Shawna Thomas
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MS NOW Political Director. Weird right?
Former CBS Mornings' "big cheese boss."
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TV isn't Magic.
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Articles by Shawna Thomas
Maine Gov. Janet Mills issues muted endorsement of Troy Jackson — after last-minute effort to lock arms fell through
WESTBROOK, Maine – Maine Gov. Janet Mills on Thursday finally endorsed fellow Democrat Troy Jackson in his race against Republican Sen. Susan Collins, her first public show of support for the former Maine Senate president, with whom she clashed when Jackson led the chamber. “I encourage Maine people to vote for Democrats up and down the ballot who will stand up for our values and stand up to Trump,” Mills wrote on X, indicating that she had voted for Jackson at her early voting site on Thursday.
‘Most potent weapon’: Obama arrives to boost Democrats in battlegrounds
Democrats are hoping Barack Obama — their “closer in chief” — still has the magic. The former president is spending Saturday rallying with the Democrats’ Senate and gubernatorial candidates in Cleveland and Detroit before heading south to Atlanta on Wednesday. And elected officials inside his party are breathing a sigh of relief, welcoming his blitz just 10 days before Election Day, with everything seemingly at stake.
El-Sayed says a Netanyahu loss may not change his view of Israel
MARQUETTE, Mich. — Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic U.S. Senate nominee in Michigan, signaled Thursday that he would question Israel’s status as an ally of the United States no matter who wins Israel’s elections later this month. Asked during an interview with MS NOW whether his objections were to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government or to the state of Israel itself, El-Sayed suggested his opposition went further than current leadership.
‘He’s going to be there two years, and then he’s gone’: Mike Rogers’s Trump tightrope
STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. — On the eve of the first debate in Michigan’s marquee Senate race, Mike Rogers released an ad saying “we need to end this tariff war now.” Two days later, he toured a manufacturing facility to tout the benefits it has seen from President Donald Trump’s tariff policy. That night, at a barn party in Highland, Mich., he was asked whether the tariffs on Canada had been a net positive or a net negative for Michigan. “I think overall positive,” he responded.
‘It’s time for a change’: Susan Collins split-ticketers seem to move on
TOPSHAM, Maine — In 2014, Republican Sen. Susan Collins won 39% of Maine’s Democratic voters, according to exit polls. In 2020, she won 13% — still enough to hold her seat in a state President Donald Trump lost that same year. This week, a Suffolk University poll put her support among Democrats at just 5%. Outside early-voting sites last week, some of those Democratic-leaning voters who once backed Collins said they were now supporting the Democrat in the race, former state Sen. Troy Jackson.
Ohio early in-person voting nearly quadruples from 2022 midterms
Ohio’s early in-person voting has drawn nearly four times as many voters as it did at the same point in the 2022 midterm elections, according to data from the Ohio secretary of state’s office. Roughly 195,000 Ohioans have cast early in-person ballots on the fifth day of early voting, compared with just over 50,000 at the same point in 2022.
Democrats feel good about November. The 2028 map is another story.
Buoyed by a string of encouraging polls, Democrats have grown more confident about the outcome of next month’s midterm elections. But the 2028 map is another story. In the seven states most likely to decide the next presidential race, a generic Democrat and a generic Republican are tied at 45%, with 10% of voters undecided, according to new polling from Project 270, a newly launched independent Democratic research initiative.
‘I can agree with the president without worshipping him’: Inside the GOP’s debate-stage Trump dance
Republicans in tight races have settled on a debate-stage formula for dealing with President Donald Trump as his popularity with the voting public wanes: Distance themselves from his policies when the politics demand it, but never take on the man himself. An AP-NORC poll released Oct. 1 put Trump’s approval rating at 31%, the lowest of either of his terms, and found that 69% of Americans do not think the Iran war has been worth fighting.
Too Trumpy vs. too liberal? Iowa’s Senate candidates set to debate which label fits
JOHNSTON, Iowa — The Iowa Senate candidates are set to debate for the first time on Wednesday night, and operatives on both sides of the aisle expect a contentious exchange. It’s all about which candidate can be painted as too Trumpy or too liberal with less than one month left until Election Day in one of the most consequential Senate races in the nation. Democratic candidate Josh Turek is expected to target GOP Rep.
