July 16, 2017


News and Views


THIS IS A LIST OF JUST THIRTEEN ATTORNEYS HIRED SO FAR BY MUELLER. WHERE ARE THE OTHER TWO? I GUESS WE’LL FIND OUT LATER. AT ANY RATE, THE WORK BY THE SILENT MUELLER MOVES ON. AS THE WRITER OF THIS ARTICLE POINTS OUT, HE IS FOLLOWING A POLICY OF MAKING NO COMMENTS ABOUT ANYTHING MUCH. THE PHOTO OF HIM AS HE STRIDES DOWN THE HALLWAY SHOWS A STERN-LOOKING MARINE, WHICH IS APPARENTLY WHAT HE IS. I THINK HE’LL BE HARD TO FOOL AND HARD TO FRIGHTEN. IF THAT HELPS HIM TO DO THIS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT JOB, AND DO IT WELL, I WILL BE DELIGHTED.

http://www.npr.org/2017/07/08/535813901/special-counsel-mueller-lets-his-actions-do-the-talking-15-hires-more-to-come
Special Counsel Mueller Lets His Actions Do The Talking: 15 Hires, More to Come
Listen· 3:51
July 8, 20177:00 AM ET
CARRIE JOHNSON

Photograph -- Special counsel Robert Mueller departs after a June 21 closed-door meeting with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee about Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible connections to the Trump campaign.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Robert Mueller has made no public comment since he was named to lead the Department of Justice investigation into Russian interference in last year's election.

Instead, he has let his actions do the talking. The former FBI director and decorated U.S. Marine has submitted a budget and quietly hired an all-star team that includes 15 Justice Department prosecutors. And, a spokesman for Mueller said, he's not done bringing on new lawyers.

That has gotten the attention of supporters of President Trump, who recently made an attack ad calling the investigation a "rigged game" and blasting the special counsel for hiring at least four lawyers who have donated to Democrats.

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Comey Accuses White House Of 'Lies, Plain And Simple' About His Firing

But don't expect Mueller to mount a defense. He does his talking in the courtroom, not on social media. In fact, Mueller recently got a nod of support from Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who said he didn't think political donations amounted to a conflict of interest.

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Mueller has not described the scope of what his team will examine.

But members of Congress and other lawyers involved in the probe described the main lines of inquiry as: Russian meddling in the presidential election; whether anyone inside the United States conspired to help; and whether any wrongdoing has been committed in the surprise firing of FBI Director James Comey, who said he believed he was let go to relieve pressure on the Russia probe.

There's no timetable or deadline for the job. Given that it's the most sensitive Justice Department investigation in the last decade or more, it's unlikely that prosecutors will rush.

And for someone like Mueller, the 2018 midterm elections are not going to be a factor.

Here are some of the attorneys Mueller has hired:

Zainab Ahmad, a top national security prosecutor on detail from U.S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of New York.

Rush Atkinson, an attorney on detail from the Criminal Division's Fraud Section at the Department of Justice.

Michael Dreeben, an appellate attorney on detail from the Office of the Solicitor General, described by former colleagues as one of the brightest criminal law experts of the past two generations.

Andrew Goldstein, a public corruption prosecutor on detail from the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York.

Adam Jed, an appellate attorney on detail from DOJ's Civil Division.

Lisa Page, an attorney on detail from the FBI's Office of the General Counsel and a former trial attorney with the Criminal Division's Organized Crime and Gang Section.

Elizabeth Prelogar, an appellate attorney on detail from the Office of the Solicitor General.

James Quarles, a former partner at WilmerHale and a former assistant special prosecutor for the Watergate Special Prosecution Force.

Jeannie Rhee, a former partner at WilmerHale who has served in the Office of Legal Counsel at DOJ and as an assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.

Brandon Van Grack, an attorney on detail from the Justice Department's National Security Division.

Andrew Weissmann, who is on detail from the Criminal Division's Fraud Section and who has served as general counsel at the FBI and as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

Aaron Zebley, a former partner at WilmerHale who has previously served with Mueller at the FBI and has served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia.

Aaron Zelinsky, an attorney on detail from the U.S. Attorney's Office in the District of Maryland.



WILL PRESIDENT TRUMP LISTEN TO OUTSIDE VOICES? REP. BILL FLORES, R-TX AND TY COBB HAVE JOINED THE RANKS OF ADVISORS.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-republican-bill-flores-calls-on-trump-to-remove-his-children-from-white-house/
By REBECCA SHABAD CBS NEWS July 14, 2017, 1:33 PM
Texas Republican Bill Flores calls on Trump to remove his children from White House

A key House Republican is recommending that President Trump kick his children out of the White House in the wake of revelations that Donald Trump Jr. met with a Russian lawyer last year who offered dirt on Hillary Clinton.

"I'm going out on a limb here, but I would say that I think it would be in the president's best interest if he removed all of his children from the White House," Rep. Bill Flores, R-Texas, told TV station KBTX on Wednesday when asked about the Don Jr. meeting.

"I do find issues with the meeting," Flores said. "It's a meeting that should not have taken place...I think he thought he was looking out for his father's best interest."

Flores is the former chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee. But on this issue, at least among among [sic] Republicans, he's in the minority. The president and a number of congressional Republicans have dismissed the concerns that he Don Jr. shouldn't have taken the meeting.

While Don Jr. and Eric Trump don't work in the White House, his daughter Ivanka serves as an adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner serves as a senior adviser and assistant to the president.

CBS News contributor Bob Schieffer told CBS This Morning on Friday said family involvement is not helpful.

"You know these things where you bring family into government never seem to work out quite right. I've known people up on Capitol Hill who would install their wives as the chief of staff and then you realize you can't fire your wife," he said. "I think the whole idea of trying to run the presidency like a family grocery store, I don't think that works very well."

A close adviser to the Trump White House described the Don Jr. revelations as a "Category Five hurricane," CBS News' Chief White House Correspondent Major Garrett reported Thursday.


