Sen. Bernie Sanders on Saturday returned to Brooklyn, his birthplace, for the first rally of his second presidential campaign and sought to tie his working-class background to his populist views that are helping reshape the Democratic Party.
He predicted he would win the nomination in a field of now-double digit rivals and then defeat President Donald Trump, "the most dangerous president in modern American history."
After falling short in 2016 against Hillary Clinton, the Vermont independent told supporters at a rally at Brooklyn College, which he once attended, that his campaign is saying "loudly and clearly that the underlying principles of our government will not be greed, hatred and lies. It will not be racism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia and religious bigotry. That is going to end."
Sanders pledged to fight for "economic justice, social justice, racial justice and environmental justice."
He had begun his 2016 campaign in Vermont, which he has represented in the Senate for nearly two decades. But this time, as he tries to showcase more of his personal story, Sanders kicked off his 2020 bid in the New York City borough where he grew up as the son of a Jewish immigrant and lived in a rent-controlled apartment.
Campaign priorities include "Medicare for all," a $15-an-hour minimum wage and addressing climate change. And Sanders is focusing on his working-class roots and how his family's financial struggles have shaped his views. In those reflections is an implicit contrast to another New Yorker, Trump, a billionaire who hails from Queens.
After Brooklyn, Sanders planned to travel to Selma, Alabama, where he will be among the politicians commemorating the anniversary of the 1965 clash known as "Bloody Sunday," when peaceful demonstrators were beaten back by Alabama state troopers as they attempted to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge. A second campaign rally this weekend was set for Chicago, where he attended the University of Chicago and was involved in civil rights protests.
Sanders had previously frustrated some aides and supporters with his reticence to share more of his personal story.
Sanders joins the 2020 race not as an outlier but as one of the best-known candidates in an large and expanding field. He also has a strong base of small-dollar donors: In the first week of his campaign, Sanders raised $10 million, far outpacing his rivals.
The political moment that he faces in his second bid, however, is far different than when he ran four years ago. A number of the liberal positions that Sanders has championed, in some cases for years, have been backed by other Democrats in the field, notably Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who is campaigning with similar populist notes.
HOUSTON (AP) — A bridge near Galveston, Texas, that was damaged last week when a barge carrying fuel broke free from a tugboat has reopened to vehicle and pedestrian traffic after safety inspections deemed it safe, officials said.
The barge crashed into a pillar supporting the Pelican Island Causeway span on May 15. The impact caused the bridge to partially collapse and cut off the only road connecting Galveston to Pelican Island.
After a review of the bridge by the Galveston County Navigation District No. 1 and underwater inspectors with the Texas Department of Transportation, the structure was reopened late Saturday night. Officials have set weight limits for vehicles using the bridge.
Early estimates had indicated that up to 2,000 gallons (7,571 liters) of oil spilled into surrounding waters following the collision.
On Sunday, the U.S. Coast Guard updated that figure, saying approximately 20,000 gallons (75,708 liters) of oil were spilled.
After the oil spill, authorities deployed a boom, or barrier, to contain the spill, forcing the temporary closure of about 6.5 miles (10.5 kilometers) of the waterway.
Clean up efforts have ended around Pelican Island. But crews were still removing oil and washing shoreside rocks along Swan Lake, a coastal recess located several miles west of Pelican Island along the Texas Coast.
During the clean-up efforts, crews recovered three dead, oiled birds from around Swan Lake: two brown pelicans and a laughing gull.
Nine other birds that were alive but covered in oil were spotted around Swan Lake, but officials said they were not able to recover them.
“To further protect wildlife, acoustic cannons were placed to provide an audible distraction to shore birds,” the Coast Guard said.
After the barge collision, Texas A&M University at Galveston, which has a campus on Pelican Island, had closed its facility. Fewer than 200 people related to the school were on the island at the time.
The university said the campus resumed normal operations on Monday.
The Coast Guard said the tugboat had lost control of the 321-foot barge “due to a break in the coupling” that had connected the two vessels.
The affected area is miles from the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, which sees frequent barge traffic, and the Houston Ship Channel, a large shipping channel for ocean-going vessels.
The accident came weeks after a cargo ship crashed into a support column of the Francis Key Bridge in Baltimore on March 26, killing six construction workers.
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Crews monitor spill booms at the Pelican Island bridge in Galveston, Texas on Thursday, May 16, 2024, after a barge collided with the bridge Tuesday causing a partial collapse of the bridge and spilling vacuum gas oil into Galveston Bay. (Jennifer Reynolds/The Galveston County Daily News via AP)
Crews monitor spill booms at the Pelican Island bridge in Galveston, Texas on Thursday, May 16, 2024, after a barge collided with the bridge Tuesday causing a partial collapse of the bridge and spilling vacuum gas oil into Galveston Bay. (Jennifer Reynolds/The Galveston County Daily News via AP)
Debris and railroad tracks from the Pelican Island bridge in Galveston lie atop a barge owned by Martin Marine on Wednesday, May 16, 2024. The barge crashed into the bridge at about 10 a.m. Tuesday closing the only road access to and from the island. The bridge Wednesday was open to car traffic leaving Pelican Island and pedestrian traffic both ways. (Jennifer Reynolds/The Galveston County Daily News via AP)
Spill booms surround a barge at the Pelican Island bridge in Galveston, Texas, Wednesday, May 16, 2024. The barge collided with the bridge Tuesday which caused a partial collapse of the bridge and spilled vacuum gas oil the barge was carrying into Galveston Bay. (Jennifer Reynolds/The Galveston County Daily News via AP)
Spill booms surround a barge at the Pelican Island bridge in Galveston, Texas, Wednesday, May 16, 2024. The barge collided with the bridge Tuesday which caused a partial collapse of the bridge and spilled vacuum gas oil the barge was carrying into Galveston Bay. (Jennifer Reynolds/The Galveston County Daily News via AP)
