Tag: Lin-Manuel Miranda

Rosenstein denied the story in a statement. The Senate Judiciary Committee said they would push next week's hearing on Christine Blasey Ford's sexual-assault allegations against Brett Kavanaugh to Wednesday. In a pair of tweets, President Trump questioned both the timing and substance of Christine Blasey Ford’s claims. Democratic Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke, who is challenging incumbent Texas Senator Ted Cruz, raised over $9 million online in August. Trump will hold a rally in Springfield, Missouri, in support of Republican Josh Hawley, who is challenging Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill. The event begins at 6:30 p.m. CT. Today on The Atlantic Still Not Right: Advocates hailed a new bail algorithm as a necessary reform to a broken cash bail system. But civil-rights activists worry it’ll perpetuate discrimination. (Madeleine Carlisle) No Surprise There: President Trump’s attempt to discredit Christine Blasey Ford, Brett Kavanaugh’s accuser, fits his usual pattern of responding to sexual-misconduct allegations. (David A. Graham) Midterm Money: From Lin-Manuel Miranda to Jeff Bezos, here’s who’s spending money, and where, this election cycle. (Sarah Kleiner, Lateshia Beachum, Dave Levinthal, and Carrie Levine) Give Someone Else a Chance: Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh should withdraw his nomination rather than be confirmed “with asterisks,” writes Benjamin Wittes.

LeBron James has conquered professional basketball, opened his own school, become an outspoken voice in American politics and race relations, and was arguably the best part of “Trainwreck.” A few months before he makes his official debut as a Los Angeles Laker, the basketball superstar has added another item to his resume, making his debut as a talk show host, of sorts, in HBO’s “The Shop.” In the half-hour series that premiered Tuesday, James chats with celebrity guests about sports, yes, but also politics, race relations, parenthood, the pressure of success and even Broadway musicals. HBO already tried the sports-adjacent-talk-show-on-a-school-night thing with “Any Given Wednesday,” Bill Simmons’ short-lived talker in 2016. (The premiere was filmed last month at West Hollywood’s Barber Surgeons Guild.) Though the effort to capture the vibrance and tell-it-like-it-is spirit of the African American barbershop met with slightly mixed results in the first episode, “The Shop” is more than worth a return visit. The series is, if nothing else, an impressive feat of booking. In the debut episode, James is joined by his childhood friend, business partner and unofficial sidekick Maverick Carter, and a roster that included rappers Snoop Dogg and Vince Staples, comedian Jerrod Carmichael, Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors and New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. The guest list also includes faces that might not typically show up in a barbershop, like former “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart and Candace Parker of the Los Angeles Sparks. Cameras positioned in seemingly every corner of the shop capture the participants as they get their hair trimmed, swill brandy and lounge in leather armchairs. Stylish black-and-white photographs of guests arriving at the shop serve as act breaks and enhance the show’s documentary feel. But the choppy editing sometimes removes context from the conversation, offering little sense of how one subject flows to the next.

At the end of the day, on the east coast at least, we are closing this blog. Here’s a summary of the key events in a hot day of protests against Donald Trump and his hardline immigration policy. From New York City and Washington DC to Los Angeles and San Francisco, and in hundreds of cities and towns in between, thousands of Americans protested on Saturday against Trump administration policies that separated more than 2,000 undocumented immigrant children from their families and have left the vast majority of such children still held in federal facilities. Protesters said they were concerned about many issues, but one message – as intended by organizers – rose above all others: Families Belong Together. In some cities, the heat index topped 105F (40C). We’ll be wrapping up our blog soon, so here are Associated Press reports from events thousands of miles away from the big rallies in Washington and New York: Thousands of protesters gathered in downtown Los Angeles were addressed by, among others, singer John Legend, congresswoman Maxine Waters (who called for Trump to be impeached) and Senator Kamala Harris. Another large crowd gathered in San Francisco, where drums beat and horns played as marchers held flags and signs, some saying “Deport Trump” and “I Really Care, Do You?” Barry Hooper said he attended the protest with his wife and two daughters in order to “let the president know that this is not acceptable”. Police in both cities said the rallies appeared peaceful and reported no arrests. Dallas police say five people have been arrested outside a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) building. A police supervisor said five were arrested when they refused police orders to move.