July 14, 2017


News and Views


TODAY’S RUSSIA NEWS

https://www.yahoo.com/news/russian-american-lobbyist-says-trump-sons-meeting-134042050--politics.html?soc_trk=gcm&soc_src=bad81b5f-db87-38f1-ad4e-b7e8e737f190&.tsrc=notification-brknews
Russian-American lobbyist says he was in Trump son's meeting
DESMOND BUTLER
Associated Press
July 14, 2017

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Russian-American lobbyist says he attended a June 2016 meeting with President Donald Trump's son, marking another shift in the account of a discussion that was billed as part of a Russian government effort to help the Republican's White House campaign.

Rinat Akhmetshin confirmed his participation to The Associated Press on Friday. Akhmetshin has been reported to have ties to Russian intelligence agencies, a characterization he dismisses as a "smear campaign." He told the AP he served in the Soviet military in a unit that was part of counterintelligence but was never formally trained as a spy.

The meeting has heightened questions about whether Trump's campaign coordinated with the Russian government during the election, which is the focus of federal and congressional investigations. In emails posted by Donald Trump Jr. earlier this week, a music publicist who arranged the meeting said a Russian lawyer wanted to pass on negative information about Democrat Hillary Clinton and stated that the discussion was part of a Russian government effort to help the GOP candidate.

While Trump Jr. has confirmed that Russian attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya was in the meeting, he did not disclose Akhmetshin's presence. The president's son has tried to discount the meeting, saying that he did not receive the information he was promised.

In a statement Sunday, Trump Jr. said the attorney said that she had information that people tied to Russia were funding the DNC and supporting Clinton, a description that Akhmetshin backed up in his interview with the AP.

In his first public interview about the meeting, Akhmetshin said he accompanied Veselnitskaya to Trump Tower where they met an interpreter who participated in the meeting. He said he had learned about the meeting only that day when Veselnitskaya asked him to attend. He said he showed up in jeans and a T-shirt.

During the meeting, Akhmetshin said Veselnitskaya presented the Trump associates with details of what she believed were illicit funds that had been funneled to the Democratic National Committee. And she suggested that making the information public could help the Trump campaign.

"This could be a good issue to expose how the DNC is accepting bad money," Akhmetshin recalled her saying.

Trump Jr. asked the attorney if she had all the evidence to back up her claims, including whether she could demonstrate the flow of the money. But Veselnitskaya said the Trump campaign would need to research it more. After that, Trump Jr. lost interest, according to Akhmetshin.

"They couldn't wait for the meeting to end," he said.

Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and current White House senior adviser, and then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort also attended the meeting. Akhmetshin said he recognized Kushner and Trump Jr. He also said he recognized Manafort because they worked in "adjacent political circles" but never together.

He said there were others in the room but he didn't know them. Publicist Rob Goldstone, who brokered the meeting via email with Trump Jr., has told the AP that he also participated in the meeting.

Asked about Akhmetshin's participation in the meeting, Manafort spokesman Jason Maloni declined comment. A spokesman for Kushner did not respond to inquiries, nor did Trump Jr.'s attorney.

Akhmetshin said the attorney brought with her a plastic folder with printed-out documents that detailed her claims about the contributions to the Democratic National Committee.

He said he does not know if they were provided by the Russian government, and he said he thinks she left the materials with the Trump associates. It was unclear if she handed the documents to anyone in the room or simply left them behind.

Akhmetshin said the meeting was "not substantive" and he "actually expected more serious" discussion.

"I never thought this would be such a big deal to be honest," he told AP.

The Russian government has denied any involvement or knowledge of the June 2016 meeting. Asked Friday about Akhmetshin, Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters: "We don't know anything about this person."

In reports this week, Akhmetshin has been identified as a former officer in Russia's military intelligence service known as the GRU. He has denied that, saying he served in the Soviet Army from 1986 to 1988 after he was drafted but was not trained in spy tradecraft. He said his unit operated in the Baltics and was "loosely part of counterintelligence."

Akhmetshin said he has not been contacted by the special counsel's office or the FBI about the meeting with Trump Jr. He said he's willing to talk with the Senate Judiciary Committee, whose chairman has pressed the Justice Department about why Akhmetshin has not registered as a foreign agent.

