“The United States appears poised to extend its troop presence in Afghanistan beyond a May 1 deadline agreed to last year with the Taliban, as it races to secure an interim peace deal that could end America’s longest war and allow President Biden to move toward an elusive foreign policy goal.
Deliberations about the fate of the 2,500 U.S. troops remaining in Afghanistan grow increasingly urgent as the administration approaches the deadline. The Trump administration in February 2020 agreed to the May withdrawal following negotiations with the Taliban.
While the Biden administration cautions that no decision has been made on extending the troop presence, officials and experts point to several signs that the administration is likely to postpone a full withdrawal — potentially with Taliban acquiescence — to buy more time to advance a power-sharing proposal they hope can break an impasse in talks between the militants and the Afghan government.
Laurel Miller, who served as a senior official for Afghanistan in the Obama and Trump administrations, said it would be ‘unfathomable’ to pull out American forces — let alone thousands of other NATO troops — in the next 60 days without stoking insecurity and jeopardizing chances for an eventual deal that could allow the United States to withdraw without fearing that Afghanistan would again become a terrorist haven.
As the days tick by, Miller suggested, the increasing likelihood of a U.S. extension is apparent to the Taliban, which, along with its backers in Pakistan, may be inclined to support a revised timeline.
Like Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump before him, Biden has staked out a goal of ending the war, which has cost trillions of dollars and more than 2,000 U.S. military lives as well as those of at least 100,000 Afghan civilians since 2001. Even as Obama considered a troop surge in 2009 and 2010, Biden, his vice president, argued unsuccessfully for a narrower approach in Afghanistan, with a small force focused on terrorist threats.
Now in the Oval Office, Biden must navigate top military advisers’ warnings about the risks of an abrupt exit against his own impulse and growing withdrawal demands from some lawmakers in both parties.
The deliberations come as the Taliban has capitalized on foreign troop reductions to expand its influence in contested provinces and surround cities and towns. Biden administration officials cite the raging violence as one aspect of the Taliban’s failure to comply with the agreement the previous administration signed with the militants last year in Doha, Qatar.” Read more at Washington Post
“New York’s two Democratic senators, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, said Andrew Cuomo, the state’s Democratic governor, should resign.” Read more at POLITICO
“New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) at a news conference Friday continued to defiantly insist he won’t step down, despite the chorus of Democrats at the state and national level calling for his resignation growing significantly louder — in a way that suggests it could soon overwhelm him.
The latest allegation against Cuomo, reported by the Times Union newspaper in Albany, is that he groped a female aide at the state’s Executive Mansion last year. That brings the number of women who claim Cuomo harassed or touched them inappropriately to six. Cuomo has denied any inappropriate touching, though he has apologized for acting ‘in a way that made people feel uncomfortable.’
Protesters outside the New York Capitol on Friday. (Photo by Angus Mordant/Reuters)
The erosion in his support has put Cuomo in a very difficult spot, especially given members of his party are increasingly threatening to take this decision out of his hands. And Cuomo on Friday indicated a new approach to combating it all: the idea that he’s being targeted.
In addition to the investigation launched by New York Attorney General Letitia James (D), the speaker of the New York Assembly authorized an impeachment investigation by the assembly’s Judiciary Committee on Thursday. Fully 59 statehouse Democrats signed a statement demanding Cuomo’s immediate resignation, raising the real possibility that if he continues to stay in office, Cuomo could become just the second New York governor ever to be impeached and removed from office. Democratic leaders in the state have said they won’t move forward with impeachment unless a majority of Democrats in the assembly support it, but given about 40 percent are calling for his exit, that moment might not be far off.
Cuomo fell back Friday on what has become his latest go-to defense: that the public should wait for the results of James’s investigation.
‘I did not do what has been alleged,’ Cuomo said. ‘Period.’
Then he suggested that the allegations against him might stem from something more than misunderstandings — as he has indicated before — but something more nefarious.
‘I won’t speculate about people’s possible motives,’ Cuomo said. ‘But I can tell you, as a former attorney general who has gone through this situation many times, there are often many motivations for making an allegation.’
Building on that theme, Cuomo also suggested that he’s being targeted because he’s not popular with the state’s Democrats, going so far as to suggest the lack of support is due to him not being part of the ‘political club.’
