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New York RFK Jr. campaign official suggests he’s a spoiler who can help Trump win

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A campaign official for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s New York operation suggested to a group of Republican voters Friday that the independent candidate could help former President Donald Trump in his rematch with President Joe Biden. 

According to the video of the event, which was posted on the Uncle Mertie YouTube account and then taken down, Rita Palma, who identified herself as Kennedy’s New York state director, encouraged GOP voters to sign a petition to put Kennedy on the ballot in New York, arguing it would “get rid of Biden” and might even hand former President Trump a win in a heavily Democratic state.

“The only way that Trump can even (have a) remote possibility of taking New York is if Bobby is on the ballot,” Palma said. If it’s Trump v. Biden, Biden wins.”

The idea that Kennedy would be a spoiler for either candidate is one Kennedy has consistently denied.

Palma, who started working with the campaign a few weeks ago as a ballot access consultant overseeing volunteer shifts in New York, also raised the possibility that Kennedy might even win New York, which could also be helpful to Trump. 

“Give those 28 (New York) electoral votes to Bobby rather than to Biden, thereby reducing Biden’s 270. And we all know how that works, right — 270 wins the election,” Palma said. “If you don’t get to 270, if nobody gets to see 270, then Congress picks the president, right?  Right now we have a majority of Republicans in Congress.”

In response to Palma’s remarks, the campaign said, “[Rita Palma] is not involved in electoral strategy, nationally or in New York. This was not a campaign event.”

“Palma was speaking as a private citizen and her statements in no way reflect the strategy of the Kennedy campaign, which is to win the White House with votes from former Trump and Biden supporters alike,” the campaign told CBS News in a statement Monday. However, the campaign’s website shows she has a “team Kennedy” email address.

In the video, Palma also told voters she had previously canvassed for Trump in Pennsylvania in the 2016 and 2020 election cycles. She also encouraged voters to knock on doors in Pennsylvania to help Trump win.

“Go to Pennsylvania,” she said. “Go to — if you want to help Trump, go to Pennsylvania. Knock on doors.”

The Kennedy campaign insists that if anything, RFK Jr.’s campaign is a spoiler for both Biden and Trump, but Palma told voters the independent long shot is more of a spoiler for the Biden campaign. She pointed to the Democratic National Committee’s creation of a group dedicated to weakening third-party campaigns.

“He’s actually pulling a little bit more from Biden, which explains why the DNC is kind of ganging up on him,” Palma said.

Palma’s comments indicate differing motives among the campaign’s supporters, prompting Democrats to suggest that some Trump allies may be backing Kennedy with the goal of helping the former president return to the White House.

“RFK Jr’s campaign isn’t building a plan or a strategy to get 270 electoral votes, they’re building one to help Trump return to the Oval Office,” DNC spokesperson Matt Corridoni said in a statement Monday.

The incident marks the second time in a week that the campaign revealed divisions in its approach to mobilizing voters for the independent candidate.

Over the weekend, Kennedy issued three statements in an attempt to walk back earlier comments calling Jan. 6 protesters “activists” who “had no weapons” after a fundraising ad was released in error by the campaign.

Kennedy apologized in an updated statement on Saturday and said, “My understanding that none of the January 6 rioters who invaded the capitol were carrying firearms was incorrect.”

“Several have been convicted of carrying firearms into the Capitol building. Others assaulted Capitol police with pepper spray, bludgeons, and other makeshift weapons. This behavior is inexcusable,” he said.

The campaign said it had terminated its contract with the marketing contractor who put together the fundraising ad.



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Trump levies more personal attacks on Harris in Wisconsin rally

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Former President Donald Trump meandered Saturday through a list of grievances against Vice President Kamala Harris and other issues during an event intended to link his Democratic opponent to illegal border crossings.

A day after Harris discussed immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border, Trump spoke to a crowd in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, about immigration. He blamed Harris for migrants committing crimes after entering the U.S. illegally, alleging she was responsible for “erasing our border.”

