Author: CNN

CNN
 — 

A Florida sheriff’s office is urging beachgoers to give manatees some privacy – and to not call the police on their distinctive mating displays.

The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office posted a video of a group of the sea creatures gathered near the shore last Saturday.

“If you see this, no you didn’t,” joked the office in the caption.

“We get calls all the time from citizens when they see this, believing the manatees are in distress. We can assure you they are more than fine,” the post goes on.

The waters around Florida are home to thousands of manatees, large marine mammals that have lived in the area for millions of years.

And in the summer months, the “sea cows” form “mating herds,” often in shallow waters close to the shore, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

“Manatee mating herds are interesting to watch as several bulls (males) pursue a cow (female) until she is ready to mate,” says the commission on its website. “For your safety, watch these mating herds from a distance as the animals are focused on mating and do not heed intruders in their midst.”

The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office assured residents in its Facebook post that manatees seen in these gregarious herds are “a-okay.”

“So if you see this, there’s no need to call,” they wrote.

The sheriff’s office also reminded Floridians that touching or disturbing manatees is both illegal and dangerous. The species is protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and the Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act of 1978. Violating federal protection laws for manatees can incur fines up to $100,000 or up to a year in prison, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Manatees breed throughout the year, but they’re most active in the summer, says the commission. The mothers will gestate their young for 13 months and the calf typically stays with its mother for up to two years.

CNN
 — 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sharply criticized his chief 2024 rival during a town hall in New Hampshire that aired Friday, telling the audience former President Donald Trump’s behavior could cause Republicans to lose.

“These insults are so phony, these insults are juvenile. That is not the way a great nation should be conducting itself. That is not the way the president of the United States should be conducting himself,” DeSantis said on WMUR’s “Conversation With the Candidate,” which was taped Tuesday.

DeSantis said at the town hall that he’s not going to insult somebody’s looks or dress and wouldn’t teach his kids to treat people like that.

“As Republicans, that will cause us to lose if we behave that way. There are millions of voters out there who do not like what Biden is doing to this country,” DeSantis added. “They do not like the direction the country is going in. But they aren’t going to sign up for a candidate who is behaving like that. So, let’s be better. Let’s look higher, and let’s set a good standard for our children to follow.”

While he acknowledged he was a “big supporter” of Trump, DeSantis called him out for running on failed promises from 2016, like eliminating the national debt, having Mexico pay for a border wall and draining the “swamp” in Washington, DC.

DeSantis said elsewhere Friday that the “theories” put out by Trump and his associates following the 2020 election were “unsubstantiated” and “did not prove to be true.”

“I’ve said many times, the election is what it is. All those theories that were put out, did not prove to be true,” DeSantis told reporters traveling on his “Never Back Down” bus tour in Iowa. “What I’ve also said is the way you conduct a good election that people have confidence in, you don’t change the rules in the middle of the game.”

“It was not an election that was conducted the way I think we want to, but that’s different than saying, like, ‘Maduro stolen votes’ or something like that,” he added, in reference to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. “I think those theories, you know, proved to be unsubstantiated.”

DeSantis said on Saturday that Trump’s rhetoric following the 2020 election is “not necessarily” to blame for Republican distrust in alternative forms of voting.

“I think what happened was Covid was used as an excuse to change the voting rules. Some of those were, I think, unconstitutional changes because it’s got to be done by the legislature,” he told reporters in Cedar Falls, Iowa. “It can’t be done by emergency executive order.”

He argued that Republicans’ focus should be on “winning the argument with the electorate.”

Trump, the current front-runner for the 2024 GOP nomination, pleaded not guilty in a Washington, DC, courthouse to four criminal charges brought against him this week by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith as part of his investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election leading up to the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.

A central premise of the special counsel’s case is that Trump knew the election claims he was making were false after being told by several close aides that he had lost the election. Trump’s lawyers have argued that his statements were protected under the First Amendment.

For his part, DeSantis branded the latest indictment against Trump as “politically motivated.”

