Former President Jimmy Carter will attend Rosalynn Carter tribute service in Georgia
Former President Jimmy Carter will attend the Tuesday memorial service for former first lady Rosalyn Carter, his wife of 77 years. The Carter Center, an Atlanta-based non-profit founded by the former president, told Fox News Digital that Carter will attend the National Tribute Service at Glenn Memorial Church at Emory University. Rosalynn Carter died in Plains, Georgia last week at age 96 after she was admitted to a hospice. ROSALYNN CARTER CELEBRATES 96TH BIRTHDAY WITH HUSBAND JIMMY CARTER, PEANUT BUTTER ICE CREAM AND BUTTERFLIES “Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished,” former President Jimmy Carter said at the time. “She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me.” She is survived by her husband, her four children, 11 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. Among the guests expected to attend the tribute service are President Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff, former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton and former First Lady Melania Trump. Former President Donald Trump was not on the list of guests for the invitation-only service. The Carter Center on Monday released additional details about the tribute event, announcing that members of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra would play some of Carter’s “most beloved tunes,” along with performances by “family friends Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood.”
WATCH: Jean-Pierre gives terse response when questioned on possible staff shakeup amid Biden polling crisis
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre issued a terse response when questioned Monday over President Biden’s “sagging” poll numbers and whether the administration had considered any staffing shakeups or strategy changes to combat them. “No,” Jean-Pierre simply said, appearing to gaze sternly at the reporter asking the question. Her answer comes as Biden continues to face the daunting task of winning back enough support from Americans ahead of the 2024 presidential election as a number of polls show Biden trailing each of the top Republican candidates vying for the GOP presidential nomination. BIDEN CHALLENGER GOES ALL IN ON PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN, WON’T RUN FOR RE-ELECTION TO CONGRESS A national poll released earlier this month by Marquette Law School showed Biden trailing former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley in hypothetical matchups. Trump, who is the overwhelming favorite to win the Republican nomination, held a 52% to 48% lead over Biden. Haley topped Biden 55% to 45% while DeSantis The reporter went on to reference what appeared to be the call White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients held with cabinet officials over the summer, asking them to decide whether to stick around for the remainder of Biden’s term or leave early. BIDEN UNSURE WHEN AMERICAN HOSTAGES WILL BE FREED BY HAMAS: ‘WE DON’T KNOW’ “Should we be anticipating any departures of either cabinet officials or other senior officials,” the reporter asked. “Look, I can’t speak to people’s personal decisions. We don’t have anything to announce at this time,” Jean-Pierre responded. “We’re going to continue to do the work that the president set out to do. We just talked about supply chains, we just talked about the economy, we’ve been talking about the president’s leadership globally, especially in the Middle East. That’s what we’re here to do and focus on. That’s what I’m here to do and focus on. I just can’t speak to people’s decisions,” she added. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Puerto Rico’s opposition to hold gubernatorial primary as race heats up
One of Puerto Rico’s biggest political parties will hold a gubernatorial primary after Rep. Jesús Manuel Ortiz of the Popular Democratic Party announced his candidacy Monday. Ortiz will face Puerto Rico Sen. Juan Zaragoza, who previously served as the U.S. territory’s treasury secretary. PUERTO RICO ENLISTS TEXAS COMPANY TO BUILD SAN JUAN MEGA YACHT MARINA Ortiz, who is president of the Popular Democratic Party, listed conditions in Puerto Rico that he said were negatively affecting the island’s 3.2 million inhabitants. “Recovery funds that are not used effectively, anguish from waiting months for a doctor’s appointment, the daily battle with a crumbling electrical system, lack of employment opportunities, the deterioration of essential services and so many other problems,” he said. The winner of the Popular Democratic Party’s primary will face the winner of the New Progressive Party’s primary, in which Gov. Pedro Pierluisi faces Jenniffer González, the island’s representative in Congress. They also will face gubernatorial candidates from other, newer parties. The Popular Democratic Party supports the island’s current political status, while the New Progressive Party supports statehood.
