned Parenthood and Obamacare were considered more favorably than the president with the nonprofit reproductive health service organization receiving 57 percent of favorable opinions compared to 32 percent unfavorable. Obamacare, which Trump has vowed to repeal and replace, received 50 percent favorable opinions compared to 47 percent of unfavorable opinions.

Only 43 percent of voters approved of Trump’s job performance so far while 51 disapproved. His handling of immigration policy drew 56 percent disapproval and 41 percent approval. Fifty-two percent of voters weren’t confident Trump would make a “significant positive change” for the U.S.

View image on Twitter
View image on Twitter
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Dave Weigel ✔ @daveweigel

Favorable ratings from Fox poll:

Bernie +29
Planned Parenthood +25
Warren +8
Pence +4
Obamacare +3
Trump -9
Ryan -10
6:32 PM - 15 Mar 2017
3,464 3,464 Retweets 5,268 5,268 likes

Congress fared even worse in the eyes of poll participants. Sixty percent disapproved of Democrats’ job performance compared to 32 percent who approved, and 63 percent disapproved of the way Republicans were operating compared to 29 percent who approved.

The poll seems to be in line with the persistent view of some Democrats and progressives that Sanders was a better candidate than his opponent Hillary Clinton and would have vanquished Trump in the general election. A 2016 Real Clear Politics General Election Poll found Sanders beating Trump 49.7 points compared to Trump’s 39.3.

In an interview with the Washington Post following the election, Sanders said he thought there was “a good chance” he could have defeated Trump.

Fox’s poll, released Wednesday, had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.


WHAT IS THE FUTURE FOR PROGRESSIVES? THERE ARE TWO ARTICLES. NOTE THE SEVERAL INNOVATIVE AND HUNGRY NEW ORGANIZING GROUPS, TWO WEBSITES AND ONE PAC. FRANKLY, IF THIS IS A FAIR REPRESENTATION OF THE SITUATION, THE NEXT ELECTED US PRESIDENT MAY WELL BE BERNIE SANDERS.


****http://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-next-2018-midterms-571236
WHAT'S NEXT FOR BERNIE SANDERS VOTERS? FORMER AIDES WANT PROGRESSIVES TO CHALLENGE DEMOCRATS IN 2018 MIDTERMS
BY JASON LE MIERE ON 3/20/17 AT 5:22 PM

WATCH NEWSWEEK VIDEO OF SANDERS IN THE SENATE TO SCOTT PRUITT ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND FRACKING.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders was defeated in last year’s Democratic primary, but his impact on the party could be felt in the 2018 midterm elections. Several groups of former Sanders campaign staffers are ready to put up primary challengers to run against establishment Democrats next year, according to a report released Monday from NBC News.

Frustrated by a perceived lack of change in the Democratic Party following its crushing loss in the 2016 presidential election and in the House and the Senate, some on the left of the party have already been issuing threats against party incumbents.

Two groups of one-time Sanders aides, Justice Democrats and Brand New Congress, this week joined forces ahead of the midterms.

“The point is, we've watched this party over the last decade lose over 1,000 seats, lose a national election to the least popular nominee in history, Donald Trump, and now we've seen poll after poll showing the Democratic Party less popular since election day,” Brand New Congress' Corbin Trent told NBC News. “What we think is, the American people are ready for a new direction.”

Trent’s group states on its website that it will put more than 400 candidates forward in 2018 in an effort to “pass an aggressive and practical plan to significantly increase wages, remove the influence of big money from our government, and protect the rights of all Americans.”

Another group of Sanders staffers, #WeWillReplaceYou, announced last month that it planned to fund primary challengers to Democrats.

Bernie Sanders
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks between Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Patty Murray (D-WA) during a news conference to unveil the FAMILY Act on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., March 14, 2017
YURI GRIPAS/REUTERS

Despite his loss, Sanders has remained a prominent voice on the national stage. A Fox News poll released last week showed him to be the most popular political figure in the United States, with a favorability rating of 61 percent.

Related Stories
Americans Still Favor Bernie Sanders Over Trump
Sanders: Democrats Need a 'Total Transformation'

Following the election, the independent senator was welcomed into the ranks of the Democratic leadership by Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer. Still, Sanders himself has expressed frustration with what he perceives as the party's stagnation and its failure to learn from its 2016 losses.

Last month, Sanders ally Keith Ellison lost the race for the leadership of the Democratic Party to former Labor Secretary Tom Perez. And when asked by The New York Times earlier this month what the Democratic Party stood for, Sanders struggled to provide an answer.

“You’re asking a good question, and I can’t give you a definitive answer,” he said. “Certainly there are some people in the Democratic Party who want to maintain the status quo. They would rather go down with the Titanic so long as they have first-class seats.”