The Florida governor, speaking with a voter at a brewery in Decorah, said: “It’s politically motivated, absolutely. I think you have people in DC, in the Justice Department that are responding to a lot of left-wing pressure. I mean they’ve been trying to get him since he became president.”

Previously, when asked about the 2020 election, DeSantis had pivoted and emphasized a focus on the future, not the past.

In early June, at an event in Bluffton, South Carolina, the week after he launched his campaign, an attendee in the rope line asked DeSantis, “Do you think that we should just move on from the 2020 stuff, just say Trump lost, you gotta move on?”

“I mean you gotta look forward,” he replied at the time. “I think that candidates that focus on the past have not done well. So, let’s give a positive – hold Biden accountable, give a positive vision. I mean, that’s the formula for success.”

Such a focus on the future is typical for DeSantis when faced with questions surrounding the 2020 election. He has also sought to distance himself from the January 6, 2021, riot. At a New Hampshire town hall, DeSantis was asked by a high school student if Trump violated the peaceful transfer of power during the 2020 election.

“I wasn’t anywhere near Washington that day,” DeSantis replied. “I have nothing to do with what happened that day. Obviously, I didn’t enjoy seeing, you know, what happened. But we’ve got to go forward on this stuff. We cannot be looking backwards and be mired in the past.”

At a stop in Waverly, Iowa, later Friday, DeSantis indicated that if elected president, he would pardon Trump if he were to be convicted, echoing recent comments.

“I’ve said for many weeks now, I don’t think it’s in the best interest of the country to have a former president – that’s almost 80 years old – go to prison. Just like Nixon or Ford pardoned Nixon, you know, sometimes you got to put this stuff behind you. And we need to start focusing on things having to do with the country’s future. And so that’s what I would do as president,” he said.

This article has been updated with additional reporting.

Harbor Springs, Michigan
CNN
 — 

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said it would be foolish for Democrats to view the presidential race with an air of overconfidence or presumed victory, despite persistent signs of economic growth under President Joe Biden and another criminal indictment facing his leading Republican challenger, former President Donald Trump.

“No, I don’t believe that for a second, and I don’t think the president believes that either,” Whitmer told CNN in an interview here this week. “I don’t think anyone should take this upcoming election for granted, regardless of what the matchup is.”

For all the uncertainties confronting Biden in his quest to win reelection, the economy remains one of the most stubborn challenges. The nation’s economic conditions are consistently stronger than the economic perceptions of Americans, a disconnect the governor said should not be discounted.

“I feel good, but everything feels very precarious,” Whitmer said, when asked about the economy in her state. “I use the word precarious because we’ve been through a lot these last few years.”

She added: “People are somewhat optimistic, but worried that perhaps there’s a curveball coming.”

The White House is seeking to build on that optimism and the strength of its domestic agenda, pointing to the monthly Labor Department report on Friday that showed hourly wages had climbed from a year ago and the US unemployment rate had fallen to 3.5% in July.

Even as inflation recedes, a majority of Americans harbor negative views about the economy. A new CNN poll out this week found that 51% said they think the economy is still in a downturn and getting worse. The president’s overall approval stands at 41% in the new poll and drops to 37% on his handling of the economy.

“There’s a lot more communication that has to be done between now and next year’s election, without question. It’s on all of us,” said Whitmer, who is among the co-chairs of Biden’s reelection campaign. “We would all benefit if we spent a little more time telling some of the great victories that we’ve seen in the last few years.”

Whether the disconnect over the economy is a challenge of communications or a broader one remains an open question, but Biden advisers believe that getting people to see and feel signs of economic progress in their own lives is a gradual process that will play out over the next year.

For Biden, winning a second term depends, in part, upon the resilience of his blue wall in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. While Trump carried the three states in 2016, Biden won them in 2020 and all will be critical battlegrounds once again in 2024.

As Paul and Nancy Newman waited to catch a ride on the Emerald Isle ferry in the northern Michigan town of Charlevoix one morning this week, they said they do not believe Biden is being graded on his actual accomplishments. Road construction is everywhere, they said, as well as many other projects from Biden’s landmark infrastructure law.

