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In Lester Holt’s hard hitting interview with Donald Trump, contradictions ran amok. The president appeared to headlock his own team with a flurry of statements that ran contrary to the talking points coming out of this White House following the controversial firing of FBI Director James Comey. Donald Trump appears to be threatening Comey via Twitter this morning, tweeting, "James Comey better hope that there are no "tapes" of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!" For a breakdown of all the facts and alternative facts, click here. To watch Lester Holt’s interview, click here. Here's what's on tap for the weekend:- President Barack Obama left the WH but he is still creating jobs.
- Trump launches "voter fraud" commission.
- The CHC want USCIS Ombudsman gone.
- Food companies partner with Michelle Obama.
- Two Latinas join Fox News racial discrimination lawsuit.
- Former Congresswoman Corrine Brown found guilty.
- The Dakota Access Pipeline is already leaking.
- Ajit Pai is pushing Trump's agenda through, and he just helped an über conservative outlet become a "TV goliath."
- A report says Mexico is the second-most violent country. Yep, just behind Syria.
- Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) talks about his mom.
- Rev. William Barber bids farewell to NAACP.
- News editors partner with Google to become more diverse.
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Zerlina Maxwell with Hillary Clinton, her "forever boss," last week. | |  |
Congresswoman Grace Meng (D-NY) with the Jefferson Dem Club in Queens on Thursday. | |
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Holder’s Criminal Justice Reform Slashed by Sessions
Attorney General Jeff Sessions overturned the sweeping criminal charging policy of former Attorney General Eric Holder and directed his federal prosecutors Thursday to charge defendants with the most serious, provable crimes carrying the most severe penalties. The Holder memo, issued in August 2013, instructed his prosecutors to avoid charging certain defendants with drug offenses that would trigger long mandatory minimum sentences. Defendants who met a set of criteria such as not belonging to a large-scale drug trafficking organization, gang or cartel, qualified for lesser charges -- and in turn less prison time -- under Holder’s policy. But Sessions’ new charging policy, outlined in a two-page memo and sent to more than 5,000 assistant U.S. attorneys across the country and all assistant attorneys general in Washington, orders prosecutors to “charge and pursue the most serious, readily provable offense” and rescinds Holder’s policy immediately. More from WaPo here.
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Obama is Still Creating Jobs After Leaving White House
The Obama Foundation on Thursday released an Economic Impact Assessment, which estimates the potential economic impact that the Obama Presidential Center (OPC) will have on the South Side of Chicago, Cook County, and the state of Illinois. In Cook County, the assessment predicts that the construction of the OPC will support 4,945 jobs and 2,536 jobs after the Center is open. They also predict an economic impact of $3.1 billion during the construction period and the first ten years of operations for Chicago, with $675 million resulting from the construction phase and an annual impact of $246 million after the Center is open. In addition, the construction phase is anticipated to result in $16.5 million in indirect and induced state and local tax revenue. Post-construction, the analysis estimates that the OPC will generate $5.9 million in annual indirect and induced state and local tax revenue. But first, he's got a lot of fundraising to do. The early phase spending is estimated at $675 million dollars. More about the OPC here.
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CHC Wants USCIS Ombudsman Out
Members of the CHC are expressing dismay at the appointment of immigration hardliner Julie Kirchner as Ombudsman of the USCIS. The group sent a letter to DHS Secretary John Kelly asking that she be removed from the post. Kirchner was previously with the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), a group that supports restrictions on immigration and one that the Southern Poverty Law Center labels as a hate group. “As someone who has spent her career demonizing immigrants and immigration, Ms. Kirchner is not qualified for this position,” says the letter, signed by CHC Chair Michelle Luján Grisham (D-NM) and other CHC members. See full text of the letter here.
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NEA President Lily Eskelsen García with Spanish judge and author Baltasar Garzón at an education summit in Madrid on Monday. | |  |
WaPo's Gene Park, Buzzfeed's Alex Laughlin, and WaPo's Michelle Ye Hee Lee last week. | |
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Trump Launches Commission to Investigate Unsubstantiated Claims of Voter Fraud
Donald Trump plans to name Kris Kobach, the Kansas Secretary of State who has pressed for aggressive measures to crack down on undocumented immigrants, to a long-promised commission to investigate voting fraud. The commission is the official follow-through on Trump’s unsubstantiated claim that more than three million undocumented immigrants illegally voted in November’s election. In a statement, CBC Chairman Cedric Richmond (D-LA), and the Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) said, “Americans must ‘stay woke’ during this time of fake news and alternative facts. This commission is a waste of taxpayer dollars and government time and will only do what Trump wants it to do: encourage and empower public officials like Attorney General Sessions and Kansas Secretary of State Kobach who have a history of allowing voter suppression and intimidation.” More here.