‘Part of this is that I am not part of the political club. And you know what? I’m proud of it,’ claimed the man who is the son of a governor, who started working at the statehouse in the early 1980s and has been a statewide elected official for almost 15 years.
At another point, Cuomo even invoked ‘cancel culture’ — a favorite topic of Republicans these days — suggesting he might be a victim of it.
‘People know the difference between playing politics, bowing to cancel culture, and the truth,’ Cuomo said. I’’m not going to resign. I was elected by the people, not the politicians.’
Other allegations against Cuomo include accusations of inappropriate comments, unwanted kissing and other unwanted touching. A former New York Capitol reporter wrote Friday about her experience at a party at the Executive Mansion, in which Cuomo put his hands on her, forced her to take several photos, and made a joke about dating her.
Cuomo’s insistence that the investigations play out before any action is taken has some sympathetic ears. Some Democrats find themselves thinking back to former senator Al Franken (D-Minn.). In the time since Franken resigned under pressure from Democratic colleagues, several have expressed regret for their part in calling for his ouster. Hence some Democrats arguing Cuomo should merely step aside — and let Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) take the reins — without actually resigning yet.
Franken, too, maintained he would stay in office until the dam broke, the calls for his resignation became too loud to continue ignoring and the situation became untenable for his party. But Franken was more popular among his colleagues than is Cuomo, who is known as a bully who has little time for anyone he perceives not to be politically loyal.
For now, Cuomo is deflecting, but his evolving defense suggests he recognizes how much trouble he’s in — and that he won’t go quietly.” Read more at Washington Post
“The city of Minneapolis on Friday agreed to pay $27 million to settle a civil lawsuit from George Floyd’s family over the Black man’s death in police custody, even as jury selection continued in a former officer’s murder trial.
The Minneapolis City Council emerged from closed session to announce the record settlement, which includes $500,000 for the neighborhood where Floyd was arrested. Floyd family attorney Ben Crump called a news conference for 1 p.m. that was to include family members.
Crump, in a prepared statement, said it was the largest pretrial civil rights settlement ever, and ‘sends a powerful message that Black lives do matter and police brutality against people of color must end.’” Read more at Boston Globe
“U.S. prosecutors on Friday sketched out the gargantuan scope of the investigation in the Jan. 6 Capitol breach, asking for courts to delay most cases by at least two months after being pressed by a handful of defendants and some judges to speed up trials and plea offers.
‘The investigation and prosecution of the Capitol Attack will likely be one of the largest in American history, both in terms of the number of defendants prosecuted and the nature and volume of the evidence,’ the U.S. attorney’s office in D.C. wrote in morning court filings in seeking a delay before turning over evidence to defendants.
In a sign of the hurdles facing the government, a judge on Friday ordered the release on bond of one of the highest-profile defendants, saying he did not see evidence that Thomas E. Caldwell of Virginia entered the Capitol or ‘that he was planning to do so that day.’
Charges have been brought against 312 people and are expected against at least 100 more, according to court officials and prosecutors.
Investigators have executed more than 900 electronic and physical search warrants, and amassed more than 15,000 hours of law enforcement surveillance and body-camera video, 1,600 electronic devices and 210,000 tips, prosecutors said.
With the volume of cases and evidence only growing, ‘the unusual complexity of the Capitol Attack investigation warrants’ postponement, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn L. Rakoczy and others wrote in a filing Friday involving ‘key figure Caldwell, who is charged with eight other alleged associates of the right-wing, anti-government Oath Keepers group.
Moving too fast will make prosecution ‘impossible, or result in a miscarriage of justice,’ Rakoczy said.
The assertions come as the probe presents a historic test for prosecutors, defense attorneys and the courts, stretching resources, threatening defendants’ constitutional rights to a speedy trial and posing strategic challenges for investigators as they rush to learn as much as possible before cutting deals with defendants.
The riots that led to five deaths, assaults on about 140 police officers and the evacuation of Congress as it convened to confirm the 2020 presidential election results have already generated about as many federal criminal cases in a single event than the U.S. District Court in D.C. handled in all of 2020, about 290.
More than 100 federal prosecutors are working full or part-time on cases — including 30 detailed from U.S. attorney offices around the country — with some prosecutors and judges handling seven cases or more apiece.
