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California Senate race results could hold some surprises on Super Tuesday
Washington — Despite its nickname, the Golden State is perennially deep blue when it comes to politics. But this year, California could go partially red.
In the race to win the Senate seat once held by the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Republican Senate candidate and ex-Major League Baseball all-star Steve Garvey has stepped up to bat against Democratic front-runner Rep. Adam Schiff, with both candidates locked in a statistical tie heading into Super Tuesday.
California has what’s known as a jungle primary, in which the top two vote-getters regardless of party advance to the general election in November. A Republican has not been elected to a U.S. Senate seat in the state since 1988.
“We feel we’ve run a great campaign and we’re going to continue fighting hard as if we’re in last place,” Schiff said in an interview with CBS News. “We’re taking nothing for granted.”
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A UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll released ahead of Super Tuesday showed 27% of likely voters supporting Garvey, 25% backing Schiff, 19% for Rep. Katie Porter and 8% for Rep. Barbara Lee. Nine percent were undecided.
“This demonstrates that our message of addressing the real issues that Californians care about with compassionate, common-sense solutions is resonating more than the tired political bickering of career politicians,” Garvey said in a statement. “It’s clear that people are ready for new leadership that brings us together to build a brighter future for California.”
The 75-year-old Republican and former Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres first baseman has steadily climbed in the polls, despite stumbling in some debate performances. Schiff, a 12-term congressman from Burbank, rose to national prominence as a House impeachment manager during former President Donald Trump’s first Senate trial. The 66-year-old lawmaker is endorsed by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and more than 80% of California’s Democratic congressional delegation.
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“This is in some ways a race between someone who can get results and others that have good rhetoric but don’t have a long track record of getting things done,” Schiff said.
Porter, a protege of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren who flipped a swing district in Orange County, is a 50-year-old minivan-driving single mother known for her tough questioning and use of whiteboards during congressional hearings. She accused Schiff and allied Super PACs of propping up Garvey with millions of dollars in ads to squeeze her and Lee out of the race, calling it “a gigantic gift to the Republican Party.”
“It’s the result of, you know, 20-plus million dollars being spent to engage voters on a Republican candidate,” Porter told CBS News.
“[Schiff] is knocking out a qualified Democrat. I am not. His whole goal is to eliminate two Democrats from being on the ballot,” she continued. “That is the very kind of cynical play that makes voters feel like everything in Washington is controlled by those who already have the power.”
Schiff, who has raised $31.4 million for his Senate bid, countered that he is merely contrasting his record with Garvey on the issues.
“Look, Representative Porter has run the same type of ads, so I don’t think she can criticize,” Schiff quipped. “Nevertheless, we’re running a hard campaign. Distinguishing my record on crime, on immigration, on abortion, on guns and on many other issues with Steve Garvey has been very much part of our campaign.”
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Facing the political novice and former baseball player in the fall could put Schiff on a glide path to the Senate seat. Democrats outnumber Republicans in the state and make up nearly half of all registered voters, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.
Lee, who has represented Oakland and the East Bay in Congress for more than 25 years, is staying out of it.
“You’ve seen some of the ads and some of the sinister kinds of strategies but I don’t engage in that kind of political gamesmanship,” Lee told CBS News. “I don’t know what [Schiff’s] trying to do. I just see these ads on television. Actually I’m in one of them. And I know how expensive these ads are and I haven’t paid for it.”
For her part, Lee points to her record staking out tough positions, from calls for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas to her lone vote opposing the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. She has the backing of Hollywood A-listers like Stevie Wonder and Danny Glover as well as grassroots groups like Bernie Sanders’ Our Revolution. Lee hopes to drive turnout among young progressives in her bid to diversify the upper chamber.
“This is a multi-racial, multi-generational progressive coalition,” Lee said. “Representation matters. Since 1789, only three Black women in the Senate have served, [for] a total of 10 years. So I want to strengthen our democracy by adding a perspective that has been missing.”
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Incumbent Sen. Laphonza Butler is currently the only Black woman in the upper chamber. She was appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom following Feinstein’s death last September. Butler, a former Emily’s List executive, told CBS News she has no regrets about sitting out the race.
“Choosing to be a U.S. senator is, I think, an incredible honor,” she said. “And running in any race is not only an opportunity to serve but a real sacrifice.”
Californians have to vote twice on Tuesday’s ballot: once to elect a candidate to serve out the rest of Feinstein’s term through early 2025, and again for a candidate to serve a full six-year term through 2031.
Each of the Democratic candidates said they hope to carry on the late senator’s legacy if elected, in a race that has largely centered around the economy, affordable housing, immigration and other key issues.