“He doesn’t get credit for it,” said Paul Newman, a retiree who lives in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. “Democrats have never done a good job selling themselves, that’s one problem. They need to get out there like Trump and everybody did and just start talking about all the things that are going on.”

Take the ferry, for example. It connects Michigan to Beaver Island on Lake Michigan and will soon be replaced by a new ship through an investment of state and federal money, including $6 million in funding from the infrastructure law.

Newman, a former Republican who now considers himself an independent voter, said he believes the deep partisan divisions have little to do with the economic conditions. Asked to explain the disconnect, he said: “I think we’re a spoiled country. People have had too much and they don’t have context of what’s been before them.”

As Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and members of their cabinet fan out across the country this month to sell the administration’s economic achievements, it’s clear there is considerable explaining to do when it comes to “Bidenomics,” a term the White House repeatedly touts.

As he walked down Bridge Street earlier this week in downtown Charlevoix, Fritz Benson laughed when asked if he could explain Bidenomics.

“No. I have absolutely no idea what it means,” Benson said. “But I think it’s Biden trying to put together some positive things for the economy. He has stepped across party lines to get a few things done and I think that’s part of it.”

Benson, a retiree from East Lansing, declined to say whether he voted for Biden, but said he believes the administration has built a credible list of accomplishments, despite the deep divisions in Washington. He, too, believes the president needs to do a better job making his case.

“Inflation is coming down, the stock market is up and the economy seems to be in a pretty good spot,” Benson said. “The Biden administration needs to get their message out a little bit better because they have passed some good things – the debt ceiling and so forth – that could have really hurt the country.”

Inside the Clothing Company in Charlevoix, a resort community in conservative-leaning Charlevoix County, owner Annie Oosthuizen said she preferred to steer clear of partisan politics. But she said she feels a brighter mood this summer in the aftermath of the pandemic.

“What we all went through in 2020, we’re kind of still in that doom and gloom mindset, but I do feel like things are improving, definitely,” Oosthuizen said. “We kind of got out of the darkness and now we’re going towards the light, hopefully.”

While inflation has cooled, soaring interest rates and high costs from groceries to housing still contribute to a mixed economic climate, said Republican state Sen. John Damoose, who represents a broad swath of northern Michigan.

“I’m waiting for prices to go back to normal and they’re not – this is the new normal,” Damoose said in an interview. “I think people are still suffering.”

But in addition to frustrations with the economy, he said, there is a broader feeling of exhaustion among the American people at the state of politics on both sides.

“I think people are scratching their heads and just want to be left alone,” he said. “Get back to a period of normalcy for a while, but I don’t know if that’s coming any time soon, especially with 2024 looming.”

The president carried Michigan by nearly 3 percentage points and has visited the state several times since he took office, touting the benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and more.

Two summers ago, Biden stopped at King Orchards, where owner John King has endured high labor costs, supply chain challenges and inflation – all of which have made him worry about the future of his family business.

He said his Republican neighbors blame Biden. He does not, but worries that deep divisions and partisan acrimony will only get worse, given the criminal charges facing Trump and the ensuing political fallout.

“I’m not disappointed in the president. I’m not,” King said, standing beneath an apricot tree filled with fruit. “I just feel, I just think there’s so much to overcome.”

CNN
 — 

What does summer mean to you?

To me, it’s longing for the days when I used to pack a lunch and throw it into the back of my Big Wheel to travel all the way to the end of the block to play with my neighborhood friends.

There were popsicles to devour, lightening bugs to catch and jacks to play.

That’s right, I take it way back to the days when “summer vacation” didn’t mean me looking for reasonable airfare and accommodations to book. The days before I moved to adulthood, arguably not the favorite hood in which I have resided.

Based on what I see around me in pop culture these days, I am not the only one longing for “the good old days.”

Let’s discuss.

Nothing says “youth” like an animated superhero action film.