The chairman, Republican Chuck Grassley of Iowa, said in a March letter that Akhmetshin has "reportedly admitted to being a 'Soviet counterintelligence officer' and has a long history of lobbying the U.S. government for pro-Russia matters."

Akhmetshin said that the Justice Department's Foreign Agents Registration Act unit sent him a letter in April and told him, "it has come to our attention you should have filed for FARA." He said he didn't believe he needed to file as a foreign agent. He has previously registered with Congress for the lobbying work, and he plans to raise this issue before Grassley's committee.

"I think I have a legal right to tell my story," he said.

Separately on Friday, the data and digital director for Trump's presidential campaign said he will speak with the House Intelligence committee later this month as part of its own Russia probe.

Brad Parscale said in a statement that he is "unaware of any Russian involvement" in the data and digital operations but will voluntarily appear before the panel and looks forward to "sharing with them everything I know."

___

AP writers Julie Pace, Chad Day, Eric Tucker and Stephen Braun contributed to this report.


THE TRUMP COMPUTER GEEK – THIS SHOULD BE INTERESTING.

http://www.businessinsider.com/brad-parscale-trump-russia-investigation-2017-6
A long-overlooked player is emerging as a key figure in the Trump-Russia investigation
Natasha Bertrand
Jun. 23, 2017, 2:05 PM

.... A congressional committee wants to interview President Donald Trump's digital director as part of its investigation.
.... Investigators are probing whether voter information stolen by Russian hackers made its way to the Trump campaign.
.... A top official said Russia targeted election systems in at least 21 states.

The House Intelligence Committee plans to interview the digital director for President Donald Trump's campaign, Brad Parscale, as it continues to investigate whether any collusion occurred between the campaign and Russia, according to a recent CNN report.

The ranking Democrat on the committee, Rep. Adam Schiff, would not confirm whether Parscale had been invited to testify as part of the congressional investigation.

But Schiff told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow this week that he is "very interested in finding out" whether there was "Russian funding or support" for the Trump campaign's data analytics operation, "or Russian assistance in any way with gathering data" that was then used by the campaign.

Congressional investigators are now probing whether voter information stolen by Russian hackers from election databases in several states made its way to the Trump campaign, Time reported on Thursday. The data operation Parscale directed was supervised by Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who is now being scrutinized by the FBI over his contacts with Russia's ambassador and the CEO of a sanctioned Russian bank in December.

"If any campaign, Trump or otherwise, used inappropriate data the questions are, how did they get it? From whom? And with what level of knowledge?" the former top Democratic staffer on the House Intelligence Committee, Michael Bahar, told Time. "That is a crux of the investigation."

Kushner, a person familiar with the campaign's inner workings told Business Insider, "was Parscale's patron."

"Jared got [Brad] hired, despite the fact that a number of people in the campaign wondered whether he had any idea what he was doing," the person said. "He's Jared's boy. I had [campaign] deputies telling me they couldn't question anything the guy did or said, and they were unhappy about that."

Parscale did not respond to a request for comment. He is now the digital media director for America First Policies, a nonprofit group whose aim is to bolster Trump's agenda.

Kushner also did not respond to a request for comment.

Parscale's firm, Giles-Parscale, was paid a whopping $91 million by the Trump campaign, which famously shunned television ads. According to CNN, the data operation "helped the Trump campaign figure out where the candidate's message was resonating in states like Michigan and Wisconsin, places where conventional political wisdom suggested they would be wasting time and money."

A senior GOP strategist who worked with Parscale on the Republican National Committee's digital operations last year denied that he oversaw or was even aware of any nefarious collaboration between hackers and the campaign.

"When it was reported that they'd be calling up Parscale, I knew there was a 0% chance that they had anything," the strategist said, referring to the House Intelligence Committee. "The questions they want to ask him are apparently some of the most basic digital marketing questions, and other simple ones like 'how would the Russians have known which precincts to target?'"

At least one Republican operative, however, made use of voter data stolen by Russian hackers last year: Florida political strategist Aaron Nevins.

trump trump trump trump
Then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks on the USS Iowa in San Pedro, Los Angeles, California, United States September 15, 2015.Reuters

Guccifer 2.0, the self-described hacker that US intelligence officials and cybersecurity experts have linked to Russian military intelligence, sent 2.5 gigabytes of voter analysis data compiled by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to Nevins late last summer, The Wall Street Journal reported late last month.

