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Former President Donald Trump defeats Vice President Kamala Harris to win 2024 presidential election

The Associated Press reports that Former President Donald Trump has defeated Vice President Kamala Harris to win the 2024 presidential election.

Early Wednesday morning, Trump cleared the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency with a win in Wisconsin. The former president ended up with at least 279 electoral votes after clinching wins in the swing states of Pennsylvania, Georgia and Wisconsin, with Harris winning at least 219 votes. The race was marked by literal history, including two assassination attempts and 34 felony convictions against Trump, already having been impeached twice and faulted for mismanaging the COVID-19 pandemic response.

Trump 78m will be the oldest person to take the oath of office at his inauguration on Jan. 20. His running mate, freshman Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, 40, will preside over the Senate as the country’s first millennial vice president. Harris, 60, underwent a historic bid to become the nation’s first female president, first Asian American president and second Black president.

Trump said in his victory speech at his election headquarters in Florida: “I want to thank the American people for the extraordinary honor of being elected your 47th president and your 45th president. And every citizen, I will fight for you, for your family and for your future. Every single day, I will be fighting for you with every breath in my body.” 

Harris didn’t speak on Election Night, forgoing her planned event at Howard University. Cedric Richmond, Harris’ campaign co-chair, said she will address her supporters and the nation later Wednesday.

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Tropical Storm Rafael on track and headed for Gulf Coast by weekend

Tropical Storm Rafael gaining strength Tuesday morning after forming in the Caribbean Sea, with forecasters saying it will strengthen into a hurricane with predictions the storm is headed for the U.S. Gulf Coast later this week. Rafael is the 17th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, and it will be the 11th hurricane if it strengthens further. The National Hurricane Center said Tuesday: “Rafael is expected to become a hurricane as it passes near the Cayman Islands with further strengthening before it makes landfall in Cuba.”

NHC forecasters said Tuesday that Rafael was located about 80 miles south-southwest of Montego Bay, Jamaica and 230 miles southeast of Grand Cayman, carrying maximum sustained winds of 60 mph and moving northwest at 13 mph. Forecasters warn that “heavy rainfall” will hit the western Caribbean with heaviest rainfall occurring over Jamaica and portions of Cuba through mid-week.

NHC forecasters said Rafael is “getting better organized” as its center passes Jamaica, and is expected to undergo “steady to rapid intensification” to become a Category 1 hurricane as it passes near the Cayman Islands by Wednesday before weakening to a tropical storm again. The hurricane center’s latest forecast cone, which comes with some uncertainty, has Rafael passing over the western reaches of Cuba on Wednesday afternoon or evening.

The NWS station in Mobile, Ala., says there seems to be an “unusually large amount of uncertainty with the movement of this system later in the week.” Texas does not appear to be in Rafael’s track to see direct landfall, but by mid- to late week, “heavy” rainfall is expected to spread north into Florida and adjacent areas of the Southeast United State. A tropical storm watch was issued Monday afternoon for the lower and middle Florida Keys and for the Dry Tortugas, which was later upgraded Tuesday to a tropical storm warning.

Rafael could potentially bring tropical storm winds to portions of the northern Gulf Coast, including the Florida Keys and south Florida on Wednesday afternoon. Heavy rainfall was expected to spread north into Florida and elsewhere in the southeast U.S. by the middle or end of the week, with as much as 3 inches forecast for the lower and middle Florida Keys.

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Beyoncé channels Pamela Anderson in surprise video for “Bodyguard”

Beyoncé surprised fans on Tuesday by releasing a video for her song “Bodyguard,” which sees the Grammy-winning singer channeling actress Pamela Anderson. The video, released on Election Day, also urges people to vote in the 2024 presidential election.

The video – retitled “Beywatch” – depicts Beyoncé in a variety of settings, donning a red swimsuit styled like Anderson’s when she starred on the series, “Baywatch”.  Bey also channels Anderson’s look in the 1996 film “Barb Wire,” wearing a black dress and high boots, as well as the Pam’s outfit in the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards.

The Election Day message shown in the ‘Bodyguard’ visual comes more subtly, and appears when the singer pulls out a prop pistol which releases a flag that reads “Vote.”   Beyoncé had publicly endorsed Kamala Harris for president, speaking at a rally in the singer’s hometown of Houston late last month.

“Bodyguard” appears on Beyoncé’s country-themed album Cowboy Carter, which was released in March. The album features the singles “Texas Hold ‘Em,” “16 Carriages” and “II Most Wanted.”

Check out the video for ‘Bodyguard’ – HERE.

