Uncategorized

ACROSS THE NATION

McConnell returns to the Senate for the first time since his June hospitalization

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky returned to the Senate to vote on Monday for the first time in three months, looking noticeably more frail after he was hospitalized for a June fall in his home.

McConnell's lengthy absence from the Senate generated a flood of criticism and online speculation, as he initially remained quiet for weeks about his condition. The 84-year-old senator eventually disclosed a month later that he had been "briefly unconscious" due to the fall and had also been treated for mild pneumonia in the hospital.

He briefly addressed reporters Monday from a wheelchair outside the Senate chamber, smiling but speaking slowly and with some difficulty. McConnell joked that he wasn't sure how many reporters would be there after dodging so many questions during his almost two decades as leader.

He said he was back in the Senate to work on a pending farm bill and because he has an ongoing interest in NATO and "backing up our good friends who are totally in the fight against the Russians."

Reporters and photographers were told by Senate staff not to take video of his remarks in the second-floor hallway, even though video is often permitted in that area. Still images were allowed.

McConnell, who holds the distinction of being the longest-serving Senate leader, is in his final months of his four decades in office. He is retiring at the end of January after one of the most consequential careers in modern politics.

Republicans have nominated U.S. Rep. Andy Barr to replace him, while Democrats have nominated former state lawmaker Charles Booker. McConnell has said he is determined to finish out his term.

In a statement issued before his remarks, McConnell made clear that he may still miss some votes due to his health issues.

He said that he is "still not quite back to 100%, but I've assured Leader (John) Thune that, as I continue with physical therapy on the advice of my doctors, I will do my best to be present for tough votes when our Conference needs me."

"My recovery has been a long and often frustrating process, and the lingering effects of childhood polio haven't made it any easier," McConnell said in the statement.

The senator's extended leave highlighted increasing public concern about the age of lawmakers and their capacity to carry out their duties. Speculation about his condition grew so intense at one point that Kentucky's Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear took the extraordinary step of issuing a public letter asking McConnell to update the public in a "transparent manner."

McConnell's absence was also felt over the summer as Republicans were unable to advance a farm bill out of committee. His return could give GOP leaders a needed vote as they try to advance legislation on cryptocurrency regulation and college sports.

Ex-CIA Director John Brennan issued subpoena in Trump "grand conspiracy" investigation, lawyer says

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former CIA Director John Brennan has been subpoenaed to testify before a Florida grand jury in a Justice Department investigation into whether former law enforcement and intelligence officials conspired against President Donald Trump, and is the target of a separate inquiry into whether he made false statements before Congress, one of his lawyers said Monday.

Ken Wainstein, an attorney for Brennan, disclosed the existence of the subpoena as he argued for a court order requiring the Justice Department to preserve all records from the investigations. He said those documents would be a "fertile source" of information about the government's determination to indict Brennan, an outspoken Trump critic, and would be needed for the defense to challenge any potential prosecution of the ex-CIA chief as unconstitutionally vindictive and selective.

"The reality is there's no precedent for this situation," Wainstein said in acknowledging the extraordinarily unusual nature of his preservation request. "I've spent decades in and around the Justice Department. I've never even conceived of a situation like this" in which the Justice Department is "blatantly trying to frame somebody for a crime that is complete fiction."

In pressing his case to U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb, he cited what he said was "judge-shopping" by the Justice Department, directives by Trump to pursue perceived adversaries like Brennan and the replacement or resignations of prosecutors said to have raised internal doubts or concerns.

"There's a lot of really underhanded stuff going on" in these investigations, Wainstein said.

The subpoena was presented last Thursday and requires Brennan to appear Oct. 15 before a grand jury in Fort Pierce, Florida. That's the home court of a Trump-appointed judge named Aileen Cannon, who in 2024 dismissed a Justice Department prosecution charging Trump with illegally retaining classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

Wainstein said he was told that the subpoena relates to a "far-reaching" criminal probe examining a loosely defined theory that the government officials who have investigated Trump over the last decade, including over Russia election interference in 2016 and his more recent retention of top-secret records at Mar-a-Lago, conspired to deprive Trump of his civil rights. The subpoena to Brennan is among a flurry that have been recently issued.

Wainstein said he was informed by a prosecutor that Brennan remains a target in an investigation into whether he lied to Congress about the creation of a U.S. intelligence community assessment detailing Russian interference on Trump's behalf in the 2016 election. Brennan and his lawyers have called that allegation false. Subpoenas demanding testimony before a grand jury in the false statements probe were issued last spring, then abruptly withdrawn in favor of voluntary interviews.

