RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper is leaving his job after eight years in which the southern Democrat picked his moments against a Republican-dominated legislature, winning big on Medicaid expansion and clean energy while falling short in fights over private-school vouchers and abortion rights.
Cooper, who steered the state through the coronavirus pandemic, Hurricanes Helene and Florence and an early flashpoint in the culture wars over access to public restrooms, was barred from seeking a third consecutive term. He is wrapping up 24 consecutive years in statewide office — the first 16 as attorney general.
In a December interview with The Associated Press at the executive mansion, Cooper reflected on his gubernatorial terms with an emphasis on the positive — an easier undertaking compared with many Democrats around the country in the aftermath of this year's election.
"To be able to wake up every morning and get to lead the state that you love has been humbling, challenging and fulfilling. I have really valued every day,” said Cooper, who will be succeeded by state Attorney General Josh Stein, a fellow Democrat, in early January.
Faced with veto-proof majorities for almost half of his time as governor, Cooper was unable to stop many GOP initiatives, including deep income tax cuts, taxpayer-funded vouchers to help public school students attend private schools and new restrictions on abortion.
But Cooper, one of several Democratic governors seen as potential contenders for federal office, managed last year to persuade GOP legislative leaders to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act — something he had sought since getting sworn in as governor in 2017. Now 600,000 low-income adults are enrolled in the program a year ahead of expectations.
“This is a generational investment in people’s health,” Cooper said during a farewell address last week in Nash County, where he grew up and launched his first gubernatorial campaign in 2015. Another bipartisan agreement was reached in 2021 on a milestone energy bill that ordered sharp reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.
Cooper takes credit for conditions that led to big corporate expansions that he says have contributed to hundreds of thousands of new jobs being created during the past eight years, including those in the clean energy sector. But he also gives his rare praise to Republican lawmakers for all working together on offering economic incentives that have lured companies such as Apple, Toyota and Boom Supersonic to build in the state.
Still, Republicans contend Cooper receives too much acclaim for the state’s broad economic success and has pushed for reckless state spending at every turn. Half of his record 100-plus vetoes were overridden.
“There has not been a governor who has had less of his agenda enacted and North Carolina has succeeded in spite of his leadership failures," state GOP spokesperson Matt Mercer said.
Regardless, Cooper’s perceived accomplishments in a swing state raised his national profile during this year’s presidential campaign, making him as a potential running mate for Kamala Harris until he said it "just wasn’t the right time" for him and for North Carolina. Now Cooper, 67, will have to decide whether trying to unseat U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican, in 2026 is in the cards after holding what he calls the “best job I have ever had.”
While North Carolina Democrats have won eight of past nine gubernatorial elections, they haven’t won a U.S. Senate race since 2008.
“If you’re going to run for public office again, you must have your heart and soul in it, you must have the fire in the belly,” Cooper told the AP.
With that in mind, he said he planned to take a couple of months to clear his head before deciding what’s next: “I’m going to think about how I can best contribute to the things that I care about.”
It’s little wonder why many North Carolina Democrats want Cooper to remain on the political stage. He has never lost a race for state office, from the legislature in the mid-1980s and including a 10,000-vote win over then-GOP Gov. Pat McCrory in 2016.
“What he’s done really from my perspective is he’s kept the progressive flame alive in North Carolina in a difficult time,” said Gary Pearce, a longtime Democratic political consultant who worked with four-term Gov. Jim Hunt. “I’m not sure anybody else could have done it as well as he did.”
Cooper took on Republicans even before he was sworn in.
As governor-elect he began a series of lawsuits challenging legislation approved weeks before he took office that shifted executive branch powers to the legislature. The legal results were mixed, and even now litigation over his appointment powers remains in court. This month, Republican lawmakers enacted more changes that would weaken Stein's gubernatorial authority. Two lawsuits related to that law have been filed so far.
In his first three months in office, Cooper worked with lawmakers to partially repeal the 2016 “bathroom bill,” which had required transgender people to use public bathrooms aligned with the gender on their birth certificate. The law had lost the state business, including canceled sporting events and job expansions, and “North Carolina’s reputation was in tatters,” Cooper said.
Eight years later, “we built a North Carolina that is healthier, better educated, with more money in people’s pockets, and we stand ready to welcome prosperity with open arms for generations to come,” Cooper said.
