(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court will take up the Texas abortion law on the merits next month in a rare highly-expedited case that could definitively resolve the fate of its six-week ban and unprecedented enforcement mechanism.
SB8 will remain in effect for the near future until the Court issues its decision, which wouldn’t typically be expected for weeks to months after a case is argued.
The justices granted the request of Texas abortion providers and civil rights groups to hear the case before lower courts ruled on the law.
They also said they would also examine the question of whether the U.S. government, in the separate case, could even seek an injunction against a state law like Texas’.
Oral arguments are set for Nov. 1 — one month before the court is already set to hear a milestone abortion rights case out of Mississippi.
The court said it deferred a decision on the Justice Department’s emergency request for the court to put SB8 back on hold and that it would wait for oral arguments before taking action. Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — For reporters in Washington, it’s a frequent refrain from President Joe Biden on the status of negotiations with lawmakers on his domestic agenda: “I won’t negotiate in the press.”
But Thursday evening marked a shift from the strategy of playing his cards close to his chest. The president was unusually candid at a CNN town hall, laying his cards out publicly, and unafraid to call out moderate Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema on the roadblocks they’ve created in the talks.
The decision was perhaps a calculated one, as the White House counts down the days before Biden departs for a major climate summit in Europe, at which the president hopes to have real domestic progress in hand to encourage other nations to adopt similar measures.
Early Friday morning, Biden hosted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at the White House for breakfast, with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer joining remotely, the three leaders already back at the bargaining table.
Pelosi later told reporters Friday that Democrats are nearing a deal on their two major agenda packages.
“We have a couple of outstanding issues that just need a decision,” she said, describing a deal as within reach. “I think it’s very possible,” she added.
Biden’s town hall capped off what has been the most momentous week of negotiation in months, with the president acquiescing to losing some key programs from his initial $3.5 trillion wish list, in order to meet those moderates calling for less government spending. The acknowledgement of the concessions could send a signal to Democrats that a deal on the package, which has been whittled from Biden’s $3.5 trillion wish list to just under $2 trillion, is imminent.
“I do think I’ll get a deal,” Biden said, in summary of the movement in recent days.
That deal has not been easy in coming. Biden admitted some painful cuts to his programs at the town hall, but the lifelong politician, who campaigned on his ability to reach bipartisan deals, said some losses were inevitable.
“Hey look, it’s all about compromise. You know, it’s – ‘compromise’ has become a dirty word. But it’s bipartisanship and compromise still has to be possible,” Biden said Thursday.
One of those compromises – losing the corporate tax rate hike Biden has long pushed for.
“I don’t think we’re going to be able to get the vote,” Biden said. He was blunt in pinning the blame on a lone hold-out in his caucus.
“Senator Sinema is opposed to any tax rate hikes for corporations and for high earners,” Biden said, offering an unusual amount of insight into his talks with the moderate Democrat.
Later Thursday, a White House official clarified that Biden meant it would be challenging to get enough votes to raise the corporate tax rate, but that other proposals, such as a tax increase on stock buybacks, or instituting a tax on billionaires’ stock holdings, could make up the difference, ensuring the package, which will likely to top out just under $2 trillion, would not add to the federal deficit.
Biden also wasn’t shy in pulling back the curtain on his conversations with moderate Manchin. Admitting that the plan to expand Medicare to cover dental, hearing and vision “a reach” at this point in the talks, Biden revealed Manchin’s thinking, and said he could settle for $800 vouchers to cover dental work.
“He says he doesn’t want to further burden Medicare so that — because it will run out of its ability to maintain itself in the next number of years. There’s ways to fix that, but he’s not interested in that part, either. But, look, Joe — Joe’s not a bad guy. I mean, he’s a friend. And he’s always, at the end of the day, come around and voted for it,” Biden said.
Biden also for the first time admitted that his proposal to guarantee 12 weeks of paid family leave will be cut significantly.
“It is down to 4 weeks,” Biden said, in a frank assessment. “And the reason it’s down to 4 weeks is because I can’t get 12 weeks.”
Biden also confirmed that two years of free community college is falling victim to the downsizing. He offered an increase to Pell grants instead, and vowed to continue to fight for the program.
“I promise you, I guarantee you, we’re going to get free community college in the next several years, across the board,” he said, adding jokingly that his first lady Jill Biden, a community college professor, would insist on it.
ABC News’ Benjamin Siegel contributed to this report.
Big things are on the horizon for Jimmie Allen, and he couldn’t help but share his excitement with fans on social media this week.
