Trump bowed to pressure on Friday night and announced that he would delay his upcoming campaign rally in Tulsa, Okla., rather than hold it on the day that honors the end of slavery in the United States and is considered a major holiday by many African-Americans. The Trump campaign’s decision to hold a rally on Juneteenth in Tulsa, the site of the country’s bloodiest outbreak of racial violence, generated huge blowback amid the national reckoning over race and justice in the United States.

His administration also choose the 4th anniversary of the Pulse Night Club Shooting in Orlando to announce the end of Obama-era policies that protected LGBTQ patients from discrimination and required robust language translation services, unnerving health experts who worry vulnerable populations will face further risks during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Trump isn’t stupid and those dates aren’t coincidences.

Fifty-eight percent of Americans said they are either completely (17%) or mostly (41%) isolating themselves, the poll found, down from a high of 75% who said they were between March 30 and April 4 and 68% who said they were April 20-26.

Of the 21 states that as of May 4 lacked stay-at-home orders, 51% of survey respondents said they were either completely or mostly self-isolating. That's down from 64% in these same states two weeks ago.

About seven in 10 registered voters – including 58% of Republicans – surveyed in a Morning Consult/Politico poll this month said Trump and Vice President Mike Pence should cover their faces in public places when they travel.

A Suffolk University/USA TODAY survey conducted last month of 638 voters who backed Sanders in primaries or caucuses this year found that 4% plan to vote for Trump – down from the 12% who voted for Trump over Clinton, according to a 2017 Cooperative Congressional Election study. The Suffolk poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's decision Friday to fire his department's inspector general marks the fourth time within the last three months that an internal agency watchdog has been removed by the Trump administration.

The Justice Department moved last week to drop the prosecution of Flynn launched by special counsel Robert Mueller, but U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan slammed the brakes on that effort by announcing that he is appointing a former federal judge to argue against the government’s unusual bid to dismiss the case against an ally of President Donald Trump.

Harvey Weinstein sentenced to 23 years in prison for two sex crimes
Ex-movie mogul-turned-convicted sex offender Harvey Weinstein will spend the next 23 years in prison for his conviction of third-degree rape and forcible sexual assault of two women.
In October 2017, following sexual abuse allegations, Weinstein was dismissed from his company and expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. More than 80 women had made allegations against Weinstein by October 31. The allegations sparked the #MeToo social media campaign and many similar sexual abuse allegations against (and dismissals of) powerful men around the world; this phenomenon is referred to as the "Weinstein effect". Weinstein was arrested and charged with rape in New York on May 25, 2018. On February 24, 2020, he was found guilty of two of five felonies. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison, and is held at Rikers Island prison.

Bernie Sanders vows to stay in the Democratic race after disappointing showing Tuesday – updates
Sanders said he will be on the debate stage Sunday night in Arizona, the first time since former vice president Joe Biden scored big wins on Super Tuesday and March 10. It will be the first time Biden and Sanders are set to appear on stage without any other candidates. Sanders did not speak Tuesday after a disappointing night that saw him lose Democratic primaries in Idaho, Missouri, Mississippi and – the night’s largest prize – Michigan, which he won four years ago when he ran for the nomination against Hillary Clinton.
Bernie Sanders has a big problem that’s making the presidential nomination a fading hope: he’s losing a number of states he won four years ago. Maine, Minnesota and Oklahoma all went for the Vermont senator in 2016 when he ran against Hillary Clinton. But he lost those three on Super Tuesday last week to Joe Biden.

Coronavirus is changing everyday life across the world

The facts on coronavirus aren't all scary. So why so much fear?
The outbreak is now a global pandemic, and seven weeks after the first U.S. case was announced outside Seattle, the number of people in the U.S. now known to be infected with the new strain has surpassed 1,000, with 38 dead. And the numbers keep climbing
"We understand the flu, we have personal experience with it. That makes it less scary," Bufka said. "We know what to expect with something like that. As humans we can read information, hear information from others and take all that in, but personal experience makes a difference."

