'Friends' star Matthew Perry dies, Maine mass killing suspect found dead, and more of the week's top news
- Updated
Here are the top national news stories from the past week, including the death of "Friends" star Matthew Perry and the search for the Maine mass killing suspect.
Matthew Perry, Emmy-nominated 'Friends' star, dead at 54
UpdatedLOS ANGELES — "Friends" star Matthew Perry, the Emmy-nominated actor whose sarcastic but lovable Chandler Bing was among television's most famous and most quotable characters, has died at 54.
The actor was found dead at his Los Angeles home, according to coroner's records. An investigation into how Perry died is ongoing, and it may take weeks before his cause of death is determined.
Perry's body was found in a hot tub at his home, according to unnamed sources cited by the Los Angeles Times and celebrity website TMZ, which was the first to report the news. LAPD Officer Drake Madison told The Associated Press on Saturday that officers went to that block "for a death investigation of a male in his 50s."
Matthew Perry arrives Sept. 21, 2009, at the premiere of "The Invention of Lying" in Los Angeles.
Matt Sayles, Associated Press"This truly is The One Where Our Hearts Are Broken, "Friends" co-creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane, and executive producer Kevin Bright, said in a statement. "We will always cherish the joy, the light, the blinding intelligence he brought to every moment - not just to his work, but in life as well. He was always the funniest person in the room. More than that, he was the sweetest, with a giving and selfless heart."
Perry's 10 seasons on "Friends" made him one of Hollywood's most recognizable actors, starring opposite Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow and David Schwimmer as a friend group in New York.
As Chandler, he played the quick-witted, insecure and neurotic roommate of LeBlanc's Joey and a close friend of Schwimmer's Ross. During the show's hijinks, he could be counted on to chime in with a line like "Could this BE any more awkward?" or another well-timed quip.
Perry was open about his long and public struggle with addiction, writing at the beginning of his 2022 million-selling memoir: "Hi, my name is Matthew, although you may know me by another name. My friends call me Matty. And I should be dead."
"Friends" ran from 1994 until 2004, winning one best comedy series Emmy Award in 2002. The cast notably banded together for later seasons to obtain a salary of $1 million per episode for each.
David Schwimmer, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, Courteney Cox, Jennifer Aniston and Matt LeBlanc pose after "Friends" won outstanding comedy series Sept. 22, 2002, at the 54th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles.
Reed Saxon, Associated PressSome of his "Friends" guest stars paid tribute on social media, posting photos, GIFS and bloopers from their favorite episodes.
"What a loss," actress Maggie Wheeler, who played Perry's on-again, off-again girlfriend Janice, wrote on Instagram. "The joy you brought to so many in your too short lifetime will live on."
Actress Morgan Fairchild, who played Perry's mother on the show, said the loss of a "brilliant young actor" was a shock. "I'm heartbroken about the untimely death of my 'son,'" she wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
By the "Friends" finale, Chandler is married to Cox's Monica and they have a family, reflecting the journey of the core cast from single New Yorkers trying to figure their lives out to several of them married and starting families.
The series was one of television's biggest hits and has taken on a new life — and found surprising popularity with younger fans — in recent years on streaming services.
Matthew Perry arrives Nov.17, 2022, at the GQ Men of the Year Party in West Hollywood, Calif.
Willy Sanjuan, InvisionPerry described reading the "Friends" script for the first time in his memoir, "Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing."
"It was as if someone had followed me around for a year, stealing my jokes, copying my mannerisms, photocopying my world-weary yet witty view of life. One character in particular stood out to me: it wasn't that I thought I could 'play' Chandler. I 'was' Chandler."
On Sunday, Perry's book was ranked No. 1 on Amazon, supplanting Britney Spears' memoir.
Perry struggled with addiction and an intense desire to please audiences.
"I felt like I was gonna die if the live audience didn't laugh, and that's not healthy for sure. But I could sometimes say a line and the audience wouldn't laugh and I would sweat and sometimes go into convulsions," Perry wrote. "If I didn't get the laugh I was supposed to get I would freak out. I felt that every single night. This pressure left me in a bad place. I also knew of the six people making that show, only one of them was sick."
He recalled in his memoir that Aniston confronted him about being inebriated while filming.
"I know you're drinking," he remembered her telling him once. "We can smell it," she said, in what Perry called a "kind of weird but loving way, and the plural 'we' hit me like a sledgehammer."
An HBO Max reunion special in 2021 fed into huge interest in seeing the "Friends" cast together again, although the program consisted of the actors discussing the show and was not a continuation of their characters' storylines.
Perry received one Emmy nomination for his "Friends" role and two more for appearances as an associate White House counsel on "The West Wing."
He also had several notable film roles, starring opposite Salma Hayek in the rom-com "Fools Rush In" and Bruce Willis in the the crime comedy "The Whole Nine Yards."
In 2015, he played Oscar for a CBS reboot of "The Odd Couple" that aired for two seasons. He told the AP that playing Oscar Madison, the character originally made famous by Walter Matthau in the 1968 movie, was a "dream role." He also said he was surprised how much he enjoyed being filmed again in front of a live audience.
"I didn't realize I missed it really until it actually happened, til we actually shot the pilot and there was a studio audience there and I realized, 'Wow, I really like this. This is nice,'" he said. "You kind of ham up for the people in the audience. My performance never got better than when there was an audience there."
Perry was born Aug. 19, 1969, in Williamstown, Massachusetts. His father is actor John Bennett Perry and his mother, Suzanne, served as press secretary of Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and is married to "Dateline" correspondent Keith Morrison.
Photos: The cast of 'Friends' through the years
FILE -- A Sept. 10, 1995 file photo shows Jennifer Aniston and Matthew Perry, co-stars in the comedy series "Friends," arriving at the 47th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony in Pasadena, Calif. Commenting on the hairstyle she wore in the first years of the series Anniston said "I think it was the ugliest haircut I've ever seen." (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello/file)
CHRIS PIZZELLO
"Friends" cast member Courteney Cox, left, gives fellow cast member Matthew Perry a kiss backstage as cast member Lisa Kudrow looks on, after the actors won Outstanding Ensemble Performance in a Comedy Series at the 2nd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, Saturday, Feb. 24, 1996, in Santa Monica, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
CHRIS PIZZELLO
"Friends" star actor Matthew Perry talks with unidentified guests at the oceanside wedding of Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston in Malibu, Calif., Saturday, July 29, 2000. (AP Photo/Sam Mircovich, Pool)
SAM MIRCOVICH
Lisa Kudrow and her husband arrive Saturday, July 29, 2000, in Malibu, Calif., for the wedding of "Friends" actress Jennifer Aniston and actor Brad Pitt. (AP Photo/Pool, Sam Mircovich)
SAM MIRCOVICH
Actors Courteney Cox Arquette, left, Jennifer Aniston, center, and Lisa Kudrow arrive to host the 10th annual Fire & Ice Ball in Beverly Hills, Calif., Monday, Dec. 11, 2000. The gala event raises funds for Revlon/UCLA Women's Cancer research program. (AP Photo/Michael Caulfield)
MICHAEL CAULFIELD
Jennifer Aniston, left, David Schwimmer, center, and Lisa Kudrow, of the television comedy series "Friends," pose with their award for favorite television comedy series at the 27th Annual People's Choice Awards in Pasadena, Calif., Sunday, Jan. 7, 2001. (AP Photo/Michael Caulfield)
MICHAEL CAULFIELD
Jennifer Aniston, left, and David Schwimmer of television's "Friends," arrive for the 27th Annual People's Choice Awards in Pasadena, Calif., Sunday, Jan. 7, 2001. (AP Photo/Michael Caulfield)
MICHAEL CAULFIELD
Actors Matt LeBlanc, left, David Schwimmer, center, and Matthew Perry, of the television show "Friends," pose for photographers as they arrive at the 28th annual People's Choice Awards show in Pasadena, Calif., Sunday, Jan. 13, 2002. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)
KEVORK DJANSEZIAN
Matthew Perry, left, and Matt LeBlanc accept the Choice TV Comedy Award for their show "Friends" at the Teen Choice Awards 2002 in Los Angeles, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2002. (AP Photo/Lucy Nicholson)
LUCY NICHOLSON
FILE - In this May 5, 2002 file photo, the cast members, Matthew Perry, from left, Courteney Cox Arquette, David Schwimmer, Jennifer Aniston and Matt LeBlanc of the television show "Friends," arrive at New York's Rockefeller Center for NBC's 75th Anniversary event. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg, File)
Tina Fineberg
Cast members and producers of "Friends", from left: Executive Producer David Crane, actor David Schwimmer, Courteney Cox Arquette, Executive Producer Kevin Bright, Executive Producer Marta Kauffman, Matthew Perry, Jennifer Aniston and Matt LeBlanc celebrate offstage after winning the award for outstanding comedy series during the 54th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2002, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)
KEVORK DJANSEZIAN
Matthew Perry, left, and David Schwimmer, co-stars of the comedy "Friends," congratulate each other after the show won the Emmy for outstanding comedy series during the 54th annual Primetime Emmy Awards, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2002, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)
KEVORK DJANSEZIAN
The stars of "Friends," from left, David Schwimmer, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, Courteney Cox Arquette, Jennifer Aniston and Matt LeBlanc pose after the show won outstanding comedy series at the 54th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards Sunday, Sept. 22, 2002, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
REED SAXON
Actress Lisa Kudrow applauds as she accepts the award for favorite television comedy for "Friends" at the 29th Annual People's Choice Awards Sunday, Jan. 12, 2003, in Pasadena, Calif. Standing behind Kudrow second from right is actress Jennifer Aniston. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
MARK J. TERRILL
Actors Matthew Perry, Jennifer Aniston and Lisa Kudrow, who star in the television comedy "Friends," pose together after accepting the award for favorite television comedy series at the 29th Annual People's Choice Awards Sunday, Jan. 12, 2003, in Pasadena, Calif. Aniston also won the award for favorite female television performer. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
REED SAXON
Co-stars from the comedy "Friends" Matthew Perry, David Schwimmer, and Matt LeBlanc, left to right, make an award presentation during the 55th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 21, 2003, at the Shrine Auditorium on Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)
KEVORK DJANSEZIAN
Matt LeBlanc, nominated for best actor in a comedy or musical series for his work in "Friends," arrives with series co-star Jennifer Aniston for the 61st Annual Golden Globe Awards on Sunday, Jan. 25, 2004, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)
KEVORK DJANSEZIAN
Jennifer Aniston, left, David Arquette, center, and Courteney Cox pose together at the premiere of "The Tripper" in Los Angeles on Wednesday, April 11, 2007. The film was written and directed by David Arquette. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
Matt Sayles
Lisa Kudrow, left, performs "Smelly Cat" as Courteney Cox laughs during the "Rock a Little, Feed a Lot" benefit concert for Feeding America and the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
Matt Sayles
Courtney Cox Arquette and David Arquette arrive at the 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards on Sunday, Jan. 17, 2010, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
Matt Sayles
Courteney Cox, star of the FX cable channel show, "Dirt," arrives at the season two premiere screening of the show in Los Angeles, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2008. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Chris Pizzello
WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA - JUNE 19: Actors Matt LeBlanc and Lisa Kudrow at Showtime Celebrates Season Two of "Episodes" at The London Hotel on June 19, 2012 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Eric Charbonneau/Invision/AP Images)
Eric Charbonneau
EXCLUSIVE Lisa Kudrow and Matt LeBlanc seen at Showtime's 2014 Emmy Eve Soiree held at the Sunset Tower Hotel on Sunday, August 24, 2014, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Eric Charbonneau/Invision for Showtime/AP Images)
Eric Charbonneau
David Schwimmer poses for a photo on the red carpet for the Big Game Big Give event in Houston on Saturday, Feb. 5, 2017. Schwimmer acted as the charitable events emcee. (AP Photo/John Carucci)
John Carucci
Actors Matthew Perry, left, and Katie Holmes participate in the BUILD Speaker Series to discuss the mini-series "The Kennedys After Camelot" at AOL Studios on Thursday, March 30, 2017, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
Evan Agostini
Jennifer Aniston, left, and Courteney Cox attend Chanel and NRDC Host Dinner to Celebrate Our Majestic Oceans on Saturday, June 1, 2018, in Malibu, Calif. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)
Richard Shotwell
Cast member Jennifer Aniston arrives at the Los Angeles premiere of "Murder Mystery" at the Regency Village Theatre on Monday, June 10, 2019 in Westwood, Calif. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Jordan Strauss
Matt LeBlanc speaks at a ceremony honoring Stacy Keach with a star at the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Wednesday, July 31, 2019, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP)
Willy Sanjuan
Lisa Kudrow arrives at night one of the Television Academy's 2019 Creative Arts Emmy Awards on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2019, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision for the Television Academy/AP Images)
Jordan StraussMaine mass killing suspect found dead after 2-day manhunt left region on edge
Updated
Robert Card
Lewiston Maine Police Department via APLEWISTON, Maine — The man wanted in the mass shooting at a bowling alley and bar that killed 18 people and wounded 13 was found dead in Lisbon on Friday, bringing an end to a search that put the entire state of Maine on edge for the last two days.
Robert Card, who was wanted in connection with the shootings at Schemengees Bar and Grille and at Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley in Lewiston, is believed to have died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, a law enforcement official tells The Associated Press.
The official was not authorized to discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke to The AP on condition of anonymity. A 10 p.m. news conference was scheduled by police.
The Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office confirmed Card's death in a Facebook post, saying the suspect in the shootings “has been located and is deceased.”