****http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/new-liberal-pac-targets-democrats-primaries-n721311
POLITICS DEMOCRATS VS. TRUMP FEB 15 2017, 2:06 PM ET
New Liberal PAC Targets Democrats for Primaries
by ALEX SEITZ-WALD

A new progressive Political Action Committee plans to recruit and fund primary opponents to Democratic members of Congress that it feels are not aggressive enough in fighting President Donald Trump.

WeWillReplaceYou.org was formed by a group of progressive activists with backgrounds in the Bernie Sanders campaign, the environmental movement, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the DREAMer movement of young undocumented immigrants.

It's a project of #AllofUs, a new millennial progressive organization that has protested Democratic members of the Senate, urging them to draw a harder line against Trump's cabinet nominees and policy agenda.

Play Cummings: Trump-Russia contact revelations bigger than politics Facebook Twitter Embed
Cummings: Trump-Russia contact revelations bigger than politics 6:51

While many liberals, including filmmaker Michael Moore, have issued nominal threats of left-wing challenges to Democratic lawmakers, WeWillReplaceYou.org appears to be the first organized effort to explicitly turn those threats into a reality. That will likely put it on a collision course with Democratic efforts to protect incumbents.

"Other groups are probably expecting to primary* [sic] Democrats, but we think that it's important to make the threat clear now because so many Democrats are not fighting Trump forcefully enough and we need to communicate that we're serious," Claire Sandberg, a former Sanders staffer and one of the group's founders, told NBC News. "Our message to Democrats is pretty straightforward: Fight Trump or we'll find someone who will."

The objective is not necessarily to replace Democratic incumbents, but to pressure them, Sandberg said, adding that the group is holding off on releasing any targets at the moment.

"We want to leave the door open for Democrats to improve and be stronger in their opposition to Trump," said Sandberg. "We're only a few weeks into the Trump administration. Our goal is not primary every single Democratic member of Congress. It's to push Democrats who are there to do better."

WeWillReplaceYou.org will decide which Democrats to target based on where it can have an impact and through surveys of its members. There may be a handful of "litmus tests," the group suggested, such as voting against Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch.

The group welcomes comparisons to the Tea Party, and it's certain to attract familiar criticism from Democratic officials worried that primary challenges will undermine the party's ability to retain seats.

Ten Democratic senators are up for reelection next year in states Trump won. Republicans now hold 52 seats and the Senate, and if they were to pick off 8 of those ten Democrats, the GOP would win a filibuster-proof 60-seat majority -- an outcome many Democrats would view as Armageddon.

Sandberg rejected the criticism that primary challenges to those Democrats would imperil the party's effort to hold those seats. Demoralizing the base with tepid opposition to Trump, Sandberg said, should be Democrats' bigger fear.

"The same base that supports those primary challenges will propel them to victory in general elections," she said.

But in places like West Virginia, where Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin is facing a tough reelection battle, Democrats will almost certainly need more than base voters alone to prevail. Trump won the state by over 40 percentage points.

Either way, primary challenges seem inevitable after an election loss that galvanized the left and nurtured doubts about party leadership.

"The 53 Senators, including Democrat Joe Manchin, who voted to put millions of jobs at risk by putting another Wall Street banker in charge of the Treasury Department shouldn't expect to keep theirs," Charles Chamberlain, the executive director of the liberal group Democracy for America said after Manchin joined Republicans in voting to confirm Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin Monday.

WeWillReplaceYou.org plans to raise money and organize volunteer efforts online, so the scale of its operations and the number of races it gets involved in will depend on how much support it receive.

But it hopes to operate on the cheap. The group plans to eschew expensive TV advertising in favor of some digital ads to support its main focus on distributed organizing, which leverages technology to generate phone calls, door knocks, and other volunteer efforts without the overhead of paid staff required by more traditional field programs.

Play Dems on special election opportunity: Meh Facebook Twitter Embed
Dems on special election opportunity: Meh 2:50
As a hybrid PAC, the group can coordinate directly with campaigns in addition to fund independent expenditures.

In addition to Sandberg, who was the director of digital organizing on Sanders' campaign, advisors to the new group include include Kenneth Pennington, Sanders' former digital director, Rafael Navar, the national political director of the Communications Worker of America, May Boeve, the executive director of the environmental group 350 Action, Taj James, the executive director of Movement Strategy Center, former andra Flores-Quilty, the president of the United States Student Association and Carolina Canizales, a former United We Dream official.

All are working in their personal capacity, not on behalf of their groups.

Another advisor, Jessica Pierce, who once ran the NAACP's field training program, said Democrats' current leadership has taken support from communities of color for granted.

