Home

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will accept endorsements from at least 15 members of the Kennedy political family during a campaign stop in Philadelphia on Thursday as he aims to undermine former President Donald Trump and marginalize the candidacy of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Kerry Kennedy, a daughter of former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, niece of former President John F. Kennedy and sister of the current presidential contender, will deliver the endorsements of Biden, his campaign announced. The decision to highlight the Kennedy family endorsement more than six months from Election Day is an indication of how seriously Biden’s team is taking the threat of the long shot bid potentially using his last name’s lingering Democratic magic to siphon off support from the president. Both Democrats and Republicans worry that Kennedy’s candidacy could spoil their respective presumptive nominee’s campaigns. Biden was using the event, which caps a three-day campaign swing in a battleground state critical to his reelection effort, to also sustain the pressure on Trump. “I can only imagine how Donald Trump’s outrageous lies and behavior would have horrified my father, Robert F. Kennedy, who proudly served as Attorney General of the United States, and honored his pledge to uphold the law and protect the country,” Kerry Kennedy will say, according to prepared remarks. “Daddy stood for equal justice, human rights and freedom from want and fear. Just as President Biden does today.” The endorsement was hardly a surprise, as the prominent Democratic family has been vocal that they don’t see eye to eye politically with Robert Kennedy Jr., who started as a protest primary challenger to Biden in the Democratic party and now is running as an independent. Biden last month hosted more than 30 members of Kennedy’s extended family at the White House for St. Patrick’s Day, with family members posing with the president in the Rose Garden and Oval Office. After the formal endorsement, Biden and members of the Kennedy family were set to meet with supporters at a campaign event, and members of the Kennedy clan were planning to make calls to voters and knock on doors on Biden’s behalf. Several notable members of the family were not endorsing, including U.S. Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy and nonprofit leader Maria Shriver, which the Biden campaign said was due to their nonpolitical professional roles. Robert Kennedy Jr. has spoken publicly in the past about disagreeing with his family on many issues, but maintains it can be done in “friendly” ways. After a Super PAC supporting his campaign produced a TV ad during the Super Bowl that relied heavily on imagery from John F. Kennedy’s 1960 presidential run, Robert Kennedy Jr. apologized to his relatives on the X social media platform, saying he was sorry if the spot “caused anyone in my family pain.” The Democratic National Committee has separately hired a communications team to combat the appeal of third-party candidates, Kennedy first among them. The DNC also filed a recent Federal Election Commission complaint against Kennedy’s campaign, charging that it coordinated too closely with an affiliated Super PAC to get his name on the presidential ballot in some states. Kennedy is also viewed warily by the Trump campaign, which is fearful that he could also pull the GOP voters they need to defeat Biden in November. While Trump has released a recent video saying, “If I were a Democrat, I’d vote for RFK Jr. every single time over Biden,” he has also sometimes criticized Kennedy, including suggesting that he is more “radical left” than the incumbent president. The Kennedy family endorsement is a capstone on three days of campaigning in Pennsylvania. It was an opportunity for Biden to reconnect with his roots, starting on Tuesday in Scranton, where he lived until he was 10 years old. He swung by his childhood home, a three-story colonial that his family rented, and reminisced about attending Mass at St. Paul’s. He seemed reluctant to leave town the next day, stopping for coffee before heading to the airport. “It’s good to be back in Scranton,” the president said when a customer welcomed him. Biden’s next stop was Pittsburgh, where he called for higher tariffs on steel and aluminum from China to protect U.S. industry from what he called unfair competition. But even that event involved some nostalgia, as Biden recalled an endorsement from the steelworkers when he was “a 29-year-old kid” from Delaware running for U.S. Senate. “It changed everything,” he said. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

By Jack Queen and Luc Cohen (Reuters) – Donald Trump is due in Manhattan court on Thursday as lawyers continue searching for jurors to decide the former U.S. president’s fate in a historic criminal trial just months before his upcoming rematch with President Joe Biden. Seven jurors have already been selected after two days of grilling by prosecutors and Trump’s lawyers, who are tasked with finding New Yorkers who can be fair to the Republican presidential candidate in heavily Democratic Manhattan, where the businessman-turned-politician made his name as a real estate tycoon decades ago. Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts for allegedly falsifying records to cover up hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels. The hush money trial kicked off on Monday. Jurors selected so far include a nurse, a software engineer and two corporate lawyers. The judge has said the identities of the 12 jurors and six alternates will remain anonymous except to Trump, his lawyers and prosecutors. Opening arguments are expected to take place on Monday. A guilty verdict would not bar Trump from office, but half of independent voters and one in four Republicans say they would not vote for him if he were convicted, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that closed on April 8. The same poll found that 64% of registered voters thought the hush money charges were at least “somewhat serious.” The trial is expected to last six to eight weeks, and Trump could potentially be convicted and sentenced before the election. Trump has pleaded not guilty in three other criminal cases, but the New York trial could be the only one he faces before the Nov. 5 U.S. election. In the case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Trump is accused of illegally covering up a $130,000 hush money payment to Daniels to keep her quiet about a tryst she said she had with him in 2006. Trump denies having an affair with Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford. Over two days of questioning on Monday and Tuesday, lawyers probed a group of nearly 100 randomly selected New Yorkers for signs of bias as Trump looked on from the defendant’s table. At least 50 jury candidates were immediately dismissed after saying they could not be impartial toward Trump, underscoring the challenge lawyers face in picking a jury for the first-ever trial of a former U.S. president. Trump occasionally followed along as jury candidates gave responses to a 42-point list of initial questions. On Tuesday, he was seen uttering to his lawyer and gesturing toward a jury candidate after she was called in for additional questioning, prompting the judge overseeing the case to warn Trump against intimidating potential jurors. The judge, Justice Juan Merchan, has already imposed a gag order on Trump that bars him from talking publicly about certain people involved in the case and their families in ways that are meant to interfere with the case. Prosecutors on Monday said Trump had already violated the order with posts on his Truth Social platform about Daniels and Michael Cohen, his former lawyer and fixer who is set to be a star prosecution witness. Merchan scheduled an April 23 hearing to rule on prosecutors’ request for a $1,000 fine for each of the three posts they identified. Trump has also been charged in Georgia and Washington, D.C., for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and in Florida over his handling of classified documents upon leaving office. Those cases do not yet have trial dates. (Reporting by Jack Queen; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Lisa Shumaker) Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

By Ted Hesson GOLDEN VALLEY, Arizona (Reuters) – A restrictive abortion ban revived in Arizona is providing a new opening for Democrats in the runup to the Nov. 5 election and putting Republicans in a tricky political bind as they try to win over moderates in the battleground state. U.S. Representative Ruben Gallego, the leading Democratic candidate in a closely watched U.S. Senate race, has criticized Republican former President Donald Trump for paving the way for the Arizona Supreme Court last week to reinstate a near-total abortion ban based on an 1864 law written during the U.S. Civil War and when women lacked the right to vote.  The top Republican candidate in the race, former television newscaster Kari Lake, once praised the 1864 law, a stance Gallego highlighted in a new digital ad this week. Lake has since reversed her position and has spoken with Arizona lawmakers about overturning it, an adviser said. Lake did not address abortion during her speech, however, and instead focused on Democratic President Joe Biden’s handling of border security and other Republican priorities on Saturday outside a restaurant in Golden Valley, Arizona, in the state’s staunchly conservative northwest corner. Roughly 100 people gathered to hear Lake speak at Great American Pizza and Subs, an establishment that greets visitors outside with a mural promoting Trump’s re-election campaign and inside with Trump-themed art and patriotic decor. A local group raffled off an assault rifle beforehand. Lake blasted Biden’s approach to border security as record numbers of migrants have been caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally during his presidency. She ripped Gallego for calling Trump’s border wall “stupid” in 2017. “My first act as U.S. senator will be to write a short piece of legislation that fully funds the border wall and expedites the construction immediately,” Lake said to cheers. Arizona is a swing state that could play a decisive role in the presidential race, as well as control of the U.S. Senate. Strategists in both parties said the ruling outlawing nearly all abortions would push moderate voters in Arizona toward Democrats, while also mobilizing young voters, women and voters of color.  Democratic efforts in the Arizona legislature on Wednesday to overturn the ban, which would take effect within 60 days, were blocked by Republicans.  