CHICO, Calif: Bernie Sanders first touched down in California 10 months ago, and close to 28,000 people filled the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena to see him. Just two staffers made the trip. There was something dreamlike about the crowd, and something promising, too.
"By December, when we were looking down the road, California stuck out as a place to compete," said Sanders's campaign manager Jeff Weaver in an interview.
Today, Sanders travels around California in a caravan of SUVs and campaign buses. The Secret Service guards his hotel rooms and scans the lines where people wait up to six hours to hear the senator speak. And at long last, his crowds look just like the electorate of the state he is trying to win - young and racially diverse - and they howl with approval after every sentence of a speech that has hardly changed since Iowa.
Sanders is in striking range of a victory in the nation's largest state thanks to an early decision to play here and a long campaign to convert nonwhite voters that has taken root here in ways that it didn't in other states that front-runner Hillary Clinton won. The principal reason? Young Latinos and Asian Americans, who have registered in huge numbers here in part to oppose Donald Trump, and who seem to be coalescing around Sanders.
It may be too late for Sanders. He could win California Tuesday and still effectively lose the nomination the same day, when five other states will also hold primaries. And the campaign worries that Clinton's virtually insurmountable delegate lead could lead television networks to call the race early and depress late-in-the-day turnout on the west coast.
But in the Sanders stump speech, and in his interactions with voters, there are clues to how he broke through with non-white votes. Immigration is now an issue of morality and workers' dignity; gone are the days when, in sync with some labor leaders, he said that only people like David and Charles Koch wanted "open borders." At a Thursday rally in Modesto, Sanders promised to legalize workers by executive order if Congress did not pass "comprehensive" reform.
"Today, there are 11 undocumented people in this country, and when you are a worker, and when you are undocumented, you get cheated and you get exploited every single day," he said. "What your employer can do to you if you are an undocumented worker is a disgrace."
One day earlier, at a forum for Asian American and Pacific Islander voters in Palo Alto, Sanders traded the microphone with activists who raised specific concerns about racism and job security. As he has long done at forums like this, Sanders pivoted with every answer to talk about the larger systemic problems with the country.
But that changed when one voter brought up immigration. She asked Sanders about the "two million plus" people deported under the Obama Administration, and about deportations to come. He started his answer with a story about his parents, immigrants from Poland. Then he described his visit to Friendship Park, along the U.S.-Mexican border, one of the events meant to penetrate Spanish-speaking media.
"Anyone been there?" he asked. "It's a beautiful park, right on the ocean. At that park, there is a fence - a very heavily screened fence - and as I understand it, on weekends, for a few hours, people from both sides of the border can get through the border and talk to each other."
The room was cramped, and hot, with a few open doors doing little to air it out. Sanders did not usually get this personal.
"Literally, because of the nature of the screen - which is very, very tight - the only physical contact that husbands and wives and children can have, is literally putting their pinkies through their fence," he said. "No hugging. No kissing. That's the kind of contact they have. And what a tragedy that is."
Since the start of primary season, Sanders has struggled to earn the support of minorities. The main barrier has been black voters, who overwhelmingly rejected the self-described democratic socialist and handed Clinton her still-strong delegate lead in a string of southern states. Sanders had hoped to do better with Latinos, but his ability to do so seemed shaky after he lost the Texas primary to Clinton back in March.
But California offered a unique opportunity. According to a January 2016 study by the Pew Research Center based on tabulations of 2014 Census data,, eligible voters who are Hispanic skew younger in California than elsewhere in the country, and make up a larger slice of the state's Democratic electorate. As another Pew study from 2011 noted, the average age of Latinos born in California was just 18; the average age of white Californians was 44.
There was also hope for Sanders in polling. A Field Poll of the Democratic race last May put his overall support among likely Democratic voters at 5 percent. By the end of the year, he had climbed to 35 percent overall, and to 32 percent among nonwhites.