Republicans cite several shortcomings in Cooper's administration. They include spending overruns at the state Department of Transportation; continued delays to rebuild or renovate homes for eastern North Carolina residents after Hurricanes Matthew in 2016 and Florence in 2018; and executive orders that helped extend restrictions on businesses and school instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s been painful dealing with the governor fiscally,” Republican state Sen. Warren Daniel said. “I just think he’s not very good at managing government.”
Cooper has defended his actions, particularly his pandemic leadership, saying North Carolina came out better than many other states.
Even in policy defeats, Cooper secured the admiration of supporters. The Democratic governor used lots of political capital in 2023 trying unsuccessfully to block a law that changed the state’s ban on most abortions from after 20 weeks of pregnancy to 12 weeks. Republicans overrode his veto.
“There’s simply no governor who’s ever fought as hard or as publicly as Gov. Cooper has to protect access to abortion,” said Paige Johnson with Planned Parenthood South Atlantic.
Plenty of North Carolinians see that differently. Cooper’s opposition to the abortion bill reflects an administration that “has been consistently hostile to policies that serve the best interests of North Carolina families,” said Tami Fitzgerald, executive director of the NC Values Coalition.
Cooper said he has confidence that Stein, who succeeded him as attorney general, will “continue a lot of the progress that we have made.” Cooper hired Stein two decades ago, while attorney general, to be his consumer protection chief.
Otherwise, Cooper knows that he’ll miss “having the opportunity every single day to do something to make a real difference.”
“That’s what you can do in this job,” he added. "And whatever I decide to do, that’s going to be hard to replicate."
FILE - North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper unveils a report during a press conference in Raleigh, N.C., Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Gary D. Robertson, File)
FILE - North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, center left, watches a robotics team at Nashville Elementary School in Nashville, N.C., direct its vehicle in the school library, Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Gary D. Robertson, File)
FILE - Roy Cooper is sworn in as North Carolina governor shortly after midnight at the historic state Capitol Building in Raleigh, N.C., early Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017. (AP Photo/Ben McKeown, Pool, File)
FILE - North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper arrives to speak at a campaign event in Charlotte, N.C., Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond, File)
At least eight people were killed by Israeli military operations in the northern West Bank around the city of Tulkarem on Tuesday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, including three people it said were killed by Israeli airstrikes.
The Israeli military said it opened fire after militants attacked soldiers, and it was aware of some uninvolved civilians who were harmed in the raid.
Elsewhere in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian city of Bethlehem was marking a second somber Christmas Eve under the shadow of the war in Gaza, with most festivities cancelled and crowds of tourists absent.
Israel's bombardment and ground invasion in Gaza has killed over 45,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its count.
Winter is hitting the Gaza Strip and many of the nearly 2 million Palestinians displaced by the devastating 15-month war with Israel are struggling to protect themselves from the wind, cold and rain.
The war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas’s attack on southern Israel in October 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage by Palestinian militants. Around 100 hostages are still being held in Gaza, although only two thirds are believed to still be alive.
Here’s the latest:
NUR SHAMS REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank — The Palestinian Health Ministry said at least eight people were killed by Israeli military operations in and around the city of Tulkarem in the northern West Bank on Tuesday. The ministry reported three of the dead were killed by airstrikes.
The Israeli military said it opened fire after militants attacked soldiers, and it was aware of some uninvolved civilians who were harmed in the raid.
An Associated Press photojournalist captured images of Israeli forces detonating an explosive device planted by Palestinian militants during a raid in the Nur Shams refugee camp.
Israel has carried out several large-scale raids in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza, ignited by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel. While airstrikes were once rare in the West Bank, they have grown more common since the outbreak of war as Israeli forces clamp down, saying they aim to prevent attacks on their citizens.
Israeli fire has killed at least 800 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since October 2023, Palestinian health officials say. In that time, Palestinian militants have launched a number of attacks on soldiers at checkpoints and within Israel.
SAYDNAYA, Syria — A large crowd of Syrians gathered near a historic monastery in Saydnaya on Christmas Eve to witness the lighting of a towering tree adorned with glowing green lights.
Tuesday's celebration offered a rare moment of joy in a city scarred by over a decade of war and an infamous prison, where tens of thousands were held. Families and friends stood beneath the illuminated tree — some wearing Santa hats, others watching from rooftops — while a band played festive music and fireworks lit up the sky
“This year is different, there’s happiness, victory and a new birth for Syria and a new birth for Christ,” said Houssam Saadeh, one attendee.
