Gun control crusader and former US Rep. Carolyn McCarthy dead at 81
News of her death was shared Thursday by several elected officials on her native Long Island and by Jay Jacobs, chair of the New York State Democratic Committee. Details about her death were not immediately available.
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Yahoo
2 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Returning after a six-week break, the 'Real Time' host had a bit of catching up to do.
Following a six-week break, Bill Maher returned to Real Time with guns blazing as he tore into President Donald Trump's first six months in office. Dismissing frivolities like renaming the Gulf of Mexico and changing Coca-Cola's recipe, Maher said there are 'only so many f---s to give' when it comes to current events. Instead, he focused his ire on stories that matter in his current scorecard for Trump's administration during his 'New Rules' segment. 'Turning the Environmental Protection Agency into the Pollution Protection Agency, yes, that's going to matter,' Maher said. 'All the people who will lose healthcare and all the death that will be run up from the Big, Beautiful Bill, yes, that matters.'
CBS News
4 minutes ago
- CBS News
2 charged with murder for explosion, fire that left 5 dead at Los Angeles County cannabis laboratories
Two people were charged with murder in connection with a fiery explosion in Irwindale and a deadly fire in South El Monte that left five people dead at illegal cannabis laboratories in recent years, Los Angeles County prosecutors announced on Friday. On Oct. 9, 2023, four people died when a warehouse in the 1400 block of Arrow Highway in Irwindale exploded, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. Prosecutors say that all four of the victims were employees at the warehouse, which was being used for honey oil extraction. Nearly a year after, another person died at a laboratory in South El Monte, which was also being used as an illegal cannabis operation, prosecutors said. On Friday, Ted Chien, 54, was charged with five counts of murder in connection with the explosion and fire, which killed Yi Luo, 47, of Baldwin Park, Xin Chen, 59, of Rosemead, Guangqi Fu, 35, of Chino and Quizhuo Liang, 35, of Monterey Park and Bordin "Tony" Sikarin, 57, of Buena Park. Those murder charges against Chien also include the special circumstance allegation of multiple murders, prosecutors said during a news conference on Friday. They are expected to decide at a later time whether to seek the death penalty against Chien, who also faces two counts of felony arson causing great bodily injury, three felony counts of maintaining a place for selling or using a controlled substance and eight felony counts of manufacturing a controlled substance. Chien's parter, 55-year-old Rosemead man Han Quan Jiao, was also charged with one count of murder in connection with the deadly fire in South El Monte. Additionally, he faces one count of arson causing great bodily injury, three counts of maintaining a place for selling or using a controlled substance and eight counts of manufacturing a controlled substance. If convicted as charged, Jiao faces life in prison, the DA's office said. Both Chien and Jiao are scheduled for arraignment on Sept. 11 in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom. Both are accused of continuing the illicit operation, illegal extracting and distributing concentrated cannabis, despite the deaths of their employees, prosecutors said. Four other people were charged on Friday, all of whom also allegedly worked for Chien and Jiao. Xiaolong Deng, 36, Chengyan Xu, 61, Christopher Reyes, 30, and Frank Herrera, 35, each face one count of conspiracy to manufacture a controlled substance. Xu was also charged with two counts of manufacturing and compounding or producing a controlled substances, while the other three were charged with one count of the same offense, the DA's office noted. Deng, Xu and Reyes are expected back in court on Sept. 24 after previously entering not guilty pleas. At that time, a judge will determine if there is substantial evidence to allow the case against them proceed to trail. Herrera is due in court on Monday for arraignment. Xu faces a maximum sentence of eight years and eight months in prison, while Deng, Reyes and Herrera each face up to seven years if convicted as charged, prosecutors said. More than 150 law enforcement agents served search warrants at nine different Los Angeles County locations earlier this week in connection with the investigation, which they dubbed "Operation Sugar Diamond," according to the DA's office. "This case shows the deadly and disastrous results when illegal cannabis operations recklessly put greed over the safety of their employees and neighbors," said a statement from LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman. "Cannabis may be legal in California, but this kind of high-risk, illegal activity is not. These drug-trafficking organizations have no place in our communities and my office will continue to work with law enforcement at the local, state and federal levels to hold those accountable who engage in this illicit trade."
