How Virginia State Delegate Chris Hurst Turned Tragedy Into Triumph
*By Christian Smith*
Chris Hurst was a news anchor in Roanoke, Va., in 2015 when his girlfriend, fellow journalist Alison Parker, was shot and killed live on-air. That defining tragedy launched Hurst's career in politics, taking him to the Virginia General Assembly.
"I knew that I needed to leave the television station, but I didn't want to leave southwest Virginia," The Democratic Virginia State Delegate said Friday in an interview on Cheddar. "I had spent 10 years here as a journalist and felt like it was a natural progression to ー instead of just reporting on the problems we see out there every day ー to actually try to come up with some of the solutions as a public servant."
The issue closest to his heart is gun control. But Hurst said he needs to have an "objective, almost journalistic approach" to the issue if he wants to get policy changed.
"It needs to be evidence-based and data driven if you're going to try and get a policy implemented," he said.
Hurst said that philosophy convinced voters to choose him over incumbent Republican Delegate Joseph Yost in Virginia's conservative-leaning 12th District in 2017.
Hurst's path to politics is the focus of NowThis's new documentary "Virginia 12th," which he hopes serves as a thank you to the volunteers who propelled his campaign to victory.
"For me it's really a tribute to all of the people who came out in support of my campaign by knocking on doors and making phone calls, and in particular college students," he said.
"Virginia 12th" is currently available on the NowThis YouTube channel.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/new-documentary-virginia-12th-tells-story-of-chris-hursts-path-to-politics-after-tragedy-struck).
As President Biden travels to Europe this week amid Russia's ongoing invasion of its neighbor Ukraine, former Obama campaign foreign policy advisor and former Bush administration State Department official David Tafuri, joined Cheddar News to discuss the president's stop in Brussels, Belgium, to coordinate with NATO leaders efforts to dissuade Russian President Putin's war. "The maintenance of sanctions and increasingly ratcheting up the sanctions is what he thinks will cause a country like Russia to back off," Tafuri said of Biden. "And so he's committed to that strategy."
John Logan, Director of Labor and Employment Studies at San Francisco State University, joined Cheddar News to discuss the growing unionization push by employees at Starbucks and Amazon, and the wider implications of employee organization at these big companies.
Cheddar's Arielle Hixson sat down with five Black women making history as part of the Biden administration's communications team. Karine Jean-Pierre, the principal deputy press secretary; Khanya Brann, the chief of staff to Kate Bedingfield; Amanda Finney, the chief of staff to Jen Psaki; Erica Loewe, the director of African American media; and Rykia Dorsey, the senior regional communications director, shared their stories.
President Biden has embarked on a crucial trip to meet with allies in Belgium and Poland to discuss new sanctions on Russia as it continues to wage war on Ukraine. The president will seek to address the growing humanitarian crisis out of Ukraine, demonstrate a united Western front against Russia, and reassure Ukraine that it has support from the U.S. Joel Rubin, Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State & President of the Washington Strategy Group, breaks down what to expect from the President's crucial visit to Europe.
Catching you up on what you need to know Mar 24, 2022, with NATO meeting updates, Ukraine retaking suburbs around Kyiv, the spread of omicron subvariant BA.2 in China, Google Pay launching a third-party billing option, and a 16-year-old is suspected of being the Lapsus$ mastermind behind hacks of Microsoft and others.
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits last week fell to its lowest level in 52 years as the U.S. job market continues to show strength in the midst of rising costs and an ongoing virus pandemic.
Alicia Garza joined Cheddar News to talk about the Black Futures Lab where serves as founder and principal. The non-profit organization seeks to develop grassroots power in the Black community with projects like the Black Census, which takes into account the granular experiences of the demographic. "What we know about Black folks and the reason that we decided to focus on black communities again, it's because we're being left out and left behind their stories being told about us without our input and without our shaping," she said. "If we want a robust democracy in this country, we have to change that equation." Garza also touched on issues around voter suppression and the midterm elections.
Sean O'Hara, President of Pacer ETF's, explains why investors who were down after Jerome Powell's remarks on inflation Monday were more optimistic on Tuesday as the major indexes ended the day near session highs.
