Minutes after word began trickling out Thursday morning that a major prisoner swap between the United States, Russia, and five other countries was underway that’d bring home The Wall Street Journal’s Evan Gershkovich and former Marine Paul Whelan, CBS Mornings immediately went political and went right to speculating about what this will mean for President Biden’s “legacy” while Trump’s “hype factor” promising to get Gershkovich out has been “silenced.” Fill-in co-host Kristine Johnson took it in a political direction with this ask of chief White House correspondent Nancy Cordes: “I’m also thinking about the Biden administration as a whole, the President’s decision to drop out of the race and now this news. I know it was a major priority for his administration. How does this look then for his legacy?” Not even five minutes after news broke of Russia releasing Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, 'CBS Mornings' celebrated this as a “major feather in [Joe Biden's] cap” and touchstone of his “legacy”.... Kristine Johnson: “As I think of these families and the news and the relief… pic.twitter.com/7lT0eeEFkl — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 1, 2024 Cordes eventually focused things back on the difficulty of negotiating with these hostile regimes, but briefly entertained the political angel: This would be a major feather in his cap because it has been so difficult negotiating with Russia, Kristine. President Biden has long said that it is a top priority for him to bring Evan Gershkovich home, to bring Paul Whelan home. Obviously, they secured the release of basketball star Brittney Griner last year and she came home to much fanfare, but these deals are controversial.  Also serving as a fill-in co-host, chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett took a pot shot at Trump: CBS’s Major Garrett: “One thing that is interesting about the Evan Gershkovich part of this, former President Trump has been saying without any provocation, without any underlying justification, that anyone can find out, oh, if I'm elected, I'll get Evan out. Well, guess what,… pic.twitter.com/SWsgzP4GMp — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 1, 2024 “And to Kristine’s point, now Biden puts this on his legacy as he is on his way out of office,” Burleson reiterated. To see the relevant CBS transcript from August 1, click “expand.” CBS Mornings August 1, 2024 8:32 a.m. Eastern [ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Breaking News; U.S. Prisoner Swap Underway] KRISTINE JOHNSON: Nancy, Kristine Johnson here. As I think of these families and the news and the relief they must be feeling, I’m also thinking about the Biden administration as a whole, the President’s decision to drop out of the race and now this news. I know it was a major priority for his administration. NANCY CORDES: Yeah. JOHNSON: How does this look then for his legacy? CORDES: This would be a major feather in his cap because it has been so difficult negotiating with Russia, Kristine. President Biden has long said that it is a top priority for him to bring Evan Gershkovich home, to bring Paul Whelan home. Obviously, they secured the release of basketball star Brittney Griner last year and she came home to much fanfare, but these deals are controversial. There are some who argue that any time we negotiate the release of an American who has been wrongfully detained, it simply makes bad actors like Vladimir Putin around the world more likely to take Americans prisoner in the first place. And so, you know, these are very delicate, complicated negotiations. Sometimes, there are months that go by where U.S. officials simply get no response from the Russians. For example, we know that part of the reason that talks over Gershkovich’s release were delayed for so long was because the Russians were likely not going to be willing to seriously engage in talks until he was convicted. Now, obviously, U.S. officials say this is a sham trial. He never did anything wrong in the first place. He was simply reporting from Russia as U.S. reporters have done for decades. But nevertheless, that is how these — how these talks ten to go, that the Russians simply won’t engage until they have convicted someone and sometimes in the case of Paul Whelan who was convicted years ago, even then they are unwilling to release them. NATE BURLESON: Nancy, thank you. Major, this is major. MAJOR GARRRETT: So, there will be political repercussions as Nancy described. BURLESON: Yeah. GARRETT: Sometimes these deals are viewed harshly. The information that we have leads us to believe that the person that the Russians sought is in German custody, not U.S. custody. We’ll have to wait for confirmation on that. BURLESON Right. GARRETT: One thing that is interesting about the Evan Gershkovich part of this, former President Trump has been saying without any provocation, without any underlying justification, that anyone can find out, oh, if I’m elected, I’ll get Evan out. Well, guess what, that’s now off the table. BURLESON: Mmmmm! GARRETT: Whether that was politically relevant or not to voters in this country, we don’t know, but for reasons known only to former President Trump, he was hyping this. Well, that hype factor has now been silenced. BURLESON: Yeah. And to Kristine’s point, now Biden puts this on his legacy as he is on his way out of office. JOHNSON: Yeah, exactly. And we’ll be hearing from him shortly, as well.