Immigration is a top issue for voters and particularly animating for Republicans, Reuters/Ipsos polling shows. The issue could be especially relevant in Arizona, a border state where crossings have risen in the past year. Polls in recent months show Gallego with a slight edge against Lake. State data shows 35% of Arizona voters are registered Republicans, 29% Democrats and 36% independent and other parties. Lake hit on familiar themes – blaming the news media for opposition to Trump and hitting Biden for gas and food prices. She criticized “fake news media,” singling out a Reuters journalist who appeared to be the only reporter in attendance. One attendee suggested such reporters be charged with treason and arrested. When asked about the state’s abortion ban after her remarks, Lake told Reuters states should be able to decide their abortion laws, potentially leaving it available in some places.  “I’m pro-life and I’m not going to apologize that I want to save babies and help women,” she said.  Robert Hall, the pro-Trump owner of the restaurant where the event took place, backs conservative causes, including gun rights, and had a 9 mm pistol on his hip. When it comes to abortion, he said it should be legal but rare, adding he still plans to vote for Trump and Lake if she wins the Republican nomination. “I personally believe that it’s a woman’s choice,” he said. “That’s between her and the Lord.”    ‘TRUMP DID THIS’ Following the April 9 court decision reviving the 160-year-old abortion ban, the Biden campaign and Arizona Democrats raced to hammer Trump for opening the door to the ruling. Trump appointed three conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices who in 2022 helped overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade case that legalized abortion nationwide.  Trump, like Lake, has tried to distance himself from the Arizona ruling, saying the court went too far. Vice President Kamala Harris flew from Washington, D.C., to Tucson, on Friday to emphasize the Biden campaign’s message blaming Trump. Gallego, a Latino and a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who fought in Iraq, joined her on Air Force 2 and criticized Lake’s earlier endorsement of the ban. “Trump did this and Kari Lake was cheerleading the whole way,” he said, speaking to reporters on the flight. “It doesn’t matter what happens from now on. The voters are just not going to trust her.” Gallego said his internal campaign polling showed Latino voters, and younger Latinos especially, were concerned about abortion rights. A third of Arizona residents are Hispanic, according to U.S. Census data, above the national average, and the community’s median age is 27 – a decade younger than the median for Arizonans overall. Jennifer Contreras, a 33-year-old school administrator in Tucson, told Reuters that she strongly opposes Trump’s agenda, including the moves that led to Arizona’s abortion ban.  Contreras, a queer woman born in Tucson to Mexican parents, said she planned to vote for Biden and Gallego even though they are not as progressive as she would prefer. She said her family members would follow her lead because they looked to her for guidance. “If I vote, 10 other people vote the same way I do,” she said. While migrant arrests at the U.S.-Mexico border have been steady in recent months, the figures remain higher than under previous administrations. A spike in crossings could potentially elevate the issue, putting more pressure on Gallego. “Donald Trump killed the border bill and Donald Trump killed our abortion protections,” Gallego said on Friday aboard Air Force 2. “And these are the two things that are going to cost them in the election in Arizona.” At a remote stretch of the border near Sasabe, Arizona, on Sunday, Reuters encountered three dozen migrants from Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, India, Bangladesh and Albania. Gail Kocourek, a volunteer with the humanitarian group Tucson Samaritans, offered them water and food as they trekked along the border wall. (Reporting by Ted Hesson in Golden Valley, Arizona; Editing by Mica Rosenberg, Mary Milliken and Aurora Ellis) Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

By Trevor Hunnicutt WASHINGTON (Reuters) – More than 15 members of the storied Kennedy political family will endorse U.S. President Joe Biden at a Philadelphia campaign event on Thursday in a rebuke of Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s independent bid for office. Biden, a Democrat, faces Republican Donald Trump in a November re-match of the 2020 election. But members of both parties have bristled over the possibility that the candidacy of Kennedy, a prominent anti-vaccine activist, or another third-party bid could spoil either of their chances. Kennedy, son of the slain U.S. senator and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, made his name as an environmental lawyer, before becoming known as an anti-vaccine advocate, and with an eclectic mix of political views. He is backed by 15% of registered voters, versus 39% for Biden and 38% for Trump, according to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll. Many in Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s elite family – prominent Democrats since the 19th century – have broken with him over his views. “I can only imagine how Donald Trump’s outrageous lies and behavior would have horrified my father, Robert F. Kennedy,” Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s younger sister Kerry Kennedy will say at the Biden campaign event, according to prepared remarks. “Daddy stood for equal justice, human rights, and freedom from want and fear. Just as President Biden does today.” Kerry Kennedy and other members of the family are then expected to join local volunteers in door-knocking and phone-banking on Biden’s behalf, campaign