Thursday, May 7, 2015

2016 Pressidential Hopefuls Stand On Illegal Immigration

WASHINGTON — Immigration, a prominent issue as the presidential campaign begins in earnest, is a complicated, emotional and broad subject. But for political purposes there's a very real question to be answered: What to do about the estimated 11 million people in the country illegally.
With Republicans in Congress unable to agree on an answer, President Barack Obama has taken executive action to limit deportations. All Republicans running for president oppose that step. But they're squeezed between big donors, who largely favor liberalization of immigration policy, and many primary voters, who don't.
A look at where some of the 2016 candidates stand on the issue:
Hillary Rodham Clinton: In a speech Tuesday, Clinton came out fully in favor of a path to eventual citizenship for most people here illegally. The Democratic candidate also pledged to expand Obama's executive actions if Congress does not move on an immigration overhaul. Her position could earn wide support among growing groups of Hispanic and Asian voters and stands apart from the more restrictive views of the Republican contenders.
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Jeb Bush: The former Florida governor has endorsed a path to permanent legal status, short of citizenship, for people here illegally, but he has left the door open for the possibility of eventual citizenship. Bush opposes Obama's executive actions. He has also called for an overhaul of the country's legal immigration process to focus more on letting in needed workers rather than letting families reunify.
Perhaps his most striking departure from his Republican rivals is in his tone. Bush, who wrote a book on immigration, says those who have come to the U.S. illegally did so as "an act of love" to make a better life for their families. His wife is Mexican, he's bilingual and he hasn't been shy about speaking Spanish in the campaign.
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Marco Rubio: The Florida senator and son of Cuban immigrants once led a push for immigration overhaul and favored eventual citizenship under certain conditions — putting him arguably to the left of Bush on the subject. But he backed off and repositioned.
Rubio co-authored a Senate bill that would have made citizenship possible for people in the U.S. illegally, once they learned English, paid back taxes and passed a background test. The bill passed the Senate but died in the House. Rubio now says a piecemeal approach is required because comprehensive legislation can't succeed. His approach is to start with securing the border and end with letting people who are in the U.S. illegally stay.
Immigrant rights groups say that end would never come, because people would always complain the border was not secure.
Like Bush, Rubio argues for a legal immigration system based more on immigrants' potential economic contributions than on letting them join family members already in the United States. Additionally, Rubio has said he would not immediately overturn one of Obama's actions, which allows people brought here illegally when they were young to stay.
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Chris Christie: The New Jersey governor once embraced letting people who are in the country illegally stay, then he became quiet about the subject. Recently, he's hinted at backing some sort of legal status, saying the question of citizenship is a distraction, there's no way to deport 11 million people and most are here to work.
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Mike Huckabee: The former Arkansas governor is among the many Republicans who vow to focus on border security. Yet he argues for a path to citizenship for young people who were brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents, and he defends an Arkansas policy that grants such children in-state college tuition. He says children shouldn't be punished because their parents broke the law.
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Rand Paul: On one hand, the Kentucky senator has voiced frustration with fellow Republicans who describe any policy as "amnesty" if it would somehow let people here illegally stay. And he's said there is no way to deport everyone. On the other hand, he has not endorsed a specific way to allow people to stay. He voted against the one concrete proposal in Congress to permit that: the immigration bill Rubio co-authored.
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Scott Walker: The Wisconsin governor once supported citizenship for people here illegally. He now says he opposes that. He recently told a Republican group in New Hampshire he'd be fine with legal status — essentially adopting Bush's position. But he has also questioned whether the current policy on legal immigration makes economic sense, suggesting he might side with those who believe high numbers of immigrants end up lowering workers' wages.
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Ted Cruz: The Texas senator has been seen as the Republican field's firebrand on immigration. In the Senate, he was the most aggressive in pushing to slow down government business unless Obama rescinded his executive actions limiting deportations. He also voted against the Senate immigration bill pushed by Rubio. But even Cruz has declined to rule out eventually letting people in the country illegally stay. He says the border must be secured first, and the visa system changed. Only then, Cruz says, can the country discuss what is to be done about people here illegally.
All three senators in the race — Cruz, Rubio and Paul — voted against legislation to finance the Homeland Security Department in a budget dispute that arose as a protest against Obama's executive actions on immigration.