The documents provided to Nevins, who then posted them on his blog, analyzed districts in Florida, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. They showed "how many people were dependable Democratic voters, how many were likely Democratic voters but needed a nudge, how many were frequent voters but not committed, and how many were core Republican voters — the kind of data strategists use in planning ad buys and other tactics," the Journal said.

The exposure of that voter data, which Nevins remarked was worth "millions of dollars," led at least one Republican campaign consultant, Anthony Bustamante, to "adjust" the voting targets of the campaign he was advising at the time, according to the Journal.

"Basically if this was a war, this is the map to where all the troops are deployed," Nevins told Guccifer 2.0 in a text message, according to the Journal.

Nevins said he had no regrets in using the "map," even if it had been handed to the Russians.

"If your interests align, never shut any doors in politics," he told The Journal.

The theft of sensitive voter data by Russian-linked hackers like Guccifer 2.0 has left upcoming elections vulnerable to manipulation, experts say. Virginia and New Jersey will hold gubernatorial elections later this year, and all 435 seats in the House and one-third of the 100 seats in the Senate will be contested in the 2018 midterm elections.

Jeanette Manfra, a top official in the DHS's National Protection and Programs Directorate, told the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday that Russian hackers targeted election systems in at least 21 states last year. Bloomberg reported last week that as many as 39 states were targeted.

Sam Liles, the DHS's top cyber official, told lawmakers on Wednesday that the Russians probed election infrastructure and successfully infiltrated a "small number of networks." According to Time, the hackers successfully altered voter information in at least one election database and stole thousands of voter records containing private information like Social Security numbers.

Bill Priestap, Assistant Director of the Counterintelligence Division at the FBI, testifies about Russian interference in U.S. elections to the Senate Intelligence Committee in Washington, U.S., June 21, 2017.Joshua Roberts/Reuters

The cyberattacks continued right up to the election, according to a top-secret National Security Agency document leaked to the Intercept and published earlier this month. The document revealed that hackers associated with Russia's military intelligence agency targeted a company with information on US voting software days before the election, and used the data to launch "voter-registration-themed" cyberattacks on local government officials.

Bill Priestap, one of the FBI's top counterintelligence officials, told the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday that the type of data can be used "in a variety of ways," including to manipulate future elections and target individual voters. As Nevins, the Florida Republican operative, had said, the data is also extremely valuable — politically and financially.

Earlier this week, it emerged that data-analytics firm hired by the Republican National Committee last year to gather political information about US voters accidentally leaked the sensitive personal details of roughly 198 million citizens earlier this month, as its database was left exposed on the open web for nearly two weeks.

Upon reviewing the exposed data — which included names, dates of birth, home addresses, phone numbers, and voter registration details, as well as proprietary information based on predictive models of voters' behavior — Joseph Lorenzo Hall, the chief technologist at the Center for Democracy and Technology said simply: "This data is worth a s---load of money."

Archie Agarwal, the founder of the cybersecurity firm ThreatModeler, agreed that the data was a "gold mine" for anyone looking to target and manipulate voters. The security researcher who discovered the leaked database, Chris Vickery, said it was the kind of information "you can use to steal an election at the state and local level. It tells you who you need to advertise to to swing votes."

SEE ALSO: The White House is pushing to remove a key portion of the Senate's Russia sanctions bill
NOW WATCH: People on Twitter are loving how baffled Buzz Aldrin appeared by Trump's 'space' talk


