Biggest News aggregator with 200 million news articles | vim

Doing as Voter Fraud Misinformation Spread despite repeated requests from political professionals, and cnn has the receipts. Welcome to the lead. Im jake tapper. Any moment were told President Biden will lay out a plan to combat a nationwide surge in Violent Crime across the United States homicide rates are up. This year there have been 296 mass shootings, nearly 9,500 gun violence deaths, all higher than at this time last year. And 2020 had to have been the deadliest gun violence year in decades. Making matters worse, local authorities are now warning of a brutal summer of killing, that it could lie ahead. Now, President Biden were told will call on congress and use Executive Action to try to propose measures to curb gun violence. He says he has a fivepoint plan. Lets get right to Cnns Phil Mattingly who is live for us from the white house. The president has failed to be able to get congress to act on Gun Legislation such as universal Background Checks before. What makes him think this times going to be any different . Jake, i dont know that white house officials think any of the dynamics have changed. They know that this is a visceral issue of Public Safety that obviously kind of pierces any everyday american and has kind of downstream effects in how people live their lives. Federal legislation, obviously the president will push for that, but that recognition that theres still a pretty high hill to climb on that is, in part, why you are going to see the president lay out a fivepoint plan today that is mainly detailed through Executive Actions. It includes one of the primary issues that the white house wants to focus on as it relates to guns. And thats a crackdown on weapons that are used for violent assaults. The Justice Department will, for the first time, push to revoke the licenses for dealers that knowingly sell guns to individuals who arent eligible to use those guns. But theres also a Financing Component of this as well. And i think Administration Officials have really keyed on using millions of dollars from the covid relief funds to help surge federal sources to assist local Law Enforcement, fund communitybased intervention programs, help with recidivism for individuals coming out of jails, Help Fund Job and afterschool programs for young adults. They view this as kind of a comprehensive plan. Double increases in murders, increases in Violent Crime, particularly over the course of the last three months. And i think this is also an implicit recognition from the white house that they understand this is also politically potent issue as well, and they have heard about it, im told, from democrats on capitol hill. They are regularly hearing about it from local officials including some of those who will be meeting Behind Closed Doors on this issue. And they recognize they need to get the president in front of it. Obviously this is complicated within the Democratic Party. But white house officials feel like the president has some grounds here. Hes pushed back on the idea of defunding the police. He obviously has a lengthy record on crime issues, some of which hes moved away from since the 1994 crime bill. But they believe hes the person in the party that can come out and talk about this, come out and address this. And thats what youre going to see today. A major focus on gun violence, but an overall effort to do something to address what has become a serious issue nationwide. All right, phil, thats fascinating. Thank you so much. Lets discuss this with our panel. Gloria, let me start with you. You just heard from phil some of the proposals biden will make include allowing cities and states to Reallocate Covid Funds to fight crime, imposing a Zero Tolerance policy when it comes towards gun dealer whos break deals, investing in community policing, the opposite of defunding the police. Can this get by congress . Well, maybe some of it can, which is sort of reallocating some of the covid funds, although they will probably disagree on how much covid funding is left to reallocate. But the rest of it you have to see through a political prism. This has always been the issue. The house has a couple of gun control measures. Theyre stuck in the senate right now on Background Checks. And i think that thats always been a problem. The republicans want to use this as an issue. Democrats want to defund the police. Phil mattingly points out that has never been joe bidens position, nor is it his position now. But it is an issue that they feel that they can use in the midterm elections. And while i would argue that High Crime Rates dont help any politician anywhere because its in big cities as well as in rural areas, i think that republicans believe that they can use it more to their advantage, which is why you see the white house pushing back so hard on this. Because half of the American Public believes that we ought to strengthen gun laws. Yeah. But, to that point, is it not also the case, nia, that democrats also see potent political issues in the fact, for instance, pat toomey, republican from the great Commonwealth Of Pennsylvania who put forward with joe manchin, two of them both big nra guys, a measure to close the socalled gun show loophole, requiring that private sellers also have to do Background Checks