Where It All Starts

A mass shooting left five people dead and dozens of others injured last week at Club Q, an LGBTQ+ bar that’s served as a safe space for the Colorado Springs queer community for over 20 years. Just days later, a gunman opened fire in a Virginia Walmart, killing six people. Both shootings have raised questions about the state of gun violence in the U.S. and how we can prevent such tragedies from hap...

After leading congressional Democrats for over 20 years, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced she won’t be seeking a leadership role in the next Congress. Her decision to step down is expected to pave the way for a new generation of leaders to fill the caucus’s top ranks. Congresswoman Karen Bass is the next mayor of Los Angeles, after beating out billionaire Rick Caruso. She will become L.A.’s fi...

Whether we like it or not, the 2024 campaign season has officially kicked off, after Donald Trump announced he’s running for president for the third time. But many of his allies are already eyeing the exits. Tensions have eased after NATO officials said a missile that killed two people in Poland came from neighboring Ukraine – not from Russia as originally suspected, though world leaders say the K...

Republicans have essentially secured a House majority for the next two years. But the GOP is in disarray, as members vying for leadership positions point fingers at who's to blame for their midterm losses. Young voters turned out in historic numbers this election cycle to support Democrats. Victor Shi, strategy director for the Gen Z-led nonprofit Voters of Tomorrow, explains how young people help...

48,000 academic workers across the University of California’s 10 campuses walked off the job on Monday in the nation’s largest strike of the year. Labor historian and UCLA professor Toby Higbie tells us how we got here and what’s at stake. As winter approaches, experts are warning of a “tripledemic” of RSV, COVID, and the flu. Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, host of Crooked’s “America Dissected,” explains why...

Democrats have officially retained their majority in the U.S. Senate, after incumbent Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto held off a challenge from her Trump-endorsed Republican challenger, Adam Laxalt. Meanwhile, the governor’s race in Arizona is still too close to call, though Democrat Katie Hobbs holds a slim lead over Republican Kari Lake — and it could be days before a winner is declared. W...

As the vote count continues from Tuesday's midterm elections, both parties are eyeing next month's Senate runoff in Georgia, but Arizona and Nevada are also in the spotlight. Democrats can clinch control of the Senate if incumbents win in at least two of those states. The Supreme Court this week heard arguments in Haaland v. Brackeen , a case challenging the Indian Child Welfare Act. Rebecca Nagle...

Pollsters and pundits warned there would be a “red wave” of Republican victories on Election Day, but the results tell a different story. We share some of the big wins for Democrats that have been called so far. Democrat Raphael Warnock is once again heading into a runoff election in the Georgia Senate race. Tia Mitchell, the Washington correspondent for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, tells us...

Election Day has wrapped, but now the wait begins as votes are counted and results pour in from across the country. We walk through what we know so far, and what to watch in some key races. And in headlines: Tropical Storm Nicole is tracking toward Florida, the January 6th committee interviewed Donald Trump’s driver from the day of the insurrection, and someone in Southern California won the recor...

Today is Election Day. And Shaniqua McClendon, Crooked’s political director, explains what you need to know if you’re voting today – from what to bring to the polls, to how to respond to voter intimidation. And in headlines: Ukraine accused Russian forces of looting and occupying empty civilian homes in Kherson, a Russian oligarch close to Vladimir Putin admitted to interfering in U.S. elections,...

Elon Musk, who recently acquired Twitter for $44 billion, laid off about half of the company’s staff on Friday. The move also impacted teams that moderate content on the site. New York Times technology reporter Mike Isaac says that’s raising concerns about how well the platform can combat misinformation ahead of the midterm elections. And in headlines: the UN’s annual climate summit opened in Egyp...

In the run-up to the midterm elections, Republicans have made crime a central issue in their attacks against Democrats. But the fear tactics aren’t backed up by facts. North Korea tried to launch a powerful long-range missile on Thursday, following an intense volley of short-range missile tests earlier this week. And with tensions already high in the region, there’s concern that North Korea may at...