WHO IS BILL FLORES? IF HE ADVISES TRUMP TO STOP PUTTING HIS FAMILY MEMBERS INTO OFFICIAL POSITIONS, HE’S A WISE MAN, HOWEVER.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Flores
Bill Flores
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

William Hose Flores, Sr. /ˈflɔːrɛz/ (born February 25, 1954),[1] is an American politician who has been the U.S. Representative for Texas's 17th congressional district since 2011. The district, located in the middle of the state, includes Waco, College Station, and Bryan.[2] He is a member of the Republican Party and the former chief executive officer of Phoenix Exploration Company, an oil and natural gas company.
. . . .
Of his heritage, Flores has said, "My family came from Spain in 1725, and if people want to consider me Hispanic, they can, but I didn't advertise that way, and I'm an American first." [5] He graduated with a B.B.A., cum laude in accounting from Texas A&M University in 1976.[6] While there, he was a member of the Corps of Cadets, the Ross Volunteer Company,[7] and Corps Staff. He also served as Student Body Vice-President of Finance during his senior year.[citation needed] He has been a licensed Certified Public Accountant since 1978.[8] He also received a Master of Business Administration from Houston Baptist University in 1985.[6]
. . . .

Political positions[edit]

Upon his swearing-in, Flores became the first Republican to represent Waco in Congress since Reconstruction.[citation needed] Flores supports limited government and lower taxes[citation needed]; an end to the spending of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act[citation needed]; making the Bush-era tax cuts permanent[citation needed]; pro-life abortion positions[citation needed]; and stronger enforcement at the U.S. Mexico border.[25] Flores supports the building of new nuclear power plants to assist the U.S. in becoming energy self-sufficient.[citation needed] He also supports incentives for the development of solar and wind power.[26] Flores is a member of the Conservative Republican Study Committee and the Congressional Hispanic Conference.

National security[edit]

Flores supported President Donald Trump's 2017 executive order to temporarily curtail Muslim immigration until better screening methods are devised. He stated that “Taking 120-day breath to evaluate the effectiveness of our vetting program is a smart thing to do.”[27]

Legislation sponsored[edit]

On July 18, 2013, Flores introduced the Protecting States’ Rights to Promote American Energy Security Act (H.R. 2728; 113th Congress).[28] The bill would require the federal government to defer to individual states about regulations governing hydraulic fracturing.[29] It passed the House on November 20, 2013.[30] . . . .



A NEW HEAD WHITE HOUSE ATTORNEY -- I THINK THIS IS A WISE MOVE. GOVERNMENT BY TWEETS IS NOT WORKING.

http://www.npr.org/2017/07/15/537461051/trump-taps-washington-lawyer-to-become-white-house-special-counsel-amid-russia-p
Trump Taps Washington Lawyer To Become White House Special Counsel Amid Russia Probes
July 15, 20178:58 PM ET
VANESSA ROMO

Photograph -- People gather outside the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington on Tuesday, July 11, 2017, to protest President Donald Trump.
Susan Walsh/AP

President Trump has hired a former federal prosecutor to assist in how the White House handles its response to the expanding Russia probes.

Ty Cobb, whose legal expertise lies in white-collar crime and congressional investigations, will be "in charge of overseeing the White House legal and media response" to the investigations, according to Bloomberg News.

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There Are Many Russia Investigations. What Are They All Doing?

The White House confirmed Cobb's appointment as special counsel on the president's staff in a statement Saturday. However, no further details about the veteran Washington lawyer's upcoming role inside 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. were provided.

A bio on the website of Cobb's former firm, Hogan Lovells, says that "Clients managing crises, allegations of corruption, and other critical matters turn to Ty to guide them."

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What Really Irritates Vladimir Putin? The Magnitsky Act

That's probably why the White House turned to Cobb. Over the last week, the Trump family and former campaign staffers have been under mounting scrutiny in the wake of Donald Trump Jr.'s disclosure that he, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort met in June 2016 with a Russian lawyer and a Russian-American lobbyist who Trump Jr. was told would have incriminating information about Hillary Clinton.

Donald Trump Jr. Meeting Included Russian Lobbyist
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Donald Trump Jr. Meeting Included Russian Lobbyist

Cobb will work alongside White House counsel Donald McGahn. He'll coordinate with Trump's personal lawyer on Russia matters, Marc Kasowitz. "For weeks," the New York Times reported Friday, McGahn "has been urging Mr. Trump to bolster his in-house team with a seasoned lawyer to help deal with an expected flood of document requests" from Department of Justice special counsel Robert Mueller.

Donald Trump Jr.'s Emails About Meeting With Russian Lawyer, Annotated
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Donald Trump Jr.'s Emails About Meeting With Russian Lawyer, Annotated

"The idea was to have someone who could deal directly with Mr. Trump on the matter and coordinate with his personal lawyer, which would allow Mr. McGahn and the rest of the staff to tend to the day-to-day work of keeping the White House functioning," the Times also reported.

In addition to Kasowitz, others members on Trump's Russia team outside of the White House include lawyer Jay Sekulow and public relations consultant Mark Corallo.

Earlier in the week, Trump Jr. hired Alan Futerfas as his personal attorney regarding the Russia investigations. And Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and a senior adviser in the White House, shook things up on his team. Abbe Lowell, a criminal defense lawyer, will now be in charge of all matters relating to Kushner and the Russia probes. As a result, Jamie Gorelick will be stepping back from those matters but will continue to work on issues regarding ethics compliance, according to the Times.

And in case you're wondering, Cobb is related to the Hall of Fame baseball outfielder of the same name.

The president's decision to bring on Cobb was first reported by Bloomberg News on Friday.


I DO HOPE THAT MARK WARNER AND OTHERS IN THE GOVERNMENT WILL NOT LET THIS ISSUE DIE FOR ANY REASON, NOT FOR MONEY NOR FOR FEAR OF LOSING THE NEXT ELECTION, NOR FOR A SIMILAR SPIRITUAL CORRUPTION IN THEIR OWN BEINGS. LIKEWISE, WE NEED AS A PEOPLE TO WORK TOWARD HEALING THE SOCIAL CONDITIONS AND STABILIZING OUR NATION IN A BENIGN WAY (NOT BY DEPORTING THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE). WE TOOK OUR AMERICAN VALUES FOR GRANTED SINCE WWII, IT SEEMS TO ME, DUE TO OUR RELIEF THAT THE WAR WAS OVER, AND TO A NAIVE FAITH THAT OUR COUNTRY WOULD NEVER AGAIN COME TO A PERIOD OF SUCH DANGER.