Man pleads not guilty in the hanging death of a Mississippi woman

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- A man charged with murder in the hanging death of a Black woman in Mississippi pleaded not guilty Monday during his first court appearance.

The body of Tasia Fortune, 29, was found hanging from a tree behind an abandoned home in Jackson, the state capital, on Aug. 3.

On Friday, police arrested 51-year-old Jarques Ratliff on a murder charge after the state medical examiner deemed her death a homicide. Ratliff is also Black.

During Monday's brief hearing in Municipal Court, a judge denied bond for Ratliff, who told the court he's not guilty. Ratliff's attorney at the hearing left the courthouse without speaking to reporters.

The case has attracted widespread attention because the manner of Fortune's death recalled lynchings in the Southern state, which has a tumultuous civil rights history stained by episodes of racial violence.

Police and prosecutors haven't given a suspected motive or said whether they think race played any role.

Police Chief RaShall Brackney said Friday that Ratliff, 51, had an "association" with Fortune, but she didn't elaborate. The chief also said additional arrests are expected.

Prosecutors on Monday offered few new details in court, though they said Fortune had been hanged with a "black cable cord" and that Ratliff had tried to hide from officers in a vehicle the day of his arrest.

Brackney and other police officials who attended Ratliff's hearing Monday declined to comment afterward.

A Kentucky native, Fortune had a Black father and a white mother, though she identified as Black, said Christy Spivey, the dead woman's mother. Fortune had been living in Jackson for about 10 years, according to relatives. Fortune had four children, Spivey said, adding she rarely saw two of her grandchildren.

Spivey wasn't sure where Fortune was living when she died, but she said her daughter had struggled with homelessness in recent years. She said Fortune had talked recently about starting a cleaning business and was trying to get her life in order.

Two other Mississippi hanging deaths over the past year -- those of a Black student at Delta State University and a homeless white man in Vicksburg -- also drew widespread attention. Both of those deaths were deemed to be suicides.

'Alligator Alcatraz' detainees were held in small metal cages, federal report says

MIAMI (AP) -- Detainees at a now-closed immigrant detention center in the Florida Everglades -- known as "Alligator Alcatraz" -- were held for up to two hours in small metal enclosures used as "calming areas," a practice that "does not meet standards for humane treatment," according to a new report by the Department of Homeland Security's Inspector General released on Monday.

Between July 17, 2025, and Jan. 18, 2026, the report said, 79 detainees were confined in small metal enclosures of about 18 square feet of floor space each, for periods ranging from several minutes to nearly two hours. Photographs included in the report show a cage that looks only slightly larger than a telephone booth sitting on what is either grass or turf and surrounded by chain-link fencing topped with concertina wire.

"The use of such restrictive spaces is highly unconventional," the report stated.

It noted that facility staff described the metal enclosures as "'calming areas' for detainees to de-escalate and have time alone." It didn't specify where the boxes were located or exactly the instances in which they were used but documents provided by staff at the facility said one detainee spent 26 minutes in one for failing to "comply with a lawful order." The report said that in at least one instance, the metal enclosure may have been used as a disciplinary tool.

A policy posted on the enclosures said the purpose of the holding cell space was to provide a "safe and secure place in general population for detainees to reflect on their behavior choices, manage their emotions, reduce stress, and practice self-directed behavior," according to the document attached to the report.

The revelation was part of a broader report from the Inspector General that detailed other conditions it described as inhumane.

The detention center was opened July 3, 2025, and closed on June 25. It quickly drew attention from immigration advocates who criticized the conditions. Detainees lacked adequate living space, access to showers, legal information and clean water, the report said, calling it a violation of federal and state detention standards.

The report was prepared following an unannounced visit to the South Florida Detention Facility on Jan. 21. It marks the first time a government agency has confirmed the existence of such conditions at the facility. Advocates, lawyers, families and human rights organizations such as Amnesty International had previously reported and harshly criticized the treatment of detainees.

In June, citing concerns related to hurricane season, DHS said all detainees at the Florida state-run center located at an isolated airstrip in the Everglades were transferred to other facilities.

Bob Mackie, designer to the stars who dressed Cher and Marilyn and defined '70s glamour, dies at 87

NEW YORK (AP) -- Bob Mackie, the fashion designer whose visually provocative Hollywood style defined glamour for the 1970s -- including putting Carol Burnett in some of her kookiest getups and Cher in her raciest ones -- died Monday. He was 87.

