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No charges for Trump's campaign manager over battery allegations – live No charges for Trump's campaign manager over battery allegations – as it happened
(about 1 hour later)
12.47am BST
00:47
Debate night blog now live
We invite you to join us on our liveblog of the ninth Democratic presidential debate, which is happening right here. Thanks for reading and for all your comments!
Updated
at 12.48am BST
12.43am BST
00:43
Pataki endorses Kasich
Ohio governor John Kasich is the recipient of the (latest) George Pataki nod:
Former candidate George Pataki endorses John Kasich after previously endorsing Marco Rubio
But it’s unclear how many are the actual votes over which Pataki holds sway...
So with the George Pataki endorsement, I guess John Kasich is now the favorite in Peekskill?
Kasich polls second in New York, far behind Trump but a few points up on Cruz.
12.40am BST
00:40
The Bernie Sanders campaign has suspended its Jewish outreach coordinator, Simone Zimmerman, after it emerged that Zimmerman had used a vulgarity to disparage Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Facebook, the New York Times reports:
“She has been suspended while we investigate the matter,” Michael Briggs, a spokesman for Senator Bernie Sanders, wrote in an email.
Zimmerman had called Netanyahu “arrogant, deceptive, cynical” and “manipulative.”
Bernie was losing the Jewish vote in New York by a 2 to 1 margin before this totally self-inflicted injury https://t.co/x7aAm10RG8
12.34am BST
00:34
George Pataki, the thrice-elected Republican governor of New York and a former presidential candidate, is about to make an endorsement in the presidential race, the New York Times reports.
It’s not Trump, apparently.
NEW YORK - @GovernorPataki teases a presidential endorsement in mere minutes. Confirms: it won't be Trump. pic.twitter.com/q6PjP7UWNF
12.32am BST
00:32
A sizable protest has arrived at the gates of the annual GOP gala in midtown Manhattan. The Guardian’s Jana Kasperkevic has been speaking with marchers calling for a higher federal minimum wage, while Alan Yuhas is among the mass of media waiting to be processed into the event – and now the two groups have collided, along with an anti-Trump protest and a bunch of would-be commuters.
Signs of the times. pic.twitter.com/ablQcfS8nn
There were a lot of unhappy commuters in midtown on Thursday as New York Republicans held a gala dinner at Grand Hyatt, next door to Grand Central, Jana writes:
“What the hell are they protesting now?” asked an annoyed man in a suit as hundreds of low-wage workers marched past him, going East on 42nd street.
“C’mon, people gotta get home!” complained another as the Fight for $15 protest came upon an anti-Trump rally that in itself was more than a hundred of people.
Across the street in front of the entrance the Grand Central, a white man and an African-American woman got into an altercation but were quickly separated by the police. Inside the hotel, a handful of protesters were arrested and were later led into an NYPD van waiting outside.
As they were loaded in and their possessions placed into plastic bags by the police, the crowd outside cheered and clapped.
Security grab the protesters banners, encircle the group, ask reporters back in what becomes a crush of guards/press pic.twitter.com/HpGwr9KePY
11.30pm BST11.30pm BST
23:3023:30
Low-wage workers march on GOP galaLow-wage workers march on GOP gala
Jana KasperkevicJana Kasperkevic
A few hundred low-wage workers gathered in Times Square Thursday afternoon to march across town to the Grand Hyatt hotel, where a GOP gala was to be held later in the evening.Before the march, the crowd heard from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who recently signed a bill increasing New York’s state minimum wage to $15 by 2022, given inflation targets.“Turn on the TV news, everybody says the same thing: ‘There’s a lot of angry people in America’,” said Cuomo. Middle-class Americans should be angry, he continued, because the American middle class has been moving backwards.If those gathered were angry, it was at a politician whose name they refused to say out loud. Instead, as workers took turns coming up to the stage they said they were tired of politicians who used them as punching bags and politicians who wanted to build walls.Could they have been speaking of Trump?A few hundred low-wage workers gathered in Times Square Thursday afternoon to march across town to the Grand Hyatt hotel, where a GOP gala was to be held later in the evening.Before the march, the crowd heard from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who recently signed a bill increasing New York’s state minimum wage to $15 by 2022, given inflation targets.“Turn on the TV news, everybody says the same thing: ‘There’s a lot of angry people in America’,” said Cuomo. Middle-class Americans should be angry, he continued, because the American middle class has been moving backwards.If those gathered were angry, it was at a politician whose name they refused to say out loud. Instead, as workers took turns coming up to the stage they said they were tired of politicians who used them as punching bags and politicians who wanted to build walls.Could they have been speaking of Trump?