Card, 40, of Bowdoin, Maine, was a U.S. Army reservist who underwent a mental health evaluation in mid-July after he began acting erratically during training, a U.S. official told The Associated Press.
Card had been sought since the Wednesday night shootings, and murder warrants were issued against him.
Authorities had scoured the woods and hundreds of acres of family-owned property, sent dive teams with sonar to the bottom of a river and scrutinized a possible suicide note Friday in the second day of their intensive search for Card.
Authorities lifted their shelter in place order Friday evening, nearly 48 hours after the shootings.
The names and pictures of the 16 males and 2 females who died were released as State Public Safety Commissioner Mike Sauschuck asked for a moment of silence at a news conference. Their ages ranged from 14 to 76.
Read more:
Photos: Mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine
Miia Zellner, an art teacher from Turner, Maine, attaches a heart cut-out with a message of positivity to a tree in downtown Lewiston, Maine, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. Zellner wanted to show her love and support for the community in the wake of Wednesday's mass shootings.
Robert F. Bukaty, Associated Press
Heart-shaped cut-outs with messages of positivity adorns trees in downtown Lewiston, Maine, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. The signs are some of the 100 hearts put up by Miaa Zellner of Turner, Maine, to show her love and support for the community in the wake of Wednesday's mass shootings.
Robert F. Bukaty, Associated Press
Maine State Police Col. William Ross, center, appears emotional as he faces reporters while Maine Gov. Janet Mills, left, and Maine Commissioner of Public Safety Mike Sauschuck, right, look on, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, during a news conference at Lewiston City Hall, in Lewiston, Maine. Residents have been ordered to shelter in place as police continue to search for the suspect of Wednesday's mass shootings.
Steven Senne, Associated Press
Police officers stop to question a driver at a roadblock, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, in Lisbon, Maine, during a manhunt for the suspect of Wednesday's mass shootings. The shootings took place at a restaurant and bowling alley in nearby Lewiston, Maine.
Robert F. Bukaty, Associated Press
A police officer walks along a rural road during a manhunt for the suspect of Wednesday's mass shootings, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, in Lisbon, Maine. The shootings took place at a restaurant and bowling alley in nearby Lewiston, Maine.
Robert F. Bukaty, Associated Press
Law enforcement officers depart a scene in an armored vehicle after investigating a location, in Bowdoin, Maine, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. Residents have been ordered to shelter in place as police continue to search for the suspect of Wednesday's mass shootings.
Steven Senne, Associated Press
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, speaks with members of the media in the aftermath of a mass shootings in Lewiston, Maine, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
Matt Rourke, Associated Press
Law enforcement officers hold rifles while investigating a scene, in Bowdoin, Maine, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. Residents have been ordered to shelter in place as police continue to search for the suspect of Wednesday's mass shootings.
Steven Senne, Associated Press
Law enforcement officers hold rifles while investigating a scene, in Bowdoin, Maine, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. Residents have been ordered to shelter in place as police continue to search for the suspect of Wednesday's mass shootings.
Steven Senne, Associated Press
Law enforcement officers hold rifles while investigating a scene, in Bowdoin, Maine, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. Residents have been ordered to shelter in place as police continue to search for the suspect of Wednesday's mass shootings.
Steven Senne, Associated Press
A helicopter searches near Lisbon Street on Wednesday night, Oct. 25, 2023, in Lewiston, Maine, as a manhunt continues for a mass shooter. Officials say multiple people have died and others were injured, after a man opened fire at a restaurant and a bowling alley in Lewiston.
Derek Davis, Portland Press Herald via AP
Police respond to an active shooter situation in Lewiston, Maine, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.
Robert F. Bukaty, Associated Press
In this image taken from video released by the Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office, an unidentified gunman points a gun while entering Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. Maine State Police ordered residents in the state's second-largest city to shelter in place Wednesday night as the suspect remains at large.
Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office via AP
Police respond to an active shooter situation in Lewiston, Maine, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.
Robert F. Bukaty, Associated Press
In this image taken from video released by the Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office, an unidentified gunman points a gun while entering Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. Maine State Police ordered residents in the state's second-largest city to shelter in place Wednesday night as the suspect remains at large.
Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office via AP
In this image taken from video released by the Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office, an unidentified gunman points a gun while entering Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. Maine State Police ordered residents in the state's second-largest city to shelter in place Wednesday night as the suspect remains at large.
Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office via AP
Police respond to an active shooter situation in Lewiston, Maine, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.
Robert F. Bukaty, Associated Press
This photo released by the Lewiston, Maine, Police Department on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023, shows a vehicle police are seeking information on in connection to an active shooter situation in Lewiston, Maine.
Lewiston Maine Police Department via AP
This photo released by the Lewiston Maine Police Department shows Robert Card, who police have identified as a person of interest in connection to mass shootings in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.
Lewiston Maine Police Department via AP
Law enforcement officers carry rifles outside Central Maine Medical Center during an active shooter situation, in Lewiston, Maine, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.
Steven Senne, Associated Press
A passer-by walks past law enforcement officers carrying rifles outside Central Maine Medical Center during an active shooter situation, in Lewiston, Maine, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.
Steven Senne, Associated Press
Law enforcement officers carry rifles outside Central Maine Medical Center during an active shooter situation, in Lewiston, Maine, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.
Steven Senne, Associated Press
People depart an emergency department entrance at Central Maine Medical Center, past a member of security, behind right, during an active shooter situation, in Lewiston, Maine, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.
Steven Senne, Associated Press
A member of security, center right, stands at an emergency department entrance at Central Maine Medical Center during an active shooter situation, in Lewiston, Maine, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.
Steven Senne, Associated Press
A woman is hugged by a man at a reunification center at Auburn Middle School, in Auburn, Maine, after shootings in Lewiston on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.
Derek Davis, Portland Press Herald via AP
People depart a reunification center early Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, at Auburn Middle School, in Auburn, Maine, after shootings in Lewiston.
Steven Senne, Associated Press
People depart a reunification center early Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, at Auburn Middle School, in Auburn, Maine, after shootings in Lewiston.
Steven Senne, Associated Press
People stand outside a reunification center early Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, at Auburn Middle School in Auburn, Maine, after shootings Wednesday at a bar and a bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine.
Steven Senne, Associated Press
People depart a reunification center early Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, at Auburn Middle School in Auburn, Maine, following shootings at a bar and a bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine.
Steven Senne, Associated Press
Stretchers are lined up outside the emergency room at Central Maine Medical Center following shootings in Lewiston, Maine, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.
Derek Davis, Portland Press Herald via AP
A sign signals the public to shelter in place during an active shooter situation on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023, in Lewiston, Maine.
Derek Davis, Portland Press Herald via APFormer Vice President Mike Pence ends campaign for the White House after struggling to gain traction
UpdatedNEW YORK (AP) — Former Vice President Mike Pence is dropping his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, ending his campaign for the White House after struggling to raise money and gain traction in the polls.
“After much prayer and deliberation, I have decided to suspend my campaign for president effective today," Pence said at the Republican Jewish Coalition gathering in Las Vegas. “We always knew this would be an uphill battle, but I have no regrets," he said.
Pence becomes the first major candidate to leave a race that has been dominated by his former boss-turned-rival, Donald Trump.
The decision, more than two months before the Iowa caucuses that he had staked his campaign on, saves Pence from the embarrassment of failing to qualify for the third Republican primary debate, Nov. 8 in Miami.
But the withdrawal is a huge blow for a politician who spent years biding his time as Trump’s most loyal lieutenant, only to be scapegoated during their final days in office when Trump became convinced that Pence somehow had the power to overturn the results of the 2020 election and keep both men in office — not something a vice president could do.
While Pence averted a constitutional crisis by rejecting the scheme, he drew Trump’s fury, as well as the wrath of many of Trump’s supporters who believed his lies and still see Pence as a traitor.
For updates:
Photos: Mike Pence through the years
Republican candidate Mike Pence, left, hugs his mother Nancy Pence following his victory speech in Anderson, Ind., Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2000.
AP Photo/Michael Conroy
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, right, talks about the flooding in Indiana to Rep. Mike Sodrel, R-Ind, left, Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., and Fred Armstrong, Mayor of Columbus, during a stop in Columbus, Ind., Wednesay, Jan. 12, 2005. A wave of thunderstorms moved across Indiana overnight, causing some scattered flash flooding in north-central Indiana on Wednesday as already saturated ground could not handle the additional rain.
AP Photo/Darron Cummings
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., who together proposed a bill concerning illegal immigrants, take part in a news conference in San Antonio, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2006. Hutchison and Pence toured the Customs and Border Protection Air Operations Center in San Antonio during their visit. Their proposal would require illegal immigrants to cross the border and apply through privately run "Ellis Island" centers to return to the United States on work visas.
AP Photo/Eric Gay
US Republican Senator from Arizona and a presidential hopeful John McCain speaks during a press conference at the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, Sunday, April 1, 2007. A Republican congressional delegation led by Sen. John McCain on Sunday blasted Democratic efforts to impose a deadline for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, and McCain charged that the American people were not getting a "full picture" of progress in the security crackdown in the capital. In the back are Republicans Mike Pence from Indiana and Rick Renzi from Arizona.
AP Photo/Sabah Arar, Pool
Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., center, speaks during a news conference on Iran , Friday, June 19, 2009, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Joining him, from left are, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., House Minority Whip Eric Cantor of Va., Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., and Rep.Darrell Issa, R-Calif.
AP Photo/Susan Walsh
From left, House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio, House Minority Whip Eric Cantor of Va., and Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., listen as President Barack Obama speaks to Republican lawmakers at the GOP House Issues Conference in Baltimore, Friday, Jan. 29, 2010.
AP Photo/Charles Dharapak
Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., right, accompanied by fellow House Republicans, speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010. From left are, House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio, R-Ohio, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., House Minority Whip Eric Cantor of Va., and Rep. John Kline, R-Minn.
AP Photo/Drew Angerer
Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., answers questions as he meets with constituents during a town hall meeting in Pendleton, Ind., Friday, Jan. 28, 2011. Pence announced Thursday that he will not seek the presidency in 2012.
AP Photo/Michael Conroy
Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., as he kicks off his campaign for the Republican nomination for Governor of Indiana during an gathering of supporters in Columbus, Ind., Saturday, June 11, 2011. Pence promised to fight health care reform and federal climate change legislation.
AP Photo/Michael Conroy
The three candidates for Indiana governor, Republican Mike Pence, right, Democrat John Gregg, center, and Libertarian Rupert Boneham participate in a debate in Fort Wayne, Ind., Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012.
AP Photo/Michael Conroy
Indiana Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Pence speaks to supporters with his family at his side at an Indiana Republican Party on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012, in Indianapolis. Pence defeated Democrat John Gregg and Libertarian Rupert Boneham.
AP Photo/Darron Cummings
In this Dec. 6, 2012 photo, Indiana Republican Gov.-elect Mike Pence talks with Sandy Sabinas at a breakfast meeting at a South Bend, Ind., restaurant.
AP Photo/Joe Raymond
Mike Pence, right, waves as he leaves the stage with his wife Karen after he was sworn in as Indiana's 50th governor during a ceremony at the Statehouse in Indianapolis, Monday, Jan. 14, 2013.
AP Photo/Michael Conroy
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence talks about Indianapolis' bid for the NFL football's 2018 Super Bowl during an announcement in front of the downtown skyline in Indianapolis, Friday, Aug. 30, 2013. The city hosted the 2012 Super Bowl.
AP Photo/Michael Conroy
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence looks over a storm damaged home in Kokomo, Ind., Monday, Nov. 18, 2013. Dozens of tornadoes and intense thunderstorms swept across the U.S. Midwest on Sunday, unleashing powerful winds that flattened entire neighborhoods, flipped over cars and uprooted trees.
AP Photo/AJ Mast
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, second from left, South Carolina Gov. Nikki R. Haley, second from right, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, far right, listens as Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, far left, speaks during a press conference at the Republican Governors Association's quarterly meeting on Wednesday May 21, 2014 in New York.
AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews
President Barack Obama talks with, from left, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, R-Ind., Rep. Larry Bucshon, R-Ind., and Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, after arriving at Evansville Regional Airport in Evansville, Ind., Friday, Oct. 3, 2014. Obama was to deliver remarks at an event at Millennium Steel Service to discuss the economy as part of Manufacturing Day. US employers added 248,000 jobs in September, a burst of hiring that helped drive down the unemployment rate to 5.9 percent, the lowest since July 2008.
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, left, talks about recent Republican party gains and the road ahead for their party during a press conference at the Republican governors' conference in Boca Raton, Fla., Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014. The organization's annual conference began Wednesday in a luxury oceanside resort where the nation's Republican governors are celebrating their party's recent success in the midterm elections while privately jockeying for position as the 2016 presidential contest looms.
AP Photo/J Pat Carter
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence announces a 1 billion boost in state highway funding over four years at the Indiana Department of Transportation Traffic Management Center in Indianapolis, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2015.
AP Photo/Michael Conroy
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence speaks after a meeting with Indianapolis Archbishop Joseph Tobin at the Statehouse Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2015, in Indianapolis, a day after the archdiocese said it has the means to resettle a Syrian refugee family bound for the state. Pence blocked state agencies from distributing federal money for Syrian refugees following the deadly Paris attacks.
AP Photo/Darron Cummings
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence speaks during the Indiana Republican Party Spring Dinner Thursday, April 21, 2016, in Indianapolis.
AP Photo/Darron Cummings
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, right, and Republican vice presidential candidate Gov. Mike Pence, R-Ind., walk towards supporters after Trump arrived via helicopter in Cleveland, Wednesday, July 20, 2016.
