Tag: first

CNN's Zakaria says first debate with Trump will be 'make-or-break' for Biden's campaign

CNN host Fareed Zakaria argued that the upcoming first debate between President Biden and former President Trump might decide the current president’s chances at a second term.

“I think it‘s a big moment for Biden. I think it’s in some ways a make-or-break,” Zakaria said during a guest appearance on “CNN Newsroom with Jim Acosta.” “He has a lot more to gain or lose from this.”  

CNN host Jim Acosta recalled Zakaria’s recent viral commentary, noting that the future of Biden’s presidency is in question as his polling drops against Trump. Acosta asked if Biden could “use these debates to turn that around.”

Zakaria said Biden “has to approach this as if he‘s the underdog, as if he‘s coming from behind, which is all true, but it‘s hard for the president of the United States to think that way. It‘s one of the reasons presidents have typically done badly in debates, particularly in the first debate.”

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Zakaria argued that when someone serves as president, they are surrounded by people who defer to their opinion, citing then-President Obama’s surprising first debate against Mitt Romney, now a GOP Utah senator.

“Obama — who‘s a very good orator — did very badly in the first debate against Romney because the president has been spending his time governing, he’s been spending his time with his Cabinet and his White House staff, all of whom defer to him. Every time he walks into the room, the Marine band plays, every time he walks under a tarmac, he‘s walking on Air Force One or Marine One. It‘s not an atmosphere conducive to recognizing that people can disagree with you,” Zakaria said. “You don‘t realize that you have to punch and counter-punch.”

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“So Biden has to take this opportunity to be very feisty,” Zakaria argued. “The thing I pointed out in that commentary was he is really behind on the question of who is more competent, and I believe that there‘s a 25-point drop from the 2020 rates for Biden. That is about energy, that‘s about your ability to show that you‘re in command, you‘re in control, so it‘s a big moment for Biden.”

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“I think it‘s a historic opportunity for him,” he concluded. “There‘s a great moment for CNN. I think this will be one of the most widely and closely watched debates in American history.” 

First of nearly 1,200 lawsuits against New Hampshire youth detention center set for trial

It started with three words: “They raped me.” David Meehan’s disclosure to his wife seven years ago set into motion an unprecedented criminal investigation into New Hampshire’s state-run youth detention center, which was built in the 1850s as a “house of reformation.” It is now called the Sununu Youth Services Center, after former Gov. John … Continue reading First of nearly 1,200 lawsuits against New Hampshire youth detention center set for trial

On this day in history, December 30, 1968, Led Zeppelin is recorded live for first time at Gonzaga University

Led Zeppelin, one of the most celebrated and influential bands in rock ‘n’ roll history, was recorded live before a dazed and confused audience for the first time on this day in history, Dec. 30, 1968. 

“The show took place at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, and saw them opening for Vanilla Fudge,” writes Canadian entertainment site Exclaim!

“Led Zep were so unknown at the time that ads for the gig billed them as ‘Len Zefflin.'”

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The communication breakdown was brief. The mighty Zeppelin soon made a name for itself with a haunting, powerful sound that still thrills listeners today. 

Led Zeppelin blended American delta blues, English folk mysticism and intense individual musicianship to create a big, brash new style of rock ‘n’ roll that flouted pop-rock convention. It captivated fans with its blunt power and hallucinatory aura.

A bootleg version of the first show displaying Zeppelin’s power and aura has circulated for decades.

“There is nothing raw or un-Led Zeppelin-like about the sound captured by an unknown Gonzaga student on a small, portable tape recorder that day,” says History.com. 

“The ‘Gonzaga ’68 bootleg features the band performing tight and thrilling versions of some songs that are now considered classics but were then unknown to those in attendance.”

The power quartet exploded onto the global music scene two weeks later with the release of its debut album and rock epic, “Led Zeppelin I,” on Jan. 12, 1969. 

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The Gonzaga gig included a live version of “Dazed and Confused,” a blues-rock fireball of a tortured lover’s lament that appeared on the first studio album and remains one of the band’s signature tracks more half a century later. 

“Dreamy, morbid, glowing with whooshing flocks of baby vultures produced by bowing the E string of the guitar, ‘Dazed and Confused’ was the album’s tour de force,” author Stephen Davis wrote in his bloated 1985 Led Zeppelin tabloid-ography “Hammer of the Gods.” 

