AP News in Brief at 9:04 p.m. EST
Donald Trump goes from calm to indignant in newly released deposition video of civil fraud lawsuit
NEW YORK (AP) - Months before Donald Trump´s defiant turn as a witness at his New York civil fraud trial, the former president came face-to-face with the state attorney general who is suing him when he sat for a deposition last year at her Manhattan office.
Video made public Friday of the seven-hour, closed-door session last April shows the Republican presidential frontrunner´s demeanor going from calm and cool to indignant - at one point ripping Attorney General Letitia James lawsuit against him as a "disgrace" and "a terrible thing."
Sitting with arms folded, an incredulous Trump complained to the state lawyer questioning him that he was being forced to "justify myself to you" after decades of success building a real estate empire that´s now threatened by the court case.
Trump, who contends James´ lawsuit is part of a politically motivated "witch hunt" was demonstrative from the outset. The video shows him smirking and pouting his lips as the attorney general, a Democrat, introduced herself and told him that she was "committed to a fair and impartial legal process."
James´ office released the video Friday in response to requests from media outlets under New York´s Freedom of Information Law. Trump´s lawyers previously posted a transcript of his remarks to the trial docket in August.
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Biden and Netanyahu have finally talked, but their visions still clash for ending Israel-Hamas war
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finally spoke Friday after a glaring, nearly four-week gap in direct communication during which fundamental differences have come into focus over a possible pathway to Palestinian statehood once the fighting in Gaza ends.
Biden and his top aides have all but smothered Netanyahu with robust support, even in the face of global condemnation over the mounting civilian death toll and humanitarian suffering in Gaza as the Israelis have carried out military operations in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
But the leaders' relationship has increasingly shown signs of strain as Netanyahu has repeatedly rebuffed Biden's calls for Palestinian sovereignty, gumming up what the U.S. president believes is the key to unlocking a durable peace in the Middle East - the oft-cited, elusive two-state solution.
Neither side shows signs of budging.
Friday's phone call came one day after Netanyahu said that he has told U.S. officials in plain terms that he will not support a Palestinian state as part of any postwar plan. Biden, for his part, in Friday's call reaffirmed his commitment to work toward helping the Palestinians move toward statehood.
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Stock market today: Wall Street hits record high following a 2-year round trip scarred by inflation
NEW YORK (AP) - Wall Street returned to record heights Friday to cap a punishing, two-year round trip dogged by high inflation and worries about a recession that seemed inevitable but hasn´t arrived.
The S&P 500, which is the centerpiece of many 401(k) accounts and the main measure that professional investors use to gauge Wall Street´s health, rallied 1.2% to 4,839.81. It erased the last of its losses since setting its prior record of 4,796.56 at the start of 2022. During that time, it dropped as much as 25% as inflation soared to levels unseen since Thelonious Monk and Ingrid Bergman were still alive in 1981.
Even more than high inflation itself, Wall Street´s fear was focused on the medicine the Federal Reserve traditionally uses to treat it. That´s high interest rates, which press the brakes on the economy by making borrowing more expensive and hurting prices for stocks and other investments. And the Fed rapidly hiked its main interest rate from virtually zero to its highest level since 2001, in a range between 5.25% and 5.50%.
Historically, the Fed has helped induce recessions through such increases to interest rates. Coming into last year, the widespread expectation on Wall Street was that it would happen again.
But this time was different, or at least it has been so far. The economy is still growing, the unemployment rate remains remarkably low and optimism is on the upswing among U.S. households.
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Trump mocks Nikki Haley's first name. It's his latest example of attacking rivals based on race
ATLANTA (AP) - Donald Trump used his social media platform Friday to mock Nikki Haley 's birth name, the latest example of the former president keying on race and ethnicity to attack people of color, especially his political rivals.
In a post on his Truth Social account, Trump repeatedly referred to Haley, the daughter of immigrants from India, as "Nimbra." Haley, the former South Carolina governor, was born in Bamberg, South Carolina, as Nimarata Nikki Randhawa. She has always gone by her middle name, "Nikki." She took the surname "Haley" upon her marriage in 1996.
Trump, himself the son, grandson and twice the husband of immigrants, called Haley "Nimbra" three times in the post and said she "doesn't have what it takes."
The attack comes four days before the New Hampshire primary, in which Haley is trying to establish herself as the only viable Trump alternative in the Republicans' 2024 nominating contest.
Trump's post was an escalation of recent attacks in which he referenced Haley's given first name - though he's misspelled it "Nimrada" - and falsely asserted she is ineligible for the presidency because her parents were not U.S. citizens when she was born in 1972.
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Ousted Florida Republican chair cleared of rape allegation, but police seek video voyeurism charge
Police cleared the ousted chair of the Florida Republican Party of rape allegations on Friday, but said they have asked prosecutors to charge him with illegally video recording the sexual encounter he had with a female acquaintance.
The Sarasota Police Department said in a statement that a review of a cellphone video Christian Ziegler made of the Oct. 2 encounter showed that it was "likely consensual," making it impossible to charge him with rape. However, police said the woman told investigators that she never consented to be video recorded and was unaware it had occurred.
Police turned their findings over to the office of Sarasota County State Attorney Ed Brodsky on Friday, recommending that Ziegler be charged video voyeurism. Under Florida law, that is a third-degree felony that is punishable by up to five years in prison.
