Denise Royal

CNN's Carlos Suarez looks at the state of the book banning spree in Florida, where one school district has resorted to altering children's books.

Viera, Florida CNN —
In Florida, where the right-wing Moms for Liberty group was born in response to Covid-19 school closures and mask mandates, the first Brevard County School Board meeting of the new year considered whether two bestselling novels – “The Kite Runner” and “Slaughterhouse-Five” – should be banned from schools.
A lone Moms for Liberty supporter sat by herself at the January 23 meeting, where opponents of the book ban outnumbered her.
Nearly 20 speakers voiced opposition to remo...

Today's key hearings: Two of Donald Trump’s criminal cases — the Georgia election subversion case and Mar-a-Lago classified documents case — faced pivotal hearings today. Trump is the first former US president to face criminal charges, and with his third presidential bid underway, the stakes are high.

In Georgia: A judge heard final arguments on whether Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should be removed from the Georgia election subversion case after Trump and his co-defendants all...

CNN —
Two Florida chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine remain active, despite Gov. Ron DeSantis asserting during Wednesday night’s GOP presidential primary debate that he had deactivated them.
According to State University of Florida Chancellor Ray Rodrigues, both SJP chapters said they are not chartered by the national organization that faces scrutiny from the DeSantis administration.
During the debate, DeSantis acknowledged the controversy surrounding the student organizations, but...

Dearborn, Michigan CNN —
In 2020, Eman Hammoud was one of thousands of Michigan Muslims who helped President Joe Biden beat Donald Trump. A month ago, the Palestinian American immigration lawyer had no doubts she would support his campaign again in 2024.
But over the last few weeks, she’s watched the Biden administration offer unwavering support to Israel after it declared war on Hamas following the Palestinian militant group’s deadly October 7 attack, with no red lines for Israel and no call...

West Palm Beach, Florida CNN —
A plumber, a maid, a chauffeur and a woodworker are among Mar-a-Lago staffers and contract workers who federal prosecutors may call to testify against former President Donald Trump and his two co-defendants at their upcoming criminal trial in Florida, according to multiple people familiar with the investigation.
CNN has assembled a comprehensive picture of how prosecutors are structuring their case against Trump over his mishandling of classified documents found...

Sarasota, Florida CNN —
Months after what critics have decried as a conservative takeover at New College of Florida, students and professors say a sense of confusion and anxiety looms over the start of fall semester in Sarasota, Florida.
Amy Reid, a member of the school’s Board of Trustees, said course options have dwindled after nearly 40% of faculty members have resigned.
Reid said the situation is quickly becoming “untenable.”
“Just before I came to this meeting, I received word that one m...

Lionel Messi makes a splash as he joins Inter Miami CF.

Protesters marched against Florida's Black history education standards that require lessons that include "how slaves developed skill which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit." CNN's Carlos Suarez reports on the backlash.

Tricia Cotham, whose recent defection from the Democratic Party handed their opponents a super majority, is surrounded by fellow Republicans in North Carolina's House of Representatives before it approved the SB20 bill limiting most abortions to the first trimester of pregnancy, a sharp drop from the state's current limit of 20 weeks gestation, at the State Capitol in Raleigh, North Carolina, May 3, 2023.
CNN —
North Carolina’s Republican-controlled state Senate on Thursday passed legislation...

CNN —
Two juveniles have been arrested and a third is being sought in connection with the recent shooting deaths of three area teenagers in the Central Florida community, Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods said Friday.
Investigators believe that the victims were involved with burglaries and robberies, and both the victims and the suspects were allegedly affiliated with criminal gangs, Woods said.
Robert Le’Andrew Robinson, 17, and Christopher De’l Atkins, 12, have been arrested and charged wit...

CNN —
A Florida man who served three decades behind bars for a murder he says he didn’t commit returned to prison Monday after spending the past two years building a life outside prison walls.
Since his conditional release in 2021 amid appeals, Crosley Green, 65, had held a job at a machine grafting facility, attended church and spent time with his grandchildren. He even fell in love.
“I’ve been with this man for two years,” his fiancée, Kathy Spikes, told CNN. “To not be able to have a 5 o’c...

The Fort Lauderdale airport reopened Friday morning, after monumental flooding wreaked havoc on the South Florida city and surrounding communities, closing schools and government buildings, and sending hundreds of residents to emergency shelters.
Many streets turned into lakes across Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday and Thursday when a historic volume of rain exceeding 2 feet inundated the coastal city. The flooding shut down the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport for about 40 hours....

Fort Lauderdale, Florida CNN —
Fort Lauderdale and other communities across southeast Florida are working to get life back to normal after monumental flooding wreaked havoc on the area, closing transportation hubs, schools and government offices.
During the peak of Wednesday’s torrential barrages, a month’s worth of rain fell in just one hour. Many of Fort Lauderdale’s streets turned into lakes when rain exceeding 2 feet inundated the coastal city.
Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue crews on Thursda...

CNN —
Close relatives of former US President Jimmy Carter are remaining by his side as he receives hospice care at his home in Georgia, a family member told CNN Friday.
“It’s his kids and grandkids up there,” LeAnne Smith, a niece of Carter’s wife, Rosalynn, told CNN.
Carter, who turned 98 last year, became the oldest living US president in history after the passing of George H.W. Bush, who died in late 2018 at 94. Carter’s family announced Saturday the former president was entering hospice c...