"That was even though he'd barely campaigned in California," said Weaver. "We hadn't even advertised here. There was just a tremendous movement with Latino voters."
The Clinton campaign watched this happen all year, and at key moments, like Nevada's caucuses and Illinois's close primary, it appeared to hold off the tide. In 2008, Clinton won California's Latino voters by a 35-point margin over Barack Obama. Among Latinos younger than 30, she won by 30 points.
Yet in this week's final pre-primary Field Poll, Clinton led with Latinos by just four points. The Sanders campaign believes he has progressively sliced into her numbers by winning landslide support from younger voters, including Latinos.
Sanders sees these gains as evidence that early losses with nonwhite voters were tricks of the front-loaded Southern campaign schedule. In California, he proved that nonwhite voters could be won over if they simply learned who he was. In a telephone interview Thursday, he said his message is now resonating more with minority voters not because he's doing much differently but because of a greater familiarity with him.
"Let me give you my prediction," he said of his performance in California. "If there is a record-breaking turnout, I think we will win by big numbers."
"We focused on three things in California: Bernie barnstorming the state, outreach to new voters, and campaigning heavily among the Latino community," said Robert Becker, who served as the campaign's state director in Iowa and Michigan before decamping here. "The last poll has shown we're currently winning there, and that's not an accident. We've put a heavy emphasis in holding conversations with those communities."
In the first six months of 2016, 1.8 million new California voters were registered. Latino registration was up 123 percent compared to the same period in 2012. The rise of Donald Trump propelled that increase, but Sanders seemed to reap the benefits.
"We're doing very well with Latinos, in general, and very, very well with younger Latinos," Sanders told Rolling Stone last week. "What's been very interesting is that the demographic splits have been less white, black and Latino than they have been on age."
The support has gotten impossible to miss. Last week, at Sanders's rally in Ventura, some voters wore T-shirts portraying a young Sanders wincing as police wrest him away from a civil rights protest. The sound system, cycling through the usual mix of revolution-centric songs by Pearl Jam and Tracy Chapman, added Latin hits including "Lo Gozadera" and "Madre Tierra (Oye)."
One voter, 35-year old Guadalupe Potocacetpl, showed up in the "brown beret" gear of a Chicano nationalist group. He'd protested Trump at a Phoenix rally and started having conversations with fellow alienated activists who'd jumped aboard with Bernie.
"I met a lot of Bernie supporters, and I liked every single reason they were supporting him," he said. "At one point, I wasn't even going to vote because of the outcome of what Obama did - the deportations, the promises that didn't come through. But then I saw Bernie and he gave me a little bit of hope again."
Not far away, brothers John and Brian Meza, 22 and 19, were talking about the reasons they'd come to Bernie and the reasons their elders had not.
"I started finding news about Bernie on social media, and finding out about Hillary the same way - what she'd said, whether she had changed her mind," said Brian Meza. "The older people are getting their news from TV so they don't see that."
Sanders has not ignored TV. He was on the California airwaves, to the tune of $1.5 million, before Clinton was. More importantly, three months before the primary, his campaign shelled out to broadcast a short film called "Tenemos Familias" on Univision. It told the story of Florida tomato pickers, which Sanders had discovered while in his first Senate term, and which he had promoted from his Washington perch.
The ad did not make much of a dent in Florida, but the Sanders campaign could not focus on Florida as it could California. At the end of April, Sanders earned is-it-over headlines when early-state staffs were fired. But the plan was always to consolidate in California.
"I think you see on an overall basis that he does much better when he has been able to focus on a single state," said Weaver. "You can build on the rallies in single states, versus in multiple states, where the impact is diluted."
Has Bernie Sanders finally figured out how to appeal to minorities?
Has Bernie Sanders finally figured out how to appeal to minorities?

