By CLARE FORAN and PHIL MATTINGLY | CNN Newswire

Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams said Tuesday she has accepted an invitation to give the Democratic response to the State of the Union address.

Abrams has been talked about as a rising star in the Democratic Party. She gained a national following during her unsuccessful bid to become governor of Georgia last fall. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday said he called Abrams three weeks ago to discuss the idea and that she has since accepted.

Abrams said on Tuesday that she is “honored” to give the Democratic response. Abrams’ spokesperson said Abrams would be the first black woman to give the Democratic response to the State of the Union.”

At a moment when our nation needs to hear from leaders who can unite for a common purpose, I am honored to be delivering the Democratic State of the Union response,” Abrams tweeted.

California Attorney General — and former House member — Xavier Becerra will deliver the Spanish-language response to the speech.

The Democratic response will give Abrams a major platform to counter the President following his address to Congress and the nation — and the speech is sure to further elevate her national profile.

“Her electrifying message of courage, perseverance, and hope reinvigorated our nation and our politics, and continues to inspire millions of Americans in every part of the country,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. “Stacey Abrams embodies the American Dream, and her powerful message of progress for all is deeply needed during this time for our country.“

“Stacey Abrams offers a welcome, stark contrast to President (Donald) Trump’s politics of division and lack of leadership as American families are still feeling the impacts of his self-imposed shutdown,” Schumer said in a statement. “Stacey Abrams is a present and future leader in this country. She is a dynamic, moral leader; she delivered results on the issues that matter most to Americans, and she tirelessly pursues fairness and justice for everyone in her state.

“The State of the Union is on track to proceed next week on Tuesday after the government shutdown threw the date it would take place into question.

Pelosi initially invited Trump to deliver the speech on Jan. 29 — but later suggested he postpone the address until the shutdown ended or deliver it in writing.

By ASHLEY KILLOUGH, ALLIE MALLOY and LAUREN FOX | CNN Newswire

President Donald Trump has accepted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s invitation to give his State of the Union address on Feb. 5, the White House announced Monday evening.

“When I wrote to you on Jan. 23, I stated that we should work together to find a mutually agreeable date when the government has reopened to schedule this year’s State of the Union address,” Pelosi stated in a letter provided by her office. “In our conversation today, we agreed on February 5th.”

Pelosi continued, “Therefore, I invite you to deliver your State of the Union address before a Joint Session of Congress on Feb. 5, 2019 in the House Chamber.”

Trump responded later Monday accepting Pelosi’s invitation.

“It is my great honor to accept,” Trump wrote. “We have a great story to tell and yet, great goals to achieve!”

A Pelosi aide said that the speaker was the one to call Trump on Monday.

The State of the Union became a point of contention in the negotiations related to the partial government shutdown that ended on Friday. Pelosi originally invited Trump on Jan. 3 to give the speech this Tuesday.

After the government shutdown continued for most of the month, the California Democrat on Jan. 16 requested that Trump postpone the address or deliver it in writing, citing security concerns.

While Trump responded by canceling Pelosi’s use of a military vehicle for an overseas trip, he eventually acquiesced to her request and agreed to reschedule the speech after the shutdown had ended.

The agreement to end the shutdown on Friday reopened the government for three weeks while congressional negotiators work to see if there’s a potential deal related to border security, immigration issues and the President’s campaign promise of a border wall, money for which had caused the standoff that led to the shutdown.

Following the shutdown’s end on Friday, a senior White House official was asked when the speech would be rescheduled. The official responded, “You need to ask the speaker that.”

CNN’s Jim Acosta contributed to this report.

By MAEVE RESTON | CNN Newswire

Kamala Harris officially launched her 2020 presidential campaign Sunday in her birthplace of Oakland, promising to be a fighter “for the people” and stating that it is time to restore what she views as the loss of American values under President Donald Trump.”

We are here because the American Dream and our American democracy are under attack and on the line like never before,” the California senator said. “We are here at this moment in time because we must answer a fundamental question. Who are we? Who are we as Americans? So, let’s answer that question to the world and each other right here and right now. America: we are better than this.”