TWO MURDERERS, NOT ONE, AND THREE MORE KILLINGS. ALL I CAN SAY ABOUT THIS STORY IS THAT IT IS DEEPLY DEPRESSING. WE NEED A MUCH GREATER EMPHASIS ON MENTAL HEALTH IN THIS COUNTRY. THE REPUBLICAN PLAN IN SEVERAL STORIES INCLUDES DRUG TREATMENT, BUT THERE WAS NO MENTION OF MENTAL HEALTH CARE. IT’S TRUE THAT SOME OF THESE CRIMINALS ARE DRUG ADDICTS, BUT MOST DO HAVE SERIOUS MENTAL ILLNESS, ASIDE FROM THAT. A NORMAL PERSON DOESN’T DO ANYTHING LIKE THIS. DINARDO HAS SCHIZOPHRENIA, BUT THEY ARE GOING TO TRY HIM AS A “CRIMINAL.” MENTALLY ILL PEOPLE DO COMMIT CRIMES, BUT THAT ISN’T THE WORST PART OF THEIR BASIC CONDITION. IT IS IMPORTANT TO SAY, HOWEVER, THAT MOST MENTALLY ILL PEOPLE AREN’T CRIMINALS, BUT MORE LIKELY TO COMMIT SUICIDE. (IT FASCINATES ME THAT THERE ARE PARTS OF THIS COUNTRY WHERE ATTEMPTED OR COMPLETED SUICIDES ARE CLASSED IN THE LAW AS CRIMES RATHER THAN ILLNESS.) I HATE TO SAY THIS, BUT EVERY NOW AND THEN I FEEL THAT THE PROBLEM WE HAVE AS A SOCIETY IS THAT WE AREN’T AS INTELLIGENT AS WE PRIDE OURSELVES ON BEING. I WILL JUST SAY, AGAIN, THAT THIS STORY IS VERY SAD.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/cosmo-dinardo-charged-with-4-homicides-2nd-man-accused-in-3-slayings/
By CRIMESIDER STAFF CBS/AP July 14, 2017, 2:24 PM
Cosmo DiNardo charged with 4 homicides, 2nd man accused in 3 slayings

BUCKS COUNTY, Penn. — Murder charges have been filed against two suspects in the deaths of men found buried on a Pennsylvania farm.

Cosmo DiNardo, 20, an admitted drug dealer with a history of mental illness was charged Friday with the killings of four Pennsylvania men who vanished a week ago. He faces 20 additional counts, including abuse of corpse, conspiracy and robbery, according to court documents. A second 20-year-old suspect, Sean Kratz, was also arrested and faces 20 counts in three of the deaths.

DiNardo, whose family owns the farm, confessed on Thursday and agreed to plead guilty to the four murder counts, attorney Paul Lang said outside court, where DiNardo had met with investigators. DiNardo also told investigators where the bodies are.

Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub said at a press conference Friday that the suspects attempted to dispose of the bodies before burying them.

"There was an attempt to burn the bodies, to obliterate them, but I don't believe that was successful," Weintraub said.

Lawyer says suspect confesses to killing 4 Pennsylvania men
Play VIDEO
Lawyer says suspect confesses to killing 4 Pennsylvania men

A person with firsthand knowledge of DiNardo's confession told The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity on Thursday that he was a drug dealer who felt cheated or threatened during three drug transactions.

"Every death was related to a purported drug transaction, and at the end of each one there's a killing," the person said.

DiNardo, 20, then burned the bodies - three of them inside a drum - at his family's farm in Solebury Township, about 30 miles north of Philadelphia, the person said, adding that a co-conspirator was involved in the deaths of three of the men.

Cadaver dogs led investigators this week to the spot on the family farm where they discovered human remains inside the 12 1/2-foot-deep grave.

The bodies of Dean Finocchiaro, 19, Tom Meo, 21, Jimi Taro Patrick, 19, and Mark Sturgis, 22, have all bean identified, Weintraub said. Their families have been notified.

Patrick, who was a year behind DiNardo at a Catholic high school for boys, was last seen on July 5, while the other three vanished two days later. Weintraub said as part of his confession agreement, DiNardo told investigators where to find Patrick's body. Kratz is not charged in Patrick's death.

Photos -- From left, Dean Finocchiaro, 19, Tom Meo, 21, Jimi Taro Patrick, 19, and Mark Sturgis, 22, are seen in a photo combination.

As a law enforcement official escorted a shackled DiNardo from the courthouse on Thursday, he said "I'm sorry."

The person with knowledge of the confession said one of the men was killed July 5 and the other three were killed July 7.

In exchange for DiNardo's cooperation, Lang said, prosecutors would not seek the death penalty. The Bucks County District Attorney's Office had no response to the lawyer's comments on Thursday night. Authorities are expected to release additional information on the case Friday morning.



https://unitedtoprotectdemocracy.org/updates/

GOVERNMENT LAWYERS HAVE FORMED A NEW WATCHDOG FOR OUR DEMOCRACY. FOR THAT GROUP, SEE TODAY’S SECONDARY BLOG, “THERE’S A NEW KID ON THE BLOCK.” IT’S CALLED UNITED TO PROTECT DEMOCRACY. I THINK THE BRASH, UNWISE, UNCARING ACTIONS OF DONALD TRUMP AND TOO MANY OF HIS APPOINTEES, HAVE CAUSED MANY OF THE MOVERS AND SHAKERS IN THIS COUNTRY TO BECOME AROUSED.