Sen. Rick Santorum Will Announce 2016 Presidential Plans At The End Of May

WASHINGTON — Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum says he'll hold an event at the end of May to announce his decision on a potential 2016 presidential campaign.
The Republican tells Fox News Channel he will make the announcement May 27 in Butler, Pennsylvania, where he was raised.
Santorum ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, and surprised many by winning the leadoff Iowa caucuses. But his strong support among social conservatives was eventually no match for the organization and fundraising prowess of eventual nominee Mitt Romney.
Santorum says he was "clearly the underdog" in that race, and acknowledges he would be in the same position in 2016. But he says he is "very comfortable there."

Senate Will Have A Test Vote On Iran Nuclear Deal

WASHINGTON — Legislation giving Congress a chance to review and possibly reject any final nuclear deal with Iran is facing a test vote in the Senate.
The vote, scheduled for Thursday, comes after months of wrangling over the legislation while the U.S. and five other nations engage in delicate negotiations with Tehran. Negotiators have been hurrying to reach final agreement by June 30 on a pact to curb Iran's nuclear program in exchange for relief from sanctions stalling the Iranian economy. The talks resume next week in Vienna.
The bipartisan legislation would block President Barack Obama from waiving congressional sanctions for at least 30 days while lawmakers weigh in on any final deal with Iran. It also would stipulate that if senators disapprove the deal, Obama would lose the current authority he holds to waive certain economic penalties Congress has imposed on Iran.
The bill stalled last week after Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., proposed changes that drew the objections of Democrats as well as some Republicans who want the bill kept free of controversial provisions that could prompt the White House to withdraw its support.
A 60-vote majority on Thursday's test vote would likely jettison both senators' proposals, and greatly improve the bill's chances of passage.
The bill has gained tacit approval from Obama. He says he will sign it as written, but the White House warned earlier that he would reconsider if the bill was substantially changed.
Republicans have repeatedly challenged the administration's negotiations with Iran and have tried to change the bill to make it difficult for any deal to be reached.
"It is a virtual certainty that no matter how terrible this deal is, it will go into effect and this legislation is unlikely to stop it," said Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who is running for the GOP presidential nomination.
Cruz argued that the legislation wouldn't stop Obama from pressing ahead with any deal.
The bill would require Congress to pass a resolution of disapproval to reject the deal, which would almost certainly be vetoed by Obama. Then, Congress would be required to muster votes from two-thirds of each chamber to override the veto.
"All the president would have to do to force a bad Iran deal on America" is keep 34 senators of the Democratic Party or 145 members of Congress on his side, Cruz said.

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

NYT/CBS Poll: Race Relations Are At Two Decades Low In America

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — A new poll released Monday indicated that Americans believe race relations are at their worst in more than two decades.
The CBS News/New York Times poll said 61 percent of Americans characterize race relations in the U.S. as “bad,” including a majority of white and black respondents. The figure is the highest since 1992.
A total of 79 percent of African-Americans believe police are more likely to use deadly force against a black person than against a white person, while 53 percent of whites believe race does not play a role, the survey said.
Black respondents were also more likely than white respondents to believe their local police make them feel anxious rather than safe, the poll said.
The latest poll came in the wake of the death of Freddie Gray in police custody in Baltimore – an incident that has sparked heated unrest. Similar negativity about race relations was last seen at the time of the Los Angeles riots following the acquittal of police officers in the beating of Rodney King, the poll said.
This was also the first time since 1997 that majorities of both white and black Americans believe race relations in the U.S. are poor, the poll said. Opinions among white Americans have grown sharply more negative in the poll even compared with earlier this year – with 62 percent of whites saying race relations are bad compared with just 35 percent in February.
Black respondents have historically had a more negative view than white respondents about race relations, but the level of pessimism is now similar, according to the poll.
Also, fewer than one in five white Americans think race relations are getting better – with 44 percent responding that relations are getting worse and 37 percent saying they’re staying about the same.
Most respondents – 64 percent of whites and 57 percent of blacks – thought the unrest in Baltimore following Gray’s death was not justified, the poll said.
Six in 10 respondents had a lot or some confidence that the investigation into Gray’s death would be conducted fairly, but the figure was split along racial lines, the poll said. A total of 64 percent of whites say they have at least some confidence in a fair investigation, but 52 percent of blacks have little or no such confidence, the poll said.
But black respondents expressed more confidence in the Gray investigation – at 46 percent – than they did into the investigation into the death of Michael Brown in police custody in Ferguson, Missouri last year.
In terms of views of police officers in their community, three in four respondents said the presence of officers makes them feel safe. But the figure is again split down racial lines – with eight in 10 white respondents saying police officers mostly make them feel safe, compared with 51 percent for black respondents.
Younger Americans were more likely than older Americans to report that police officers make them anxious, the poll said.
A sizable majority of all respondents agreed that on-duty officers should wear body cameras – amounting to 93 percent of both black and white respondents.
The poll was conducted between Thursday, April 30 and Sunday, May 3 among a random sample of 1,027 adults.
The margin of error is plus or minus three points, but is different for subgroups. For the sample of African-Americans, the margin of error is nine points; for whites four points.

