Category: Los Angeles

Full interview | Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas Full interview | Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas 32:15 Washington — Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas called the social media rhetoric “extraordinarily alarming” that followed the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson earlier this month, warning of the risk of violent extremism it poses.  Mayorkas said in an interview that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that he’s “alarmed” by the “heroism that is being attributed to an alleged murderer of a father of two children on the streets in New York City,” as the the insurance executive’s killing in midtown Manhattan on Dec. 4 has prompted scattered celebration on social media — and lionizing of the man charged in the deadly shooting. “It speaks of what is really bubbling here in this country, and unfortunately we see that manifested in violence, the domestic violent extremism that exists,” Mayorkas said. Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old suspect, faces federal charges including murder. Investigators’ working theory of the motive is animosity toward the health care industry. On social media, support for the suspect has materialized surrounding

Updated on: December 22, 2024 / 10:33 AM EST / CBS News Full interview | Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas Full interview | Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas 32:15 The following is the full transcript of an interview with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that aired on Dec. 22, 2024. MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to talk to you broadly about the environment we are in. It’s a pretty significant one. Your potential successor, Kristi Noem, Donald Trump’s pick to run Homeland Security, has no law enforcement experience and has never worked at an agency like this. Have you spoken to her yet? And what do you think her biggest challenge will be?  SECRETARY MAYORKAS: I have. I have spoken with the governor. We had a very positive conversation. We are both perfectly aligned on our dedication to a smooth and effective transition. I care very deeply about the well-being of this department, dedicating so many years to public service, she expressed her dedication to the well-being of this department. She is a governor, so she knows how to

Full interview: West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin – CBS News Watch CBS News Watch Margaret Brennan’s full interview with Senator Joe Manchin (WV-I), a portion of which aired on Dec. 22, 2024 on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.” Be the first to know Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Not Now Turn On

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Two U.S. Navy pilots were shot down Sunday over the Red Sea in an apparent “friendly fire” incident, the U.S military said, marking the most serious incident to threaten troops in over a year of America targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels. Both pilots were recovered alive after ejecting from their stricken aircraft, with one suffering minor injuries. But the shootdown underlines just how dangerous the Red Sea corridor has become, with ongoing attacks on shipping by the Iranian-backed Houthis despite U.S. and European military coalitions patrolling the area. The U.S. military had conducted airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels at the time of the friendly fire incident, though the U.S. military’s Central Command did not elaborate on what the pilots’ mission was and did not respond to questions from The Associated Press. The F/A-18 shot down had just flown off the deck of the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier, Central Command said. On Dec. 15, Central Command acknowledged the Truman had entered the Mideast, but hadn’t specified that the carrier and its battle group was in the Red Sea. “The guided

Music with Darren Criss: “Happy Holidays/The Holiday Season” – CBS News Watch CBS News Darren Criss (the beloved star of television’s “Glee,” and the Broadway musical “Maybe Happy Ending”) and the Young People’s Chorus of New York City help “Sunday Morning” celebrate Christmas with a performance of “Happy Holidays/The Holiday Season.” Be the first to know Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Not Now Turn On

By Kelefa Sanneh Updated on: December 22, 2024 / 10:13 AM EST / CBS News Darren Criss on “Maybe Happy Ending” Darren Criss on “Maybe Happy Ending” 05:34 Thirty-seven-year-old Darren Criss is a star on Broadway, and a regular at piano bars. “Keep the music going, you know?” he said. “I think the expression goes, ‘Life is a cabaret!'” When he’s in Los Angeles, it’s Tramp Stamp Granny’s, where he and his wife, Mia, are the owners. “It’s kind of a beautiful little Hollywood tale,” he said. “She slings the drinks, and I sling the tunes.” Darren Criss, with correspondent Kelefa Sanneh. CBS News One rule in a piano bar? Play the hits. Criss had his first hit at the University of Michigan. He starred as Harry Potter in an unauthorized student show based on the books that became a YouTube sensation in 2009. “This was a very interesting moment in time,” he said, of “A Very Potter Musical.” “That really did kind of change my life. That would kind of set me on the path to where I am now.” From 2009: The unofficial

