# Federal judge rules school board districts illegal in Georgia school system, calls for new map
By **JEFF AMY**
December 17, 2023. 6:50 PM EST

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ATLANTA (AP) - A federal judge has ruled that school board districts in Georgia's second-largest school system appear to be unconstitutionally discriminatory and must be quickly redrawn ahead of 2024's elections.

U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross on Thursday forbade the Cobb County school district from using a map supported by the current board's four Republican members, finding in an preliminary injunction that the map is "substantially likely to be an unconstitutional racial gerrymander."

The Cobb County district on Friday asked the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to step in immediately and set the order aside, saying the district has been unfairly excluded from the litigation. The district warns that if the appeals court doesn't act quickly, the "plaintiffs' scheme to use the courts to overthrow the will of Cobb County voters and replace the duly enacted redistricting map with one that advances their own political goals - without opposition - therefore will succeed exactly as plaintiffs envisioned."

Ross ordered state lawmakers to draw a new map by Jan. 10, which will be unlikely unless Gov. Brian Kemp orders a special session. Lawmakers don't convene until Jan. 8 and normal legislative rules don't allow a bill to pass in three days. The district called the deadline "impossible," saying it takes away the legislature's rightful chance to fix the problems.

That means Ross could draw a new map, or could accept a map proposed by the plaintiffs, a group of Cobb County residents and liberal-leaning political groups.

Four board seats are up for election in 2024.

Any new map could upset the 4-3 Republican majority on the board. The 106,000-student district has been riven by political conflict in recent years, with the GOP majority often imposing its will over the protests of the three Democratic members.

"The court's decision is a resounding victory for voting rights," said Poy Winchakul, senior staff attorney for the Southern Poverty Law Center, which represented the plaintiffs. "Fair maps are essential to the democracy process and ensure Cobb County voters of color have an equal voice in schools."

But the district alleges the plaintiffs are pursuing a Democratic takeover of the board through the lawsuit.

"This scheme is destined to facilitate plaintiffs' political seizure of the board as the overriding goal in this litigation," the board wrote in its appeal.

The lawsuit alleges that Republicans illegally crammed Black and Hispanic voters into three districts in the southern part of the suburban Atlanta county, solidifying Republicans' hold on the remaining four districts.

Ross agreed, finding the people who drew the map relied too much on race.

The lawsuit is unusual because the school district was dismissed earlier, leaving only the Cobb County Board of Elections and Registration as a defendant. That body, like the county commission, is controlled by Democrats, and decided to settle the lawsuit. The decision to settle, which set the stage for Ross' order, prompted the school board in October to accuse the elections board of colluding with "leftist political activists," giving them "considerable and inappropriate influence to interfere with the lawfully established" maps.

The district calls the elections board and its director "sham defendants" and wants the appeals court to put the district back in the case. It's also asking the appeals court to overturn all the recent orders, including the preliminary injunction and re-open discovery "giving the district a fair opportunity" to oppose the plaintiffs. It says Ross "completely ignored" its recent arguments.

The plaintiffs on Dec. 6 asked the appeals court to dismiss an earlier version of the appeal, saying the school district wasn't a party to the case and there was no final order ripe for appeal.

Oral argument in the appeal is set for Jan. 30, but the district is seeking a quicker decision, saying Ross may impose a map by then.

The school board has spent more than $1 million defending the lawsuit, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has found.


# 4 teenagers killed in single-vehicle accident in Montana
By **Associated Press**
December 17, 2023. 1:30 PM EST

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**BILLINGS, Mont. (AP)** - Four teenagers were killed in a single-vehicle crash in an industrial area of Montana's largest city, authorities said.

Police say speed, no seatbelts and possibly alcohol contributed to the accident just before 2 a.m. Saturday morning in Billings. The vehicle went off the roadway, causing the driver to lose control and strike a large metal pole supporting a business sign, Billings police said.

Two victims died on scene. Two had critical injuries and were transported to a hospital where they were pronounced dead.

The victims were two 14-year-old girls, a 17-year-old male and an 18-year-old male. No further details were immediately available.


# 'Wonka' waltzes to $39 million opening, propelled by Chalamet's starring role
By **JAKE COYLE**
December 17, 2023. 2:45 PM EST

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**NEW YORK (AP)** - "Wonka" debuted with $39 million in box office sales in U.S. and Canadian theaters over the weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. That made it a strong start for the Timothée Chalamet -starring Willy Wonka musical that underscored the young star's draw.

Musicals have been tough sells in theaters in recent years, so much so that Warner Bros. downplayed the song and dance elements of "Wonka" in trailers. Instead, the studio emphasized Chalamet, the 27-year-old actor who, with "Wonka," notched his second No. 1 movie following 2021's "Dune." The earlier film recorded a $41 million opening.

While "Dune" was a sprawling and star-studded sci-fi adventure, "Wonka" relies chiefly on Chalamet's charisma.

"Wonka," which cost about $125 million to produce and played at 4,203 locations, was also the first big Hollywood release to launch following the end of the SAG-AFTRA actors' strike. Chalamet hosted "Saturday Night Live" just days after the strike ended. In his opening monologue, he sang to the tune of "Pure Imagination" about "returning to this magical world where actors can promote their projects."

"It shows you the power of a star, and it also shows you the power of a star going out and working a movie," said Jeffrey Goldstein, distribution chief for Warner Bros. "Having him out there after the strikes were over was a win for him and a win for the movie."

Goldstein expects "Wonka" to be the go-to choice from families over the holidays. Its main competition for kids will be Universal Pictures' animated "Migration."

"Wonka," directed by Paul King of "Paddington" and "Paddington 2," is a prequel to 1971's "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," with Chalamet starring as a young Wonka trying to open a candy store. Its ensemble cast includes Hugh Grant, Olivia Colman and Keegan-Michael Key.

Warner Bros. last revived Roald Dahl's classic with the 2005 Tim Burton-directed "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," starring Johnny Depp. It debuted with $56.2 million and ultimately grossed $475 million worldwide.

To reach those numbers, "Wonka" will need strong legs through the lucrative holiday moviegoing period. On its side are mostly good reviews (84% "fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes) and positive audience reaction (an "A-" CinemaScore).

Chalamet is also drawing younger ticket-buyers. Moviegoers under the age of 25 accounted for 36% of the audience, which was split evenly between 51% females and 49% males. "Wonka" added $53.6 million in overseas ticket sales.

"Chalamet is a true movie star who's been developing his craft and his reputation over many years," says Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. "Everybody's looking for who's the next big movie star. Is it all about the old-school leading men? Chalamet is definitely that."

For Warner Bros., it's the first in a trio of high-profile holiday releases, to be followed by "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" on Dec. 22 and another musical, "The Color Purple" on Dec. 25.

The only other new wide release in theaters was "Christmas With the Chosen: Holy Night," from Christian-theme distributor Angel Studios. It debuted with $2.9 million in sales through 2,094 theaters.

"The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" again ranked second this week with $5.8 million in its fifth week of release. The Lionsgate "Hunger Games" prequel, now up to $145.2 million domestically and more than $300 million globally, has held strong week after week.

Last week's top film, Hayao Miyazaki's "The Boy and the Heron," dipped to third with $5.1 million in its second week of release. The latest film from the 82-year-old Japanese anime master has already set records for Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli and its North American distributor GKids.

With holdovers making up most of the top 10 movies in theaters, the weekend's other most notable business was a group of award contenders trying to make their mark following Monday's Golden Globes nominations.

Yorgos Lanthimos' "Poor Things," a surreal Frankenstein-esque fairy tale starring Emma Stone, expanded into 82 theaters and grossed $1.3 million for Searchlight Pictures. The film, which will expand further in the coming weeks, is nominated for seven Golden Globes, including best comedy or musical.

Cord Jefferson's "American Fiction," starring Jeffrey Wright as a sardonic novelist, debuted in seven theaters in three cities with a $32,411 per-screen average. MGM's "American Fiction," nominated for two Globes, will expand to 40 theaters next week. It won the audience award at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

Jonathan Glazer's "The Zone of Interest," a chilling Holocaust drama about a Nazi commandant and his family living next to Auschwitz, opened in four theaters with a $31,198 per-screen average. Nominated for three Globes, it will play in limited release before expanding in January.

Estimated ticket sales are for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. "Wonka," $39 million.

2. "The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes," $5.8 million.

3. "The Boy and the Heron," $5.2 million.

4. "Godzilla Minus One," $4.9 million.

5. "Trolls Band Together," $4 million.

6. "Wish," $3.2 million.

7. "Christmas With the Chosen: Holy Night," $2.9 million.

8. "Napoleon," $2.2 million.

9. "Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé," $2 million.

10. "Poor Things," $1.3 million.


# Federal agency quashes Georgia's plan to let pharmacies sell medical marijuana
December 17, 2023. 12:34 PM EST

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**ATLANTA (AP)** - Federal drug officials are warning Georgia to shelve its plans to be the first state to allow pharmacies to dispense medical marijuana products.

News outlets report that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration on Nov. 27 warned pharmacies that dispensing medical marijuana violates federal law.

The Georgia Board of Pharmacy began accepting applications to dispense the products in October. Licenses have already been issued to 23 Georgia independent pharmacies, the board said.

The Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission, which oversees Georgia's fledgling medical marijuana industry, said it can't override the federal directive, even though pharmacies are allowed to dispense the products under state law.

Andrew Turnage, the commission's executive director, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution the state would love to see pharmacists be allowed to continue providing consultations for medical cannabis products as they do with other medication.