aides said. The event comes as Biden spends his third day this week in Pennsylvania, a critical swing state for his re-election bid. Biden needs strong turnout from Philadelphia’s Black community to win the state, and the Kennedys became icons for many African American families because of their advocacy for civil rights. Biden, only the second Catholic president after John F. Kennedy, has long spoken of how he was inspired by the family’s political legacy. In his 2007 book “Promises to Keep,” Biden describes himself as a young man moved to get into public service by the Kennedy brothers and the late civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr., “swept up in their eloquence, their conviction, the sheer size of their improbable dreams.” A bust of President Kennedy sits in the Oval Office. When Biden was later elected to Congress, fellow Senator Ted Kennedy would become one of his closest friends. Ted, John and Robert Sr. were brothers. The family ties have continued in the years since. Dozens of members of the Irish American family joined Biden at the White House for St. Patrick’s Day last month. Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the slain president, was appointed ambassador to Australia by Biden. She had served as ambassador to Japan under Democratic President Barack Obama. “I have a big family,” Robert F. Kennedy Jr told Reuters last month. “Many of them are working in my campaign. Not everybody agrees with me.” (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Additional reporting by Stephanie Kelly and Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Mary Milliken and Leslie Adler) Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

TOKYO (AP) — The United States ambassador to the United Nations said Thursday that America will stand with Japan until all the Japanese abducted by North Korea decades ago return home to end their painful separation. Linda Thomas-Greenfield made the comments on Thursday as she began her visit to Tokyo by meeting with the families of those kidnapped. Japan says North Korea abducted at least 17 Japanese citizens, possibly many more, to train them as agents during the 1970s and 1980s. After admitting in 2002 it had abducted 13 Japanese, North Korea apologized and allowed five to return home for a visit. They have since stayed in Japan. Pyongyang said eight others had died and denied that the other four entered its territory and never provided a reinvestigation it has promised. The twelve who are still missing include teenage students and others living along Japan’s coasts. Many were bundled into small boats and taken across the sea to North Korea. “The United Stats stands with all the families, with all of Japan and with the international community in pressing for a resolution that will allow all families separated by the regime’s policies to be reunited,” Thomas-Greenfield said at the outset of her meeting with five relatives of the abductees and a representative from their support group at the Prime Minister’s Office. “I’m all too familiar with the pain and the loss and the suffering that you family members here are experiencing,” she said. “I know how painful it is for you, and then how long you have had to endure this pain.” Thomas-Greenfield said she has worked on North Korea-related issues throughout her career. U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration is committed to raising the abduction issue “at every opportunity and calling for the return of abducted Japanese citizens to their family,” the ambassador said, adding that America sticks to that policy regardless of the leadership. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has repeatedly stated his determination to hold a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to achieve the return of the abductees. Experts say Kim wants improved ties with Japan to drive a wedge between the United States and its allies, while Kishida, stung by a major corruption scandal in his governing party, wants to use possible progress in the abduction issue to turn around his dwindling support ratings at home. They say a summit, however, would be difficult because Japan cannot accept the preconditions set by Pyongyang in order to resolve the abduction issues. Sakie Yokota, 88, whose then-13-year-old daughter, Megumi, was abducted in 1977 from Japan’s northern coast on her way home from school, told Thomas-Greenfield that she, her husband and Megumi’s brothers searched for her for 20 years until they found out she was abducted. They are still waiting to reunite with her, she said. “All I want is to see her, while I’m still well,” Yokota said, beseeching the ambassador for continued support toward resolving the problem. Thomas-Greenfield arrived in Tokyo after her earlier visit to Seoul, where she and South Korean officials discussed a new mechanism for monitoring North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. Russia and China have thwarted U.S.-led efforts to step up U.N. sanctions on North Korea over its ballistic missile testing since 2022, underscoring a deepening divide between permanent Security Council members over Russia’s war on Ukraine. The United States, South Korea and Japan have been deepening security ties amid growing tensions in the region from North Korea and China. The three countries have expanded their combined military exercises and their deterrence strategies built around U.S. strategic assets. ___ Associated Press writer Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com