Darren Criss on “Maybe Happy Ending” – CBS News Watch CBS News Darren Criss became a fan favorite on the hit TV series “Glee,” and won an Emmy for “American Crime Story.” Now he’s starring in the acclaimed musical “Maybe Happy Ending.” He talks with correspondent Kelefa Sanneh about his road to Broadway, his blessings and losses, and his credo that “Life is a cabaret.” Be the first to know Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Not Now Turn On

A popular fitness influencer has died three months after he was shot during an attempted robbery in L.A.’s upscale Bel Air neighborhood.  Miguel Angel Aguilar, the founder and CEO of Self Made Training Facility, was originally hospitalized in critical condition following a Sept. 13 incident in the 11400 block of Thurston Circle.  Los Angeles Police Department officials confirmed to KTLA at the time that four men had approached Aguilar and demanded his property before one of them fired at him, striking him multiple times.  The exact property that the suspects demanded was not immediately known, LAPD said.   Security guard opens fire at suspects trying to break into mansion in Los Angeles Aguilar was identified in a social media post published to his Self Made Training Facility social media pages that stated he was “involved in a serious incident” and was “fighting bravely” in the intensive care unit.  Ultimately, after three months of battling his injury, Aguilar died on Saturday, Self Made Training Facility confirmed in a statement.  Miguel Angel Aguilar as seen in a photo posted to his Instagram account. The statement said he

We all buy into a suspension of disbelief in certain areas of our lives. We play the lottery (someone’s gonna win), channel what our dogs and cats are thinking (I know this is not just me) and expect our plants to thrive even when we don’t water them (maybe that one’s just me). We are capable of being extraordinarily optimistic. Of course, if ever there were a season for magical thinking, it’s Christmas. I have a friend who clearly cast a spell on her two cats and got them to pose — glumly but nonetheless — in festive knit hats for a Christmas photo. We believe in Santa Claus, reindeer that fly, and elves on shelves that descend from the North Pole and embed themselves in our homes. OK, I’m a little late to the party that embraces these elfin figures inspired by a 2005 book: 10 inches or so, of diverse skin colors and genders, all uniformly dressed in sleek red unitards, accessorized with a white collar and red-and-white cone-shaped hats. They swing from makeshift trapezes and zipline across Christmas trees. They tuck themselves

Manny Pacquiao has been elected to boxing’s Hall of Fame. And the sun will rise in the East. There was never a doubt. The only question was when he would stop fighting and become eligible. On June 8, in Canastota, N.Y., Pacquiao will be honored by a sport that never knew what a hit it had when it allowed him into a ring 26 years ago. Before he finally got out and announced his retirement, he had competed from 108 pounds — when he was a street urchin in the Philippines trying to scrape together money for food for his family — to 154 pounds. He won titles in eight weight classes. Nobody else has done that. He is 46 now, still 5-foot 5-inches, still close to fighting weight and still a lefty fireplug. He finished with a pro record of 62-8-2, including 39 knockouts. As an amateur, he went 60-4. That’s a lot of hitting, and a lot of getting hit. Yet as recently as a year ago, he was trying to drum up a match against Mario Barrios, a decent fighter. That the

The story of Handel’s “Messiah” – CBS News Watch CBS News Since its premiere in 1742, George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah,” a 3.5-hour work for chorus, soloists and orchestra that includes the “Hallelujah Chorus,” has become one of the most-heard pieces of classical music on Earth. Correspondent David Pogue looks back on the creation of this masterwork with author Charles King and conductor-musicologist Jane Glover, and examines how Biblical passages assembled by a wealthy English landowner suffering from doom and despair would, in the hands of the German-British opera composer, become a timeless message of hope, and a Christmas tradition. Be the first to know Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Not Now Turn On

Updated on: December 22, 2024 / 9:05 AM EST / CBS/AP Death toll rises in German Christmas market attack At least 5 dead, 200 injured in German Christmas market car attack 02:29 German authorities said they received tipoffs last year about the suspect in a car attack at a Christmas market in Magdeburg as more details emerged on Sunday about the five people killed. Authorities have identified the suspect as a Saudi doctor who arrived in Germany in 2006 and had received permanent residency. Police haven’t publicly named the suspect, in line with privacy rules, but some German news outlets have identified him as Taleb A. and reported that he was a specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy. Authorities say he does not fit the usual profile of perpetrators of extremist attacks. He described himself as an ex-Muslim who was highly critical of Islam and in many posts on social media expressed support for the far-right anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. He is being held in custody as authorities investigate him. The head of the Federal Criminal Police Office, Holger Münch, said in an interview