“A generation of fans,” he added, “would grow up wondering what Robert [Plant] was jabbering, submerged under the wah-wah, before Zep drops the bomb one more time.”

Within two years of their gig at Gonzaga, “Len Zefflin” had released a trio of mega-hit albums and emerged in the post-Beatles 1970s as the biggest band in the world and one of the premier live acts in music history.

The British foursome, drummer John Bonham, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, guitarist Jimmy Page and singer Plant had formed a group earlier in 1968 known as the New Yardbirds. 

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Page was already a rock star as a member of the original Yardbirds, a groundbreaking U.K. band that included among its members Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton. 

The group is best known for its 1965 British Invasion hit, “For Your Love.”

Page’s New Yardbirds performed under that short-lived name in Europe in the autumn of 1968. 

The Gonzaga show was one of its first as Led Zeppelin. 

Their studio recordings soon made the band a hugely influential sensation all over the world. 

Led Zeppelin’s first album featured nine tracks, including four that were longer than six minutes — unheard of at the time. 

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It was recorded, incredibly, in just 30 hours of studio time and with minimal production, according to author Davis, just weeks before the show in Washington.

Band manager Peter Grant “would claim it cost only £1,750 to produce, including the artwork depicting the catastrophic 1937 death of the ocean-going Nazi zeppelin Hindenburg,” Davis wrote. 

The album cost just $17,500 in 2022 U.S. dollars, yet has sold about 10 million copies.

The foursome cemented its status as the biggest band in the world with the 1971 release of its fourth album, “Led Zeppelin IV.”

It features high-octane power tracks such as “Black Dog,” “Rock and Roll” and “When the Levee Breaks.” 

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Its signature anthem, “Stairway to Heaven,” is proclaimed in many circles as the greatest song of the rock era.

The Recording Industry Association of America lists “Led Zeppelin IV” as one of the five most popular albums in world history, with more than 30 million in certified copies sold. 

Led Zeppelin released eight studio albums and one live album before disbanding following the death of drummer Bonham in 1980, with several more releases since then. 

With estimates of over 200 million albums sold, they are one of the most popular bands of all time, forging their legend with powerful live performances. 

“During their decade-long prime in the 1970s, Led Zeppelin was the biggest band in the world, representing the booming record business at its peak as its biggest act,” Davis wrote.

“There was something magical, unnatural about Zeppelin’s rise to power.”

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On this day in history, August 24, 1932, Amelia Earhart becomes first woman to fly solo coast-to-coast

Aviation trailblazer Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the U.S. nonstop on this day in history, Aug. 24, 1932. 

Earhart piloted her Lockheed Vega 5B from Los Angeles to Newark in a record 19 hours and 5 minutes. 

The 3,986-kilometer (2,477-mile) flight set an official U.S. record for women’s distance and time, according to the National Air and Space Museum.

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Earhart’s solo, non-stop flight’s average speed for this record-breaking flight was 206.42 kilometers per hour (128.27 miles per hour), and she flew most of the way at an altitude of 3,048 meters (10,000 feet), the same source recounted. 

Less than a year later, Earhart would set a new transcontinental speed record, making the same flight in a record 17 hours and 7 minutes, the same source indicated.

Then on Jan. 11, 1935, she became the first person to solo fly the 2,408-mile distance across the Pacific between Honolulu, Hawaii, and Oakland, California. 

It was also the first flight in which a civilian aircraft carried a two-way radio, according to The Amelia Earhart official website. 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, JAN. 11, 1935, AMELIA EARHART IS FIRST AVIATOR TO FLY SOLO FROM HAWAII TO CALIFORNIA

Earhart was born on July 24, 1897, in Atchison, Kansas. Her father was a railroad lawyer, and her mother was from an affluent family. 

As a child, she displayed an adventurous and independent nature for which she would later become known, noted Biography.com.

The Earhart family often moved — and while on a visit to her sister in Canada, Earhart developed an interest in caring for soldiers wounded in World War I. 

In 1918, she left junior college to become a nurse’s aide in Toronto, the same source indicated. When the war ended, Earhart entered a premed program at Columbia University in New York City but left in 1920 after her parents insisted that she live with them in California. 

