at the knight first amendment institute at columbia university. i think this plea deal is significant in two respects. i mean, in the first instance, it must be an enormous relief, of course, forjulian assange and his family and his supporters around the world, as well as for press freedom advocates here in the united states who have been quite concerned about a judicial ruling that would endorse the us government s interpretation of the espionage act and its consistency with the first amendment. first amendment being the right to free speech, just to remind everybody. yes, that s exactly right. freedom of speech, freedom of the press and a handful of other freedoms as well. but those are the ones at issue here. on the other hand, this plea deal really does cast a long shadow over press freedom in the united states. it s not a formal precedent in the sense that a judicial ruling would have been, but it does, i think, set a practical precedent for the possibility of future pro
for him to withdraw from the race for the new york times, the leading newspaper in the city he s visiting today, ironically, calling forjoe biden to withdraw from the race saying it would be a reckless gamble as a editorial put it were he to stay as a candidate for the and urging him to move aside to make way for somebody younger who could really take on donald trump. those sentiments have been echoed in the last few hours by another leading newspaper the chicago tribune. you mentioned joe biden is robust performance in north carolina yesterday for that you re absolutely right, he bounced back quite spectacularly for the taking to the stage seeming energised, everything but the shambling old man we saw on thursday night to tell his loyal supporters that yes, he wasn t drunk as he once was, he wasn t a great a debater as you d once been but he was in honest man and he told the truth. well, whether that goes down well with the very anxious candidates will have to wait and see.