Everyone in this small town in Maine knows Troy Jackson. That’s not the same as supporting him.
ALLAGASH, Maine — When the pandemic kept much of the world indoors, Troy Jackson came out of lockdown to officiate Ronnie Pelletier’s wedding. This fall, Pelletier plans to vote for Republican Sen. Susan Collins. In Jackson’s hometown of 234 people, deep in the northern Maine wilderness, nearly everyone knows the Democrat challenging Collins for her Senate seat, and that familiarity cuts both ways. To some of his neighbors, Jackson is the rare politician who is truly one of them.
‘I feel hoodwinked’: In red states, some of Trump’s former supporters turn on the president
When Greg Mizell voted for Donald Trump in 2024, he didn’t ask for much. “Good economy, no wars,” the 72-year-old told MS NOW in Clewiston, Florida. “Simple.” Now, he says, he feels “hoodwinked.” “Broken promises, broken expectations,” Mizell said. Republicans and independents in historically red parts of the country echoed his disillusionment in recent interviews with MS NOW, speaking openly about how a president they once voted for had let them down. “He does what he wants to,” said one.
‘I’m voting with my anger’: Cuts to polling places spark backlash in a GOP-run Texas county
Angry, hurt and targeted. That’s how voters in some of Tarrant County’s heavily Black, Hispanic and low-income neighborhoods said they feel after learning that polling places in their communities are being cut. “I’m voting with my anger this November,” said Patrick Banta, 50, who said he has put political signs in his yard for the first time, all of them for Democrats.
‘Mississippi has to matter’: One Democrat’s quest to flip the Deep South
District Attorney Scott Colom believes he can become Mississippi’s first Democratic senator in nearly 45 years. His confidence, he told MS NOW, comes down to math. In 2023, Democrat Brandon Presley came within 27,000 votes — less than three percentage points — of unseating Gov. Tate Reeves. Two years later, Democrats broke a supermajority in the state Senate by flipping two seats in newly drawn, majority-Black districts following court-ordered special elections.
Food or heat: Alaska’s Senate race turns on the price of fuel
PALMER, Alaska — Jean Oldham had just put $6-a-gallon gas into a small sedan, and she was doing the math out loud. “It was, like, a lot of money,” Oldham said. “And I’m like, this is just a little car, you know? What happens if you’re driving one of those monster trucks?” Those big rigs run on diesel, which costs more still — driving up the price of pretty much everything they haul into Alaska.
House Democrats expand the map — and the definition of a Democrat
With less than 50 days until Election Day, House Democrats are once again adding more candidates to their top recruits list — including, notably, one who is not a Democrat. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on Tuesday is announcing the additions to its “Red to Blue” program, which gives candidates access to strategic guidance, staffing and fundraising help. The additions were shared first with MS NOW.
New Hampshire votes today in a Senate race Democrats no longer feel is safe
Democrats spent this cycle expanding the Senate map deep into Republican territory — Texas, Ohio, Iowa, Alaska. Now, eight weeks from Election Day, the surprise is running the other direction, too: New Hampshire, which hasn’t had a close Senate race since Donald Trump was first elected president, is suddenly on the map. Tuesday’s primaries are expected to set the matchup. Democratic Rep.
Why MS NOW rates the Texas Senate race a toss-up
Since the dust settled on the Texas primaries — including a late May runoff — the Senate race there has looked competitive. Democratic state Rep. James Talarico and Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton have been close in the polls, but Texas’ recent electoral history led us to give the GOP the edge for most of the summer, even with Paxton being a weaker nominee than the incumbent he ousted in the primary with President Donald Trump’s help, Sen. John Cornyn.
House Democrats add five more candidates to ‘Red to Blue’ list
As the Iran war grinds past the six-month mark, House Democrats are betting that candidates with military credentials will help them win back the majority — adding three veterans, including a former Navy admiral fired by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, to their list of top recruits Thursday.
Abdul El-Sayed turns toward Michigan’s general election after a bruising primary
It is the first full week of Abdul El-Sayed’s run for the Senate, and there is no rest. Shaking off the exhaustion he acknowledged at the end of a grueling primary campaign and wearing a suit and tie instead of his usual black V-neck T-shirt, he made his first stop on two Sunday morning TV appearances. He found himself answering questions emerging from the right about his “radical” politics that some paint as “dangerous,” which gave the new Democratic nominee an opportunity to workshop a response.