Jumal Tarver, 37, a McDonald’s worker, was at the rally and march.Jumal Tarver, 37, a McDonald’s worker, was at the rally and march.
“I definitely think that [Republicans] want the wages to stay the same as they are or be even lower,” Tarver said. “It’s hard for us to survive off of $8.75 or $10.50 an hour. On $15 an hour, we will be able to do what we need to do to support ourselves and our families.”“I definitely think that [Republicans] want the wages to stay the same as they are or be even lower,” Tarver said. “It’s hard for us to survive off of $8.75 or $10.50 an hour. On $15 an hour, we will be able to do what we need to do to support ourselves and our families.”
Tarver earns $10.50 an hour and is a father of two – a 13-month-old and a 7-year-old. Being paid $15 an hour will make it possible for him to take care of his family, he said.Tarver earns $10.50 an hour and is a father of two – a 13-month-old and a 7-year-old. Being paid $15 an hour will make it possible for him to take care of his family, he said.
What is the one thing he would like to tell Donald Trump?What is the one thing he would like to tell Donald Trump?
“If you don’t stand for something, you fall for anything.”“If you don’t stand for something, you fall for anything.”
8.38pm BST8.38pm BST
20:3820:38
Megan CarpentierMegan Carpentier
“Who told you that you’re all that popular now?” was the first question John Kasich got at his MSNBC town hall in Jericho, Long Island this morning – from an apparent supporter of Donald Trump – after he made his case to host Chris Matthews and the assembled New Yorkers that he was gaining momentum and was the man to beat Hillary Clinton in November.“Who told you that you’re all that popular now?” was the first question John Kasich got at his MSNBC town hall in Jericho, Long Island this morning – from an apparent supporter of Donald Trump – after he made his case to host Chris Matthews and the assembled New Yorkers that he was gaining momentum and was the man to beat Hillary Clinton in November.
And though the crowd booed Matthews when he asserted that no one could have or should have believed the Bush Administration’s 2002 case for the war in Iraq (which Kasich, then a private citizen, did), it wasn’t exactly a Kasich crowd. His first interlocutor one of two Trump supporters who asked questions; the other opposed Kasich for not being tough enough on immigration and averred that an emergency room doctor in Texas had been burned alive outside the hospital by Mexican cartels (a possible reference to a Mexican doctor, Maria del Rosario Fuentes Rubio, who was killed in Mexico in 2014, though the details were completely wrong).And though the crowd booed Matthews when he asserted that no one could have or should have believed the Bush Administration’s 2002 case for the war in Iraq (which Kasich, then a private citizen, did), it wasn’t exactly a Kasich crowd. His first interlocutor one of two Trump supporters who asked questions; the other opposed Kasich for not being tough enough on immigration and averred that an emergency room doctor in Texas had been burned alive outside the hospital by Mexican cartels (a possible reference to a Mexican doctor, Maria del Rosario Fuentes Rubio, who was killed in Mexico in 2014, though the details were completely wrong).
Kasich, though, took the tough questions from Matthews and the participants in good sport, laughing with Matthews as they went to commercial and even defending him to a by-then-hostile audience before the town hall, which airs at 7 pm EDT tonight.Kasich, though, took the tough questions from Matthews and the participants in good sport, laughing with Matthews as they went to commercial and even defending him to a by-then-hostile audience before the town hall, which airs at 7 pm EDT tonight.