ISIS Claim Responsiblity For Terrorist Attack In Texas

CAIRO — The Islamic State group claimed responsibility on Tuesday for a weekend attack at a center near Dallas, Texas, exhibiting cartoon depictions of the Prophet Muhammad.
An audio statement on the extremist group's Al Bayan radio station said that "two soldiers of the caliphate" carried out Sunday's attack and promised to deliver more in the future.
The statement did not provide details and it was unclear whether the group was opportunistically claiming the attack as its own. It was the first time the Islamic State, which frequently calls for attacks against the West, had claimed responsibility for one in the United States.
Two suspects in Sunday's attack in the Dallas suburb of Garland were shot dead after opening fire at a security guard outside the center.
It was unclear whether the group, which has captured large swaths of territory in Syria and Iraq, had an actual hand in the operation, or whether the two suspects had pledged allegiance to the group and then carried out the attack on their own.
The suspects have been identified by officials as Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi. They opened fire in on an unarmed security officer stationed outside the contest center featuring cartoons of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad.
According to mainstream Islamic tradition, any physical depiction of the Prophet Muhammad — even a respectful one — is considered blasphemous, and drawings similar to those featured at the Texas event have sparked violence around the world.
The IS statement was read on the Al Bayan radio, which is based in the Syrian city of Raqqa, the group has proclaimed the capital of its self-styled caliphate.
"We tell ... America that what is coming will be more grievous and more bitter and you will see from the soldiers of the Caliphate what will harm you, God willing," it said.
There have been numerous attack in Western countries believed related in some way to the group, which holds roughly a third of Iraq and Syria.
In October, Canada was hit by two terror attacks by so-called "lone wolves" believed to have been inspired by the Islamic State group. In Ottawa, a gunman shot and killed a soldier at Canada's National War Memorial and then stormed Parliament before being gunned down. Two days earlier, a man ran over two soldiers in a parking lot in Quebec, killing one and injuring the other before being shot to death by police.