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Census Report Highlights Significant Decline in 2016 Voter Turnout Among Blacks and Latinos
Meanwhile, the facts say otherwise. New data released Wednesday by the Census Bureau show that turnout among Black voters in 2016 fell almost seven percentage points after hitting an all-time high of 66.2 percent in 2012. Fewer than half of Asian Americans and Hispanic Americans turned out to vote; 49 percent of Asians and 47.6 percent of those of Hispanic origin showed up to the polls last year. Black turnout fell two points and Hispanic turnout tumbled by a whopping 34 points in Michigan, a state Trump won by just over 10,000 votes. In Wisconsin, another state Trump barely won, fewer than half of Black voters cast a ballot. Turnout among Black voters fell seven points in Florida, and turnout among Hispanic voters there, who make up critical voting blocs stretching from Miami-Dade County to Orlando, fell eight points. More here.
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Congressman Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) enjoying tamales back home in New Mexico. | |  |
While Lester Holt was in DC, NBC hosted an AAPI issues panel on his set on Thursday. | |
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After Announcing All White Male Additions, MSNBC Names New Contributor
This week, MSNBC announced it had signed conservative columnist George F. Will, and there were reports Hugh Hewitt had been approached as well for a weekend show. Then, on Thursday, word got out that MSNBC had brought on eight new contributors -- all white men. The twitters got hold of this news and later in the day, a new addition had been announced. Eddie S. Glaude Jr., chair of the Center for African American Studies at Princeton, was added as an NBC/MSNBC as a contributor. More here.
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Two Latinas Join Discrimination Suit Against Fox
Two Latinas have added their names to a lawsuit against Fox News that cites racial discrimination and a hostile work environment, bringing to thirteen the number of current and former Fox News employees taking court action. Five are Hispanic, lawyer Michael J. Willemin of Wigdor LLP told Richard Prince’s Journal-isms by email on Wednesday. Elizabeth Fernández and Claudine McLeod say they “were subjected to a litany of offensive and racist comments that created a hostile work environment,” the amended suit claims. The suit contends that former Comptroller Judith Slater said things such as, “I don’t like Spanish people’s food, you guys like eating pig feet, chicken feet, pig tongue and cow tail I wouldn’t even feed my dogs your food;” and to Fernández, “do you plan on having any more babies -- I know that Latinas like having a ton of kids.” More here.
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Brown Found Guilty
Former Congresswoman Corrine Brown (D-FL) was found guilty on Thursday on 18 of 22 charges of tax evasion and wire and mail fraud. Brown, who represented portions of north and central Florida, had pleaded not guilty to all charges. Prosecutors said she funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars from a charity group -- One Door for Education Foundation -- into her own account. Out of the more than $800,000 donated to the group, only about $1,200 reportedly went to charitable causes. A date for sentencing has not been set. More here.
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The Dakota Access Pipeline is Already Leaking
Oil isn't even flowing through the Dakota Access pipeline yet, but already there's been a leak. The 1,100-mile pipeline will be fully operational June 1st, according to Energy Transfer Partners (ETP), the company that built it. But in April, a mechanical failure caused an 84-gallon oil spill northeast of Tulare, a tiny town in South Dakota. Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairman Dave Archambault II said in a statement, “This is what we have said all along: oil pipelines leak and spill. Our lawsuit challenging this dangerous project is ongoing and it’s more important than ever for the court to step in and halt additional accidents before they happen -- not just for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and our resources but for the 17 million people whose drinking water is at risk.” More here from Vice.
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|  | Friends of the American Latino Museum kick off their national donor dinner series in the Big Apple
with museum Executive Director Estuardo Rodríguez, Margaret Hoover, chair Danny Vargas and his sister Yai Vargas.
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Emilly's List President Stephanie Schrioc with Astrid Silva on May 3rd. | |
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Food Companies Partner with Michelle Obama
On Thursday, more than a dozen food companies, including candy maker Mars and convenience chain Cumberland Farms, announced new initiatives with Partnership for a Healthier America, a foundation that Michelle Obama chairs and helped found. WaPo reports that the initiatives will bring smaller candy bars to check out aisles and more water to gas stations, among other things. They will also provide a rare bright spot to public health advocates at a time that has seen Trump’s administration freeze other key parts of the former first lady’s healthy-eating legacy. More here.
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Black Lives Matter Bailing Women Out of Jail for Mother’s Day
The Southerners on New Ground (SONG) organization, in conjunction with the Movement for Black Lives and Color Of Change, have raised more than $250,000 for releasing women from jail in Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles and several other cities. Mary Hooks, co-director of the Atlanta-based LGBTQ organizing project SONG says, “Whether it’s the mothers in the clubs who teach the young kids how to vogue, or the church mothers who took care of me," women who are birth mothers and chosen mothers are eligible to be bailed out. According to The Nation, the initiative called National Mama’s Bail Out Day will free more than 30 Black women currently detained for low-level offenses, such as loitering or small-scale drug possession. More here from Blavity.
