WBZ News Update For February 21, 2021

Nick Giovanni and Jacob Wycoff have your latest news and weather headlines.

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  • Ted Cruz ‘traitor’ billboards go up in his Texas neighbourhood

    Activist group says Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley ‘deserve most blame for firing up violent mob of Trump supporters that attacked US Capitol and killed five people’

  • Alec Baldwin quits Twitter — where 'you can't do irony' — after accent joke

    Actor Alec Baldwin broke up with Twitter and rebounded with Instagram after a joke apparently about Gillian Anderson's accent backfired.

  • 25 questions we still have after watching the 'WandaVision' finale

    How strong is Wanda? Will we see some of these characters again? Insider rounds up every lingering question you may have after the Marvel finale.

  • Biden's Iran approach praised as deft despite lack of progress

    U.S. President Joe Biden's refusal to offer upfront sanctions relief to Iran may have angered Tehran's clerical rulers but it has won some praise at home despite his failure so far to draw Iran into nuclear talks or deter attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq. "Sensible," said Elliott Abrams, former President Donald Trump's special envoy for Iran, of Biden's unwillingness to give Tehran sanctions relief before any talks on both sides resuming compliance with the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

  • Kayleigh McEnany takes a swipe at Jen Psaki during new Fox role

    ‘I always knew where my boss stood ... I could walk in at any time,’ former press secretary says

  • Biden news: White House defends ‘Neanderthal’ slur of GOP states, as Trump shifts blame for Senate loss

    Live updates from the White House

  • QAnon predicted Trump’s re-inauguration on 4 March. Congress braced for an assault. Neither happened

    Two months after Capitol attack, embittered conspiracy cult holds out for last-ditch effort to revive former president – but law enforcement warns that the insurrection was not an isolated event

  • FBI: Trump appointee arrested in connection with Capitol riot

    Federico Klein, a former State Department aide who worked on former President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, was arrested Thursday on charges related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the FBI announced Thursday night. This is the first known instance of a Trump appointee facing prosecution in connection with the attack, Politico reports. An FBI Washington Field Office spokeswoman told Politico that Klein, 42, was taken into custody in Virginia, but did not release any information on the charges against him. Federal Election Commission records show Klein worked as a tech analyst for the 2016 Trump campaign, Politico says, and after the election he was hired at the State Department. A federal directory from last summer lists Klein as a special assistant in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, making him a "Schedule C" political appointee, Politico reports. On Jan. 6, a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying President Biden's victory. Klein's mother, Cecilia, told Politico on Thursday night that he told her he was in Washington, D.C., on the day of the riot, and "as far as I know, he was on the Mall." She is a retired economist and trade official, and told Politico because of their different views, she rarely spoke about Trump or politics with her son. "Fred's politics burn a little hot," she said. "But I've never known him to violate the law." More stories from theweek.comWhy the Dr. Seuss 'cancellation' is chillingWhat Republicans talk about when they talk about the 'working class'Two top Cuomo aides leave amid sexual harassment, nursing home scandals

  • Biden secretly limits drone strikes, amid congressional scrutiny over war powers

    Obama administration greatly expanded the use of drone strikes before later imposing checks

  • Americans favor confronting China on human rights despite risk to economic ties, survey finds

    American attitudes toward China have soured significantly in the past three years, with 70% of those surveyed for a report published on Thursday saying Washington should stand up to Beijing over its human rights record even if it damages economic ties. Nearly 9 in 10 respondents to a Pew Research Center survey of more than 2,500 Americans conducted in February said they saw China, the world's second largest economy, as a competitor or enemy rather than a partner, the U.S.-based center said. "Americans want more focus on human rights – even at the expense of economic ties – in bilateral relations with China," the report said.

  • ‘Always up for a fight’: Mike Pompeo refuses to rule out presidential run on Hannity

    ‘I’m always up for a good fight,’ says Trump ally

  • Inaugural poet Amanda Gorman said a security guard followed her and told her she 'looked suspicious' when entering her own building

    "This is the reality of black girls: One day you're called an icon, the next day, a threat," Gorman said in a tweet about the incident.