Democrats’ hunt for Trump slayer may lead to Hillary Clinton comeback: Goodwin
Now that the once-sprawling field of Democrats seeking the presidency has become a two-man race, many in the party are breathing a sigh of relief. All the more so because Joe Biden is the clear front-runner and the dreaded Bernie Sanders looks to be fading.

“And, in case you hadn’t noticed, she’s advertising her availability.
It’s surely no coincidence that “Hillary” was released Friday, during the height of the primary season. The sweetheart documentary, complete with broad promotion, stories, reviews and interviews with her, is a massive and slick selling job.”

Sanders briefed by US officials that Russia is attempting to help his campaign
U.S. officials have reportedly told Sen. Bernie Sanders that Russia is attempting to help his presidential campaign, a revelation that follows U.S. intelligence officials briefing Capitol Hill that the Kremlin may also be attempting to help President Donald Trump in 2020 as they did in 2016. 
Sanders in a statement disavowed any alleged assistance from Russia President Vladimir Putin.
The warning about the Russia effort to help Sanders, which was first reported by The Washington Post, was also information given to Trump and lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
In 2016, Russia waged an elaborate and sophisticated operation to sow division in the U.S. and upend the presidential election by using cyber attacks and social media as weapons.
The interference led to a nearly two-year investigation led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who concluded that Trump's campaign welcomed, even praised, the assistance from Russia. But while he said investigators did not gather sufficient evidence to prove a conspiracy, "problematic is an understatement" to describe some of Trump's conduct. 
Since then, intelligence officials have repeatedly warned that the country would likely try to do the same in the 2020 election. 

Two longstanding abortion-related measures fail in the US Senate
Two longstanding abortion measures failed to advance on the Senate floor Tuesday after being introduced by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Although he has been previously against "show votes" on measures that have little chance of passing, McConnell made his colleagues vote on the bills related to abortion, a divisive issue that Republicans are focusing on ahead of the 2020 elections.
Neither measure was expected to get the 60 votes needed to advance past the initial procedural hurdle. 
The first bill, the "Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act," would ban abortion at 20 weeks, which is based on a scientifically disputed claim that a fetus can feel pain at that point.
The bill was sponsored by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and takes aim at the 24-week threshold established by the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, which legalized abortion nationwide.
That bill failed 53-44. Democratic Sens. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Joe Manchin of West Virginia backed the measure, while Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska opposed it. 
The second bill, sponsored by Nebraska Republican Sen. Ben Sasse, would require abortion providers to try to "preserve the life and health" of any infant born after a failed abortion, or face up to five years in prison. 
The bill garnered the support of three Democrats: Alabama Democrat Sen. Doug Jones joined Manchin and Casey. The final tally for the measure was 56-41. 
After that bill failed to move forward after a 53-44 vote last year in the Senate, President Donald Trump falsely conflated the measure with infanticide, which is already illegal under federal law, and tweeted that Democrats "don't mind executing babies AFTER birth."
WHEN DO ABORTIONS OCCUR?
In 2016, 88% of all abortions happened during the first trimester, prior to the 13th week of gestation (CDC).
ABORTION AND CONTRACEPTION
Induced abortions usually result from unintended pregnancies, which often occur despite the use of contraception (CDC).
In 2014, 51% of women having abortions used birth control during the month they became pregnant. (AGI).
9 in 10 women at risk of unintended pregnancy are using a birth control method (AGI).
Oral contraceptives, the most widely used reversible method of contraception, carry failure rates of 6 to 8% in actual practice (NAF).

Court rules Trump administration can withhold funds from sanctuary cities
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that the Trump administration can withhold millions of dollars in federal law enforcement grants from sanctuary cities and states that don't cooperate with immigration enforcement
Seven states and New York City sued the U.S. government after the Justice Department said in 2017 it would withhold funds from cities and states that don't give immigration enforcement officials access to jails or notice when an undocumented migrant is scheduled to be released from jail, per AP.
The decision conflicts with the rulings of three other federal appeals courts and comes amid an ongoing dispute between the Trump administration and sanctuary cities, which restrict cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration officials.
While this is an important win for the Trump administration, it likely can't begin acting on the decision yet because of nationwide injunctions in other cases

George Soros calls for Zuckerberg, Sandberg to step down from Facebook in scathing letter: 

George Soros called for Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's respective CEO and COO, to be "removed from control" in a letter published in Financial Times.