Monday, May 4, 2015

Gov. Walker Critical Of Romney And Bush

MADISON, Wis. — Likely Republican presidential candidate Scott Walker made no secret about what he saw as the failures of Mitt Romney's last run for the White House, devoting an entire chapter of his book to the topic.
But it turns out the Wisconsin governor, way back in 2000, also aired sharp criticism about George W. Bush's efforts in his first presidential bid.
Walker, who was then a 32-year-old state Assembly member, wrote an open memo to Bush he titled "Campaign Strategy" in which he offered detailed advice on how he thought the then-Texas governor should be crafting his message to win the presidency, including what type of television ads he should run.
Walker, now in his second term as governor, is expected to launch his own presidential campaign within the next couple months. Bush's brother, Jeb Bush, will likely be among those duking it out with Walker for the Republican nomination.
The open letter to George W. Bush and the Romney critique provide a window into Walker's thinking on how a presidential campaign should craft its message. And while Walker has spent nearly his entire adult life in elected office after he dropped out of college with about a year to go, the 15-year-old memo shows that how to win the White House has been on Walker's mind for many years.
The advice outlined in the 800-word open letter to Bush is typical of Walker, said Mark Graul, a Republican strategist who ran Bush's 2004 re-election campaign in Wisconsin. Graul said Walker also offered unsolicited advice that year and in 2006, when Graul was running the campaign of Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Green.
"In all of my conversations with him about political strategy, it's never been about tearing the other guy down," Graul said. "It's been about what were my guy's ideas and what was the best way to communicate it to the people we were trying to persuade to vote for us."
In his memo to Bush, Walker recommended specific television ads Bush should run to help him win. He said one spot should feature "real life families" of people such as fire fighters, nurses, construction workers and teachers talking about how much they had saved because of Bush's tax cuts.
Those professions — particularly teachers — came out in force against Walker in 2011 when he effectively ended their collective bargaining rights, with his union-busting measure that put him on the national radar and set the stage for his likely presidential run.
Walker said in his memo to Bush, which was first published on his Assembly campaign website, that his thoughts "reflect the views of the vast majority of undecided voters who want a positive reason to vote for the next President of the United States."
Walker told Bush that his campaign theme should be: "They had their chance for the past eight years and they have not led. We will."
Bush lost Wisconsin in 2000 by just 5,708 votes, or less than a quarter of a percentage point, on his way to defeating Democrat Al Gore for the White House.
Democrats said Walker was looking out for himself by writing the memo to Bush in 2000.
"For 20 years, Scott Walker has been running negative campaigns for higher office and doing anything and everything to advance his personal political ambitions," said Wisconsin Democratic Party spokeswoman Melissa Baldauff. "The hubris and micromanagement we see from him today were on full display when he told George W. Bush how to run his presidential campaign. Some things never change."
Walker told Bush that he should focus on his work with Democrats and Republicans to pass a middle class tax cut in Texas, and his efforts to control health care costs and improve public schools. As he prepares for what would be his first run for national office, Walker talks about many of the same things that he's done as Wisconsin governor: cutting taxes by nearly $2 billion, expanding school choice programs and kicking people off Medicaid who make more than the federal poverty level, while also qualifying others who had been on a waiting list for coverage. The net effect, as of August, was that about 40,000 more people had coverage than before.
Walker, 47, also casts himself as a "fresh faced" alternative to Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton and Jeb Bush, who served as Florida's governor for two terms.
Walker's criticisms of Bush are reminiscent of complaints Walker lodged against the Romney presidential campaign in 2012. Walker spent an entire chapter in his 2013 book "Unintimdated" explaining why he thought Romney lost to President Barack Obama.
Walker sent an email to Romney voicing his frustrations about his campaign's tone and urging Romney to show more passion, get out from behind the podium and connect directly with voters.