THE DANGER IS A THREAT TO OUR GROUP IDENTITY, BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT I THINK IS HAPPENING NOW. WE ARE ACCEPTING MORE AND MORE UNDESIRABLE CHARACTERISTICS AS NORMAL AND HEALTHY. WE DON’T HAVE THAT FEELING OF AN AMERICAN UNITY BASED ON HUMANE PRINCIPLES RATHER THAN ON SKIN COLOR, RELIGION, CLASS OR ETHNIC ISSUES. WITHOUT THAT SENSE OF A NATIONAL PURPOSE THAT IS OF A HIGHER NATURE THAN MERELY MAKING MORE MONEY AND CLIMBING UP HIGHER (WHATEVER THAT REALLY MEANS) IN COMPARISON TO SOMEONE ELSE, WE WILL NOT BE AMERICA ANYMORE. I HOPE I NEVER SEE THAT.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mark-warner-trump-jr-others-testifying-i-want-to-hear-from-everyone-in-that-meeting/
By EMILY TILLETT CBS NEWS July 16, 2017, 12:42 PM
Warner on Trump Jr., others testifying: "I want to hear from everyone in that meeting"

Following Donald Trump Jr.'s release of emails about a meeting between himself, Trump campaign associates and Russians, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, said Sunday that he wants to hear from "everyone in that meeting" to get their version of the story.

"I think we may find out there may have been other meetings as well. We don't know that yet. But what we've seen is a constant effort to hide contacts with Russians. We've seen this pattern repeat itself," Warner said on "Face the Nation."

Transcript: Sen. Mark Warner on "Face the Nation"

Warner, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that this is the first time the public has seen what he called "clear evidence" that there was a Russian government effort to undermine the Clinton campaign and help the Trump campaign in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Political world reacts to release of Donald Trump Jr.'s Russia emails

"What was remarkable was you saw not only willingness but actually glee from the president's son as well as involvement of the campaign manager and the president's son-in-law to say in effect, "Yes, bring it on." Very troubling. And obviously moves our whole investigation to another level," added Warner.

Warner added that the administration's repeated denials over the past year over any connections to the Russian government and meddling in the 2016 election are now put in doubt as well.

ftn-warner2-071617.jpg
Sen. Mark Warner on "Face the Nation," July 16, 2017. CBS NEWS

"Clearly this administration has not been forthcoming about what they know and when they knew it in terms of Russian involvement in the elections," Warner said.

The list of people in attendance at the June 2016 meeting has since grown since initial reports, and now includes at least Trump Jr., former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, Mr. Trump's son in law Jared Kushner, Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, Russian-American lobbyist Rinat Akhmetshin and translator Anatoli Samochornov, as CBS News has reported.

Emails that Trump Jr. released about the meeting show that he was told he would be given information that could be damaging to Hillary Clinton as part of Russian government support for Mr. Trump, and that Trump Jr. welcomed the offer.

"This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump -- helped along by Aras and Emin," publicist Rob Goldstone wrote. The email continues "I can also send this info to your father via Rhona, but it is ultra sensitive so wanted to send to you first."

The eldest Trump son responded, "Thanks Rob I appreciate that. I am on the road at the moment but perhaps I just speak to Emin first. Seems we have some time and if it's what you say I love it especially later in the summer. Could we do a call first thing next week when I am back?"

Warner noted on Sunday that as the Senate Intelligence Committee continues to work in a bipartisan fashion, his Republican colleagues on the committee are also joining him in saying that they need to talk to everyone involved in the meeting.

"I would think if you had a meeting with agents of the Russian government where they were bringing forth information to discredit Clinton and help their then-Candidate Trump I would think a rational person would remember that. That's one of the reasons why we want, we want to question him and all the other participants of that meeting," he said.

When pressed if his committee would be looking into further allegations of obstruction of justice committed by the Trump campaign, Warner would only say that it would be up to special counsel Robert Mueller to look into.

"We want to try to make sure we get all the facts out about the involvement of the Trump campaign and the Russians. It's unfortunately dribbling out because this administration has not been forthcoming, "Warner said. "But I want to get all this information into the public realm."



ARCHAEOLOGISTS IN THEIR DIGS SOMETIMES FIND HOARDS, INCLUDING COINS, ARTWORK, OR JEWELS, WHERE THE OWNER BURIED THEM FOR THE SAME REASON THIS PHOTOGRAPHER BURIED HIS NEGATIVES. WE WANT TO HANG ONTO SOMETHING OF OURSELVES WHEN WE MUST LEAVE IN AN EMERGENCY. MOST OF THOSE PEOPLE WERE NEVER ABLE TO COME BACK AND GET THEIR TREASURES. THANK GOODNESS, THESE PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGES OF A HUMAN REALITY OF SUCH IMPORTANCE, AND AT THE SAME TIME, HORROR, WERE SAVED. MEMENTOS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN IMPORTANT TO ME, ABOVE MORE EXPENSIVE ITEMS. THIS ART MUSEUM EXHIBIT WILL HELP AWAKEN IN THE VIEWERS AN AWARENESS OF SOCIAL ISSUES THAT WE ARE SEEING AGAIN NOWADAYS, ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF ALL PEOPLE, NOT MERELY A FAVORED FEW.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/memories-unearthed-from-the-lodz-ghetto/
CBS NEWS July 16, 2017, 9:26 AM
Memories unearthed from the Lodz Ghetto

An exhibit of unearthed photographs is offering a heartbreaking glimpse into an unforgivable part of our past. With Chip Reid, we uncover it again:

Krysia Rosenstein speaks of a childhood of nightmares: "And they were always the same. I was flying above the ghetto to save myself like a bird. Always the same."

Born during World War II, Rosenstein spent the first years of her life in a Nazi-controlled ghetto in Łódź, Poland.

"It was a work camp, but it was slave labor really," she told Reid. "In order to be kept alive you had to work. And they gave very little rations. There was a lot of hunger."

The Łódź Ghetto (pronounced ludge in Yiddish) was one of hundreds of Nazi ghettos across Europe, used to separate Jews from the rest of the population. Most residents were sent to concentration camps, unless disease or starvation killed them first.

lodz-ghetto-henryk-ross-ghetto-police-with-woman-behind-barbed-wire-620.jpg
Ghetto police are pictured with a woman behind barbed wire, in the Lodz Ghetto, 1942. HENRYK ROSS/© ART GALLERY OF ONTARIO/COURTESY MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON

Abraham Neuman, now 94, is also a survivor from the ghetto. "I am puzzled what kept me alive," he said. "We were a family of six kids and parents. Nobody survived."

"When people were taken out of the ghetto and sent to other camps, did people think, 'Well, maybe I'm going to a better place'? Or did know what was going to happen?" Reid asked.

"The first time when they take you out from the ghetto you didn't know, because we didn't have no newspaper, no radio," Neuman said. "We didn't know what was going on in the world. All they was thinking, 'Maybe a miracle will come.'"