The liberal billionaire, who has long been a vocal critic of Facebook's head executives and is the subject of many fabricated conspiracy theories peddled on the platform, reiterated the claim that Zuckerberg is in "some kind of mutual assistance arrangement" with President Donald Trump for his re-election.

The company rejected Soros' claims in the letter. In a statement, a representative from Facebook said that the suggestion that the company is connected to a figure or party "runs counter to our values and the facts."

An analysis from the Guardian published last month found that Trump spent around $20 million on hundreds of thousands of ads on Facebook, some of which were false, outspending all the Democratic candidates. 

Despite a litany of criticism, Facebook continues to run political advertising on its platform, repeatedly stating that it should not litigate the legitimacy of claims made in campaign ads. Twitter banned it. 

Trump says 'nobody can even define' what Roger Stone did. Here are crimes Stone committed

President Donald Trump criticized the Justice Department for prosecuting his longtime associate Roger Stone and recommending that Stone serve up to nine years in prison. He claims Stone did “nothing” and “nobody even can define what he did,” but that's his opinion.

The Justice Department summed it up in November when the jury rendered its verdict: “Stone was found guilty of obstruction of a congressional investigation, five counts of making false statements to Congress and tampering with a witness.”

All of the charges stemmed from Stone’s attempts to thwart the House intelligence committee’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

On Feb. 10, the Department of Justice recommended a sentence ranging from 87 to 108 months, or roughly seven to nine years, saying, “Obstructing such critical investigations … strikes at the very heart of our American democracy.”

Mueller concluded in a report in March 2019, “The Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion” to help Trump win the election. The Russians did this in two ways, according to the Mueller report:

“First, a Russian entity carried out a social media campaign that favored presidential candidate Donald J. Trump and disparaged presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Second, a Russian intelligence service conducted computer-intrusion operations against entities, employees, and volunteers working on the Clinton Campaign and then released stolen documents."

More points 

The federal investigation uncovered a sophisticated hacking operation by a unit responsible for intelligence collection for the Russian military. The Main Intelligence Directorate, or GRU, “hacked the computers and email accounts of organizations, employees, and volunteers supporting the Clinton Campaign,” the Mueller report says. The GRU gained access to more than 30 computers on the Democratic National Committee network and “stole hundreds of thousands of documents from the compromised email accounts and networks,” the report says.

At Stone’s trial, Gates testified that in April 2016 Stone privately told him “WikiLeaks would be submitting or dropping information” that could help the Trump campaign. That was about three months before WikiLeaks released nearly 20,000 DNC emails – the first of document dumps that exceeded 44,000 emails and 17,000 attachments, as WikiLeaks says on its website.

On Oct. 3, 2016, Stone tweeted, “I have total confidence that @wikileaks and my hero Julian Assange will educate the American people soon.” Assange is WikiLeaks’ founder. That same day, Matthew Boyle, the Washington editor of Breitbart, sent Stone a text message that said, “Assange – what’s he got? Hope it’s good.” Stone replied, “It is. I’d tell Bannon but he doesn’t call me back.” Four days later, WikiLeaks released a batch of emails belonging to Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta.

According to the sentencing memo Feb. 10, Stone made at least five public statements from Aug. 8 to 18, 2016, that indicated he had a source connected to Assange. The committee asked Stone to name the person. Stone told the House committee it was radio host Randy Credico, who interviewed Assange on Aug. 25, 2016.

That was a lie, according to the evidence prosecutors presented at the trial, including Credico’s testimony.

Prosecutors presented evidence that Stone threatened Credico in an attempt to prevent him from testifying before the House committee and contradicting Stone’s testimony. 

Stone lied when he told the House committee “that he had no written communications with his intermediary and that he had no written communications referencing Assange,” according to the sentencing memo.