CNN
7 minutes ago
- CNN
Trump fires a senior official over jobs numbers
Donald Trump Job market EconomyFacebookTweetLink Follow President Donald Trump has fired Dr. Erika McEntarfer, the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, whom he accused, without evidence, of manipulating the monthly jobs reports for 'political purposes.' The BLS' monthly labor report Friday showed that the US economy added only 73,000 jobs in July, far below expectations. It also sharply revised down the employment growth that had been previously reported in May and June – by a combined 258,000 jobs. After the revisions, the jobs report showed the weakest pace of hiring for any three-month period since the pandemic recession in 2020. 'In my opinion, today's Jobs Numbers were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad,' Trump said in a Truth Social post. Although the May and June jobs numbers were worse than initially believed, revisions are normal in this process. The BLS' initial monthly jobs estimates are often based on incomplete data, so they are revised twice after the initial report — followed by an annual revision every February. Additionally, BLS economists use a formula to smooth out jobs numbers for seasonal variations and that can exacerbate revisions when they fall outside economists' expectations. Trump on Friday incorrectly called the revisions a 'mistake.' 'McEntarfer said there were only 73,000 Jobs added (a shock!) but, more importantly, that a major mistake was made by them, 258,000 Jobs downward, in the prior two months,' Trump said on Truth Social. 'Similar things happened in the first part of the year, always to the negative. The Economy is BOOMING under 'TRUMP.'' Trump said McEntarfer 'faked' the jobs numbers before the election to try to boost former Vice President Kamala Harris' chances in the 2024 presidential election. 'We're doing so well. I believe the numbers were phony, just like they were before the election, and there were other times. So, you know what I did? I fired her, and you know what? I did the right thing,' Trump told reporters Friday on the South Lawn. McEntarfer was confirmed by the Senate 86-8 in January 2024 for a term of four years. CNN has reached out to McEntarfer for comment. Until Trump replaces McEntarfer, Deputy Commissioner William Wiatrowski will serve as Acting Commissioner, the administration said. Trump has previously criticized the BLS for its jobs data and revisions, and he told reporters Friday evening he's 'always had a problem with these numbers.' In 2016, during his first presidential campaign, Trump claimed that the unemployment rate was significantly higher than the BLS let on. In 2024, he accused former President Joe Biden's administration of orchestrating a cover-up, after the BLS reported that it had overcounted jobs by 818,000 over the previous 12 months. 'I was thinking about it this morning, before the numbers that came out. I said, 'Who is the person that does these numbers?' And then they gave me stats about before the election,' Trump said Friday. 'We need people that we can trust,' he added. But Trump and his administration have also praised the BLS data when it has been favorable to them. During Trump's first term, former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said in March 2017 that the jobs data was no longer 'phony' after the BLS issued a strong jobs report. And a month ago, current White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on social media that the economy had beat expectations for jobs in four straight BLS labor reports. The BLS is nonpartisan, and businesses and government officials rely on the accuracy of its data to make determinations about investment, hiring, spending and all sorts of key decisions. 'It's outrageous for anyone in government to question the integrity of the BLS,' said Jason Furman, a Harvard professor and former Obama economic adviser. 'Accurate statistics are essential to the economy.' Furman doubted that replacing McEntarfer would compromise the BLS, but he said even the possibility or appearance of that notion 'would be bad.' 'Countries that have tried to fake those statistics have often ended up with economic crises as a result,' Furman said. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, said the BLS' data is at the 'highest standard,' and 'as accurate as it can be.' 'Anything that undermines that or even the perception of that high standard is deeply worrisome,' Zandi said. 'I've never seen anything even close to this.' At Moody's, Zandi said he has hired a number of former BLS economists whom he called 'fantastic.' 'They do great work,' Zandi said. 'They are critical to a well-functioning economy.' Democratic Virginia Senator Mark Warner accused Trump of working the referees. 'Firing the ump doesn't change the score,' Warner said in a statement. 'Americans deserve to know the truth about the state of the Trump economy.' But Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said in a post on social media that she supports replacing McEntarfer. 'A recent string of major revisions have come to light and raised concerns about decisions being made by the Biden-appointed Labor Commissioner,' Chavez-DeRemer said on X. 'I support the President's decision to replace Biden's Commissioner and ensure the American People can trust the important and influential data coming from BLS.' The BLS jobs survey is widely considered by economists to be robust. It samples more than 100,000 businesses and government agencies each month, representing roughly 629,000 individual worksites. But, as part of larger cost-cutting taking place around practically every part of Trump's government, the BLS is laying off staff — and, as a result, reducing the scope of its work. For example, the BLS posted a notice in June stating it stopped collecting data for its Consumer Price Index in three cities (Lincoln, Nebraska; Buffalo, New York; and Provo, Utah) and increased 'imputations' for certain items (a statistical technique that, when boiled down to very rough terms, essentially means more educated guesses). That worried Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. In testimony before Congress in June, Powell said he believed the BLS data to be accurate, but he was upset about what could become a trend. 'I wouldn't say that I'm concerned about the data today, although there has been a very mild degradation of the scope of the surveys,' Powell said at the time, in response to a question about survey data quality. 'But I would say the direction of travel is something I'm concerned about.' This story has been updated with additional developments and context.