Two hundred and forty thousand Jews were brought into the Łódź Ghetto. By the time the war ended, fewer than 900 were left.

The Łódź Ghetto is now the subject of a photography exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, called "Memory Unearthed." The photos are by a man named Henryk Ross, a Polish Jew who lived inside the ghetto as both prisoner and official photographer.

One picture shows a mass deportation. "We can see these people being led to either an extermination camp or a concentration camp," said curator Kristen Gresh.

Ross had shown up at the ghetto with a camera, and because he had experience in photography, he was named one of the official photographers. His job was to take ID photos. In addition, Gresh said, he was assigned to do propaganda stories. Ross' "happy" photos were meant to show that life was just perfectly normal in the ghetto.

But the reality of life in the ghetto was so horrific, so unfathomable, Ross knew he had to photograph it for the rest of the world to see.

16 PHOTOS -- Pictures from inside a Nazi-controlled ghetto

"He was using his camera as a weapon of resistance," Gersh said, "and it was truly an act of resistance to go snap a shot, or hide somewhere to take photographs."

"Was he risking his life?" Reid asked.

"Absolutely. He was risking his own life, and he was risking his wife's life as well."

henryk-ross-camera-244.jpg
Henryk Ross in the 1970s, demonstrating his surreptitious photography. FROM "MEMORIES OF THE EICHMANN TRIAL"

Ross demonstrated how he hid his camera in a 1979 documentary, "Memories of the Eichmann Trial." "I would open my coat, like this, and keep going," he said.

Committed to leaving a historical record, Ross eventually put 6,000 negatives in a box, and buried them.

"He wasn't sure that he himself was going to survive," Gersh said. "He miraculously was one of the 877 survivors in January 1945 when the Soviets liberated the Łódź Ghetto. And then months later he was able to go retrieve it, and literally unearth this box of memories."

lodz-ghetto-excavating-henryk-ross-box-of-negatives-620.jpg
Excavating the box of negatives and documents that Henryk Ross buried in the ghetto at 12 Jagielonska Street, Lodz, Poland, March 1945. © ART GALLERY OF ONTARIO, 2016/COURTESY, MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON

Ground water destroyed about half of the negatives. Even those that survived were damaged. Yet Gersh said the damage to the negatives -- as if they are in flames -- creates a visceral effect to the images.

"So the fact that some of the negatives were partially destroyed kind of adds to the exhibit?" asked Reid.

"Absolutely," she replied. "It feels that the photographs themselves are imbued with the history of what people were living through. So it feels very symbolic."

Krysia Rosenstein went to the exhibit to learn what her family lived through. Her mother died shortly after the war, and her father refused to talk about it.

lodz-ghetto-krysia-rosenstein-244.jpg
Krysia Rosenstein finds a photo of her mother on the exhibition wall. CBS NEWS

Was she at all reluctant to go? "No. No. I wanted to see," she said. "Because my memories are very limited. I don't remember too much."

She described the experience as "very, very emotional, very, very sad. And so then we came to the last room. And there was a whole wall of pictures, one after the other."

And then, a familiar face.

"My father, my mother, and myself," she cried. "And I don't have any pictures of my father, my mother, and myself. I didn't have -- it was just unbelievable. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. It was like a miracle happened to me. It was so much joy and so much sadness at the same time."

On that same wall where Rosenstein found her family, most faces will go unnamed … but because of Henryk Ross, not forgotten.

For more info:

"Memory Unearthed: The Lodz Ghetto Photographs of Henryk Ross" at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, through July 30 | Ticket information
Exhibition Catalogue: "Memory Unearthed: The Lodz Ghetto Photographs of Henryk Ross"



THE RACE RIOTS THAT GOT THE AMERICAN PUBLIC’S FULL ATTENTION

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/50th-anniversary-newark-riots-mayor-baraka/
CBS NEWS July 15, 2017, 12:33 PM
The legacy of the Newark riots, half a century later

Fifty years ago this week, the despair of a city led to devastation on its streets when an unfounded rumor that a man had died in police custody triggered five nights of gunfire, arson and looting in Newark, New Jersey. The riots left 26 people dead and neighborhoods in ruins.

Those who remember 1967 as the "Summer of Love" may have forgotten what happened that year in cities like Newark.

For nearly a week, residents clashed with police after a cab driver named John Smith was beaten by officers of the 4th precinct.

"That precinct had a notorious reputation. People thought Smith had been killed," said Lawrence Hamm, who leads the People's Organization for Progress. He was 12 years old when his city caught fire.

"This was an explosive period. When they think of riots they think of Newark. Detroit happened two weeks after," Hamm said. "This was happening all over the country. You had these majority black cities or majority black communities and they were patrolled by nearly all-white police forces and abusing people, violating people's constitutional rights. The most famous writer from Newark, Amiri Baraka, he was nearly beaten to death by the police."

Baraka was a poet, playwright and political activist.

0715-satmo-miller-riots4.jpg
"His consciousness, his personal ideas, the things that he would do in the community was changing and in fact was becoming more escalated," said Newark's current mayor Ras Baraka -- Amiri Baraka's son.

Asked about the irony that he is running that very government and police department once condemned by his father, Baraka said, "God has a sense of humor."

"Newark is a world away from 1967 in some places, and in some instances we're still there, right? Emotionally, I think there are a lot of folks still in 1967, because we have not fully grappled with that, we have not dealt with it," Baraka said.

There have been efforts over the decades to distance this city from its past. Most of Newark's high-rise housing projects have come down and blocks that were burned half a century ago have been redeveloped.

And while many displaced small businesses left town after the summer of '67, Fit-Rite Fashions moved just a few blocks away.

"If I moved out of Newark, all of these customers, they'd have no way to get to me," said the store's owner, Monroe Bierman.

0715-satmo-miller-riots7.jpg
Poet, playwright and political activist Amiri Baraka
In 1926, Bierman's father opened the neighborhood dress shop, which now ships worldwide.

"A lot of people even today, when you mention Newark, they say, 'I wouldn't go down there.' They're afraid," Bierman said. "You get used to it, you know?"

"The good news is that Newark recovered. It took a long time and it took a long time for Newark to turn the corner, but there hasn't been a decade in the United States of America since then when there hasn't been an uprising in some city," Hamm said.

"Whether we talk about Rodney King, we talk about Ferguson, we talk about Baltimore. It'll continue to happen because the conditions that caused the rebellions in the '60s are still present in places in America today," Hamm said.