“Sen. Feinstein was a trailblazer for electing women and a trailblazer on being willing to show political courage on issues like gun violence prevention, and so those are both things that I would want to take from her,” Porter explained.
“She was also someone who was able to work with people up and down the state, paid attention to every part of the state, rolled up her sleeves and got things done,” Schiff said. “That’s a really good model for any California senator.”
Lee, 77, described a “powerful” conversation she had with Feinstein before she announced her retirement and reflected on her ability to care for people “on a personal level.”
“There may or may not have been some issues we didn’t see eye to eye on but I don’t think that’s the point,” Lee recalled. “I think the point is she led on so many issues. She was quite a brilliant changemaker.”
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Former Israeli hostages released in truce 1 year ago call for action to release those still held
Former Israeli hostages who were freed from Hamas captivity during a week-long humanitarian pause in fighting exactly one year ago Sunday called for immediate action to secure a deal for the release of those still held.
The only truce in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war on Nov. 24, 2023 – fewer than two months after fighting began – led to the release of 80 Israelis held by militants in Gaza. They were freed in exchange for 240 Palestinians detained in Israeli jails.
Repeated efforts since then by mediators from Qatar, Egypt and the United States to secure another truce and hostage release have failed. Qatar early this month said it was suspending its mediation role until the warring sides show “seriousness.”
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Gabriella Leimberg was kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack and was released along with her daughter, Mia, and sister Clara.
“For 53 days, the one thing that kept me going is that we, the people of Israel, the Jewish people, sanctify life — we don’t leave anyone behind,” she said.
Leimberg added: “Everything has already been said and now action is required. We don’t have any more time.”
Around 100 hostages are still in Gaza, and at least a third are believed to be dead.
“I survived and I was fortunate to get my entire family back,” Leimberg said. “I want and demand this for all the families of the hostages.”
Hamas wants Israel to end the war and withdraw all troops from Gaza. Israel has offered only to pause its offensive.
The Palestinian death toll from the war surpassed 44,000 this week, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.
Maya Alleruzzo / AP
Danielle Aloni, who was kidnapped with her five-year-old daughter, Emelia, and freed after 49 days, spoke at the ceremony of the “increasing danger” those still being held face every day.
She said those still in captivity “suffer physical, sexual, and psychological abuse, their identity and dignity crushed anew each day”.
“It took the Israeli government about two months to secure a deal for me and 80 other Israeli hostages. Why is it taking over a year to reach another deal to free them from this hell?” asked Aloni, whose brother-in-law, David Cunio, and his brother, Ariel Cunio, are still being held.
She emphasized that, even though she and the other hostages gained their freedom a year ago, “we haven’t really left the tunnels,” — referring to Hamas’ underground tunnels where many of the hostages were held.
“The feeling of suffocation, the terrible humidity, the stench — these sensations still envelop us,” Aloni said.
“If people could truly understand what it means to be held in subhuman conditions in tunnels, surrounded by terrorists for 54 days — there’s no way they would allow hostages to remain there for 415 days!” said Raz Ben Ami, who was released in the deal a year ago.
Her husband, Ohad, is still among those being held.
Ben Ami called for a ceasefire to “bring back all the hostages as quickly as possible”.
CBS News
Couple charged for allegedly stealing $1 million from Lululemon in convoluted retail theft scheme
A couple from Connecticut faces charges for allegedly taking part in an intricate retail theft operation targeting the apparel company Lululemon that may have amounted to $1 million worth of stolen items, according to a criminal complaint.
The couple, Jadion Anthony Richards, 44, and Akwele Nickeisha Lawes-Richards, 45, were arrested Nov. 14 in Woodbury, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis-St. Paul. Richards and Lawes-Richards have been charged with one count each of organized retail theft, which is a felony, the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office said. They are from Danbury, Connecticut.
The alleged operation impacted Lululemon stores in multiple states, including Minnesota.
“Because of the outstanding work of the Roseville Police investigators — including their new Retail Crime Unit — as well as other law enforcement agencies, these individuals accused of this massive retail theft operation have been caught,” a spokesperson for the attorney’s office said in a statement on Nov. 18. “We will do everything in our power to hold these defendants accountable and continue to work with our law enforcement partners and retail merchants to put a stop to retail theft in our community.”
Both Richards and Lawes-Richards have posted bond as of Sunday and agreed to the terms of a court-ordered conditional release, according to the county attorney. For Richards, the court had set bail at $100,000 with conditional release, including weekly check-ins, or $600,000 with unconditional release. For Lawes-Richards, bail was set at $30,000 with conditional release and weekly check-ins or $200,000 with unconditional release. They are scheduled to appear again in court Dec. 16.
Prosecutors had asked for $1 million bond to be placed on each half of the couple, the attorney’s office said.