Another, Joseph Khabbaz, expressed hope for unity across all sects and religions in Syria, dismissing recent Christmas tree vandalism as “isolated incidents.”
Earlier in the afternoon, pilgrims visited the historic Our Lady of Saydnaya Monastery, one of the world’s oldest Christian monasteries, believed to be built in the sixth century.
In Homs, a similarly grand Christmas tree was illuminated as security officers patrolled the area to ensure a safe and peaceful gathering, according to Syria’s state media.
UNITED NATIONS -- Recent attacks on hospitals in North Gaza, where Israel is carrying out an offensive, are having a devastating impact on Palestinian civilians still in the area, the U.N. humanitarian office says.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs expressed deep concern at reports that the Israeli military entered the Indonesian Hospital on Tuesday, forcing its evacuation.
The humanitarian office, known as OCHA, also expressed deep concern at attacks reported in recent days in and around the two other hospitals in North Gaza that are minimally functioning – Al Awda and Kamal Adwan.
OCHA said the Israeli siege on Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahia and parts of Jaballiya in North Gaza continued for a 79th day on Tuesday, and while the U.N. and its partners have made 52 attempts to coordinate humanitarian access to besieged areas in December 48 were rejected by Israel.
While four missions were approved, OCHA said the U.N. and its partners faced impediments as a result of Israeli military operations and “none of the U.N.-coordinated attempts to access the area have been fully facilitated.”
Throughout the Gaza Strip, OCHA said that Israeli authorities facilitated just 40% of requests for humanitarian movements requiring their approval in December.
WASHINGTON — A leading global food crisis monitor says deaths from starvation will likely pass famine levels in north Gaza as soon as next month.
The U.S.-created Famine Early Warning System Network says that’s because of a near-total Israeli blockade of food and other aid in that part of Gaza.
The finding, however, appears to have exposed a rift within the Biden administration over the extent of starvation in northern Gaza.
The U.S. ambassador to Israel, Jacob Lew, disputes part of the data used in reaching the conclusion and calls the intensified famine warning “irresponsible.”
Northern Gaza has been one of the areas hardest-hit by fighting and Israel’s restrictions on aid throughout its 14-month war with Hamas militants.
UNITED NATIONS — Israel’s foreign minister has requested an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council to condemn recent missile and drone attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, and to condemn the group's Iranian allies for allegedly providing the group with weapons.
Gideon Saar said in a letter Tuesday to Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield of the United States, which holds the council presidency this month, that the Houthis are violating international law and council resolutions.
“This Iranian-backed terrorist group continues to endanger Israel’s and other nations’ security, as well as the freedom of maritime navigation, in flagrant violation of international law,” Saar said. “All of this malign activity is done as part of a broader strategy to destabilize the region.”
The U.S. Mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to an email asking when the council meeting will be held.
The Houthis have said they launched attacks on shipping in the Red Sea – and on Israel -- with the aim of ending Israel’s devastating air and ground offensive in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli war in Gaza followed Hamas’ deadly October 2023 attacks in southern Israel.
TEL AVIV, Israel — An Israeli military investigation has concluded that the presence of troops inadvertently contributed to the deaths of six hostages killed by their Hamas captors in Gaza.
The hostages' bodies were discovered in a tunnel in late August, an event that shook Israel and sparked some of the largest anti-war protests since the war began.
The investigation found that the six hostages were killed by multiple gunshots from their captors after surviving for nearly 330 days. The Israeli military’s “ground activities in the area, although gradual and cautious, had a circumstantial influence on the terrorists’ decision to murder the six hostages,” the report found.
According to the investigation, the Israeli military began operating in the area where the hostages were being held in southern Gaza about two weeks before their discovery, under the assumption that the chances of hostages in the area was medium to low.
On August 27, hostage Qaid Farhan Alkadi was found alone in a tunnel, causing the Israeli military to halt operations for 24 hours to determine if there could be other hostages in the area. The military discovered the opening leading to the tunnel where the bodies of the six hostages were located on August 30. A pathological report estimated the six hostages were killed on August 29.