AP Photo/Mary Altaffer
Republican vice presidential candidate Gov. Mike Pence, R-Ind., gestures as the audience applauds after he spoke during the third day session of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Wednesday, July 20, 2016.
AP Photo/Mary Altaffer
Republican presidential Candidate Donald Trump gives his running mate, Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana a kiss as they shake hands after Pence's acceptance speech during the third day session of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Wednesday, July 20, 2016.
AP Photo/Mary Altaffer
Vice President Mike Pence, with his wife Karen Pence, speaks at the Veterans Inaugural Ball, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Alex Brandon
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, left, and Japanese Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Taro Aso pose for a photo at the end of their joint press conference at the prime minister's office in Tokyo, Tuesday, April 18, 2017. Pence said the U.S. would work with Japan, China and other nations to get Pyongyang to give up its atomic weapons program. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Eugene Hoshiko
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, left, listens as Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a statement in the Prime Minister's residence in Jerusalem, Monday, Jan. 22, 2018. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, Pool)
Ariel Schalit
President Donald Trump gestures as delivers his first State of the Union address in the House chamber of the U.S. Capitol to a joint session of Congress Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2018 in Washington, as Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Paul Ryan applaud. (Win McNamee/Pool via AP)
Win McNamee
FILE - Vice President Mike Pence stands to officiate with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., as a joint session of the House and Senate convenes to count the Electoral College votes cast in November's election, at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
J. Scott Applewhite
FILE - In this Jan. 20, 2021, file photo, Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff, top, watch as former Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen walk down the steps of the Capitol during the inauguration of President Joe Biden in Washington. Pence is steadily re-entering public life as he eyes a potential run for the White House in 2024. He's writing op-eds, delivering speeches, preparing trips to early voting states and launching an advocacy group likely to focus on promoting the accomplishments of the Trump administration. (David Tulis/Pool Photo via AP)
David Tulis
FILE - In this Jan. 20, 2021, file phot, former Vice President Mike Pence speaks after arriving back in his hometown of Columbus, Ind., as his wife Karen watches. Pence is steadily re-entering public life as he eyes a potential run for the White House in 2024. He's writing op-eds, delivering speeches, preparing trips to early voting states and launching an advocacy group likely to focus on promoting the accomplishments of the Trump administration. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)
Michael ConroyRecycling center in Maine where body of mass killing suspect body found had been searched before
UpdatedLEWISTON, Maine (AP) — Police teams had already searched a recycling center in Maine twice before eventually finding the body of the man suspected of killing 18 people in Lewiston was found, authorities said Saturday.
Department of Public Safety Commissioner Michael Sauschuck said the teams that scoured the Maine Recycling Corp. property that features as many as 60 trailers, including a tactical team, on Thursday night. He said another state police team returned the site Friday and found Robert Card’s body in a trailer rthat hadn’t been searched.
The 40-year-old Card of Bowdoin — a firearms instructor who grew up in the area — was suspected of also injuring 13 people during a shooting rampage at a bowling alley and bar on Wednesday night in Lewiston. Card died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Jim Ferguson, the ATF special agent in charge in Boston, told The Associated Press that the weapons used in the shooting had been purchased legally. Many firearms were recovered from Card although he declined to say their make, model or how many exactly.
“There were a lot more than three,” Ferguson said.
In the Saturday press conference, Sauschuck said Card had a history of mental illness, but there was no evidence that he had ever been involuntarily committed. “Just because there appears to be a mental health nexus to this scenario, the vast majority of people with mental health diagnosis will never hurt anybody,” he said.
As for why Card chose his targets, Sauschuck said it was likely due to paranoia, that he thought people were talking about him.
He also said the note found in Card’s home was meant for a loved one with the pass code to his phone and bank account numbers. Sauschuck said he wouldn’t describe it as an explicit suicide note but that the tone indicated that was the intent.
Street life returned to Lewiston Saturday morning after a days-long lockdown in the city of 37,000. Joggers took advantage of the warm weather. People walked dogs through downtown and picked up coffees and visited other shops that had been closed since the shooting.
“Right now, we want Maine to be remembered as the community that came together after this tragic event,” said Lisbon Police Chief Ryan McGee, recalling how he drove into town Saturday and saw ”people walking the streets, people sitting on porches, waving. Giving the thumbs up."
Whitney Pelletier hung a hand-drawn “Lewiston Strong” sign in the glass door of her downtown cafe, Forage, on Saturday morning.
Like other local businesses, Forage has been closed for days as police searched for Card.
“Last night when they found his body, I think the fear that I had been holding onto just living in downtown Lewiston was replaced with sadness,” she said.
The deadliest shootings in Maine history stunned a state of 1.3 million people that has relatively little violent crime and had only 29 killings in all of 2022. In Lewiston, the 37,000 residents and those in surrounding communities were told to stay in their homes as hundreds of police officers, sheriff’s deputies, FBI agents and other law enforcement officials swarmed the area.
The stay at home order was lifted Friday and hours later authorities announced they had found Card's body.
Maine Gov. Janet Mills announced Card had been found dead at a Friday night news conference. Then, she called for the healing process to begin.
“Like many people I’m breathing a sigh of relief tonight knowing that Robert Card is no longer a threat to anyone,” Mills said.
Card was a U.S. Army reservist. Leo Madden, who said he ran Maine Recycling Corp. for decades, told the AP that Card worked there for a couple of years and nothing about him stood out. Madden said he didn’t remember when Card was employed or whether he was fired or quit. The facility is located in Lisbon, not far from Lewiston.
Last summer, Card underwent a mental health evaluation after he began acting erratically during training, a U.S. official told the AP. A bulletin sent to police across the country shortly after the attack said Card had been committed to a mental health facility for two weeks after “hearing voices and threats to shoot up” a military base.
The military said Card was training with the Army Reserve’s 3rd Battalion, 304th Infantry Regiment in West Point, New York, when commanders became concerned about him. State police took Card to the Keller Army Community Hospital at West Point for evaluation.
On Wednesday, Card attacked the bowling alley first, then went to the bar. Police were quickly sent to both locations but Card was able to escape. For the next two days authorities scoured the woods and hundreds of acres of Card's family-owned property, and sent dive teams with sonar to the bottom of the Androscoggin River.
Law enforcement officials had said they hadn't seen Card since his vehicle was left at a boat ramp Wednesday shortly after the shootings.
Hours before Card's body was found, the names and pictures of the 15 men, two women and 14-year-old boy who died in the shootings were released at a news conference.
The Maine Department of Public Safety said it would open a Family Assistance Center in Lewiston starting Saturday morning to offer help and support to victims at the Lewiston Armory.
The Maine Educational Center for the Deaf said the shootings killed at least four members of their community.
Tammy Asselin was in the bowling alley with her 10-year-old daughter, Toni, and was injured when she fell in the scramble as the shooting began. She had said she hoped the shooter would be found alive because she and her daughter had many questions that they hoped he could answer.
On Saturday morning, she told the AP in a text message that her daughter was relieved by the news, and she was able to sleep peacefully.
“I am relieved as well, but also saddened at a lost opportunity to learn as much as we can,” she said. “Now we are on the journey to heal, and I am looking forward to working on this. It will be difficult but I’m optimistic we will be stronger in the long run."
The Cards have lived in Bowdoin for generations, neighbors said, and various members of the family own hundreds of acres in the area. The family owned the local sawmill and years ago donated the land for a local church.
Family members of Card told federal investigators that he had recently discussed hearing voices and became more focused on the bowling alley and bar, according to the law enforcement officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. When he was hospitalized in July in New York, Card had told military officials he had been hearing voices and said he wanted to harm other soldiers, the officials said.
Sauschuck also praised Card’s family called investigators to provide his name to law enforcement soon after police released surveillance pictures of the shooter.
“This family has been incredibly cooperative with us,” Sauschuck said. “Truth be told the first three people that called us ... were family members.”
The Lewiston shootings were the 36th mass killing in the United States this year, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.
___
Ramer reported from Concord, New Hampshire and Whittle from Portland, Maine. Associated Press journalists who also contributed: Robert Bukaty and Robert Bumsted in Lewiston; Michael Balsamo in New York; and Michael Casey in Boston.
Photos: Mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine
Miia Zellner, an art teacher from Turner, Maine, attaches a heart cut-out with a message of positivity to a tree in downtown Lewiston, Maine, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. Zellner wanted to show her love and support for the community in the wake of Wednesday's mass shootings.
Robert F. Bukaty, Associated Press
Heart-shaped cut-outs with messages of positivity adorns trees in downtown Lewiston, Maine, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. The signs are some of the 100 hearts put up by Miaa Zellner of Turner, Maine, to show her love and support for the community in the wake of Wednesday's mass shootings.
Robert F. Bukaty, Associated Press
Maine State Police Col. William Ross, center, appears emotional as he faces reporters while Maine Gov. Janet Mills, left, and Maine Commissioner of Public Safety Mike Sauschuck, right, look on, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, during a news conference at Lewiston City Hall, in Lewiston, Maine. Residents have been ordered to shelter in place as police continue to search for the suspect of Wednesday's mass shootings.
Steven Senne, Associated Press
Police officers stop to question a driver at a roadblock, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, in Lisbon, Maine, during a manhunt for the suspect of Wednesday's mass shootings. The shootings took place at a restaurant and bowling alley in nearby Lewiston, Maine.
Robert F. Bukaty, Associated Press
A police officer walks along a rural road during a manhunt for the suspect of Wednesday's mass shootings, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, in Lisbon, Maine. The shootings took place at a restaurant and bowling alley in nearby Lewiston, Maine.
Robert F. Bukaty, Associated Press
Law enforcement officers depart a scene in an armored vehicle after investigating a location, in Bowdoin, Maine, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. Residents have been ordered to shelter in place as police continue to search for the suspect of Wednesday's mass shootings.
Steven Senne, Associated Press
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, speaks with members of the media in the aftermath of a mass shootings in Lewiston, Maine, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
Matt Rourke, Associated Press
Law enforcement officers hold rifles while investigating a scene, in Bowdoin, Maine, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. Residents have been ordered to shelter in place as police continue to search for the suspect of Wednesday's mass shootings.
Steven Senne, Associated Press
Law enforcement officers hold rifles while investigating a scene, in Bowdoin, Maine, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. Residents have been ordered to shelter in place as police continue to search for the suspect of Wednesday's mass shootings.
Steven Senne, Associated Press
Law enforcement officers hold rifles while investigating a scene, in Bowdoin, Maine, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. Residents have been ordered to shelter in place as police continue to search for the suspect of Wednesday's mass shootings.
Steven Senne, Associated Press
A helicopter searches near Lisbon Street on Wednesday night, Oct. 25, 2023, in Lewiston, Maine, as a manhunt continues for a mass shooter. Officials say multiple people have died and others were injured, after a man opened fire at a restaurant and a bowling alley in Lewiston.
Derek Davis, Portland Press Herald via AP
Police respond to an active shooter situation in Lewiston, Maine, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.
Robert F. Bukaty, Associated Press
In this image taken from video released by the Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office, an unidentified gunman points a gun while entering Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. Maine State Police ordered residents in the state's second-largest city to shelter in place Wednesday night as the suspect remains at large.
Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office via AP
Police respond to an active shooter situation in Lewiston, Maine, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.
Robert F. Bukaty, Associated Press
In this image taken from video released by the Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office, an unidentified gunman points a gun while entering Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. Maine State Police ordered residents in the state's second-largest city to shelter in place Wednesday night as the suspect remains at large.
Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office via AP
In this image taken from video released by the Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office, an unidentified gunman points a gun while entering Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. Maine State Police ordered residents in the state's second-largest city to shelter in place Wednesday night as the suspect remains at large.
Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office via AP
Police respond to an active shooter situation in Lewiston, Maine, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.
Robert F. Bukaty, Associated Press
This photo released by the Lewiston, Maine, Police Department on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023, shows a vehicle police are seeking information on in connection to an active shooter situation in Lewiston, Maine.
Lewiston Maine Police Department via AP
This photo released by the Lewiston Maine Police Department shows Robert Card, who police have identified as a person of interest in connection to mass shootings in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.
Lewiston Maine Police Department via AP
Law enforcement officers carry rifles outside Central Maine Medical Center during an active shooter situation, in Lewiston, Maine, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.
Steven Senne, Associated Press
A passer-by walks past law enforcement officers carrying rifles outside Central Maine Medical Center during an active shooter situation, in Lewiston, Maine, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.
Steven Senne, Associated Press
Law enforcement officers carry rifles outside Central Maine Medical Center during an active shooter situation, in Lewiston, Maine, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.
Steven Senne, Associated Press
People depart an emergency department entrance at Central Maine Medical Center, past a member of security, behind right, during an active shooter situation, in Lewiston, Maine, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.
Steven Senne, Associated Press
A member of security, center right, stands at an emergency department entrance at Central Maine Medical Center during an active shooter situation, in Lewiston, Maine, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.
Steven Senne, Associated Press
A woman is hugged by a man at a reunification center at Auburn Middle School, in Auburn, Maine, after shootings in Lewiston on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.
Derek Davis, Portland Press Herald via AP
People depart a reunification center early Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, at Auburn Middle School, in Auburn, Maine, after shootings in Lewiston.
Steven Senne, Associated Press
People depart a reunification center early Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, at Auburn Middle School, in Auburn, Maine, after shootings in Lewiston.
Steven Senne, Associated Press
People stand outside a reunification center early Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, at Auburn Middle School in Auburn, Maine, after shootings Wednesday at a bar and a bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine.