In a memo to pharmacies, the DEA said none of them can lawfully possess, handle or dispense marijuana or related products containing more than 0.3% tetrahydrocannabinol - the psychoactive chemical known as THC that gives users a high.

Georgia lets patients with medical needs buy medical marijuana products with up to 5% THC. Marijuana sold for recreational use typically has a higher level.

The DEA said it considers products derived from the cannabis plant with a THC content above 0.3% to be marijuana, making it illegal under federal drug law.

Georgia has allowed patients with certain illnesses and physician approval to possess and consume low-THC medical cannabis products since 2015. But until April, there was no legal way for them to buy the product in Georgia.

Nationwide, 24 states have legalized marijuana for recreational use, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Another 23 allow some form of medical cannabis.

The recent DEA notice was published online by the group Smart Approaches to Marijuana, which generally opposes marijuana legalization.

Ira Katz of Little Five Points Pharmacy in Atlanta told WXIA-TV that he thought pharmacies like his should able to dispense the products in the same way marijuana dispensaries do.

"It just doesn't make any sense to me that people can go to a dispensary and not to a pharmacy," he said. "We would be buying it from the same growers."

Mahlon Davidson, interim CEO of the Georgia Pharmacy Association, said he doubted independent pharmacists would risk imperiling their businesses by flouting the DEA.

"The current conflict between state and federal law puts Georgia's pharmacies in a difficult position," the Georgia Pharmacy Association wrote in a letter to pharmacists, adding that the association is "putting forth the maximum effort to help provide timely information and assist in navigating this issue."

Those who oppose rapid legalization of marijuana said the DEA's stance will protect consumers and allow time for more research.

Michael Mumper, the executive director of the nonprofit Georgians for Responsible Marijuana Policy, said consumers trust that drugs dispensed from pharmacies are fully tested, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and federally legal. Mumper said that's not the case with medical marijuana.

But the federal stance could change if a recent proposal to loosen restrictions on marijuana goes through. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in August proposed taking marijuana off the banned list of Schedule I substances and reclassifying it as a lower-risk Schedule III drug.


# 3 bystanders were injured as police fatally shot a man who pointed his gun at a Texas bar
December 17, 2023. 12:31 PM EST

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**AUSTIN, Texas (AP)** - Police in Texas are trying to determine who injured three bystanders as officers shot and killed a man who pointed a firearm at them at a bar in an Austin entertainment district.

Police said three officers fired at the suspect, who was shot multiple times late Saturday night. Interim Police Chief Robin Henderson said they were still trying to determine who shot the bystanders. She said there were indications that the suspect also fired his gun.

Henderson said an employee at the bar along Sixth Street had alerted police to a man with a firearm in the bar. Henderson said that when police approached him, he pulled out the firearm and pointed it at officers and bar patrons.

The suspect has not yet been identified.

Henderson said that one of the bystanders had critical injuries while the other two had injuries that were not life threatening.

Per department protocol, the three officers involved in the shooting will be placed on administrative duty. Henderson said that video from their body cameras will be released within 10 business days.


# Prolific Chicago sculptor whose public works explored civil rights, Richard Hunt dies at 88
By **SOPHIA TAREEN**
December 17, 2023. 12:19 PM EST

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**CHICAGO (AP)** - Richard Hunt, a prolific Chicago artist who was the first Black sculptor to receive a solo retrospective at New York City's Museum of Modern Art and whose public works drew praise from presidents, has died at age 88.

Hunt "passed away peacefully" Saturday at his home, according to a statement posted on his website. No cause of death was given.

During his career, Hunt created more than 160 commissioned pieces of public art that are displayed nationwide, including at libraries and college campuses. In Chicago, his 35-foot high stainless steel "Flight Forms" is at Midway International Airport. In 2021, his monument with bronze columns honoring the late civil rights icon Ida B. Wells was dedicated in the city's Bronzeville neighborhood.

"Richard's legacy will live on for generations to come," Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a Saturday evening statement. "A lifelong Chicagoan, his extraordinary career spanning 70 years leaves an indelible impact on our city and our world."

More than 100 of Hunt's pieces are displayed in museums worldwide. That includes the 1,500-pound bronze monument called "Swing Low" at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. The sculpture, an ode to the spiritual by the same name, is suspended from the ceiling on the first floor.

Born on the city's South Side, Hunt was 19 when he went to the open-casket funeral of Emmett Till, a Black teenage lynching victim. Hunt later said the experience influenced his artistic work and a commitment to civil rights. A piece Hunt recently completed to honor Till, called "Hero Ascending," is expected to be installed at Till's childhood home in Chicago next year.

Hunt was a graduate of the prestigious School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed him to the National Council on the Arts. Three years later, he was the first Black sculptor to have a solo retrospective exhibit at MoMa.

His commissioned work, "Book Bird," will be placed outside a planned Chicago Public Library branch at the Obama Presidential Center, which is under construction. The sculpture shows a bird taking flight from a book.

"It will be an inspiration for visitors from around the world, and an enduring reminder of a remarkable man," former President Barack Obama said in a Saturday statement. "Richard Hunt was an acclaimed sculptor and one of the finest artists ever to come out of Chicago."

Hunt described the sculpture as something that shows the progress one can make through reading and study.

"There are a range of possibilities for art on public buildings or in public places to commemorate, to inspire," Hunt said in a presidential center video last year about the commission. "Art can enliven and set certain standards for what's going on in and around it and within the community."

Hunt is survived by his daughter, Cecilia, and his sister Marian.

A private funeral service is planned for Chicago. A public celebration of his life and art will be held next year, according to his website.


# Pilot and 2 passengers identified as victims of small plane crash in Oregon
December 18, 2023. 1:39 AM EST

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**INDEPENDENCE, Ore. (AP)** - A small plane crashed into power lines in Oregon late Saturday afternoon and killed the pilot and two passengers, police said.

Polk County emergency services received the report of the single engine plane crash in Independence around 4:55 p.m., the Independence Police Department said in a statement posted Saturday on social media.

Authorities on Sunday identified the deceased as the pilot, 35-year-old Mohammad Hussain Musawi of Independence, and two passengers, Mohammad Bashir Safdari, 35, of Independence and Ali Jan Ferdawsi, 29, of Salem, Oregon.

The airplane's owner was not on board and there were no other passengers, police said.

"My heart goes out to the deceased and the pain their families are experiencing," Independence Chief Robert Mason said in a statement. "Our entire department mourns with you during this time."

The plane was traveling in heavy fog from McMinnville, Oregon, to the Independence State Airport, police said in an updated statement on Sunday.

Police said the initial investigation found the collision with electrical power lines resulted in a small brush fire and a power outage in the community about 12 miles (19.3 kilometers) southwest of Salem.

Pacific Power said at least 375 customers in Independence lost power on Saturday after the crash, the Statesman Journal reported.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating with assistance from the Independence police.

A possible cause was not immediately released.


# Families say autism therapy helped their kids. Indiana's Medicaid cuts could put it out of reach
By **ISABELLA VOLMERT**
December 17, 2023. 12:08 AM EST

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**INDIANAPOLIS (AP)** - Shaunna Thompson was running out of childcare options. Her daughter Abbie was expelled from daycare in 2022 because of "all over the place" behavior. Thompson found an in-home provider for the toddler, but was told Abbie was "too much" to watch every day of the week.

The experiences motivated Thompson to seek assistance for her daughter, who also was missing developmental milestones. Abbie, now 3, was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder in October of last year.

By March, Thompson enrolled her in applied behavior analysis - a therapy based on learning and behavior focused on improving communicative, social and motor skills - at a local facility in northern Indiana for 40 hours a week. Abbie, nonverbal most of her life, has since said her first word: "Mom."

"It brought tears to my eyes" Thompson said.

But Thompson and other families reliant on Medicaid worry changes coming in January will limit access to the therapy as Indiana attempts to limit the cost and, along with other states, cut the size of the low-income health care program.

Indiana's Family and Social Services Administration said the cost of Medicaid reimbursement for the behavioral therapy, commonly referred to as ABA, has ballooned in recent years because of the growing number of children seeking the services and the amount that providers have billed the state. The state plans a universal, hourly reimbursement rate for the therapy, but the planned amount is lower than what providers have previously received on average.

Advocates and centers worry this will mean accepting fewer patients or even closing, as has happened in other states such as Colorado this year.

"Companies just kept leaving and it just kind of turned into a crisis situation," said J.J. Tomash, who leads an ABA provider in Colorado called BehaviorSpan. He blamed Medicaid reimbursement rates that have not kept up with the cost of living.

Medicaid began covering the services in 2016, and providers in Indiana set their own rates until now. But centers say the new rates are still not enough to keep them running and are far below the previous statewide average of $97 per hour.

Indiana Act for Families, a coalition opposing the new rates, said the proposal is 10% below providers' operating costs. Although Indiana has said the new rates are aligned with pay in other states, the coalition argued the state used outdated data in their comparison.

Miles Hodge, owner and co-founder of Shine Pediatric Therapy in Indianapolis, said the effects of the new rates will take their toll over time. The state said the rates will be up for review every four years, a time frame Hodge said does not keep up with inflation.

"It could leave a lot of people underwater," he said.

About 6,200 children and young adults received the services under Medicaid in 2022, the state said.

With a standard patient to therapist ratio of 1-to-1, ABA is an "extremely staff intensive model," Hodge said. Across the state, he expects staff pay and benefits to be hit, which he said could lead to high turnover and inconsistent care for patients.