DOJ seeks to build large conspiracy case against Oath Keepers for Jan. 6 riot
The Office of the Federal Public Defender in D.C. has nine attorneys working multiple Capitol cases, along with many more court-appointed or privately retained counsel.” Read more at Washington Post
“Lawmakers in both parties are increasingly agitating to scale back the security measures put in place around the Capitol in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 riot, intensifying a debate over how to balance safety concerns and public access to a building that is a symbol of democracy.
Some Republicans have turned the dispute over Capitol security into a political talking point, mocking the heavily protected complex, now ringed with National Guard troops and razor-wire-topped fencing, as ‘Fort Pelosi.’
But many Democrats are just as unhappy with the barriers encircling the area and the troops patrolling it, and are pushing to get rid of both despite concerns by the Capitol Police about removing the extra layers of security in the face of lingering threats.
‘I want it down quickly,’ Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, said in an interview, referring to the high perimeter fence. ‘It sends such an ugly message about the Capitol and who we are. It’s just not the way the Capitol should be run.’” Read more at New York Times
“Kentucky’s Republican-majority Senate on Thursday moved forward a bill that would make it easier to arrest protesters for insulting a police officer, a measure that critics say would stifle free speech.
The bill, passed two days before the anniversary of the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor, would make it a misdemeanor to taunt or challenge an officer with words or gestures ‘that would have a direct tendency to provoke a violent response from the perspective of a reasonable and prudent person.’ Conviction would be punishable by up to 90 days in jail and fines of up to $250.
State Sen. Danny Carroll (R), who sponsored the bill, said it would enable officers to arrest someone inflaming them before the encounter turns violent. The provision is meant to apply to comments that are ‘obviously designed to elicit a response from the officer — something to push them to making a mistake, pushing them to violence,’ he said, although courts would have the final say in interpreting the rule.
‘You don’t have a right to accost a police officer,’ Carroll said.
In addition to criminalizing taunting police, the bill would expand the category of protest behavior considered illegal, heighten sentences for offenses related to ‘riots’ and prevent early release for those violations. It comes as Louisville, Kentucky’s largest city, prepares for hundreds of people to gather downtown Saturday to recognize the first anniversary of Taylor being fatally shot during an early-morning raid.
Hundreds of people were arrested in Louisville during last year’s protests — most on misdemeanor charges, but some on felony allegations.
The national battle over police accountability is playing out in legislatures across the country, as several states roll out bills that seek to protect law enforcement by expanding their immunity to lawsuits or reducing funding to localities that shrink police budgets. But many Democratic lawmakers have pushed measures that would make officers more liable for misconduct, and the U.S. House also passed a bill this month that would increase officers’ legal liability. Its fate in the Senate is uncertain.” Read more at Washington Post
“The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have started the process of sending out the $1,400 direct payments included in President Biden's coronavirus relief law, the agencies said Friday.
The Biden administration has said that people will start to see the payments in their bank accounts as early as this weekend. The IRS said Friday that some people may see the payments in their accounts as pending or provisional in the coming days, ahead of the official payment date of March 17.” Read more at The Hill
“A last-minute change in the $1.9 trillion economic relief package that President Biden signed into law this week includes a provision that could temporarily prevent states that receive government aid from turning around and cutting taxes.
The restriction, which was added by Senate Democrats, is intended to ensure that states use federal funds to keep their local economies humming and avoid drastic budget cuts and not simply use the money to subsidize tax cuts. But the provision is causing alarm among some local officials, primarily Republicans, who see the move as federal overreach and fear conditions attached to the money will impede upon their ability to manage their budgets as they see fit.
Officials are scrambling to understand what strings are attached to the $220 billion that is expected to be parceled out among states, territories and tribes and are already pressing the Treasury Department for guidance about the restrictions they will face if they take federal money.
Under the new law, $25 billion will be divided equally among states, while $169 billion will be allocated based on a state’s unemployment rate. States can use the money for pandemic-related costs, offsetting lost revenues to provide essential government services, and for water, sewer and broadband infrastructure projects.
But they are prohibited from depositing the money into pension funds — a key worry of Republicans in Congress — and cannot use funds to cut taxes by “legislation, regulation or administration” through 2024.
Democrats slipped the new language into the legislation last week after several senators from the party’s moderate wing expressed concern that some states would seize on the opportunity to use emergency relief money to subsidize tax cuts. They worked with Senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, on language for the amendment, according to a Democratic Senate aide.