Lawyers for a detained Tufts student from Turkiye demand she be returned to Massachusetts

- Rumeysa Ozturk was taken into custody by federal agents in Boston on March 25 and next day and moved to an immigration center in Basile, Louisiana
- She is among several people with ties to US universities who publicly expressed support for Palestinians during the war in Gaza and who recently had visas revoked
BOSTON: Lawyers for a Tufts University doctoral student from Turkiye who was seized by immigration officials off a street near Boston argued in federal court Thursday that she should be returned to Massachusetts, while the US government insisted it did nothing wrong in moving her to a detention center in Louisiana.
Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, was taken into custody as she walked along a suburban street March 25. After being transported to New Hampshire and then Vermont, she was put on a plane the next day and moved to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement center in Basile, Louisiana.
“She was grabbed by federal agents in front of her home and taken over the course of several hours to Vermont without any way to contact counsel or counsel to contact her and with her location for period 22 hours being undisclosed to the Department of Justice attorneys in this case,” Adriana Lafaille, one of her attorneys, told the court.
Ozturk’s lawyers asked US District Judge Denise Casper to order that she be immediately returned to Massachusetts and released from custody. If Ozturk isn’t returned to Massachusetts, Lafaille added, she should be taken to Vermont.
Mark Sauter, a Justice Department lawyer, argued that ICE had a plan for her transport before she was detained and only moved her to Louisiana because there was no bed space for female immigration detainees in New England.
“There was no attempt to manipulate the jurisdiction,” Sauter told the court.
The US attorneys have argued the case should go before an immigration judge.
Ozturk had been moved to Vermont by the time Casper in Boston had ordered authorities to keep her in Massachusetts, they said.
Ozturk’s lawyers said at the time they filed the petition, they had no way of knowing where she was. They have said her detention violates her constitutional rights, including free speech and due process.
Casper issued no immediate decision on the matter after hearing arguments.
Ozturk is among several people with ties to American universities who attended demonstrations or publicly expressed support for Palestinians during the war in Gaza and who recently had visas revoked or been stopped from entering the US.
She was one of four students who wrote an op-ed in The Tufts Daily last year criticizing the university’s response to student activists’ demands. The student activists were demanding that Tufts “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide,” disclose its investments and divest from companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel.
On Thursday, her lawyer released a letter from Ozturk in which she talked about her research and said she would continue to stand up against injustice.
“I believe the world is a more beautiful and peaceful place when we listen to each other and allow different perspectives to be in the room,” she wrote.
“Efforts to target me because of my op-ed in the Tufts Daily calling for the equal dignity and humanity of all people will not deter me from my commitment to advocate for the rights of youth and children,” she added.
Outside court Thursday, about 50 protesters chanting “Rumeysa Ozturk Now” and ICE Out Of Boston” marched and held up signs like one reading: “No More Abductions.”
Recently, two dozen of Ozturk’s colleagues and Tufts University submitted letters to the court backing that request, describing her as a gentle, compassionate and cherished member of the Tufts community.
Reyyan Bilge, a close friend who collaborated with Ozturk on research, was present in court Thursday and described her as a “wonderful student, a wonderful human being.”
“It’s like a nightmare,” she said. “Who would have thought? She came here to do her job as a student, as an exceptional student ... Out of the blue, she was taken for doing nothing wrong, How would you feel if you were to be either your daughter, or your niece, or like someone that’s close to you?“
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson confirmed the termination of Ozturk’s visa last week. The official said investigations found she had engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a US-designated terrorist group, but provided no evidence.
Hamas militants invaded Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and seizing about 250 hostages. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 50,000 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, and destroyed much of the enclave.
Pentagon watchdog to review Hegseth’s use of Signal app to convey plans for Houthi strike

- Hegseth and other members of the Trump administration are required by law to archive their official conversations
WASHINGTON: The Pentagon’s acting inspector general announced Thursday that he would review Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of the Signal messaging app to convey plans for a military strike against Houthi militants in Yemen.
The review will also look at other defense officials’ use of the publicly available encrypted app, which is not able to handle classified material and is not part of the Defense Department’s secure communications network.