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” is out this week and if ever there was a franchise that is both for the young and young at heart, it’s this one.

Like “Barbie,” anything “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” sparks nostalgia, and for many of us, the wonder years were a great space to inhabit, if for no other reason than childhood was without bills and the other pressures that come along with being “grown.”

According to Paramount Pictures, the new TMNT film picks up with the shelled foursome “after years of being sheltered from the human world,” when they “set out to win the hearts of New Yorkers and be accepted as normal teenagers through heroic acts. Their new friend April O’Neil helps them take on a mysterious crime syndicate, but they soon get in over their heads when an army of mutants is unleashed upon them.”

Turtles, mutants and a cast that includes Seth Rogen (who is also one of the producers), Maya Rudolph, John Cena, Ice Cube and Paul Rudd?

Sign me up!

…And before you email me or @ me about all of the “fun” that comes along with being an adult, just know that the term is relative. And as much as I enjoy not having an enforced bedtime, some days I probably need one.

Speaking of enjoyment, nothing says summer like live music.

Just ask Oprah Winfrey and her bestie Gayle King, who recently danced the night away and fueled their souls at a Beyoncé concert in New Jersey. (Oprah said afterward, “I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t scream, I was in awe.”)

While I can’t hook you up with “Renaissance” tickets, Hulu has a treat for you if music is your thing.

This year Lollapalooza will stream on Hulu. That’s right, you can enjoy the long-standing, Chicago-set music festival from the comfort of your own home – and no need for porta-potties!

The lineup is fire with Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar, Lana Del Rey and Red Hot Chili Peppers among the performers.

Lollapalooza runs from Thursday to Sunday.

Trippie Redd is sharing the love.

The rapper’s latest mixtape, “A Love Letter to You 5,” is out Friday.

There’s not a ton of information about it, but, yes, it follows his first four love letters. That appears to be good enough for Trippie Redd aficionados, rocking with him since he came on the scene as a Soundcloud rapper.

Utterly charming.

That’s the phrase that comes to mind about the British Netflix series “Heartstopper,” a coming-of-age story about a teen who falls in love with another teen in his class.

Season 1 was all about watching things unfold between Charlie Spring (played by Joe Locke) and his classmate Nick Nelson (Kit Connor). The series won acclaim from critics and viewers alike for its affectionate portrayal of the LGBTQ+ community, as well as stellar writing.

The new season features other burgeoning relationships and the topic of coming out. Grab your handkerchiefs, because “Heartstopper” Season 2 looks like it will continue to pull at our heartstrings.

Season 2 is streaming now on Netflix.

CNN
 — 

US coach Vlatko Andonovski defended his team from criticism ahead of the last-16 Women’s World Cup knockout clash against Sweden, telling reporters on Saturday that he didn’t think “it’s the right time” to question their mindset.

“For someone again to question the standards, the mentality, the mindset of this team after everything that they do, first, I don’t think it’s the right time for that and, second, I don’t think it’s the right thing as well,” he said before Sunday’s crunch match in Melbourne, Australia.

“They keep raising the standards from day-to-day and in terms of the competition and what everything is happening, I mean we want to blow every team out five goals, who doesn’t want to do that, right? But those results are gone. I mean they’re not going to happen.”

Former players and pundits have criticized the US following its underwhelming performances so far in this year’s Women’s World Cup. A defeat to Portugal, which would have resulted in a calamitous exit in the group stage, was avoided only when a late Portuguese attempt on goal ricocheted off the post in a match that ended in a draw, securing the defending champion’s progress to the knockout stages.

“We accept the fact that we could have been out if the ball hit the crossbar, hit the post on the other side too, right?” Andnovski added ahead of Sunday’s decisive match.

“The fact that we’re in, OK, we were lucky at the moment and we’re moving on. So, now we do everything possible so that same situation doesn’t happen.”

He continued: “We’re preparing ourselves as best as we can to provide success and meet the expectations for everyone. But first and foremost, we want to make sure that we meet our own expectations.”