Asked about the nationwide tensions between police and the communities they work in, Baraka said, "Well, there's a few differences. So now you have people of color who are the majority of the population here, in authority, in power. Right, so, you have them in the police department, you have them in the city government and in 1967 that was nonexistent."

newarkriots.jpg
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka CBS NEWS

The Newark mayor says it's about having police in more than just negative situations.

"You put your police force in places where people can see them other than the relationship that they have of cop and criminal. The police showing up when somebody do something bad. You have the police present when things are OK," Barak said.

Though long-cited among America's more dangerous cities, last year Newark claimed its lowest crime rate in 50 years and the city's population is on the rise.

"Newark is changing very, very fast. There's an economic boom here. We have billions of dollars worth of development happening in this downtown area and it's spreading out into the neighborhoods very, very quickly. Newark has an opportunity to be a model for many, many cities around the country," Baraka said.

Baraka also says we often mischaracterize what happened in his city as a riot. A riot, he says, is what rowdy sports fans do after a victory. What happened in Newark was not as spontaneous.

Tensions had been simmering there for far too long. Like his father who didn't live to see him become mayor, Baraka considers what happened 50 years ago an uprising.



SCROOGE MCCONNELL AND HIS FRIENDS JUST DON’T WANT TO DO THE RIGHT THING, DO THEY? 23 MILLION UNINSURED “ISN’T OUR PROBLEM.” IF THEY WEREN’T LAZY OR STUPID THEY WOULD HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO PAY FOR ANY MEDICAL PROBLEMS THEY MIGHT HAVE. IF THEY WEREN’T PERVERTED (GAY) THEY WOULDN’T HAVE AIDS. IF THEY WEREN’T WEAK, THEY WOULDN’T HAVE GOTTEN INTO SUBSTANCE ABUSE (AND WE ALL KNOW THAT WEAKNESS IS INHERITED.) TO HECK WITH WHAT “WEAKNESSES” CAUSE POVERTY, IT IS TOTALLY INHUMANE TO IGNORE NEED AND DO NOTHING ABOUT IT. THERE IS NOTHING BENIGN ABOUT THE REPUBLICAN POLICY OF NEGLECT THAT WE HAVE INSTITUTED AS “FREEDOM” IN THIS COUNTRY. THIS ATTITUDE IS 90% OF WHAT I DESPISE ABOUT “CONSERVATIVE” THINKING. IT’S JUST IMPOSSIBLE TO BUILD THE “CITY UPON A HILL,” BY THAT METHOD. WHAT THE REPUBLICANS DON’T WANT TO SAY OUT LOUD IS THAT WHAT THEY REALLY BELIEVE IN IS “ME FIRST,” OR “AMERICA FIRST” AS DONALD TRUMP LIKES TO PUT IT.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/insurers-tear-into-latest-health-care-bill-as-unworkable/
By KATHRYN WATSON CBS NEWS July 15, 2017, 12:55 PM
Insurance groups tear into Cruz amendment to health care bill as "unworkable"

Two of the country's largest insurance providers called an amendment from Sen. Ted Cruz to the latest Republican health care bill "simply unworkable," as Republicans struggle to capture enough votes to pass the legislation.

The CEOs of America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) and Blue Cross Blue Shield Association wrote a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) Friday, urging them to strike the Texas Republican's "Consumer Freedom Option" amendment, claiming it will cause costs to skyrocket for those with "significant medical needs" and limit insurance options for people who buy individual plans.

Cruz's amendment would allow insurers to offer bare bones-style plans with fewer benefits, as long as those insurers also offer more robust plans required under the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.

"As the U.S. Senate considers the Better Care Reconciliation Act, we are writing to urge you to strike the 'Consumer Freedom Option' from the bill," the letter reads. "It is simply unworkable in any form and would undermine protections for those with pre-existing medical conditions, increase premiums and lead to widespread terminations of coverage for people currently enrolled in the individual market."

What has changed in the Senate health care bill, and what hasn't?

The Cruz amendment, offered to placate conservatives, allows insurers to provide plans with fewer benefits that don't meet the necessary list of "essential health benefits" under current law. The purpose of the amendment is to give people who don't need or want coverage for things like maternity care or mental health the option to buy a cheaper, bare-bones plan. But that scenario, critics and the insurance groups argue, leaves sick people in sicker, costlier risk pools, meaning higher premiums.

What are the Obamacare essential benefits?

"The Consumer Freedom Option establishes a 'single risk pool' in name only," the letter says. "In fact, it creates two systems of insurance for healthy and sick people."

"As healthy people move to the less-regulated plans, those with significant medical needs will have no choice but to stay in the comprehensive plans, and premiums with skyrocket," the letter added.

The letter could be dismissed by Republicans, however, as the current head of AHIP is Marilyn Tavenner, who helped implement Obamacare as the head of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services [says].

The Cruz amendment, the insurers argue, would "especially" hit families who earn too much to qualify for a tax credit but can't afford the higher premiums for more robust plans. Under Obamacare, families and individuals earning up to 400 percent of the poverty line are eligible for tax credits.

The bill as-is will also result in "far fewer, if any" options for people who buy their plans from the individual market, the insurers claimed, meaning "millions of more individuals will be uninsured."

Senate health care bill in jeopardy
Play VIDEO
Senate health care bill in jeopardy

McConnell has said he wants to vote on the health care proposal as early as next week, but at least two Republicans senators already oppose the bill. If McConnell loses one more vote -- no Democrats are currently in favor of the bill -- it won't pass. This is the Senate's second attempt at devising legislation. The first attempt failed in June, as Republicans lacked the votes to pass their bill.

The Congressional Budget Office has yet to score the latest Senate bill, but the bill the House passed earlier this year would leave 23 million more people uninsured, and the previous Senate bill would leave 22 million more people uninsured.