Brodsky told The Associated Press that his prosecutors will begin an immediate examination of the evidence and recommendation. He said they will also review the decision not to charge Ziegler with rape or sexual assault.
"We want to be thorough," said Brodsky, an elected Republican.
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In snowy DC, the March for Life rallies against abortion with an eye toward the November elections
WASHINGTON (AP) - Thousands of opponents of abortion rights rallied under falling snow on Friday at the annual March for Life, as speakers urged the impassioned crowd to capitalize on the movement's major victory in the Supreme Court and keep fighting until abortion is eliminated.
Months before a presidential election that could be heavily influenced by abortion politics, anti-abortion activists packed the National Mall carrying signs with messages such as "Life is precious" and "I am the pro-life generation." After listening to speeches, the crowd, braving frigid temperatures, marched past the U.S. Capitol and Supreme Court. One group planted in front of Court, beating a drum and chanting: "Everyone you know was once an embryo."
Friday´s March for Life is the second such event in the nation's capital since the June 2022 Supreme Court ruling that ended the federal protection for abortion rights enshrined in Roe v. Wade. Last year´s march was triumphant, with organizers relishing a state-by-state fight in legislatures around the country.
Speakers praised the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade but said it was more important now than ever to keep up the pressure on lawmakers to advance abortion restrictions.
"Roe is done, but we still live in a culture that knows not how to care for life," said Benjamin Watson, a former NFL player who is now an anti-abortion advocate. "Roe is done, but the factors that drive women to seek abortions are ever apparent and ever increasing. Roe is done, but abortion is still legal and thriving in too much of America."
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Sports Illustrated employees left in limbo as publisher faces money troubles
The jobs of people who produce Sports Illustrated were in limbo Friday after the company that paid to maintain the iconic brand's print and digital products told staff that its license was revoked.
In an email to employees Friday morning, the Arena Group, which operates Sports Illustrated and related properties, said that because of the revocation, "we will be laying off staff that work on the SI brand."
Authentic Brands Group owns the Sports Illustrated brand and had been licensing it to Arena. Authentic later said in a statement it intends to keep Sports Illustrated going. The company is negotiating with Arena and other publishing entities to determine who will do that, according to a person with knowledge of the talks who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly about them.
Until those negotiations are resolved, it's unclear which journalists would actually do the work of making Sports Illustrated. It was not clear how many jobs were affected.
Sports Illustrated's employee union said in a statement that the layoffs initially announced by Arena would be a significant number and possibly all, of the NewsGuild workers represented.
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Grand jury indicts Alec Baldwin in fatal shooting of cinematographer on movie set in New Mexico
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - A grand jury indicted Alec Baldwin on Friday on an involuntary manslaughter charge in a 2021 fatal shooting during a rehearsal on a movie set in New Mexico, reviving a dormant case against the actor.
Special prosecutors brought the case before a grand jury in Santa Fe this week, months after receiving a new analysis of the gun that was used. They declined to answer questions after spending about a day and a half presenting their case to the grand jury.
Defense attorneys for Baldwin indicated they´ll fight the charge.
"We look forward to our day in court," said Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro, defense attorneys for Baldwin, in an email.
While the proceeding is shrouded in secrecy, two of the witnesses seen at the courthouse included crew members - one who was present when the fatal shot was fired and another who had walked off the set the day before due to safety concerns.
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How to stay healthy during cold, flu and COVID-19 season
Winter is here, inflicting its usual array of symptoms - coughs, nasal congestion, fatigue and fever - and, this year, a new COVID-19 variant is dominating the scoreboard.
COVID-19 is leading hospital admissions among the respiratory viruses, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Last week, 25 U.S. states had high or very high levels for respiratory illnesses with fever, cough and other symptoms. That´s down from 37 states the week before, the CDC said.
Since the beginning of October, there have been at least 16 million illnesses, 180,000 hospitalizations, and 11,000 deaths from flu so far this season. The CDC said 47 children have died of flu.
January can be the worst month for these illnesses. With vaccination rates low, what can you do to protect yourself from respiratory viruses, including influenza, COVID-19 and RSV?
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AP Decision Notes: What to expect in the New Hampshire primaries
WASHINGTON (AP) - The race for the Republican and Democratic presidential nominations will converge in New Hampshire on Tuesday in the first primary election of the season - though on the Democratic side, the contest may count only for bragging rights.
The Republican primary will test former President Donald Trump´s front-runner status in a state he carried by a comfortable margin in the 2016 primary but has a considerably more moderate electorate than the one that delivered him a big win in the Iowa caucuses.
It will also be a test for former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, who wants to establish herself as the main alternative to Trump. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who edged Haley for second place in Iowa, is now focusing his efforts on South Carolina, after two scheduled New Hampshire debates were canceled.
Trump has had a consistent lead in the polls, with Haley, a former South Carolina governor, appearing to be in the strongest position among his rivals.
In the Democratic primary, President Joe Bidenwon´t appear on the ballot, since the contest violates the national party rules he pushed for, but supporters have mounted a write-in campaign on his behalf. The Biden campaign has not endorsed the write-in effort. Among the Democratic candidates whose names will appear on the ballot are U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota and 2020 candidate Marianne Williamson.