Super Bowl champion and Hall of Fame member Terrell Davis accused United Airlines of "mistreatment" after he was removed from a flight in mid-July.Davis told reporters he was stripped of his dignity when he was arrested on a flight in front of his wife and children."I was powerless. I couldn't do anything," he told CNN.'I believe if I were not a black man, I wouldn't have been in handcuffs.'The incident occurred during a flight from Denver to Orange County, California, when Davis said that he gave a simple "tap" on a flight attendant's shoulder after the airline employee "either didn’t hear or ignored his request" for some ice and "continued past our row," Davis recalled. "I calmly reached behind me and lightly tapped [the attendant's] arm to get his attention to again ask for a cup of ice for my son,” Davis wrote on Instagram July 15. "He shouted, 'Don’t hit me,' and left the cart to hurriedly approach the front of the plane. I was confused, as were the passengers in front of me who witnessed the exchange. I thought nothing of it other than this particular employee was incredibly rude and blatantly wrong in his accusations of me hitting him."Davis went on to say that he thought that was the end of the incident until he was handcuffed and taken off the flight in front of his family after the plane landed. He later claimed he would not have received the same treatment if he were not black."I believe if I were not a black man, I wouldn't have been in handcuffs until they found out exactly what happened," Davis said, according to NBC News.The news network also said the FBI confirmed that agents responded to "an allegation of a violent assault" on the United flight. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Terrell Davis (@therealterrelldavis)United Airlines told CNN that the flight attendant had been "removed" from duty while the company closely reviewed the matter."This is clearly not the kind of travel experience we strive to provide, and we have reached out to Mr. Davis' team to apologize," the airline said.Nearly two weeks later, Davis revealed he had received a letter from United Airlines banning him from using the airline during its investigation.The letter from United Airlines was posted to Davis' Instagram account Tuesday, and the letter said the airline's policy is to "delay or refuse any passenger whose conduct or condition threatens the safety of the employees and passengers."The statement added, "Based on the nature of the reported incident that occurred on UA1061 on July 13, 2024, this shall serve as a notice that you are not permitted to fly on United Airlines or any regional carrier operating as United Express until a review of the incident by United's Passenger Incident Review Committee has occurred."Davis added in the caption of the Instagram post that he was placed on United's "No Fly List after it was determined I did nothing wrong and was released."He added, "While my family and I continue to have difficult conversations with our children, I will continue to fight for what is right for all passengers of [United]."'We have apologized to Mr. Davis for his experience and continue to review our handling of incidents like this.' View this post on Instagram A post shared by Terrell Davis (@therealterrelldavis)NBC News also reported that on Tuesday — the same day Davis' follow-up Instagram post went live — United rescinded its travel ban on Davis and fired the flight attendant: "Mr. Davis received this letter the day after the incident. It was generated due to the report of the flight attendant — who is no longer employed by United. The day after the letter was sent, we discussed with Mr. Davis' team that it had been rescinded. We have apologized to Mr. Davis for his experience and continue to review our handling of incidents like this to protect our highest priority — the safety of our customers and crew."However, the ordeal is still not finished, according to Davis' legal team at Stinar, Gould, Grieco, and Hensley. The law firm made its own post on Instagram alleging that United didn't contact the firm regarding any removal of Davis from the temporary ban list."United has claimed that this information was already communicated to the Davis Family through his lawyers. This is blatantly false," the statement read. "We continue to be disappointed by the inappropriate and disrespectful handling of this horrific incident by United's communication and legal teams."The statement also called for an "overhaul" of the United Airlines "leadership" while alleging that United has attempted to "discredit the timeline of events."United Airlines told Blaze News that the day after the letter was sent to Davis, airline officials discussed with Davis' legal team that the ban had been rescinded."We have apologized to Mr. Davis for his experience and continue to review our handling of incidents like this to protect our highest priority — the safety of our customers and crew," an unnamed spokesperson said.According to United's own timeline, not only did the airline communicate to Davis' legal team the day after the initial letter was sent, it "communicated again" with Davis' legal team the next day about the letter being rescinded.Lynn Smith — a public relations representative for Stinar, Gould, Grieco, and Hensley — provided Blaze News with the same statement from the firm's Instagram page. However, the spokeswoman added that United made "false claims" that "Mr. Stinar was informed of the travel ban being rescinded."Parker Stinar is the founding and managing partner of the law firm.