Tag: LaToya Cantrell

(Photo: Gerald Herbert, AP) Fox News says it has hired former Democratic National Committee chief Donna Brazile as a political commentator. Brazile had been let go from a similar role at CNN in 2016 after it was revealed that she had shared material about topics that would be addressed at a Democratic forum with Hillary Clinton's campaign. At Fox, Brazile will not have anything to do with any debates or town halls — if they ever happen. That's from a Fox News executive who spoke on condition of anonymity Monday because the person was not authorized to speak about contract details. Brazile says she knows she'll be criticized by progressive friends for signing with Fox, but that she believes it's important to talk with people you disagree with. She wrote about her decision to join Fox News in an editorial post, where she says the upcoming 2020 presidential election is a "consequential moment" for the country and that political debate is "hostile and disrespectful." "Will I agree with my fellow commentators at Fox News? Probably not. But I will listen," she wrote.

In New Orleans, Cantrell faces the twin challenges of tackling a high violent crime rate and complying with the 2012 federal consent decree, a broad slate of reforms the city agreed to implement after a scathing federal report detailed corruption, brutality and bias across the police force. Whoever Cantrell picks will be tasked with extending a decline in homicides that reached a 47-year low in 2018, while convincing a federal judge that the department has met the bar for implementing lasting reforms. He must still be approved by the Baltimore City Council for the permanent job. Her selection will be a highly personal one, said former Mayor Mitch Landrieu, who plucked Harrison from his post as commander of the sprawling 7th District in New Orleans East in August 2014, after Ronal Serpas resigned as chief. "It is really an important decision, but it’s very personal to a mayor. However, insiders are already ticking off a short list of names stocked with local candidates, most from within the department. Harrison named Thomas to lead the department’s investigations bureau last year. “You want to find that person that’s best for the department at this moment in time, and it may very well be that there’s somebody that she feels that can do it within the department,” Landrieu said. Cantrell may also need to please a constituency of one: U.S. District Judge Susie Morgan, who oversees the department’s reform agreement with the federal government. “The department is way better than it’s been,” Scharf said.