“It was there she went on her first airplane ride in 1920, an experience that prompted her to take flying lessons,” cited Biography.com.

In 1921, she bought her first plane, a Kinner Airster, and two years later she earned her pilot’s license, the same source said. 

Earhart moved to Massachusetts, where she continued to pursue her interest in aviation.

Earhart continued to reach new heights in aviation. 

On June 17, 1928, she departed Trepassey, Newfoundland, Canada, as a passenger aboard a seaplane piloted by Wilmer Stultz and Louis Gordon, noted Britannica.com.

Much of the publicity was managed by publisher George Palmer Putnam, who had helped organize the historic flight. The couple married in 1931, but Earhart continued her career under her birth name. 

That year she also piloted an autogiro to a record-setting altitude of 18,415 feet, the same source cited.

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In 1930, Earhart purchased the plane that would carry her into history, the iconic red Lockheed 5B Vega she nicknamed “Old Bessie.” It’s been on display at the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum since its opening in 1976, according to Popular Mechanics.

Then, on May 20, 1932, and exactly five years to the date of Lindberg’s journey, she made her own indelible mark — becoming only the second person to pilot a plane solo across the Atlantic and the first woman, the same source recounted.

This flight in her 5B Vega from Harbour Grace, Newfoundland, to Londonderry, Northern Ireland was completed in a record time of 14 hours 56 minutes despite a number of challenges. 

Earhart faced inclement weather and some mechanical difficulties and was unable to land in her scheduled destination of Paris, Brittancia.com reported.

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Earhart’s fate then turned to tragedy.

On the morning of July 2, 1937, she and her navigator, Fred Noonan, took off from Lae, New Guinea, on one of the last legs in their historic attempt to circumnavigate the globe, History.com reported. 

Their next destination was Howland Island in the central Pacific Ocean, about 2,500 miles away. 

But Earhart never landed on Howland Island.

Battling overcast skies, faulty radio transmissions and a rapidly diminishing fuel supply in her twin-engine Lockheed Electra plane, she and Noonan lost contact with somewhere over the Pacific, the same source recounted. 

“Despite a search-and-rescue mission of unprecedented scale, including ships and planes from the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard scouring some 250,000 square miles of ocean, they were never found,” History.com stated. 

At the time, the Navy concluded that Earhart and Noonan had run out of fuel, crashed into the Pacific and drowned, according to multiple sources. The mystery of her disappearance remains a fixture in popular culture and her fate has been the subject of numerous books and movies.

Although her plane disappeared on July 2, 1937, she was declared officially deceased on Jan. 5, 1939.

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Earhart received numerous posthumous honors. She was enshrined in 1968 in the National Aviation Hall of Fame and in 1973 in the National Women’s Hall of Fame, noted the Topeka Capital-Journal. 

Her image adorns a 1963 air mail stamp. She’s also the namesake of the USNS Amelia Earhart, a Navy cargo ship launched in 2007, the same source said. 

Despite the tragic end to Earhart’s life, her accomplishments and her legacy still serve as an inspiration to thousands of budding young pilots everywhere, noted Britannica.com.

Dodgers honor anti-Catholic drag 'nuns' more than an hour before first pitch inside nearly empty stadium

More than an hour before the Dodgers game started on Friday night, there was a strong police presence inside and outside the stadium. 

The response from law enforcement came after several weeks of outrage leading up to the team’s 10th annual Pride Night at Dodger Stadium. The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence receive a Community Hero Award well before the first pitch of the game was thrown, and long before most of the fans made it to their seats.

The people who did make it inside the stadium in time to witness the pre-game ceremony seemed to have a mixed reaction to the satirical LGBTQ+. But, some of the attendees appeared to applaud as members of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence waived when they were announced to the small crowd.

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“The Dodgers community hero award goes to an organization reaching the LGBTQ+ community, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, LA chapter,” stadium announcer Todd Leitz said. “Please join us in recognizing the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence for their outstanding service to the LGBTQ+ community.”

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Sister Dominia and Sister Unity were on the field to accept the award on behalf of their entire group.

Last month, three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw announced that the team will relaunch its Christian Faith and Family Day. The veteran pitcher said it was in response to the organization’s decision to honor the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

“I think we were always going to do Christian Faith Day this year, but I think the timing of our announcement was sped up,” Kershaw told the Los Angeles Times on Monday. “Picking a date and doing those different things was part of it as well. Yes, it was in response to the highlighting of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence [by the Dodgers].”

