NEW YORK (AP) — The retrial in New York of Harvey Weinstein — whose moviemaking prowess once wowed Hollywood — won’t be coming to a courtroom anytime soon, if ever, legal experts said on a day when one of two women considered crucial to the case said she wasn’t sure she would testify again.

A ruling Thursday by the New York Court of Appeals voided the 2020 conviction of the onetime movie powerbroker who prosecutors say forced young actors to submit to his prurient desires by dangling his ability to make or break the their careers. He remains jailed in New York state after he was also convicted in a similar case in California.

The appeals court in a 4-3 decision vacated a 23-year jail sentence and ordered a retrial of Weinstein, saying the trial judge erred by letting three women testify about allegations that were not part of the charges and by permitting questions about Weinstein’s history of “bad behavior” if he testified. He did not. He was convicted of forcibly performing oral sex on a TV and film production assistant and of third-degree rape for an attack on an aspiring actor in 2013.

Several lawyers said in interviews Friday that it would be a long road to reach a new trial for the 72-year-old ailing movie mogul and magnet for the #MeToo movement who remains behind bars, and it was doubtful that one could start before next year, if at all.

“I think there won’t be a trial in the end,” said Joshua Naftalis, a former Manhattan federal prosecutor now in private practice. “I don’t think he wants to go through another trial, and I don’t think the state wants to try him again.”

Naftalis said both sides may seek a resolution such as a plea that will eliminate the need to put his accusers through the trauma of a second trial.

Deborah Tuerkheimer, a professor at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and former assistant district attorney in Manhattan, said whether there is a second trial will “hinge on the preferences of the women who would have to testify again and endure the ordeal of a retrial.”

“I think ultimately this will come down to whether they feel it’s something they want to do, are able to do,” she said.

Jane Manning, director of the nonprofit Women’s Equal Justice, which provides advocacy services to sexual assault survivors, agreed “the biggest question is whether the two women are willing to testify again.”

If they are, then Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg “will absolutely retry the case,” said Manning, who prosecuted sex crimes when she was in the Queens district attorney’s office in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Tama Kudman, a West Palm Beach, Florida, criminal defense lawyer who also practices in New Jersey and New York, said prosecutors will likely soon have conversations with key witnesses for a retrial.

“It’s really up to them at the end of the day whether they want to go through that again,” Kudman said, noting that prosecutors will have to see if witnesses can withstand a second trial. “Being willing to and wanting to are two different things.”

The legal process is already in motion, with Weinstein scheduled to be brought to court in Manhattan on Wednesday, an appearance likely to be used in part to establish where he will be jailed while he awaits a new trial.

Bragg’s office put out a statement soon after the appeals ruling was made public Thursday, saying it will “do everything in our power to retry this case.”

But lawyers say the road to a trial will include monthslong battles between lawyers over what evidence and testimony will be allowed at a retrial.

The daunting path to a new trial was clear Friday when Miriam Haley, one of two women at the heart of the charges against Weinstein, said during an electronic news conference that she “will consider testifying again, should there be another trial,” but declined to commit to a new trial when questioned further about it.

Haley, a former “Project Runway” production assistant also known as Mimi Haleyi, testified at Weinstein’s trial that she repeatedly told Weinstein “no” when he attacked her inside his apartment in July 2006, forcibly performing oral sex on her. In a 2020 civil lawsuit, Haley said she was left with horror, humiliation and pain that persists.

During the news conference with her lawyer, Gloria Allred, Haley said the appeals ruling was “a terrible decision that sends an extremely disheartening message to victims of sexual assaults everywhere.”

She said testifying was “retraumatizing, exhausting and terrifying” and she could not yet decide if she would testify at a retrial while “we’re all in a bit of shock” from the court ruling.

“I wish it would be as easy as ‘Sure, I’m going to do it again!'” Haley said.

She said people really don’t understand.

“It’s like insane. It’s grueling. It’s hard. You’re living in fear for years,” Haley said. “Then you’re getting harassed. There’s so much stuff that people don’t see that I had to live with. Yeah, like I have to take a minute to think about it.”

Allred told the news conference Friday afternoon that Bragg’s office had not yet reached out to Haley about testifying again.

Erika Rosenbaum, a Canadian actor who made her own accusations against Weinstein in 2017, has spent years speaking out against harassment and abuse but has not been called to testify in either Weinstein trial.

She said in an interview Friday that it was harrowing enough to tell her own story of abuse in the media and can only imagine how much more difficult it is to go on the witness stand — let alone twice.

“Every time I speak about it, whether it’s to the press or to a group of students or young people, I get physically hot and uncomfortable. My head pounds, I have a physical, visceral reaction. It takes a physical and mental and emotional toll,” Rosenbaum said.

She said she imagines it would be terrifying to testify and she wishes she could “take the stand for them or with them.”