SHEPARD SMITH’S REBELLIONS – FEBRUARY, MARCH MAY AND JULY. SHEPARD SMITH CLEARLY DOESN’T LIKE TRUMP ANY MORE THAN I DO. WHAT INTERESTS ME IS THAT FOX HASN’T FIRED HIM YET. PERHAPS THEY ARE AFRAID TO. HE IS AN OVERNIGHT HERO. SOMETIMES I GET VERY DISCOURAGED ABOUT THE DECLINE IN WHAT I CONSIDER TO BE BASIC MORALITY, BY WHICH I AM NOT REFERRING MERELY TO REFRAINING FROM ILLICIT SEXUAL ACTIVITY, BUT TO RECOGNIZING THE IMPORTANCE OF KEEPING THE RULES OF FAIRNESS IN PLAY, SUCH AS CHOOSING NOT TO BAN THE REPORTERS OF A RIVAL NEWS OUTLET FROM A WHITE HOUSE NEWS CONFERENCE. SMITH HAS PROVEN HIMSELF TO BE FAIR AND COURAGEOUS -- A PRECIOUS COMMODITY IN ANY SOCIETY.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/brettedkins/2017/03/10/fox-host-shepard-smith-slams-trump-its-too-much-lying-too-much-russia-too-much-smoke/#6fbf8f0c4c8d
MAR 10, 2017 @ 01:17 PM Fox Host Shepard Smith Slams Trump: 'It's Too Much Lying, Too Much Russia, Too Much Smoke'
Brett Edkins, CONTRIBUTOR

Photograph -- Fox News anchor Shepard Smith is carving out a niche as the network's only anchor willing to stand up to the Trump Administration. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Fox News is not known for criticizing Donald Trump. Its primetime lineup of Bill O’Reilly, Tucker Carlson, and Sean Hannity regularly defends the administration. But Shepard Smith is single-handedly taking on President Trump, especially when he criticizes the press or lies outright.

Yesterday, Smith’s show, ‘Shepard Smith Reporting,’ covered new revelations that former national security advisor Michael Flynn received $530,000 in 2016 for lobbying work done on behalf of the Turkish government. This week, Flynn retroactively registered with the Justice Department as a “foreign agent” because of this lobbying work. Flynn was fired in February for misleading the Vice President about contacts he had with Russia’s ambassador to the United States.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said yesterday that Trump was not aware that Flynn was acting as a foreign agent when he chose Flynn to become the national security advisor.

But Shepard Smith was not buying it. “The White House says, ‘Ah, he was a private citizen at the time.’ But there’s been a lot of lying,” Smith said. “There’s been lying about who you talk to, and by lots of people and almost inevitably and invariably, they were lying about talking to the Russians, about something. It’s too much lying and too much Russia and too much smoke. And now they’re investigating.”

This isn’t the first time Shepard Smith has called out the administration for distorting the truth. In January, after Trump repeated his unfounded claim that millions of people voted illegally in 2016, Smith slammed the president: “The White House has provided no evidence of any kind to back up these claims. Fox News is not aware of any reliable studies or information that suggests that there is widespread voter fraud anywhere in America.”

In February, after Trump called the media “the enemy of the people” and Sean Spicer barred CNN and other news organizations from a question-and-answer session, Smith pushed back, criticizing the administration for labeling news it doesn’t like “fake news.” “Fake news is made-up nonsense delivered for financial gain,” Smith said. “CNN’s reporting was not fake news. Its journalists followed the same standards to which other news organizations, including Fox News, adhere.”



WHY DO THE REPUBLICANS MAKE UP ALL THESE BUZZWORDS THAT EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM DUTIFULLY PARROTS AT EVERY INTERVIEW? NOW THAT SHOWS A LACK OF INTELLIGENCE (NOT TO MENTION A LACK OF HONESTY.) “NOTHING BURGER” IS A RIDICULOUS IMAGE. BILL CLINTON’S “THERE’S NO THERE THERE,” IS NOT ONLY LITERATE, A CLEVER TURN OF PHRASE, IT’S GENUINELY FUNNY.

A COMMENT ON THE LAST PARAGRAPH HERE, HOWARD BEALE IS THE MAN IN THE MOVIE “NETWORK” WHO WENT TOTALLY BONKERS AND STIMULATED A CITIZENS' REBELLION. THE ARTICLE LIKENS SHEPARD SMITH’S TELL IT LIKE IT IS MOMENT TO BEALE AND ALSO TO WALTER CRONKITE. I DON’T KNOW WHAT CRONKITE COMMENTS THE WRITER IS REFERRING TO, BUT FOR THE GREAT MOVIE “NETWORK,”SEE:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_qgVn-Op7Q.

https://www.yahoo.com/tv/fox-news-shepard-smith-slams-white-house-lie-234505034.html

Unlike some of his conservative colleagues at Fox News, Shepard Smith isn’t buying that the White House’s relationship with the Russian government is a “nothing burger.”

In fact, he isn’t too keen on all the “contradictory claims and misleading statistics” that have arisen, the Washington Post reported.

Shep Smith: "The deception, Chris, is mind-boggling...why are we getting told all these lies?"

Chris Wallace: "I don't know what to say"

3:47 PM - 14 Jul 2017
14,168 14,168 Retweets
25,579 25,579 likes


Also Read: Fox News Mocks 'Morning Joe' for Entire Segment: 'Morning Joke' (Video)

As the Post noted, Smith usually doesn’t hide his criticism of the Trump administration. But Friday afternoon, he went on a tirade about what he described as “lie after lie after lie” coming from the White House regarding Russia.

Also Read: CNN Contributor Says US Should 'Blow Up' Russian Intelligence Over Election Meddling (Video)

“The deception … is mind-boggling,” Smith said to Chris Wallace on camera. “And there are still people who are out there who believe we’re making it up. And one day they’re gonna realize we’re not and look around and go, ‘Where are we, and why are we getting told all these lies?'”

Left speechless, Wallace simply responded: “I don’t know what to say.”

Clearly Shepard Smith had has [sic] it up to here with Trump, Russia, and the eight (confirmed) parties that were involved in the 2016 Donald Trump Jr. meeting.

As the Washington Post noted, Smith had either a Howard Beale or a Walter Cronkite moment, depending on your perspective.



A SURPRISING NUMBER OF REPUBLICANS ARE JUMPING SHIP, MAINLY I THINK BECAUSE A SIZEABLE PORTION OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY ARE FOLLOWING A PIED PIPER, WHOSE MAGICAL FLUTE IS PULLING THOSE “UNDEREDUCATED” RACIALLY POLARIZED WORKING CLASS WHITE MEN OFF TO THE FAR RIGHT. THAT DIRECTION SIMPLY DOES NOT FIT WITH WHAT I, AND I THINK, MOST BELIEVE TO BE “THE AMERICAN WAY.” WHEN THE NEWS SHOWS VIDEOS OF UNRULY YOUNG PEOPLE, MOSTLY MEN, GIVING DONALD TRUMP AN UNMISTAKABLE NAZI SALUTE, AND IN SOME CASES, HE WAS CLEARLY RETURNING IT, WHAT OTHER CONCLUSION CAN BE DRAWN? AND THEN TRUMP GOT INTO PRAISING PUTIN IN A NEARLY SLAVISH WAY. IT’S EMBARRASSING AS WELL AS FRIGHTENING.