THERE ARE MANY, MANY PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY WHO DO NOT WANT OUR LEGAL STRUCTURE AND SOCIAL SAFETY NET TO BE DISMANTLED BY FIRST ONE EXECUTIVE ORDER AND THEN ANOTHER, OR BY A HORDE OF MUCH LESS THAN BENIGN FAR RIGHT THINKERS WHO BELIEVE FAIRNESS AND HONESTY ARE FOR LOSERS. (YES. THAT’S THE TRUE CREED OF THE ULTRACONSERVATIVES INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE GOVERNMENT.)

THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE FROM POLITICO IS THE WORK OF THIS NEWLY-FORMED NETWORK OF CONCERNED LAWYERS. THEY TRACK DAILY EVENTS, ANALYZE, WRITE, AND TAKE TIMELY ACTION ON THINGS THAT SO OFTEN GO UNNOTICED BY ORDINARY AMERICANS, AS DARK FORCES EMERGE IN POSITIONS OF POWER ACROSS THE COUNTRY. WE TRULY CAN’T LET THIS CONTINUE TO HAPPEN WITHOUT EVEN TRYING TO STOP IT, AND “UNITED TO PROTECT DEMOCRACY,” I BELIEVE, WILL HELP FORESTALL THAT LAST STEP OFF THE CLIFF’S EDGE.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2017/07/14/judge-legal-basis-trump-syria-strikes-240556
Judge expedites requests for legal basis of Trump Syria strikes
By JOSH GERSTEIN 07/14/2017 10:55 AM EDT Updated 07/14/2017 10:59 AM EDT



NOW THIS IS REALLY INTERESTING – PEOPLE FROM BOTH SIDES OF THE AISLES SITTING DOWN TO DISCUSS IMPORTANT ISSUES REASONABLY. I DON’T KNOW HOW THIS WILL ACTUALLY TURN OUT, BUT IT WOULD BE A GOOD PREDECESSOR TO THE TYPICAL ANGRY CONFLICT ON THE FLOOR. AT LEAST ISSUES LIKE BETTER AND MORE AFFORDABLE MEDICAL CARE WOULD PROBABLY HAVE A HEARING. COULD IT BE THE PARTIES ARE BEGINNING TO LOOK AT THE VALUE OF HONEST THOUGHT OVER COMBAT? THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS ISN’T A FOOTBALL GAME, NOR SHOULD IT BE A WAR.

SO WE SHOULD STOP WITH THE RAH RAH, AND GO WITH SOME HONEST EFFORT INSTEAD. I LOVE POLITICS, BUT I WOULD FEEL SAFER AND MORE PATRIOTIC, IF WE WERE TO COME TOGETHER WITH THE TRUE WELFARE OF THE PEOPLE IN MIND, RATHER THAN THAT OF THE OLIGARCHS. THE KOCH BROTHERS ARE RICH ENOUGH ALREADY, AND DON’T NEED ANY MORE CORPORATE WELFARE. COULD THIS BECOME A NUDGE TOWARD THE IDEA OF REEXAMINING THE CONSTITUTION AND THE LAWS? I REALLY DO THINK WE NEED THAT. I WON’T SEE THIS IN MY LIFETIME, PROBABLY, BUT I HAVE HOPE FOR THE FUTURE.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/lawmakers-republicans-democrats-focus-group-health-care-russia-tax-reform/
CBS NEWS July 14, 2017, 7:40 AM
From health care to Russia probe, bipartisan group of lawmakers weigh in

Senate Republicans are trying to bridge differences over the latest version of their health care bill. Health care is one of the issues CBS News contributor Frank Luntz discussed with a bipartisan group of Congress members that included three senators and nine representatives. Six were Democrats and six were Republicans.

"The Republicans demonized Obamacare. And the Democrats are demonizing the Republican legislation. Is that the way we should be discussing what may be the most important issue you will deal with this year?" Luntz asked.

"Some of us probably have philosophical differences. I believe that if you live in America, you've got a right to affordable quality health care. And I think probably everybody agrees on that value. And the difference is how do you get us there," Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., said.

ctm-0714-luntz-focus-group.jpg
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, said Republicans haven't made an effort to work with Democrats on the bill.