In good humor, he also compared the race to the great cola wars of the 80s, essentially calling Trump “Coke”, Cruz “Pepsi” and himself “the un-cola” (which was, technically, 7-Up, though RC Cola would be a better comparison). Kasich’s references to the popularity of “Coke” were not the only lines likely to elicit snickers from a humorously-inclined audience, though: a strange exchange with Matthews over same sex marriage – Kasich has long said that he accepts the decision of the courts but is an advocate of traditional marriage - produced this strange exchange.In good humor, he also compared the race to the great cola wars of the 80s, essentially calling Trump “Coke”, Cruz “Pepsi” and himself “the un-cola” (which was, technically, 7-Up, though RC Cola would be a better comparison). Kasich’s references to the popularity of “Coke” were not the only lines likely to elicit snickers from a humorously-inclined audience, though: a strange exchange with Matthews over same sex marriage – Kasich has long said that he accepts the decision of the courts but is an advocate of traditional marriage - produced this strange exchange.
MATTHEWS: What should gay people do who love each other?MATTHEWS: What should gay people do who love each other?
KASICH: What should they do?KASICH: What should they do?
MATTHEWS: If they love each other, what should they do?MATTHEWS: If they love each other, what should they do?
KASICH: Well, they should love one another.KASICH: Well, they should love one another.
After the event, Kasich told reporters that he wasn’t inclined to expand on his statements, though he did repeat the “Coke, Pepsi and Kasich” line. It’s just too bad he didn’t use that one before the end of the southern primaries: being associated with Pepsi would’ve been even more devastating for Cruz in the state of Georgia, where Kasich didn’t earn a single delegate.After the event, Kasich told reporters that he wasn’t inclined to expand on his statements, though he did repeat the “Coke, Pepsi and Kasich” line. It’s just too bad he didn’t use that one before the end of the southern primaries: being associated with Pepsi would’ve been even more devastating for Cruz in the state of Georgia, where Kasich didn’t earn a single delegate.
8.11pm BST8.11pm BST
20:1120:11
Hillary Clinton’s new campaign swag goes hard on the inevitability argument:Hillary Clinton’s new campaign swag goes hard on the inevitability argument:
7.46pm BST7.46pm BST
19:4619:46
Donald Trump’s campaign has released a statement regarding the Palm Beach County prosecutor’s office’s decision not to file charges against campaign manager Corey Lewandowski:Donald Trump’s campaign has released a statement regarding the Palm Beach County prosecutor’s office’s decision not to file charges against campaign manager Corey Lewandowski:
“Corey Lewandowski is gratified by the decision to drop the misdemeanor charge and appreciates the thoughtful consideration and professionalism by the Palm Beach State Attorney and his staff who carefully reviewed this matter, as well as Mr. Trump’s loyalty and the support of his colleagues and family during this time,” the statement reads.“Corey Lewandowski is gratified by the decision to drop the misdemeanor charge and appreciates the thoughtful consideration and professionalism by the Palm Beach State Attorney and his staff who carefully reviewed this matter, as well as Mr. Trump’s loyalty and the support of his colleagues and family during this time,” the statement reads.
“The matter is now concluded.”“The matter is now concluded.”
7.27pm BST7.27pm BST
19:2719:27
Just a reminder: Here’s the footage showing Corey Lewandowski grabbing reporter Michelle Fields.Just a reminder: Here’s the footage showing Corey Lewandowski grabbing reporter Michelle Fields.
7.26pm BST
19:26
The Palm Beach County prosecutor’s office told reporters that they had “seen a draft” of an apology written by Corey Lewandowski’s team for reporter Michelle Fields, but as of last night, Fields has yet to hear a word of it.
For those asking, office of prosecutor asked 2 weeks ago if I'd be ok with an apology from Corey. I said ya but haven't heard back about it
Fields is also leaving the door wide open on a civil suit for defamation:
I think I'll pass on getting legal advice from a Trump shill. Thanks tho. https://t.co/YoPznOC9LB
7.23pm BST
19:23
Related: Trump's campaign manager Corey Lewandowski will not face battery charges
7.16pm BST
19:16
More on the case: Throughout the controversy, Donald Trump stood by his top aide. He pointedly thanked Corey Lewandowski onstage celebrating his victories in the March 15 primaries, just a week after the incident in which he allegedly grabbed Michelle Fields. Further, in a press conference after Lewandowski was charged, Trump went to his defense. “I think it’s a very, very sad day in this country when a man can be destroyed over something like that,” the Republican frontrunner said.