“But these are some brave ladies, and I have a great deal of respect for them and gratitude,” Rosenbaum added.

The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they have been victims of sexual assault unless they agree to be named as Haley and Rosenbaum have.

___

Associated Press writers Jocelyn Noveck and Michael R. Sisak contributed.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — In deep red Indiana, where Republicans hold a supermajority in both chambers of the state legislature and most top offices are held by GOP politicians, the May 7 primary will determine the outcome of the general election in many races.

The most-watched is the GOP race for governor, a six-way competition of office-seekers who all have cast themselves as outsiders in an appeal to conservative voters.

Indiana also will send at least three new representatives to the U.S. House following a series of retirements.

Here’s a look at the key races:

Six Republicans are vying for the seat being vacated by outgoing Gov. Eric Holcomb, who is term-limited. Holcomb has not endorsed a candidate.

The race is the most expensive primary in Indiana history, with about $20 million spent in the first three months of 2024 alone.

The winner of the GOP primary will face long-shot bids in November from the sole Democratic candidate, Jennifer McCormick, and the Libertarian nominee, Donald Rainwater.

All six Republican candidates have cast themselves as outsiders, yet five are well-established figures who hold or previously served in statewide roles.

U.S. Sen. Mike Braun has been endorsed by Republican former President Donald Trump. Trump won the state by 16 percentage points in the 2020 general election.

Braun has name recognition and money; his campaign spent over $6 million in 2024, according to the latest summary report. He also is known for flipping a Democratic Senate seat when he beat Joe Donnelly in 2018.

Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, known for running alongside Holcomb twice, has campaigned to slash the state’s income tax and boost addiction and mental illness services. She ended the most recent fundraising period with the most cash on hand of the candidates with $3 million as of April 1, but spent less — $2.1 million — in the first three months of the year.

A Crouch victory likely would ensure Indiana has its first female governor. McCormick, the Democratic nominee, is unchallenged in her primary.

Businessman and former commerce secretary Brad Chambers spent $6.7 million this year and reports show he has contributed $9.6 million to his campaign. Chambers’ messaging has been comparatively more moderate, focusing on the economy and support for law enforcement. He has avoided criticizing Holcomb where other candidates have knocked his administration on COVID-19 pandemic-era policies.

Eric Doden has a similar resume, with a stint as the state’s commerce secretary. His top priorities include a plan invest in Indiana’s “Main Street,” or small towns. He spent $5.2 million in the first three months of this year and last reported having about $250,000 of cash on hand.

Once seen as a probable Hoosier governor, former Attorney General Curtis Hill has struggled to compete. Hill lost the Republican delegation nomination in 2020 following allegations he groped four women at a party in 2018. Jamie Reitenour also is running, with backing of Hamilton County Moms For Liberty and has said she would appoint its leader to head the state education department.

Braun’s decision to leave the Senate and run for governor created a domino effect in Indiana’s congressional delegation. U.S. Rep. Jim Banks is the sole Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, leaving his office in Indiana’s 3rd Congressional district.

A series of legal battles ultimately removed egg farmer John Rust from the Republican ballot.

Banks, an outspoken Trump supporter, will face either Marc Carmichael or Valerie McCray as the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in November.

Indiana will send at least three new representatives to the U.S. House.

Congressmen Greg Pence, brother of former Vice President Mike Pence, and Larry Bucshon both announced they will forgo reelection earlier this year.

Eight Republican candidates are vying for Banks’ former seat in northeast Indiana. The matchup includes former U.S. Rep. Marlin Stutzman, state Sen. Andy Zay, former Allen Circuit Court judge Wendy Davis and a well-funded but relatively unknown nonprofit executive, Tim Smith.

Voters in Pence’s 6th district in east Indiana are the target of an expensive contest between staunch Second Amendment conservative state Rep. Mike Speedy, and Jefferson Shreve, a businessman who pumped $13 million into an unsuccessful campaign for Indianapolis mayor last year.

Shreve has loaned $4.5 million to his congressional campaign and entered the final weeks of campaigning with $1.49 million of cash on hand, while Speedy entered with just over $153,000 in the bank, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

In Bucshon’s district in southern Indiana, eight candidates seek to replace the congressman who took office in 2011.

The Republican Jewish Coalition has shelled out $1 million to attack former U.S. Rep. John Hostettler, who has long opposed the U.S. allyship with Israel. A spokesperson said the group is urging support for state Sen. Mark Messmer.

Messmer entered the final weeks with roughly $121,000 of cash on hand, far outpacing Hostettler’s about $29,000.

In central Indiana’s 5th district, U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz faces a tough primary after reversing her plan to leave Congress.

Spartz’s main competition, state Sen. Chuck Goodrich, has outpaced her in spending this year by millions of dollars.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Moderate Republicans, who often have been successful with Utah voters, will look to stave off farther-right challengers at Saturday’s state GOP convention, which typically favors the most conservative contenders.