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Joe Biden may have dropped out of the 2024 presidential race — but that doesn’t mean he won’t try to take the country down with him on his way out. In a speech on Monday at the LBJ Presidential Library in Texas, Biden outlined his plan to get back at Trump and “reform” the Supreme Court, and he railed against the “extreme positions” he believes some of the justices hold. “I’m calling for a constitutional amendment, called ‘No one is above the law amendment,’” Biden mumbled. “No immunity for crimes former president committed while in office.” “That already exists. They can’t actually commit crimes on purpose,” Pat Gray of “Pat Gray Unleashed” comments. “If the president, if he was about to go strangle one of the reporters there and kill them, he would be held responsible and accountable for that.” Biden continued his barely intelligible speech, telling the audience that he believes “we should have term limits for Supreme Court Justices of the United States as well.” “The United States is the only major constitutional democracy that gives lifetime seats in their high court. Term limits would help ensure that the court membership changes with some regularity,” Biden said, proposing an 18-year-term limit. “That would help ensure the country would not have what it has now, an extreme court,” he continued, noting that those on the court have “an extreme agenda.” “They’re always following the playbook of socialists and Nazis and fascists,” Gray says, after Keith Malinak notes that Cuban American congressmen and women said the first thing Nicholas Maduro did in Venezuela was change the Supreme Court. However, Speaker Mike Johnson claims that the plan would be “dead on arrival.” When reporters asked Biden about Johnson’s claim, Biden retorted with “he is,” as in Johnson is “dead on arrival.” “Isn’t that violent rhetoric? Is that a threat?” Gray asks, shocked. Want more from Pat Gray?To enjoy more of Pat's biting analysis and signature wit as he restores common sense to a senseless world, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Joe Rogan took the Democratic Party to task on a recent podcast episode, where he also declared who he believes would be a superior presidential candidate over Vice President Kamala Harris. Rogan also made his 2024 presidential election prediction and warned of another presidential assassination attempt. On an episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience" released this week, the prolific podcaster was joined by Michael Malice – an author, podcaster, and anarchist political commentator. The duo discussed a myriad of political topics, including the 180-degree flip of the portrayal of Harris by the legacy media, the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, how the Democratic Party forgoes democracy by propping up Kamala without holding any primary elections, and so-called "gender-affirming care" for children.'It's not real democracy. It’s controlled parties.'Malice remarked that it is the "gaslighting" regarding Harris that bothers him the most. Rogan pointed out how Harris was the least popular vice president of all time, and now she is a media darling. "And then in a moment, a moment in time, all of a sudden, she’s our solution," Rogan declared. "She's our hero. Everybody’s with her, all these social media posts about her. Try Googling a negative story on her, you won’t find one. Ta-da!”An NBC News poll published in June 2023 showed that only 32% of registered voters have a positive view of Harris, compared to 49% with a negative view, including 39% with a "very negative view." Harris had a net -17 rating, which was the lowest for any vice president in the poll’s history.Social media users have contended that influential internet search engines are suppressing news about Trump while elevating positive news about Harris. Malice said the media has been covering for Harris for years. Malice recalled the second 2020 Democratic presidential primary debate when then-Rep. Tulsi Gabbard obliterated Harris. Malice said, "So in 2019, our pal Tulsi absolutely nuked her [Harris] in that second debate."Following Kamala's disastrous debate at the hands of Gabbard, she plummeted to single digits in the polls and dropped out of the race in December 2019. Meanwhile, Gabbard was the most Googled candidate after the first, second, and fourth 2020 Democratic debates. Gabbard ended her presidential campaign in March 2020. Rogan then bashed the Democratic Party for not embracing Gabbard as a presidential candidate because it has an agenda. "Well, it just shows you that what they’re looking for is not what they say they’re looking for,” Rogan stated. “Because she [Tulsi] is a strong woman. She is a person who served overseas twice in a medical unit. So she got to see people blown up by the war. She was a congresswoman for eight years.”Rogan continued, "She is a person of color. She’s everything you want, all those things you want, and yet you don’t want her."Malice theorized that the Democratic Party brushed aside Gabbard because she's "not for war."Rogan added, "Yes, well, she’s also just not willing to play ball. There’s a game that’s being played, and if you’re like, 'Hey, you’re not supposed to f***ing move the ball.' 