Hegseth’s use of the app came to light when a journalist, Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic, was inadvertently added to a Signal text chain by national security adviser Mike Waltz. The chain included Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and others, brought together to discuss March 15 military operations against the Iran-backed Houthis.
“The objective of this evaluation is to determine the extent to which the Secretary of Defense and other DoD personnel complied with DoD policies and procedures for the use of a commercial messaging application for official business,” the acting inspector general, Steven Stebbins, said in a notification letter to Hegseth.
The letter also said his office “will review compliance with classification and records retention requirements.”
Hegseth and other members of the Trump administration are required by law to archive their official conversations, and it is not clear if copies of the discussions were forwarded to an official email so they could be permanently captured for federal records keeping.
The Pentagon referred all questions to the inspector general’s office, citing the ongoing investigation.
President Donald Trump grew frustrated when asked about the review.
“You’re bringing that up again,” Trump scoffed at a reporter. “Don’t bring that up again. Your editors probably — that’s such a wasted story.”
In the chain, Hegseth provided the exact timings of warplane launches and when bombs would drop — before the men and women carrying out those attacks on behalf of the United States were airborne.
The review was launched at the request of Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, the committee’s top Democrat.
In congressional hearings, Democratic lawmakers have expressed concern about the use of Signal and pressed military officers on whether they would find it appropriate to use the commercial app to discuss military operations.
Both current and former military officials have said the level of detail Hegseth shared on Signal most likely would have been classified. The Trump administration has insisted no classified information was shared.
Waltz is fighting back against calls for his ouster and, so far, Trump has said he stands by his national security adviser.
On Thursday, Trump fired several members of Waltz’s staff after far-right activist Laura Loomer urged the president to purge staffers she deemed insufficiently loyal to his “Make America Great Again” agenda, several people familiar with the matter said.
In his Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday, Trump’s nominee for chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Lt. Gen. Dan Caine, would not say whether the officials should have used a more secure communications system to discuss the attack plans.
“What I will say is we should always preserve the element of surprise,” Caine told senators.
Putin envoy Dmitriev sees ‘positive dynamic’ in US-Russia relations

- Putin envoy sees prospects for ties, solution to Ukraine war
- Dmitriev says Trump administration open to find solutions
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev said on Thursday that he saw a “positive dynamic” in relations between Moscow and Washington, though more meetings were needed to sort out differences.
Dmitriev, speaking to both Russian and US media outlets after talks with officials from President Donald Trump’s administration, also said he saw prospects for the beginning of a solution to the more than three-year-old war in Ukraine.
He said his talks in Washington had touched on matters as wide-ranging as rare metals production, cooperation in the Arctic and even crewed flight to Mars. He said work was proceeding on restoring direct air links.
Dmitriev’s visit to Washington follows US-Russian talks in Saudi Arabia and agreement on US-brokered ceasefires against energy targets and allowing problem-free navigation in the Black Sea.
“Without doubt, we note a positive dynamic in our relations,” Russian news agencies quoted him as telling journalists in Washington. “A series of meetings will still be needed for us to resolve all our differences. But the main thing we see a positive, creative attitude.”
“We see absolutely clearly that the president’s administration is intent on solving questions, unlike President (Joe) Biden. They conduct themselves with great respect, ask a lot of questions, find compromises,” he said.
Dmitriev told DNN that with the Trump administration, he saw prospects for diplomatic solution to the Ukraine war.
“I think (with) the Trump administration, we are now in realm of thinking about what is possible, what can really work, and how we can find a long-term solution,” Dmitriev said. “I think (a) long-term solution is what is needed, because we are also thinking about global security, how to make sure that Russian security concerns are taken into account.”
He said progress had been helped by the talks in Saudi Arabia and by the work of US envoy Steve Witkoff.
Witkoff, a Trump envoy who has taken the lead on the administration’s contacts with the Kremlin, invited Dmitriev to the United States last week, US officials said.