All eyes are on the crowded race to succeed U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney, the state’s best-known centrist Republican, who often made waves for opposing former President Donald Trump and other leaders of the party.

Delegates at the convention will select the party’s nominee, though there is no guarantee their pick will win the June primary and end up on the ballot in November.

The pool of nearly a dozen Republicans vying to replace Romney includes a congressman, a former state legislative leader and the lawyer son of Utah’s longest-serving U.S. senator. While some have sought to align themselves with farther-right figures such as Trump and Utah’s other senator, Mike Lee, others have distanced themselves in an effort to appeal to the widest swath of voters.

“This seat gets to be sort of a flashpoint between the two major factions of the party in the state,” Utah State University political scientist James Curry said. “On one hand you have the more moderate faction that Romney really embodied, not just here but nationwide, versus the more pro-Trump faction that often hasn’t been as successful with Utah voters when there’s been a viable moderate option.”

Among the top contenders are former state House Speaker Brad Wilson and U.S. Rep. John Curtis.

Wilson, 55, has endorsed Trump’s reelection bid and promises to be a “conservative fighter” on Capitol Hill.

Curtis, 63, who is seen as the more moderate of the two, has been compared to Romney for pushing back against hardliners in his party, particularly on climate change.

Wilson will likely appeal to convention delegates, who tend to be more conservative, while Curtis could have broader appeal among primary voters, Curry said.

Both already have collected enough signatures to qualify for the primary regardless of Saturday’s outcome, but the winner could leverage that to boost their campaign.

Republican Party nominations historically have had little bearing on who Utah voters choose to represent them, however.

Nominees for governor, Congress and other offices also will be selected Saturday.

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump says he wants to hold a major campaign event at New York’s Madison Square Garden featuring Black hip-hop artists and athletes. His aides speak of making appearances in Chicago, Detroit and Atlanta with leaders of color and realigning American politics by flipping Democratic constituencies.

But five months before the first general election votes are cast, the former president’s campaign has little apparent organization to show for its ambitious plans.

The Trump campaign removed its point person for coalitions and hasn’t announced a replacement. The Republican Party’s minority outreach offices across the country have been shuttered and replaced by businesses that include a check-cashing store, an ice cream shop and a sex-toy store. And campaign officials concede they are weeks away from rolling out any targeted programs.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee has struggled to navigate a messy transition into the general election plagued by staffing issues, his personal legal troubles and the “Make America Great Again” movement’s disdain for so-called “ identity politics.” There are signs of frustration on the ground, where Republicans believe Trump has a real opportunity to shift the election by cutting into President Joe Biden’s advantages with voters of color.

“To be quite honest, the Republican Party does not have a cohesive engagement plan for Black communities,” said Darrell Scott, a Black pastor and longtime Trump ally who co-founded the National Diversity Coalition for Trump in 2016. “What it has are conservatives in communities of color who have taken it upon themselves to head our own initiatives.”

On-the-ground political organizing has long been a hallmark of successful presidential campaigns, which typically invest tremendous resources into identifying would-be supporters and ensuring they vote. The task may be even more critical this fall given how few voters are excited about the Biden-Trump rematch.

But in Michigan, a critical battleground that flipped from Trump to Biden four years ago, several party officials confirmed that the Republican National Committee, overhauled by Trump allies after he clinched the nomination in March, has yet to set up any community centers for minority outreach. Office spaces to house the centers have been offered up by community members, but staffing has been an issue, said Oakland County GOP Chair Vance Patrick.

“We’ve got all these carts but we have no horses yet,” said Patrick. “So, it’s all about making sure we have staffing when we open up these offices.”

In Wayne County, home to Detroit, local Republican officials say they are currently trying to figure it out on their own.

“It’s me setting up events, or people just reaching out to me,” said Rola Makki, the outreach vice chair for the Michigan GOP, noting that she hasn’t seen any minority outreach centers open in spite of claims to the contrary by Trump’s national campaign team.

In recent years, the Republican National Committee invested big in community centers and minority outreach based on the belief that real relationships with voters, even those who typically don’t support Republicans, would make a difference on Election Day. Since taking over the RNC earlier in the spring, however, Trump’s team has dramatically scaled back such efforts.

“Traditionally, Republicans have not been effective in their efforts to persuade Black and Hispanic voters to vote for our party,” said Lynne Patton, a senior adviser on the campaign overseeing coalitions work who has worked closely with the Trump family for decades. “But this is yet another reason why President Trump was adamant that his hand-picked leadership team assume control at the RNC and spearhead a unified effort to embrace the historic defection being witnessed within Black & Hispanic communities from the Democrat party and ensure it’s permanent.”