REPUBLICANS OF GOOD CONSCIENCE ARE FALLING AWAY. LET’S FACE IT, TRUMP ISN’T A TRADITIONAL REPUBLICAN ANYWAY. HE HAS GIVEN MONEY TO DEMOCRATS, AND IN MY VIEW, HE SHOWS NO PARTY ALLEGIANCE. HE IS SPLITTING THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. THAT IS WHAT MANY DEMOCRATS DISLIKE ABOUT BERNIE SANDERS AS WELL. HE FOLLOWS HIS OWN DRUMMER, AND HIS DRUMMER IS MARCHING LEFT. THE TRUTH IS THAT BOTH PARTIES HAVE MOVED TO THE RIGHT THESE LAST 20 OR SO YEARS, AND NO LONGER REPRESENT THE 99%. GONE ARE MOST OF THE UNIONS, AND THE GOOD OLD REPUBLICAN UNEMPLOYMENT HAS REDUCED THE LOWER MIDDLE AND POOR CLASSES TO BEGGARY.

SO, THE PARTIES ARE SPLITTING DUE TO A HIGH DEGREE OF DISCONTENT AMONG THE NON-WEALTHY POPULATION. I LIKE THAT. WE HAVE NEEDED PROGRESSIVE REFORM SINCE I WAS OLD ENOUGH TO VOTE. I ALSO FEEL THAT THE EXTREME POLARIZATION BETWEEN THE PARTIES, WHICH MAKES A MOCKERY OF THE LAWMAKING PROCESS AND STYMIES ALL PROGRESS, NEEDS TO STOP. I’M FOR FOUR PARTIES, EACH REPRESENTING A POSITION ALONG THE SCALE THAT CAN ACCOMMODATE SOME OF US VOTERS WHO ARE DISCONTENTED WITH OUR OLD PARTY OF CHOICE. BOTH OF THE TWO MAJOR PARTIES HAVE BEEN CORRUPTED BY MONEY AND CERTAIN OUTSIDE FORCES LIKE THE KOCH BROTHERS (AND NOW, MAYBE PUTIN HIMSELF), THE NRA, AND THE HUGELY WEALTHY EVANGELICAL CHRISTIAN VOTING BLOC.

THE FORCES AGAINST PROGRESS HAVE ALIGNED THEMSELVES TOGETHER IN A WAY AIMED AT TAKING US BACK TO 1890 OR SO SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY, AND THAT IS SHAMEFUL. THERE IS VERY LITTLE FREE THOUGHT HAPPENING IN THIS COUNTRY ANYMORE. DONALD TRUMP IS THE VISIBLE COALESCING OF A SOCIAL STANCE OF HATRED, GREED, STATUS-CONSCIOUSNESS AND CLOSED MINDEDNESS. HOW DID WE COME TO THIS? I FEEL LIKE ECHOING SIMON AND GARFUNKEL, “GONE TO LOOK FOR AMERICA.”

http://www.thewrap.com/morning-joe-scarborough-mika-brzezinski-late-show-colbert-ratings/
‘Morning Joe’ Hosts’ ‘Late Show’ Visit Hands Colbert His Top Rating in 2 Months
Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski serve up CBS series’ best overnight Nielsen number since May’s “Daily Show” reunion episode
Tony Maglio and Brian Flood | July 12, 2017 @ 9:07 AM

MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski stopped by Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show” Tuesday night, handing the CBS series its best overnight ratings in more than two months.

Tuesday’s “Late Show” averaged a 2.9 rating in Nielsen’s local overnight markets. That is the show’s top mark since May 9, when Colbert pulled in a 3.1 rating with his “Daily Show” reunion episode.

Jon Stewart, John Oliver, Samantha Bee, Rob Corddry and Ed Helms helped Colbert out that night. The April 18 episode featuring Alec Baldwin also out-rated the “Morning Joe” appearance.

The MSNBC stars’ appearance ended up being “The Late Show’s” third-best rating of the season on any evening.

During the visit, Scarborough announced that he’s leaving the Republican party to become an Independent. He was asked by Colbert why Republican members of Congress were so unwilling to turn on President Donald Trump. Scarborough responded that Republican officials had “betrayed their core values.”

“I am a Republican,” Scarborough said. “But I’m not going to be a Republican anymore. I’ve got to become an Independent.”

Scarborough served as a Republican representative for Florida’s 1st District from 1995 to 2001.

“I think it’s inexplicable,” Scarborough said of the behavior of Republicans in Congress. “But this is well before Donald Trump was elected president that my party has betrayed their core values. I remember back in December of 2015 when Donald Trump supported a Muslim ban. I said on the air, ‘It’s very simple, it’s black and white.’ I said I could never vote for anybody in my party that would say they were going to ban people because of the god that they worshipped.”

Meanwhile, Mediaite columnist and top editor Colby Hall posted an opinion piece on Wednesday titled, “Joe Scarborough Disses Employer MSNBC By Announcing GOP Withdrawal on CBS.”

“The newly self-identified Independent raised the eyebrows of media insiders, however, by choosing to make the announcement not on the network that employs him, MSNBC, but rather on CBS’s ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,'” Hall wrote.

Hall added: “It is worth noting that news of Scarborough’s announcement was broken by ‘Late Show’ Show Runner Chris Licht, who is the former Executive Producer for ‘Morning Joe’ and often gets credited for helping put that MSNBC morning show on the map. So perhaps Scarborough’s decision to go on CBS was a favor to an old friend… But the executive suites at NBC and NBC News are most likely shaking their heads in frustration.”



I’VE HEARD THIS STATEMENT ABOUT GAYS BEFORE, THOUGH I THINK IT WAS AN ISIS MEMBER WHO SAID IT THAT TIME: “THERE ARE NO GAYS HERE.” TRUST ME. THERE ARE GAYS EVERYWHERE.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/chechen-leader-invokes-damnation-gay-persecution-claims-133951465.html
Chechen leader invokes damnation for gay persecution claims
Associated Press Sat, Jul 15 8:35 AM PDT

MOSCOW (AP) — Chechnya's strongman leader has harshly denounced claims that his southern Russian republic has tortured and even killed gay men, denying that there even are any homosexual men in his region.

Kremlin-backed Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov has faced wide international criticism since a Russian newspaper reported this spring that his security forces had detained some 100 gay men, torturing or killing some of them.