Senator Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, explained why he pushed for the language in a briefing this week, arguing that states should not be cutting taxes at a time when they need more money to combat the virus. He urged states to postpone their plans to cut taxes.
‘How in the world would you cut your revenue during a pandemic and still need dollars?’ Mr. Manchin said.
Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, said the funds were meant ‘to keep teachers and firefighters on the job and prevent the gutting of state and local services that we saw during the Great Recession.’” Read more at New York Times
“States with legal marijuana saw record levels of sales and associated tax revenue over the past 12 months.” Read more at The Hill
“California will allow outdoor sports stadiums and amusement parks (including Disneyland) to reopen in April at reduced capacity.” Read more at BuzzFeed News
“One year ago, the grim news that Broadway was shutting down was sweeping through the theater district. Performers were packing up their things and heading home; theater staff were stationed in lobbies to intercept ticket holders and explain to them that the show was canceled.
As a return date was pushed further and further, performers and theater staff resigned themselves to finding work elsewhere.
But on Friday, the anniversary of the day their beloved industry shut its doors, Broadway singers, dancers, actors and front-of-house staffers gathered in Times Square, just across from the TKTS discount ticket booth, to perform live for a small audience of industry insiders and passers-by….
Dancers at the show, on the anniversary of the theater shutdown in New York. Credit...Vincent Tullo for The New York Times
One of the main purposes of these pop-up performances — of which there have been dozens across the city — is to provide paying gigs for people in the industry who have lost their entire incomes during the pandemic, said Blake Ross, one of the event’s producers. The performance was funded by a collection of organizations, including the nonprofits Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and NYCNext.
Although they aren’t likely to perform inside theaters again until after Labor Day, the message of the show was that the end of the industry’s nightmare seemed to be getting closer. Last night, President Biden asked states to make all adults eligible to be vaccinated by May 1, a hopeful sign that shows might be able to start rehearsals over the summer.” Read more at New York Times
“Domestic air travel is 55% below pre-pandemic levels, while international travel is down 71%, reports Axios transportation correspondent Joann Muller.” Read more at Axios
“Each year, March Madness opens a fire hose of cash, as gamblers, advertisers and television networks try to get in on the action.
Americans wagered an estimated $8.5 billion in 2019 on the NCAA’s Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, as March Madness is formally known. Television networks paid $1.1 billion to broadcast the games. And businesses spent an estimated $898 million to advertise during the tournament, according to Kantar Group.
But fewer than 10% of Division I athletic departments—the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association—generated enough revenue to cover the expenses of their sports programs.
Traditionally, football and basketball are the biggest earners. Even so, in 2019, just 68 of 351 Division I men’s basketball programs generated more revenue than expenses. And in 2016, the most recent year the NCAA published figures for football, 73 of 252 Division I teams earned more than they spent.
‘There are lots of misconceptions,’ said Daniel Fulks, a certified public accountant who prepared the NCAA’s annual revenue and expense report for a decade. ‘One is the NCAA is hoarding money in a vault in Indianapolis. The other is athletic programs make money. They don’t.’
In 2019, athletic departments across all three NCAA divisions generated $10.6 billion in revenue from all sports and spent more than $18.9 billion. The two biggest costs were financial aid for athletes ($3.6 billion) and coaches’ compensation ($3.7 billion).
To close the gap, generated revenue is supplemented by institutional and governmental support and student-activity fees. In 2019, that allocated revenue totaled $8.3 billion.
But net generated revenue is used to measure whether a program pays for itself, and only 25 of the 351 Division I athletic departments that provided data to the NCAA for 2019 generated more revenue than they spent.
‘The average deficit is around $16 million in the athletic departments,’ said Andrew Zimbalist, a sports economist at Smith College.
All 25 moneymakers were part of the Football Bowl Subdivision, one of three Division I subcategories. FBS schools, such as the University of Alabama, participate in bowl games at the end of the season and, as a group, spend the most and make the most.