By Anthony Salvanto, Fred Backus, Jennifer De Pinto December 22, 2024 / 9:00 AM EST / CBS News Drone expert unpacks mysterious sightings Drone expert unpacks mysterious sightings across Northeast 03:53 There’s plenty of public uncertainty about who’s controlling drones spotted over the East Coast. One idea does dominate, though: the public suspects the U.S. government is keeping information from them.  Americans have a range of theories about who is controlling the drones , with the U.S. government the most suspected, but no one answer dominates.  Just over half the country is paying attention to the story, and the more they’re paying attention to it, the more likely they are to suspect the U.S. government is controlling the drones. Either way, about half of Americans consider the drones a threat to the U.S. This is particularly so among those who think the drones are being controlled by a foreign country or government.  This CBS News/YouGov survey was conducted with a nationally representative sample of 2,244 U.S. adults interviewed between December 18-20, 2024. The sample was weighted to be representative of adults nationwide according to gender

By Anthony Salvanto, Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus December 22, 2024 / 9:00 AM EST / CBS News Heading into 2025 Americans are more hopeful than discouraged — and more outright hopeful than they were heading into 2024. Last year was more mixed. It does look like this very political past year is affecting that larger outlook going into next year. Among those who say they’re generally hopeful about 2025, their top reason is that Donald Trump will be president.  His upcoming presidency ranks even higher among things making them feel hopeful about 2025 than their outlook for their own personal relationships and finances. The hopeful group includes a lot of Republicans, underscoring the extent to which politics seems to play a role in outlook generally.  And of those Americans who say they’re generally discouraged about 2025 — a group that includes a lot of Democrats — their top reason is that Donald Trump will be president. That said, the new year may not see too many Americans making personal changes. Just over a third will be making New Year’s resolutions, the bulk of which

This country has always had a hypocritical relationship with the undocumented workers who keep America’s agricultural, construction and hospitality industries humming. On one hand, we simply cannot function without them. On the other, xenophobic politicians whip up fear and mistrust of workers on the lowest economic rungs when it serves their purposes. And voters, who may be angry about all sorts of things, often find it easier to blame outsiders for woes they have nothing to do with, such as inflation. But we can’t delude ourselves: President-elect Donald Trump’s promise to deport as many undocumented immigrants as possible threatens devastating consequences for the country’s economy, for prices and for the people who come to this country to pick our fruits and vegetables, build our homes and wash our dishes. California, where some economists estimate that half of our 900,000 farmworkers are undocumented, would be especially hard hit. Joe Del Bosque, 75, has grown cantaloupes, almonds and asparagus on the San Joaquin Valley’s west side for decades. During the picking season, his employment rolls can swell to as many as 200 workers, none of whom is

It was no secret that authorities believed the Chinese government intended to infiltrate state and local governments across America. For years, the FBI has warned cities and police agencies about foreign actors potentially trying to influence politics. Two years ago, U.S. intelligence officials issued a bulletin stating that the Chinese were collecting information about local officials. Now, federal prosecutors allege that one Chinese spy operation was underway in the San Gabriel Valley, with the aim of gaining political allies to the country’s cause. The scope of the operation remains unclear, but court documents and sources familiar with the probe said at least one local council member was caught up in the alleged scheme. The indictment is more a window into routine municipal politics than the stuff of an international spy thriller. But experts say the case sheds light on Chinese tactics and the scope of how they are attempting to gain influence in America. Horace Frank, the former assistant chief of the Los Angeles Police Department who oversaw the counterterrorism bureau, said the Chinese government understands that local politicians — even with their limited current

Last summer, Gov. Gavin Newsom made a splashy announcement on a nationally televised morning show . As millions of Americans tuned in over their breakfast and coffee, California’s Democratic governor said he was fed up with Congress’ inability to pass gun safety laws and was taking matters into his own hands, calling for a new constitutional amendment to restrict firearms. The proposal was more of a swashbuckling play for attention than a plan with any rational chance of success. The last — and only — time the states gathered for a constitutional convention was in 1787, when George Washington had yet to be elected as the United States’ first president. Still, California’s Democratic lawmakers overwhelmingly approved Newsom’s proposal , and formally called for a convention to amend the Constitution to ban the sale of assault weapons, require universal background checks on gun purchases and raise the minimum age to buy a firearm from 18 to 21. But a handful of Democrats did not go along with the plan. A progressive senator from San Francisco was the most vocal critic, arguing that a constitutional convention could