Steven Senne, Associated Press
People depart a reunification center early Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, at Auburn Middle School in Auburn, Maine, following shootings at a bar and a bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine.
Steven Senne, Associated Press
Stretchers are lined up outside the emergency room at Central Maine Medical Center following shootings in Lewiston, Maine, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.
Derek Davis, Portland Press Herald via AP
A sign signals the public to shelter in place during an active shooter situation on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023, in Lewiston, Maine.
Derek Davis, Portland Press Herald via APFederal judge reimposes limited gag order in Donald Trump's 2020 election interference case
UpdatedWASHINGTON — The federal judge overseeing Donald Trump's 2020 election interference case in Washington on Sunday reimposed a narrow gag order barring him from making public comments targeting prosecutors, court staff and potential witnesses.
The reinstatement of the gag order was revealed in a brief notation on the online case docket Sunday night, but the order itself was not immediately available, making it impossible to see the judge's rationale or the precise contours of the restrictions.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is presiding over the federal case charging Trump with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 election, had temporarily lifted the gag order as she considered the former president's request to keep it on hold while he challenges the restrictions on his speech in higher courts.
She agreed to reinstate the order after prosecutors cited Trump's recent social media comments about his former chief of staff they said represented an attempt to influence and intimidate a likely witness in the case.
The order is a fresh reminder that Trump's penchant for incendiary and bitter rants about the four criminal cases that he's facing, though politically beneficial in rallying his supporters as he seeks to reclaim the White House, carry practical consequences in court. Two separate judges have now imposed orders mandating that he rein in his speech. In a separate case, Trump was fined $10,000 last week after the judge in his civil fraud trial in New York said the former president violated one of the gag orders.
Former President Donald Trump arrives at a rally Sunday in Sioux City, Iowa.
Charlie Neibergall, Associated PressA request for comment was sent Sunday to Trump attorney Todd Blanche.
Trump in a social media post late Sunday acknowledged the gag order was back in place, calling it "NOT CONSITUTIONAL!"
His lawyers have said they will seek an emergency stay of the order from the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The defense has said Trump is entitled to criticize prosecutors and "speak truth to oppression."
Trump denied any wrongdoing in the case. He has made a central part of his 2024 campaign for president vilifying special counsel Jack Smith and others involved the criminal cases against him, casting himself as the victim of a politicized justice system.
Prosecutors have said Trump's verbal attacks threaten to undermine the integrity of the case and risk inspiring his supporters to violence.
Smith's team said Trump took advantage of the recent lifting of the gag order to "send an unmistakable and threatening message" to his former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, who was reported by ABC News to have received immunity to testify before a grand jury.
The former president mused on social media about the possibility that Meadows would give testimony to Smith in exchange for immunity. One part of the post said: "Some people would make that deal, but they are weaklings and cowards, and so bad for the future our Failing Nation. I don't think that Mark Meadows is one of them but who really knows?"
A look at the 19 people charged in the Georgia indictment connected to Trump's election scheme
Key people in the Georgia election fraud case
Updated
Four of the 18 people charged alongside former President Donald Trump with participating in an illegal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia have now negotiated deals with prosecutors, pleading guilty to reduced charges in exchange for their truthful testimony in future trials.
Lawyer Jenna Ellis on Tuesday became the latest to turn against Trump, pleading guilty to a single felony charge in exchange for a sentence of probation rather than prison time. Fellow attorneys Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro reached similar deals last week, just as their trial in the case was supposed to start because they had invoked their rights to a speedy trial. Bail bondsman Scott Graham Hall last month was the first to plead guilty.
Trump and the others charged in the case have pleaded not guilty.
The sweeping indictment, brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, pictured, in August, capped an investigation that had lasted more than two years and marked the fourth criminal case brought against the former president. Its 41 counts include racketeering, violating the oath of a public officer, forgery, false statements and other offenses.
Here’s a look at the 19 people charged:
AP Photo/John Bazemore, FileDonald Trump
Updated
Then-President Trump fixated on Georgia after the 2020 general election, refusing to accept his narrow loss in the state and making unfounded assertions of widespread election fraud there. He also called top state officials, including Gov. Brian Kemp, to urge them to find a way to reverse his loss in the state. In a Jan. 2, 2021, phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Trump suggested the state’s top elections official could help “find” the votes needed for him to win the state. Willis opened the investigation into possible illegal attempts to influence the election shortly after a recording of that call was made public.
AP fileRudy Giuliani
Updated
During several legislative hearings at the Georgia Capitol in December 2020, the former New York mayor and Trump attorney promoted unsupported allegations of widespread election fraud in Georgia. Prosecutors have said Giuliani was also involved in a plan to have 16 Georgia Republicans serve as fake electors, falsely swearing that Trump had won the 2020 presidential election and declaring themselves the state’s “duly elected and qualified” electors.
AP fileJohn Eastman
Updated
Eastman, one of Trump’s lawyers and a former dean of Chapman University's law school in Southern California, was deeply involved in some of his efforts to remain in power after the 2020 election. He wrote a memo arguing that Trump could remain in power if then-Vice President Mike Pence overturned the results of the electoral certification during a joint session of Congress. That plan included putting in place a slate of “alternate” electors in seven battleground states, including Georgia, who would falsely certify that Trump had won their states.
AP fileMark Meadows
Updated
Trump’s chief of staff visited Cobb County, in the Atlanta suburbs, while state investigators were conducting an audit of the signatures on absentee ballot envelopes in December 2020. Meadows obtained the phone number of the chief investigator for the secretary of state’s office, Frances Watson, and passed it along to Trump, who called her. He also participated in the Jan. 2, 2021, phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
AP fileSidney Powell
Updated
A lawyer and staunch Trump ally, Powell was present for a now-infamous December 2020 meeting at the White House where participants hatched far-fetched schemes. She also was part of a group that met at the South Carolina home of conservative attorney Lin Wood in November 2020 “for the purpose of exploring options to influence the results of the November 2020 elections in Georgia and elsewhere,” prosecutors said. Additionally, prosecutors alleged Powell was involved in arranging for a computer forensics team to travel to rural Coffee County, about 200 miles southeast of Atlanta, to copy data and software from elections equipment there in January 2021.
AP fileKenneth Chesebro
UpdatedProsecutors have said Chesebro, an attorney, worked with Republicans in numerous swing states Trump lost, including Georgia, in the weeks after the November 2020 election at the direction of Trump’s campaign. Chesebro worked on the coordination and execution of a plan to have 16 Georgia Republicans sign a certificate declaring falsely that Trump won and declaring themselves the state’s “duly elected and qualified” electors.
Jeffrey Clark
Updated
A U.S. Justice Department official who championed Trump’s false claims of election fraud, Clark presented colleagues with a draft letter pushing Georgia officials to convene a special legislative session on the election results, according to testimony before the U.S. House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Clark wanted the letter sent, but Justice Department superiors refused.
AP fileJenna Ellis
Updated
The lawyer appeared with Giuliani at a Dec. 3, 2020, hearing hosted by state Republican lawmakers at the Georgia Capitol during which false allegations of election fraud were made. Ellis also wrote at least two legal memos to Trump and his attorneys advising that Pence should “disregard certified electoral college votes from Georgia and other purportedly ‘contested’ states” when Congress met to certify the election results on Jan. 6, 2021, prosecutors said.
AP fileRay Smith
UpdatedA Georgia-based lawyer, Smith was involved in multiple lawsuits challenging the results of the 2020 election in Georgia. He also gathered witnesses to provide testimony before Georgia legislative subcommittee hearings held in December 2020 on alleged issues with the state’s election.
Robert Cheeley
UpdatedA Georgia lawyer, Cheeley presented video clips to legislators of election workers at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta and alleged the workers were counting votes twice or sometimes three times. He spoke to the lawmakers after Giuliani.
Michael Roman
UpdatedA former White House aide who served as the director of Trump’s election day operations, Roman was involved in efforts to put forth a set of fake electors after the 2020 election.
David Shafer
Updated
The chairman of the Georgia GOP, Shafer was one of 16 state Republicans who met at the state Capitol on Dec. 14, 2020, to sign a certificate declaring falsely that Trump had won and also declaring themselves the state’s “duly elected and qualified” electors. He also joined Trump in a lawsuit challenging the certification of the 2020 election in Georgia.
AP fileShawn Still
UpdatedHe was one of 16 Georgia Republicans who signed a certificate falsely stating that Trump had won the state and declaring themselves the state’s “duly elected and qualified” electors. Still was the finance chairman for the state GOP in 2020 and served as a Georgia delegate to the Republican National Convention that year. He was elected to the Georgia state Senate in November 2022 and represents a district in Atlanta’s suburbs.
Stephen Cliffgard Lee
UpdatedProsecutors say Cliffgard Lee, a pastor, worked with others to try to pressure Georgia election worker Ruby Freeman and her daughter after Trump and his allies falsely accused them of pulling fraudulent ballots from a suitcase during the vote count. Lee allegedly knocked on Freeman’s door, frightening her and causing her to call 911 three times, prosecutors said in a court filing last year.
Harrison William Prescott Floyd
UpdatedAlso known as Willie Lewis Floyd III, he served as director of Black Voices for Trump, and is accused of recruiting Lee to arrange a meeting with Freeman and Chicago-based publicist Trevian Kutti.
Trevian C. Kutti
UpdatedProsecutors allege Kutti, a publicist, claimed to have high-level law enforcement connections. They say Freeman met with Kutti at a police precinct, where she brought Floyd into the conversation on a speakerphone. Prosecutors say Kutti presented herself as someone who could help Freeman but then pressured her to falsely confess to election fraud.
Cathy Latham
Updated
Latham was one of 16 Georgia Republicans who signed a certificate falsely stating that Trump had won the state and declaring themselves the state’s “duly elected and qualified” electors. She was also chair of the Coffee County Republican Party. She was at the county elections office for much of the day on Jan. 7, 2021, and welcomed a computer forensics team that arrived to copy software and data from the county’s election equipment in what the secretary of state’s office has said was “unauthorized access” to the machines.
Coffee County, Georgia via APScott Graham Hall
UpdatedAn Atlanta-area bail bondsman, Hall was allegedly involved in commandeering voting information that was the property of Dominion Voting Systems from Coffee County, a small south Georgia jurisdiction. Also charged in the scheme were Powell, Latham and former county elections supervisor Misty Hampton.
Misty Hampton
UpdatedShe was the elections director in Coffee County. Hampton was present in the county elections office on Jan. 7, 2021, when a computer forensics team copied software and data from the county’s election equipment. She also allowed two other men who had been active in efforts to question the 2020 election results to access the elections office later that month and to spend hours inside with the equipment.
Read the Trump indictment in Georgia
UpdatedHouse rejects effort to expel Rep. George Santos of New York amid criminal trial, ethics probe
UpdatedWASHINGTON — Rep. George Santos easily survived a vote Wednesday to expel him from the House as most Republicans opted to withhold punishment as both his criminal trial and a House Ethics Committee investigation proceed.
The effort to kick Santos out of the House was led by his fellow New York Republicans, who are anxious to distance themselves from a colleague infamous for fabricating his life story and accused of stealing from donors, lying to Congress and receiving unemployment benefits he did not deserve.
But the resolution failed to gain the required two-thirds vote. Supporters could not even gain a simple majority, with the vast majority of Republicans and more than 30 Democrats voting against expelling Santos. The final vote was 179 for expulsion and 213 against.
Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., listens at the Capitol on Oct. 25 as Republicans try to elect Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., to be the new House speaker.
Alex Brandon, Associated PressCongress has rarely resorted to the most extreme punishment at its disposal. The House has expelled only five members in its history — three during the Civil War and two after their convictions on public corruption charges. It would be groundbreaking for the House to kick out Santos before his case in federal court is resolved.
Santos appealed to lawmakers to hold off on expulsion, saying that passing judgment without due process would engender mistrust.
“I'm fighting tooth and nail to clear my name in front of the entire world," Santos said. “It hasn't been easy but I'm fighting by God's grace.”
Read more:
Photos: Rep. George Santos, R-NY
FILE - Rep.-elect George Santos, R-New York, speaks at an annual leadership meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition, Nov. 19, 2022, in Las Vegas. Weeks after winning a district that helped Republicans secure their razor-thin House majority, the congressman-elect Santos is under investigation in New York after acknowledging he lied about his heritage, education and professional pedigree as he campaigned for office. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
John Locher
FILE - Republican candidate for New York's 3rd Congressional District George Santos campaigns outside a Stop and Shop store, Nov. 5, 2022, in Glen Cove, N.Y. Weeks after winning a district that helped Republicans secure their razor-thin House majority, the congressman-elect Santos is under investigation in New York after acknowledging he lied about his heritage, education and professional pedigree as he campaigned for office. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)
Mary Altaffer
Rep.-elect George Santos, R-N.Y., casts a vote during the seventh round of voting in the House chamber as the House meets for the third day to elect a speaker and convene the 118th Congress in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Alex Brandon
Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., and Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., are sworn in by Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy of Calif., as members of the 118th Congress in Washington, early Saturday, Jan. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Alex Brandon
Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., departs Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Patrick Semansky
Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., laughs b before President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)
Jacquelyn Martin
Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., walks past the criminal courthouse in New York on Tuesday, April 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
Stefan Jeremiah
FILE - Then Rep-elect George Santos, R-N.Y., stands in the House chamber as the House meets for the third day to elect a speaker and convene the 118th Congress in Washington, Jan. 5, 2023. Santos has been arrested on federal criminal charges. The Republican congressman has faced outrage over revelations he fabricated parts of his life story, including lying about being a wealthy Wall Street dealmaker. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
Andrew Harnik
FILE - Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., leaves a House GOP conference meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 25, 2023. Santos has been arrested on federal criminal charges. The Republican congressman has faced outrage over revelations he fabricated parts of his life story, including lying about being a wealthy Wall Street dealmaker. Santos was arrested Wednesday. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
Andrew Harnik
FILE - Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., waits for the start of a session in the House chamber as the House meets for the fourth day to elect a speaker and convene the 118th Congress in Washington, Jan. 6, 2023. Santos has been arrested on federal criminal charges. The Republican congressman has faced outrage over revelations he fabricated parts of his life story, including lying about being a wealthy Wall Street dealmaker. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
Alex BrandonListen to the last new Beatles’ song with John, Paul, George, Ringo and AI tech: ‘Now and Then’
UpdatedLOS ANGELES — The final Beatles recording is here.