'Like, oh, look at this b***h over here. Like, get out of here. You’re gonna f*** up our game.' It’s not real democracy. It’s controlled parties.”Despite knocking Harris, Rogan proclaimed that Harris would defeat Trump in the 2024 presidential election. “She’s gonna win,” Rogan said of Kamala. Malice disagreed and said Harris would not win November's election because "the more she talks" the worse she would perform with voters.He pointed to Kamala's failed 2020 presidential campaign: "How bad do you have to be that you can’t even make Iowa? She couldn't even compete with the mayor of South Bend."Malice also questioned Kamala's intelligence and cited her 2020 quote about Ukraine and Russia. "So, Ukraine is a country in Europe. It exists next to another country called Russia," she said. "Russia is a bigger country. Russia is a powerful country. Russia decided to invade a smaller country called Ukraine. So, basically, that’s wrong, and it goes against everything that we stand for."Malice also believed that Harris would not get the black male vote in the way that Biden did. He added that anyone not voting for Harris would be labeled a racist and a sexist. Rogan noted that Harris could win the election not necessarily on her merits but rather by the overwhelming propaganda supporting Kamala. "I feel like we are in this very bizarre time where people are giving into the bulls**t in a way that I never suspected people would before," Rogan said. "They just want no Trump no matter what, and they're willing to gaslight themselves." Rogan admitted that he thought the assassination attempt on Trump would have galvanized his presidential chances. However, he highlighted how the corporate media "memory-holed" the assassination attempt on the former president. The podcasters discussed how Google’s auto-complete search feature did not generate an autogenerated suggestion when typing in “Trump assassination attempt.”Google contended, "There was no manual action taken. Our systems have protections against Autocomplete predictions associated with political violence, which were working as intended prior to this horrific event."Rogan and Malice both agreed that there would be another assassination attempt on Trump. Rogan asked, "Do you think they're gonna try to take him [Trump] out again?"Malice replied, “Yes.” Rogan agreed, "Yeah, I do too. I think if they did that, this is not the only time they're gonna do that. And then also, that one was so Lee Harvey Oswald, it was so perfect lone gunman, take him out." You can watch the entire "The Joe Rogan Experience" episode with Michael Malice here. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) announced Thursday his plan to introduce new legislation that would undercut the Supreme Court's recent immunity ruling.The act, if passed, would make clear that Congress has the authority to decide "to whom federal criminal laws may be applied," instead of the Supreme Court, according to the proposed legislation, NBC News reported.In response to a motion filed by Donald Trump's legal counsel, the Supreme Court ruled last month that the former president is entitled to "absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within his conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority." He also has "at least presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts," the high court found.As a result of the Supreme Court's ruling, a federal case against Trump that alleged he unlawfully maintained classified documents after his presidency — one of the four cases lodged against Trump — was recently dismissed by United States District Judge Eileen Cannon, who determined that special counsel Jack Smith's "appointment and funding" were "unlawful."The judge's decision to toss the case sparked outrage from Trump's Democratic opponents. In the days following the ruling, Schumer wrote on X, "We were all taught in grade school that there are no kings here in America. But what the MAGA Justices have done is effectively place a crown on Trump's head."He announced lawmakers were working on a bill to classify Trump's actions listed in the cases as "unofficial acts." As part of the Supreme Court's ruling, it determined that current and former presidents are not entitled to immunity for unofficial acts; however, it did not define what constitutes an official or unofficial act.On Thursday, one month after the high court's decision, Schumer stated that he plans to propose the No Kings Act to undo the "disastrous immunity ruling" by the "MAGA Supreme Court.""The Founders were explicit: no man in America shall be a king. But the MAGA Supreme Court threw out centuries of precedent and anointed Trump and subsequent presidents as kings above the law. That's why I'm introducing the No Kings Act to crack down on this dangerous precedent," Schumer wrote in a post on X.In a separate social media post, he stated, "This bill would reaffirm that the President is not immune to legal accountability and remove the Supreme Court's jurisdiction to hear appeals related to presidential immunity."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

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Allies of former President Donald Trump started a new voter registration and turnout program aimed at young men, the Wall Street Journal reported.