For a good deal of this election cycle, Gavin Newsom acted very much like a person wanting to be president. He traveled the country and ran TV ads. He raised billboards and debated Florida’s Republican governor on national TV, just a few weeks before Ron DeSantis’ campaign crumpled in a humiliating heap. The not-really campaign was never an actual, serious run for the White House. First Joe Biden and then (o, bitter pill!) his sometime friend, sometime rival Kamala Harris stood in Newsom’s way. It was more like California’s restive governor was letting his ego loose for a bit of an off-leash romp. Things changed after Nov. 5, following Donald Trump’s triumph and California’s notable shift toward the center-right on election day. Suddenly, Newsom started appearing in places such as Bakersfield, Redding and Colusa, among the ruddiest parts of red California. It’s something the governor should have done a long time ago, rather than strutting and preening on the national stage. There are millions of Californians — politically outnumbered, geographically far-flung — who have long felt derided or ignored by Sacramento. But give credit where

Donald Trump doesn’t drain the swamp, despite his promises. He just puts his own brand on it, like everything else he touches, and sells. And he transports it: Wherever Trump is, the swamp creatures swarm to be near him. Since he won the election Nov. 5, the habitat for hangers-on has been Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s waterfront Palm Beach playground in Florida, a state famously hospitable to swamps. Sycophants, billionaires, lobbyists and job seekers jostle amid the unswamplike gaudy gilt splendor, wearing golf attire by day and formal wear by night, in hopes of a chance to press their special interests before the Swamp King. Opinion Columnist Jackie Calmes Jackie Calmes brings a critical eye to the national political scene. She has decades of experience covering the White House and Congress. Postelection headlines tell the tale. “Inside the Trump-Fueled Lobbying Frenzy from Mar-a-Lago” read one , followed by, “K Street lobbyists are flocking to Florida, as the nexus of power under Donald Trump shifts from Washington to Palm Beach.” Another : “A Spike in Demand, and Fees, for Lobbyists with Ties to Trump.” And from the BBC

Over a long career, and especially during his recent resurgence on “Only Murders in the Building,” Martin Short has pressured to a perfect diamond the Martin Short Thing, which is: saying very mean and petty things in a way that is both hilarious and somehow endearing. It’s his thing and maybe nobody except Don Rickles got away with it for so long. For “Saturday Night Live,” which Short guest-hosted for the fifth time (cue Five-Timers’ cold open), it’s a perfect fit. With the comic actor’s manic energy, perfect delivery of cutting lines, and ability to still dance and sing at 74 made his monologue and sketch appearances pretty much flawless, though he was a little light in the show. That was partly because a raft of celebrities (though not his co-stars Selena Gomez and Steve Martin, though they were mentioned, or rumored romantic partner Meryl Streep ) filled up parts in lots of sketches and dominated the cold open. They included Tom Hanks, Paul Rudd, Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Emma Stone and Scarlett Johansson, who provided live reaction to jokes about her from a particularly

BANGKOK (AP) — El magnate japonés Masayoshi Son y el presidente electo Donald Trump anunciaron planes para que el gigante de la tecnología y las telecomunicaciones SoftBank Group invierta 100.000 millones de dólares en proyectos en Estados Unidos durante los próximos cuatro años. Trump dijo que las inversiones en la construcción de infraestructura de inteligencia artificial crearían 100.000 empleos, el doble de los 50.000 prometidos cuando Son se comprometió a invertir 50.000 millones de dólares en Estados Unidos tras la victoria de Trump en 2016. Son, fundador y CEO de SoftBank Group, es conocido por tomar decisiones audaces que a veces generan grandes beneficios y otras veces no. SoftBank ha invertido en docenas de startups en Silicon Valley, así como en grandes empresas como la compañía de diseño de semiconductores Arm y el gigante del comercio electrónico chino Alibaba. La euforia del mercado de valores y por la inteligencia artificial ha aumentado el valor de sus activos, pero no se sabe si sus inversiones crearán tantos empleos. ¿Quién es Masayoshi Son? Son fundó SoftBank en la década de 1980 como una operadora de telecomunicaciones, y