"He lived his 87 years to the fullest, fulfilling his dream of being a Fashion and Costume Designer, which is all he ever wanted to do," read a statement on his social media accounts. Mackie died in Palm Springs, California, from pneumonia, his publicist said.

Dubbed the "Designer to the Stars," Mackie won nine Emmy Awards, a Tony Award and was nominated for three Oscars, including one for Barbra Streisand's "Funny Lady," in which she wore a sheer batwing gown. He was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Hall of Fame in 2002.

He designed gowns for Madonna, Streisand, Sharon Stone, Diana Ross and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and concert costumes for Pink. When Marilyn Monroe delivered a breathy, seductive take on "Happy Birthday" at a fundraiser for President John F. Kennedy and the Democratic National Committee, she did it in a sheer, beaded gown that Mackie dreamed up in a sketch.

His influence can be seen in the styles of Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid. His archival pieces are worn today by the likes of Anya Taylor-Joy, Miley Cyrus and Zendaya, the latter who wore a Mackie gown to honor Cher at the 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. When Taylor Swift wanted to look like a showgirl on the cover of her 2025 album "The Life of a Showgirl," she turned to some Mackie originals.

Sequins and embellishment were natural tools -- other nicknames were the Sultan of Sequins, the Rajah of Rhinestones and the Guru of Glitter -- but he had a simple motto: "You don't try to change anybody, you just try to make them look better than ever," he told The Associated Press in 2018.

Tributes came from fellow designers and those lucky enough to wear his outfits. Actor Kristin Chenoweth called him a "legend" and designer Isaac Mizrahi wrote, simply, "heartbroken." Actor Alyssa Milano called him "one of the best that ever was."

On Broadway, Mackie dressed the casts of "On the Town" in 1971 and "Moon Over Buffalo" in 1995. He also created costumes for Burnett in the revue "Putting It Together," Debbie Reynolds in "Debbie" in 1976, Liza Minnelli in "Minnelli on Minnelli" in 1999 and, most recently, the cast of "The Cher Show," winning his Tony Award.

Mackie was a Southern California native and embraced the idea of Hollywood movie glamour as a young child, inspired by Technicolor musicals. He would dream elaborate costumes for his mother and sister and sketch them, and he was active in costume and set design of his high school plays. He went to Pasadena City College to study advertising and illustration, and then costume design at LA's Chouinard Art Institute.

He also grew up a fan of all the variety-show and pop stars of the 1950s and '60s and especially their glitzy wardrobes. He went to work for costume designer Edith Head, then got the gig for "The Carol Burnett Show."

States, cities sue over Trump rule seeking to deny green cards to immigrants using public benefits

NEW YORK (AP) -- Democratic-led states and cities filed lawsuits Monday challenging a federal rule set to begin Friday that they say gives President Donald Trump's administration broad discretion to deny green cards to immigrants who rely on public assistance for food, healthcare, housing and other basic needs.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is leading a coalition of 21 other states in one of the suits, said the rule would force needy immigrant families to choose between seeking assistance and seeking legal status in the country. California, Colorado, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico and Wisconsin are among the states involved in the legal challenge.

"This rule preys on that fear and counts on families forfeiting the food assistance, health care coverage, and other public benefits to which they are legally entitled," she said Monday at a news conference in City Hall alongside New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and immigrant advocates.

Mamdani filed a separate suit with leaders of other U.S. cities, including Chicago, San Francisco and Seattle. He said the rule would have a "chilling effect" not just on immigrants seeking legal status but other residents of the nation's largest city.

"The new public charge rule seeks to push immigrant families away from the programs that have kept people fed and healthy for decades," the mayor said. "New Yorkers will be afraid to see a doctor or ask for help they are legally entitled to. That fear will not stop at the families that the federal government is targeting."

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which is named in the lawsuits, dismissed the dire warnings.

"Let's get this straight, sanctuary states are terrified they will lose federal funds because hundreds of thousands of illegals and noncitizens might remove themselves from American welfare programs," the agency said in a statement. "We're shaking in our boots over this supposedly terrible outcome."

The lawsuits challenge DHS's plan to revive a "public charge" rule the Republican president originally imposed during his first term, only to have it reversed under his successor, Democratic President Joe Biden.

The lawsuits, which were both filed in federal court in Manhattan, argue the new rule is "arbitrary and capricious," exceeds the DHS's statutory authority, and departs from the longstanding meaning of the federal government's public charge provision.

Specifically, James said, the rule unlawfully gives immigration officials broad discretion to consider a wide range of public benefits when making their decisions on immigrants seeking legal status in the country.