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It seems a bit unfair to label a regular American this way and not explain why. Here’s the hit piece CNN did on me. How is registering voters “controversial”? I must be doing something right. pic.twitter.com/GC4Pc4WlFn Shouldn't CNN give some reason for tagging Presler with this pejorative? CNN labels Presler "controversial" in chyron but doesn't explain why at any point during this segment. They have the Vice News voiceover but never explain this label throughout the entire segment. https://t.co/2XtE50jOFG Look at @ScottPresler ! Getting cnn's knockers twisted! This is just another way to verify that Scott is doing good things and making a positive difference in the world. Well done, sir! https://t.co/kn4SstqlcP Basically, he's 'controversial' because he is helping the GOP win. Honestly, it's surprising they haven't tried to have him arrested yet. You know, Stacey Abrams not only refused to concede to Brian Kemp, but she then started a get out the vote organization that ended in financial scandal. Not once do I remember CNN describing her as “controversial.” Weird. https://t.co/EGFJCJ2Zhd Say it together now, 'That is (D) Different'! I've been saying it for years: Play the Democrat's game. Organize, influence, bring people into the right, and worm our way back into every institution just like the left. The @GOP could learn a lot from studying their tactics. https://t.co/qdzUTmijos CNN doesn't like that Scott is beating them at their own game. It's not a hit piece it's just... a piece. I appreciated you talking to us and think we had a good conversation https://t.co/9wVlwvoWRc A CNN employee tried to claim the story was neutral. Labeling someone just doing election work a 'provocateur' is hardly being neutral. Sorry, not sorry. You will be in the history books one day. Your story is far from complete! 🇺🇸🫡 @ScottPresler https://t.co/QnVDilN4x8 He helped save the country from the commies. This is actually awesome @ScottPresler !! It’s a “hit” piece, as in you’re certified platinum!! 🙌🏾❤️ https://t.co/3c9BEXwsEr CNN: Scott Pressler registering voters: "controversial", "provocateur" CNN: Bucks County Dem saying they would ignore election law and flout courts: "frustrated" See how they use language to poison the well? Erin Burnett can flap her gums for an entire hour, but her real opinions reside in the chyron. It's not just her opinion. It's the opinion of all of CNN. Any effective modern conservative voice is automatically deemed "controversial". Also, be very aware ... CNN knows Presler is often alone or with just a few people. They are intentionally trying to stir up their Leftist rage machine against him. Scott Pressler is the least controversial figure in politics. God CNN are desperate liars. They won't stop until they make him 'controversial'. It's what they do.Amanda Hernández | (TNS) Stateline.org CHICAGO — Shoplifting rates in the three largest U.S. cities — New York, Los Angeles and Chicago — remain higher than they were before the pandemic, according to a report last month from the nonpartisan research group Council on Criminal Justice. The sharp rise in retail theft in recent years has made shoplifting a hot-button issue, especially for politicians looking to address public safety concerns in their communities. Since 2020, when viral videos of smash-and-grab robberies flooded social media during the COVID-19 pandemic, many Americans have expressed fears that crime is out of control. Polls show that perceptions have improved recently, but a majority of Americans still say crime is worse than in previous years. “There is this sense of brazenness that people have — they can just walk in and steal stuff. ... That hurts the consumer, and it hurts the company,” said Alex Piquero, a criminology professor at the University of Miami and former director of the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, in an interview. “That’s just the world we live in,” he said. “We need to get people to realize that you have to obey the law.” At least eight states — Arizona, California, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, New York and Vermont — passed a total of 14 bills in 2024 aimed at tackling retail theft, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The measures range from redefining retail crimes and adjusting penalties to allowing cross-county aggregation of theft charges and protecting retail workers. Major retailers have responded to rising theft since 2020 by locking up merchandise, upgrading security cameras, hiring private security firms and even closing stores. Still, the report indicates that shoplifting remains a stubborn problem. In Chicago, the rate of reported shoplifting incidents remained below pre-pandemic levels throughout 2023 — but surged by 46% from January to October 2024 compared with the same period a year ago. Shoplifting in Los Angeles was 87% higher in 2023 than in 2019. Police reports of shoplifting from January to October 2024 were lower than in 2023. Los Angeles adopted a new crime reporting system in March 2024, which has likely led to an undercount, according to the report. In New York, shoplifting rose 48% from 2021 to 2022, then dipped slightly last year. Still, the shoplifting rate was 55% higher in 2023 than in 2019. This year, the shoplifting rate increased by 3% from January to September compared with the same period last year. While shoplifting rates tend to rise in November and December, which coincides with in-person holiday shopping, data from the Council on Criminal Justice’s sample of 23 U.S. cities shows higher rates in the first half of 2024 compared with 2023. Researchers found it surprising that rates went up despite retailers doing more to fight shoplifting. Experts say the spike might reflect improved reporting efforts rather than a spike in theft. “As retailers have been paying more attention to shoplifting, we