O'Malley Gets Slammed Over Police Record In Baltimore

BALTIMORE — Martin O'Malley often casts Baltimore as the comeback city that overcame the ravages of drugs and violence when he was mayor.
Now, weeks before the former Maryland governor expects to enter the 2016 presidential race and challenge Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic primaries, Baltimore's turnaround has been marred by the unrest after the police-custody death of Freddie Gray. The turmoil has placed new scrutiny on O'Malley's "zero tolerance" law enforcement policies as mayor from 1999 to 2006.
The record shows that murders and violent crime overall declined in O'Malley's years as mayor. But in that time, a grand jury concluded that too many arrests were being made in black neighborhoods without merit. And the city settled a lawsuit from people who said they were wrongly arrested for minor offenses. Altogether, these are the sort of concerns driving some of the anger in Baltimore today.
David Rocah, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Maryland, said the O'Malley administration left a legacy of "hyperaggressive and militarized policing" that, in his view, contributed to the outrage behind the riots. "I think the idea that you can arrest your way to public safety has always been deeply misguided and counterproductive," Rocah said.
But O'Malley says those judging him in hindsight should remember the crime and despair of the Baltimore he inherited as mayor.
"I don't think that any of us want to go back to the days of 1999," O'Malley said. "Our city is undoubtedly a safer place, and our city is becoming a better place, but our city still has a lot of progress to make."
He spoke outside the Dawson Safe Haven Center, an after-school refuge for children that was once a home for a family of seven killed in a 2002 firebombing by a drug dealer. O'Malley called that episode "our Alamo."
Even now, O'Malley clings to the story of Baltimore's redemption, terming the unrest "a heartbreaking setback for an otherwise remarkable comeback."
He said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" that when he makes an announcement about his presidential intentions, he wouldn't think of making it anywhere other than Baltimore.
O'Malley has tried to build a following in Iowa and New Hampshire as an alternative to Clinton, the dominant front-runner. O'Malley has backed tougher regulations on Wall Street, opposed the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal and addressed student debt — issues that resonate with liberals.
Still relatively unknown, even among Democrats, O'Malley frequently points to his time as mayor as a key part of his biography.
A 2013 video by his team, shown at a New Hampshire Democratic dinner where he appeared, described Baltimore in the late 1990s as a "cauldron of crime, drugs and profound despair" and credited O'Malley with "an assault on hopelessness. He didn't make a campaign promise to make the city safer, he made a pledge. And he kept it."
In the 1990s, more than 300 people were murdered each year in Baltimore. O'Malley advocated "stop-and-frisk" practices, cracked down on lower-level crimes such as public drunkenness and disorderly conduct, and brought in two police commanders from New York steeped in such policing. The number of homicides fell to 253 in 2002 and stayed below 300 during his two terms, while never dropping to his goal of 175.
But the approach did lead to many arrests.
In 2005, a Baltimore grand jury found excessive arrests in black neighborhoods and recommended retraining officers. Judge Joseph McCurdy Jr. had tasked the panel with determining "what can be done to address the lack of confidence that exists between many members of the public and law enforcement."
The ACLU and the NAACP sued in 2006 on behalf of 14 plaintiffs who said they were wrongly arrested as part of a policy that emphasized arrests for minor offenses under O'Malley's watch. The city agreed to the $870,000 settlement in 2010.
O'Malley's successors moved away from zero-tolerance policing.
But he hasn't shied away from his record.
When the recent protests erupted, he cut short a trip in England and Ireland, returned to Baltimore and walked the streets to talk to former constituents and community leaders. Some stopped to shake hands or take pictures with him while others told him about their bad experiences with the police. A few heckled him.
O'Malley told one person the police were also victims of violence. "I buried 10 police officers" as mayor, he said. "Half were black. Half were white."
Asked about the zero-tolerance policy, O'Malley said, "What we had zero tolerance for was police misconduct. We worked at it every day."
On Sunday, he said that "extreme poverty breeds conditions for extreme violence."
His advisers note he created a civilian review board for police conduct, expanded drug treatment and saw a decline in excessive force complaints and police-involved shootings.
After two terms as mayor, he won two terms as governor with strong support in Baltimore.
"The people of Baltimore were given ample opportunities to express at the ballot box their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the direction that our city took to reduce violent crime, to reduce homicides, to make our city more livable," O'Malley said.
Still, some think the riots erupted, in part, from years of frustration among residents who felt unfairly targeted.
"He had some responsibility," said Marvin "Doc" Cheatham, a former president of the NAACP's Baltimore city branch. "But you have to lay blame also with the majority of the City Council, because the majority of them were in office when he was in office."

Ethiopian Jews Protest In Israel

JERUSALEM — Israel's ceremonial president said Monday that an outbreak of violent protests by Ethiopian Jews has "exposed an open, bleeding wound in the heart of Israeli society" and that the country must respond to their grievances.
Reuven Rivlin spoke a day after thousands of people clashed with police in Tel Aviv. The protesters shut down a major highway, hurled stones and bottles at police officers and overturned a squad car. They were ultimately dispersed with tear gas and water cannons. More than 60 people were wounded and 40 arrested.
Simmering frustrations among Israel's Ethiopian community boiled over after footage emerged last week of an Ethiopian Israeli in an army uniform being beaten by police.
Ethiopian Jews begin migrating to Israel three decades ago. Many complain of racism, lack of opportunity, endemic poverty and routine police harassment.
Rivlin said Israel was seeing "the pain of a community crying out over a sense of discrimination, racism, and of being unanswered."
"We must look directly at this open wound. We have erred. We did not look, and we did not listen enough," he said. "We are not strangers to one another, we are brothers, and we must not deteriorate into a place we will all regret."
Sunday night's violence was the second such protest in several days, and demonstrations are expected to continue. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet Monday with the beaten soldier and community leaders.
About 120,000 Ethiopian Jews live in Israel today, a small minority in a country of 7 million. Their absorption has been problematic, with many arriving without a modern education and then falling into unemployment and poverty as their family structures disintegrate.
Ethiopian Jews trace their ancestors to the ancient Israelite tribe of Dan. The community was cut off from the rest of the Jewish world for more than 1,000 years.
Israeli clandestine operations rescued large groups of Ethiopian Jews from war and famine in the 1980s and early 1990s. Later waves of immigration also included the Falash Mura, members of a community that converted to Christianity under duress more than a century ago but have reverted to Judaism.