The Trump campaign hired a national coalitions director in October 2023, almost a year after he launched his campaign. But the staffer, Derek Silver, departed in March without explanation, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share internal discussions. Silver did not return multiple requests for comment and no replacement has been announced.

Trump’s advisers reject criticism that they’re not doing enough organizing or spending to reach minorities. James Blair, the campaign’s political director, said the campaign would not “broadcast” its spending or staffing levels, “but I assure you, it’s enough to ensure President Trump’s historic surge in support amongst Black and Hispanic voters sticks in November and beyond.”

Patton said Trump’s political team is laying the groundwork for a robust minority outreach program, although largely in private.

“We are speaking with Black leaders, we are speaking with small business owners, we’re speaking with famous athletes, hip-hop artists, some of whom I think you’d be surprised if you knew who was talking with us right now,” Patton said in an interview. “These are people who are expressing openness to supporting President Trump both publicly and privately.”

She conceded that the campaign is still weeks away from rolling out any specific minority outreach programs. The delayed timeline stands in stark contrast to the early outreach during Trump’s 2020 reelection bid. Then, he launched his coalition efforts, including “Latinos for Trump” and “Black Voices for Trump” programs, in the summer and fall of 2019, respectively.

Trump’s team insists the former president will improve his standing with voters of color, perhaps the most steadfast segment of the Democratic base, regardless of their strategy. They believe the campaign has momentum with both African Americans and Hispanics, especially younger men. And they note that Trump has proven he can win in his own way, disregarding traditional rules of politics.

Polls show that many Black and Hispanic adults are dissatisfied with Biden. According to AP-NORC polls, Biden’s approval among Black adults has dropped from 94% when he started his term to just 55% in March. Among Hispanic adults, it dropped from 70% to 32% in the same period.

And an April poll by the Pew Research Center confirms the problem is especially acute among younger adults: Just 43% of Black adults under 50 said they approve of Biden in that poll, compared with 70% of those age 50 and older. Among Hispanics, 29% of younger adults said they approve, slightly less than the 42% who said that among those 50 and older.

The Trump campaign’s developing outreach strategy relies on using his celebrity and bombastic personality to create viral moments in communities of color that his advisers believe will have more impact than grassroots organizing or paid advertising alone. Advisers point to Trump’s appearances at an Atlanta Chick-fil-A, a New York bodega and a New York City police officer’s wake as examples of the strategy.

His allies argue that increased frustration about crime, inflation and immigration may win over some voters of color who have previously been less receptive to Trump’s record and divisive rhetoric.

“Communities of color aren’t leaning towards the right, they’re leaning towards Trump,” said Scott, the pastor and close Trump ally who is calling on the RNC to ramp up and reform its efforts. Scott said Black voters support Democrats because of the party’s longtime outreach to the community, which the GOP has not matched, and said the present campaign presents an opportunity that the party shouldn’t waste. “Trump is the draw; Trump is the magnet.”

Biden has been spending millions of dollars on ads targeting Black and Latino voters in presidential battleground states. That’s in addition to dozens of new office openings in minority neighborhoods. All the while, Biden’s team has frequently dispatched Vice President Kamala Harris, the nation’s first Black female vice president, and other prominent leaders of color to key states.

The Democratic president’s campaign points to record-low minority unemployment rates and education policies like funding for historically Black colleges and universities and student loan forgiveness, as well as Biden’s stance on civil rights policy.

“Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans proudly admitting that they have no real strategy to reach Black voters because they believe all they need is rap concerts and free chicken is only surprising if you haven’t paid attention to Trump’s fraudulent relationship to Black America for years,” said Jasmine Harris, the Biden campaign’s Black media director, who described Trump as “a fraud” who “takes every opportunity available to him to demean our community.”

Trump’s personal legal troubles may also be complicating his plans.

Campaign officials believe they should wait to unveil new initiatives until the conclusion of Trump’s New York criminal hush money trial, which is expected to extend deep into May, if not longer.

In the meantime, there are visible signs of a lack of investment in swing states. Associated Press reporters visited the sites of several former community outreach centers that have now been shuttered.

In Allentown, Pennsylvania, the GOP vacated its Hispanic outreach office in January 2023, a few months after the midterm election, according to the landlord, Hem Vaidya. He said the office, which he recalled as a busy place, was staffed by Hispanic workers.

Republican officials recently approached him about renting the same space again, but he declined because they only wanted it for eight months. The storefront is now occupied by his own check-cashing business.

In Wisconsin, the Republican National Committee closed a Hispanic outreach center in Milwaukee after the 2022 midterms and it will soon be home to an ice cream shop, according to Daniel Walsh, leasing agent for the property.

Matt Fisher, a spokesman for the Wisconsin Republican Party, said the state GOP continues to operate a Black outreach center in Milwaukee. As for targeting Hispanic voters, the state party and RNC are still weighing how to approach that task.

