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Paul Pelosi attends Kennedy Center Honors in first public appearance since attack | CNN Politics

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Paul Pelosi attends Kennedy Center Honors in first public appearance since attack | CNN Politics




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Paul Pelosi, the husband of Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi, made his first public look on Sunday on the Kennedy Middle Honors after being brutally attacked in late October.

President Joe Biden made a fist pump to Paul Pelosi, who was seated close by, as he was strolling to his seat with first woman Jill Biden. Paul Pelosi was carrying a black hat as he recovers from accidents to his head.

He was attacked with a hammer on the couple’s house in San Francisco by a male assailant, who was looking for the speaker of the Home, based on courtroom paperwork. Following the assault, Paul Pelosi had surgical procedure “to restore a cranium fracture and critical accidents to his proper arm and palms,” Drew Hammill, a spokesman for Nancy Pelosi, mentioned in an announcement on the time.

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Earlier Sunday, Biden congratulated the category of the forty fifth Kennedy Middle Honors, welcoming them to the White Home forward of the star-studded occasion celebrating the American arts.

“Tonight, we have a good time a very distinctive, and this isn’t exaggeration, a very distinctive group of artists – group of artists who embody the very spirit of ‘we the individuals.’ This yr’s Kennedy Middle honorees – they’re all an unbelievable group of individuals,” Biden mentioned.

The president ticked by way of all of the honorees, their accomplishments and contributions to the humanities. These being honored included George Clooney, Amy Grant, Gladys Knight, Tania León and all 4 members of the Irish rock band U2.

The honorees, chosen for his or her contributions to American tradition by the Kennedy Middle’s Govt Committee of its Board of Trustees, have been saluted on the Kennedy Middle Opera Home in entrance of their friends. The occasion will likely be broadcast December 28.

The Bidens’ attendance marks the second yr that the primary household continues the longstanding custom that was interrupted in the course of the Trump administration.

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In 2017, then-President Donald Trump and first woman Melania Trump declined to attend the Kennedy Middle Honors after two of the honorees that yr – tv author and producer Norman Lear and dancer Carmen de Lavallade – mentioned they’d skip the Trump-hosted reception on the White Home, citing political views.

On the time, the White Home mentioned Trump’s determination would enable the artists “to have a good time with none political distraction.”

Addressing the honorees Sunday, Biden wrapped his remarks with a message about unity.

“Within the midst of the nice division, that was President Lincoln’s plea. That we’d do properly to recollect in the present day at a second when there’s an excessive amount of hate, an excessive amount of anger, an excessive amount of division right here in America and fairly frankly world wide. We’ve to recollect in the present day as their track goes – we’re one, however we aren’t the identical. We get to hold one another,” Biden mentioned, barely misquoting the U2 lyrics, which go: “One life, however we’re not the identical.”

A few of the notable attendees on the White Home included Sacha Baron Cohen, Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Sean Penn, Julia Roberts, Amal Clooney, Matt Damon and former Washington, DC, Metropolitan Police officer Michael Fanone, who was on the US Capitol in the course of the January 6, 2021, rebellion. Additionally in attendance have been Vice President Kamala Harris, second gentleman Douglas Emhoff, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Well being and Human Providers Xavier Becerra and Secretary of Training Miguel Cardona.

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This story has been up to date with extra developments.



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American Airlines and Flight Attendant Union Summoned to Washington DC On Saturday As Strike Ruling Looms

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American Airlines and Flight Attendant Union Summoned to Washington DC On Saturday As Strike Ruling Looms


American Airlines and the union which represents tens of thousands of flight attendants at the carrier have been summoned to a rare Saturday meeting of the National Mediation Board (NMB) in Washington DC as a decision looms over whether flight attendants will be allowed to go on strike.

The NMB is an independent federal agency which oversees labor relations in the railway and aviation sectors. The NMB’s three-person board of members selected by the President gets the ultimate say over whether transport workers are allowed to go on strike.

Despite the overwhelming majority of flight attendants at American Airlines voting to back strike action back in August 2023, the NMB has so far blocked the union’s request to take ‘self-help’ action and has been pushing the two sides to reach a compromise deal in protracted contract talks.

