Tag: George Washington University

Leah Millis/Reuters Sarah Isgur Flores, a Republican spokeswoman who worked most recently for the Justice Department, has been hired by CNN to help with the network’s political coverage, propelling a Trump administration official directly into a news role for a top cable network. Her hiring as a “political editor,” not a commentator, led to internal and external criticism of CNN for placing a Republican political operative in a position to help guide daily political coverage, including 2020 presidential campaign news. In an internal memo on Wednesday announcing the hire, CNN’s Washington bureau chief, Sam Feist, said Ms. Isgur would spend the first few months getting to know CNN, and then “play a coordinating role” in covering politics. She previously worked as a deputy campaign manager for Carly Fiorina, a Republican who ran for president during the 2016 election. And years ago she retweeted a comment from a conservative news outlet that referred to her new employer as the “Clinton News Network.” Mr. Feist’s memo on Wednesday came after a flurry of concern — and in some cases, deep frustration — voiced by members of the network’s political staff, according to two people familiar with the complaints. CNN has previously showed a willingness to hire employees from conservative-leaning news outlets and organizations, arguing that ideological diversity is helpful in ensuring robust coverage. Some prominent journalists have forged careers in news after working in politics, including George Stephanopoulos, who was hired as a contributing correspondent for ABC News in 1996 after serving as one of President Bill Clinton’s closest advisers. His move from the Clinton White House to ABC News — initially as a partisan member of a Sunday political panel, who would also do some reporting — raised hackles inside and outside the network at the time. David Axelrod, the chief political strategist for both of President Barack Obama’s campaigns, was hired by NBC News as an analyst in 2013, and has since moved to CNN. But Ms. Isgur is joining the network as a political editor, not a pundit, and departing an administration in which the president routinely criticizes the news media, including CNN.

Was the last re-drawing of Michigan’s political district maps so biased in Republicans’ favor, they were illegal? That question literally went on trial Tuesday, with a three-judge panel in Detroit’s federal court hearing arguments for and against Michigan’s 2011 redistricting maps. Their first witnesses were League of Women Voters President Susan Smith, and George Washington University political scientist Christopher Warshaw. Attorneys for the Republican defendants tried to chip away at their case for both the political consequences of the redistricting, and dispute the fact that there’s a mathematical basis for determining gerrymandering. They also argue the federal district court has no jurisdiction to hear this case, because the U.S. Supreme Court has yet to decide on a constitutional standard for gerrymandering. On Monday, the Supreme Court shot down an effort to delay the case until the court hears gerrymandering cases from other states. He said the political map naturally favors Republicans, because Democratic voters tend to be packed into urban areas and “it becomes harder to translate those votes into proportionate seats.” “Plaintiffs are really here because they have a political geography problem, and they’re looking for the courts to solve it,” said Torchinsky, who also said Democrats’ gains in more recent elections suggest there’s no real gerrymandering problem. But Warshaw, the George Washington political scientist, said his research shows that while political geography changed negligibly between 2010 and 2012, Republicans picked up a demonstrable advantage when it came to translating votes into representation during those years. Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, is listed as one of the defendants—replacing the original primary defendant, former Republican Secretary of State Ruth Johnson. Benson has said she agrees with the lawsuit, and her lawyer Jason Eldridge told the court Benson “does not plan to call witnesses or introduce evidence disputing gerrymandering.” Benson does agree with the Republican defendants on one point, though.

But so far one has eluded him: the woman he calls only “Nancy”. As a partial government shutdown enters a record fifth week, the Democrat has been implacable in denying him $5.7bn to help build a border wall. She was the first woman to become House speaker, from 2007 to 2011, and recently regained that position, putting her second in line to the presidency. Then he had a two-year honeymoon in the White House as Republicans controlled the House and Senate. Do you have a favourable or unfavourable opinion of Nancy Pelosi? The tables had been turned, the master brander outbranded. Cornfield said: “We will look back on 11 December as the day he met his match. She knows that every day the shutdown goes on, she and the Democrats gain and Trump and the Republicans lose. I know a temper tantrum when I see one.” This week, as Trump continued to tweet back in anger, Pelosi suggested he delay his State of the Union address – the ultimate showcase for any president – until the government reopens. Number two, it gives him a reason to end the shutdown, because he loves the TV audience and the attention.” The president tried to strike back on Thursday with a letter deriding a planned visit by Pelosi and other Democrats to Afghanistan as a “public relations event” and saying it would be better if she remained in Washington to negotiate reopening the government.

George Washington University's Young America's Foundation gets extra security for the event due to harassment leading up to Ben Shapiro's speech. #FoxandFriends #FoxNews FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service dedicated to delivering breaking news as well…

The RUNDOWN with MaryAlice Parks Democrats have a point when they say there's a lot more Republican senators could do to drill down on the details of professor Christine Blasey Ford’s sexual assault allegation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Scott’s office says he’ll be visiting Puerto Rico at the invitation of officials including Gov. Last week, the President questioned the study and tweeted "3000 people did not die in the two hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico." Thursday morning's episode features ABC News Senior Congressional Correspondent Mary Bruce and ABC News Deputy Political Director MaryAlice Parks – the two discuss what senators are saying about the scheduled Brett Kavanaugh hearing, and why Christine Blasey Ford has not yet agreed to testify. https://bit.ly/2w091jE "She said she wanted to appear but if she changes her mind and refuses to appear, there's not much we can do," the number two Republican in the Senate, John Cornyn of Texas, said of the California professor who alleges Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they both were in high school. (Cheyenne Haslett) https://abcn.ws/2ODXspx Trump says hard for him to imagine Christine Blasey Ford's allegation against Brett Kavanaugh is true. The president said he wants to hear from the accuser of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, but said it's hard for him to "imagine that anything happened," referring to the sexual assault allegation brought by professor Christine Blasey Ford. After five years in prison, an American citizen jailed on trumped up charges in Egypt is pleading for his life to President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. https://bit.ly/2OAvo6l Sen. Claire McCaskill will vote "no" on the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, largely because of his position on "dark money" in politics, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Written by Elaine Godfrey (@elainejgodfrey), Madeleine Carlisle (@maddiecarlisle2), and Olivia Paschal (@oliviacpaschal) Today in 5 Lines White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said the Trump administration is “taking a look” at imposing regulations on Google after the president accused the company of rigging its results. Google said in a statement its search engine is “not used to set a political agenda.” Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello raised the official death toll from Hurricane Maria from 64 to 2,975, following a new study by researchers at George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health. During a speech on the Senate floor, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham paid tribute to late Arizona Senator John McCain and encouraged Americans to “be more like” him. Officials from Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. met in Washington, D.C., for NAFTA talks. Roy Oliver, a white former Texas police officer, was found guilty in the death of Jordan Edwards, an unarmed black teenager. The Races We’re Watching Voters in Arizona and Florida are heading to the polls to pick nominees for Senate and gubernatorial races. In Arizona, Republican Representative Martha McSally—the establishment favorite running against two Trump-like candidates, Kelli Ward and former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio—is currently favored to win the GOP nomination in the primary to replace Senator Jeff Flake. Meanwhile, Democrats expect Representative Kyrsten Sinema will win their party’s nomination, and prove a formidable challenger to the Republican pick.