Hodge predicted his center will have to take fewer patients who are on Medicaid because of the changes.

The Indiana agency overseeing Medicaid said the therapy is the only major service category that did not have a uniform reimbursement rate, and the rising cost of the services was unsustainable. ABA expenditures increased more than 50% per year for the last three years, according to the agency.

In 2022, ABA claims represented $420 million in Medicaid spending, the state said. Total Medicaid expenditures in state fiscal year 2022 totaled more than $16 billion.

The move comes at the same time as states unwind pandemic-era protections that kept millions of people covered by Medicaid. In Indiana, the number of people enrolled in Medicaid steadily grew every month from March 2020 until May 23, when the federal budget law ended the protections.

Indiana's total enrollment has fallen every month since then.

States setting universal rates is common, but low reimbursement endangers access to key services for individuals with disabilities, said Jennifer Lav, senior attorney with the National Health Law Program.

Lower rates in a time of high inflation can lead to staff turnover and shortages, issues that can compound in rural areas, she said.

ABA is not without critics. Zoe Gross, advocacy director at the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network, said ABA's goal is to eliminate behaviors considered autistic and teaches children to conform with neurotypical behaviors.

"It teaches you that the way you naturally behave is not OK," she said.

But families who have found it helpful find it hard to imagine a future without access.

In Westfield, a suburb of Indianapolis, 29-year-old Natasha Virgil said her family's ability to participate in activities outside their home markedly improved once 6-year-old Elijah Hill began ABA therapy.

"My biggest thing is making sure that he has a fighting chance to be able to live in this world and have the skills to survive," Virgil said, holding her 4-month-old daughter and watching Elijah play with soap bubbles near the family's Christmas tree.

It's difficult already for parents of children with disabilities to hold jobs between numerous therapy sessions and doctor's appointments, Virgil said.

"I don't think I would ever be able to be where we are if we didn't pursue ABA," she said

Chanel McClure, mother of 2-year-old King, said she has lost sleep over the pending change. She interviewed multiple centers before finding the ABA therapy she wanted for King. He was on a waiting list for another 11 months.

Now almost 3, King is nonverbal and attends speech, occupational and developmental therapy. Since beginning ABA, McClure said he has learned new ways to communicate and is comfortable playing with other children. His therapists are working to address elopement or wandering that can be common in children with autism.

"King just bloomed like a flower," McClure said.


# Can a state count all its votes by hand? A North Dakota proposal aims to be the first to try
By **JACK DURA**
December 17, 2023. 12:07 AM EST

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BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - All election ballots would be counted by hand under a proposal that could go to North Dakota voters, potentially achieving a goal of activists across the country who distrust modern vote counting but dismaying election officials who say the change would needlessly delay vote tallies and lead to more errors.

Backers of the proposed ballot measure are far from gathering enough signatures, but if the plan makes the June 2024 ballot and voters pass it, North Dakota would have to replace ballot scanners with hundreds of workers across the state who would carefully count and recount ballots.

It's a change other Republican-led states have attempted unsuccessfully in the years since former President Donald Trump began criticizing the nation's vote-counting system, falsely claiming it was rigged against him.

"We've always done hand counting before we got these machines," said Lydia Gessele, a farmer who is leading the effort to get the measure on the ballot. "They can find the people to do the job, because there are people that are willing to come in and do the hand counting."

Gessele said supporters were motivated by issues they claim occurred in 2022, including inaccurate ballot scanners and an electrical outage that prevented people in Bismarck from voting.

Former Secretary of State Al Jaeger, a Republican who oversaw North Dakota's elections for 30 years through 2022, rejected Gessele's claims, saying, "There was nothing that took place that would have changed the outcome of a vote. Nothing at all."

The North Dakota effort is aligned with a move ment among Trump allies who since 2020 have railed against voting machines. Without evidence, they cast the machines as suspicious and fraudulent. In some cases, they even breached voting systems' software in their efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.

Earlier this year, Fox News reached a settlement with Dominion Voting Systems to pay $787.5 million to settle a defamation lawsuit brought over statements broadcast by the network that Dominion machines were rigged against Trump.

The North Dakota ballot measure proposes all voting "shall be done by paper ballots and counted by hand starting on the day of the election and continuing uninterrupted until hand counting is completed."

The move would make North Dakota the first state to mandate hand counts, shifting from the paper ballots and scanners used for most elections, according to Voting Rights Lab, a nonpartisan organization that tracks states' voting legislation.

The measure doesn't specify a process or funding for hand counts. The state pays for election equipment, but North Dakota's 53 counties are each responsible for poll workers and polling locations.

North Dakota Republican Secretary of State Michael Howe said he opposes the proposed measure because hand counts are less standardized than using scanners. He likened it to having a computer rather than a human umpire a baseball game.

"When you hand-count, you bring in the human element of umpiring. You could have a wide strike zone, you could have a narrow strike zone," Howe said. "What you get with a machine is one consistent strike zone every single time."

Officials elsewhere in the country have struggled to implement hand-counting requirements. In Nye County, Nevada, officials in 2022 proceeded with a hand count, but only after polls closed and along with a machine count. In California's Shasta County, a state law prevented officials from forcing a hand count for a Nov. 7 election.

Last year, 317 ballots took more than seven hours to count by hand in Nevada's least populated county.

Legislators in at least eight states also proposed prohibitions, in some way, on ballot tabulators.

In April, Arizona Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed a bill that effectively would have mandated hand counts "by prohibiting the use of any known type of electronic tabulator." Arizona's Republican-controlled Legislature passed a similar resolution, but it was deemed non-binding.

Election officials in some of North Dakota's largest counties questioned the proposal.

Hand counting "seems to be extremely error-prone," said Craig Steingaard, the election administrator for Cass County, the state's largest county.

"It would definitely be more difficult for us to administer these elections correctly and then efficiently, too," he said.

Grand Forks County Finance and Tax Director Debbie Nelson said hand counts must be done "repeatedly to get the correct number. You can't do it once, and it takes you a very long time to do what the computer can do instantly."

The measure would allow any U.S. citizen to verify or audit North Dakota elections. The initiative also would mandate that "all voting will be completed only on Election Day," with allowance for absentee ballots mailed only for voters "who request one for a specific election in writing within a reasonable time period prior to Election Day." Mail-in ballots would be "otherwise prohibited."

Nearly 44% of voters participated by early voting or by mail in North Dakota's November 2022 election.


# During the 2023 holiday season, face masks have settled in as an occasional feature of American life
By **DEEPTI HAJELA**
December 17, 2023. 2:13 PM EST

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**NEW YORK (AP)** - The scene: A crowded shopping center in the weeks before Christmas. Or a warehouse store. Or maybe a packed airport terminal or a commuter train station or another place where large groups gather.

There are people - lots of people. But look around, and it's clear one thing is largely absent these days: face masks.

Yes, there's the odd one here and there, but nothing like it was three years ago at the dawn of the COVID pandemic's first winter holidays - an American moment of contentiousness, accusation and scorn on both sides of the mask debate.

As 2023 draws to an end, with promises of holiday parties and crowds and lots of inadvertent exchanges of shared air, mask-wearing is much more off than on around the country even as COVID's long tail lingers. The days of anything approaching a widespread mask mandate would be like the Ghost of Christmas Past, a glimpse into what was.

Look at it a different way, though: These days, mask-wearing has become just another thing that simply happens in America. In a country where the mention of a mask prior to the pandemic usually meant Halloween or a costume party, it's a new way of being that hasn't gone away even if most people aren't doing it regularly.

"That's an interesting part of the pandemic," says Brooke Tully, a strategist who works on how to change people's behaviors.

"Home delivery of food and all of those kind of services, they existed before COVID and actually were gaining some momentum," she says. "But something like mask-wearing in the U.S. didn't really have an existing baseline. It was something entirely new in COVID. So it's one of those new introductions of behaviors and norms."

## THE SITUATION NOW IS ... SITUATIONAL
It tends to be situational, like the recent decision from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center hospital system to reinstate a mask mandate at its facilities starting Dec. 20 because it's seeing an increase in respiratory viruses. And for people like Sally Kiser, 60, of Mooresville, North Carolina, who manages a home health care agency.

"I always carry one with me," she says, "'cause I never know."

She doesn't always wear it, depending on the environment she's in, but she will if she thinks it's prudent. "It's kind of like a new paradigm for the world we live in," she says.

It wasn't that long ago that fear over catching COVID-19 sent demand for masks into overdrive, with terms like "N95" coming into our vocabularies alongside concepts like mask mandates - and the subsequent, and vehement, backlash from those who felt it was government overreach.

Once the mandates started dropping, the masks started coming off and the demand fell. It fell so much so that Project N95, a nonprofit launched during the pandemic to help people find quality masks, announced earlier this month that it would stop sales Monday because there wasn't enough interest.

Anne Miller, the organization's executive director, acknowledges she thought widespread mask usage would become the rule, not the exception.

"I thought the new normal would be like we see in other cultures and other parts of the world - where people just wear a mask out of an abundance of caution for other people," she says.

But that's not how norms work, public safety or otherwise, says Markus Kemmelmeier, a professor of sociology at the University of Nevada, Reno.

In 2020, Kemmelmeier authored a study about mask-wearing around the country that showed mask usage and mandate resistance varied by region based on conditions including pre-existing cultural divisions and political orientation.

He points to the outcry after the introduction of seatbelts and seatbelt laws more than four decades ago as an example of how practices, particularly those required in certain parts of society, do or don't take hold.