The six hostages killed were Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi, Ori Danino, and Hersh Goldberg-Polin, whose American-Israeli parents became some of the most recognized spokespeople pleading for the hostages’ release, including addressing the Democratic National Convention days before their son’s killing.
“The investigation published tonight proves once again that the return of all hostages will only be possible through a deal,” the Hostages Families Forum said in response to the investigation. “Every passing moment puts the hostages’ lives in immediate danger.”
JERUSALEM — The Israeli negotiating team working on a ceasefire returned from Qatar to Israel on Tuesday, the prime minister’s office said, after what it called “a significant week” of talks.
After months of deadlock, the U.S., Qatar and Egypt resumed their mediation efforts in recent weeks and reported greater willingness by the warring sides to reach a deal.
According to Egyptian and Hamas officials, the proposed agreement would take place in phases and include a halt in fighting, an exchange of captive Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, and a surge in aid to the besieged Gaza Strip.
Israel says Hamas is holding 100 hostages, over one-third of whom are believed to be dead.
On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there was “some progress” in efforts to reach a deal, but added he did not know how long it would take.
CAIRO — Israeli soldiers took control of a hospital in isolated northern Gaza after forcing all the patients and most of the doctors to leave, the Palestinian Health Ministry said Tuesday.
Some of the patients had to walk to another hospital while others were driven by paramedics, according to Health Ministry spokesperson Zaher al-Wahidi. He did not specify how many patients had evacuated.
The Israeli military confirmed its troops had entered the Indonesian Hospital in the town of Jabaliya as part of an operation searching for Hamas fighters. The army later said its soldiers had left the hospital.
The military said it had assisted with evacuating the patients and had not ordered the hospital closed. However, al-Wahidi said only one doctor and maintenance person were left behind.
The Indonesian Hospital is one of three hospitals left largely inaccessible in the northernmost part of Gaza because Israel has imposed a tight siege there since launching an offensive in early October.
The Israeli army said Tuesday’s operation at the Indonesian Hospital came after militants carried out attacks from the hospital for the past month, including launching anti-tank missiles and planting explosive devices in the surrounding area. The Health Ministry accused Israel of “besieging and directly targeting” the three hospitals in northern Gaza.
Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, said Israeli drones detonated explosives near the hospital and that 20 people were wounded, including five medical staff. The Israeli military declined to comment on the operation around the hospital.
DAMASCUS — Scores of Syrian Christians protested in the capital Damascus on Tuesday, demanding greater protections for their religious minority after a Christmas tree was set on fire in the city of Hama a day earlier.
Many of the insurgents who now rule Syria are jihadis, although Ahmad al-Sharaa, the leader of the main rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, has renounced longtime ties to al-Qaida and spent years depicting himself as a champion of pluralism and tolerance.
It remains unclear who set the Christmas tree on fire Monday, which was condemned by a representative of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham who visited the town and addressed the community.
“This act was committed by people who are not Syrian, and they will be punished beyond your expectations," the HTS representative said in a video widely shared on social media. "The Christmas tree will be fully restored by this evening.”
On Tuesday, protesters marched through the streets of Bab Touma in Damascus, shouting slogans against foreign fighters and carrying large wooden crosses.
“We demand that Syria be for all Syrians. We want a voice in the future of our country,” said Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II of the Syriac Orthodox Church as he addressed the crowd in a church courtyard, assuring them of Christians’ rights in Syria.
Since HTS led a swift offensive that overthrew President Bashar Assad earlier this month, Syria’s minority communities have been on edge, uncertain of how they will be treated under the emerging rebel-led government.
“We are here to demand a democratic and free government for one people and one nation,” another protester said. “We stand united — Muslims and Christians. No to sectarianism.”
DOHA — Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said that ceasefire negotiations to end the war in Gaza were ongoing in Doha in cooperation with Egyptian, Qatari, and American mediators.
“We will not leave any door unopened in pursuit of reaching an agreement,” said Majid al-Ansari, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Tuesday.
Al Ansari added that rumors the ceasefire would be reached before Christmas are “speculation.”
The ceasefire negotiations come at a time when winter is hitting the Gaza Strip and many of the nearly 2 million Palestinians displaced by the devastating 15-month war with Israel are struggling to protect themselves from the wind, cold and rain. Families of the approximately 100 hostages who have been held for 445 days in Gaza are also worried their loved ones will not survive another winter.