In an allusion to Trump’s xenophobic rhetoric, his policies at the border, and his decision to shut down the government in a failed attempt to get his wall, Harris said that “people in power are trying to convince us that the villain in our American story is each other.”

“But that is not our story. That is not who we are. That is not our America,” Harris said without mentioning Trump’s name. “The United States of America is not about us versus them … I’m running to be a President of the people, by the people, for all the people.”

“If I have the honor of being your president, I will tell you this: I am not perfect. Lord knows I am not perfect,” she said. “But I will always speak with decency and moral clarity and treat all people with dignity and respect. I will lead with integrity. And I will speak the truth.”

She did not dwell on her own potential for a history-making candidacy with her background as a black woman seeking the Democratic nomination.

Instead, she focused on the need for unity at a time when the nation is deeply polarized, arguing that while Americans have differences in ideology, race, and ethnicity, they should unite to tackle their common challenges.

Speaking before a giant American flag in front of Oakland’s City Hall, Harris was surrounded by giant screens that alternated images of the crowd with a picture of her campaign logo—”Kamala Harris for the People”—and a request that supporters text “Fearless” to a campaign number in order to show their support.

“My heart is full right now,” she said as she came on stage. “I am so proud to be a daughter of Oakland California,” she said referencing the Civil Rights activism of her parents — immigrants from India and Jamaica who came in “pursuit of a dream.” “The fight for justice is everyone’s responsibility.”

Harris’ campaign held the rally at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza. Harris spent her childhood with her mother and sister in Berkeley.

he family moved in her middle and high school years to Montreal after her mother got a medical research job there, but many of the speakers made allusions to her Oakland roots.

Among them was Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, who said she decided to endorse the California senator because “she has the most incredible strong character.”

In an interview with CNN before the rally, Schaaf, who shares the same political consultants as the California senator, called Harris “the right candidate for this moment in American history.“

“Oakland is a place that definitely tests people,” Schaaf said. “But it also has the right values, values that honor diversity… When you come up in Oakland, you’re a fighter, and you’re a fighter for the right things.”

Early in her speech Sunday, Harris directly addressed some of the criticism she has faced from progressives about her record as district attorney of San Francisco and later attorney general of California.

As she did on her book tour in early January, Harris sought to introduce her record to voters as that of a “progressive prosecutor,” one who decided that she could do more to fix injustices, particularly against people of color, from within the system.

A week after facing a brutal dissembling of her record in a The New York Times op-ed piece by University of San Francisco associate law professor Lara Bazelon, who is the former director of the Loyola Law School Project for the Innocent, Harris renewed her efforts to frame herself as someone who tried to fight for a “more fair criminal justice system” from within.

Harris noted that she began her career as a young prosecutor blocks from the spot where she was announcing her presidential campaign (and that it was there, at the Alameda County Courthouse, where she first spoke the words — “Kamala Harris, for the people” — words that are now her 2020 slogan).

“I knew our criminal justice system was deeply flawed,” she said. “I knew that the people in our society who are most often targeted by predators are also most often the voiceless and vulnerable. And I believed then as I do now, that no one should be left to fight alone.”

Despite recent passage of criminal justice reform legislation, she said the changes have come too slowly.

“Let’s speak the truth that too many unarmed black men and women are killed in America. Too many black and brown Americans are locked up. From mass incarceration to cash bail to policing, our criminal justice system needs drastic repair.”

In the wake of the #MeToo movement, she also said that she prosecuted sexual assault cases as “a fight not just against predators, but a fight against silence and stigma.”

Referencing her work on recidivism, she said that “at a time when prevention and redemption were not in the vocabulary or mindset of most district attorneys. We created an initiative to get skills and job training instead of jail time for young people arrested for drugs.”

After Harris became attorney general of California, many criminal justice advocates in the state were disappointed that she did not take a more active role to advocate for ballot measures and legislation changing California’s three strikes law, even though she had been a strong critic of the harsh sentencing penalties before she was elected. She also took heat for saying that she would defend California’s death penalty even though she was personally opposed to it.