"When they first were instituted with all the sense that they make and all the effectiveness, there was a lot of resistance," Kemmelmeier says. "The argument was basically lots of complaints about individual freedoms being curtailed and so forth, and you can't tell me what to do and so forth."

## FIGURING OUT THE BALANCE
In New York City's Brooklyn borough, members of the Park Slope Co-op recently decided there was a need at the longstanding, membership-required grocery. Last month, the co-op instituted mask-required Wednesdays and Thursdays; the other five days continue to have no requirement.

The people who proposed it weren't focused on COVID rates. They were thinking about immune-compromised people, a population that has always existed but came to mainstream awareness during the pandemic, says co-op general manager Joe Holtz.

Proponents of the mask push at the co-op emphasized that immunocompromised people are more at risk from other people's respiratory ailments like colds and flu. Implementing a window of required mask usage allows them to be more protected, Holtz says.

It was up to the store's administrators to pick the days, and they went with two of the slowest instead of the busy weekend days on purpose, Holtz says, a nod to the reality that mask requirements get different responses from people.

"From management's point of view," he says, "if we were going to try and if there's going to be a negative financial impact from this decision that was made, we want to minimize it."

Those shopping there on a recent Thursday didn't seem fazed.

Aron Halberstam, 77, says he doesn't usually mask much these days but wasn't put off by the requirement. He wears a mask on the days it's required, even if he doesn't otherwise - a middle ground reflecting what is happening in so many parts of the country more than three years after the mask became a part of daily conversation and daily life.

"Any place which asks you to do it, I just do it," Halberstam says. "I have no resistance to it."

Whatever the level of resistance, says Kemmelmeier, the culture has shifted. People are still wearing masks in places like crowded stores or while traveling. They do so because they choose to for their own reasons and not because the government is requiring it. And new reasons can come up as well, like when wildfires over the summer made air quality poor and people used masks to deal with the haze and smoke.

"It always will find a niche to fit in with," he says. "And as long as there are needs somewhere, it will survive."


# Jared Goff throws 5 TD passes as NFC North-leading Lions bounce back, beat Broncos 42-17
By **LARRY LAGE**
December 17, 2023. 12:30 AM EST

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**DETROIT (AP)** - Jared Goff and the Detroit Lions bounced back and took a step toward ending a six-season playoff drought.

Goff matched a career high with five touchdown passes, three to rookie tight end Sam LaPorta, and Detroit routed the Denver Broncos 42-17 on Saturday night.

"Our superpower is how we respond as a team," Goff said.

The NFC North-leading Lions (10-4) could clinch a spot in the postseason for the first time since the 2016 season if other results go their way the rest of Week 15. The simplest scenario would be a loss or tie by Seattle to Philadelphia on Monday night.

If Detroit wins a division title for the first time since 1993, it would host a playoff game. The Lions have only one playoff victory since the franchise won the NFL title in 1957.

"It would be fun, but we've got work to do," Goff said.

The Broncos' hopes of making the playoffs for the first time since the 2015 season took a hit. Denver (7-7) had won six of its previous seven games to pull within a game of AFC West-leading Kansas City.

"We've got to keep believing," quarterback Russell Wilson said. "We've done it before."

Goff and the the Lions had lost two of three, but they put that behind them with a dominant second quarter.

"We've been through a lot of adversity as a group and a three-game lull is not the worst thing we've been through," Goff said.

The veteran quarterback, who turned the ball over eight times in the previous four games, threw touchdown passes in the second quarter to LaPorta, rookie running back Jahmyr Gibbs and Amon-Ra St. Brown to give Detroit a 21-0 halftime lead.

Denver, meanwhile, was 1 of 6 on third down and had just 75 yards in the first half.

"It was the ultimate team win. The defense started it out for us," coach Dan Campbell said.

The Broncos had a touchdown on fourth down negated late in the third when offensive lineman Quinn Meinerz was flagged for being offside.

Broncos coach Sean Payton proceeded to scream at Wilson on the sideline and Denver settled for a field goal to cut its deficit to 28-10.

"I was upset about the call," Payton said. "That's all. Simple. That's it."

So, why was he yelling at Wilson?

"Listen, what I talk to Russell about is none of your business," he said curtly to a reporter.

Wilson, who lost a fumble on his first possession, finished 18 of 32 for 223 yards with a touchdown pass and a rushing TD. He was relieved by backup Jarrett Stidham on a meaningless final series.

Goff was 24 of 34 for 278 yards, throwing five touchdown passes for the first time since 2018 when he played for the Rams, and didn't have a turnover. He joined Houston's C.J. Stroud as the only QBs to throw for five TDs in a game this season. The Broncos had given up just four touchdown passes over the previous six games.

LaPorta, a second-round pick from Iowa, became the first rookie tight end to have at least 70 receptions, 700 yards and nine touchdowns.

St. Brown had seven catches for 112 yards and a score after totaling five receptions in the previous two games.

The Lions leaned on a strong running game with Gibbs and David Montgomery combining for 185 yards and 27 carries. Gibbs' 12-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter put them ahead 35-10.

## PRIME-TIME PLAYERS
Detroit is 4-0 at night this season with wins over Kanas City, Green Bay, Las Vegas and Denver.

## ADDITIONAL SCENARIOS
Detroit could secure a playoff spot on Sunday if the Los Angeles Rams lose or tie along with a Tampa Bay loss or an Atlanta loss or tie.

## INJURIES
Broncos: OLB Nik Bonitto was inactive after leaving last week's game with a knee injury.

Lions: CB Jerry Jacobs (hamstring) and TE Brock Wright (groin) were hurt during the game.

## UP NEXT
Broncos: Host New England on Sunday, Dec. 24.

Lions: At Minnesota on Dec. 24.


# Maury Povich receives lifetime achievement award from wife Connie Chung at Daytime Emmys
December 16, 2023. 10:48 PM EST

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**LOS ANGELES (AP)** - Maury Povich received the Daytime Emmys Lifetime Achievement Honor on Saturday from his wife, journalist Connie Chung.

The 84-year-old talk show host, who retired last year, was honored during the creative arts ceremony at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

"I know that you think he's been determining the paternity of every child in America all his life," Chung said in her introduction. "But no, in his 67 freaking years in television, he's been a news reporter and a news anchor and old fashion talk show host interviewing world leaders, politicians, members of Congress, authors, movie stars and even Julia Child."

Among those paying tribute in videos were Whoopi Goldberg, Kelly Clarkson, Lewis Black, Karamo Brown and sports broadcasters Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser.

Povich took the stage to chants of "Maury, Maury, Maury!" He ended his tabloid-style show last year, which began in 1991. He hosted "A Current Affair" from 1986-90 for then-Fox Television owner Rupert Murdoch.

Povich recalled when "A Current Affair" was nominated for awards during its run.

"Rupert Murdoch used to tell me all that time, 'Don't particularly think about that, Maury, we're more interested in winning viewers than awards,'" Povich said.

Raising his Emmy award in the air, Povich said, "Rupert, the hell with that."


# Gardner Minshew, Colts bolster playoff chances, beat fading Steelers 30-13
By **MICHAEL MAROT**
December 16, 2023. 9:15 PM EST

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**INDIANAPOLIS (AP)** - Gardner Minshew got the most out of his depleted supporting cast.

The Colts' quarterback, himself a backup, made big plays with backup receivers. He got Indianapolis' reserve running backs into play calls that would succeed. It was some of Minshew's finest work of the season - perhaps of his entire career.

Minshew matched his career high with three touchdown passes, Indianapolis rushed for 170 yards and the Colts improved their playoff prospects with a 30-13 win over the sagging Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday.

"We've needed to win these games and we've done a great job down the stretch," Minshew said. "I think everybody was locked in, the urgency was there, the attention to details. At this point it's all about winning games, however, you've got to get it done."

Minshew and the Colts (8-6) have won five of six to move from the bottom of the AFC South into playoff contention. They currently hold the No. 7 position in the AFC, and they will remain there when this weekend's games conclude because of tiebreakers.

They wouldn't be in that spot without Minshew, who replaced injured rookie Anthony Richardson in Week 5. On Saturday, Minshew went 18 of 28 with 215 yards despite losing top receiver Michael Pittman Jr. to a concussion and top rusher Zack Moss to an injured right arm. Jonathan Taylor (right thumb), the 2021 NFL rushing champ, didn't play, either.

The Steelers (7-7) dropped their third straight and fell into last place in the rugged AFC North, putting coach Mike Tomlin's run of 16 straight seasons at .500 or better in jeopardy.

Pittsburgh took an early 13-0 lead behind backup quarterback Mitch Trubisky, who made his second start in place of the injured Kenny Pickett. But by late in the fourth quarter, the Colts had scored 30 consecutive points and third-stringer Mason Rudolph was slinging passes for the Steelers.

"Let's be honest, we're a fundamentally poor football team right now," Tomlin said. "We're playing losing football and I own that. I don't necessarily have the answers today. If I did, we'd have played differently today. But I will acknowledge things will not continue the way that they are."

Trubisky was 16 of 23 for 169 yards with one TD pass and two interceptions. Pittsburgh rushed for 74 yards and finished with 216 total yards.

The Steelers got off to a promising start when a replay review changed a fumble by Trubisky into a 1-yard TD run. Chris Boswell missed the extra-point attempt. Six plays later, Pittsburgh capitalized on a blocked punt when Trubisky threw a 4-yard TD pass to Diontae Johnson early in the second quarter.

