VAN JONES

More families are coming together platonically.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said in an interview with CNN that he will give away the majority of his wealth during his lifetime.

The statistics discussed at the inaugural Global Citizen NOW conference were bleak.

A prominent backer of Republican causes and candidates is notably absent from the conservative political groups backing efforts to ban in schools what they call critical race theory.

The world’s richest man wanted to say thanks to the people who made his brief trip into space Tuesday possible.

A nation following on television and other screens nervously awaited the verdict in case over the killing of George Floyd.

NEW YORK – ABC, CBS and NBC all cut away from President Donald Trump on Thursday as he spoke from the White House to make an unfounded accusation that the presidential election was being stolen from him. Trump was more subdued Thursday, yet offered a litany of complaints about “suppression” polls, mail-in voting and fraud that he never specified. Cordes said there is no indication of a substantive number of illegal votes cast, and said Trump's reference to votes arriving late was “another falsehood.”MSNBC cut away from Trump to anchor Brian Williams. “There are no illegal votes that we know of, there has been no Trump victory that we know of.”After ABC ended its coverage, the network’s White House correspondent, Jonathan Karl, also said there was no evidence of illegal votes. But especially in this election.”While CNN kept Trump on the air, a chyron displayed under him said, “Without any evidence, Trump says he's being cheated.”Anchor Jake Tapper looked weary when it was over.

NEW YORK – “Sesame Street" has always pressed for inclusion. Sesame Workshop — the nonprofit, educational organization behind “Sesame Street” — will later this month air the half-hour anti-racist special "The Power of We” and hopes families will watch together. The special defines racism for younger viewers and shows how it can be hurtful. “Sesame Street,” which last year celebrated its 50th anniversary, has a history of explaining the world to children, tackling everything from foster care to substance abuse. The latest special comes on the heels of “Sesame Street” contributing to “Coming Together: Standing Up To Racism,” a CNN town hall special in June hosted by Van Jones and Erica Hill.

Republicans decided the show must go on and, for the most part, television networks followed. The convention is taking place in the shadow of huge stories that are happening right now, CNN's Anderson Cooper said. Networks, after giving extensive coverage to the Democrats last week, are cognizant of being fair to the Republicans. The president has been showing up every night, the president could talk about it. But former Republican Sen. Rick Santorum, also a CNN contributor, said Republicans were there to try and reelect President Trump and that has to continue to remain their focus.

LOS ANGELES The Democratic and Republican conventions will lack for crowds but not television coverage. The Democratic meeting will be virtual, with Biden planning to make his acceptance speech from Wilmington, Delaware. Broadcast networks ABC, CBS and NBC plan an hour of nightly coverage of the conventions at 10 p.m. EDT. CNN's commentators for the Democratic meeting include Van Jones, Jennifer Granholm, Andrew Yang, and Scott Jennings. Commentary for the Republican convention will be handled by Rick Santorum, David Urban, Amanda Carpenter and Granholm.

This image released by Lionsgate shows co-writer/directors Christopher Renz, left, and Gerard Bush on the set of "Antebellum." Filmmakers Bush and Renz planned to release their feature-length debut film, Antebellum, in the spring of 2020, just as the coronavirus pandemic exploded internationally. In Antebellum, Mone gives moviegoers a modern Black heroine who takes charge of her own liberation without a male-dominated cavalry. Their path to feature-length films with a racial justice message has been a long time coming, Bush and Renz said. Even as they anticipate finding box office success with Antebellum, Bush and Renz are already at work on their second feature-length script, under a newly formed production company, Gloaming Pictures.

Al Sharpton, for the First Step Act reform bill Trump signed into law in 2018 -- but had failed to mention Trump himself. According to The Washington Post, Trump's role in signing the First Step Act was not explicitly mentioned on the show. Conservative media outlets have taken note of Jones' repeated praise of Trump over the law, words for which Jones has received criticism from some liberals. In May, for example, the right-wing Daily Caller quoted Jones saying, "We've got to give Trump credit where credit is due. Jones thanked Sharpton for his support and guidance in a 2018 appearance he made on Sharpton's radio show to discuss the First Step Act.