Trump also suggested Fields had faked the entire incident, saying of the bruises on her arm, “how do you know those bruises weren’t there before? I’m not a lawyer. But, she said she had a bruise on her arm. I mean to me, to get squeezed, don’t you think she would have yelled out and screamed? Take a look at her facial expression, her facial expression doesn’t change. You say there are bruises on her arm? How did they get there? Who put them there?”
Fields, who resigned from her position with the right wing website Breitbart in the fallout from the incident, has left open the possibility of filing a lawsuit for defamation against both Trump and Lewandowski over their comments about the incident.
7.14pm BST
19:14
Scott Bixby
As expected, Florida prosecutors have elected not to file charges against Donald Trump’s campaign manager for assaulting a reporter in Jupiter, Florida, at a campaign event in March.
“This office will not be filing charges against Corey Lewandowski for battery,” said Palm Beach County state attorney Dave Aronberg, who said that although there was probable cause for Lewandowski’s arrest, there was a “reasonable hypothesis of innocence” regarding Lewandowski’s behavior.
In describing the events of the alleged battery, Aronberg told press that following a rally, reporter Michelle Fields “was directed to the back of the room” but then “returned to the pathway area and walked directly along Mr Trump, attempting to ask questions of him. It appears based on the freeze-frames of the recording,” Aronberg continued, “that Ms Fields brushed or touched Mr Trump’s arm.”
It was after this brush, Aronberg said, that Lewandowski “reached forward and grabbed Ms Fields’ arm, pulling her away from Mr Trump.”
Despite Lewandowski’s insistence to the contrary - he has called Fields’ allegation that he grabbed her “delusional” - Aronberg said that “there is no reasonable doubt” that Lewandowski pulled her back, but that “under these circumstances it is not uncommon for a candidates’ inner-circle staff members to assist in clearing a safe pathway.”
“Although these factors might undermine Mr Lewandowski’s potential defense,” however, “they do not outweigh the reasonable hypothesis of innocence,” Aronberg said. “Law enforcement arrests are based on probable cause. State prosecutors, however, rely upon a good-faith basis.”
“Although the facts support the allegation that Mr Lewandowski did grab Ms Fields’ arm against her will,” Aronberg concluded, “the state will no-file this case.”
He added that “an apology would be encouraged.”
6.53pm BST
18:53
Florida prosecutors decline to press battery charges against Trump's campaign manager
Florida prosecutors have declined to press charges for battery against Donald Trump’s campaign manager, according to the Associated Press.
The news comes only minutes before a press conference is set to take place in Palm Beach, where Palm Beach County state attorney Dave Aronberg is expected to tell reporters that he will not seek to prosecute Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s top political aide, for forcibly grabbing reporter Michelle Fields after a March press conference.
Lewandowski yanked Fields as she attempted Trump a question as the candidate was leaving a press conference at a Trump-owned resort. He did so with enough force that it left bruises on her arm. Although there was an eyewitness and contemporaneous audio of the incident, Lewandowski tweeted that Fields was “delusional” and insisted he never touched her.
6.46pm BST
18:46
Clinton editorial: Trump's 'loose talk' on nuclear weapons is 'downright dangerous'
In an editorial written for the New York Daily News, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton lambasted Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump’s comments regarding nuclear weapons as “not just wrong,” but “dangerous.”
“These may be the most reckless statements on national security by any major presidential candidate in modern history,” Clinton wrote.
“Trump’s policies would reverse decades of bipartisan consensus,” she continued. “Even letting friendly nations go nuclear would make it harder for us to prevent rogue regimes from doing the same. Trump would risk unleashing an arms race in places like East Asia and the Middle East, expand the amount of nuclear material in the world and increase the chance of terrorists acquiring some of that material and using it to attack the US.”
In a conversation with the Washington Post’s editorial board, Trump declared that although “I don’t think we are going to start World War III... I always say we have to be unpredictable” regarding the use of nuclear weapons. “We’re totally predictable,” he added. “And predictable is bad.”
6.30pm BST
18:30
Barack Obama will give the commencement address at Howard University, the nation’s most prestigious historically black college, this May, in what the university’s president called “an extraordinary honor and privilege.”