But Indy's defense stiffened from there, and the Colts took control when Minshew and Moss hooked up on a 16-yard TD pass and D.J. Montgomery caught a 14-yard TD pass with 22 seconds left in the first half for a 14-13 lead. Montgomery was promoted from the practice squad this week.

"He's just worked his tail off on the scout team all year, he's just made play after play," Colts coach Shane Steichen said. "It's like, we've got to get this guy up on the active roster."

Pittsburgh's downward spiral continued when Najee Harris fumbled on the first Steelers play of the second half. On the next snap, Minshew threw an 18-yard scoring pass to Mo Alie-Cox to make it 21-13. The Colts sealed the win with three field goals by Matt Gay.

Trey Sermon ran 17 times for 88 yards to lead the Colts after logging only 11 runs this season.

"I think any time you lose really good players like that, nobody's going to just step in and replace them," Minshew said. "I think everybody has to kind of pick up their level of play and I think we got that from a lot of different areas today."

## SCARY MOMENT
Lucas Oil Stadium fell silent when Steelers safety Damontae Kazee launched his shoulder into Pittman as the receiver tried to make a diving catch. The Colts later said Pittman had a concussion. Kazee was ejected for the hit, which also drew a penalty.

Colts players immediately rushed to see if Pittman was OK and some players from both teams took a knee as trainers worked on Pittman. Fans covered their eyes and had concerned looks before Pittman got up and walked off the field.

## INJURY REPORT
Steelers: S Minkah Fitzpatrick did not return after hurting his left knee in the second quarter.

Colts: Moss did not return after getting hurt on his scoring play. He broke the same arm during the preseason. DT Eric Johnson II left in the second half with what appeared to be a lower-body injury.

## BY THE NUMBERS
Steelers: Lost for the first time at Lucas Oil Stadium as their eight-game winning streak in the series ended. ... Johnson led the Steelers with four catches for 67 yards. George Pickens caught three balls for 47 yards.

Colts: Tyler Goodson had 11 carries for 69 yards. Indy had 14 consecutive rushes during one second-half series. ... The Colts had three sacks, giving them 45 this season - two short of a new single-season franchise record.

## UP NEXT
Steelers: Host division rival Cincinnati next Saturday.

Colts: At Atlanta on Sunday, Dec. 24.


# Large fire burns 2nd residential construction site in 3 days in Denver suburb
December 16, 2023. 9:21 PM EST

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**DENVER (AP)** - Firefighters in the Denver metro area responded to the second large fire at an Aurora construction site in three days on Saturday.

Officials have not yet determined the cause for either fire and have not suggested that they were related, but both are under investigation.

Saturday's five-alarm fire was reported shortly before 1 p.m., said Aurora Fire Rescue spokesperson Andrew Logan, at a large apartment building that was still under construction. Responding crews went to the top floor of the five-story building where the blaze was reported to have started, but the dangerous conditions soon forced crews from several different agencies to focus on fighting the flames from outside the structure.

One firefighter suffered minor injuries but was not taken to a hospital and is recovering, according to a department statement.

No other buildings were damaged in the fire, Logan said, and firefighters were expected to remain on the scene through Saturday evening.

Another fire early Thursday morning engulfed several residential buildings that were under construction in a different Aurora neighborhood. Aurora Fire Rescue wrote in a statement that Thursday's fire "was a very volatile, highly dangerous scene" and that responding crews used a hose line to keep nearby propane tanks from exploding. No one was injured in Thursday's fire.

"I believe the only thing those two have in common as of right now is that they both were under construction," Aurora Fire deputy Chief Caine Hills said in a news conference Saturday afternoon.


# Prosecutors say Washington state man charged in 4 murders lured victims with promise of buried gold
December 16, 2023. 5:20 PM EST

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**SEATTLE (AP)** - A Washington state man in jail awaiting trial in one murder case has been charged with three more killings, and prosecutors say he lured all four victims by asking them to help dig up buried gold.

Richard Bradley Jr., 40, was charged in May 2021 with first-degree murder in the death of 44-year-old Brandi Blake, whose body was found buried in a sprawling park in the town of Auburn, Washington. In the last two weeks, prosecutors have filed three more murder charges against Bradley, The Seattle Times reports, in the shooting deaths of a father and adult son in May 2021 and in the 2019 death of a man whose remains were found near Blake's grave.

Bradley's defense attorney, Peter Geisness, did not immediately return voice and email messages on Saturday. Bradley is scheduled to stand trial next month in Blake's death. He has not yet had the opportunity to enter a plea on the other murder charges, according to online court records.

Senior Deputy Prosecutor Thomas O'Ban II wrote in court documents that Bradley is accused of using the same scheme in each of the deaths - allegedly telling the victims he needed their help digging up a stash of stolen gold, taking them to a wooded area and killing them before stealing their vehicles and whatever possessions were inside.

Charging documents say Emilio Maturin was 36 when he was last seen alive in July 2019. His girlfriend reported him missing two weeks later.

According to court documents, she told detectives that she overheard Bradley telling Maturin that "he needed help digging up some buried gold in Auburn." Maturin initially was skeptical, she told detectives, but allegedly went along anyway. Maturin was in the habit of taking large amounts of money with him whenever he left the house, according to the court documents, and he had roughly $15,000 in cash when he left that day in his recently purchased BMW.

The girlfriend tracked Maturin's cellphone to Game Farm Park in Auburn and went to look for him but got scared and left, according to charging documents.

Several hours later, Auburn police found an unregistered BMW parked near a large field at the park and waited for the driver to return. When they attempted to stop the driver, the car took off. Bradley was arrested after a car and foot chase and charged with eluding police, according to charging documents.

Michael Goeman, 59, and his son Vance Lakey, 31, were shot to death in March 2021, and their bodies were found on an unmaintained road not far from the park. Goeman received a large inheritance just before he and his son were killed, according to court documents.

Bradley was considered a person of interest in the deaths at the time. He was charged that May with second-degree arson after prosecutors said he offered a man $1,000 to set fire to the father and son's impounded SUV. On Thursday, prosecutors added two counts of second-degree murder.

Blake went missing in early May 2021. She had won $20,000 at a casino and, like Maturin, was known to carry large amounts of cash, according to court documents. Investigators found her body in a shallow grave at the park later that month - as well as three human ribs about 30 feet (9 meters) away.

Bradley was charged that same month with killing Blake, who died of blunt force injuries. The ribs were later matched by DNA to Maturin, and Bradley was charged with murder in Maturin's death on Dec. 5 of this year.


# How the White House got involved in the border talks on Capitol Hill - with Ukraine aid at stake
By **SEUNG MIN KIM**
December 18, 2023. 12:04 AM EST

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**WASHINGTON (AP)** - White House chief of staff Jeff Zients recently heard from a powerful Democratic senator that steep levels of migration at the U.S.-Mexico border had become, in a word, untenable.

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat, had signed onto a statement denouncing "reports of harmful changes to our asylum system" that were being proposed as part of a border deal on Capitol Hill. Yet Durbin, a veteran of numerous immigration battles, had also received concerning briefings from border officials and seen firsthand how the rising number of asylum-seekers had overwhelmed resources in his Midwestern state.

So when Zients dialed Durbin one weekend this month for a temperature check on the ongoing border talks, the senator was candid.

"I told him I thought the current situation is unsustainable, and the Democrats need to be part of the solution," Durbin said. President Joe Biden's top aide signaled the White House felt the same way, stressing to Durbin that "we have to engage with the Republicans and see if there's some middle ground," according to the senator's retelling.

That conversation between Zients and Durbin is just one of the several calls that the White House chief of staff has been making to key lawmakers in recent days, underscoring how top Biden administration officials have considerably ramped up their involvement with Capitol Hill as the fate of Biden's emergency spending request for Ukraine remains in the balance.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, along with senior officials from the White House and the Department of Homeland Security, have spent hours behind closed doors haggling over the intricacies of immigration policy alongside senators trying to reach a border deal. Zients himself dropped by one of those meetings at the Capitol last week, reiterating to the negotiators Biden's plea to find a solution.

And the White House chief of staff has been talking regularly with Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford, the chief GOP negotiator. It's a level of engagement that has heartened Republicans who had pushed for Biden to get more involved.

Republicans, who control the House and can block legislation in the Senate, say a deal is not possible without significant White House buy-in. Having Biden's senior aides actively participate in the talks sends a message - particularly to wary Democratic lawmakers - that the president is willing to cut a border deal that could make some in his own party uncomfortable.

And any deal that is reached on the border could also help address one major political liability for Biden as he gears up for his reelection, particularly if the increased involvement by the White House helps the public see the president as someone seeking a solution to the rising border numbers.

"I think an important change is that we now have all the entities at the table," said Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., one of the lawmakers who for weeks has been negotiating a border deal. "The White House is involved in these negotiations as a full partner, and that's important. It shows a level of seriousness and intention to solve this crisis."

Another major reason why the White House and senior administration officials have gotten so directly involved is the sheer complexity of immigration law and the Department of Homeland Security's central role in implementing any restrictions that Congress will write.

Still, this wasn't the White House's strategy from the start.

Once it became clear congressional Republicans would demand policy extractions in exchange for releasing billions in additional aid for Ukraine, the White House intentionally hung back from the negotiations - replicating its past strategy of letting the legislators legislate, which had led to several of Biden's priorities becoming law. Though administration officials had been aware of what was being discussed, they deferred to the senators leading the talks - Lankford, Sinema and Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn.