The US vs. Sweden is a familiar match-up fraught with years of rivalry – the two teams have played each other six times at previous World Cups, although Sunday’s match will be their first knockout stage clash.

It has proven to be a difficult fixture for the US in recent years. Sweden defeated the US 3-0 in the last meeting between the two sides, in the group stages of the Tokyo Olympics in July 2021, while a friendly three months earlier ended in a 1-1 draw.

“I’ve said it a lot to the team and to the press: pressure is a privilege,” the US captain Lindsey Horan told FIFA on Saturday. “The expectations that we have, the standards that we hold, the mentality of this team … it’s a privilege to be on this team. You don’t get that anywhere else.

“This national team has held the standard for so long and it’s up to us to keep it going. And as games get harder, teams get better, we have to raise that standard.”

In recent World Cup meetings, the US has fared better, preventing Sweden from registering a goal in their last two matches and winning four of the six matches.

Sweden was the last team to inflict a World Cup defeat inside regulation time on the USA back in 2011, when Alyssa Thompson, the youngest member of the 2023 World Cup squad, was only six years old.

“Every single game that we have with them, it’s a physical battle, so I think that’s the one thing that we can expect,” Horan told FIFA.

“They score similar goals to us, with set plays and crosses in the box. They have the aerial presence, but they have been able to break down teams as well on their transition. So I think for us, it’s focusing on what we can do, but eliminating any of our mistakes that can lead to them gaining success.”

The US will have to face Sweden without its livewire midfielder Rose Lavelle after she accumulated two yellow cards in two matches.

“It hasn’t been the tournament that I would have hoped,” US striker Alex Morgan told reporters on Saturday. “At the same time, having this incredible opportunity in front of us in the round of 16, facing Sweden, a team we know extremely well, I think that there’s no question we’re highly motivated to play in this game.”

Years of dominance still stretch behind the US, even as it has faltered in this tournament, with the allure of a third successive world title, historic three-peat – never achieved before at a men’s or women’s World Cup – still shining, albeit dimly, ahead of the decisive knockout stages.

Ukrainian sea drones attacked a major naval base in Russia on Friday, leaving a damaged Russian warship tilting in the Black Sea in a brazen strike carried out hundreds of miles from Ukrainian-held territory.

A Ukrainian source told CNN that a sea drone carrying nearly 1,000 pounds of TNT hit the vessel – and claimed there were about 100 Russian service members aboard.

The incident comes against the backdrop of rising tensions in the Black Sea and stepped-up Ukrainian strikes against targets across Russia after President Volodymyr Zelensky pledged to “return” the war to Russian territory.

Early Saturday, Russian media reported that a tanker was attacked in the Kerch Strait and that tugboats were at the scene to tow the vessel. Ukraine has not yet commented, and CNN has not been able to independently verify the claims.

Here are more developments:

Navalny sentencing: Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny was sentenced to 19 years in prison after being found guilty on extremism charges, a court within the high-security prison where he is being held, said on Friday, according to Russian state media TASS. This latest verdict is a fresh blow to a fierce critic of Russia’s President Putin that comes amid a worsening climate triggered by the Ukraine war. According to the UN rights chief, Volker Türk, the prison sentence raises “serious concerns” about judicial harassment in Russia.

Wagner threat: Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Paweł Jabłoński said “the threat is very real” from Belarus, arguing that Wagner Group soldiers have made attempts to infiltrate Polish territory. He told CNN that the government was weighing whether to close the border with Belarus, a close Russian ally.

Zaporizhzhia developments: The International Atomic Energy Agency said it has found no evidence of mines or explosives on the rooftops of reactors at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, as had been speculated after the publication of satellite images of the plant. Russian forces have occupied the plant and the surrounding area since the early days of the invasion.

Official meetings: Saudi Arabia is set to host peace talks on Ukraine this weekend that will include the US as well as a number of Western and developing countries. Meanwhile, US Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie met with Zelensky during a trip to Ukraine on Friday. The former New Jersey governor also visited battle-torn areas of Moshchun and Bucha.