In suburban Atlanta, one RNC community outreach center focused on outreach to Asian American voters was shuttered and later was reopened as a sex shop. AP reporters confirmed the venue’s change in ownership, which was originally reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Republican strategist Alice Stewart, a veteran of several GOP campaigns, said she’s confident that the Trump campaign will ultimately do what’s necessary.

“But the key is they can’t just talk about minority outreach,” she said. “They have to do it.”

___

Brown reported from Washington. AP Director of Public Opinion Research Emily Swanson in Washington and Associated Press writers Joey Cappelletti in Lansing, Michigan; Michael Rubinkam in Allentown, Pennsylvania; Todd Richmond in Madison, Wisconsin; Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus, Ohio; and Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, contributed.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden had a question.

“Is it true?” Biden asked Sen. Alex Padilla, referencing the roughly 25% of U.S. students in kindergarten through high school who are Latino. Padilla said the question came as he was waiting with the president in a back room at a library in Culver City, California, before an event in February.

It was exactly the kind of opening Padilla was hoping to get with the Democratic president. Biden was weighing his reelection campaign, executive actions on immigration and what to do about a southern border that has been marked by historic numbers of illegal crossings during his tenure.

Padilla wanted to make sure Biden also took into account the potential of the country’s immigrants. “Mr. President, do you know what I call them, those students?” Padilla recalled saying. “It’s the workforce of tomorrow.”

It was just one of the many times Padilla, who at 52 years old is now the senior senator of California, has taken the opportunity — from face-to-face moments with the president to regular calls with top White House staff and sometimes outspoken criticism — to put his stamp on the Democratic Party’s approach to immigration.

The son of Mexican immigrants and first Latino to represent his state in the Senate, Padilla has emerged as a persistent force at a time when Democrats are increasingly focused on border security and the country’s posture toward immigrants is uncertain.

Illegal immigration is seen as a growing political crisis for Democrats after authorities both at the border and in cities nationwide have struggled to handle recent surges. The party may also be losing favor with Hispanic voters amid disenchantment with Biden. But Padilla, in a series of interviews with The Associated Press, expressed a deep reserve of optimism about his party’s ability to win support both from and for immigrant communities.

“Don’t be afraid, don’t be reluctant to talk about immigration. Lean into it,” Padilla said. “Because number one, it’s the morally right thing to do. Number two, it is key to the strength, the security and the future of our country.”

The senator has tried to anchor his fellow Democrats to that stance even as the politics of immigration grow increasingly toxic. Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has said immigrants who enter the U.S. illegally are “poisoning the blood” of the country and accused Biden of allowing a “bloodbath” at the southern border. Biden, meanwhile, has shifted to the right at times in both the policies and language he is willing to use as illegal border crossings become a vulnerability for his reelection bid.

Such was the case when Biden, during his State of the Union address, entered into an unscripted exchange with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican of Georgia, and referred to a Venezuelan man accused of killing a nursing student in Georgia as an “illegal” — a term anathema to immigration rights advocates.

After the speech, Padilla discussed the moment with Rep. Tony Cárdenas in the apartment they share in Washington. The men, who have known each other since their earliest days in Los Angeles politics, now form a political odd couple while away from their families in California. Padilla towers over many in the Capitol with his height and usually speaks in measured tones, while Cárdenas, shorter in stature, is known to come to tears during debates and worries sometimes his voice carries into the neighboring apartment.

“Usually I’m talking in 20 sentences by the time he’ll get his one or two sentences,” Cárdenas said. “He’ll say what I’m saying pretty much, but much more calmly, much more methodically.”

And that night, Cárdenas said, their conversation turned to how they wanted politicians to avoid labeling migrants as “illegals” because it deprived them of dignity.

Padilla told him he would call the White House.

“He’s is the kind of person who steps in and steps up, and, you know, he’s tactical about it,” Cárdenas said.

It’s a difficult role to play, especially as Democrats try to shore up what’s seen as a weakness on border security in the battleground states that will determine control of the White House and Congress.

Even in California, Republicans have been emboldened on immigration as they try to reassert statewide relevance, said Mark Meuser, a lawyer who lost elections against Padilla for the Senate in 2022 and California Secretary of State in 2018. He argued top California Democrats like Padilla “are driving hard towards the extreme edges of their party.”

Padilla has urged the president and fellow Democrats to hold firm to the position that border enforcement measures be paired with reforms for immigrants who are already in the country. Padilla expressed frustration with how some Democrats, including Biden, did not keep immigration reforms, such as a pathway to citizenship for those who entered the U.S. illegally as children, a top priority during a negotiation earlier this year with Senate Republicans on border security.