Police in this blue state will continue enforcing ‘draconian’ handgun law ruled unconstitutional by court
Maryland State Police will continue enforcing the state’s handgun law for now, despite a federal appeals court ruling that the licensing requirement is unconstitutional. “At this time, the HQL law remains in effect and there are no immediate changes in the process to purchase a firearm in Maryland,” the department wrote in an agency-wide advisory after last week’s ruling. GUNS AND AMMO: ONE OF AMERICA’S FASTEST GROWING HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS HAS ‘NO BENCHWARMERS’ Maryland’s Handgun Qualification License (HQL) requires applicants to submit fingerprints for a background check, take a four-hour firearm safety course with a live fire component, and wait up to 30 days for approval before purchasing a handgun, which then requires another application and seven-day waiting period. Last Tuesday, a three-judge panel of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that the law is overly “burdensome” and cannot stand under the 2022 landmark Supreme Court decision that a firearm regulation is unconstitutional unless the government can prove it is consistent with the nation’s historical tradition. WHY GUN OWNERSHIP IS SPIKING AMONG THIS DEMOGRAPHIC “The challenged law restricts the ability of law-abiding adult citizens to possess handguns, and the state has not presented a historical analogue that justifies its restriction; indeed, it has seemingly admitted that it couldn’t find one,” Judge Julius Richardson, a Trump appointee, wrote in the court’s majority opinion. But the Maryland State Police’s licensing division said it will continue enforcing the law until the federal court issues a mandate. JUDGE BLOCKS AMERICA’S ‘MOST EXTREME’ GUN CONTROL LAW, BUT BLUE STATE PLANS TO APPEAL Maryland officials have 14 days to file for a rehearing before the full appeals court. If the state does not file within that window, the court will issue a mandate seven days later, which means the final court ruling would be Dec. 11, Fox45 News reported. Officials have not yet confirmed whether they plan to file for a rehearing or, alternatively, seek a review before the U.S. Supreme Court. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said in a statement that he would “continue to fight for this law” and that his administration was evaluating its options. Similarly, a spokesperson for Attorney General Anthony Brown told Fox45 News that they were “weighing options for next steps.” The NRA previously described Maryland’s HQL as a “draconian process” and praised the Fourth Circuit ruling as a “significant victory, for the Second Amendment and Americans who value constitutional freedoms.” “Striking down Maryland’s oppressive Handgun Qualification License requirement affirms that the burdensome process infringes on the rights of the law-abiding,” the NRA’s lobbying arm executive director Randy Kozuch told Fox News Digital.
White House says 3 Palestinian students shot in Vermont should be ‘back in school… not in a hospital room’
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday that the three college students of Palestinian descent who were shot near the University of Vermont over the weekend “should be back in school with their classmates, not in a hospital room.” The statement came soon after suspect Jason Eaton, 48, appeared virtually in Chittenden County Superior Court and entered a not guilty plea to all three counts of attempted second-degree murder. “The president and the first lady were horrified to learn about the three college students of Palestinian descent, two of whom are American citizens, who were shot Saturday in Burlington, Vermont. The president continues to receive updates from his team about the ongoing investigation,” Jean-Pierre told reporters gathered at the White House on Monday. “These students were taking part in a uniquely American tradition, gathering with family and loved ones to celebrate Thanksgiving. They should be back in school with their classmates, not in a hospital room,” she continued. SUSPECT ACCUSED OF SHOOTING 3 PALESTINIAN STUDENTS IN VERMONT ENTERS PLEA IN FIRST COURT APPEARANCE “While we are waiting for more facts, we know this. There is absolutely, absolutely no place for violence or hate in America,” Jean-Pierre added. “No person should worry about being targeted while going about their daily lives. And far too many Americans know a family member injured or killed as a result of gun violence. We cannot and we will not accept that.” Eaton is currently being held without bail ahead of a bond hearing, which a judge said will be scheduled in the coming days. The three college students – Hisham Awartani of Brown University, Kinnan Abdalhamid of Haverford College and Tahseen Ahmed of Trinity College – were shot and injured at about 6:30 p.m. Saturday while out for