*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).
A new poll finds most U.S. adults are worried about health care becoming more expensive.
The White House budget office says mass firings of federal workers have started in an attempt to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown continues.
President Donald Trump says “there seems to be no reason” to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as part of an upcoming trip to South Korea after China restricted exports of rare earths needed for American industry. The Republican president suggested Friday he was looking at a “massive increase” of import taxes on Chinese products in response to Xi’s moves. Trump says one of the policies the U.S. is calculating is "a massive increase of Tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States." A monthslong calm on Wall Street was shattered, with U.S. stocks falling on the news. The Chinese Embassy in Washington hasn't responded to an Associated Press request for comment.
Most members of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate setting committee supported further reductions to its key interest rate this year, minutes from last month’s meeting showed.
From Wall Street trading floors to the Federal Reserve to economists sipping coffee in their home offices, the first Friday morning of the month typically brings a quiet hush around 8:30 a.m. eastern, as everyone awaits the Labor Department’s monthly jobs report.
The Supreme Court is allowing Lisa Cook to remain as a Federal Reserve governor for now.
Rep. John Moolenaar has requested an urgent briefing from the White House after Trump supported a deal giving Americans a majority stake in TikTok.
A new report finds the Department of Government Efficiency’s remaking of the federal workforce has battered the Washington job market and put more households in the metropolitan area in financial distress.
A new poll finds U.S. adults are more likely than they were a year ago to think immigrants in the country legally benefit the economy. That comes as President Donald Trump's administration imposes new restrictions targeting legal pathways into the country. The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey finds Americans are more likely than they were in March 2024 to say it’s a “major benefit” that people who come to the U.S. legally contribute to the economy and help American companies get the expertise of skilled workers. At the same time, perceptions of illegal immigration haven’t shifted meaningfully. Americans still see fewer benefits from people who come to the U.S. illegally.
Shares of Tylenol maker Kenvue are bouncing back sharply before the opening bell a day after President Donald Trump promoted unproven and in some cases discredited ties between Tylenol, vaccines and autism. Trump told pregnant women not to use the painkiller around a dozen times during the White House news conference Monday. The drugmaker tumbled 7.5%. Shares have regained most of those losses early Tuesday in premarket trading.