Titled "Now and Then," the almost impossible-to-believe track is four minutes and eight seconds of the first and only original Beatles recording of the 21st century. There's a countdown, then acoustic guitar strumming and piano bleed into the unmistakable vocal tone of John Lennon in the song's introduction: "I know it's true / It's all because of you / And if I make it through / It's all because of you."
More than four decades since Lennon's murder and two since George Harrison's death, the very last Beatles song has been released as a double A-side single with "Love Me Do," the band's 1962 debut single.
The Beatles, in front from left, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, John Lennon and Ringo Starr on drums perform Feb. 9, 1964, on the "Ed Sullivan Show" in New York.
Associated Press"Now and Then" comes from the same batch of unreleased demos written by Lennon in the 1970s, which were given to his former bandmates by Yoko Ono. They used the tape to construct the songs "Free As a Bird" and "Real Love," released in the mid-1990s. But there were technical limitations to finishing "Now and Then."
On Wednesday, a short film titled "The Beatles — Now And Then — The Last Beatles Song" was released, detailing the creation of the track. On the original tape, Lennon's voice was hidden; the piano was "hard to hear," as Paul McCartney describes it. "And in those days, of course, we didn't have the technology to do the separation."
That changed in 2022, when the band — now a duo — was able to utilize the same technical restoration methods that separated the Beatles' voices from background sounds during the making of director Peter Jackson's 2021 documentary series, "The Beatles: Get Back." And so, they were able to isolate Lennon's voice from the original cassette and complete "Now and Then" using machine learning.
When the song was first announced in June, McCartney described artificial intelligence technology as "kind of scary but exciting," adding: "We will just have to see where that leads."
"To still be working on Beatles' music in 2023 — wow," he said in "The Beatles — Now And Then — The Last Beatles Song." "We're actually messing around with state-of-the-art technology, which is something the Beatles would've been very interested in."
"The rumors were that we just made it up," Ringo Starr told The Associated Press of Lennon's contributions to the forthcoming track in September. "Like we would do that anyway."
"This is the last track, ever, that you'll get the four Beatles on the track. John, Paul, George, and Ringo," he continued.
McCartney and Starr built the track from Lennon's demo, adding guitar parts George Harrison wrote in the 1995 sessions and a slide guitar solo in his signature style. McCartney and Starr tracked their bass and drum contributions.
A string arrangement was written with the help of Giles Martin, son of the late Beatles producer George Martin — a clever recall to the classic ambitiousness of "Strawberry Fields," or "Yesterday," or "I Am the Walrus." Those musicians couldn't be told they were contributing to the last ever Beatles track, so McCartney played it off like a solo endeavor.
On Friday, an official music video for "Now and Then," directed by Jackson, will premiere on the Beatles' YouTube channel. It was created using footage McCartney and Starr took of themselves performing, 14 hours of "long forgotten film shot during the 1995 recording sessions, including several hours of Paul, George and Ringo working on 'Now and Then,'" Jackson said in a statement.
It also uses previously unseen home movie footage provided by Lennon's son Sean and Olivia Harrison, George's wife, and "a few precious seconds of The Beatles performing in their leather suits, the earliest known film of The Beatles and never seen before," provided by Pete Best, the band's original drummer.
"The result is pretty nutty and provided the video with much needed balance between the sad and the funny," said Jackson.
The 50 most covered songs of all time
Most covered songs of all time
Updated
If you agree with the old proverb that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then cover songs serve as tributes to their original artists. Sometimes, a cover version vastly outshined its original. Such is the case with “Summertime,” originally written for the 1935 George Gershwin opera “Porgy and Bess,” which Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong put a jazz spin on in 1957 to make it an international hit.
To learn more about the most covered songs in musical history, Stacker mined data from WhoSampled.com, whose goal is to build the most comprehensive database for music. The site features more than 653,000 songs and more than 215,000 artists as of Feb. 26, 2020. Aside from Beatles tunes, Christmas music accounts for a number of the most covered songs, including Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” in 1942: the second-most covered holiday song with more than 50 million copies sold internationally to date.
Along with each slide, you will find information about the song’s meaning, some of the more notable or unique covers, as well as reasons behind the song’s success. Beatles fans will enjoy going down “The Long and Winding Road” of the most covered songs, as the Fab Four of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr are featured prominently in this list.
In fact, The Beatles penned the basis for more than 4,000 cover versions of their songs through the years. One of their most popular, “Yesterday,” almost never saw the light of day because McCartney found it so easy to write, he thought he had stolen it from someone. It would go on to be covered by the likes of Frank Sinatra and Marvin Gaye, and inspired a 2019 movie of the same name.
Continue reading to find out which songs are among the most covered of all time—and check out Stacker's playlist on Spotify, inspired by this story.
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Kevin Mazur/WireImage // Getty Images#50. ‘Help!’ by The Beatles
Updated
- Covers: 118
“Help!” is off the 1965 soundtrack album of the same name, which was nominated by the Grammys for Album of the Year and produced by George Martin. The tune has been covered by a range of iconic artists including The Carpenters in 1970, Dolly Parton in 1979, and Tina Turner in 1984.
King Collection/Photoshot // Getty Images#49. ‘Santa Claus Is Coming to Town’ by Harry Reser & His Orchestra feat. Tom Stacks
Updated
- Covers: 118
From Ella Fitzgerald to a Kidz Bop cover, the quintessential Christmas song first released in 1934 has many do-overs. More than 100 artists have belted out the song since, including the likes of Bruce Springsteen, The Beach Boys, Justin Bieber, Natalie Grant, and Faith Hill. The song also served as the title for a 1970 film narrated by Fred Astaire, starring Mickey Rooney.
Canva#48. ‘Hallelujah’ by Leonard Cohen
Updated
- Covers: 119
Nearly four decades after the original 1984 release, “Hallelujah” has been covered many times over, from Bob Dylan performing it at a few shows in 1988 to Bono performing a tribute to Leonard Cohen in 1995. Other notable covers include Jeff Buckley in 1994 and Willie Nelson in 2006. Rolling Stone in 2019 marveled at Cohen’s ability to bring together concepts surrounding sex and religion into the song’s lyrics.
Tony Russell/Redferns // Getty Images#47. ‘The Little Drummer Boy’ by The Harry Simeone Chorale
Updated
- Covers: 119
Since the 1958 original, this classic Christmas song telling the story of a poor drummer boy at the feet of baby Jesus had years of reprisals: It was featured in a rare Jimi Hendrix rendition in 1969 and found its way into dozens of holiday compilation albums from artists as wide-ranging as Whitney Houston in 2003 and Justin Bieber in 2011.
Mike Marsland/WireImage // Getty Images#46. ‘The Long and Winding Road’ by The Beatles
Updated
- Covers: 122
Off of the 1970 “Let it Be” Album, the Beatles classic “The Long and Winding Road” has been covered by the likes of George Michael, Aretha Franklin, and Ray Charles with Count Basie. Coincidentally, as the Beatles 20th and final #1 hit together, the song’s lyrics depict the long and winding road of a broken love story—much like the group’s end. Paul McCartney, who wrote the song, had Ray Charles in mind while composing and did not approve of track’s final take that included dozens of violins, cellos, harps, and trumpets. Nevertheless, Charles covered it in 1971 on his own.
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EMI // Wikimedia Commons#45. ‘How Deep Is the Ocean?’ by Paul Whiteman
Updated
- Covers: 122
The title of this song, written by Irving Berlin, is one question of many pondered throughout the 1932 tune by the famous composer. Eric Clapton, Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, Liza Minnelli, Bing Crosby, and Pat Boone have all added their own touch to the tune since.
Public Domain // Wikimedia Comons#44. ‘House of the Rising Sun’ by The Animals
Updated
- Covers: 123
While the ultimate meaning of ”The House of the Rising Sun” being a brothel or prison in this traditional 1964 folk song remains a mystery, artists continue to cover it decade after decade. “King and Queen of Folk” Bob Dylan and Joan Baez each recorded a solo version of the song, country legend Dolly Parton performed it with a twang, and Jimi Hendrix along with psychedelic band Frijid Pink lengthened the tune and put their own spins on it.
Mirrorpix/Mirrorpix // Getty Images
#43. ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ by The Beatles
Updated
- Covers: 124
Written by Beatle George Harrison while reading the oldest Chinese text, "I Ching," "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" features Eric Clapton on lead guitar. A year after the original 1968 recording, Harrison walked out of the recording studio and told his bandmates he was done with The Beatles. John Lennon immediately suggested swapping Clapton in to take Harrison’s place—a move that never happened as the band slowly dissolved over the next several years. “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” has been performed in a variety of settings from a 1980 "Muppet Show" episode to the 2019 Carlos Santana version featuring India Arie and Yo-Yo Mama.
Michael Webb/Hulton Archive // Getty Images#42. ‘All My Loving’ by The Beatles
Updated
- Covers: 124
Paul McCartney first composed music and lyrics for “All My Loving” in 1963, when the band toured with Roy Orbison. It was also The Beatles’ debut performance on "The Ed Sullivan Show," which notably kicked off the group’s stateside fame. Renditions of “All My Loving” range from Annette Funicello in 1964 to the Smithereens in 2007.
Pixabay#41. ‘Amazing Grace’ by John Newton
Updated
- Covers: 126
Though professionally covered 126 times, the 1779 Christian hymn “Amazing Grace” is reportedly performed at least 10,000 times annually and has appeared on more than 11,000 albums. While some renditions of the song are considered superior, including the Harlem Gospel Choir, Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Leann Rhimes, and Steven Tyler, other, less famous covers were recorded by the Dropkick Murphys, U2, and Willie Nelson. The song, written by an atheist slave trader named John Newton, ironically reemerged as a civil rights anthem and has been sung publicly by U.S. Presidents Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama.
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Adam Jones // Wikimedia Commons#40. ‘Billie Jean’ by Michael Jackson
Updated
- Covers: 127
Of the 127 “Billie Jean” covers, LA Weekly counted Coldplay, Chris Cornell, and Alvin and the Chipmunks in the strangest top 10. The autobiographical lyrics of the tune tell the story of a stalker who claimed Michael Jackson fathered her child.
Kevin Mazur/WireImage // Getty Images#39. ‘Can't Buy Me Love’ by The Beatles
Updated
- Covers: 127
Paul McCartney said it was an honor for Ella Fitzgerald to cover “Can’t Buy Me Love,” a 1964 Beatles song about material possession. Since the tune’s release, which was co-authored by McCartney and John Lennon, renditions by The Supremes, Peter Sellers, Johnny Rivers, Count Basie, Kidz Bop Kidz, and even Michael Buble. The song title is also the name of a famous 1980s teen romance starring Patrick Dempsey and the late Amanda Peterson.
Imma Gambardella // Shutterstock#38. ‘Green, Green Grass of Home’ by Porter Wagoner
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- Covers: 127
Though a big hit for Tom Jones in 1967, “Green, Green, Grass of Home” actually comes from Porter Wagoner in 1965. The country tune tells the story of a prisoner longing for freedom in the lawn of his childhood home. “Green, Green, Grass of Home” was also famously covered by rocker Jerry Lee Lewis, Bobby Bare, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and George Jones. Other, less widely known covers include those by The Grateful Dead, Merle Haggard, Joan Baez, and Kenny Rogers.
Silver Screen Collection/Hulton Archive // Getty Images#37. ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ by Elvis Presley
Updated
- Covers: 128
There have been some unlikely duo covers of Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel,” including Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman in 2006 and Neil Diamond and Kim Carnes in 1992. While famous solo covers of the song by Conway Twitty, Billy Joel, Connie Francis, Johnny Cash, Tanya Tucker, Lawrence Welk, and Ann Margret kept the tune alive since the 1957 release, band versions come from The Cramps in 1987, The Residents in 1989, Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1994, and the Grassmasters in 2006. Lyrics—including “I get so lonely baby I could die”—were reportedly inspired by a hotel suicide in 1955.
Michael Ochs Archives // Getty Images#36. ‘Winter Wonderland’ by Richard Himber & His Orchestra feat. Joey Nash
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- Covers: 134
It may be a 1934 classic, but the 2015 rendition of “Winter Wonderland” by Snoop Dogg and Anna Kendrick in “Pitch Perfect 2” is one of the most popular versions of the Christmas tune today. But even that performance is second to some of the most classic covers by the likes of Perry Como, Buddy Clark, and Barry Manilow.
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Pixabay#35. ‘I Remember You' by Jimmy Dorsey
Updated
- Covers: 134
While everyone else wanted to cover Beatles tunes, the Fab Four in 1977 took the time to deliver an epic cover of Jimmy Dorsey’s 1941 classic “I Remember You.” Other notable artists who put their own twist on the tune are Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Kenny Rogers, and Art Garfunkel.