That dynamic changed this month. Mayorkas has been a consistent presence in the negotiations, along with White House legislative affairs director Shuwanza Goff and Natalie Quillian, a White House deputy chief of staff who has taken immigration under her portfolio. They, along with the senators and a coterie of other senior aides, have negotiated for hours daily, and continued to do so on Capitol Hill throughout the weekend.

Outside of the negotiating room, Zients has talked regularly with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and the other negotiators. When the chief of staff has spoken to Lankford, he has urged him and other Republicans to stick with the border negotiations because aid for Ukraine is so vital, according to an administration official.

"We can't finalize any kind of agreement until the White House is actually engaged," said Lankford, who stressed that having Biden's aides in the room has been helpful. "There's a lot of Senate Democrats that are wondering, 'What's the White House think about this?' That's a reasonable thing for them to ask. Can't answer until they're actually there."

The stakes of the negotiations - being held in a room on the second floor of the Capitol, near Schumer's suite of offices - are enormous for the White House and for Biden's foreign policy legacy. Entangled with the border talks are not only additional funds for Ukraine but also for Israel, which has engaged in a violent combat in Gaza since an Oct. 7 assault by Hamas militants killed more than 1,200 Israelis.

Biden and White House aides have repeatedly warned, in dire terms, about the consequences of letting Ukraine funding run dry. The president said earlier this month that "any disruption in our ability to supply Ukraine clearly strengthens Putin's position," and administration officials have stressed that the money to aid Kyiv will run out by the end of the year.

Yet other Democrats and immigrant-rights advocates have been concerned that Biden's desperation for Ukraine aid would cause the White House to accept hardline policies restricting avenues for asylum that it would otherwise not support. And it has fallen to senior White House aides to take incoming fury from upset lawmakers. Zients and Mayorkas spoke with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on Saturday, during which several Democrats raised concerns about the ongoing border talks.

"I think there's this view sometimes because a lot of senators become president, that you could just have the White House and the Senate come up with a deal and somehow jam the House," said Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., a leading progressive, on "Fox News Sunday." "But the House is still the people's house, and we're going to have our say. We need to be involved."


# What about Bob? Some NJ Democrats want Menendez to move on so they can fight for his Senate seat
By **MIKE CATALINI**
December 18, 2023. 12:11 AM EST

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**TRENTON, N.J. (AP)** - For years in New Jersey, any Democrat weighing a run for statewide office had to grapple with an important question: What about Bob?

It wasn't a reference to the 1991 Bill Murray flick but to Bob Menendez, the incumbent U.S. senator whose political influence placed him atop the state Democratic Party food chain. He kept allies in line, helped anoint rising stars and had an important voice in determining the fate of both candidates and policy proposals. Even after a federal corruption indictment ended in a hung jury in 2017, Menendez continued to wield considerable power.

The "What about Bob?" question is no less relevant now, though it has taken on new meaning. It still bears no connection to the movie, though it has cinematic qualities of its own. Menendez is facing federal charges that he secretly aided Egypt's authoritarian government and tried to thwart a friend's criminal prosecution in exchange for gold bars and cash. He and his wife, who was also charged, and other co-defendants in the alleged scheme have all pleaded not guilty.

So if New Jersey Democrats ask the question these days, they're more likely to be wondering when he'll get out of the way and let them get on with the business of trying to keep a crucial U.S. Senate seat in Democratic hands.

Menendez, for his part, hasn't said whether he'll seek another term but vows that he's "not going anywhere." Jason Tuber, Menendez's chief of staff, said in an email that the "people of New Jersey will determine who their Senator will be." He didn't specify Menendez's plans.

"Senator Menendez has been powerful, effective, and indispensable in delivering for New Jersey and the Senator is prepared to put his record up against anyone who enters the race," he said.

Still, many in the party he once held considerable sway over already are looking beyond him.

"Anybody looking at that indictment has no choice but to move on," said former state Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg. "It was horrendous."

Party leaders, from Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy to local officials, have called on Menendez to resign, his home county party has dropped its endorsement, and with the Democrats' U.S. Senate majority hanging in the balance, a field of robust primary challengers has begun to emerge.

U.S. Rep. Andy Kim entered the race a day after the indictment, and the state's first lady, Tammy Murphy, has jumped into the campaign and begun to win significant support from county party officials. Establishment support is typically a key factor to winning primaries in New Jersey because county parties can award the "line" or favored positioning on the ballot. Other prominent Democrats could join the race, too.

"They're already assuming he's toast," said Daniel Cassino, executive director of the Fairleigh Dickinson University poll. "He doesn't have the pull he had before."

That's due to a couple of factors, according to Cassino and other experts. Menendez's previous indictment unfolded with a Republican governor in office, who would have been likely to tap a GOP senator if the seat opened up. That case also erupted years before Menendez faced reelection, so Democrats had some incentive to see how things would wind up before deciding how they should proceed politically.

Now, rather than back him again amid a second federal corruption case, the party seems poised to move on.

A reliably blue-leaning state with nearly 1 million more Democratic registered voters than Republicans, New Jersey hasn't elected a GOP senator since 1972. The possibility of a rematch between former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden has Democrats optimistic about their chances of keeping the seat, even if Menendez mounts a reelection effort.

The Republican field at the moment includes Mendham Mayor Christine Serrano Glassner. A handful of others are also considering running. The GOP has struggled to win statewide elections, and typically performs better in gubernatorial races, which happen in odd-numbered years, than in Senate races. GOP state party chairman Bob Hugin spent millions of his own cash to try to unseat Menendez in 2018 and came up short.

Menendez has taken a defiant stance in the face of charges brought earlier this year by the U.S. attorney in Manhattan. Mounting a reelection effort while battling the case against him could be too much of a challenge, according to Brigid Harrison, political science professor at Montclair State University.

"It's going to be hard for Bob Menendez to raise money with the scandal overhead. That is a serious impediment," she said.

Ben Dworkin, who heads the Rowan Institute for Public Policy & Citizenship, acknowledged that some Democrats are looking to nudge Menendez off the political stage and that public polls have shown support declining for him. Still, he added, Menendez has survived politically before.

"You can't ever count Menendez out," he said.


# Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court, to lie in repose
By **LINDSAY WHITEHURST**
December 18, 2023. 12:22 AM EST

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**WASHINGTON (AP)** - The late Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court and an unwavering voice of moderate conservatism for more than two decades, will lie in repose in the court's Great Hall on Monday.

O'Connor, an Arizona native, died Dec. 1 at age 93.

Her casket will be carried up the steps in front of the court, passing under the iconic words engraved on the pediment, "Equal Justice Under Law," and placed in the court's Great Hall. C-SPAN will broadcast a private ceremony held before the hall is open to the public, allowing people to pay their respects afterward, from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The last justice who lay in repose at the court was Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the second female justice. After her death in 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, mourners passed by her casket outside the building, on the portico at the top of the steps.

Funeral services for O'Connor are set for Tuesday at Washington National Cathedral, where President Joe Biden and Chief Justice John Roberts are scheduled to speak.

O'Connor was nominated in 1981 by President Ronald Reagan and subsequently confirmed by the Senate, ending 191 years of male exclusivity on the high court. A rancher's daughter who was largely unknown on the national scene until her appointment, she received more letters than any one member in the court's history in her first year and would come to be referred to as the nation's most powerful woman.

She wielded considerable sway on the nine-member court, generally favoring states in disputes with the federal government and often siding with police when they faced claims of violating people's rights. Her influence could perhaps best be seen, though, on the court's rulings on abortion. She twice joined the majority in decisions that upheld and reaffirmed Roe v. Wade, the decision that said women have a constitutional right to abortion.

Thirty years after that decision, a more conservative court overturned Roe, and the opinion was written by the man who took her place, Justice Samuel Alito.

O'Connor grew up riding horses, rounding up cattle and driving trucks and tractors on the family's sprawling Arizona ranch and developed a tenacious, independent spirit.

She was a top-ranked graduate of Stanford's law school in 1952, but quickly discovered that most large law firms at the time did not hire women. One Los Angeles firm offered her a job as a secretary.

She built a career that included service as a member of the Arizona Legislature and state judge before her appointment to the Supreme Court at age 51. When she first arrived, she didn't even have a place anywhere near the courtroom to go to the bathroom. That was soon rectified, but she remained the court's only woman until 1993.

She retired at age 75, citing her husband's struggle with Alzheimer's disease as her primary reason for leaving the court. John O'Connor died three years later, in 2009.

After her retirement, O'Connor remained active, sitting as a judge on several federal appeals courts, advocating for judicial independence and serving on the Iraq Study Group. President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.

She expressed regret that a woman had not been chosen to replace her, but lived to see a record four women now serving at the same time on the Supreme Court.

She died in Phoenix, of complications related to advanced dementia and a respiratory illness. Her survivors include her three sons, Scott, Brian and Jay, six grandchildren and a brother.

The family has asked that donations be made to iCivics, the group she founded to promote civics education.


# Some Trump fake electors from 2020 haven't faded away. They have roles in how the 2024 race is run
By **GABE STERN**
December 18, 2023. 8:07 AM EST

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**VIRGINIA CITY, Nev. (AP)** - Nearly two years after he signed documents attempting to overturn Donald Trump's 2020 loss in Nevada, Jim Hindle thanked everyone gathered in a historic Nevada boomtown's commission chambers and asked them to bear with him while he learned how to oversee elections in rural Storey County.

Hindle was another replacement in what was a revolving door of county election officials across Nevada as the 2022 midterms approached. He had just unseated the interim clerk, who had stepped in after the prior clerk resigned.