What El-Sayed’s primary win in Michigan means for the Democratic left
Abdul El-Sayed was vastly outspent. He didn’t have the backing of the Senate’s top Democrat and has lost in a statewide primary before. He ran a starkly progressive campaign in a state Donald Trump won narrowly two years ago. In short, by the party’s own traditional measure of electability he had no business winning. El-Sayed entered Wednesday as Michigan’s likely Senate Democratic nominee after a contentious primary with Rep. Haley Stevens.
Wisconsin Democrats face choice that could echo into 2028
In 2022, Mandela Barnes lost to a Republican the Wisconsin Democratic Party called the worst senator in the country. Now, he is trying to stand out in a crowded primary in which a democratic socialist could become the party’s nominee for governor. “The thing is, this race [has] gotten a little nutty,” Barnes told MS NOW in an interview — a field reshaped in its closing weeks by dropouts, controversy and the rise of state Rep. Francesca Hong, a democratic socialist, as a potential front-runner.
Troy Jackson shows strong small-dollar numbers in first day as Senate nominee
Troy Jackson, the newly minted Democratic Senate nominee in Maine, raised roughly $2 million from about 30,000 donors in the first 24 hours after his nomination Saturday, according to figures his campaign shared Sunday night. It’s an early surge of small-dollar cash for a candidate many in his own party had dismissed as a lackluster fundraiser.
Republican congressional incumbent swats at Democratic tracker’s phone
For members of Congress, trackers — staffers from the opposing party that are paid to follow their every move both on and off Capitol Hill — are a part of life. Typically, the interactions are tame. A tracker will follow them with a cellphone camera while often asking pointed questions, hoping to catch them in an inopportune moment. The lawmaker may put their phone to their ear. Sometimes they’ll engage in a brief back and forth or take issue with the questions the tracker is peppering them with.
Election deniers sweep Arizona’s GOP primaries: 3 takeaways from a key battleground state
Arizona Republicans nominated a slate of 2020 election deniers for the three offices that will oversee the state’s vote in 2028 — a result that turns a set of primaries few were watching into a general election that could matter enormously. Arizona hasn’t quite drawn the national attention this cycle that states with marquee Senate races have — its primaries were comparatively sleepy. But its general election will be closely watched.
With his nomination all but secured, Troy Jackson begins march to try to defeat Susan Collins
This week was supposed to decide Maine’s Democratic Senate nominee. Instead, after former state Sen. Troy Jackson all but cleared the field over the weekend, it has become the unofficial start of the general election against Republican Sen. Susan Collins. Over a two-day marathon of county meetings, Democratic voters chose the roughly 500 delegates who will select the nominee at a hastily arranged convention this weekend.
Surprise $10,000 Scholarships Bring Real Meaning to Houston's Paying It Forward Gala
Board president Carlos Lewis at the Linda Lorelle Scholarship Fund 'Paying It Forward' gala. (Photo by Jacob Power) Doug & Winelle Herron, Linda Lorelle, Jamila Ryans at the Linda Lorelle Scholarship Fund 'Paying It Forward' gala. (Photo by Jacob Power) CBS Mornings executive producer Shawna Thomas at the Linda Lorelle Scholarship Fund 'Paying It Forward' gala.
New Year's celebrations affected by COVID-19 for a second year
New Year’s celebrations affected by COVID-19 for a second year – CBS News Watch CBSN Live The U.S. begins 2022 with record-high new coronavirus cases. The nation reported more than 2 million new cases over the past seven days, beating the previous record of 1.7 million set last January. CBS News reporter Alexander Tin gives Bradley Blackburn an update on CBSN. View CBS News In Free America Network Articles Search FAN Search for: WATCH LIVE! Previous FAN Live! Videos Have An Article?
Does the race of your therapist matter?
Between the COVID-19 pandemic, the racial reckoning playing out in the streets and a political atmosphere that seems on the verge of tearing our country apart, it makes sense that commercials for meditation apps and virtual counseling services are becoming ubiquitous. At least that’s what I’ve seen in my social feeds. My algorithm got the message before I did, but as someone who has seen therapists off and on since my 20s, I knew I had reached the point where I needed to seek out some help.