After initially removing the group from its Pride Night event, the Dodgers reinvited the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and issued an apology.

“After much thoughtful feedback from our diverse communities, honest conversations within the Los Angeles Dodgers organization and generous discussions with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, the Los Angeles Dodgers would like to offer our sincerest apologies to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, members of the LGBTQ+ community and their friends and families,” the Dodgers said.

Several hours before the first pitch was thrown at the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Pride Night, a large group of protesters gathered outside the stadium. 

Catholics for Catholics, a group based in Phoenix, organized what it described as “a prayerful procession” in a parking lot outside Dodger Stadium. 

Fox News’ Larry Fink was on scene several hours before the start of the game and captured video of thousands of protestors outside Dodger Stadium praying and holding flags and signs. Many of the demonstrators also wore red clothing in honor of the sacred heart. 

The procession lasted a couple of hours before the protesters made it to Vin Scully Avenue. Around the time the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence were being honored on the field, the group appeared to block one of the entrances to Dodger Stadium.

Over the past couple of years, some athletes have expressed their opposition to the Pride Nights. Several Tampa Bay Rays players declined to wear Pride-themed jerseys, citing their Christian faith.

In May, Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Anthony Bass issued an apology for supporting for anti-LGBTQ+ boycotts of Target and Bud Light.

Brown University's Olivia Pichardo becomes first woman to play in NCAA Division I baseball game

A freshman from Queens, New York, made history on the baseball diamond Friday.

Brown’s Olivia Pichardo became the first woman to play in an NCAA Division I baseball game.

The left-handed hitter pinch hit in the bottom of the ninth, grounding out to first in Brown’s 10-1 loss.

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Pichardo joined the USA Baseball Women’s National Team last summer and was an intern for the New York Mets in their amateur scouting department. She also participated in the Friendship Series against Team Canada in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, over the summer.

Pichardo became the first woman on a Division I roster.

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“I’m living out my dream right now and the ideal college experience that I’ve always wanted, so that’s really cool,” Pichardo said when she made the team.

“Olivia put together the most complete walk-on tryout I have seen from a player since becoming a head coach,” head coach Grant Achilles said at the time.

She threw out the ceremonial first pitch for the Mets on Women’s Day at Citi Field in August.

Pichardo was a varsity high school player at Garden School in the seventh grade.

New York school, food vendor apologize for serving chicken and waffles on first day of Black History Month

A New York middle school is apologizing after serving students with a meal on the first day of Black History Month that was deemed to be culturally insensitive.

Administrators at Nyack Middle School say that the hot lunch menu was changed by the vendor without their knowledge on February 1st, the first day of Black History Month, to include chicken and waffles with a watermelon dessert which the school’s principal called an “unfortunate situation”, The Journal News reported.

“We are extremely disappointed by this regrettable situation and apologize to the entire Nyack community for the cultural insensitivity displayed by our food service provider,” Nyack Middle School Principal David Johnson said in a statement. 

“I am disappointed that Aramark would serve items that differed from the published monthly menu. Especially items that reinforce negative stereotypes concerning the African-American Community.”

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Multiple families expressed outrage over the menu selection including parent Lindsay Siegel who told the outlet that it was “really disappointing” the change wasn’t caught.

Aramark, the school district’s food vendor, issued a statement on the matter on Thursday.

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“While our menu was not intended as a cultural meal, we acknowledge that the timing was inappropriate, and our team should have been more thoughtful in its service,” the Aramark statement said. “This was a mistake and does not represent the values of our company, and we are committed to doing better in the future.”

Aramark also said that it will be partnering with the school to provide sensitivity training for employees who work at the school to make sure their actions align with the district’s “vision and commitment to equity-driven work.”

“We believe this will provide a good learning opportunity to deepen understanding on the impact of systemic biases and negative stereotypes concerning the African-American Community,” the statement said.

Aramark has found itself in similar situations in years past including an incident in 2011 where UC California-Irvine, an Aramark client, was criticized for serving a “MLH Holiday Special” that featured chicken and waffles.

Fox News Digital reached out to Nyack Middle School and Aramark but did not immediately receive a response.