Earlier in her career in 2004, Harris faced a strong blowback when she decided not to seek the death penalty for the killer of San Francisco police officer Isaac Espinoza.

While focusing on her plans for middle-class tax credits and Medicare-for-All on Sunday, Harris was sharply critical of the Trump administration’s record in terms of helping average Americans and people of color.”

When American families are barely living paycheck to paycheck, what is this administration’s response?” the California senator asked. “Their response is to try to take away health care from millions of families. Their response is to give away a trillion dollars to the biggest corporations in this country. And their response is to blame immigrants as the source of all our problems.”

She added that there is a whole generation of Americans “living with the sinking fear that they won’t do as well as their parents.”

25 JAN 19 15:12 ET Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large

    (CNN) — President Donald Trump had made one thing very clear on each day of this 35-day government shutdown: He wouldn’t agree to a compromise deal to re-open the government unless it contained money allocated for the construction of his border wall.

And then, on Friday, he did exactly that.

“We have reached a deal to end the shutdown and re-open the federal government,” Trump said Friday afternoon while announcing the deal.

The parameters of that deal are this: The government will re-open for three weeks — until February 15 — so that negotiations via bipartisan conference committee can begin about how much money should be allocated for border security and, specifically, for Trump’s wall. The deal to re-open the government did not include any increase in the $1.3 billion already allocated for fencing and wall repair.

Prior to Trump’s speech announcing the end of the shutdown, his aides sought to portray this deal as a win for Trump — in that he is calling Democrats’ bluff to begin talks about funding the wall. In the speech itself, Trump asserted of Democrats: “They have finally and fully acknowledged that having barriers or fences or walls will be an important part of the solution.”

But based on, well, reality, that is not an accurate characterization of either the deal or Democrats’ views on the necessity of a wall along our southern border.

The government shutdown, which began on December 22, was the direct result of Trump’s insistence that he needed $5.7 billion in federal funding to build a border wall. Democrats refused to trade wall money in exchange for keeping the government open.

And, throughout the shutdown, Trump repeatedly harped on the need for wall money to bring about any compromise to re-open the government.

“Just left a meeting with Chuck and Nancy, a total waste of time,” Trump tweeted on January 9. “I asked what is going to happen in 30 days if I quickly open things up, are you going to approve Border Security which includes a Wall or Steel Barrier? Nancy said, NO. I said bye-bye, nothing else works!”

Then there was this tweet on January 22 — just three days ago: “Without a Wall our Country can never have Border or National Security. With a powerful Wall or Steel Barrier, Crime Rates (and Drugs) will go substantially down all over the U.S. The Dems know this but want to play political games. Must finally be done correctly. No Cave!”

Despite his attempts, there is simply no way to spin this as anything other than what Trump pledged he wouldn’t do earlier this week: Cave. He said he would not agree to re-open the government unless and until he got the $5.7 billion he said was necessary to build a wall to protect our border from undocumented immigrants pouring in. He did not get that. In fact, he got nothing — not one dime more than had already been allocated by Congress to border security.

Could that change? Sure! A conference committee between Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate could, potentially, include money for new barriers or fences or even — gasp — walls. But that’s not what Trump said when he refused to keep the government open on December 22 — and then again and again over the intervening days. He said the government wouldn’t open again unless there was a promise of border wall money. This deal does not meet that standard.

So why did he do it?

Simple: The pressure from Senate Republicans, his own concerns about his political future and the increasing impacts of the shutdown (most notably a ground stop and delays at major airports today) combined into a toxic mixture that not even Trump could stomach.

The logjam began to break on Thursday afternoon when six Senate Republicans — including several incumbents expected to be major Democratic targets in 2020 — broke ranks with Trump to side with Democrats on a show vote that would have re-opened the government for two weeks. The message from those Republicans — and, without even saying anything, from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was clear: We are losing this thing. We need to end it.

That message dovetailed with a series of recent national polls that have shown three things consistently: 1) A majority of Americans blame Trump and Republicans for the government shutdown 2) A majority of Americans do not believe the wall is a realistic solution to the country’s immigration problems and 3) Trump’s approval ratings were nearing their all-time lows. (In a Washington Post-ABC News poll released Friday afternoon, just 37% approved of the job Trump is doing while 58% disapproved.)