The “Best Shot” star took to Twitter to let fans know that they’ll very likely be able to catch him on the road next year. “It’s official!!!!” he tweeted. “Spring 2022 I’m going out on my first-ever headlining tour.”
The singer hasn’t yet shared any further details, such as an exact lineup of dates or information on his opening acts. However, his upcoming tour plans are just the latest in an exciting string of developments in Jimmie’s career. He’s currently a competitor on NBC’s Dancing with the Stars, and on Friday, his new duet with Elton John, “Beauty in the Bones,” came out.
Jimmie’s personal life has been exciting lately, too. The singer and his wife, Alexis, welcomed a baby girl named Zara James earlier this month.
🚨🚨It’s Official!!! Spring 2022 I’m going out on my first ever headlining tour. 🤙🏽 ♠️
Mark Sagliocco/Getty Images for National Geographic
Alec Baldwin has posted to social media about the deadly firearms mishap Thursday that killed a cinematographer who was shooting Baldwin’s movie, Rust, in New Mexico.
“There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother and deeply admired colleague of ours,” Baldwin tweeted.
“I’m fully cooperating with the police investigation to address how this tragedy occurred and I am in touch with her husband, offering my support to him and his family. My heart is broken for her husband, their son, and all who knew and loved Halyna,” Baldwin concluded.
Officials are still investigating what went wrong on the New Mexico set in the incident, which also left the movie’s director, Joel Souza, injured. The incident occurred when Baldwin discharged a pistol on the set under circumstances that haven’t been publicly specified.
Multi-Grammy winner Steve Wonder is looking to add a couple more Grammys to his collection, with the 2020 singles “Where Is Our Love Song” and “Can’t Put It in the Hands of Fate.” And as usual, he’s doing it on his terms.
Wonder challenged the music industry status quo in 1971 when he signed a new deal with Motown, where he fought for creative control as well as ownership of his master recordings and publishing rights.
Now 71, Stevie insists on doing things his way. Instead of making the Grammy submissions in the typical R&B categories, he pushed to have the songs considered for best melodic rap performance and best American roots performance.
“‘Where Is Our Love Song’ is a song that speaks to everyone, a traditional song or folk song about America,” Wonder tells Billboard. “I said I didn’t care what’s normally done; that I’m not trying to do the typical. So it was submitted in the best American roots performance category.”
As for “Can’t Put It in the Hands of Fate,” Wonder says, “It was such an honor to work with Rapsody, Cordae, Chika and Busta Rhymes for what became an amazing marriage with conscious rap. I wanted to be a part of celebrating their greatness as well as our collaboration, so that’s why I decided to put it in that category.”
Wonder has racked up a total of 25 Grammy Awards over his 60-year career. He’s also one of only four artists — along with Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon and Taylor Swift — to win album of the year three times, and the only one to do so with three consecutive releases — 1973’s Innervisions, 1974’s Fulfillingness’ First Finale and 1976’s Songs in the Key of Life.
Chicago hip hop stars Chance the Rapper and Common are calling upon the state of Illinois to reinstate the parole system that was abolished in 1978, which allowed for more discretion in granting parole to inmates serving life sentences.
The pair joined parole advocates at a news conference Wednesday outside of Cook County jail in the Windy City. Chance recalled when he performed for a group of incarcerated men who were graduating with bachelor’s degrees at Stateville prison in Joliet, Illinois in 2019, and seeing them shackled during his show.
“We need to understand incarceration for what it is, it’s torture,” the three-time Grammy winner said, according to the Chicago Tribune. “We need to start pushing and transforming our criminal justice system and sentencing laws with this reality in mind. That means pushing for policies like parole.”
“We need a criminal justice system that reflects the values we want to see in this world — compassion, care, restorative justice and transformative justice,” he added.
House Bill 2399 and Senate Bill 2333 both would provide an opportunity for prisoners serving life sentences to go before a parole board after serving 20 years.
Common talked about how focusing on reducing prison populations could help reduce violence on the streets of Chicago.
“I met some of the most enlightened and inspiring people in prison,” said the Oscar and Grammy winner, who
fights for criminal justice reform through the non profit Imagine Justice organization he founded in 2018.
“One gentleman said to me, ‘Imagine being trapped in one act for the rest of your life, the worst for the rest of your life.’ I’ve thought about that. If that happened for me, I wouldn’t be up here with you all.”
Christmas came early for Brett Young fans this week, as the country star dropped his first-ever full holiday album, Brett Young & Friends Sing the Christmas Classics.