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Those negotiations entered a new make-or-break phase several weeks ago, but despite intensive bargaining sessions, which even involved Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su meeting flight attendants, the talks ended in failure.

Since then, the NMB has been mulling whether to finally allow American Airlines flight attendants to go on strike.

That decision may be announced after the agency summoned representatives from American Airlines and the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) to the NMB’s headquarters in Washington DC, on June 29.

“After weeks of intensive mediation broke off last week, your APFA Negotiating Team has continued to aggressively press our case that American Airlines Flight Attendants need a contract that addresses our concerns,” the union said in a statement.

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“The time is long overdue for American Airlines management to resolve these negotiations and agree to the contract we deserve.”

If the NMB does approve the union’s request to take self-help action, the agency will declare an impasse in negotiations and release the two sides into a 30-day cooling-off period, after which flight attendants would be allowed to go on strike.

The flight attendant union has already indicated that it wouldn’t call an all out strike but instead adopt the so-called CHAOS system which was pioneered by sister union, the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA).

CHAOS, which stands for ‘Create Havoc Around Our System’, involves calling out flight attendants from seemingly random flights at the last minute. The tactic means that the airline wouldn’t have enough time to restaff affected flights while passengers would have no idea if their flight were about to be hit by a walkout.

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Of course, the tone of the union’s Friday afternoon memo also suggests that the two sides may be nearing a compromise deal and strike action could be averted.

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Mateusz Maszczynski


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Mateusz Maszczynski honed his skills as an international flight attendant at the most prominent airline in the Middle East and has been flying throughout the COVID-19 pandemic for a well-known European airline. Matt is passionate about the aviation industry and has become an expert in passenger experience and human-centric stories. Always keeping an ear close to the ground, Matt’s industry insights, analysis and news coverage is frequently relied upon by some of the biggest names in journalism.





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Best spots to see fireworks in the D.C. area for July Fourth

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Best spots to see fireworks in the D.C. area for July Fourth


Looking for a show in the sky to celebrate America’s birthday? Here are some of the best D.C.-area spots to see fireworks in the next week.

The West Lawn of the Capitol opens at 3 p.m. for the audience of the free A Capitol Fourth concert, hosted by Alfonso Ribeiro, which begins at 8. Performers include Smokey Robinson, Fantasia, Darren Criss, Fitz and Noelle of Fitz and the Tantrums, Sheila E., the National Symphony Orchestra and various military bands. The fireworks display begins at 9:09 p.m., and the concert is timed so the NSO performs Tchaikovsky’s “1812” Overture while the fireworks are booming over the Washington Monument. Visitors will be required to go through security screenings to enter the Capitol grounds or public viewing areas on the Mall west of 14th Street. (There’s a map of closures, first aid stations, restrooms and other important landmarks on the National Mall website, nps.gov/nama.) If the crowds or the lines are too much, there’s usually more room to spread your picnic blanket closer to the Smithsonian Castle.

Mount Vernon’s An American Celebration gets underway at 9:30 a.m. with a reading of the Declaration of Independence and features an 18th-century magic show, Revolutionary War music and Army encampments, talks with reenactors, and, to the delight of all ages, daytime fireworks that create billowing puffs of colorful smoke over the Potomac River at 1 p.m. Admission is $26 for adults, $13 for kids, and free for children age 5 and younger.

Fireworks beyond the Fourth

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Love shimmering pyrotechnic displays but can’t swing it on July Fourth? Fear not: The fun isn’t limited to Thursday night. Here are more events taking place throughout the week leading up to the holiday.

Saturday: Fireworks, Food and Family Fun at Lake Fairfax

Fairfax County’s annual celebration kicks off at noon June 29 with live music and food trucks, while fireworks begin at 9:15 p.m. Tickets are $15 per car in advance, which does not include admission to the Water Mine Family Swimmin’ Hole; those tickets are sold separately.

Tuesday: Vienna’s Independence Day Celebration

The town of Vienna’s annual party fills George C. Yeonas Park with a mix of live music — Latin American from Cantaré, pop and funk from Thunderball — as well as family activities, food trucks and picnicking on baseball fields. The event runs from 6 to 10 p.m., with fireworks beginning around 9:30. Free parking is available off-site.