President Biden on Wednesday made his closing argument to voters ahead of Election Day. In a speech delivered near Capitol Hill, where violent extremists attempted to overturn the 2020 election, he warned that America’s democratic traditions are on the line this midterm cycle. For our final installment of WAD The Vote, Rep. Sean Casten, the first Democrat to represent Illinois’ 6th Congressional D...

As Democrats make their final push on the campaign trail ahead of Election Day, election deniers are making their presence known in person. In Florida, two former members of the Proud Boys were hired as poll workers in Miami-Dade County – a third was dismissed because he’s facing charges for his involvement in the Jan. 6th riot. School board elections have a huge impact on local communities, but r...

The Supreme Court heard arguments Monday over two cases that will decide the fate of affirmative action at American colleges and universities. Jay Willis, the editor-in-chief of Balls & Strikes, tells us what’s at stake if the justices decide to overturn decades of precedent on the issue. And in headlines: federal prosecutors charged the man accused of attacking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s hu...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s 82-year-old husband, Paul Pelosi, was attacked in their San Francisco home early Friday morning. The alleged assailant was reportedly looking for the Speaker – who was in Washington, D.C. at the time. The attack comes amid heightened fears of political violence before the midterm elections. In Nigeria, more than 600 people have died and 1.4 million others have been dis...

Brazilians will vote for their next president on Sunday — an election that could be the most decisive in that country’s democratic history. The choice is between leftist challenger Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and right-wing incumbent Jair Bolsonaro. The U.S. economy grew 2.6% in the third quarter, but inflation is still driving up costs for essentials — including housing. Lindsay Owens, the executiv...

Pennsylvania Senate candidates John Fetterman and Mehmet Oz met on Tuesday for one of the most highly anticipated debates of this midterm election cycle. They covered everything from abortion rights to fracking to immigration, in a race that could determine control of Congress. U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy recently released a report on how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed workplaces and...

Arizona election officials have referred at least six cases of alleged voter intimidation at ballot drop-off boxes to the Justice Department. The complaints describe groups of people – some armed with guns and wearing tactical gear – harassing and taking pictures of voters. Maxwell Frost, who is running for Florida’s 10th Congressional District, is on track to become one of the youngest members of...

There’s growing concern among Western countries that Russia could be planning a false flag operation in Ukraine – by deploying a so-called “dirty bomb” there, while blaming Ukraine. The Kremlin could use such an attack to justify an escalation in the war. Rishi Sunak won the fight to become Britain's next prime minister, making him the first person of color to serve in the role. This comes after L...

A federal appeals court has temporarily put a hold on the Biden administration’s student debt forgiveness plan. The challenge comes from six Republican-led states, though the White House said borrowers should still apply for relief. The January 6th committee officially subpoenaed former president Donald Trump, a little over a week after the panel unanimously voted to issue it. It calls on Trump to...

Liz Truss abruptly resigned as Britain’s prime minister on Thursday, after just 45 days in office — making her the shortest-serving prime minister in the history of the United Kingdom. Hundreds of anti-LGBTQ+ bills are moving through legislatures across the country,  many of which specifically target transgender people. Oklahoma House Representative Mauree Turner — the first out non-binary state l...

In August, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced the arrests of several people accused of illegally voting in the 2020 election. But newly released police body camera footage from some of those arrests debunk DeSantis' claims of mass election fraud. Women-led protests in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini are in their second month, and have become the biggest challenge to the Islamic Republ...

President Biden promised to codify abortion access into federal law next year if voters elect more Democrats to the Senate and maintain their majority in the House. Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood, joins us to discuss the historic investments her organization is making to mobilize voters ahead of the midterm elections. And in headlines: the U.S. will release another...

Another deadly round of Russian attacks hit Ukraine’s capital Kyiv early Monday morning – this time, from so-called "kamikaze" drones believed to be made in Iran. Military analysts believe Russia is relying on those weapons because its stockpiles of other weapons are running low. A new ACLU report found that Atlanta’s Fulton County jail is overcrowded — and many inmates haven’t even been charged w...