This was, simply put, a losing hand for Trump. And so, he folded. Although, he did so in a manner that is familiar to anyone who has closely watched his life — in both business and politics. He glossed over the fact that he wasn’t getting anything concrete he wanted in this deal to re-open the government, choosing instead to insist that he had in fact won in this deal — despite proof to the contrary — and issuing a not-so-veiled threat that if things didn’t go exactly to his liking over the next few weeks, he could and would do something about it.

“Let me be very clear: We really have no choice but to build a powerful wall or steel barrier,” Trump said at the end of his remarks. “If we don’t get a fair deal from Congress, the government will either shutdown on February 15 again or I will use the powers afforded to me … to address this emergency.”

He can say that — or anything else he wants.

But it doesn’t change the facts, which are these: Trump said he wouldn’t agree to re-open the government without a promise of $5.7 billion in wall funding. He got a total of $0 in wall funding guaranteed in this deal. The end.

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By LEE JOHNSON | Nashville Voice

A new year may mean better grades for some students in Shelby County, Tennessee, thanks to a free tutoring program that’s opening a satellite office in the state’s largest school district.

Homework Hotline, which is based in Nashville, uses certified teachers to provide Tennessee students in grades K-12 free one-on-one tutoring by phone and online in subjects that include reading, language arts, math, social studies, science and Spanish. There is also help available for students in more advanced courses like AP calculus and AP physics.

The program is the only one of its kind in Tennessee, and only one of 10 nationwide. Besides English, it provides tutoring in five other languages: Arabic, Spanish, Kurdish, Somalia and Swahili. 

Most of the calls HH receives are from students in the Davidson County area, as many as 5,000 a year, compared to about 200 calls from students in Shelby County, according to HH executive director Rebekah Vance.

But that number is expected to increase drastically after the satellite office opens the week of Feb. 11 in Memphis. Shelby County Schools serves Memphis, as well as the unincorporated areas of the county.

Lori M. Phillips is director of family and community engagement for Shelby County Schools. She said there was a Homework Hotline program in the county years ago, but it closed.

Phillips said she’s glad to have the program back because there’s a need for it. She said parents do not always know the answers, and sometimes students still have questions after class.

“What better way to reinforce that than to have a number you know you can call to ask those questions,” Phillips said. “Our goal is to make sure that we remove all barriers, so that students can be their best self.”

Once the new office is set up, school officials expect the word to spread rapidly about HH because the new teachers will be able to promote it in their classrooms. There will be 16 tutors in the Memphis office. Phillips said more than 100 teachers have applied.

“That speaks volumes to our district, knowing that you have given 130 percent each and every day, and still willing to come and give in the evening time to help our students,” she said.  

Michael Ballentine is one of the 25 teachers in HH’s Nashville office. While some of the teachers are retired, he is among those who provide four hours of tutorial time after a long day in the classroom – and he loves it.

“I enjoy the responses I get,” said Ballentine, who’s been teaching biology, chemistry and physical science more than 30 years. “Just hearing their expression after I help them figure out a problem. I enjoy helping them be successful.”

According to a survey HH gave to students and their parents, 76 percent said the tutors were “very encouraging;” 68 percent said they/their child was more confident for class after using the service; and 95 percent said they would or have already recommended the service to a friend.  

“The best thing is that they always have time for you and know exactly what help you need,” wrote one student when asked to provide comment. “No matter how rude or irritated you get, they will stay polite and helpful. They continue to help you until you’re finished.”

Jim Wrye is assistant executive director of the Tennessee Education Association, the state’s largest teachers’ union. He said HH is an asset to education in Tennessee. 

“It’s important that students get the support and the resources they need to achieve their learning goals,” Wrye said. “A lot of times parents working, extended family working, don’t’ have time to explain certain aspects of the assignments that they’re working on. So it’s great to have somebody at the other end of the line be able to walk you through those problems.” 

For more information about Homework Hotline, visit https://www.homeworkhotline.info.