But Hindle's tenure in the heavily Republican county is part of a trend across battleground states where fake electors have retained influence over elections heading into 2024.

He is among six Republicans who were indicted this month by Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford for their alleged roles in attempting to overturn the election outcome in the swing state, which Democrat Joe Biden carried by more than 33,000 votes over the GOP president.

Hindle and the others, who are scheduled to be arraigned Monday, coordinated with Trump's team directly, according to transcripts of testimony before the U.S. House committee that investigated the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

Hindle told The Associated Press he will continue running local elections despite the charges. He declined to comment further.

Wisconsin, Arizona and Pennsylvania also have fake electors who are involved in the 2024 election.

The list includes Bob Spindell, who remains on Wisconsin's bipartisan election commission despite calls from Democrats for him to be removed. A Republican legislative leader who appointed Spindell said last week that he will not rescind the appointment, calling the fake elector scheme a "failed legal strategy" and "not a sinister plot to overturn an election."

Spindell and the fake electors in Wisconsin agreed to a settlement this month conceding that their actions were "part of an attempt to improperly overturn the 2020 presidential election results."

In Arizona, fake electors Jake Hoffman and Anthony Kern are Republican legislators with powerful roles. Hoffman is chairman of the Senate Elections Committee, and Kern leads the Judiciary Committee. The Arizona attorney general is investigating the role of fake electors; no one has been charged.

Hoffman's position makes him a gatekeeper for virtually all election-related legislation under consideration. That has become especially contentious in the Western swing state where Republicans have been aggressive in trying to overturn or cast doubt on Democratic victories.

The FBI in 2022 interviewed Sam DeMarco, a member of the three-member election board in Pennsylvania's Allegheny County. Despite the subpoenas served to DeMarco and that state's other GOP electors, they have faced no legal consequences after qualifying their electoral votes as "conditional" in case Trump had prevailed in court. DeMarco has often been critical of Trump's influence on the state party.

Michigan is a rare example where a fake elector has lost influence due to charges. In July, the Michigan Bureau of Elections barred Shelby Township Clerk Stan Grot from running any elections as the state attorney general brought criminal charges against him and 15 other Republicans for their roles as fake electors.

In Nevada, Storey County's 3,750 active registered voters represent a speck of the state's electorate. Even while Hindle and others remain in their roles as elections officials and legislators, state election officials and state and federal courts can provide checks on their authority, said Wendy Weiser, director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice.

Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar's office, which runs elections across the state, did not respond to questions about whether the indictment could affect Hindle's elections role.

But Hindle's influence does not stop at the county line. He is one of three fake electors involved in the state GOP's organization of a party-run caucus in early February that is scheduled just days after the state-run presidential primary. The Nevada GOP has come under intense scrutiny for confusing voters with the dueling elections and for adopting rules that many say benefit Trump over other Republican candidates.

The Nevada GOP did not respond to a request for comment on whether the indictment affects members' abilities to organize the caucus.

The Nevada Republican chairman, Michael McDonald, one of the indicted fake electors, has said the state party is bypassing the primary because the Democratic-controlled Legislature did not consider the Republican governor's proposals for a voter ID requirement and other measures.

On Sunday, several of Nevada's fake electors attended a Trump rally in Reno, where the former president thanked three of them personally, including Hindle and McDonald, while saying they were treated unfairly. He did not mention the specific charges.

McDonald introduced Trump at the rally, while encouraging the crowd to advocate and vote for Trump at the party-run caucus. He ended the speech with the same pledge he made at an October rally, before his indictment.

"You give us a fair election, I'll give you the next president of the United States - Donald J. Trump," he said.


# Trump wants New Hampshire to put him on a path to the nomination before rivals find their footing
By **HOLLY RAMER** and **BILL BARROW**
December 17, 2023. 11:02 AM EST

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**DURHAM, N.H. (AP)** - Donald Trump wants New Hampshire to help him pocket the Republican presidential nomination before any rivals find their footing with the 2024 campaign's opening contest just weeks away.

His appearance Saturday in Durham was part of a swing taking the former president through early nominating states as he cites his wide polling lead over a dwindling field of GOP hopefuls. They are trying to block his political comeback as Trump navigates multiple indictments and looks ahead to a potential rematch with President Joe Biden, the Democrat he lost to in 2020.

"We are going to win the New Hampshire primary, then we are going to crush crooked Joe Biden next November," Trump said, reminding supporters that he ensured their state would continue to host the nation's first primary after Iowa's kickoff caucuses.

"New Hampshire is going to weed out the insincere RINOs ... Republicans in name only," Trump said, referring to rivals Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor who was endorsed by Trump in 2018, and Nikki Haley, Trump's former U.N. ambassador. Trump warned that his allies-turned-opponents "will betray you just like they betrayed me."

The New Hampshire primary is Jan. 23, eight days after Iowa begins the nominating process on Jan. 15. Nevada and South Carolina come next in the early stages, before Super Tuesday on March 5, when the highest cumulative number of delegates are up for grabs on any single day on the election calendar. The Trump campaign sees a path for him to secure the nomination before the Super Tuesday polls open.

"What's really important from our standpoint is being able to win the early states," senior campaign adviser Chris LaCivita told Right Side Broadcasting minutes before Trump stepped on stage. "Winning Iowa, winning New Hampshire, winning Nevada, winning South Carolina - it's over. That's our goal."

Trump, who has pledged to "immediately stop the invasion of our southern border" and wants to reimpose his first-term travel ban that originally targeted seven Muslim-majority countries, used harsh rhetoric in saying "we got a lot of work to do" about the rising number of migrants entering the United States. "They're poisoning the blood of our country," he said once more on the campaign trail, echoing Adolf Hitler's language in his own political manifesto.

One of Trump's most prominent critics in the 2024 race, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday that Trump was "dog-whistling to Americans who feel absolutely under stress and strain from the economy and from the conflicts around the world. And he's dog-whistling to blame it on people from areas that don't look like us."

The focus on immigration comes as the Biden administration and Congress are trying to negotiate a border security deal demanded by Republicans as part of the president's request for wartime aid for Ukraine and Israel. Biden has been criticized about the record numbers of migrants at the border and is trying address a political weakness before a potential rematch with Trump.

Before the rally, Trump's campaign announced an endorsement from former state Senate President Chuck Morse, who is now running for governor. Morse, who ran for U.S. Senate last year but lost the primary to a candidate more closely aligned with Trump, told the crowd it's time for Republicans to "rally around a candidate who can not only win but get the job done for our country."

"He's done it once, and he'll do it again," Morse said.

Gov. Chris Sununu on Tuesday endorsed Haley, who is battling DeSantis to become a plausible alternative to Trump. Sununu, a frequent Trump critic who passed on the 2024 White House race, has argued that Republicans with "no path to victory must have the courage to get out" of their party's primary in order to stop Trump.

Trump called Sununu a selfish "spoiled brat" who passed up a chance to win a U.S. Senate seat in 2022, then indulged his presidential aspirations but found no traction.

A New Hampshire poll conducted in November by CNN and the University of New Hampshire found that Haley was in second place, well behind Trump, but slightly ahead of fellow candidates DeSantis and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Trump has won New Hampshire's GOP primary twice but lost the state in both of his general elections. He is confident enough in his domination of the Republican Party that he spent more time Saturday angling against Biden.

"Under the Trump administration, you were better off, your family was better off, your neighbors were better off, your communities were better off, and our country was better off. America was stronger, richer, safer, and more confident than ever when you had me behind that desk in the Oval Office," Trump said.

DeSantis, meanwhile, didn't shy away from mentioning Trump during stops in Iowa Saturday, criticizing him for not finishing the southern border wall and adding trillions of dollars to the national debt.

Trump's argument in New Hampshire resonated with voters like Brandon Sevey, 25, who was attending his first Trump event from nearby Dover. Sevey said he has worked a variety of retail and fast-food jobs and found it easier to find work when Trump was president. Plus, he likes Trump's brashness.

"He's loud and obnoxious and annoys people," Sevey said. "But that's what I like about him."


# As Trump threatens to repeal Obamacare, these 'insurance godmothers' are signing Florida Latinos up
By **ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON**
December 16, 2023. 10:48 AM EST

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**MIAMI (AP)** - Salsa music blares from the food court in a rundown Miami shopping center as Latinos head to a kiosk and an office showing signs for " Obamacare," where they hope to renew their health coverage plans before the year ends.

It's areas near this mall where former Democratic President Barack Obama's health care overhaul is more popular than anywhere in the country, according to federal data. The region has also shifted away from Democrats to Republicans in recent years, with Donald Trump hosting several rallies here as part of his outreach to Latino voters.

Trump, the current front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, has pledged to renew efforts to repeal and replace the 2010 law - something that would be felt heavily in the region and could possibly reverse some of the GOP shift among South Florida's Latinos, experts say.

President Joe Biden's reelection campaign has already seized on Trump's statements about "Obamacare," which was enacted when Biden was vice president, as part of its broader efforts to shape the widely expected rematch with Trump next year.

"Health insurance is something that is extremely needed for everyone," said Odalys Arevalo, one of the managing partners of a health insurance agency serving Spanish-speaking clients in Miami. "And I know that everybody that supports the Republican Party that has health insurance through Obamacare would not support the fact that it would be taken away from one day to another. That is a fact."

Arevalo and her business partner, Mercy Cabrera, started enrollment centers to help people navigate the Affordable Care Act's insurance marketplaces and remember how some Cubans would walk away uttering "no, no, no," after seeing the name "Obamacare," which was coined by Republicans opposing the overhaul as an expensive government takeover of health insurance.