a Thanksgiving holiday gathering in Burlington, Vermont. SUSPECT ARRESTED IN SHOOTING OF 3 PALESTINIAN STUDENTS NEAR UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT The students were visiting the home of one of the victim’s relatives and were walking to dinner when they were confronted by a White man with a handgun, according to police, who said the gunman opened fire on the victims “without speaking.” The shooting happened in front of Eaton’s apartment building, police said. Eaton was detained Sunday afternoon near the scene of the shooting. The three victims, who are all 20 years old, remain hospitalized as of Monday morning. Two of the victims are U.S. citizens, while the third is a legal U.S. resident. Two of the victims were wearing keffiyehs, traditional scarves worn by some in the Middle East. The Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee said they were speaking Arabic when the shooting occurred. “The president, first lady, and everyone here at the White House join Americans across the country in praying for their full recovery,” Jean-Pierre said. Fox News’ Stephen Sorace and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
AG Garland probing possible hate crime after shooting of 3 Palestinian men in Vermont
Attorney General Merrick Garland on Monday morning said that federal authorities are probing whether the shooting of three Palestinian students over the weekend in Vermont was a hate crime. Garland shared the brief public remarks at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York City, where he met with other federal, state and local law enforcement leaders to discuss issues in their community, ranging from the fentanyl crisis to extremism in the U.S. that may be influenced by the Israel-Hamas war. “There is understandable fear in communities across the country,” Garland said. “Even as we speak, the ATF and the FBI are investigating the tragic shooting of three men of Palestinian descent in Vermont. That investigation, including whether this is a hate crime, is ongoing.” Jason J. Eaton, 48, was arrested as a suspect in that shooting on Sunday. On Monday morning, Eaton was arraigned and pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted second-degree murder. He was being held without bail. ATTORNEY GENERAL GARLAND EXPRESSES ‘HOPE’ HAMAS WILL RELEASE MORE AMERICAN HOSTAGES ‘IN THE DAYS TO COME’ Two of the victims were wearing keffiyehs, traditional scarves worn by some in the Middle East. The Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee said they were speaking Arabic when the shooting occurred. “No person and no community in this country should have to live in fear of hate-fueled violence. Fulfilling that promise motivates us every day,” Garland said. NYC MAYOR ERIC ADAMS BLASTS STUDENTS’ ‘VILE SHOW OF ANTISEMITISM’ THAT FORCED TEACHER TO HIDE IN OFFICE Garland said investigative updates out of Vermont would be “coming soon.” “While we are confronting this elevated global threat environment, we also know we cannot lose sight of many other challenges and includes working closely with our law enforcement partners to combat violent crime,” the attorney general said. Fox News’ Lawrence Richard contributed to this report.
Wisconsin Gov. Evers faces scrutiny over use of baseball Hall of Famer’s name in state email
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has been using an alternative state email account under the name of a late Hall of Fame baseball player as a security measure, his spokesperson said Monday. Evers, a Democrat, used a taxpayer-funded email account with the name “[email protected]” to discuss public business with top-level Cabinet appointees and others, the conservative outlet Wisconsin Right Now first reported on Sunday. Warren Spahn is a Hall of Fame former Milwaukee Braves pitcher. Evers’ spokesperson Britt Cudaback on Monday said use of the alias email addresses is common. WISCONSIN GOV. EVERS VETOES ‘COMPLETELY UNSERIOUS’ $2B TAX CUT GOV. EVERS SUES WISCONSIN LEGISLATURE FOR OBSTRUCTING BASIC GOVERNMENT FUNCTIONS “As a matter of digital security, dignitaries in the state of Wisconsin have alias email addresses, including the governor, first lady, and lieutenant governor, as has been the case for at least the last decade that I’m aware of, including under former Gov. Walker,” Cudaback said. Bill Lueders, president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, said he was troubled about the use of what he called “phantom email addresses” and said he had never heard of that practice before. “I don’t know if they’re common or uncommon,” Lueders said. “I do know if they’re used for public business, they’re subject to the records law.” Responsive emails requested under the state open records law are always released in accordance with state law, no matter which account they are sent from, Cudaback said. Open records request responses