"I can speak recently there was no outreach to Democrats in the House to work together. So it wasn't a matter of saying, 'Here is what we're doing. And you're either on you're on board or not.' … There was not a significant, meaningful effort made from the beginning, saying, 'Hey, let's put our heads together and try to work this out,'" Gabbard said.

"The challenge that we hear on these issues, these jugular issues, is a Republican alternative or a Democrat solution. The American people aren't concerned about labels. They want to know about their health care," Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., said. "People want to know, 'What are my copays? How will I take my child to the doctor? What does it look like if I can't afford it?' If we're not answering those basic questions and if we cannot find a point to rally around, it's our fault."

Luntz also brought up the multiple investigations into Russia meddling in the U.S. election.

"I think we all have bipartisan support and respect for Bob Mueller," Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said of the former FBI director and special counsel leading the FBI investigation into the Trump campaign and Russia.

Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, agreed.

"I worked for Mueller and the Justice Department. He has the utmost integrity. It's in his hands. He will do a thorough investigation. I have every confidence in that investigation," McCaul said, adding, "But I will tell you that I think most of us in this room agree that there should be a consequence to Crimea being annexed, Ukraine being invaded, the Russians interfering in our democracy… And we will have, Frank, a Russian sanctions bill, a sanctions bill against Russia on the floor of the House, I hope, in the very, very near future."

There was bipartisan agreement with what McCaul said.

"The only person who disagrees with the chairman is the president. … And while he disagrees with it, he's running down NATO, he's running down the European Union and Putin couldn't ask for a better friend than that," Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., said.

According to Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., the Russia probe has "become too much of an issue as to what our real job is."

"If we're not looking at some level to make this economy dynamic and robust again and getting people back to work, if we're more concentrating on the Russians interfering with our elections as opposed to Russians interfering with our economy right now, and thus turning away from our real job of getting people back to work, seeing wages rise again, seeing families be able to be together," Kelly said.

Kelly disagreed, pointing to the need to multitask.

"But congressman, but look, we come here week after week after week, with respect, week after week after week, and do nothing. We don't pass any legislation," Bennet said. "We don't walk and chew gum at the same time. The American people expect us to do that. The Russians attacked our elections. We need to respond to the Russians. And we need to do the work you're talking about on the economy. We need to do both."

Lastly, Luntz asked the group whether there will be tax reform, and whether it will be bipartisan.

"Right now, I don't see it happening," Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., said. "A lot of big issues out there we need to address. We need to respond to business – to some of the business taxes, corporate taxes."

"You've set a litmus test already. And it hasn't even begun to be. But isn't that the problem?" Luntz asked.

"Well, you're talking about values, okay? So in principles – philosophical principles that we have. So I think a lot of us would agree tax code needs to be simplified," Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, said. There was bipartisan agreement on simplifying the tax code.

Asked whether Congress can function, Gabbard said "absolutely."

"I think the point is about having respect. And here, in this body in Congress, yes, it stems from having relationships. It stems from having an authentic respect for our colleagues, whether we agree on disagree on one issue or almost all issues," Gabbard said, adding, "Because that's what people want from Washington."



VIDEOS FROM MSNBC

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show?cid=eml_mra_20170714
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 7/13/17
Trump role in publishing hacked material draws lawsuit
Walter Dellinger, former U.S. solicitor general, talks with Rachel Maddow about a lawsuit filed against Donald Trump for his role in the public sharing of materials hacked by Russians during the 2016 election. Duration: 7:03



http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/trump-lawyer-e-mail-meltdown-raises-questions-of-competence-996730435530?cid=eml_mra_20170714
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 7/13/17
Trump lawyer e-mail meltdown raises questions of competence
Rachel Maddow looks at the oddly aggressive streak in Donald Trump's legal team and reports on an angry meltdown by the head of Trump's legal team, Marc Kasowitz, in which Kasowitz replied to a stranger's e-mailed criticism with curses and threats. Duration: 17:51


http://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/another-person-in-room-during-trump-jr-meeting-997468227557
MORNING JOE 7/14/17
What we have here is a slow bleed, says senator
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., discusses new reporting on Donald Trump Jr.'s meeting with a Russian lawyer and why he calls it a slow bleed. Durbin also discusses the GOP effort to overhaul health care. Duration: 5:09


