Archive for the ‘Hillary Clinton’ Category

Hillary Clinton visits Obama in Oval Office – CNN.com

By Eric Bradner, CNN

updated 6:29 PM EST, Wed December 3, 2014

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met Wednesday in the Oval Office with President Barack Obama.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama met Wednesday with Hillary Clinton, his former secretary of state and potential Democratic successor, for about an hour in the Oval Office, a White House official said.

The event was not on Obama's schedule, and details on what the two discussed were scant.

"As is well known, President Obama and Secretary Clinton enjoy getting together in person on a regular basis. This afternoon they met privately in the Oval Office for about an hour to catch-up and enjoy an informal discussion on a wide range of issues," the White House official said.

Nick Merrill, Clinton's spokesman, told CNN in an email that her camp will "defer to the White House on any details."

It's the first time the two have met in person since August, when they both attended a party at the Martha's Vinyard home of Vernon Jordan, an aide to former President Bill Clinton. Obama was vacationing there with his family, and Clinton was there for a book signing event.

More recently, Clinton has backed Obama's decision to overhaul immigration rules and forestall deportations for the undocumented parents of U.S. citizens through executive action.

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Hillary Clinton Backers Release Country Music Video

A new, three-and-a-half minute country music video featuring cute cowboys in tight shirts, dusty tractors and Ken Burns-style shots of a young Hillary Clinton cooing over baby Chelsea was released on YouTube this morning.

While the video received mixed reviews at TIMEs D.C. office a random sample of reactions included phrases like croon-tastic, cute! cute? and oh, dear its mere existence underscores the reality that Hillary Clintons as-yet-unannounced campaign is going to happen whether or not she gets out in front of it.

The group behind the new country video is called Stand With Hillary, or SWH. It was formed in Southern California this fall by Miguel Orozco, Daniel Chavez and his daughter, Christina Chavez, to create positive, social media stories designed to reach out to working class and Latino voters.

Here are some of the lyrics the video features to do just that: Thinking about one great lady, like the women in my life. Shes a mother, a daughter, and through it all shes a loving wife. Oh, theres something about her, this great lady, caring, hard-working, once a First Lady, she fights for country and the family and now its time for us to stand up with Hillary.

Orozco and the Chavezes self-funded this video and the website, but in the future will be looking for small donations from supporters, Chavez told TIME this morning.

Chavez, who worked as a deputy director in the Department of Labor under Bill Clinton, said part of the motivation for starting SWH came from his wife and daughter, who were deeply inspired by the Clinton family. In the 90s, a young Christina Chavez, who is now 32, had the opportunity to meet young Chelsea and Socks, the Clintons famous cat, during take your daughter to work day, Chavez explained. Shes had a lifelong love of the Clintons ever since.

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Hillary Clinton Backers Release Country Music Video

Hillary Clinton: America's legal system 'out of balance'

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Boston (CNN) -- Hillary Clinton stood with those protesting the deaths of two unarmed black males at the hands of law enforcement on Thursday, telling an audience in Boston that "our country deserves a full and fair accounting" of what happened.

In the last two weeks, grand juries have cleared police officers in the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner in Staten Island, New York. The deaths have led to rising tension and protests around the country about law enforcement's treatment of black males.

At a massive gathering of 10,000 women in Massachusetts, Clinton said she recognized the "pain and frustration" in response to the deaths and backed federal probes that have been initiated by the Justice Department.

"I'm very pleased that the DOJ will be investigating what happened in Ferguson or Staten Island," Clinton said. "Those families and those communities and our country deserve a full and fair accounting, as well as whatever substantive reforms are necessary to ensure equality, justice and respect for every citizen."

Clinton also called out the federal government for sending military-style equipment -- which Clinton called "weapons of war" -- to local police forces.

Instead, the former secretary of state and likely 2016 presidential candidate said the United States should "invest in what works ... [not] buy weapons of war that have no place on our streets or contribute to unnecessary force or arrests."