Stone lied when he told the House committee that he “did not ask the intermediary to do anything on Stone’s behalf,” the memo says. “In fact, as early as July 2016, Stone told Corsi to ‘get to Assange’ and ‘get the pending wikileaks emails.’ ”

Stone lied when he said “he had never discussed his conversations with the person he referred to as his … ‘intermediary’ with anyone involved in the Trump Campaign,” the sentencing memo says. “In fact, Stone had conversations with Gates, Bannon, and Trump campaign Chairman Paul Manafort about information that he had received from Corsi and Credico.” Federal prosecutors submitted Stone’s phone records that showed more than 150 calls with Manafort, more than 120 with Gates and 60 with Trump, as Politico reported.

Religion in America

Christianity is the most adhered to religion in the United States, with 65% of polled American adults identifying themselves as Christian in 2019. This is down from 85% in 1990, 81.6% in 2001, and 12% lower than the 78% reported for 2012. 

About 45% of those polled claim to be members of a church congregation.

In 2016, Christians represent 73.7% of the total population, 48.9% identifying as Protestants, 23.0% as Catholics, and 1.8% as Mormons, and are followed by people having no religion with 18.2% of the total population.

“In the United States, Christians will decline from more than three-quarters of the population in 2010 to two-thirds in 2050.” “Four out of every 10 Christians in the world will live in sub-Saharan Africa.”

Previous Pew Research Center studies have shown that the share of Americans who believe in God with absolute certainty has declined in recent years, while the share saying they have doubts about God’s existence – or that they do not believe in God at all – has grown.

These trends raise a series of questions: When respondents say they don’t believe in God, what are they rejecting? Are ...

Trump says Coronavirus will be gone by April

The president continued to suggest the Coronavirus outbreak, which has claimed 1,000 lives as of Monday, will be gone by April. He told the crowd that "in theory" once the weather warms up Coronavirus, which he referred to as "the virus," will "miraculously" go away. Trump did not offer any scientific explanation to back up his claim. "I think it's all gonna work out fine," he said. "Rough stuff, rough stuff."
Trump echoed that claim during a speech to governors at the White House earlier on Monday, telling the group that China had given him the confidence that the outbreak would subside in Apri due to "the heat." “The heat generally speaking kills this kind of virus,” he said.. 

Trump: ‘We should impeach President Obama’                                                          

During a long stump on healthcare, Trump said Republicans “should impeach President Obama” for his promises about health care. “Remember President Obama, you can keep your plan, you can keep - 28 times - you can keep your doctor. That didn't turn out very good. We should impeach him for that. Why aren't we impeaching him? 28 times, you can keep your doctor. We should impeach President Obama,” Trump declared to the crowd. Does anyone here think Obama should be impeached? Does everyone understand he can’t be because he isn’t the president anymore.. same for Hillary, we can’t impeach her either…

President Trump slams sentencing recommendation for Roger Stone as a 'miscarriage of justice'
President Donald Trump attacked the potential prison sentence for Roger Stone in a tweet Tuesday, reviving speculation over whether Trump would use his pardon power in the case.
While retweeting a news story about how prosecutors have recommended a sentence of up to nine years for Stone, Trump said: "This is a horrible and very unfair situation. The real crimes were on the other side, as nothing happens to them."
He added, "Cannot allow this miscarriage of justice!"
The tweet may have one impact in the short term: A Justice Department official said federal prosecutors are expected to back away from the stiff prison sentence recommended for Stone.
In November, a jury convicted Stone of lying to Congress and obstructing an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, all in an effort to protect Trump and his presidential campaign.

Federal prosecutors this week, in giving the recommended sentence, said Stone committed a "direct and brazen attack on the rule of law."
The Justice Department backed away from a stiff prison sentence recommended for Roger Stone, a longtime ally of President Donald Trump – an unusual move that comes after Trump's public criticism of the recommendation and overrules the department's career prosecutors.
The backtracking was met with swift backlash Tuesday. In a matter of hours, four attorneys who worked on Stone's case and prepared the sentencing recommendation abruptly quit the prosecution team. Democrats called for an investigation, accusing the Justice Department of political meddling in a criminal prosecution.
Although a Justice Department official said the about-face was not influenced by Trump, it raised new questions about the politicization of the agency.