at gun shows and the like. Toomey told me a few months ago that he thinks a very narrow version of that could pass and a Democratic Senate could get ten republican votes. But they havent brought it up, right . Democrats want to bring up a big expansive package that cant get 60 votes. Listen, im skeptical of even what toomey was telling you about getting something through this congress with not ten republicans . I dont think so. I mean, i think we have an issue with guns and with republicans not really wanting to be bipartisan. Theres really no reason of history of bipartisanship of guns. I think the most important issue here is biden wants to defang this issue politically for democrats. Democrats have been tagged as soft on crime for decades. Biden himself in 1994 aware of this issue so he brings up the crime bill, which of course in some ways hurt him later politically. But they know that the democrats have always been sort of known as the mommy party, republicans as the daddy party. And so that is why they are doing this. They see what the statistics are showing in terms of this rise in crime all across the country on not just in places where defund the police is a slogan, but everywhere. And so i think thats the main issue. He wants to be caught trying to do something on this issue. And meanwhile, laura, while this is going on and communities are crying out for help, and in some cases crying out for more police. We heard that from the Baltimore Police commissioner yesterday on the show. Policing reform, which is still being negotiated by a Bipartisan Group in the senate including senator tim scott, senator cory booker, still being negotiated, only one day left before the july 4th recess. Its nuanced, you can support more cops and also policing reform, although in this political world thats a tough argument to make. How does this affect that, do you think . Well, i think that biden is clearly trying to balance this all right here, as you just said. On one hand biden is the person who is very close with cops, who has had a history of being close to police unions. And, on the other hand, he is very much trying to get Police Reform done. But there are a lot of things in that bill that republicans arent okay with, which is why were seeing it stall so much. Then you also see him with todays speech, trying to address and get ahead of what they expect is going to be a long, hot summer with a lot of crime. But, at the same time, you saw yesterday him announce that he supports changing drug sentencing. So, you see democrats and biden himself trying to appease progressives and appease what he sees as the future of this party and the direction that the party is headed in, which they are not any more okay with a tough on crime, you know, Mass Incarceration of the past that biden used to support. But he is also still trying to make sure that they arent weakened to republican attacks heading into the 2022 midterms. And meanwhile there was an interesting message, senator tom cotton, republican of arkansas, probably going to run for president in 2024, assuming trump does not run, putting out a message yesterday saying there are disparities in sentencing between Crack Cocaine and Powder Cocaine, but the solution is not to alleviate the sentences on Crack Cocaine, its to make sentences against Powder Cocaine tougher. So there it is, an acknowledgment of Racial Disparities but lets punish everybody even harder. That in some ways has always been the Republican Party orthodoxy in terms of cracking down on crime, supporting police, more police on the street. So in some ways it isnt surprising that you have tom cotton saying lets throw them all in jail even though you have greater discourse about this, people who are either drug addicts or theyre selling drugs. Theres some different way to address this rather than lock people up and throw away the key. If youre joe biden, imagine this. So in 1994, youre part of the crime bill. Youre a primary sponsor of this crime bill saying democrats are tough on crime. You run in the primary, the democratic primary, and you have to run away from that crime bill, which gave you mandatory minimum sentencing, which everybody criticized as putting too many people in jail, et cetera, et cetera. Now theyre saying, look, he has his bona fides, hes tough on crime. And joe biden has to continue to walk this line on crime a generation later. Fa s nating stuff. Well see what he says. One of the biggest names on the Progressive Left now telling President Biden to stop trying to please republicans when it comes to infrastructure. Thats next. And its looking as though you might need another covid shot in the fall. What vaccinated americans need to know about staying protected. Stay with us. This is power. Sos this. You recognize it. But for the corporate Special Interests and billionaires buying our elections, dark money is power. Billions spent manipulating elections. Gerrymandering partisan congressional districts. And restricting our freedom to vote. Exactly why we need the for the people acth. R. 1. To finally ban dark money. Ensure fair congressional districts. And protect our freedom to vote. Because the real power is you. And its time for the people to win. If you have risk factors like heart disease, diabetes and raised triglycerides,. Vascepa can