CNN
 — 

Social media influencer Kai Cenat has been charged with inciting a riot and unlawful assembly after thousands-strong crowds gathered in Union Square in New York City for a giveaway, leaving dozens of people arrested and several police officers injured.

Cenat, who has over 4 million followers on YouTube, over 5 million on Instagram, and 6.5 million on Twitch, said during a Wednesday Twitch stream that he would be hosting a “huge giveaway” Friday at 4 p.m. in Union Square Park.

In the stream, he said they would be giving away computers, Play Station 5s, microphones, keyboards, webcams, gaming chairs, headphones and giftcards from a truck in Union Square. “I feel like New York really deserves it,” he said.

People began gathering at the park around 3 p.m., NYPD chief Jeffrey Maddrey said at one of two Friday news conferences. “Soon the park and the surrounding streets were overrun with people, obstructing vehicular and pedestrian traffic,” he said.

“We went from 300 kids to a couple of thousands of kids in minutes,” he said at the second briefing.

The crowds spurred the NYPD to activate a “Level 4” response, its highest level of disaster response. The department earlier announced that they had activated a “Level 2” response to handle the crowds and clear the area.

Maddrey said that as the crowd grew, “individuals in the park began to commit acts of violence towards the police and the public.” He said that some attendees took items from a nearby construction site.

“You had people walking around with shovels, axes, and other tools from the construction,” he said. “Individuals were also lighting fireworks, throwing them towards the police, they were throwing them towards each other.”

Cenat was removed by police for “safety reasons,” according to Maddrey. He said the Twitch streamer had not alerted the police to the gathering or obtained a permit, and it was declared an unlawful assembly.

Several police officers were injured in the frenzy and “quite a few” people were arrested as police worked to clear the crowd, Maddrey said. He gestured at dirt on his own uniform, saying, “I was in the middle of the crowd, I was hit with multiple objects.”

Some parents came out to the park in search of their children, but Maddrey said he wished more parents would have come to help break up the disorderly crowds.

Police arrested 65 people, including 30 juveniles, Maddrey said at a Friday night news conference. He noted that he saw young people injured in the crowd as well as police officers.

Cenat has been charged with two counts of inciting a riot and unlawful assembly, among other charges, the chief said.

CNN has reached out to Cenat’s representatives for comment.

“We’re not against young people having a good time, we’re not against young people gathering,” Maddrey said. “But it can’t be to this level where it’s dangerous. A lot of people got hurt today.”

He said that while the crowd had dispersed from the park, police were still monitoring “crowds mulling around Manhattan.”

Cenat said during his Wednesday stream that attendees would be able to win prizes by correctly answering “random questions” related to YouTube and streaming. “If you get it right, boom, you get a PS5, just like that,” he said.

Cenat streamed live on Twitch on Friday for some portion of the event, posting video from the crowd. In one video seemingly posted from inside a truck, he described the chaotic gathering, saying, “It’s everybody for themselves. It’s a war out there.” He also described the heavy police presence.

Friday afternoon, the influencer posted a picture to his Instagram story showing news coverage of the crowds along with the message, “I love you guys to the fullest you guys are amazing.”

“Stay safe,” he added.

Influencers need to communicate with law enforcement before an event so they can set up barriers and bring extra officers, Maddrey said.

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the number of juveniles arrested, according to police as of Friday night. It was 30.

CNN
 — 

The winning numbers for Friday night’s Mega Millions jackpot, estimated at $1.35 billion, are 11-30-45-52-56 with a Mega Ball of 20.

If there is a winning ticket, it would be the second-highest jackpot ever for the multistate lottery, officials said.

The cash payout for the jackpot would be $659.5 million, before applicable taxes.

Tuesday’s drawing was the 30th in a row to produce no big winner, Mega Millions said in a news release on its website.

No one has matched all six numbers since April 18.

In Mega Millions history, four awarded jackpots have exceeded $1 billion, Mega Millions says, with the highest totaling $1.537 billion won in South Carolina in 2018. A jackpot in January was worth $1.348 billion.