Filling niches left by Europeans
Dmitriev, quoted by Russian agencies, said US companies were interested in Russia and “wanted to fill the niches of European companies that have left. We see that the ideological limitations which exist among European companies could well enable American companies to fill a series of niches.”
Talks had extended to Arctic development, rare metals and other sectors “where we can build creative and positive relations.”
He told Newsmax that Russia had “officially said that we would like to work with Elon Musk on a Mars mission, because we believe Russia has some nuclear technology that can be helpful.”
And, according to Russian agencies, Dmitriev said that “work is proceeding on restoring direct air links and we are hoping for progress on that issue.”
Earlier, in comments posted on the Telegram messaging app, Dmitriev had said unidentified forces were trying to sow tension between Russia and the United States.
“Today, numerous forces interested in maintaining tension stand in the way of restoring constructive cooperation... These forces are deliberately distorting Russia’s position, trying to disrupt any steps toward dialogue, sparing neither money nor resources for this,” Dmitriev wrote.
“Opponents of the rapprochement are afraid that Russia and the United States will find common ground, begin to understand each other better and build cooperation both in international affairs and in the economy,” he said.
Restoring dialogue was “a difficult and gradual process. But each meeting, each frank conversation allows us to move forward.”
US Senate Republican pushes for congressional approval of president’s tariffs

- The Republican critics in Congress of Trump’s tariff moves remained a distinct minority
WASHINGTON: Republican US Senator Chuck Grassley introduced a bill on Thursday that would require congressional approval for new tariffs, the day after President Donald Trump unveiled sweeping new taxes on a vast array of imported goods.
Grassley, whose home state of Iowa relies heavily on the global agricultural trade, joined Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington for the “Trade Review Act of 2025” which would require Congress to sign off on new tariffs within 60 days of their imposition or automatically block their enforcement. The move, made the day after four other Senate Republicans voted for a measure that would lift Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods, was the latest sign of dissent among Republicans as Trump’s aggressive moves fanned recessionary fears and sparked Wall Street’s worst day since 2022.
Neither Grassley’s bill nor the measure that passed the Senate on Wednesday were seen as likely to become law while Trump’s Republicans hold majorities in both the Senate and House of Representatives, where many of their members are voicing support for Trump’s moves.
Trump, who has long advocated for tariffs, said that the highest US trade barriers in more than a century would both raise federal revenue and drive manufacturing back to the US Economists have voiced deep skepticism about both possibilities.
Grassley, the longest-serving member of the US Senate, did not directly criticize Trump in introducing his bill. He noted that he had proposed a similar trade approach during Trump’s first administration, citing the US Constitution establishing congressional authority over trade issues, but that over time the legislature has ceded this power to the executive branch.
But some Republicans have indicated unease with parts of Trump’s tariff plans.
“I would have expected more targeted tariffs to meet the needs of where countries are taking advantage of us, and perhaps a more modest approach in the amounts,” Republican Senator Jerry Moran told reporters. He also expressed concerns that tariffs placed on US allies in Southeast Asia were similar to those placed on China, which he called a “damaging” economy to the US
Republican Senator James Lankford said he was surprised by the 17 percent tariff on Israel and hoped the US Trade Representative could explain why the tariff level on Israel was different from other countries. Republican senators Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell — the chamber’s former Republican leader — provided the votes on Wednesday to pass Democratic Senator Tim Kaine’s disapproval resolution on the Trump trade approach toward Canada.
“Tariffs drive up the cost of goods and services. They are a tax on everyday working Americans,” McConnell said in a statement on Thursday.
About half of Americans, and one in five Republicans, believe that increasing tariffs on imports will do more harm than good, a Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Wednesday found. The Republican critics in Congress of Trump’s tariff moves remained a distinct minority. Indeed, the House earlier this month passed a measure meant to strip Congress’ power to challenge new tariffs imposed by the president.
“The president has been talking about unfair trade against the United States for 40 years, so he’s been very consistent on this,” said Senator John Barrasso, the chamber’s No. 2 Republican. “Long-term, I think this is very important for the country, bringing jobs and manufacturing back to America, focusing on our economy.”