During those negotiations, Padilla asserted himself as the leader of congressional opposition from the left: He pulled Biden aside for one-on-one conversations to warn against the changes, spoke forcefully at rallies advocating for immigrant rights and organized a call with top White House aides and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Padilla, along with four other Democratic-aligned senators, eventually voted against advancing the package, ensuring its failure as Republicans also rejected it.

“He is a lone voice but it is a courageous voice in the Senate,” said Vanessa Cardenas, who leads the immigration advocacy organization America’s Voice.

It’s been a quick ascent for Padilla, who is just beginning his fourth year in Congress, and comes as little surprise to those who have known him since his days in California politics.

“What he’s always been brilliant at is being able to navigate the space, bring people together, be a constructive player,” said John A. Pérez, who was the California Assembly Speaker while Padilla was in the state Senate. “With Alex you don’t get criticism without an alternative.”

Padilla was also known as a determined and effective negotiator. While he was on the Los Angeles City Council, Padilla negotiated a statewide deal with then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to send more funding to local governments. What was supposed to be a one-day meeting turned into a ten-day, around-the-clock negotiation in Sacramento. Padilla quickly exhausted his wardrobe and resorted to washing his socks in a sink, said Mike Madrid, a Republican strategist who worked with Padilla on the League of Cities. They got the compromises they wanted.

Now that Padilla is involved in the immigration policy debate, Madrid said “the politics have never demanded border security more and immigration reform less.”

But he conceded that he could be proven wrong: “If there is any one person in Washington that could make that deal happen, it would be Alex Padilla.”

And for Padilla, it’s the very reason he entered politics in the first place.

When he graduated in 1994 with an engineering degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, it was a dream fulfilled for his parents — his father a short order cook and his mother a house cleaner. But he was soon drawn into politics as the state’s attention turned to Proposition 187, a 1994 ballot measure that was approved to deny education, health care and other non-emergency services to immigrants who entered the country illegally.

It was branded by supporters as the Save Our State Initiative. Padilla still remembers the ads for the campaign.

“Trying to try to blame a downward economy on the hardest working people that I know was offensive and an outrage,” he said.

Now he sees parallels between California in the 1990s, which approved the ballot measure but then had it invalidated in federal court, and the wider country today: changing demographics, economic uncertainty and political opportunists “scapegoating” immigrants.

Yet it also spurred the state’s Latinos to get involved politically. To Padilla, there’s no coincidence that California, the state with the most immigrants, now boasts the nation’s largest economy and is a stronghold for Democrats.

One of Padilla’s first jobs in politics was managing the state assembly campaign for Cárdenas, who is about a decade older than Padilla and grew up a few blocks from him in Pacoima, a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley.

The campaign started as an unlikely bid for two political neophytes trying to get the area to elect a Latino for the first time. Cárdenas remembered Padilla working so hard on the campaign trail that he fell asleep standing up as they debriefed one night.

“We were literally laughed out of people’s offices at the time,” Padilla said. Still, Cárdenas won.

Padilla went on to work for the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein and manage other local campaigns until he ran for Los Angeles City Council at the age of 26. Padilla rose quickly in the council, becoming its president at the age of 28. And for two days following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Padilla oversaw the emergency response while then-Mayor James Hahn was stranded across the country in Washington. Padilla gave interviews in both English and Spanish to reassure the city’s population.

But before he was elected to his first office, he faced skepticism about his age. Cárdenas said his bid for the council seat only took off when Padilla closed a debate by invoking a phrase often used in the hardscrabble community of the San Fernando Valley: “No te rajes.” Don’t give up.

BOSTON (AP) — An American Airlines flight attendant was indicted Thursday after authorities said he tried to secretly record video of a 14-year-old girl using an airplane bathroom last September.

Police have also alleged that Estes Carter Thompson III, 36, of Charlotte, North Carolina, had recordings of four other girls using lavatories on an aircraft where he worked.

Thompson was indicted on one count of attempted sexual exploitation of children and one count of possession of images of child sexual abuse depicting a prepubescent minor.

Thompson was charged and arrested in January 2024 in Lynchburg, Virginia. He has been in federal custody since. A lawyer for Thompson said after the indictment by a federal grand jury that he was unable to comment.

Investigators said that about midway through a Sept. 2, 2023, flight from Charlotte to Boston, the 14-year-old got up to use the main cabin lavatory nearest to her seat but found it was occupied.

Thompson then told her the first-class lavatory was unoccupied and escorted her there, investigators said. Before she entered the bathroom, Thompson allegedly told her he needed to wash his hands and that the toilet seat was broken, they said.

After he left, the teen entered the bathroom and she saw red stickers on the underside of the toilet seat lid, which was in the open position, officials said.

Beneath the stickers, Thompson had concealed his iPhone to record a video, investigators said. The girl used her phone to take a picture of the stickers and concealed iPhone before leaving.

Prosecutors also allege hundreds of images of child sexual abuse generated through artificial intelligence were found stored on Thompson’s iCloud account.