Swalwell says Trump is a "bad kid in the White House"
© CBS News screen-shot-2019-05-05-at-11-11-22-am.png Referencing his parenting of two young children, California Rep. Eric Swalwell, one of the nearly two dozen Democrats seeking the party's presidential nomination, called President Trump a "really bad kid," but stopped short of supporting impeachment proceedings to remove him from office.
Mueller testify: Trump says special counsel Robert Mueller shouldn't testify before Congress
President Trump said Sunday that Special Counsel Robert Mueller should not to testify before Congress — reversing his position from days ago, when he said he'd defer to Attorney General William Barr. Across two tweets, Mr. Trump wrote, "why would the Democrats in Congress now need Robert Mueller...to testify. Are they looking for a redo because they hated seeing the strong NO COLLUSION conclusion?" Mr. Trump added, "Bob Mueller should not testify.
Deadly plane emergency landing today: 13 killed after Sukhoi SSJ100 operated by Aeroflot lands in Moscow, Russia
Plane makes fiery emergency landing Thirteen people, including two children, were killed Sunday in a fiery airplane accident at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport, a spokeswoman for the Russian Investigative Committee said. The Sukhoi SSJ100 operated by national airline Aeroflot had 73 passengers and five crew members on board when it touched down and sped down a runway spewing huge flames and black smoke. Six others were injured.
Biden raises more than $100,000 at South Carolina fundraiser
Columbia, S.C. — Former Vice President Joe Biden's campaign raised more than $100,000 Saturday night at a fundraiser that brought together the upper echelon of South Carolina Democratic politics, an informed source told CBS News. The fundraiser was organized and hosted by state Sen. Richard "Dick" Harpootlian, a former state party chairman and one of the state's most influential powerbrokers. Among those in attendance were Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin; state Sen.
Full transcript of "Face the Nation" on May 5, 2019
On this "Face the Nation" broadcast moderated by Margaret Brennan: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (read more) Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. (read more) Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga. (read more) Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif. (read more) Panelists: Byron York, Shawna Thomas, Michael Crowley, and Rachael Bade (watch) Click here to browse full transcripts of "Face the Nation." MARGARET BRENNAN: It's Sunday, May 5th. I'm Margaret Brennan. And this is FACE THE NATION.
Face The Nation: Byron York, Shawna Thomas, Rachael Bade, Michael Crowley
We live, work and play right here in North Mississippi. We are your neighbors. We celebrate community and we tell your stories. We are the most trusted source for local news.
'Face The Nation' Panel: Did Barr Lie Under Oath? Would Impeachment Be A Waste Of Time?
CBS's "Face the Nation" host Margaret Brennan hosts Byron York, Shawna Thomas, Rachael Bade, and Michael Crowley for a panel discussion on the Mueller report investigation and presidential impeachment. Show comments Hide Comments
Biden attends services at South Carolina church, where voters say they want a fighter
West Columbia, S.C. — At a private fundraiser in South Carolina on Saturday, former Vice President Joe Biden gave President Trump a nickname of his own: "Clown." On Sunday morning, congregants at the early service at the Brookland Baptist Church here said they're looking for a Democrat who is strong enough to take on Mr. Trump in the general election.
Face The Nation: Byron York, Shawna Thomas, Rachael Bade, Michael Crowley
Watch CBSN Live Face The Nation: Byron York, Shawna Thomas, R... Copyright © 2019 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved.
Donald Trump Still in the Lead After Debates: New NBC News/SurveyMonkey Poll
If Donald Trump's comments about Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly are hurting his standing in the Republican primary, it's not showing in the numbers. According to the latest NBC News Online Poll conducted by SurveyMonkey, Trump is at the top of the list of GOP candidates that Republican primary voters would cast a ballot for if the primary were being held right now. The overnight poll was conducted for 24 hours from Friday evening into Saturday.
Most Americans are hourly workers
2/17: MoneyWatch Whether by choice or necessity, millions of Americans punch a clock every day. According to the latest Labor Department data, more than 78 million Americans -- or nearly 59 percent of the U.S. workforce -- are now paid on an hourly basis.
Obamas share tough love, inspiration with black graduates
This past Sunday President Barack Obama used the power of the bully pulpit during his commencement address at Morehouse College in Atlanta. In a speech at the historically black, all-male college, the president had some tough love for the 500 or so men seated in front of him. First, he heaped praise on the class of 2013. “Your generation is uniquely poised for success, unlike any generation of African-Americans that came before it,” he said.