Grassley’s Democratic co-sponsor, Cantwell, said that Trump’s tariffs risked long-term damage to the US economy.
“We can’t afford a trade war that lasts for two or three years, leaving our product off the shelves,” Cantwell said. “We cannot have arbitrary policies that create chaos and uncertainty.”
Gaza heritage and destruction on display in Paris

- Bouffard said the damage to the known sites as well as treasures potentially hidden in unexplored Palestinian land “depends on the bomb tonnage and their impact on the surface and underground”
PARIS: A new exhibition opening in Paris on Friday showcases archaeological artifacts from Gaza, once a major commercial crossroads between Asia and Africa, whose heritage has been ravaged by Israel’s ongoing onslaught.
Around a hundred artifacts, including a 4,000-year-old bowl, a sixth-century mosaic from a Byzantine church and a Greek-inspired statue of Aphrodite, are on display at the Institut du Monde Arabe.
The rich and mixed collection speaks to Gaza’s past as a cultural melting pot, but the show’s creators also wanted to highlight the contemporary destruction caused by the war, sparked by Hamas’s attack on Israel in October 2023.
“The priority is obviously human lives, not heritage,” said Elodie Bouffard, curator of the exhibition, which is titled “Saved Treasures of Gaza: 5,000 Years of History.”
“But we also wanted to show that, for millennia, Gaza was the endpoint of caravan routes, a port that minted its own currency, and a city that thrived at the meeting point of water and sand,” she told AFP.
One section of the exhibition documents the extent of recent destruction.
Using satellite image, the UN’s cultural agency UNESCO has already identified damage to 94 heritage sites in Gaza, including the 13th-century Pasha’s Palace.
Bouffard said the damage to the known sites as well as treasures potentially hidden in unexplored Palestinian land “depends on the bomb tonnage and their impact on the surface and underground.”
“For now, it’s impossible to assess.”
The attacks by Hamas militants on Israel in 2023 left 1,218 dead. In retaliation, Israeli operations have killed more than 50,000 Palestinians and devastated the densely populated territory.
The story behind “Gaza’s Treasures” is inseparable from the ongoing wars in the Middle East.
At the end of 2024, the Institut du Monde Arabe was finalizing an exhibition on artifacts from the archaeological site of Byblos in Lebanon, but Israeli bombings on Beirut made the project impossible.
“It came to a sudden halt, but we couldn’t allow ourselves to be discouraged,” said Bouffard.
The idea of an exhibition on Gaza’s heritage emerged.
“We had just four and a half months to put it together. That had never been done before,” she explained.
Given the impossibility of transporting artifacts out of Gaza, the Institut turned to 529 pieces stored in crates in a specialized Geneva art warehouse since 2006. The works belong to the Palestinian Authority, which administers the West Bank.
The Oslo Accords of 1993, signed by the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel, helped secure some of Gaza’s treasures.
In 1995, Gaza’s Department of Antiquities was established, which oversaw the first archaeological digs in collaboration with the French Biblical and Archaeological School of Jerusalem (EBAF).
Over the years, excavations uncovered the remains of the Monastery of Saint Hilarion, the ancient Greek port of Anthedon, and a Roman necropolis — traces of civilizations spanning from the Bronze Age to Ottoman influences in the late 19th century.
“Between Egypt, Mesopotamian powers, and the Hasmoneans, Gaza has been a constant target of conquest and destruction throughout history,” Bouffard noted.
In the 4th century BC, Greek leader Alexander the Great besieged the city for two months, leaving behind massacres and devastation.
Excavations in Gaza came to a standstill when Hamas took power in 2007 and Israel imposed a blockade.
Land pressure and rampant building in one of the world’s most densely populated areas has also complicated archaeological work.
And after a year and a half of war, resuming excavations seems like an ever-more distant prospect.
The exhibition runs until November 2, 2025.