Metronome // Getty Images#34. ‘Sunny’ by Bobby Hebb
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- Covers: 134
The list for “Sunny” covers goes on and on with some of the most famous and unexpected voices emulating the 1966 tune, including Captain Spock (Leonard Nimoy) of “Star Trek,” Cher, Stevie Wonder, James Brown, and Marvin Gaye. By 1976, German disco band Boney M. added a unique flavor to the song, which got remixed in 2000 and 2006. Along with the features in movies and television, “Sunny” has been sung by Frank Sinatra and Duke Ellington, Bill Cosby, Bryan Adams, and TLC.
Michael Ochs Archives // Getty Images#33. ‘My Way’ by Frank Sinatra
Updated
- Covers: 137
Frank Sinatra may have done it his way initially, but dozens of artists did it their way following this son’s 1969 release. GQ reports that “My Way” was written by Paul Anka, who copied it from a French ditty on failing love. The prideful lyrics, also often heard in karaoke bars, was famously covered by Elvis Presley in 1977 and punk rock band Sid Vicious in 1978.
PL Gould/IMAGES // Getty Images#32. ‘Over the Rainbow’ by Judy Garland
Updated
- Covers: 139
While no one will ever sing “The Wizard of Oz” theme like Judy Garland in 1939, many have tried—including Garland’s daughter, Liza Minnelli, who performed it at age 13 in 1960. Israel “Iz” Kamakawiwo’ole brought the song to new heights in 1990 when he mixed it with “What a Wonderful World.” Pink blew people away with her rendition of “Over the Rainbow” at the 86th Academy Awards in 2014, while Ariana Grande belted out her adaptation at the One Love Manchester Benefit Concert at Old Trafford on June 4, 2017.
FPG/Hulton Archive // Getty Images#31. ‘Love Me Tender’ by Elvis Presley
Updated
- Covers: 147
The famous 1956 Elvis Presley melody “Love Me Tender” was adapted from a Civil War love song called “Aura Lee.” Presley’s tune has been covered by 147 acts that include Frank Sinatra, Connie Francis, B.B. King, James Brown, Percy Sledge, Willie Nelson, Johnny Mathis, Barbra Streisand, Andrea Bocelli, and Amy Grant. Though several artists put their spin on the wartime song soon after Elvis, more recent covers include Stuart Sutcliffe in 2011 and Stereo Jane’s version in 2019.
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Uncredited // Wikimedia Commons#30. ‘Last Christmas’ by Wham!
Updated
- Covers: 148
Taylor Swift's Z100's Jingle Ball performance of “Last Christmas” in 2012 was ranked by Billboard as one of the top 10 covers the 1984 Wham! hit. The song was described in 2017 by the Guardian’s Rachel Aroesti as being about holiday heartbreak and "the cognitive dissonance of obsessive love." The fact that Wham!’s late lead singer, George Michael, wrote “Last Christmas” in his childhood bedroom makes the Christmas classic somehow even more perfect.
Mary McCoy // Flickr#29. ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ by Judy Garland
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- Covers: 148
Of all the covers of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” the song’s co-author Hugh Martin said Twisted Sister’s take on it was the strangest. Judy Garland’s opinion that the song’s lyrics were too somber led to some lines being cut for her performance of the piece in the 1944 musical “Meet Me in St. Louis.” Other artists who have performed the song since are Garth Brooks, Tori Amos, James Taylor, and Lady Antebellum.
Studio Publicity // Wikicommons#28. ‘Ain't No Sunshine’ by Bill Withers
Updated
- Covers: 148
Michael Jackson wasted no time covering Bill Withers 1971 “Ain’t No Sunshine,” recording it the same year for his debut album “Got to Be There” that came out in 1972. Withers found inspiration for the song in the 1962 film “Days of Wine and Roses,” about the unraveling of a man and woman from alcoholism. He wrote it while working a day job making toilet seats for 747s; when the song went Gold, rumor has it the record company gave Withers a congratulatory gold toilet seat. The long list of artists who have covered “Ain’t No Sunshine” include Joe Cocker, Stevie Wonder, the Temptations, Al Jarreau, Paul McCartney, Tom Jones, and Sting.
Geoff Goldswain // Shutterstock#27. ‘The Look of Love’ by Dusty Springfield
Updated
- Covers: 154
A variety of versions of the “The Look of Love,” written by iconic pop music composer and producer Burt Bacharach in 1967 for the James Bond spoof “Casino Royale,” have hit the radio since its 1968 release. From Dionne Warwick’s 1969 rendition to The Zombies' 1985 performance, artists including Isaac Hayes, Diana Ross, Susanna Hoffs, and Barry Manilow have covered the song that proves successful as either jazz and blues or easy listening and pop.
Mike McKeown/Daily Express/Hulton Archive // Getty Images#26. ‘Come Together’ by The Beatles
Updated
- Covers: 154
John Lennon wrote “Come Together” as a campaign song for famed psychologist psychedelic-drug-use-enthusiast Timothy Leary’s unsuccessful bid against Ronald Reagan as governor of California. Lennon called the song “gobbledygook,” but it was widely covered nevertheless by musical legends including Michael Jackson, Aerosmith, Ike and Tina Turner, Count Basie, Diana Ross, Soundgarden, and Godsmack. Lennon covered the Beatles' song in 1972 in his Madison Square Garden concerts, making it the last historic band ballad he sang live.
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Pixabay#25. ‘With a Little Help From My Friends’ by The Beatles
Updated
- Covers: 157
Joe Cocker’s cover of “With a Little Help From My Friends” at Woodstock in 1969 sealed Cocker’s place as a musical legend. Though Cocker covered it best, the song—initially branded “Badfinger Boogie” and written solely for Ringo Starr—has dozens of different versions. Meanwhile, Count Basie, The Beach Boys, Ike and Tina Turner, Toto, Peter Frampton and The Bee Gees, Cheap Trick, Santana, and Puddle of Mudd each put their touch on the tune.
Unknown // Flickr#24. ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ by Simon & Garfunkel
Updated
- Covers: 167
Rolling Stone reported a “stunning” rendition of the famous Simon & Garfunkel tune “Bridge Over Troubled Water” by Idina Menzel in 2019, 49 years after the song’s original release. English music producer Simon Cowell’s 50-artist collaboration of the song, which raised money for Grenfell Tower fire victims in 2017, brought new meaning to the world-famous tune. Various other versions of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” have been produced by Aretha Franklin, Roberta Flack, Tom Jones, The Jackson Five, Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, LeAnn Rimes, and John Legend.
Defotoberg // Shutterstock#23. ‘The Fool on the Hill’ by The Beatles
Updated
- Covers: 168
The Beatles’ 1967 song about a sage mistaken for a fool is rumored to be inspired by an early morning encounter Paul McCartney had with a man who seemingly vanished in thin air. The most acclaimed artists to have covered “The Fool on the Hill” include Count Basie, Aretha Franklin, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and Lena Horne.
United press internation // Wikimedia Commons#22. ‘A Hard Day's Night’ by The Beatles
Updated
- Covers: 169
The 1964 song “A Hard Day’s Night” has been covered by a wide variety of artists. Recent renditions include one in 2017 from Giora Feidman and the Rastrelli Cello Quartet, and 2016 versions from Viennese guitarist Harri Stojka and guitarist Matt Johnson. Count Basie, The Supremes, Ella Fitzgerald, Otis Redding, Big Time Rush, Quincy Jones, and Kidz Bop put their own spins on the classic over the years. The title of the song can be directly attributed to Beatle Ringo Starr, who branded the phrase after the band’s first day filming a movie.
Unknown/Mirrorpix // Mirrorpix via Getty Images#21. ‘The Christmas Song’ by Nat King Cole
Updated
- Covers: 170
Since the title doesn’t appear anywhere in the lyrics, the Mel Tormé and Bob Wells tune is best known for its opening line, “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire.” Wells had started writing the lyrics on a hot California day; when Tormé showed up, the two finished the song in less than an hour.
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Cleary, Strauss, Irwin & Goodman-publicity // Getty Images#20. ‘In My Life” by The Beatles
Updated
- Covers: 171
Ozzy Osbourne, Bette Midler, and Crosby, Stills & Nash all took turns covering The Beatles hit “In My Life.” Written by John Lennon for the album “Rubber Soul,” rocker Dave Grohl counts “In My Life” as a particularly sentimental song after it was played at Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain’s funeral. Johnny Cash’s 2002 cover of the song ranked ninth among the best Beatles covers of all time, according to Paste Magazine.
Silver Screen Collection/Hulton Archive // Getty Images#19. ‘O Holy Night’ by John Sullivan Dwight
Updated
- Covers: 171
John Sullivan Dwight’s 1855 song “O Holy Night” was the first English translation of an 1847 French song called “Minuit, chrétiens” (“Midnight, Christians”). The song has a stunning history, from halting the Franco-Prussian War for a night in 1871 to being the first song ever broadcast on radio, on Christmas Eve in 1906. Covers of the holiday classic have spanned multiple generations, from Johnny Mathis in the '50s to the 2000s with covers by Weezer and Luke Bryan.
Lisa-S // Shutterstock#18. ‘Something’ by The Beatles
Updated
- Covers: 171
Frank Sinatra, who covered this Beatles' classic multiple times, once called “Something” the “greatest love song of the last 50 years.” The George Harrison composition was also covered by Ray Charles, James Brown, Isaac Hayes, and Norah Jones, among others. Harrison gave Joe Cocker the song for the first release, but Cocker’s version of “Something” didn’t come out until after “Abbey Road.”
Claudio Divizia // Shutterstock#17. ‘Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing’ by Traditional Folk
Updated
- Covers: 176
A Christian hymn written in 1757 by pastor Robert Robinson falls within the top 20 most covered songs of all time. Many of those renditions come from a variety of choirs. Kings Kaleidoscope, Adam Young, and Christian punk-pop band Eleventyseven have all covered the tune, as well. The Dynamics are credited with the first commercial cover of the song in 1974.
Pixabay#16. ‘Jingle Bells (One Horse Open Sleigh)’ by James Pierpont
Updated
- Covers: 179
When James Pierpont, uncle to businessman JP Morgan, wrote “One Horse Open Sleigh” in 1857, he never intended it to be a Christmas song. The first song ever broadcast from space in 1965, renditions have ranged from Frank Sinatra and Barbra Streisand to Korn and Henry Rollins. Gwen Stefani, Pentatonix, Dolly Parton, and Smokey Robinson have recorded some of the best versions of “Jingle Bells,” according to Billboard.
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Canva#15. ‘What Is This Thing Called Love?’ by Elsie Carlisle
Updated
- Covers: 183
“What Is This Thing Called Love?” was composed by Cole Porter and performed for the first time by Elsie Carlisle for the 1929 musical “Wake Up and Dream.” Covers of the song have ranged from Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday to Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole. Gwyneth Paltrow even performed the song as Kitty Dean in the 2006 Truman Capote biopic "Infamous."
Science & Society Picture Library/SSPL // Getty Images#14. ‘Here Comes the Sun’ by The Beatles
Updated
- Covers: 189
George Harrison wrote “Here Comes the Sun” with Eric Clapton following the death of Beatles manager Brian Epstein, who handled much of the business side of the band. Guardian writer Jon Dennis in 2014 dubbed Charles Wright’s 1972 cover of “Here Comes the Sun” as best, arguing Coldplay, Travis, and Bon Jovi all did less-than-stellar renditions. Paul Simon and Harrison came together for a performance of the song on “Saturday Night Live!” in 1976, and Simon teamed up with David Crosby and Graham Nash in 2010.
Evening Standard/Hulton Archive // Getty Images#13. ‘Hey Jude’ by The Beatles
Updated
- Covers: 196
Paul McCartney wrote this song—originally titled “Hey Jules”— for John Lennon’s 5-year-old son Julian to help him with his parent’s divorce. Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, and Elvis Presley have all covered the song, as did Wilson Pickett, whose R&B version of “Hey Jude” made the Billboard charts while The Beatles were still #1. Rolling Stone rated “Hey Jude” eighth on the list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
McCarthy/Daily Express // Getty Images#12. ‘Let It Be’ by The Beatles
Updated
- Covers: 196
The Beatles hadn’t even released the song “Let It Be” in 1970, and Aretha Franklin had already released a cover version on her album “This Girl’s In Love With You.” Billy Joel and Paul McCartney performed it as the final song ever played at Shea Stadium in 2008. Jennifer Hudson and Kris Allen both made the Billboard Hot 100 with covers of the tune in the 2010s.
Art Zelin // Getty Images#11. ‘White Christmas’ by Bing Crosby feat. John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra and The Ken Darby Choir
Updated
- Covers: 201
The best-selling single of all time, with more than 50 million units sold, “White Christmas” took just 18 minutes to record in 1942. One of the most famous covers came from Elvis Presley in 1957, although songwriter Irving Berlin, perhaps to drum up publicity, called it a “profane parody of his cherished Yuletide standard.” Others who took their chance “dreaming of a White Christmas” include Lady Gaga, Elton John, Iggy Pop, and Billy Idol.
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Roosevelt, Franklin D. // Wikimedia Commons#10. ‘Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)’ by The Beatles
Updated
- Covers: 206
“Norwegian Wood” was John Lennon’s attempt to “write about an affair without letting my wife know I was writing about an affair,” and has the distinction of being the first pop song to use a sitar. Hank Williams Jr., Count Basie, and P.M. Dawn have all covered the song off the album “Rubber Soul.” English group Cornershop, who had a hit with “Brimful of Asha” in 1997, recorded the best cover of the song, according to The Guardian’s Jon Dennis.