give you something to celebrate. Vascepa, when added to your statin,. Is clinically proven to provide 25 lower risk from heart attack and stroke. Vascepa is clearly different. First and only fda approved. Celebrate less risk. Even for those with family history. Dont take vascepa if you are. Or become allergic to Icosapent Ethyl or any inactive ingredient in vascepa. Serious side effects may occur like Heart Rhythm Problems and bleeding. Heart rhythm problems may occur in more people. With persistent cardiovascular risk or who have had them in the past. Tell your doctor if you experience an Irregular Heartbeat or other Heart Rhythm Problems. Possible side effects include muscle and joint pain. Celebrate less risk. Added cardio protection. Talk to your doctor about adding protection with vascepa. Spray, lift, skip, step. Swipe, lift, spin, dry. Slam, pan, still. Fresh move, move, move, move aaaaand still fresh. Degree. Ultimate freshness activated when you move. Were carvana, the company who invented Car Vending Machines and buying a car 100 online. Now weve created a brandnew way for you to sell your car. Whether its a year old or a few years old. We wanna buy your car. So go to carvana and enter your License Plate answer a few questions. And our Techno Wizardry calculates your cars value and gives you a real offer in seconds. When youre ready, well come to you, pay you on the spot and pick up your car, thats it. So ditch the old way of selling your car, and say hello to the new way at carvana. We are back with our politics lead. Tensions are boiling over inside the Democratic Party as progressives voice their frustration over how long negotiations are taking with republicans on an infrastructure deal, not to mention the size of the currently scaledback version of the bill. Cnns ryan nobles is live for us. We expect Top White House officials to meet with Democratic Leaders on this issue tonight . Yeah, thats right. Both House Speaker nancy pelosi and the susenate Majority Leade Chuck Schumer are on capitol hill right now meeting with that Bipartisan Group of senators. And depending on who you talk to, the progress is either close to them having a deal or theyre going to have a deal within 24 to 48 hours, but they all seem to agree that the negotiations are heading in the right direction. They all caution, though, that just one thing could send them in the wrong direction and someone could pull back from the table. There is optimism that they could have a deal, and they want to have that deal done before the end of the day tomorrow because senators are going to be heading out for their july 4th break. After the democrats Sleeping Election Reform Bill failed last night, progressives are now directly calling on President Biden to do more to publicly push the bill. Whats next . Jake, this is a growing problem for the Democratic Party because, and particularly in the House Of Representatives where the margins are so tight. Only fourvote lead that the democrats have in the house. Progressives are getting upset that the white house isnt doing more to push Voting Rights, which they consider to be their top priority in this legislative calendar. And i talked to congressman mondaire jones. Hes a freshman from new york, and he told me that he specifically thinks that President Biden needs to be more vocal and needs to do more behind the scenes to lean on those moderate Democratic Senators to break up the filibuster to push Voting Rights through. And this could be a bigger problem for the biden agenda because many of these Progressive Democrats really arent all that excited about that bipartisan Infrastructure Plan that we talked about. And even if it passes through the senate, its got to get back over to the house. If some of these progressives baulk because they feel the white house is not doing enough for their key legislative priorities, that could be a big problem. And at this point the white house has not shown what the next steps will be. Ryan, thanks so much. I appreciate it. Joining us to discuss democratic senator bob menendez of new jersey. Senator, thanks for joining us, mr. Chairman. Your colleague, independent senator angus king of maine who caucuses with democrats, he tells cnn that he wants to try again to reach a deal with republicans on election reform legislation. Do you think that there is potentially Common Ground to be found on this, a more narrow bill . Or do you think democrats and republicans are just too diametrically opposed on this . Well, look, i hope that we can reach Common Ground. Preserving the right to vote and the ability to cast that vote is the very essence of representative democracy. Yet, what we see across the country over 400 actions taken by republican legislatures and introducing bills that restrict the right to vote, that make it far more difficult to cast a vote, particularly in minority communities. Thats a telltale sign of where republicans really are at. So it is my hope that if it wasnt for the people, that then tell us what youre for at the end of the day to see what we can come together on Common Ground, at least to advance some of the Democracy Gains that we should be having in our society and make sure that everybody who is eligible to vote gets that right to vote and it gets to do it relatively in an easy fashion. Do