Insurers could no longer deny coverage based on preexisting medical conditions, and that drew many Latinos to consider it, Arevalo says. In the following years, the women started enrolling tens of thousands, earning the nickname of "Madrinas del Obamacare," or "Obamacare" godmothers, evoking the crucial role godparents play in Latino culture.

They have since renamed themselves "Las Madrinas de los Seguros," or "insurance godmothers," because they offer other plans. But they continue to feature the word "Obamacare" on their office walls and in their ads.

"Obamacare" is seen throughout Miami in advertising flags, businesses and bus signs. Federal data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services indicates how widely used it is here.

About 3.4 million Hispanics are signed up with insurance through the health law. Florida leads enrollment with more than 3.2 million consumers selecting a plan during last year's enrollment period from November 2022 to January. Miami-Dade is the county with the most people enrolled, with about 750,000 consumers, or more than one-fourth of the total population.

Florida is also one of 10 states that has resisted expanding Medicaid coverage under a provision of the health law.

The two Zip codes with the most sign-ups last year and this year are in Doral and Hialeah, hubs for the Venezuelan and Cuban communities that are just north of Miami and are common stops for Trump's visits and rallies.

Last month, Trump posted on his Truth Social social media site that "the cost of Obamacare is out of control, plus, it's not good Healthcare." While he said he is looking at alternatives, he has not shared any plans. But Trump said he would not give up on terminating it - recalling when the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., blocked the then-president's effort to repeal the law in July 2017.

During Trump's administration, Republicans managed to pass a provision that reduced the penalty for not having health insurance to zero, the most unpopular part of the law and something that people in South Florida say made them feel more at ease with the plans.

The Miami Herald, in a recent editorial, called the plans by Trump - also echoed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, another 2024 GOP presidential candidate - "exceedingly out of touch with voters."

Biden's campaign quickly mobilized a response and the chair of the Florida Democratic Party, Nikki Fried, specifically mentioned an area where "Obamacare" is popular.

"Miami-Dade County would be hardest hit by Trump's anti-health care agenda," Fried said.

According to a KFF poll conducted in May 2023, 59% of Americans say they have a favorable opinion of the Affordable Care Act. The same poll by the nonprofit organization focused on health policy found that 66% of Hispanics say they have a favorable opinion of the law.

According to APVoteCast, a wide-ranging survey of U.S. voters, 62% of 2022 midterm voters in Florida said it should be the responsibility of the federal government to make sure that all people in the country have health care coverage. About one-third of Florida voters in the 2022 midterm elections said that shouldn't be the government's job. Among Latino or Hispanic midterm voters in Florida, 77% said ensuring health care coverage for all should be the responsibility of the federal government, while 1 in 5 said it should not be.

Zulina Ruiz, a 72-year-old retired lawyer from Venezuela, said she found out about the Affordable Care Act options quickly after arriving in the U.S. in 2017. She said she is particularly grateful for having access to drugs to treat her high blood pressure. Green-card holders, refugees and other migrants who have been granted temporary protected status or who have come recently with humanitarian parole also qualify for coverage under the law.

"This is very important for me. I don't think a candidate can just make this program disappear," she said. "They would leave millions of low-income people without insurance."

Ruiz became a U.S. citizen in May, but has not registered with any party. She does not know whom she will vote for next year.

"I am still not decided, and we don't have official candidates yet," Ruiz said, adding that she still feels more connected politically to Venezuela. Much of the growing support for Republicans in Miami is owed to Trump's record opposing socialist leaders across Latin America, including imposing White House sanctions on Venezuelan officials.

"But health policy is a top priority for me," Ruiz said.

The Biden campaign has run advertising in battleground states contrasting his efforts to lower drug costs with Trump's renewed promise to repeal the health overhaul. The ad campaign did not include markets in Florida.

Arevalo, one of the "Obamacare godmothers," thinks voters in Miami may not necessarily approve of all the positions of the candidates they ultimately back.

But as far as a local verdict on "Obamacare," and despite initial hesitations about it, the program grew on people in Miami once they understood it, she said.

"When Trump was elected, some people came and said they wanted nothing to do with Obamacare. We said 'Obamacare, Trumpcare, whatever,'" she said of what they told people. "The important thing is that everybody has access to health insurance and that they can take care of their health."


# Americans agree that the 2024 election will be pivotal for democracy, but for different reasons
By **GARY FIELDS** and **LINLEY SANDERS**
December 15, 2023. 2:09 PM EST

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**WASHINGTON (AP)** - In a politically polarized nation, Americans seem to agree on one issue underlying the 2024 elections - a worry over the state of democracy and how the outcome of the presidential contest will affect its future.

They just disagree over who poses the threat.

A poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 62% of adults say democracy in the U.S. could be at risk depending on who wins next fall. Majorities of Democrats (72%) and Republicans (55%) feel the same way, but for different reasons.

President Joe Biden has attempted to paint a dystopian future if GOP front-runner and former President Donald Trump returns to the White House after promising to seek retribution against opponents and declining to rule out that he would abuse the powers of the office. The former president has tried to flip the narrative lately, saying the election subversion and documents cases against him show Biden has weaponized the federal government to prosecute a political opponent. He has called Biden the "destroyer of American democracy."

"I think from the side of the left, it's pretty obvious that they're concerned about electing a president who is avowedly authoritarian, someone who clearly wants to reduce checks and balances within the government to strengthen the presidency and to do so in ways that give the executive branch kind of an unprecedented reach across the population and sectors of the government," said Michael Albertus, political science professor at the University of Chicago.

"From the right, the Republicans think about government overreach, big government, threats to freedom and mandates to act in a certain way or adopt certain policies," he said.

Against that backdrop, the poll found that about half of U.S. adults, 51%, say democracy is working "not too well" or "not well at all."

The poll asked about the importance of the coming presidential election for 12 issues and found that the percentage who said the outcome will be very or extremely important to the future of democracy in the U.S. (67%) ranked behind only the economy (75%). It was about equal to the percentage who said that about government spending (67%) and immigration (66%).

Tony Motes, a retired firefighter who lives in Monroe, Georgia, cited a number of reasons he believes "we're not living in a complete democracy." That includes what he sees as a deterioration of rights, including parental rights, thieves and other criminals not being held accountable, and a lack of secure borders.

The 59-year-old Republican also said the various criminal cases being brought against Trump undermine the country's democratic traditions.

"They're trying to keep him from running because they know he's going to win," he said.

The poll's findings continue a trend of Americans' lackluster views about how democracy is functioning. They also believe the country's governing system is not working well to reflect their interests on issues ranging from immigration to abortion to the economy.

Robert Lieberman, a professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University, has studied the fall of democracies elsewhere and the common elements that feed their demise.

The factors include polarization, growing ethnic or racial antagonism, rising economic inequality and a concentration of power under a country's executive officeholder.

"For a number of years now, the United States has had all four of these conditions, really for the first time in history," he said. "So we're in a period that's ripe for challenges to democracy."

Trump is not the cause of the pattern, Lieberman said, but "seems to have an unerring instinct to make things worse, and he certainly has authoritarian impulses and a lot of followers who seem to validate or applaud him."

The AP-NORC poll found that 87% of Democrats and 54% of independents believe a second Trump term would negatively affect U.S. democracy. For Republicans, 82% believe democracy would be weakened by another Biden win, with 56% of independents agreeing.

About 2 in 10 U.S. adults (19%) say democracy in the U.S. is "already so seriously broken that it doesn't matter who wins the 2024 presidential election." Republicans (23%) are more likely than Democrats (10%) to say this, but relatively few in either party think U.S. democracy is resilient enough to withstand the outcome.

Social media platforms and news sites that reinforce biases accelerate the polarization that leads people from different political perspectives to believe the other side is the one representing the gravest threat to the nation's democracy, said Lilliana Mason, an associate professor of political science at Johns Hopkins.

"I don't think that people are exaggerating. I think it's that they actually are living in information environments in which it is true for them that democracy is under threat," she said.

Mason said one side fears what Trump has said he will do if he wins, while the other is responding to the fear created in a media ecosystem that says the Democrats want to destroy America and turn it into a socialist or communist society.

For some, the danger is more than Trump's statements and concern over how he might turn toward authoritarianism. It also is what's happening in the states and courts, where political gerrymandering and threats to voting rights are continuing, as are measures that limit people's ability to vote easily, such as reducing drop box locations for mail-in ballots and tightening voter identification requirements.

"Look at all the roadblocks that have been put up to keep people, especially people of color, from being able to vote," said Pamela Williams, 75, of New York City, who identifies as a Democrat. "That isn't democracy."

Douglas Kucmerowski, 67, an independent who lives in the Finger Lakes region of New York, is concerned over those state-level actions and the continued use of the Electoral College, which can allow someone to be president even if they lose the popular vote.

He also questions the state of the nation's democracy when a large proportion of the country supports a candidate facing multiple criminal charges who has spoken about pursuing retribution and using the military domestically, among other things.

Trump also has lied about the outcome of the 2020 election, which has been affirmed by multiple reviews in the battleground states where he disputed his loss, and called his supporters to a Washington rally before they stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in a violent attempt to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden's win.

"That candidate, in any other age, probably would have been ruled out. But for some reason, in this society, he's one of the best choices," Kucmerowski said. "If this country is that confused that they can't tell the difference between right and wrong and ex-presidents making statements that on day one he will be a dictator, doesn't anybody care about day two or three or four when he's still a dictator?"