Max Scheler - K & K/Redferns // Getty Images#9. ‘Imagine’ by John Lennon
Updated
- Covers: 218
Rolling Stone declared “Imagine” the third greatest song of all time, with John Lennon finishing the piece in one session while sitting at his white grand piano in England. The song has been covered by a number of heavy hitters in the music industry for its uniting message, from Willie Nelson and Jack Johnson to Madonna and Ray Charles.
Michael Putland // Getty Images#8. ‘Here, There and Everywhere’ by The Beatles
Updated
- Covers: 225
Paul McCartney credited the Beach Boys as part of the inspiration behind “Here, There and Everywhere,” off the “Revolver” album. Though John Lennon called it one of his favorites, the band never performed “Here, “There and Everywhere” live. McCartney played it live for the first time during an “MTV: Unplugged” installment in 1991. Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour famously covered the song, as did George Benson, Celine Dion, Perry Como, and John Denver.
Santi Visalli Inc. // Getty Images#7. ‘Blackbird’ by The Beatles
Updated
- Covers: 232
One of the biggest hits from The Beatles’ “White Album,” Paul McCartney wrote “Blackbird” about the Little Rock Nine, who faced discrimination when they enrolled at an all-white high school in Arkansas. Covers have ranged from Sarah McLachlan, Neil Diamond, and Phish to The Paragon’s reggae version “Black Bird Singing,” considered to be one of the best Beatles covers ever. Composed simply, “Blackbird” features just McCartney, his guitar, and a mysterious ticking noise that may have been McCartney tapping his foot.
David Redfern // Redferns#6. ‘Summertime’ by Helen Jepson
Updated
- Covers: 243
“Summertime” was adapted by soprano Helen Jepson from the 1935 George Gershwin opera “Porgy and Bess.” The song gained momentum as a cover when Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong recorded it for a jazz album in 1957 and reached new heights of popularity when the Gershwin opera was treated to a film adaptation starring Sidney Poitier and Dorothy Dandridge in 1959. The opening lyrics “Summertime, and the living’s easy” lept into the rock/reggae genre when it was sampled on the 1996 single “Doin’ Time” by Sublime.
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Bettmann // Getty Images#5. ‘Michelle’ by The Beatles
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- Covers: 243
Remarkably, The Beatles won just four Grammy Awards during their active years, with “Michelle” returning one for Song of the Year in 1966. While not necessarily a cover version, McCartney sang “Michelle” in 2010 to first lady Michelle Obama after receiving the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. Covers of the song have come from reggae (Ben Harper), funk (The Four Tops), rock (Diana Ross and the Supremes), as well as easy listening (George Martin).
Getty Images // Getty Images#4. ‘Silent Night’ by John Freeman Young
Updated
- Covers: 254
John Freeman Young’s English translation of “Silent Night” comes from the Austrian version first sung as “Stille Nacht! Heilige Nach” on Christmas Eve in 1818. Christmas albums and specials have led to a number of covers through the years, including Gwen Stefani, Kelly Clarkson, Stevie Nicks, and Frank Sinatra all taking turns at the Christmas classic. Bing Crosby, who had another holiday hit with “White Christmas,” recorded “Silent Night” in 1935 and sold more than 35 million copies worldwide.
JOE KLAMAR // AFP via Getty IMages#3. ‘And I Love Her’ by The Beatles
Updated
- Covers: 263
Upon its release in June 1964, John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s hit was covered 30 times before the end of the 1960s by the likes of John Denver, Lena Horne, and the Wailers. Smokey Robinson, Neil Diamond, Richard Marx with Vince Gill, and Barry Manilow all recorded their own versions of the song, with McCartney calling Esther Phillips’ “And I love Him” his favorite cover. While researching for the hit 2015 documentary “Montage of Heck,” Brett Morgen found an obscure cover of “And I Love Her” by late grunge rocker Kurt Cobain more than 20 years after his death.
Bettmann // Getty Images#2. ‘Eleanor Rigby’ by The Beatles
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- Covers: 349
Paul McCartney is credited with writing a majority of “Eleanor Rigby,” which borrowed the name Eleanor from an actress who starred in the band's video for “Help!” and the name Rigby from a store in Bristol, England, called Rigby and Evens Wine and Spirit Shippers. Musical legends Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, and Joan Baez all covered the song, as did Alice Cooper in 2014, who said: “You can’t ever do it better than Paul McCartney.”
Express Newspapers // Getty Images#1. ‘Yesterday’ by The Beatles
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A who’s who of music royalty has taken a stab at covering “Yesterday,” which came so easily to songwriter Paul McCartney he thought for months he had plagiarized it (later, he said he realized the song was about the death of his mother when he was 14). Elvis Presley, Marvin Gaye, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, and Boyz II Men, among others, all released covers of the song. The 2019 movie “Yesterday” envisions a world in which the Beatles never existed.
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Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty ImagesJerry Davich: Matthew Perry, my brother and hundreds of empty bottles
Updated
Jerry Davich
A woman wearing a costume of a Dos Equis beer bottle last Saturday approached me at a Halloween party.
“Matthew Perry died,” she said somberly.
How appropriate that I heard the news from a bottle of booze, I thought. Perry struggled for most of his life with drinking and addiction problems. The talented but troubled actor was found unresponsive in a hot tub at his house.
Police said no foul play was involved. The Los Angeles County coroner has deferred the investigation to determine a cause of death, which may take weeks. Toxicology tests will determine what, if anything, was in Perry’s body.
It doesn’t matter to me how he died. It’s a miracle he lived to 54. He abused his body for much of his life. He said this publicly many times.
“Alcoholism and addiction took over decades of my life,” Perry said in one interview.
I admired him more for his candid feelings about his off-screen demons than I did for his on-screen performance as Chandler Bing in the mega-popular TV show “Friends.” Along with millions of other fans, I loved that show and I laughed at his character’s sarcastic one liners, which echoed the edgy sense of humor of my big brother, Joe.
Perry always reminded me of Joe, who also struggled with drinking and addiction problems. Alcoholism and addiction took over decades of his life, just like with Perry. Joe started drinking alcohol as a teenager, just like Perry. Joe wasted ridiculous amounts of money to feed his addictions, just like Perry. And Joe died prematurely, just like Perry.
“Taking all those drugs, and it was a lot of drugs, was just a futile attempt to feel better,” Perry wrote in his 2022 memoir, “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing.”
My brother also took a lot of drugs in a futile attempt to feel better. He looked for relief in the bottom of hundreds of beer, wine and liquor bottles. He tried just about every illegal substance you can think of. He pawned stuff to feed his addiction. He sold his soul to get the next fix.
Joe’s preferred pain killer was painkillers, just like with Perry, who at one point was downing 55 Vicodins a day during his “Friends” days. Joe also downed dozens of pills a day, if he had them. For one of his birthdays later in life, I gave him a plastic baggie filled with assorted pills from my medicine cabinet.
“Happy Birthday!” I wrote on a note.
I had no idea what the pills were originally prescribed for. He could identify them like a pharmacist. It may have been the best gift I ever gave him. That baggie was empty by nightfall.
I deliberated about giving him such a “gift.” Was I an enabler or a brother? Both at times. Neither at times. We had a love-hate relationship. I loved him. I hated his addiction. It was very difficult for my family to differentiate our feelings to both entities. My poor mother did everything possible to unconditionally love and protect Joe despite his addiction. And despite how he abused her.
This is what angered me most about my brother’s addiction, and his actions to satisfy it.
At heart, Joe was a kind and generous soul. He would buy gifts for his nieces and nephew. He would bring me doughnuts and a newspaper every morning, dropping them off in my mailbox before I woke up.
He often woke very early to get his first fix of the day. Later in his life it was methadone, an oral medication used to treat opioid use disorder. He had a little metal box filled with his daily doses he received from a methadone clinic. I joined him once to learn more about the process.
“I’m always in pain,” he told a counselor. “Always.”
I tried keeping this in mind when he mistreated his body and my mother. If she were still alive, I wouldn’t have written this column with so many candid details. But, just like with Perry, I believe that more people need to share their experiences about addiction. It can possibly rescue others who are drowning in it. Or at least we can make a connection.
Perry said he attended more than 6,000 Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and entered rehab 15 times, spending upwards of $9 million trying to get sober. My brother didn’t have the luxury of such wealth. He spent relationships to try to get sober. Ours is still a complicated one even though he’s been dead for years.
“When I die, I don’t want ‘Friends’ to be the first thing that’s mentioned,” Perry said one year ago this month. “I want that [helping other addicts] to be the first thing that’s mentioned.”
It didn’t happen that way. “Friends” comes first, addiction second, if you’re scoring at home.
I hope my brother’s troubled life and premature death can help other addicts and their tortured families. Addiction is as common as a lie. Or a rationalization. This is especially true for addicts who don’t know where to turn or who to confess their deepest secret.
“Find someone who’s smarter than you about this and talk to them, and be honest about it,” Perry said in that interview last year.
My brother was always the smartest person in the room. Any room. His addiction wasn’t impressed. Or intimidated. He died Jan. 21, 2009. I’m not sure what was in his 50-year-old body. It doesn’t matter to me how he died.
When that bottle of beer approached me at the party and said, “Matthew Perry died,” I wanted to reply, “So did my brother.” But no one there cared about his death. Or his life. So I made a bad joke about addicts drowning in regrets.
The beer bottle winced, but I bet that Perry and my brother would have laughed.
House approves $14.5 billion in assistance for Israel as Biden vows to veto the GOP’s approach
UpdatedWASHINGTON — The House approved $14.5 billion in military aid Thursday for Israel, a muscular U.S. response to the war with Hamas but also a partisan approach by new Speaker Mike Johnson that poses a direct challenge to Democrats and President Joe Biden.
In a departure from norms, Johnson's package required that the emergency aid be offset with cuts in government spending elsewhere. That tack established the new House GOP's conservative leadership, but it also turned what would typically be a bipartisan vote into one dividing Democrats and Republicans. Biden has said he would veto the bill, which was approved on a largely party-line vote.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., center, joined by, from left, Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., talks with reporters Thursday of the debate and vote on supplemental aid to Israel.
J. Scott Applewhite, Associated PressJohnson, R-La., said the Republican package would provide Israel with the assistance needed to defend itself, free hostages held by Hamas and eradicate the militant Palestinian group, accomplishing "all of this while we also work to ensure responsible spending and reduce the size of the federal government.”
Democrats said that approach would only delay help for Israel. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has warned that the “stunningly unserious” bill has no chances in the Senate.
The first substantial legislative effort in Congress to support Israel in the war falls far short of Biden's request for nearly $106 billion that would also back Ukraine as it fights Russia, along with U.S. efforts to counter China and address security at the border with Mexico.
It is also Johnson's first big test as House speaker as the Republican majority tries to get back to work after the month of turmoil since ousting Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., as speaker. Johnson has said he will turn next to aid for Ukraine along with U.S. border security, preferring to address Biden's requests separately as GOP lawmakers increasingly oppose aiding Kyiv.
The White House's veto warning said Johnson's approach “fails to meet the urgency of the moment” and would set a dangerous precedent by requiring emergency funds to come from cuts elsewhere.
While the amount for Israel in the House bill is similar to what Biden sought, the White House said the Republican plan's failure to include humanitarian assistance for Gaza is a “grave mistake” as the crisis deepens.
Biden on Wednesday called for a pause in the war to allow for relief efforts.
"This bill would break with the normal, bipartisan approach to providing emergency national security assistance," the White House wrote in its statement of administration policy on the legislation. It said the GOP stance "would have devastating implications for our safety and alliances in the years ahead."
It was unclear before voting Thursday how many Democrats would join with Republicans. The White House had been directly appealing to lawmakers, particularly calling Jewish Democrats, urging them to reject the bill.
White House chief of staff Jeff Zients, counselor to the president Steve Ricchetti and other senior White House staff have been engaging House Democrats, said a person familiar with the situation and granted anonymity to discuss it.
But the vote was difficult for some lawmakers who want to support Israel and may have trouble explaining the trade-off to constituents, especially as the large AIPAC lobby and other groups encouraged passage.
To pay for the bill, House Republicans have attached provisions that would cut billions from the IRS that Democrats approved last year and Biden signed into law as a way to go after tax cheats. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says doing that would end up costing the federal government a net $12 billion because of lost revenue from tax collections.
Republicans scoffed at that assessment, but the independent budget office is historically seen as a trusted referee.
As the floor debate got underway, Democrats pleaded for Republicans to restore the humanitarian aid Biden requested and decried the politicization of typically widely bipartisan Israel support.
“Republicans are leveraging the excruciating pain of an international crisis to help rich people who cheat on their taxes and big corporations who regularly dodge their taxes,” said Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the House Rules Committee.
Rep. Dan Goldman of New York described hiding in a stairwell with his wife and children while visiting Israel as rockets fired in what he called the most horrific attack on Jews since the Holocaust.
Nevertheless, Goldman said he opposed the Republican-led bill as “shameful effort” to turn the situation in Israel and the Jewish people into a political weapon.
“Support for Israel may be a political game for my colleagues on the other side of the aisle," the Democrat said. "But this is personal for us Jews and it is existential for the one Jewish nation in the world that is a safe haven from the rising tide of antisemitism around the globe.”
The Republicans have been attacking Democrats who raise questions about Israel's war tactics as antisemitic. The House tried to censure the only Palestinian-American lawmaker in Congress, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., over remarks she made. The censure measure failed.
Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., said he was "so thankful there is no humanitarian aid," which he argued could fall into the hands of Hamas.
In the Democratic-controlled Senate, Schumer made clear that the House bill would be rejected.
“The Senate will not take up the House GOP's deeply flawed proposal, and instead we'll work on our own bipartisan emergency aid package" that includes money for Israel and Ukraine, as well as humanitarian assistance for Gaza and efforts to confront China.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is balancing the need to support his GOP allies in the House, while also fighting to keep the aid package more in line with Biden's broader request, believing all the issues are linked and demand U.S. attention.
McConnell said the aid for Ukraine was “not charity” but was necessary to bolster a Western ally against Russia.
In other action Thursday, the House was scheduled to vote on a Republican-led resolution that focused on college campus activism over the Israel-Hamas war. The nonbinding resolution would condemn support of Hamas, Hezbollah and terrorist organizations at institutions of higher education.
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Anheuser-Busch is still struggling to sell Bud Light in North America after trans promotion backlash
UpdatedAnheuser-Busch Inbev said Tuesday that revenue growth in most of its global regions was offset by a drop in North American sales, in a sign of continuing fallout from a promotion with a transgender influencer that cost it sales.
The world's largest brewer and parent company of Bud Light said adjusted earnings for the latest quarter rose 4.1% to $5.4 billion on revenues that climbed 5% to $15.6 billion.
FILE-Cans of Bud Light chill in a refrigerator in Oakland, Calif., Friday, April 28, 2023. AB InBev reports earnings on Tuesday, Oct. 31. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Jeff ChiuRevenue in the United States for the July-September period, however, tumbled 13.5%. AB InBev, based in Leuven, Belgium, noted that sales to retailers were down "primarily due to the volume decline of Bud Light."
Bud Light sales plunged amid a conservative backlash after the brand sent a commemorative can to transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney in early April.
The controversy toppled Bud Light from its position as America's best-selling beer for more than two decades. In June, it dropped to second place in U.S. retail sales behind Modelo Especial. Modelo – which is owned by InBev but imported and sold by Constellation Brands in the U.S. – remains the market leader, with nearly 9% share in year-to-date retail sales through Oct. 21. Bud Light has an 8% share.
U.S. dollar sales of Bud Light were down 29% in the four weeks ending Oct. 21 compared to same period a year ago, according to Nielsen data compiled by Bump Williams Consulting. They are down nearly 19% for the year to date.
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Bob Knight, Indiana’s combustible coaching giant, dies at age 83
UpdatedBLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Bob Knight, the brilliant and combustible coach who won three NCAA titles at Indiana and for years was the scowling face of college basketball, has died. He was 83.
Knight's family made the announcement on social media on Wednesday night. He was hospitalized with an illness in April and had been in poor health for several years.
“It is with heavy hearts that we share that Coach Bob Knight passed away at his home in Bloomington surrounded by his family,” the statement said. “We are grateful for all the thoughts and prayers, and appreciate the continued respect for our privacy as Coach requested a private family gathering, which is being honored. We will continue to celebrate his life and remember him, today and forever as a beloved Husband, Father, Coach, and Friend.”
Texas Tech head coach Bob Knight reacts Dec. 28, 2006, during the first half of their basketball game with UNLV in Lubbock, Texas. Knight, the tempestuous coaching great who led Indiana to 3 NCAA basketball championships, has died at 83.
Alex Brandon, Associated PressKnight was among the winningest and most controversial coaches in the sport, finishing his career with 902 victories in 42 seasons at Army, Indiana and Texas Tech while mentoring some of America's best coaches.. He also coached the U.S. Olympic team to a gold medal in 1984.
The Hall of Famer cared little what others thought of him, choosing Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” to celebrate his 880th win in 2007, then the record for a Division I men’s coach.
He was nicknamed “The General” and his temper was such that in 2000 it cost him his job at Indiana. He once hit a police officer in Puerto Rico, threw a chair across the court and was accused of wrapping his hands around a player’s neck.
His critics fumed relentlessly about his conduct, but his defenders were legion. There was this side of Knight as well: He took pride in his players’ high graduation rates, and during a rule-breaking era he never was accused of a major NCAA violation.
At Indiana, he insisted his base salary not exceed that of other professors. At Texas Tech, he sometimes gave back his salary because he didn’t think he earned it.
Knight expected players to exceed expectations on the court and in the classroom. He abided by NCAA rules even when he disagreed with them, never backed down from a dust-up and promised to take his old-school principles to the grave.
His disposition and theatrics, however, often overshadowed his formidable record, tactical genius and dedication to his players and the game, leaving behind a singular resume.
“He changed basketball in this state, the way you compete, the way you win,” Steve Alford, the leader of Knight’s last national championship team in 1987, once said. “It started in Indiana, but he really changed college basketball. You look at the motion offense and people everywhere used it.”
Long esteemed for his strategy and often questioned for his methods, Knight reveled in constructing his best teams with overachievers. As a hard-to-please motivator, he clung to iron principles, and at 6-foot-5 was an intimidating presence for anyone who dared cross him.
When Knight retired in 2008, he left with four national championships (one as a player at Ohio State) and as the Division I men’s record-holder in wins. He coached everyone from Mike Krzyzewski to Isiah Thomas to Michael Jordan. His coaching tree included Krzyzewski, who broke Knight’s wins record; Alford; Lawrence Frank, Keith Smart, Randy Wittman and Mike Woodson, Indiana’s current coach, among others.
“I have molded everything we do from practices to academics to community service and even how you should represent the school from that time,” Alford said. “Coach Knight had a lot to do with that.”
Robert Montgomery Knight was born Oct. 25, 1940, in Massillon, Ohio. His mother, whom Knight credited as his strongest childhood influence, was a schoolteacher and his father worked for the railroad.
Hazel Knight seemed to understand her son’s temperament. Once, when Indiana was set to play Kentucky on television, two of Knight’s high school classmates ran into her at a grocery store and asked if she was excited about the game, according to his biography, “Knight: My Story.”
“I just hope he behaves,” his mother remarked.
He played basketball at Ohio State, where he was a reserve on three Final Four teams (1960-62). He was on the 1960 title team that featured Jerry Lucas and John Havlicek, two future Basketball Hall of Famers.
After a year as a high school assistant, Knight joined the staff of Tates Locke at West Point. In 1965, he took over as head coach at age 24. In six seasons, coaching the likes of Krzyzewski and Mike Silliman, his teams won 102 games and it was off to Indiana in 1971.
Knight quickly restored the Hoosiers’ basketball tradition with a revolutionary offense and an almost exclusively man-to-man defense. Most opponents struggled against his early Indiana teams, with the Hoosiers going 125-20 and winning four Big Ten Conference crowns in his first five seasons.
The run concluded with Indiana’s first national championship in 23 years. That 1975-76 team went 32-0, ending a two-year span when the Hoosiers were 63-1 and captured back-to-back Big Ten championships with 18-0 records. It remains the last time a major college men’s team finished with a perfect record. That team was voted the greatest in college basketball history by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association in 2013.
Knight won his second title in 1981, beating Dean Smith’s North Carolina team after NCAA officials decided to play the game hours after President Ronald Reagan was shot and wounded earlier in the day. His third title at Indiana came in 1987 when Smart hit a baseline jumper in the closing seconds to beat Syracuse, one of the most famous shots in tournament history.
Knight spent five decades competing against and usually beating some of the game’s most revered names — Adolph Rupp, Smith and John Wooden in the early years; Krzyzewski, Rick Pitino and Roy Williams in later years.
The Olympic team he coached in Los Angeles in 1984 was the last amateur U.S. team to win gold in men’s basketball. And, to no surprise, it came with controversy. Knight kept Alford on his team while cutting the likes of future Hall of Famers Charles Barkley and John Stockton.
But winning and winning big was only part of Knight’s legacy. He would do things his way.
Other big-time coaches might follow the gentlemanly, buttoned-up approach, but not Knight. He dressed in plaid sport coats and red sweaters, routinely berated referees and openly challenged decisions by NCAA and Big Ten leaders. His list of transgressions ran long:
• Knight was convicted in absentia of assaulting a Puerto Rican police officer during the 1979 Pan American Games.
• He forfeited an exhibition game to the Soviet Union in 1987 when he pulled his team off the court after being called for a third technical foul.
• He told NBC’s Connie Chung in a 1988 interview, “I think that if rape is inevitable, relax and enjoy it.” Knight was answering a question about how he handled stress and later tried to explain he was talking about something beyond one’s control, not the act of rape.
• He was accused of head-butting one player and kicking his own son, Pat, during a timeout.
• At a 1980 news conference he fired a blank from a starter’s pistol at a reporter. During the 1992 NCAA Tournament, Knight playfully used a bull whip on star player Calbert Cheaney, who is Black.
His most famous outburst came Feb. 23, 1985, when Purdue’s Steve Reid was about to attempt a free throw. A furious Knight picked up a red plastic chair and heaved it across the court, where it landed behind the basket. Fans started throwing pennies on the court, one hitting the wife of Purdue coach Gene Keady. Reid missed three of his next six ensuing free throws.
“There are times I walk into a meeting or a friend calls to say, ‘I saw you on TV last night,’” Reid said on the 20th anniversary of the incident. “I know what they’re talking about.”
Knight apologized the next day, received a one-game suspension and was put on probation for two years by the Big Ten. Intent on preventing such a thing again, Indiana officials chained together the chairs for both benches.
The iconic black-and-white photo of the incident remains a classic for Hoosiers fans and even became fodder for a television commercial with one of his old coaching rivals, former Notre Dame coach Digger Phelps. Knight for years joked he was merely attempting to toss the chair to a woman looking for a seat.
Fifteen years after the chair toss, Knight’s temper led to his downfall in Bloomington. Video surfaced of Knight allegedly putting his hands around the neck of player Neil Reed during a 1997 practice, a charge that prompted Indiana President Myles Brand to put Knight on a zero-tolerance policy following a university investigation.
Then, on Sept. 10, 2000, after winning a school-record 662 games and 11 Big Ten titles in 29 seasons, his time at Indiana came to a shocking end. While passing Knight in an Assembly Hall corridor, Indiana student Kent Harvey said, “Hey, what’s up, Knight?” Knight considered it disrespectful, grabbed Harvey’s arm and lectured him about manners. A few days later, Brand fired Knight.
Students protested by tearing down a goal post at the football stadium, ripping a dolphin statue off a fountain and hanging Brand in effigy outside his home. Knight publicly condemned Brand’s leadership. Brand became NCAA president in 2002 and died in 2009 at 67 while still on the job. Neil Reed died in 2012 after collapsing in his California home. He was 36.
In 2003, he lashed out profanely after an ESPN reporter asked about his relationship with Alford, then the Iowa coach. The following year Knight received a reprimand after a verbal dust-up with David Smith, then the Texas Tech chancellor, as the two men stood at a grocery store salad bar.
He still won, too. In his first six years in West Texas, Knight led the Red Raiders to five 20-plus win seasons, a feat never previously achieved at the school. On Jan. 1, 2007, Knight won his 880th career game, breaking Dean Smith’s record with a win over New Mexico. Krzyzewski topped Knight’s mark in 2011, with his mentor broadcasting the game for ESPN.
For nearly two decades, Indiana officials attempted to make peace. Knight refused, even skipping his induction into the school’s athletic Hall of Fame in 2009.
“I hope someday he will be honored at Indiana. That needs to happen. Somebody needs to make that happen,” Scott May, a starter on Knight’s 1976 championship team and an outspoken critic of Knight’s firing, pleaded as Knight stayed away. “I think they should name Assembly Hall after him.”
The ice finally broke in February 2020, a few months after Knight bought a new house in Bloomington. His first public appearance at Assembly Hall since the firing came at halftime of the Hoosiers’ game against rival Purdue.
Indiana coach Bob Knight, right, celebrates with the team and fans after the team's March 1976 win over Marquette in the NCAA men's college basketball tournament Mideast regionals in Baton Rouge, La.
Associated PressBilled as a reunion between the coach and many of his former players, the halftime celebration became a sustained roar for The General. May and Quinn Buckner, who also played on Knight’s first title team, helped the aging coach — no longer steady on his feet — walk onto the court.
“When he moved back here, I knew he was in a good place,” said Wittman, who played on the 1981 national champs. “I knew he was happy here, living, and I told him you belong here.”
Knight didn’t speak to the crowd that day. It spoke to him.
“We love you, Bobby,” one fan shouted during a brief pause from the crowd, a scene that brought the steely Knight to tears.
Away from the court, Knight was an avid golfer who loved to read, especially history, and donated generously to school libraries at Indiana and Texas Tech. He would vacation in far-flung places to hunt and fish with family or friends such as baseball great Ted Williams or manager Tony La Russa.
Knight also made a cameo appearance in the 2003 movie “Anger Management” with Adam Sandler. In 2006, he starred in “Knight School,” an ESPN reality show in which 16 Texas Tech students vied for the chance to walk on to his team the following season.
A month after leaving Tech, Knight, who often lashed out at reporters, joined ESPN as a guest studio analyst during the 2008 NCAA Tournament. The next season, he expanded his role as a color commentator. The network parted with Knight in 2015.
He returned to public view in 2016, campaigning for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in 2016 and kept a mostly low profile until returning to the campus where he became a household name.
“I was standing there, and he was coach Knight,” Wittman said, referring to Knight’s pregame speech in February 2020. “It was like he hadn’t left that locker room. The words he gave to those players before they went out on the floor, it was fabulous.”
Survivors include wife Karen and sons Tim and Pat.
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