“The president’s commitment to education, especially for those who can least afford it, dovetails with Howard’s commitment to provide these same students with a rigorous, intellectually-stimulating, and academically-challenging educational experience,” said Wayne A. I. Frederick. “As we look into the not so distant future, Howard will commemorate its 150th Anniversary in March 2017, emboldened by a legacy of addressing disparities that are inextricably intertwined with this nation’s legacy of equality and inclusivity. President Obama’s own legacy gives the Howard community great expectations for the leadership footprint it will leave on America and the globe.”
Obama is also scheduled to address the graduating classes at Rutgers University in New Jersey and cadets at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
6.14pm BST
18:14
Rose Hackman
The New York democratic primary on 19 April is shaping up to be one of the most important of this election season, with more delegates up for grabs than any contest until California’s primary on 7 June. It’s also a deeply personal one for both Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, who both have close relationships with New York – Sanders grew up in Brooklyn, while Clinton has a home upstate.
As the candidates gear up for their final debate in Brooklyn’s Navy Yard on Thursday, we spoke to the diverse community of residents and local workers about the issues they care most about, and the candidates they feel best represent them. Their answers were as colorful and contrasting as the painted murals, parked vespas and shopping trolleys that dot the area.
Darren Carlyle: ‘Clinton understands minimum wage’
Carlyle, who has a two-year-old daughter and works at a supermarket near the Navy Yard, said that Hillary Clinton has his vote.
“Clinton understands the important issues more than the rest,” he said as he made his way through Commodore Barry Park to work.
At the top of those issues is the fact that the former New York senator has said she would fight to raise the minimum wage. Carlyle said having his wage raised to $15 an hour would completely change his life. He is currently living on just $9.50 an hour – a tough wage to survive on in New York City.
“She can do the job,” said Carlyle. “Her resume is real big. She has people around her, supporting her,” he added, explaining that he felt Bill Clinton did a good job the first time around.
Tessa Basore: ‘Bernie is all about the working class’
Basore, who moved the center of her company to Brooklyn three years ago from the Lower East Side, said that Bernie Sanders is the only solution she sees in these elections. “He has our best interest at heart and he is the only person I trust not to jump into another war,” she said.
“I like that he is all about the working class and where he stands on the environment. Fracking is a big concern of mine. He is the only one talking about it in a real clear way.”
Basore says she cannot believe how scary this election season has been, with the rise of a voice like Donald Trump’s. “He is spiteful. Nearly everything he says insults someone. He shows so much disregard for everyday people.”
Related: 'It’s about time': Brooklynites speak out ahead of the Democratic debate
5.58pm BST
17:58
Another primary, another fight over delegate selection...
Politico is reporting that even though the New York Republican primary is still five days away, allies of billionaire frontrunner and Queens native Donald Trump are staging a “shadow campaign” for the actual delegates who will be selected to represent New York at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland this July. The move comes after several surprising delegate losses for the organizationally challenged Trump campaign, which needs 1,237 delegates to secure the nomination ahead of the convention.
New York delegates are only bound to their assigned candidate on the first ballot at the convention, and are thereafter released to vote for whomever they choose in the event of a contested convention.
5.37pm BST
17:37
Donald Trump’s biggest pre-campaign claim to fame may have been the runaway success of his reality show The Apprentice, but a few alumni of the show are reportedly planning a press conference to that’ll show Trump the business.
Former participants of the show Randal Pinkett and Kwame Jackson are preparing to join at least four other former contestants tomorrow in New York to denounce Trump’s presidential campaign ahead of the critical New York primary next Tuesday.
“Trump is passionately and strategically reigniting a dirty and divisive culture soaked in a history of prejudice, fear and hate,” said season four participant Marshawn Evans Daniels in a statement. “It is unpatriotic, anti-American, self-serving, regressive and downright lazy.”
“As alums of The Apprentice, we have had the opportunity to work with Donald in various capacities, including as employees of the Trump Organization,” said Pinkett. “Based on that experience and Donald’s campaign, we do not believe he is worthy of becoming president of the United States.”
Trump issued a whithering statement to the Associated Press in response.
“How quickly they forget,” he said in the statement. “Nobody would know who they are if it weren’t for me.”
“They just want to get back into the limelight like they had when they were with Trump. Total dishonesty and disloyalty,” he said. “They should be careful or I’ll play hours of footage of them individually praising me.
“Ask how successful they’ve been since they left,” he added. “Six failing wannabes out of hundreds of contestants - so sad!”