"Even now our elected leaders are still failing us," she said. "As someone who has run national election campaigns in every election cycle since 2006 , but who has also been a part of the momentum of the Movement for Black Lives -- I know that it is going to take all of, working strategically to make the change that people need. We must resist at every level-- from the streets to the Senate."

ALEX SEITZ-WALD



*"To primary.” REALLY?

A WORD ON WORDS – yes, they do migrate through languages and across segments of society, and I feel sure this one started with someone who is YOUNG and deeply into the JABERWOCKY that exists on the net. Most terms like this are temporary, especially if they do not put forth a clear meaning, and this one in particularly, doesn’t. I think it will die a natural death.

[FOR MANY OTHER FASCINATING WORD DISCUSSIONS, GO TO “WORDREFERENCE. COM” WEBSITE. SEE THE EXCELLENT COMMENTS ON WORDREFERENCE.COM BELOW:

https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/primary-verb.3214702/]
Primary (verb?)

[Not surprisingly, the print source for this bastardized word usage began with Breitbart. I love all of these!! THE WAY THE HUMAN MIND WORKS IS WONDROUS.]


Discussion in 'English Only' started by bennymix, Aug 9, 2016.

“bennymix, Aug 9, 2016
From breitbart.com

Tea Party activists are planning “to primary House Speaker Rep. Paul Ryan,” following passage of his $1.1 trillion omnibus, according to recent reports.

Conservatives Push to Primary House Speaker Paul Ryan
---
I wonder if this verb has made its way to UK, given the Conservative Party's use of primary elections starting in 2010.”


“I don't even know what it means...
PaulQ, PaulQ
Senior Member
UK, Aug 9, 2016”


“X will primary Y = X will challenge Y in a primary election.

ADDED: As Myr says, there is the broader meaning. Agency A will primary Y, means that
Agency A (e.g. some branch organization labeled 'tea party') will sponsor or support a designated X to challenge Y in a primary.
Last edited: Aug 9, 2016
bennymix, Aug 9, 2016”


“I think your example sentence says "X will run/support Y in the primary.
Myridon, Aug 9, 2016

Myridon
Senior Member”


“It means absolutely nothing to me. Even when you've explained it:D
ewie
Senior Member ewie, Aug 9, 2016.”


“Another example:
GOP group comes out for Medicare fix | TheHill

Apr 6, 2015 - Conservatives seethed that Republicans were attacking their own party. AAN's board ... The tea party declared war on the Republican Party at CPAC 2013. They threatened to “primary” all establishment Republicans.

http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/237971-gop-group-launches-ads-praising-budget-medicare-bill
bennymix, Aug 10, 2016”


The Brit from the comments above speaks up again, and more forcefully this time, for the English language:

“Is there no 24/7 number you can call to prevent this "verb" spreading like a rash?
PaulQ, Aug 10, 2016”


“given the Conservative's use of primary elections starting in 2010.
I hadn't realised we have 'primary elections' in the UK!
Hermione Golightly, Aug 10, 2016”


“Conservative Party (UK) parliamentary primaries - Wikipedia, the free ...

Jump to Rochester and Strood by-election, 2014 - Totnes. Totnes was the first constituency to use an open primary to select the Conservative Prospective Parliamentary Candidate. The election was held in August 2009 and saw a turnout of approximately 25%.

bennymix, Aug 10, 2016”


“This is the first time I've heard it over here, too. I hope it's the last, but I am not optimistic.

pob14, Aug 10, 2016”


“bennymix said:
given the Conservative Party's use of primary elections starting in 2010.
I can't see that catching on in Britain. Based on American experience it seems an excellent way of selecting the wrong candidate. :rolleyes:

I can't see the misuse of the noun catching on here, either. Anyway, shouldn't it be "primaryize" - like "burglarize"? :D
Andygc, Devon UK, Aug 10, 2016”


I HATE TO CALL ATTENTION TO IT, BUT THIS USAGE FIRST POPPED UP ABOVE IN THE COMMENTS OF AN ANTI-TRUMP INDIVIDUAL, AND THEREFORE SUPPOSEDLY A BETTER EDUCATED SOURCE, BUT SHE IS PROBABLY YOUNG AND GIVEN TO PEER GROUP LANGUAGE FORMATION. IT’S A STAGE IN PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT, I HAVE CONCLUDED. READ AND LISTEN TO WHAT TEENAGERS ARE SAYING AND WRITING ON THEIR SOCIALLY MANDATED SMART PHONES. IF ONLY THE WRITERS WOULD BE SMART AS WELL !!

ENOUGH NEWS AND FUN FOR THE DAY.
9:50 PM EASTERN STANDARD.