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Gracie Abrams drops deluxe ‘The Secret of Us’ with live recordings, four new songs

Gracie Abrams has dropped the deluxe version of her sophomore album, The Secret of Us, featuring seven additional songs, including live recordings. Upon revealing the updated track list, Abrams wrote on Instagram, “!!!!!!!!!! The Secret Of Us Deluxe is out this Friday, Oct 18 with 4 new songs & 3 live versions and I could float away I am so excited”

Along with the original 13 tracks on the album, Abrams will include previously unreleased songs “Cool,” “That’s So True,” “I Told You Things,” and “Packing It Up” on the deluxe version. The new packaging will also include live Vevo recordings of album standouts “I Love You, I’m Sorry,” “I Knew It, I Know You,” and “Free Now.”

The Secret of Us was originally released in June and earned Gracie her first ever No. 1 in the UK, Australia, and the Netherlands, hitting No. 2 on the Billboard 200. Abrams also just wrapped her sold-out headlining North American ‘The Secret of Us’ tour, and rejoined Taylor Swift as direct support for the second North American leg of The Eras Tour.

Stream The Secret of Us (Deluxe): HERE.

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Former Ohio police officer found guilty in 2020 murder of Andre Hill

A former Ohio police officer was convicted of murder Monday in the shooting of Andre Hill, a Black man who was holding a cellphone and keys when he was killed. Adam Coy, who served nearly 20 years with the Columbus police force, shot Hill four times in a garage nearly four years ago. Coy, who is White, was fired after the shooting.

Franklin County Judge Stephen McIntosh set a sentencing date of Nov. 25 for Coy, who is undergoing cancer treatments for Hodgkin lymphoma. Coy faces at least 15 years in prison, with the jury also finding him guilty of reckless homicide and felonious assault. Defense attorney Mark Collin later said they would be appealing the verdict.

Police body camera footage showed Hill, 47, coming out of the garage of a friend’s house holding up a cellphone in his left hand, his right hand not visible, seconds before he was fatally shot by Coy. Almost 10 minutes passed before officers at the scene began to aid Hill; he was pronounced dead at a hospital. Coy told jurors that he thought Hill was holding a silver revolver that turned out to be keys, testifying: “I thought I was going to die.”  However, after he rolled over Hill’s body and saw the keys that he realized there was no gun: “I knew at that point I made a mistake. I was horrified.”

Weeks after the December 2020 shooting, the city of Columbus reached a $10 million settlement with Hill’s family, the largest in city history. The Columbus City Council also passed Andre’s Law, which requires police officers to render immediate medical attention to an injured suspect.

Brian Steel, president of the police union in Columbus, said he was shocked by the murder conviction: “Your split-second decision can now be led to murder. It is absolutely insane. Officers are willing to die for their community, they are willing to die for this job. They do not want to go to prison for this job.”

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U.S. Supreme Court to rule on racial dispute involving Louisiana congressional map

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to to decide the ongoing legal redistricting dispute in Louisiana that could determine whether the state maintains a congressional map that includes two majority-Black districts after the 2024 election. The court’s decision to hear the appeal from a group of Black voters and the state marks at least the third time it will be involved in the legal battle over voting lines for Louisiana’s U.S. House districts that were drawn after the 2020 Census. The high court is expected to begin hearing oral arguments before the end of its current term in June; it will have no impact on this year’s election.

According to court filings on behalf of Phillip Callais and 11 other plaintiffs, Louisiana “should be ashamed” of using race in order to draw congressional district lines that “over-represents Black voters” which could result in the loss of GOP control in the House of Representatives.  However, state’s Solicitor General Benjamin Aguinaga wrote in court documents that Louisiana is “stuck in an endless game of ping-pong .. and the State is the ball, not a player, the state will be sued again no matter what it does.”

Louisiana’s Republican-controlled legislature had overridden a veto by Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards over the state’s new congressional map. However after state officials and voting rights advocates had made an emergency judicial request in efforts to finalize the state’s congressional district map in order to meet required legal deadlines, in May the supreme court cleared the way for Louisiana to use its current map with two majority-Black districts for this year’s election.

In January, Louisiana lawmakers approved a new congressional map to increase the number of majority-Black districts to represent the state’s population (which is nearly 1/3 Black). The approval came after a 2022 Supreme Court ruling reinstated Louisiana’s Republican-drawn congressional map, which froze a lower court ruling that says the Republican map violated the Voting Rights Act. Currently, the map leans towards Republicans in districts held by House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise.

