DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson, the spiritual guru and bestselling author, ended her campaign on Friday, weeks before voting begins, saying she did not want to make it tougher for a progressive to win.
She also said she did not believe she would be able to gain enough support in the upcoming contests to make a difference in the race to challenge President Donald Trump.
In a post on her website, Williamson said "we will not be able to garner enough votes in the election to elevate our conversation any more than it is now.” Williamson has barely registered in the polls and struggled in fundraising since launching her bid for president last January.
She laid off her entire staff from her campaign at the end of last year, but continued to appear at campaign events in Iowa and New Hampshire in recent weeks. Her decision leaves 13 candidates remaining in the primary.
California Governor Gavin Newsom is projected to keep his job. Around two-thirds of the votes have been reported, and roughly 64% of those votes are in favor of keeping Newsom as their governor.
Daniel Strauss, senior political correspondent at The New Republic, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss more about what Newsom's win means to both political parties moving into Midterm elections season.
The Department of Justice is suing Texas over the state's new abortion law that prohibits abortions after six weeks, well before many women even know they're pregnant. The lawsuit argues the law is unconstitutional under long-standing Supreme Court precedent. It was filed last week in federal court in Texas, but could go all the way to the high court within weeks. Josh Blackman, a constitutional law professor at South Texas College of Law Houston, discusses the DOJ lawsuit and what it could mean for other abortion laws across the country.
26 states have now fully vaccinated more than half of their population with Vermont, Connecticut, and Massachusetts fully vaccinating at least two-thirds of their residents. These three states are among the ones with the lowest new Covid-19 cases per capita, but in states with low vaccination rates, hospitals are filling up again.
Dr. Rob Davidson, ER doctor and executive director of Committee to Protect Health Care, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss more.
The Biden Administration has officially extended a ban on a Trump-era policy that prohibits traveling with a U.S. passport to North Korea. The extension is expected to last until August 2022. The ban was initially enforced after the death of Otto Warmbier, who entered a vegetative state while in North Korean custody. Advocates against the ban argue that it has caused crippling impacts on Korean Americans who have not been able to reunite with their families back home. Senior Fellow at The Foundation For Defense of Democracies Anthony Ruggiero joined Cheddar's News Wrap to discuss more.