would not expect the numbers to increase,” said Ernesto Lopez, the report’s author and a senior research specialist with the council. “It makes it a challenge to understand the trends of shoplifting.” In downtown Chicago on a recent early afternoon, potential shoppers shuffled through the streets and nearby malls, browsing for gifts ahead of the holidays. Edward Johnson, a guard at The Shops at North Bridge, said that malls have become quieter in the dozen or so years he has worked in mall security, with the rise of online retailers. As for shoplifters, Johnson said there isn’t a single type of person to look out for — they can come from any background. “I think good-hearted people see something they can’t afford and figure nothing is lost if they take something from the store,” Johnson said as he patrolled the mall, keeping an eye out for lost or suspicious items. Between 2018 and 2023, most shoplifting in Chicago was reported in the downtown area, as well as in the Old Town, River North and Lincoln Park neighborhoods, according to a separate analysis by the Council on Criminal Justice. Newly sworn-in Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke this month lowered the threshold for charging retail theft as a felony in the county, which includes Chicago, from $1,000 to $300, aligning it with state law. “It sends a signal that she’s taking it seriously,” Rob Karr, the president and CEO of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, told Stateline. Nationally, retailers are worried about organized theft. The National Retail Federation’s latest report attributed 36% of the $112.1 billion in lost merchandise in 2022 to “external theft,” which includes organized retail crime. Organized retail crime typically involves coordinated efforts by groups to steal items with the intent to resell them for a profit. Commonly targeted goods include high-demand items such as baby formula, laundry detergent and electronics. The same report found that retailers’ fear of violence associated with theft also is on the rise, with more retailers taking a “hands-off approach.” More than 41% of respondents to the organization’s 2023 survey, up from 38% in 2022, reported that no employee is authorized to try and stop a shoplifter. (The federation’s reporting has come under criticism. It retracted a claim last year that attributed nearly half of lost merchandise in 2021 to organized retail crime; such theft accounted for only about 5%. The group announced this fall it will no longer publish its reports on lost merchandise.) Policy experts say shoplifting and organized retail theft can significantly harm critical industries, drive up costs for consumers and reduce sales tax revenue for states. Those worries have driven recent state-level action to boost penalties for shoplifting. California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a package of 10 bills into law in August aimed at addressing retail theft. These measures make repeated theft convictions a felony, allow aggregation of crimes across multiple counties to be charged as a single felony, and permit police to arrest suspects for retail theft even if the crime wasn’t witnessed directly by an officer. In September, Newsom signed an additional bill that imposes steeper felony penalties for large-scale theft offenses. California voters also overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure in November that increases penalties for specific drug-related and theft crimes. Under the new law, people who are convicted of theft at least twice may face felony charges on their third offense, regardless of the stolen item’s value. “With these changes in the law, really it comes down to making sure that law enforcement is showing up to our stores in a timely manner, and that the prosecutors and the [district attorneys] are prosecuting,” Rachel Michelin, the president and CEO of the California Retailers Association, told Stateline. “That’s the only way we’re going to deter retail theft in our communities.” In New Jersey, a bipartisan bill making its way through the legislature would increase penalties for leading a shoplifting ring and allow extended sentences for repeat offenders. “This bill is going after a formally organized band of criminals that deliver such destruction to a critical business in our community. We have to act. We have to create a deterrence,” Democratic Assemblymember Joseph Danielsen, one of the bill’s prime sponsors, said in an interview with Stateline. The legislation would allow extended sentences for people convicted of shoplifting three times within 10 years or within 10 years of their release from prison, and would increase penalties to 10 to 20 years in prison for leading a retail crime ring. The bill also would allow law enforcement to aggregate the value of stolen goods over the course of a year to charge serial shoplifters with more serious offenses. Additionally, the bill would increase penalties for assaults committed against retail workers, and would require retailers to train employees on detecting gift card scams. Maryland legislators considered a similar bill during this year’s legislative session that would have defined organized retail theft and made it a felony. The bill didn’t make it out of committee, but Cailey Locklair, president of the Maryland Retailers Alliance, said the group plans to propose a bill during next year’s legislative session that would target gift card fraud. Better, more thorough reporting from retailers is essential to truly understanding shoplifting trends and its full impact, in part because some retail-related crimes, such as gift card fraud, are frequently underreported, according to Lopez, of the Council on Criminal Justice. Measuring crime across jurisdictions is notoriously difficult , and the council does not track organized retail theft specifically because law enforcement typically doesn’t identify it as