  • A day after forcing marathon bill reading, Johnson says 'preference' to leave Senate

    The day after he single-handedly delayed the U.S. Senate's debate on President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill for 11 hours, Republican Senator Ron Johnson said on Friday that he could retire from office when his term expires. The 65-year-old Republican, who was first elected to the Senate during the Tea Party surge in 2010, had pledged to spend only two terms in the Senate.

  • Live stimulus updates: Senate extends $300 weekly unemployment benefit in Biden's COVID stimulus bill

    Biden and Democratic leaders are pushing for passage before March 14 when unemployment benefits approved under an earlier relief bill expire.

  • Charles Barkley lost weight because he was worried about being lifted in a chair for the traditional Jewish hora at his daughter's wedding

    "Listen, I need all Jewish people on deck, brother," Chuck told Jimmy Kimmel about the chair lift. "Cause I can only get so skinny by Saturday, man."

  • Kim Kardashian calls out tabloids for comparing her to a whale and shaming her on a 'weekly basis' during her 1st pregnancy

    The 40-year-old "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" star reshared several offensive magazine covers about her pregnancy weight gain in 2013.

  • A teenage girl wearing 'Everything will be OK' T-shirt was shot in the head on Myanmar's bloodiest day of protests yet

    Nineteen-year-old Kyal Sin had proudly cast her first vote last year in the very elections Myanmar's military has tried to annul with its ongoing coup.

  • Lake of the Ozarks Realtor Offered $1.5K to Have Her Former Mother-in-Law Killed: Prosecutors

    Camden County JailA prominent Lake of the Ozarks real estate agent and self-described “cheer mom” has been arrested for allegedly trying to put a hit out on her former mother-in-law. Prosecutors in Camden County say Leigh Ann Bauman, 43, offered to pay $1,500 to people in St. Louis to make her former mother-in-law’s death “look like an accident.” She was reportedly concerned about the woman causing problems with her relationship with her kids.Bauman was recorded discussing the scheme, according to a press release from the Camden County prosecutor’s office. She was given multiple opportunities to change her mind when asked by a witness-turned-informant if she was sure she wanted to carry out the killing, prosecutors said, but she moved ahead with it, at one point acknowledging that she was a Christian but noting she could always ask for forgiveness later.The realtor also is said to have made no secret about her alleged plans. After sending a text message to her daughter that said, “Your grandmother will die,” Bauman allegedly plowed ahead with the plan and pushed for her former mother-in-law to be killed in the small town of Hermann.Her alleged murder-for-hire plot fell apart when an attorney for a person who was solicited to hire people to carry out the killing contacted the Missouri Highway Patrol. She was arrested on Thursday and charged with conspiracy to commit murder and is currently being held without bond in the Camden County Jail.“We’re very appreciative of what the witness did in this case,” Camden County Prosecutor Caleb Cunningham said Friday. “We encourage anyone to contact law enforcement if there’s a crime or suspected crime.” “A local realtor had several political connections and the witness was aware of these political connections,” Cunningham said. “Out of an abundance of caution, DDCC was used to avoid any hint of impropriety,” he said, referring to the Missouri Highway Patrol Division of Drug and Crime Control.Bauman, who describes herself as a realtor, an artist, an entrepreneur, and a “cheer mom” on her Facebook page, frequently posted online about her “track record of success.” While she was most well-known as a realtor, with nearly 20 years in the industry, she also apparently set a world record in a boating race last year. Her LinkedIn account also mentions work in pharmaceutical sales and an acting and modeling career, with appearances on Days of Our Lives and in Nike commercials.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

  • NASA's new Mars rover hits dusty red road, 1st trip 21 feet

    NASA’s newest Mars rover hit the dusty red road this week, putting 21 feet on the odometer in its first test drive. The Perseverance rover ventured from its landing position Thursday, two weeks after setting down on the red planet to seek signs of past life. “This is really the start of our journey here,” said Rich Rieber, the NASA engineer who plotted the route.

  • NASA's Perseverance rover just went for its first drive on Mars, then spotted its own wheel tracks in the dirt

    Perseverance's six-wheel drive leaves quite an imprint in its path. Those wheels are ready to carry the rover over an ancient river delta.