http://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/watch/murphy-on-don-jr-emails-assume-it-s-only-tip-of-the-iceberg-992987203566
DEADLINE: WHITE HOUSE 7/11/17
Murphy on Don Jr. emails: Assume it's only tip of the iceberg
Sen. Chris Murphy discusses with Mike Barnicle Donald Trump Jr.'s meeting with a Russia lawyer and Mitch McConnell's decision to delay the August recess over the health care bill. Duration: 7:36


http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show?cid=eml_mra_20170714
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 7/13/17
Russian 2016 online propaganda likely needed American guidance
Michael Carpenter, former deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia, talks with Rachel Maddow about why Russia would have needed American help in implementing tailored online propaganda to interfere in the 2016 U.S. election. Duration: 5:34



RIGHT ALONGSIDE THE GOVERNMENT STORIES OF GREED AND OTHER CORRUPTING FORCES, WE FIND A MAN WHO GIVES UP HIS JOB INTERVIEW TO SAVE ANOTHER HUMAN. CARING IS, THANK GOODNESS, ALSO A BASIC PART OF HUMAN NATURE. CONGRATULATIONS TO AARON TUCKER FOR HIS HEROISM. READ THE PUBLIC RESPONSE TO THIS ARTICLE.

Photograph -- Aaron Tucker, 32, is being hailed a hero for running to the aid of a car crash victim in Connecticut. GOFUNDME

It had only been seven days since he got released from prison, but Aaron Tucker had already done the impossible — he landed a job interview.

Last Thursday, the 32-year-old from Bridgeport, Connecticut, woke up at 5 a.m., grabbed a dress shirt he had been given at the halfway house he was living in, and hopped onto a city bus to meet the manager at a nearby Dinosaur Bar-B-Que.

He was starting to drift off to sleep, then awoke and looked up to check the stop. He was startled to see a car hit a tree and flip over.

The bus driver quickly hit the brakes and came to a stop.

"Are you going to help?" he shouted to the bus driver.

"No, but if you get out I'm going to leave," the driver replied, explaining that he had to stick to his route.

Tucker didn't let that stop him. He jumped off the bus and sprinted toward the totaled car, which was upside down and spewing smoke. He kneeled down next to the passenger-side window and saw the driver covered in blood.

"The guy had a lot of blood coming from his head," Tucker told CBS News.

He unbuckled the man's seatbelt and dragged him away from the vehicle as it started to catch on fire. Several others also ran over to help, including three employees from a local auto body shop who brought over a fire extinguisher.

"You're going to be all right," Tucker repeated to the man as they lay on the pavement. "Your family wants to see you. Keep your eyes open."

Tucker pulled off his shirt and used it to help stop the man's head from bleeding. Within minutes, firefighters and EMTs arrived.

"I had a grip on his arm to keep him calm as they put an oxygen mask on him," Tucker said. "I just wanted to make sure he was all right, and that's what I did."

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Tucker skipped his interview in order to stay with the man until an ambulance arrived. The man was taken to Norwalk Hospital and was in stable condition as of Wednesday, the Westport News reported. Police are still investigating the crash.

"I feel like a job can come and go, but a life is one time thing," Tucker said. "The job just wasn't in my mind at that time."

Community members who read a local news story about Tucker's heroic rescue decided to help the man turn his life around. They set up a GoFundMe page, raising more than $16,000 in only a day.

Kami Evans, a Westport community activist, used several Facebook pages she managed to help organize donation drives, collecting clothes and non-perishable goods for Tucker and his 21-month-old son.

"I think everybody was just so moved. This guy did such a selfless act," Evans told CBS News. "It wasn't about anything but doing the right thing — and he did the right thing."

A business owner reached out to Evans Friday to offer Tucker a tailored suit so he will have confidence at his future job.

The suit will come in handy, as job offers have started rolling in since Tucker's story was shared.

"I've been given a lot of job offers," Tucker said. "Right now, I don't have the money, so I want to get the best job I can to support my son."

Tucker said any money he makes will go toward taking care of his family.

"I got locked up three weeks before my son was born," Tucker explained. "When he was born, I got a phone call from the hospital. I heard my son crying in the background, and right then and there I was like, 'I'm changing my life.'"

Tucker got his GED and became a tutor in prison, hoping to be a role model for his son.

"I came out here with nothing, literally nothing," Tucker said. "But I knew if I worked hard things are going to come my way."