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Group Celebrates Mother’s Day with Diverse Cards
A nonprofit group based in Oakland, CA is celebrating the first Mother’s Day under a Trump administration by distributing 15,000 customized cards to Muslim and immigrant mothers nationwide. Forward Together has been designing Mother’s Day cards for several years, but this is the first time it is focusing on specific groups. The Mamas Day initiative depicts diverse representations of motherhood, and the group says this year they want to send a special message. “Since the start of the (Trump) administration, we’ve seen executive orders that target both communities,” Forward Together policy director Kalpana Krishnamurthy told HuffPo. “There are many ways to resist Trump’s policies ... we can also resist by supporting individual mamas and their families with extra love and support.” More here.
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Senators and Their Moms
Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) grew up calling his mother by her first name, Frances. He recalls some people thinking the practice lacked respect but he says it was not. The senator says he was a very curious child so his mother had to encourage him to follow instructions. “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss you’ll land among the stars.” This was the advice he says his mother gave him. Roll Call sat down with Scott and other senators to talk about their relationships with their mothers. See the video here.
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Congresswoman Michelle Luján Grisham (D-NM) speaking with the League of Women Voters in her district last week. | |  |
Uber's Global Head of Diversity Bernard Coleman (far right) joins other honorees on Tuesday as one of the National Diversity Council's Top 50 Multicultural Leaders in Tech. | |
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Senator Harris Wants AG Sessions Out
Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) is the second Democratic senator calling for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to step down over his role in former FBI Director James Comey’s firing. “Frankly, I think Jeff Sessions should resign,” Harris said Thursday on CNN’s The Lead, her first national television interview (click image to play). “There is good reason to believe that he was not truthful when he testified before Congress,” Harris added, mentioning Sessions' past meetings with Russian officials and then signing off on the firing of the person investigating a case Sessions has recused himself from. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) has also called for Sessions to leave. More here from The Hill.
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Interior Secretary Doing More Talking than Listening on Bears Ears Tour
This week, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has been on a “listening tour” across southeast Utah. During a tour of Bears Ears, Native American activist Cassandra Begay asked Zinke if he was planning to meet with local tribe leaders. Zinke responded by putting a finger in her face and instructing, “Be nice, don’t be rude.” Bears Ears has been a site of racial tension since the 19th century, and Zinke’s listening tour is a product of that tension even as the Interior Secretary refuses to acknowledge it while also demonstrating it. More here.
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Trump’s FCC Did Sinclair Broadcast Group a Solid
The Sinclair Broadcast Group, the conservative media behemoth that owns more local news stations than any other company in the country, just got even bigger. It announced on Monday that it was buying Tribune Media for $3.9 billion, creating what some call a TV goliath. The purchase, which gives Sinclair a staggering reach of nearly 69 percent of the U.S. population, would’ve been in violation of ownership restrictions just weeks ago. But last month, the Trump-appointed FCC chair, Ajit Pai, reinstated the “UHF discount,” an outdated loophole that allowed media conglomerates to exceed the nation’s 39 percent cap on ownership. Sinclair made a $420 million deal to buy Bonten Media Group the very next day. More here.
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Cornell Belcher on Thursday in Ottawa, Canada for the Politics and the Pen dinner. | |  |
Congressman Hank Johnson (D-GA) meeting with business owners and constituents in his district on Wednesday. | |
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Rev. Barber to Step Down from NAACP
The North Carolina head of the NAACP, Rev. William J. Barber II, will step down in June, after more than a decade of leadership that has raised the profile of the civil rights organization and made it a prominent voice in state politics. Barber will help organize a new Poor People’s Campaign in 25 states and DC, even as he continues to serve as pastor of Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro, NC. He will also remain on the national board of the NAACP. The “Moral Mondays” protests Barber led in front of the NC state legislature building also focused on voter registration laws and voter access which helped earn him a reputation as a changemaker. More here from Blavity.
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Census Director Calls it Quits
With a funding shortage leading up to the 2020 Census, the agency’s director made a surprise announcement this week, saying he was retiring on June 30th after 37 years with the Census Bureau. John Thompson’s announcement comes as funding shortfalls have delayed field tests at the agency and have observers worried that the department won’t have enough money to conduct a thorough count of the population in three years, possibly exacerbating an already existing undercount of minority communities. Congressman José Serrano (D-NY) expressed worries that Thompson’s departure could adversely affect the Bureau. A successor to Thompson has not yet been named. More here from the NYT.