By NIARA SAVAGE | Nashville Voice

On Friday, Jan. 18, a grand jury in Nashville indicted Andrew Delke on first-degree murder charges for fatally shooting 25-year-old Daniel Hambrick as he fled.

The jury’s decision represents another step towards a criminal trial, but also a further escalation in the case involving the first Nashville officer ever criminally charged for an on-duty shooting. The case has also become another national symbol of police brutality in the black community.

Many are closely watching this case’s progress in anticipation of whether there is any set of facts, circumstances, or act of brutality that will lead to the conviction of an on-duty police officer.

History shows that it is rare for a white police officer to be indicted — and convicted — for the killing of a black citizen, regardless of the video evidence we have seen over and over again.

Notably, many officers involved in police brutality or fatality cases face reduced charges and typically do not get prosecuted under the first-degree charges Delke currently faces.  

Although this serious charge indicates that the grand jury believes the case deserves significant attention, it also suggests that the prosecutor’s job could be more difficult as he or she will be forced to prove without reasonable doubt that Delke committed first-degree murder.

David Raybin, Delke’s outspoken defense attorney, has said numerous times that his client “acted in accordance with his training” when he shot and killed Daniel Hambrick from behind.

Following Judge Melissa Blackburn’s decision to turn the case over to a grand jury, Raybin once again insisted that “Delke’s use of force was in full compliance with the training provided by our Nashville Police Department.”

According to Nashville Police, Hambrick had not committed any crimes when Andrew Delke — from 200 yards away — stooped to one knee and fired four shots at Hambrick who was fleeing, hitting him twice in the back and one time in the back of the head.

While Raybin stands by his argument that Delke’s actions were in adherence to the training of all Metro Police Officers, many in the community are concerned whether the Metro Nashville Police Department and its Chief of Police agree that Delke’s use of force was in full compliance with his training.

To that end, only an official representative of the Nashville Police Department can provide confirmation of such sentiment as well as proper clarify the department’s policies.

By LEE JOHNSON | Nashville Voice

The Tennessee State Museum is setting up an advisory group following criticism of its presentation of black history, said a museum official.

Since it opened in October, the museum, which has 137,000 square feet of exhibition space, has received complaints about its slavery exhibits and the interpretation of that time period. One complaint is that the slavery section is small, segregated, and doesn’t include enough about black women.

“We did get some criticism of the interpretation, and the design of the exhibitions,” said Joe Pagetta, the museum’s communications director. “But we are putting together an advisory group to address those concerns. We want to get it right, we absolutely do.”

One person who has been asked to be part of the advisory group is Dr. Learotha Williams, an associate professor of history at Tennessee State University and founder of the North Nashville Heritage Project, an initiative to preserve and share stories of black history in North Nashville.

Williams recently gave a lecture at the museum and talked about Nashville’s early history and the impact of blacks in shaping the city. Following the lecture, he discussed the changes he would like to see at the museum.

“There needs to be a broader, more up-to-date presentation and analysis of Tennessee history, particularly African-American,” said Williams, who has asked that some of his students be part of the advisory group. “Black folks … were here from the beginning, and not just passive participants. And we helped to shape Nashville as you see it today.”

Williams said he would also like to see more about African-American contributions in other areas, like music.

“Our beats, our rhythms, are at the heart of everything that makes us nod our head or tap our feet, but you don’t really see that,” he said.

Tennessee Rep. Harold Love, Jr., whose district borders the museum, agreed.

“One of the things that we need to be always aware of when we have state museums is the intentional effort to represent the entire state,” Love said. “I know we can’t encapsulate everything, but there should be an intentional effort to make sure that we have representation from all across the state of Tennessee, and from all ethnicities, races and nationalities.”

Pagetta said the museum wants to “encompass the entire state,” and that it welcomes feedback from the advisory group, which is still being assembled. He didn’t say exactly when it would be complete, but he reiterated that the museum has heard the critics.

“This has been a learning curve for us these last three months,” Pagetta said. ”We want to make sure that interpretation is accurate, it’s contemporary.”