Richards and Lawes-Richards are accused by authorities of orchestrating a convoluted retail theft scheme that dates back to at least September. Their joint arrests came one day after the couple allegedly set off store alarms while trying to leave a Lululemon in Roseville, Minnesota, and an organized retail crime investigator, identified in charging documents by the initials R.P., recognized them.
The couple were allowed to leave the Roseville store. But the investigator later told an officer who responded to the incident that Richards and Lawes-Richards were seasoned shoplifters, who apparently stole close to $5,000 worth of Lululemon items just that day and were potentially “responsible for hundreds of thousands of dollars in loss to the store across the country,” according to the complaint. That number was eventually estimated by an investigator for the brand to be even higher, with the criminal complaint placing it at as much as $1 million.
Richards and Lawes-Richards allegedly involved other individuals in their shoplifting pursuits, but none were identified by name in the complaint. Authorities said they were able to successfully pull off the thefts by distracting store employees and later committing fraudulent returns with the stolen items at different Lululemon stores.
“Between October 29, 2024 and October 30, 2024, RP documented eight theft incidents in Colorado involving Richards and Lawes-Richards and an unidentified woman,” authorities wrote in the complaint, describing an example of how the operation would allegedly unfold.
“The group worked together using specific organized retail crime tactics such as blocking and distraction of associates to commit large thefts,” the complaint said. “They selected coats and jackets and held them up as if they were looking at them in a manner that blocked the view of staff and other guests while they selected and concealed items. They removed security sensors using a tool of some sort at multiple stores.”
CBS News contacted Lululemon for comment but did not receive an immediate reply.
CBS News
Former Trump national security adviser says next couple months are “really critical” for Ukraine
Washington — Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, a former national security adviser to Donald Trump, said Sunday that the upcoming months will be “really critical” in determining the “next phase” of the war in Ukraine as the president-elect is expected to work to force a negotiated settlement when he enters office.
McMaster, a CBS News contributor, said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that Russia and Ukraine are both incentivized to make “as many gains on the battlefield as they can before the new Trump administration comes in” as the two countries seek leverage in negotiations.
With an eye toward strengthening Ukraine’s standing before President-elect Donald Trump returns to office in the new year, the Biden administration agreed in recent days to provide anti-personnel land mines for use, while lifting restrictions on Ukraine’s use of U.S.-made longer range missiles to strike within Russian territory. The moves come as Ukraine marked more than 1,000 days since Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
Meanwhile, many of Trump’s key selection for top posts in his administration — Rep. Mike Waltz for national security adviser and Sens. Marco Rubio for secretary of state and JD Vance for Vice President — haven’t been supportive of providing continued assistance to Ukraine, or have advocated for a negotiated end to the war.
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McMaster said the dynamic is “a real problem” and delivers a “psychological blow to the Ukrainians.”
“Ukrainians are struggling to generate the manpower that they need and to sustain their defensive efforts, and it’s important that they get the weapons they need and the training that they need, but also they have to have the confidence that they can prevail,” he said. “And any sort of messages that we might reduce our aid are quite damaging to them from a moral perspective.”
McMaster said he’s hopeful that Trump’s picks, and the president-elect himself, will “begin to see the quite obvious connections between the war in Ukraine and this axis of aggressors that are doing everything they can to tear down the existing international order.” He cited the North Korean soldiers fighting on European soil in the first major war in Europe since World War II, the efforts China is taking to “sustain Russia’s war-making machine,” and the drones and missiles Iran has provided as part of the broader picture.
“So I think what’s happened is so many people have taken such a myopic view of Ukraine, and they’ve misunderstood Putin’s intentions and how consequential the war is to our interests across the world,” McMaster said.
On Trump’s selections for top national security and defense posts, McMaster stressed the importance of the Senate’s advice and consent role in making sure “the best people are in those positions.”
McMaster outlined that based on his experience, Trump listens to advice and learns from those around him. And he argued that the nominees for director of national intelligence and defense secretary should be asked key questions like how they will “reconcile peace through strength,” and what they think “motivates, drives and constrains” Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump has tapped former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to be director of national intelligence, who has been criticized for her views on Russia and other U.S. adversaries. McMaster said Sunday that Gabbard has a “fundamental misunderstanding” about what motivates Putin.
More broadly, McMaster said he “can’t understand” the Republicans who “tend to parrot Vladimir Putin’s talking points,” saying “they’ve got to disabuse themselves of this strange affection for Vladimir Putin.”
Meanwhile, when asked about Trump’s recent selection of Sebastian Gorka as senior director for counterterrorism and deputy assistant to the president, McMaster said he doesn’t think Gorka is a good person to advise the president-elect on national security. But he noted that “the president, others who are working with him, will probably determine that pretty quickly.”