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NPR's Stacey Samuel on Thursday on the Jefferson Fellowship trip which offers journalists an intensive one-week education seminar at the East-West Center in Honolulu. | |  | Independent journalist Mark Trahant whose blog, Trahant Reports, covers Native American issues and politics, joined a Columbia University dinner via Skype last week. | |
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Mexico is World's Second Most Violent Country, Report Says
Mexico's government is contesting a new international report that says the country had 23,000 homicides in 2016 -- a level surpassed only by Syria. The International Institute for Strategic Studies says that intense violence fueled by Mexico's drug cartels has reached the level of an armed conflict. "The annual survey's lead investigator says Mexico's second-place ranking was surprising, considering the deaths are nearly all attributable to small arms," NPR's Carrie Kahn reports, "and not tanks or aircraft fire as in the political wars of Syria or Iraq." More here.
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U.S. Visitors Flocking to Cuba
Interest in visiting Cuba remains very strong among Americans, with plenty of potential for growth, says a new study. The Boston Consulting Group’s report says that even with current U.S. travel restrictions to Cuba in place, as many as two million U.S. travelers could visit the island every year by 2025. Current restrictions require that U.S. travelers to Cuba engage in what is called “purposeful travel” that falls into 12 categories, such as family visits and humanitarian trips. The report says those restrictions haven’t been a deterrent for U.S. travelers. More here from The Miami Herald.
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Angela Rye with Congressman Alcee Hastings (D-FL) on Wednesday following a panel on climate change. | |  |
The Root's Jason Johnson with CNN's Laura Coates on Tuesday. | |
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News Editors Partner with Google to Help Diversify Newsrooms
The American Society of News Editors (ASNE) is partnering with Google News Lab in its annual Newsroom Employment Diversity Survey. They are launching the 2017 survey to help news leaders advance the cause of diversity in staffing, as well as content and coverage. This year, with the help of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, ASNE is adding questions about best practices in coverage and community engagement to provide news leaders with actionable strategies for better reflecting community interests and increasing efforts to reach digital-only news organizations, and exploring ways to more deeply examine the challenges for news leaders across all platforms aiming to diversify their staffs. More from ASNE President Mizell Stewart III here.
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Seminary with Native Artifacts Under Fire
Federal regulators are warning a 210-year-old financially struggling seminary that they need to comply with a law related to possessing Native American artifacts and materials. The Andover Newton Theological School in Massachusetts has a collection of 158 Native American items. The artifacts have been housed at a museum in Massachusetts for nearly seven decades, but the museum contacted the U.S. Interior Department when the seminary suggested selling some items to raise money. A sale of Native artifacts would be a violation of a federal law that says any organization that receives federal funding must exhaust all efforts to return any items to Native American tribes before attempts are made to sell them. More here from the NYT.
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ICE Cracks Down on Gangs
Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Thursday that its investigative branch, along with other law enforcement agencies, has arrested 1,378 people across the United States in recent weeks in what officials called the largest anti-gang crackdown in the agency’s history. More than two-thirds of the people arrested are U.S. citizens, and all but two of those were born in this country, ICE officials said. The arrests were part of a six-week initiative, from March 26th to May 6th, led by ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations unit, which focuses on combating gangs and other criminal activity in the United States and overseas. More here.
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On The Scene
The American Israel Education fund reunited friends from past educational trips to the Holy Land last night at Bobby Van's Grill to hear author Yossi Klein Halevi discuss his book "Like Dreamers" about the Six Days War. On the scene: Darius Jones, Rob Bassin, Estuardo Rodríguez, Joyce Brayboy, Erick Mullen, Jessie Price, Whit Ayers, Marilyn Rosenthal, Mossi Tull, Danny Vargas, Reggie McGahee, Jamal Simmons, and others.
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| FOMO Today, 7:30P: The Esperanza Education Fund holds its annual benefit concert and honors former Obama administration official Cecilia Muñoz. The Mexican Cultural Institute, 2829 16th St., NW. Click here to purchase tickets. Wednesday, May 17th, 4:30P: CTAPAC, FB PAC, Google NetPAC, among others, sponsor a reception honoring Congresswoman Yvette Clarke (D-NY). CTA Innovation House, 21 D Street, SE. Click here to RSVP. Wednesday, May 24th, 9A: A policy breakfast with Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (D-WA). The Raben Group, 1341 G St, NW. Click here to RSVP.
Wednesday, May 24th, 6:45P: CAMBA sponsors an Asian Pacific American Heritage Month event at the Washington office of Hogan Lovells, featuring Khizr Khan, noted speaker at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. The event will also feature a panel discussion focusing on the challenges facing the Asian American community. Click here to register. Thursday, May 25th: Vote It Loud sponsors the second annual Multicultural Media Correspondents Dinner at the National Press Club. By invitation only.
Thursday, June 15th, 8A: The Hill sponsors a Latina Leaders Summit. Participants include Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL). Click here to RSVP.
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