In 2019, FBS schools’ athletic expenses ranged from nearly $81 million to more than $220 million. And net generated revenue ranged from a loss of $65.3 million to a surplus of $43.7 million.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
Virginia coach Tony Bennett talks to his team during an ACC tournament game against Syracuse on Thursday. PHOTO: NELL REDMOND/REUTERS
“The fragile nature of staging March Madness during the pandemic came into clear focus on Friday when two Top 20 powerhouses—Virginia and Kansas—dropped out of their respective conference tournaments after members of their travel parties tested positive for Covid-19.
The aspirations of both teams in the upcoming NCAA tournament are now in doubt. A third college basketball blue blood, Duke, dropped out of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament on Thursday and declared its season over.
But while Duke was likely to miss the tournament for the first time since 1995 anyway, Kansas and Virginia are considered sure bets to be invited. Conference championship tournaments continue until Sunday and other teams could face similar problems.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“An announcer for an online broadcast directed highly inflammatory, racist comments toward the Norman (Oklahoma) girls basketball team ahead of its quarterfinal matchup with Midwest City on Thursday at Sapulpa.
Matt Rowan, the owner and operator of the streaming service OSPN, told The Oklahoman he was the person who made the racially insensitive remarks.
A live microphone caught him making racist comments after members of the Norman girls basketball team kneeled for the national anthem.
Rowan, while broadcasting on the NFHS Network, can be heard saying, ‘They're kneeling? (Expletive) (racial slur). I hope Norman get their ass kicked. (Expletive) them. I hope they lose...’
‘They're going to kneel like that? Hell no.’
Rowan apologized Friday and blamed his use of racist language on his blood sugar levels.
‘I will state that I suffer Type 1 Diabetes and during the game my sugar was spiking,’ Rowan said in a written statement. ‘While not excusing my remarks it is not unusual when my sugar spikes that I become disoriented and often say things that are not appropriate as well as hurtful. I do not believe that I would have made such horrible statements absent my sugar spiking.’
The Norman girls basketball team played Tulsa Union on Friday in the semifinals at Sapulpa. Spectators applauded as both teams kneeled during the national anthem.
Video of Rowan's comments went viral Friday morning. Norman Public Schools Superintendent Nick Migliorino released a statement condemning Rowan's "disgusting words" as hate speech.
‘We fully support our students’ right to freedom of expression and our immediate focus is to support these girls and their coaches and families, particularly our Black students and coaching staff,’ Migliorino said. ‘It is tragic that the hard work and skill of this team is being overshadowed by the vile, malignant words of these individuals. We will do everything in our power to support and uplift our team and everyone affected by this incident.’
The Norman school district will rely solely on its long-standing community partner SportsTalk Media to live stream the remainder of the tournament, Migliorino said.
Tahlequah Public Schools said Friday afternoon in a Facebook post that it has used the same broadcast crew in the past but will not moving forward. Read more at USA Today
“Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez have called it quits.
The former power couple has split following their two-year engagement, according to People magazine and E! News. Page Six first reported the news.
Lopez, 51, and Rodriguez, 45, were last seen together in public at Super Bowl LV in Tampa Bay, Florida in February, one year after Lopez headlined the 2020 Super Bowl LIV halftime show with Shakira in Miami. The couple also shared a kiss at the inauguration of President Joe Biden in January, where Lopez sang amash-up of ‘This Land is Your Land,’ ‘America the Beautiful’ and her own hit ‘Let's Get Loud.’
Lopez is currently in the Dominican Republic shooting the romantic comedy, ‘Shotgun Wedding.’
USA TODAY has reached out to Lopez and Rodriguez's reps for comment. Read more at USA Today
“Chris Harrison will sit out the upcoming season of ‘The Bachelorette.’
Harrison – who has hosted "The Bachelor" franchise for nearly two decades since its 2002 debut – announced in February that he would be ‘stepping aside for a period of time’ after controversially defending current ‘Bachelor’ contestant Rachael Kirkconnell's past racially insensitive behavior.
Although Harrison assured viewers last week that he wouldn't step down permanently, it wasn't clear how long Harrison would be sidelined from his hosting duties. Until now.
Warner Horizon and ABC Entertainment confirmed to USA TODAY Friday that Harrison's hosting hiatus will extend through the upcoming 17th season of ‘The Bachelorette.’ He will be replaced by former ‘Bachelorette’ stars Tayshia Adams (Season 16) and Kaitlyn Bristowe (Season 11), who will ‘support the new Bachelorette through next season.’” Read more at USA Today