from the Evers administration routinely contain language that says all identifiers of non-public email addresses are redacted. “Making this information available would significantly hinder these officials’ ability to communicate and work efficiently,” the boilerplate language says, including in a response sent to The Associated Press on Sept. 16, 2022. “There is minimal harm to the public interest, given that there are numerous public means to communicate with the Office of the Governor and Office of the Lieutenant Governor, and only the address is redacted, not the remaining email content.” Wisconsin Right Now reported that it asked for all communications to and from “[email protected]” from 2018 to September 2023. The governor’s office rejected the request as being too broad, saying in a response email sent Nov. 22 that more than 17,000 emails were found. The Department of Administration provided the outlet with more than 30 pages of emails which contained messages back and forth between Evers, Cabinet secretaries and others. WI GOV. TONY EVERS SIGNS SPENDING PLAN AFTER GUTTING GOP TAX CUT, INCREASING SCHOOL FUNDING FOR OVER 400 YEARS In one email, dated May 7, 2020, Evers told then-Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan that a box of highly toxic “mechanical solvent” ordered by someone in state government had mistakenly been delivered to the governor’s residence. Evers wrote that he was “not sure what to do with it.” Evers, 72, has talked publicly about his love of Milwaukee baseball and Spahn in particular. In February, when announcing his plan to pay for renovations to the Milwaukee Brewers stadium, Evers said in a statement, “I’ve been watching baseball in Milwaukee since the County Stadium days when I had the chance of a lifetime to watch Warren Spahn’s 300th-career game there way back when.” Spahn was elected to the baseball Hall of Fame in 1973 after playing 21 seasons in the major leagues, including from 1953 to 1964 in Milwaukee. He was an All Star 17 times and died in 2003.
Texas A&M names Mike Elko as new head football coach
The announcement comes after the university spent more than $75 million to fire former football coach Jimbo Fisher. A&M did not immediately say how much it will pay Elko.
Pennsylvania Republican Kat Copeland enters 2024 race for attorney general
Former federal prosecutor Katayoun “Kat” Copeland will run for attorney general of Pennsylvania in 2024, she said this week. Copeland, a Republican, recently left her job in the U.S. attorney’s office in Philadelphia ahead of announcing her candidacy for attorney general, the state’s top law enforcement official. The office has an annual budget of about $140 million and plays a prominent role in arresting drug traffickers, fighting gun trafficking, defending state laws in court and protecting consumers from predatory practices. ATTORNEY GENERAL MERRICK GARLAND TESTIFIES AT HOUSE JUDICIARY AMID PROBE DOJ’S ALLEGED POLITICIZATION TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL OPENS INVESTIGATION INTO MEDIA MATTERS FOR ‘POTENTIAL FRAUDULENT ACTIVITY’ It played a key role in defending Joe Biden’s 2020 victory in the battleground state, fighting repeated attempts to overturn it in state and federal courts by Donald Trump’s campaign and Republican allies. Copeland, 56, also was a prosecutor for Delaware County in suburban Philadelphia and served for two years as the court-appointed district attorney there. She ran for a full four-year term in 2019 but lost to Democrat Jack Stollsteimer. Between her work for the district attorney’s office and the U.S. attorney’s office, Copeland has spent three decades as a prosecutor. In the U.S. attorney’s office, she rose to become chief of the criminal division and serve in the national security and cybercrimes unit. Copeland has competition for the Republican nomination. York County’s district attorney, Dave Sunday, has announced his candidacy and is endorsed by the Republican Attorneys General Association. Craig Williams, a state House member from Delaware County, also has said he plans to run. Four Democrats have also announced their candidacies: state Rep. Jared Solomon of Philadelphia, former state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale, former federal prosecutor Joe Kahn and Keir Bradford-Grey, the former head of Philadelphia’s and Montgomery County’s public defense lawyers. Candidates must file paperwork by Feb. 13 to appear on the April 23 primary ballot. Current Attorney General Michelle Henry, who was appointed to serve out the remainder of Josh Shapiro’s term as when he became governor, has said she does not plan to run for a full term.
Gov. Greg Abbott jumps out of plane with 106-year-old World War II vet
Abbott visited the San Marcos area to go skydiving with Al Blaschke, a 106-year-old World War II veteran who has already broken records for his own aerial feats.