Saturday, May 2, 2015

Poll: Hilliary Clinton Has More Favorable Views Than Her Top GOP Rivals

WASHINGTON — Americans are more likely to have a favorable view of Hillary Rodham Clinton than any of her potential Republican rivals in 2016's race for the presidency, even though few see the former secretary of state as honest, according to a new Associated Press-GfK poll.
Five things to know about public opinion on Clinton:
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FEW SEE CLINTON AS HONEST
According to the new Associated Press-GfK poll, just 37 percent of Americans say the word "honest" describes Clinton very or even somewhat well, while 61 percent say it describes her only slightly or not at all well. Even among Democrats, 4 in 10 think the word "honest" describes Clinton slightly or not at all well, while 6 in 10 independents and 9 in 10 Republicans say the same.
On the other hand, 61 percent of Americans describe Clinton as "strong" and 56 percent say she is "decisive."
Women are significantly more likely than men to say each of these words, along with "inspiring" and "likable," describe Clinton at least somewhat well.
The poll comes after Clinton has weathered criticism over her use of a private email account run from a server kept at her New York home while serving as secretary of state, and amid questions about foreign donations to the family's charitable foundation and whether that money influenced her work at the State Department.
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FAVORABLE RATINGS UNCHANGED
Despite apparent distrust for Clinton, her overall ratings remain the strongest in the emerging presidential field and are essentially unchanged since two AP-GfK polls conducted last year. Forty-six percent of Americans express a favorable view of Clinton, slightly more than the 41 percent who express a negative opinion. Eight in 10 Democrats have a favorable view of Clinton, while 8 in 10 Republicans have an unfavorable opinion. Among independents, 27 percent expressed a favorable view and 39 percent have an unfavorable view, while 29 percent don't know enough to say.
Most polls showed Clinton with a much higher favorable rating while she was secretary of state. Opinions of her have become more polarized as she has re-entered partisan politics, as they were when she vied for the Democratic nomination for president in 2008.
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AMERICANS WANT MORE EMAIL TRANSPARENCY
Clinton said last month that she used a personal account out of convenience. She deleted about 30,000 emails that she has described as personal in nature and has declined requests from congressional Republicans to turn over her server for an independent review.
The survey suggests that many Americans aren't buying Clinton's explanation: A majority said they believe she used a private address to shield her emails from transparency laws and that they think she should turn her server over to a third party for further investigation.
At the same time, the public is split over whether her email usage is a significant issue for her presidential aspirations: Just a third — 32 percent — said it was a major problem, 36 percent rated it a minor problem, and 31 percent said it's not a problem at all. Only 20 percent said they're paying very close attention to the email story.
Opinions on the email story are highly polarized, with 7 in 10 Democrats saying Clinton has done enough to comply with government transparency laws already and 8 in10 Republicans saying she should turn her server over for further investigation.
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MOST REPUBLICANS UNDERWATER
Clinton's ratings top those of every other Republican candidate in the poll, all of whom are less known than the former secretary of state and nearly all of whom have at least slightly more negative than positive ratings. The only exception is Dr. Ben Carson, given a favorable rating by 15 percent of Americans and an unfavorable one by 12 percent, while 7 in 10 said they didn't know enough to say.
Jeb Bush, the most well-known of Clinton's potential Republican rivals, is viewed favorably by 29 percent of Americans and unfavorably by 36 percent.
Many other top Republicans remain unknown by a significant proportion of Americans, including Marco Rubio (unknown to 48 percent), Ted Cruz (unknown by 49 percent), Rand Paul (unknown to 43 percent) and Scott Walker (unknown to 64 percent).
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SOME DEMOCRATS LUKEWARM ON CANDIDACY
Despite Clinton's dominance in the early primary field and mostly positive ratings among Democrats, the survey suggests that some in her party would be open to a challenger.
Among Democrats, only 34 percent said they were excited by her candidacy while 36 percent described themselves as merely satisfied. Another 19 percent said they were neutral, and 9 percent were disappointed or angry about the idea.
"I wish there was somebody else," said Kenneth Berger of New York City. "She always has a problem."
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The AP-GfK Poll of 1,077 adults was conducted online April 23-27, using a sample drawn from GfK's probability-based KnowledgePanel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.
Respondents were first selected randomly using phone or mail survey methods, and later interviewed online. People selected for KnowledgePanel who didn't otherwise have access to the Internet were provided access at no cost