Tickets are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, and the US Virgin Islands.

Last month, a Powerball ticket sold at a convenience store in Los Angeles matched all numbers to win $1.08 billion, the third-largest Powerball jackpot.

CNN
 — 

An Orange County, California, judge was arrested, suspected in the fatal shooting of his wife, authorities say.

Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson, 72, was arrested by homicide detectives Thursday after they received reports of a shooting at the couple’s home. Ferguson’s wife, Sheryl, was found inside the house, suffering from “at least one gunshot wound,” the Anaheim Police Department said in a news release.

“Sheryl Ferguson was pronounced deceased at the scene,” and her husband was arrested at the location on suspicion of murder, the release states.

Ferguson was released on $1 million bail Friday, Kimberly Edds, with the Orange County District Attorney’s office, told CNN.

The district attorney’s office is still reviewing the arrest and has not filed charges as of Friday, Edds said.

It is unclear if Ferguson has an attorney.

CNN
 — 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday that the “theories” put out by former President Donald Trump and his associates following the 2020 election were “unsubstantiated” and “did not prove to be true.”

“I’ve said many times, the election is what it is. All those theories that were put out, did not prove to be true,” DeSantis, a Republican presidential candidate, told reporters traveling on his Never Back Down bus tour in Iowa. “What I’ve also said is the way you conduct a good election that people have confidence in, you don’t change the rules in the middle of the game.”

“It was not an election that was conducted the way I think we want to, but that’s different than saying, like, ‘Maduro stolen votes’ or something like that,” he added, in reference to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. “I think those theories, you know, proved to be unsubstantiated.”

DeSantis’ comments come a day after Trump, the current front-runner for the 2024 GOP nomination, pleaded not guilty in a Washington, DC, court house to four criminal charges brought against him days earlier by Smith as part of his investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election leading up to the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.

A central premise of the special counsel’s case is that Trump knew the election claims he was making were false after being told by several close aides that he had lost the election. Trump’s lawyers have argued that his statements were protected under the First Amendment.

For his part, DeSantis branded the latest indictment against Trump as “politically motivated.”

The Florida governor, speaking with a voter at a brewery in Decorah, said: “It’s politically motivated, absolutely. I think you have people in DC, in the Justice Department that are responding to a lot of left-wing pressure. I mean they’ve been trying to get him since he became president.”

Previously, when asked about the 2020 election, DeSantis has pivoted and emphasized a focus on the future, not the past.

In early June, at an event in Bluffton, South Carolina, the week after he launched his campaign, an attendee in the rope line asked DeSantis, “Do you think that we should just move on from the 2020 stuff, just say Trump lost, you gotta move on?”

“Well, look I mean you gotta look forward,” he replied at the time. “I think that candidates that focus on the past have not done well. So, let’s give a positive – hold Biden accountable, give a positive vision. I mean, that’s the formula for success.”

Such a focus on the future is typical for DeSantis when faced with questions surrounding the 2020 election. He has also sought to distance himself from the January 6 riot. At a New Hampshire town hall, DeSantis was asked by a high school student if Trump violated the peaceful transfer of power during the 2020 election.

“I wasn’t anywhere near Washington that day,” DeSantis replied. “I have nothing to do with what happened that day. Obviously, I didn’t enjoy seeing, you know, what happened. But we’ve got to go forward on this stuff. We cannot be looking backwards and be mired in the past.”

At a stop in Waverly, Iowa, later Friday, DeSantis indicated that if elected president, he would pardon Trump if he were to be convicted, echoing comments he recently made on “Outkick” with Clay Travis.

“I’ve said for many weeks now, I don’t think it’s in the best interest of the country to have a former president – that’s almost 80 years old – go to prison. Just like Nixon or Ford pardoned Nixon, you know, sometimes you got to put this stuff behind you. And we need to start focusing on things having to do with the country’s future. And so that’s what I would do as president,” he said.