Kaine on Emails: Clinton and I Will Be 'Real Transparent'
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press" and found himself having to answer questions about former Sec. Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server. Questions that he and Clinton will continue to face, especially since the former Secretary of State seems to raise more questions every time she gives an answer on the topic.
Hillary Clinton Questions Trump's 'Level of Success'
Former Sec. Hillary Clinton may have just unveiled her general campaign slogan or, at the least, her campaign's guiding principle. When asked on NBC's "Meet the Press" what the "big idea" of her candidacy is she replied, "Look, we are stronger together. We are stronger together, in facing our internal challenges and our external ones." She then went on to repeat the phrase "stronger together" three more times. In fairness, "stronger together" is not a completely new theme.
Donald Trump 'Blindsided' by Ryan Comments
Donald Trump says he was "blindsided" by House Speaker Paul Ryan's recent comments that he is "just not ready" to support the presumptive Republican nominee. In an interview with NBC News's Chuck Todd, Trump explained, "I like Paul Ryan. I think he's a very good guy. He called me three weeks ago, and he was so supportive. It was amazing. And I never thought a thing like this. I got blindsided by this." Ryan "couldn't have been nicer" during their conversation, according to Trump.
CIA chief on ISIS: Not just an organization, 'it's a phenomenon'
with NBC’s Chuck Todd on “Meet the Press”. In a wide-ranging interview, Brennan soberly discussed the threat of ISIS, dismissed allegations of Saudi Arabia’s role in 9/11, and reacted to Donald Trump and the current political climate in the country. On the fifth anniversary of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency On the threat of ISIS, Brennan assured viewers, “We will destroy [ISIS], I have no doubt in my mind.
Bernie Sanders Acknowledges 'Narrow Path' to Nomination
Are we getting the first preview of what a Bernie Sanders exit interview could look like? The Vermont senator seemed to have a more resigned tone on Sunday during an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press." Sanders conceded his campaign has only a "narrow path to victory" but that they would "fight…through that path.
Gov. McCrory Stands Behind Parts of North Carolina's 'Bathroom Law'
Heated debate, protests and boycotts over North Carolina’s controversial law, which some consider discriminatory towards members of the LGBT community, has not changed the North Carolina Governor’s mind on one of the key provisions in the law that restricts transgender people from using the bathroom of the gender they identify as.
George Clooney on Fundraisers: The Money in Politics Is 'Ridiculous'
George Clooney may be helping Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton raise millions for her campaign and for her party this weekend — but he agrees with her rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders, on one point. Sanders has criticized such fundraisers as "obscene." When asked by "Meet the Press" moderator Chuck Todd to respond to Sanders' criticism of the fundraisers he is holding for Clinton, the actor and activist responded, "Yes. I think it's an obscene amount of money ...
Nine Guantanamo Bay detainees transferred to Saudi Arabia: Pentagon
Nine detainees from the Guantanamo Bay detention center have been transferred to the government of Saudi Arabia, the Pentagon announced Saturday. Department of Defense officials told NBC News all nine are from Yemen. Among the nine being transferred is Tariq Ali Abdullah Ba Odah, who has been approved for transfer since 2009 and has been on a hunger strike since 2007. As of July 2015, he weighed 74 pounds and was regularly force-fed.
Trump's New Right-Hand Man Accuses Cruz Campaign of 'Gestapo Tactics'
In his first Sunday show interview since taking on an expanded role in Donald Trump’s campaign, Paul Manafort was quick to raise questions about the tactics Sen. Ted Cruz’ campaign is using to secure delegates. After being asked whether threatening delegates is fair game in the hunt for the 1,237 required to secure the republican nomination, Manafort responded, “It’s not my style, and it’s not Donald Trump’s style.
John Kasich: 'Families have to be off-limits'
Slowly, it appears as though the other Republican candidates in the presidential race are distancing themselves from supporting Donald Trump if he wins the nomination. On NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday, Gov. John Kasich said that every day he reviews whether he could support Trump as the nominee. “We’re going to look at it every single day, and we’ll see what happens. We’ve got a long way to go. And I don’t want to project that he’s going to be the nominee. I don’t think he will be.
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