Attempted sexual exploitation of children carries a sentence of 15-30 years in prison, while possessing images of sexual abuse of a prepubescent minor can mean up to 20 years in prison.

Both charges also provide for at least five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, a fine of up to $250,000 and restitution.

American Airlines previously issued a statement saying the flight attendant was “immediately withheld from service” and hasn’t worked since the phone was discovered.

A search of Thompson’s iCloud account revealed four additional instances between January and August 2023 in which Thompson recorded a minor using the lavatory on an aircraft, according to investigators.

Those depicted in the recordings were 7, 9, 11 and 14 years old at the time, they said. Their families have been contacted by police, investigators said.

LUPTON, Ariz. (AP) — A freight train carrying fuel derailed and caught fire Friday near the Arizona-New Mexico state line, forcing the closure of an interstate highway that serves as a key trucking route.

Initial passersby posted video and photos on social media of crumpled train cars and billowing, black smoke.

No injuries were reported in the midday train wreck near Lupton, Arizona. BNSF Railway spokesperson Lena Kent said company personnel were on site working to clear the wreckage. Kent said the cause of the derailment is under investigation.

Interstate 40 was closed by authorities in both directions in the area in the early afternoon, directing trucks and motorists off the freeway to alternate routes, New Mexico State Police and the Arizona Department of Public Safety announced.

The train was transporting non-odorous propane and gasoline, and a half-dozen rail cars caught fire and burned for hours after the derailment, New Mexico State Police Lt. Phil Vargas said.

“It looks like they’re just letting those (rail) cars burn themselves out,” Vargas said.

Nearby residences and a truck stop were evacuated as a precaution as winds carried away thick smoke and local firefighting crews responded. The derailment also led Amtrak to cancel some passenger travel, including on the route between Los Angeles and Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Traffic on I-40 backed up for more than 10 miles, though detours were opened on two-lane roads and highways, said Kristine Bustos-Mihelcic, a spokesperson for the New Mexico Department of Transportation. The agency warned Friday evening of an extended highway closure that would increase traffic on other interstate highways, including I-25 and I-10.

The Arizona Corporation Commission that oversees railroad safety said in a social media post on X that 10 rail cars were involved in the derailment and that two were transporting liquid petroleum. The agency said it planned to send a railroad inspector to the site but later learned the derailment happened on the New Mexico side of the tracks.

BALTIMORE (AP) — A wooden cross is laden with Miguel Luna’s personal belongings — his construction uniform and work boots, a family photo, the flag of his native El Salvador — but his body remains missing after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

More than a month has passed since six members of a roadwork crew plunged to their deaths when a container ship lost power and crashed into one of the bridge’s supporting columns. Four bodies have been recovered, but Luna and another worker, Jose Mynor Lopez, have not been found.

They were all Latino immigrants who came to the United States from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. They were fathers and husbands, brothers and grandfathers. They shared a common dream and a determination to achieve it.

In an effort to honor their lives and their work, Baltimore County’s close-knit Latino community has constructed an elaborate memorial near the south end of the bridge. It includes decorated wooden crosses, a painted canvas backdrop, bunches of flowers, candles and a giant modified American flag with six stars — one for each of the men.

A group of mourners gathered at the memorial Friday evening to offer support for the victims’ loved ones and remind the public that even as cleanup efforts proceed on schedule and maritime traffic resumes through the Port of Baltimore, two families have yet to be made whole.

“It is one month, and there’s still two bodies under the water,” said Fernando Sajche, who knew Luna and helped construct the memorial. “We really need some answers.”

Sajche, who immigrated from Guatemala 16 years ago and works in construction himself, said it shouldn’t be lost on anyone that the victims died on the job.

“They’re the people who do the hard work in this country,” Sajche said.

The men were filling potholes on the bridge in the early hours of March 26 when the ship veered off course. A last-minute mayday call from the ship’s pilot allowed police officers to stop traffic to the bridge moments before the collapse, but they didn’t have enough time to alert the workers.

One of the officers who helped block traffic stopped by the vigil Friday and visited briefly with some of Luna’s relatives. He admired the memorial and praised the community’s warm response to an unthinkable tragedy.

Organizers used two cranes to hoist Salvadoran and Guatemalan flags high into the air in honor of Luna and Mynor Lopez.

Marcoin Mendoza, who worked with Luna several years ago as a welder, said Luna came to the U.S. to build a better life for himself and his family, like so many other immigrants.

“Same dream as everybody else,” Mendoza said. “To work hard.”

Luna was especially well-known in his community because his wife has a local food truck specializing in pupusas and other Salvadoran staples. He would often spend his days helping at the food truck and his nights working construction.

As the sun set Friday evening, mourners listened to mariachi music and passed out bowls of soup and beans. They lit candles and prayed together.