In a press conference, al-Ansari also called on the international community to lift sanctions on Syria as quickly as possible on Tuesday.
“The reason was the crimes of the previous regime, and that regime, with all of its authority, is no longer in place, therefor the causes for these sanctions no longer exist today,” he said.
DAMASCUS, Syria — American journalist Austin Tice is believed to be still alive, according to the head of an international aid group.
Nizar Zakka, who runs the Hostage Aid Worldwide organization, said there has never been any proof that Tice, who has been missing since 2012, is dead.
Zakka told reporters in Damascus on Tuesday that Tice was alive in January and being held by the authorities of ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad. He added that U.S. President Joe Biden said in August that Tice was alive.
Zakka said he believes Tice was transferred between security agencies over the past 12 years, including in an area where Iranian-backed fighters were operating.
Asked if it was possible Tice had been taken out of the country, Zakka said Assad most likely kept him in Syria as a potential bargaining chip.
Biden said Dec. 8 that his administration believed Tice was alive and was committed to bringing him home, although he also acknowledged that “we have no direct evidence” of his status.
TEL AVIV, Israel — Hannah Katzir, an Israeli woman who was taken hostage on Oct. 7, 2023, and freed in a brief ceasefire last year, has died. She was 78.
The Hostages Families Forum, a group representing the families of people taken captive, confirmed the death Tuesday but did not disclose the cause.
Her daughter, Carmit Palty Katzir, said in a statement that her mother’s “heart could not withstand the terrible suffering since Oct. 7.”
Katzir’s husband, Rami, was killed during the attack by militants who raided their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz. Her son Elad was also kidnapped and his body was recovered in April by the Israeli military, who said he had been killed in captivity.
She spent 49 days in captivity and was freed in late November 2023. Shortly after Katzir was freed, her daughter told Israeli media that she had been hospitalized with heart issues attributed to “difficult conditions and starvation” while she was held captive.
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel's military said the projectile was intercepted before crossing into Israeli territory, but it set off air raid sirens overnight in the country's populous central area, sending residents looking for cover.
Israel’s rescue service Magen David Adom said a 60-year-old woman was seriously wounded after being hurt on her way to a protected space.
There was no immediate comment from Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.
It was the third time in a week that fire from Yemen set off sirens in Israel. On Saturday, a missile slammed into a playground in Tel Aviv, injuring 16, after Israel’s air defense system failed to intercept it.
Earlier last week, Israeli jets struck Yemen’s rebel-held capital and a port city, killing nine. Israel said the strikes were in response to previous Houthi attacks.
Relatives and friends of 1st Sgt. Hillel Diener, who was killed in combat in the Gaza Strip, mourn during his funeral at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem, Israel, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Murals cover Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Christmas Eve, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
An explosive devise planted by Palestinian militants explodes after being detonated by Israeli soldiers during a military raid in the Nur Shams refugee camp near the West Bank city of Tulkarem, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
Nuns walk along the Church of the Nativity, traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Jesus, on Christmas Eve, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Worshippers pray at the Church of the Nativity, traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Jesus, on Christmas Eve, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Israeli soldiers and relatives carry the flag-draped casket of 1st Sgt. Hillel Diener, who was killed in combat in the Gaza Strip, during his funeral at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem, Israel, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
A Syrian Muslim woman poses for a picture in front of a Christmas tree in Bab Touma neighbourhood, in Damascus, Syria, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Syrian Christians hold up crosses and shout slogans in Damascus, Syria, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024 as they march during a protest after a Christmas tree was set on fire in Hamah city on Sunday. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A dead man is taken into the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital after a car was hit by an Israeli airstrike killing four people in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Monday Dec. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana).
Palestinians mourn over the bodies of five policemen killed Monday by an Israeli strike in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Tuesday Dec. 24, 2024. According to witnesses at the scene, the policemen fired shots to prevent a group of bandits blocking the road from stealing aid from a truck. The Israeli army immediately struck the policemen after that.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A worshipper walks through the Church of the Nativity, traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Jesus, on Christmas Eve, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Palestinian scouts carry posters, one reads "Peace for Gaza and its people," while they march during Christmas Eve celebrations at the Church of the Nativity, traditionally recognized by Christians to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
FILE - A poster calling for the release of Hannah (Chana) Katzir is taped to the door of her home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, on Nov. 21, 2023. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo, File)
