NV Culinary Union suggests Sanders, Warren asking union members to trade health plans for 'promises'

The politically powerful Culinary Union hasn’t yet endorsed in the Democratic presidential primary, but it is making clear which candidates it won’t be supporting.

A one-pager from the union, the kind of document usually distributed in employee dining rooms and break areas, obtained by The Nevada Independent obliquely accuses Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren of wanting to take away union members’ hard-fought and much beloved health plans and warns that electing either candidate will lead to four more years of a Donald Trump presidency.

The union, which provides health insurance to 130,000 workers and their family members through a special trust fund, strongly opposes the Medicare-for-all plans the two candidates support, which would eliminate the union’s health plan by design. 

However, until now, union leaders have directed their ire more generally at the policy than the candidates who back it.

More: https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/culinary-union-suggests-sanders-warren-asking-union-members-to-trade-health-plans-for-promises

Upstate GOP leaders plotting to impact SC Democratic primary by boosting Bernie Sanders

COLUMBIA — A group of prominent Upstate Republicans is preparing to launch a wide-scale effort this week to encourage GOP voters across South Carolina to vote for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders in the Feb. 29 Democratic primary, The Post and Courier has learned.

The Republican plan to impact the Democratic race, emerging just weeks before the “First in the South” primary, has two goals: Boost the candidate who the Republicans believe presents the weakest general election threat to President Donald Trump and pressure Democrats to support closing state primaries in the future.

South Carolina has open primaries, meaning voters do not have to register by party and can participate in either party’s contest. But some conservative activists have long pushed to change that, arguing it would ensure a more pure party process, and they are hoping this effort will win over Democrats to that cause.

The S.C. GOP executive committee voted last year to forgo its 2020 presidential primary, so the Democratic election will be the only one held Feb. 29.

More: https://www.postandcourier.com/politics/upstate-gop-leaders-plotting-to-meddle-in-sc-democratic-primary/article_f1e7abd2-4788-11ea-aa9f-33a1d262994c.html

Iowa? New Hampshire? Florida Democrats are already voting

Sanders camp admits anti-Warren script was deployed in multiple early states

DES MOINES, Iowa — The controversial talking points attacking Elizabeth Warren that Bernie Sanders' campaign deployed were given to teams in at least two early voting states on Friday, three Sanders campaign officials confirmed.

Volunteers and staffers used the script on Saturday while canvassing for votes, meaning the talking points were more official than what Sanders previously suggested after POLITICO reported on the language.

The campaign pulled back the script — which described Warren's appeal as limited to the highly educated and financially well off — later on Saturday after the story published. Sanders initially appeared to blame the controversy on rogue employees.

“We have hundreds of employees. Elizabeth Warren has hundreds of employees. And people sometimes say things that they shouldn’t,” Sanders said Sunday in Iowa. His press aides never denied the veracity of the document.

More: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/14/sanders-admits-anti-warren-script-early-states-098786

UK parliament finally rubber stamps Brexit in no-fuss vote

Source: CNN

London(CNN)The House of Commons has voted overwhelmingly in favor of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit deal, finally paving the way for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union later this month after more than four decades of membership.

The deal has cleared its biggest hurdle with the vote that followed a third reading in Parliament, in which 330 voted for and 231 against, putting an end to three years of political wrangling following the 2016 Brexit referendum.

Thursday was the last opportunity for MPs to reject the bill before it is sent to the House of Lords, after which it will be put into legislation in coming weeks.

The deal had been shot down by a fractured House of Commons several times over the past year, sending Westminster into a tailspin over whether Brexit would happen at all.

Read more: UK parliament finally rubber stamps Brexit in no-fuss vote

CNN settles lawsuit with Covington Catholic student, Nick Sandmann

Source: Fox 19

COVINGTON, Ky. (FOX19) - CNN agreed Tuesday to settle a lawsuit with Covington Catholic student Nick Sandmann.

The amount of the settlement was not made public during a hearing at the federal courthouse in Covington.

Sandmann’s lawsuit sought $800 million from CNN, the Washington Post and NBC Universal.

Trial dates are still not set for Sandmann’s lawsuit against NBC Universal and the Washington Post.

Read more: https://www.13abc.com/content/news/CNN-settles-lawsuit-with-Covington-Catholic-student-Nick-Sandmann-566783491.html

Democrat Marianne Williamson lays off campaign staff nationally, including NH

MANCHESTER, N.H. —

Marianne Williamson, who has been campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination on a message of love and has been urging voters to “join the evolution,” has laid off her entire staff in New Hampshire and nationally, sources close to the campaign confirmed to WMUR on Thursday.

The spiritual author and lecturer joined the race in January 2019 and campaigned aggressively throughout the year, making many visits to New Hampshire. The sources told WMUR she remains a candidate but has drastically scaled back her campaign.

As of Tuesday, the sources said, Williamson’s campaign, in fact, had no staffers on board.

At its height, the sources said, Williamson employed about 45 staffers in the four early voting states as well as her central campaign headquarters. She had two staff members in New Hampshire – including former U.S. Rep. Paul Hodes, who was a senior campaign adviser and New Hampshire state director.

More: https://www.wmur.com/article/democrat-marianne-williamson-lays-off-campaign-staff-nationally-including-nh/30382582#