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Wednesday: Baseball and fireworks

Fireworks illuminate baseball diamonds across the region on Independence Day Eve. The Nationals, who won’t have fireworks after their July 4 day game, will launch “Freedom Fireworks” after the last out of their 6:45 p.m. game against the Mets on July 3. The Bowie Baysox, who regularly host fireworks after weekend games at Prince George’s Stadium, promise their biggest show of the year after the Orioles’ AA affiliate’s 6:35 p.m. game against the Richmond Flying Squirrels. The single-A Fredericksburg Nationals, home of the regular “Fireworks Friday” promotions, host a “patriotic edition” of the popular event following a 6:05 p.m. game against the Delmarva Shorebirds.



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Look inside the home of some high-powered D.C. dinner parties

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Look inside the home of some high-powered D.C. dinner parties


This French Colonial-style house at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac in D.C.’s Massachusetts Avenue Heights neighborhood is somewhat deceiving. Its out-of-the-way location, two miles from downtown Washington, helps camouflage the role it has played as a gathering spot for high-powered business, political and sports leaders.

Seclusion is part what attracted owners Michelle Fields and Jamie Weinstein to this white, painted-brick house, built in 1966, as the venue for their much-discussed (in some circles) off-the-record dinner parties.

Weinstein, a journalist and political commentator, runs the flagship podcast for conservative digital media company the Dispatch. He began hosting soirees at his Ritz-Carlton Georgetown corner unit in 2012, pairing young reporters with their sources — and subjects — for evenings of privileged discussion. Since 2020, the parties have been held at 3115 Normanstone Terr. NW, now on the market for $3.29 million.

The get-togethers, Weinstein said, sometimes last four or five hours. There are no planned topics of conversation for the reporters and notable guests, who recently have included New York Mayor Eric Adams, former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, businessman and TV personality Mark Cuban and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Weinstein declared the dinner with Sanders “particularly fiery” in an Instagram post.

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Such parties were “top of mind,” Fields said, when she and husband Weinstein bought the house. They wanted one that had plenty of entertainment space and that was removed from the bustle of downtown.

“It helps [guests] open up a little bit more because you’re not in the center of the work world in a certain way,” Weinstein said. “When you’re in D.C., you see the buildings all around and feel work, work, work, work, work. And when you’re here, you feel like you’re in the country.”

Another consideration favoring a larger house was their growing family. The couple had a year-old child, and Fields was pregnant with a second. They made some child-friendly renovations, including closing off a spiral staircase.

Before Weinstein and Fields lived here, the house was owned for decades by Stanley Rabinowitz, a long-serving rabbi at the Adas Israel Congregation in Washington, where he led services attended by members of Congress, White House officials and visiting Israeli prime ministers.

The house was built in 1966 and has two floors above a finished lower level and more than 5,000 square feet of living area. The front door opens to a foyer with marble floors. On one side is a dining room with hardwood floors and crown molding. The other side has a living room with a fireplace and French doors that open to a rear terrace. The kitchen — with an island, wine storage and a breakfast area — connects to a family room with oversize paned windows and a vaulted ceiling. This level also has a powder room and a gym.

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The second floor has a primary bedroom suite with a fireplace, a balcony, a walk-in closet and a bathroom with a two-sink vanity. There are three more bedrooms on this floor, one with an en suite bathroom and two that share a bathroom, one of which has a balcony.

On the lower level, a recreation room with a fireplace connects to an office. This level also has a bedroom with an en suite bathroom, and it has a laundry room and access to a covered terrace.

The property includes a detached two-car garage across the street.

3115 Normanstone Terr. NW, Washington, D.C.

  • Bedrooms/bathrooms: 5/6
  • Approximate square-footage: 5,000
  • Lot size: nearly half an acre
  • Features: This 1966 house has several fireplaces, crown moldings, French doors, paned windows and several outdoor spaces. The property includes a detached two-car garage.
  • Listing agent: Michael Rankin, TTR Sotheby’s International Realty





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