Earlier this week, President Barack Obama issued an executive order on police militarization calling for better tracking of such equipment.

Clinton identified with both the peaceful protestors and law enforcement during her speech.

"We all know there are decent, honorable, brave police officers out in our communities every single day," Clinton said, before telling the audience the fact that African-American males are more likely to end up in prison than their white counterparts was a byproduct of an "out of balance" criminal justice system.

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Hillary Clinton: America's legal system 'out of balance'

Hillary Clinton: Its really, really hard to be president

The job of president is stressful and unrelenting, and forces fast decisions even when maybe you need to sleep on it, former secretary of state and likely presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton said Thursday.

Heres what I worry about, Clinton told a Boston audience. The stress on anybody in a leadership position, multiplied many times over to be president. The incoming never ends.

Clinton has said she is thinking about running for president for a second time and is likely to make a decision after Jan. 1. Friends say she is genuinely mulling whether she wants to take on both the arduous job of running, and the even harder job of governing.

Technology connects you around the world instantaneously, so youre constantly being asked for opinions, to make decisions that maybe you need more time to think about, Clinton said during a question-and-answer session at the Massachusetts Conference for Women.

Maybe you need to sleep on it. Maybe you need to bring in some people to talk to about it. But the pace of demands is so intense that you feel like youve got to respond.

She was speaking as an up-close observer of presidents and also as a former cabinet member called upon to make weighty decisions. But she was also giving voice to her own misgivings, however much they may be outweighed by her drive to run.

The job is unforgiving in many ways, so therefore I think you need people around you who will kid you, make fun of you, Clinton said. I have no shortage of such people in my life.

The reflective remarks camewhen amoderator said she had one last, important question to ask, and one that was on everyones minds: As a former first lady, what qualities did Clinton think made for a good first gentleman?

Clinton chuckled and went along with the joke, then turned serious. She noted that she had spent an hour talking with President Obama in the Oval Office on Wednesday, and that she had known several presidents.

It is such a hard job. I dont care whether youre a Republican or a Democrat, where youre from, what your political aspirations are. It is such a challenging job.

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Hillary Clinton: Its really, really hard to be president

Hillary Clinton: US justice out of balance over black mens deaths

Protesters are arrested as more than a thousand people take to the streets of Midtown Manhattan to demonstrate against a grand jury decision not to press charges against a police officer who caused the death of an unarmed man. Video: Reuters

Thousands of protesters shout at police and fill the streets of Manhattan, angered by a New York City grand jurys decision not to charge white police officer Daniel Pantaleo in the chokehold death of unarmed black man Eric Garner. Photograph: Adrees Latif/Reuters

Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton has said the cases of Eric Garner and Michael Brown, which have stirred a national conversation on race and law enforcement in the US, show the need for federal funds to be used for best practices, rather than weapons of war. Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

Hillary Clinton has said the US criminal justice system is out of balance and she supports federal reviews of police-involved deaths of unarmed black men in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York.

Mrs Clinton said the cases of Eric Garner and Michael Brown, which have stirred a national conversation on race and law enforcement, show the need for federal funds to be used for best practices, rather than weapons of war.

The former first lady is the leading Democratic contender to succeed President Barack Obama should she seek the presidency again.

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Mr Obama is the nations first black president, and the two cases could shape how Mrs Clinton talks about civil rights and seeks to maintain support among African-American voters, a key Democratic constituency.

Mrs Clintons remarks at a womens conference in Boston were the first time she has spoken about the two cases in the aftermath of findings by grand juries and racially charged protests around the nation.

Civil rights leaders have criticised the grand jury decisions not to charge a white police officer over the chokehold death of Mr Garner in New York and a separate decision not to charge a white officer who shot and killed 18-year-old Mr Brown in Missouri.

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Hillary Clinton: US justice out of balance over black mens deaths