Bernardo Vargas, who also helped construct the memorial, said he appreciates being able to do something for the victims’ families.

“I’ll be here every day until they find those two people,” he said.

Standing in front of the memorial’s elaborate painted backdrop, he pointed to a cluster of red handprints made by Luna’s relatives. They stood out among abstract depictions of the bridge collapse and salvage efforts as well as a violent scene from the U.S. southern border that showed a row of armored officers fighting back desperate migrants.

Loved ones left written messages in English and Spanish.

“Here is where everything ends, all your aspirations and all your work. Now rest until the day when the trumpets sound,” someone had written in Spanish. “You will live on in the hearts of your loving family.”

DENVER (AP) — A former Colorado sheriff’s deputy was convicted of a misdemeanor on Friday in the shooting death of a 22-year-old man in distress who had called 911 for help after his car got stuck in a small mountain community.

Andrew Buen was also charged with second-degree murder and official misconduct in the 2022 death of Christian Glass, which drew national attention and prompted calls for police reform focused on crisis intervention. But jurors could not reach a verdict on those charges and only found him guilty of reckless endangerment, which is typically punished by a maximum four months in jail, The Denver Post reported.

A second-degree murder conviction would have carried a sentence of years in prison.

Prosecutors alleged that Buen needlessly escalated a standoff with Glass, who exhibited signs of a mental health crisis. But the defense said Buen shot Glass to protect a fellow officer, which made the shooting legally justified.

A second officer indicted in Glass’ death previously pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor. Six other officers have been charged with failing to intervene.

District Attorney Heidi McCollum still has the option of pursuing the charges against Buen for murder and official misconduct. She said Friday she expects to make a decision in the next couple of weeks.

An attorney for the Glass family said the family would like the prosecution continue.

“The jury found Deputy Buen’s conduct to be criminal,” Siddharta Rathod said. “The jury found Deputy Buen guilty of reckless endangerment. And it is one step closer to getting justice for Christian. Deputy Buen will reface a jury of his peers.”

Glass called for help after his SUV became stuck on a dirt road in Silver Plume. He told a dispatcher he was being followed and made other statements suggesting he was paranoid, hallucinating or delusional, and experiencing a mental health crisis, according to Buen’s indictment.

When Buen and other officers arrived, Glass refused to get out of his vehicle. Officers’ body camera footage showed Glass making heart shapes with his hands to the officers and praying: “Dear Lord, please, don’t let them break the window.”

In closing arguments on Wednesday, prosecutors said Buen decided from the start that Glass needed to get out of the vehicle and shouted commands at him 46 times over about 10 minutes. The prosecution contends Buen did not have any legal justification to force Glass out, not even if it was a suspected case of driving under the influence.

They fired bean bag rounds and shocked him with a Taser, but those attempts failed to make Glass exit. He then took a knife he had offered to surrender at the beginning of the encounter and flung it out a rear window, which was broken by a bean bag, toward another officer, Randy Williams, according to the indictment. At that point, Buen fired five times at Glass.

Glass just reacted after being treated “like an animal in a cage being poked and prodded,” and the knife never touched Williams, District Attorney Heidi McCollum told jurors in closing arguments in Idaho Springs.

Defense lawyer Carrie Slinkard faulted prosecutors for not looking into whether Glass had behavioral or psychological issues that could explain his behavior, whether drugs had played a role, or whether both factors could have contributed.

Glass’ mother, Sally Glass, has previously said her son has depression and had recently been diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. She said he was “having a mental health episode” during his interaction with the police.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Stephen Potts, who described Glass as a “terrified boy,” said it did not matter what prompted the crisis.

“He was in a crisis of some kind,” he said. “Is this how we expect people in crisis to be treated?”

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A retired professional wrestler and former congressional candidate in Nevada and Texas has been indicted on a murder charge in the death of an Idaho man who suffered a head injury during a Halloween Party at a Las Vegas Strip hotel.

Daniel Rodimer, 45, who now lives in Texas, is expected to appear before a Nevada judge May 8 following his indictment Friday in the death of Christopher Tapp.

His defense attorneys, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, said Friday that Rodimer “maintains his complete innocence and looks forward to his day in court.”

Tapp, 47, of Idaho Falls, was injured Oct. 29 at the Resorts World hotel and taken to a hospital, where he died several days later, police said. He had served more than 20 years in prison in Idaho in a 1996 killing before receiving an $11.7 million settlement from Idaho Falls in 2022 in a wrongful conviction lawsuit.

Investigators initially believed Tapp had been fatally injured in a fall, but they later learned that he had been in an argument with Rodimer.

Rodimer, a Republican who lost bids for Congress in Nevada in 2020 and in Texas in 2021, surrendered to Las Vegas police for his arrest March 6 and remains free on a $200,000 bail.