Ex-OSU wrestler Jordan called ‘crying, groveling, begging’ to deny sexual abuse
On Tuesday, a former captain of the Ohio State wrestling team told state lawmakers in a public hearing that Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, pleaded with him in 2018 to deny allegations sexual abuse of male wrestlers by a team doctor was well-known within the program but was ignored.
“Jim Jordan called me crying, groveling, begging me to go against my brother, begging me, crying for a half-hour. That’s the kind of cover-up that’s going on there," Adam DiSabato told members of the Ohio House Civil Justice Committee about a conversation the congressman and him had on July 24, 2018.
Adam DiSabato, who was a member of the school's wrestling program in the late '80s to early '90s, is the brother of fellow OSU wrestling alumni Michael DiSabato, who helped spur the investigation into the late Dr. Richard Strauss.
Strauss died by suicide in 2005. He served in various roles in his 20 years at Ohio State, including more than a decade as a team doctor. He has been accused of sexually assaulting hundreds of athletes at the school.
Jordan, first elected to the House in 2006, worked as an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State from 1987 until 1995. Many wrestlers and even referees claim Jordan knew or was told of the abuse, but didn't speak out.  About 350 men have sued the school…

President Donald Trump used a White House ceremony Thursday to celebrate his impeachment acquittal, saying he had "been through hell" in a process he blamed on "leakers and liars" who had unfairly accused him of misconduct in his dealings with Ukraine.

"They brought me to the final stages of impeachment, but now we have that gorgeous word. I never thought a word would sound so good. It's called total acquittal," said Trump, standing before Cabinet members, Republican lawmakers and family members. Total acquittal? Hmmm..

The Republican-led Senate voted to acquit Trump on two articles of impeachment - abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, was the only senator to cross party lines by voting to convict for abuse of power. What is your view of Mitt Romney?

The Senate voted 52-48 on Wednesday to acquit Trump on the charge that he abused his power and 53-47 on the charge that he obstructed Congress. He wouldn’t turn over documents or allow his cabinet to testify.. that’s the definition of Obstruction.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., issued a statement saying the Senate vote to acquit Trump “normalized lawlessness and rejected the system of checks and balances in our Constitution.” She also tore up Trump’s state of the union right after he finished it, and she’s being called “immature” for doing it.. it was a very sour grapes thing to do.. did the misfire on impeachment and her behavior at the State Of the Union cost her in the eyes of the American people?

Just minutes after the Senate vote, Trump tweeted out a 30-second video featuring a Time magazine cover with the blaring headline: "How Trumpism Will Outlast Trump." The clip included mock campaign signs showing Trump running for president every four years through the next century and ends with the phrase "Trump 4EVA." For a Washington outsider, Trump ran a textbook insider counteroffensive to the impeachment trial.. Do you worry the president will break the law again?

Some Republicans, including Trump, initially wanted to summon witnesses such as Biden’s son, Hunter, who they felt would help exonerate the president, or at least fling mud at Democrats. McConnell warned that opening the door to witnesses would introduce uncertainties and lead to "mutually assured destruction" for both parties. I was all for a fair trial, as was Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney.. McConnell shut it down. This is the first time in the three impeachment trials in U.S. history, the Senate did not call witnesses.

Do you have a problem with both sides putting party over country?

Gov. Ned Lamont addressed lawmakers this week, and says he wants to address vaccination exemptions, while opponents held a rally at the state capitol in an effort to keep the religious exemption in place.

Advocates are saying they plan to have a regular presence throughout the session in support of this exemption, but Democratic leaders agree with the governor.

State Rep. and House Majority Leader Matt Ritter said “It's not your choice, you have control over your own body until your decisions can affect other people.”

I don’t believe in religious exemptions and I don’t like that religious groups don’t pay taxes.. that said, no taxes, no say in government. Do you believe in religious exemptions?