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Stream Megan Thee Stallion’s deluxe album ‘Megan: Act II’

Megan Thee Stallion has released the deluxe version of her album ‘Megan’. which just dropped in June.

‘Megan: Act II’ features 13 songs, opening with Megan paying homage to her roots on “Bigger In Texas”. The track is followed by “Bourbon” and “Number One Rule,” which shows some love to Beyoncé and SZA, and later sees Megan collab with Flo Milli for “Roc Steady,” as well as a collab with girl group TWICE for a remix of “Mamushi.” Other contributions come from Spiritbox and BTS’ RM, who teams up for “Neva Play.”

Megan’s new documentary “Megan Thee Stallion: In Her Words” recently debuted on Amazon Prime Video on October 31.  In addition, the rapper shared the music video for “Bigger in Texas;” check out the video: HERE.

To stream ‘Megan: Act II’ head HERE.

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Bill Burr, Charli XCX set to host November episodes of “Saturday Night Live”

Comedian Bill Burr and singer-songwriter Charli XCX will host two upcoming episodes of Saturday Night Live this month.

NBC said in a press release that Burr, 56, will host the Nov. 9 episode of the late-night sketch comedy show (marking Burr’s second time as SNL host). The actor/comedian is currently on tour with his Bill Burr Live stand-up comedy show, and will perform a series of dates in California beginning Nov. 17. Singer-songwriter Mk.gee will make his debut as musical guest Nov. 9, and is presently touring to promote his debut album, Two Star & The Dream Police.

Also announced was singer-songwriter Charli XCX, 32, who will pull double-duty as SNL host and musical guest on the Nov. 16 episode. It will mark Charli’s first time hosting, and third time performing; she released her sixth studio album, BRAT, in June as well as a remix version of the album in October.

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FCC Commissioner Claims Kamala Harris’ appearance on ‘SNL’ violated equal time rule

Senior Federal Communications Commission (FCC) commissioner Brendan Carr is criticizing Vice President Kamala Harris’ “Saturday Night Live” debut, with the Republican calling her appearance a “clear and blatant effort” to evade the Equal Time rule. The FCC’s “equal-time rule” was established in 1934 and required radio and television broadcast stations to provide the same amount of time for competing political candidates. There are exceptions to the rule such as newscasts, documentaries and political debates.

Taking to social media, Carr stated that the FCC’s “equal time” requirements mandate opposing candidates to get the same air time, and alleged that NBC structured this appearance in a way that evades these requirements by timing it so close to Election Day. Carr wrote on X: “this is a clear and blatant effort to evade the FCC’s Equal Time rule. The purpose of the rule is to avoid exactly this type of biased and partisan conduct — a licensed broadcaster using the public airwaves to exert its influence for one candidate on the eve of an election, unless the broadcaster offered Equal Time to other qualifying campaigns.”

Harris, 60, made a surprise appearance on this weekend’s ‘Saturday Night Live’, coming face-to-face with her impersonator Maya Rudolph in the show’s cold open where she urged sought to encourage voters to back her on Nov. 5. The segment lasted just under three minutes.

NBC is licensed by the FCC for broadcast television, which gives them access to a limited spectrum and means that they are subject to more stringent rules. SNL’s executive producer Lorne Michaels indicated in an interview published earlier this month that given the Equal Time rule, he was to planning to bring on either former President Donald Trump or Harris to the program. Michaels told The Hollywood Reporter: “You can’t bring the actual people who are running on because of election laws and the equal time provisions. You can’t have the main candidates without having all the candidates, and there are lots of minor candidates that are only on the ballot in, like, three states and that becomes really complicated.”

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4 dead, 17 injured after semitractor-trailer crash along I-96 in Michigan

Four people were killed and 17 were injured in a crash along I-96 near Webberville, Michigan late Saturday night.

The accident involved a semitractor-trailer which crashed into more than a dozen vehicles overnight, according to state police, where traffic on I-96  had been temporarily halted late Saturday as utility crews were completing work on power lines in the area.

The semitruck with a trailer was heading westbound around 11:45 p.m. and crashed into more than a dozen stalled vehicles, with Michigan State Police said in a statement on the social media platform X: “It appears the driver of the semi-truck did not see the backup and could not stop his vehicle in time.” The impact caused the semitruck and several vehicles to catch fire.

Police confirmed four deaths and said 17 people, including the driver of the truck, were injured and transported to hospitals.  On Sunday, Michigan State Police confirmed that the victims were a 29-year-old man from Carson City who was driving a Ford pickup and three relatives from Lansing who were in a Chevy Trax. They were identified as a 20-year-old female, a 43-year-old female and a 47-year-old male.

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