such at the time of arrest — if an arrest even occurs — requiring further investigation, Lopez said. The council’s latest report found conflicting trends in the FBI’s national crime reporting systems. The FBI’s older system, the Summary Reporting System, known as SRS, suggests that reported shoplifting hadn’t gone up through 2023, remaining on par with 2019 levels. In contrast, the FBI’s National Incident-Based Reporting System, or NIBRS, shows a 93% increase in shoplifting over the same period. The discrepancy may stem from the type of law enforcement agencies that have adopted the latter system, Lopez said. Some of those communities may have higher levels of shoplifting or other types of property crime, which could be what is driving the spike, Lopez said. Despite the discrepancies and varying levels of shoplifting across the country, Lopez said, it’s important for retailers to report these incidents, as doing so could help allocate law enforcement resources more effectively. “All law enforcement agencies have limited resources, and having the most accurate information allows for not just better policy, but also better implementation — better use of strategic resources,” Lopez said. Stateline staff writer Robbie Sequeira contributed to this report. ©2024 States Newsroom. Visit at stateline.org. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday insisted at a meeting with US President-elect Donald Trump that any settlement with Russia after its invasion of Ukraine had to be "just", as fears grow in Kyiv on the position of the incoming administration. President Emmanuel Macron hosted three-way talks with Zelensky and Trump at the Elysee Palace, discussing what the incoming American president had termed a world that was a "little crazy". Hours after their meeting, the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden announced a new $988 million military assistance package for Ukraine. The package features drones, ammunition for precision HIMARS rocket launchers, and equipment and spare parts for artillery systems, tanks and armoured vehicles, the Pentagon said in a statement. Zelensky's meeting with Trump just before the three men headed to Notre Dame for the re-opening ceremony of the great Paris cathedral was his first face-to-face encounter with tycoon-turned-politician since his election victory. The meeting was of huge importance to Zelensky, given fears in Kyiv that Trump, who once boasted he could end Russia's war on Ukraine in 24 hours, may urge Ukraine to make concessions to Moscow. It also offered a unique chance for Macron to gain insights into how a second Trump presidency will look when he takes office in January. The trip to Paris is Trump's first international visit since his November 5 election win. "We all want peace. But it is very important for us... that the peace is just for all of us and that Russia, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin or any other aggressor has no possibility of ever returning," Zelensky said according to the presidential website. "And this is the most important thing -- a just peace and security guarantees, strong security guarantees for Ukraine," he added. Trump has scoffed at the billions of dollars in US military assistance to Ukraine and has spoken of forcing a quick settlement. But Zelensky also thanked Trump for his "unwavering resolve" describing the talks as "good and productive". Trump and Macron embraced and shook hands several times on the steps of the French presidential palace, with Trump given a full guard of honour despite not yet being in office. "It seems like the world is going a little crazy right now and we will be talking about that," Trump told reporters as he prepared to sit down for the talks with Macron. Despite tensions between the two men during his first term, Trump hailed his ties with the centrist French leader, saying: "We had a great relationship as everyone knows. We accomplished a lot." Macron told Trump it was "a great honour for French people to welcome you" for the re-opening ceremony at Notre Dame, which was devastated by a blaze in 2019 during Trump's first term. "You were president at that time and I remember the solidarity and the immediate reaction," Macron added, speaking in English. When he first took office in 2017, Trump's ties with Macron -- then also a fresh face on the world stage -- began warmly despite their obvious political differences. Their long and muscular handshakes -- which saw each man seek to assert his superiority -- became a light-hearted focus of attention before ties cooled, then soured, following disputes about climate change, trade and defence. Trump earlier wrote on his Truth Social platform that the United States should "not get involved" in the situation in Syria, where fast-moving rebel forces say they have begun to encircle the capital Damascus. The Republican's return to power has rung alarms in Paris and many European capitals after his promises on the campaign trail to force an end to fighting in Ukraine and levy tariffs on trading partners. In his own reaction to the discussions, Macron wrote on social media: "Let us continue our joint efforts for peace and security." European allies have largely enjoyed a close working relationship with Biden on the crisis in the Middle East, but Trump is likely to distance himself and ally the United States even more closely with Israel. In a sign of the importance of Trump's one-day trip to Paris, he was accompanied by his pick for White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles, as well as his Near East and Middle East advisors, Steve Witkoff and Massad Boulos, according to a guest list issued by the Elysee Palace. Tesla tycoon and Trump advisor Elon Musk, who was also on the line during a phone call between the incoming president and Zelensky last month, also flew into the French capital was present at the Notre Dame ceremony. sjw/adp/jj