“I will liberate Wisconsin from the mass migrant invasion,” he said. “We’re going to liberate the country.”

The Republican nominee also intensified his personal attacks against Harris, insulting her as “mentally impaired” and a “disaster.”

“Joe Biden became mentally impaired,” Trump said. “Kamala was born that way. She was born that way. And if you think about it, only a mentally disabled person could have allowed this to happen to our country. Anybody would know this.”

The personal attacks have been something of a trend for Trump since Harris entered the race. In July, Trump falsely questioned Harris’ racial identity during a panel with the National Association of Black Journalists.

“I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black and now she wants to be known as Black,” Trump said at the time. “So I don’t know, is she Indian, or is she Black?”

When asked in an interview with CBS News last month if he believes the personal attacks will hurt him with voters, he responded, “No, I don’t think so.”

Trump, meanwhile, hopes frustration over illegal immigration will translate to votes in Wisconsin and other crucial swing states. The Republican nominee has denounced people who cross the U.S.-Mexico border as “poisoning the blood of the country” and vowed to stage the largest deportation operation in American history if elected. And polls show Americans believe Trump would do a better job than Harris on handling immigration.

Trump shifted from topic to topic so quickly that it was hard to keep track of what he meant at times. He talked about the two assassination attempts against him and blamed the U.S. Secret Service for not being able to hold a large outdoor rally instead of an event in a smaller indoor space. But he also offered asides about climate change, Harris’ father, how his beach body was better than President Biden’s, and a fly that was buzzing near him.

“I wonder where the fly came from,” he said. “Two years ago, I wouldn’t have had a fly up here. You’re changing rapidly. But we can’t take it any longer. We can’t take it any longer.”

Trump repeatedly brought up Harris’ Friday event in Douglas, Arizona, where she announced a push to further restrict asylum claims beyond Biden’s executive order announced earlier this year. Harris denounced Trump’s handling of the border while president and his opposing a bipartisan border package earlier this year, saying Trump “prefers to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem.”

“I had to sit there and listen” to Harris last night Trump said, eliciting cheers. “And who puts it on? Fox News. They should not be allowed to put it on. It’s all lies. Everything she says is lies.”

Trump professed not to understand what Harris meant when she said he was responsible for taking children from their parents. Under his administration, border agents separated children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border in a policy that was condemned globally as inhumane and one that Trump himself ended under pressure from his own party.

Harris, at a rally in San Francisco, told supporters there were “two very different visions for our nation” and voters see it “every day on the campaign trail.”

“Donald Trump is the same old tired show,” she said. “The same tired playbook we have heard for years.”

She said Trump was “a very unserious man.”

“However the consequences of putting him back in the White House are extremely serious,” she said.

The Harris campaign Saturday again challenged Trump to a second debate, this time in the form of a football-themed television ad. Following his Wisconsin rally, Trump traveled to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to attend the Alabama-Georgia football game Saturday evening, and the Harris campaign premiered the ad during the game.

“Champions know its anytime, anyplace, but losers, they whine and waffle,” the ad’s narrator said.  



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How former Idaho state trooper Dan Howard was arrested for his wife’s murder

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Kendy Howard was found dead in her bathtub. While dispatched as a suicide, clues at the scene made Kootenai County authorities suspicious. Here’s a look at the case:

A 26-year marriage

Dan and Kendy Howard
Dan and Kendy Howard

Brian Wilkins


Dan and Kendy Howard had been married since 1994. By 2021, Dan Howard had gone from working as an Idaho State Trooper to working in the Alaskan oil fields for three weeks at a time.

Kendy seeks divorce

Kendy Howard
Kendy Howard

Brian Wilkins


On Jan. 28, 2021, just five days before she died, Kendy Howard picked Dan Howard up from the airport and told him she wanted a divorce. She described Dan’s reaction to a friend as having been “not good.” 

Dan Howard’s call to 911

Dan Howard
Dan Howard was once a Idaho State Police trooper.

Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney


On the night of Feb. 2, 2021, at 10:43 p.m., Dan Howard called 911, screaming Kendy had shot herself. “She’s in the bathtub dead …”

The call was dispatched as a suicide. 

Dan Howard at the scene

howard-bodycam.png
 Kootenai County Sheriff’s Deputy Miranda Thomas was one of the first responders to arrive at the Howards’ home.

Kootenai County District Court


Kootenai County Sheriff’s Deputy Miranda Thomas was one of the first officers to arrive. Thomas said she witnessed Dan Howard screaming, crying and gagging. 

Kendy Howard found in the bathtub

Howard bathroom
Kendy Howard was found dead in the bathtub with a gunshot wound to her head.

Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office


Caption: Kendy Howard was found dead, naked in the bathtub of her home, with a gunshot wound to her head. Kendy’s gun was submerged in the bathwater. 

A packed duffle bag

Duffle bag at Howard home
Deputy Thomas noticed a packed duffle bag filled with women’s clothing at the bottom of the stairs at the Howard home. 

Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office


Thomas noticed a duffle bag with what she said seemed to be women’s clothing packed inside. 

A clue on the dryer

Dryer at the home of Kendy and Dan Howard
When first responders arrived to the Howard home, the clothes dryer was running. It was full of clean bath towels and mats. 

Kootenai County District Court


Kootenai County Sheriff’s Detective Jerry Northrup said that in the dryer he observed “bathmats and towels … and they were still somewhat warm,” which he said led him to question when the cycle had been started.

How did Kendy Howard really die?

Kendy Howards's gun
Kendy Howard’s own pistol which was found at the bottom of the tub.

Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office


Kendy Howard’s gun was found in the bathtub. Investigators said they would have expected to see a lot more blood in the bathtub if she had been alive when she was shot.

Kendy’s daughter accuses Dan Howard

howard-brooke-wilkins.jpg
Kendy Howard’s daughter, Brooke Wilkins.

CBS News


When Dan Howard called his stepdaughter Brooke Wilkins with the news of Kendy’s death, investigators said they could overhear Wi accuse Dan of killing her mother. Despite their suspicions, detectives said there was not enough evidence at the scene to arrest Dan.

Dan Howard arrested

Dan Howard booking photo
In April 2023, Dan Howard was charged with murder. He was also charged with domestic battery from an incident seven months before Kendy’s death.

Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office


It took two years for prosecutors to build their case. In July, 2023, Dan Howard was arrested and charged with Kendy Howard’s murder. 

Dan Howard on trial

Dan Howard
Dan Howard at his trial for the murder ofn his wife Kendy.

Pool


On March 4, 2024, the trial of Dan Howard began. The prosecution claimed Dan had killed Kendy by putting her in a carotid restraint hold – a maneuver he had learned in his law enforcement training. The defense maintained that Kendy’s death was a suicide. After 10 days of testimony, 62 witnesses, and just over eight hours of deliberations, a verdict was reached.

Dan Howard found guilty

On March 19, 2024, the jury found Dan Howard guilty of second-degree murder and domestic battery.

Life in prison

Dan Howard sentencing hearing
Dan Howard make a plea for leniency at his sentencing.

Pool


At Dan Howard’s sentencing hearing in May 2024, Judge Lamont Berecz told him, “You killed a mother. You killed a grandmother. You killed a sister … You snuffed that out because of your own pride, greed, and anger.” Dan Howard was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole



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SpaceX launches capsule that will give Starliner crew a ride home

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SpaceX launches capsule that will give Starliner crew a ride home – CBS News


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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Saturday with a NASA astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut aboard a Crew Dragon capsule that normally carries four. That is because the Crew Dragon’s two empty seats will be used to give two Boeing Starliner astronauts a ride back to Earth next February. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were part of Boeing’s first crewed test flight of its Starliner, and though it got them to the International Space Station back in June, problems with its propulsion system prompted NASA to look for another ride. Manuel Bojorquez reports.

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