A collaborations album that showcases musical guests like Darius Rucker, Colbie Caillat and Brett’s tour mates Maddie & Tae, the album revisits favorite holiday tunes from Brett’s own childhood. Among them are sweet, traditional holiday ballads like “Silver Bells” and “White Christmas,” as well as more lighthearted selections like “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late).”
Brett’s collaborators aren’t limited to the country genre. For example, he tapped Australian singer-songwriter Sam Fischer to join him on his version of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”
The festive magic will continue to roll on for Brett this holiday season. He’ll bring Brett Young & Friends Sing the Christmas Classics to life with an upcoming CMT special, called CMT Christmas Crossroads with Brett Young and Friends.
More details on that are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
The Weeknd has teamed up with reunited house music supergroup Swedish House Mafia on the new track “Moth to a Flame,” out today. The group tells Apple Music the collaboration came to be because they were mutual fans of each other.
“When you vibe with somebody and you appreciate their art, I think you just connect,” Swedish House Mafia’s Steve Angello said. Along with the song, Swedish House Mafia announced their first global tour in more than a decade.
Christina Aguilera is embracing her Latin roots on her new Spanish-language track, “Pa Mis Muchachas” — which translates as “For My Girls” — featuring Nathy Peluso, Becky G and Nicki Nicole. Xtina tells Billboard the song is “an homage to women.” “We wanted to make sure that this was definitely a representation of Latin women who are the strength of a family, the backbone,” she says. The song is the first single off Christina’s upcoming Spanish-language project, her first since 2000’s Mi Reflejo.
DJ Snake has released a star-studded new single called “SG.” It stands for “sexy girl” and features Latin superstar Ozuna, Megan Thee Stallion, and Lisa of BLACKPINK, “uniting artists across three continents and four countries,” according to a press release. The song’s video features all four artists frolicking in Miami.
Australian singer-songwriter Dean Lewis, who scored a huge hit in 2018 with “Be Alright,” is back with a new single and video, “Looks Like Me.” The song’s uptempo but is about the end of a relationship. “It was just one of those relationships that never quite came together–– no matter how much I wanted it to,” Dean says of the song.
He laughs, “One night on the phone, we were living in different cities, she told me she was hanging with a guy who looked like me. So you’d rather be with someone who looks like me — than the ‘actual me!’”
Kenny G is about to release his first new album in six years, and will follow it up with a tour that’ll feature him performing his Christmas songs, as well as his hits.
The album, New Standards, will be out December 3, and on vinyl February 11. The album is made up of original songs that were inspired by “the jazz ballads of the 50s and 60s,” according to a press release. The first track, “Emeline,” is available now; you can pre-order the album as well.
“For this album, I wanted to try to recreate those ‘sounds’ but do it my own way, which for me meant that I would have to compose the songs myself,” Kenny says in a statement. “So I set out to compose and perform songs that capture the ‘heart and soul’ of those beloved jazz standards and to record them ‘my way.'”
“It was a wonderful (and painstaking) labor of love and I’m super proud of the end result,” he adds.
On December 2, Kenny will kick off the Miracles Holiday & Hits Tour in Waukegan, IL. It’s set to wrap up December 20 in Falls Church, VA.
As previously reported, a documentary called Listening to Kenny G, which will examine why the saxophonist and his music are so polarizing, will air on HBO December 3.
Squid Game has become a pop culture phenomenon, with huge — and unexpected — ratings for Netflix, and even a spoof last week on SNL. Its surprise success has also led to surprise stardom for its oldest cast member.
Seventy-seven-year-old Oh Young Soo plays Player 001 in the series, and his affecting performance as the terminally ill, dementia-addled man has his phone ringing off the hook with new acting offers.
According to the pop culture site Soompi, the actor told the Korean show HowDo You Play, “So many people have been contacting me, and because I don’t have a manager to help me, it’s hard for me to handle the volume of calls and messages I’ve been receiving. So my daughter has been helping me.”
“I feel like I’m floating on air,” the actor admitted. “It makes me think, ‘I need to calm down, organize my thoughts, and hold myself back right now.'”
The actor, who was interviewed by the show’s host Yoo Jae Suk and Mijoo from the K-Pop group Lovelyz, explained, “Things have changed quite a bit. Even when I go out to a cafe or somewhere like that, I now have to be aware of [how I appear to others]. It’s made me think, ‘Being famous is tough, too.'”
Young Soo reflected, “I don’t have any grand ambitions,” adding, “Big or small, I’ve received a lot of things while living my life. Now, I want to leave behind those things that I’ve received.”