Freddy Gray Protest In Baltimore Is Now Being Called "Victory Rallies"

BALTIMORE — A massive march planned for Saturday to protest the death of a man in police custody is now being billed as a "victory rally" after Baltimore's top prosecutor filed criminal charges against the six officers involved in the man's arrest.
The thousands of marchers who are expected to hit the streets this weekend will now do so to celebrate the decision by State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby to charge the officers with felonies ranging from assault to murder, and encourage continued peaceful demonstrations.
Freddie Gray's death from spinal injuries a week after his April 12 arrest provoked riots on the streets of West Baltimore on Monday and quickly became a rallying cry against police brutality and social inequality in the city. Mosby's announcement on Friday triggered celebrations on those same streets.
Mosby said that after reviewing the results of a police investigation turned over to her just one day before, she had concluded Gray's arrest was illegal and unjustified. She said his neck was broken because he was handcuffed, shackled and placed head-first into a police van, where his pleas for medical attention were repeatedly ignored as he bounced around inside a small metal compartment in the vehicle.
The officers missed five opportunities to help the injured and falsely imprisoned detainee before he arrived at the police station no longer breathing, Mosby added. They even rerouted the van to pick up another passenger, she said.
The police had no reason to stop or chase after Gray, Mosby said. They falsely accused him of having an illegal switchblade when in fact it was a legal pocketknife, and failed to strap him down with a seatbelt, a direct violation of department policy, she said.
Gray's stepfather, Robert Shipley, said the family was happy the officers were charged, and he reiterated a plea to keep all public demonstrations peaceful.
"We are satisfied with today's charges; they are an important step in getting justice for Freddie," Shipley said. "But if you are not coming in peace, please don't come at all."
The family lawyer, Billy Murphy, said the charges are "a first step but not the last," adding that Baltimore now has an opportunity to set an example for cities across the nation grappling with police brutality.
"The overwhelming number of people who have protested over the days didn't know Freddie personally, but the people of Philadelphia, New York, Cincinnati, and in numerous cities and towns are expressing their outrage that there are too many Freddie Grays," Murphy said. "If Freddie Gray is not to die in vain, we must seize this opportunity to reform police departments throughout this country, so there are no more days and times like this."
A lawyer hired by the police union insisted the officers did nothing wrong. Attorney Michael Davey said Friday that Mosby has committed "an egregious rush to judgment."
But for others who saw Gray's arrest and death as a reflection of the city's broad social and economic problems, the announcement of charges prompted celebrations in the streets.
At City Hall, Andrea Otom, 41, sobbed with something like joy.
"You have to be able to expect that at some time, the pendulum will swing in your favor, and in the black community we've seen it over and over and over where it doesn't," Otom said. "I'm so happy to see a day where the pendulum has finally begun to swing."
Black Lawyers for Justice is expecting at least 10,000 people to show up for a protest rally Saturday in downtown Baltimore.
Malik Shabazz, the group's president, said he expects even more people to show up now that the officers have been charged.
"Our rally will proceed as a victory rally," he said. "It will be a rally for justice and against police brutality."