"This is nonsense. We don't have those kinds of people here. We don't have any gays. If there are any, take them to Canada," Kadyrov says in an interview with HBO Real Sports cable television show. HBO released excerpts of the June 30 interview on Friday.

Kadyrov also called those making the allegations "devils."

"God damn them for what they are accusing us of," he said.

Chechnya, a predominantly Muslim region in southern Russia, was devastated by two wars between separatists and Russian forces in the past quarter-century. Kadyrov, a former rebel who switched his loyalties to Moscow, has been the dominant figure there since the 2004 assassination of his president father, Akhmad Kadyrov.

Kadyrov's security forces have been widely accused of extensive human-rights abuses including abductions and killings in Chechnya. A former officer of his security forces has been convicted of the 2015 assassination of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov.

He has strongly promoted Chechnya's Islamic culture, including opening what is claimed to be Europe's largest mosque in the capital, Grozny. An avid boxer, he has promoted mixed martial arts and other fighting sports in the republic. HBO says its show, which airs on Tuesday, examines Kadyrov's sports initiatives.

In the interview excerpts, Kadyrov claimed the United States "is conducting an anti-Russian policy against the country's leadership" but then dismisses the country.

"America is not really a strong enough state for us to regard it as an enemy of Russia. We have a strong government and are a nuclear state. Even if our government were completely destroyed, our nuclear missiles would be automatically deployed," he said.


POLITICAL HUMOR AND SHEER GOSSIP


I HAVE TO GIVE FOX THIS MUCH ON THE SUBJECT OF “DRAINING THE SWAMP.” GUTFELD’S BIT OF CLEVERNESS REALLY IS FUNNY TO ME: “THIS GUY WAS SO INSIDE HE SNEEZES POLLIWOGS.”

https://www.thewrap.com/fox-news-the-five-mocks-msnbcs-morning-joe-for-entire-segment-video/
Fox News Mocks ‘Morning Joe’ for Entire Segment: ‘Morning Joke’ (Video)
“Talk about draining the swamp. This guy was so inside he sneezes polliwogs,” Greg Gutfeld says
Brian Flood | July 13, 2017 @ 6:14 AM

Fox News’ “The Five” devoted an entire segment to playfully making fun of “Morning Joe” co-host Joe Scarborough on Wednesday night.

In response to Scarborough recently announcing on “The Late Show” that he’s leaving the Republican party to become an Independent, “The Five” host Greg Gutfeld offered viewers a glimpse of the GOP reaction — but the video was actually sports fans going wild with celebration.

“Talk about draining the swamp. This guy was so inside he sneezes polliwogs,” Gutfeld said.

Gutfeld then referred to Scarborough as “Morning Joke” and “Weird Matt Perry” as his co-hosts laughed.

The Fox News personality then mocked Scarborough for flip-flopping on his feelings about Donald Trump. “The Five” co-host Dana Perino was next to chime in, noting that Stephen Colbert probably set Scarborough up for his big announcement.

“They probably were able to get booked on Colbert saying they were going to make this big news,” Perino said.

Co-host Jesse Watters then said he has nothing against Scarborough but they only covered the story because Gutfeld had such a funny monologue.

“I don’t think anybody cares in the Republican party that he’s leaving,” Watters said. “I think MSNBC loses a talking point now. When you say, ‘There are no conservatives on MSNBC,’ you can’t say, ‘Joe Scarborough!'”

Check out the video above.



MUCH AS THEY DON’T LIKE TO HAVE TO DO THIS, FOX ISSUED A CORRECTION.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/fox-friends-corrects-misleading-report-comey-memo-leaks-article-1.3317865
Report on Comey memo leaks
BY MEERA JAGANNATHAN
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Tuesday, July 11, 2017, 12:08 PM

Photograph -- French President Emmanuel Macron and U.S. President Donald Trump attend the traditional Bastille Day military parade on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, France, July 14, 2017. REUTERS/Charles Platiau
54 PHOTOS -- VIEW GALLERY -- Donald Trump in the White House

President Trump’s favorite news source was forced to admit Tuesday it isn’t infallible.

“Fox and Friends” corrected its day-earlier misinterpretation of a report on former FBI Director James Comey’s leaking sensitive information — a story Trump had seized upon to brand Comey’s actions “so illegal!”

“Yesterday on this program we aired and tweeted a story saying former FBI Director James Comey leaked memos containing top-secret information. We were mistaken in that,” co-host Steve Doocy said. “According to a report, half of the memos contained information classified at the secret or confidential level, not top-secret.”

“The markings of the government documents which Mr. Comey leaked are at this point unclear,” he added. “Just wanted to straighten that out.”

President Trump says his story about Comey tapes 'never changed'
Former FBI Director James Comey reacts during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on June 8. (ALEX BRANDON/AP)

The morning show also issued a correction on Twitter Monday night — though previous erroneous tweets on Comey supposedly leaking “top-secret” info remained as of late Tuesday morning.

Comey, fired by Trump in May, said he had written memos on seven out of his nine conversations with the President. A Monday report from The Hill* claimed four of those memos were classified — but didn’t specify that was true of the one he’d leaked to a friend.

In fact, the former agency head testified in June that the memo he leaked to Columbia University law Prof. Daniel Richman — a go-between for the New York Times — contained no classified information.

Richman corroborated that account on Monday.

House Intel Committee warns Trump of subpoena over Comey tapes

But the misleading report and tweet from “Fox and Friends” instantly gained traction with the President, who accused Comey of violating the law.

“James Comey leaked CLASSIFIED INFORMATION to the media,” he tweeted. “That is so illegal!”

President Trump accused Comey on Twitter of breaking the law. (EVAN VUCCI/AP)

And Kellyanne Conway, appearing on ABC News to spin Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting with a Kremlin-connected lawyer, called the Comey story “the real bombshell” of the day.

“The Boy Scout-choir boy defense doesn’t hold up here, because if it contains classified information, he is apparently violating at the very least what all members of the FBI sign,” she earlier told “Fox and Friends.” “He was the director of the entire bureau.”



I SUPPOSE ALL POLITICAL PARTY MEMBERS DECIDE ON “TALKING POINTS,” ESPECIALLY DURING CAMPAIGNS, BUT THE IOP (IDIOTIC OLD PARTY) DOES IT CONSTANTLY. THE WRITER OF THIS NEXT ARTICLE PUTS THE MATTER SO WELL, WHEN HE CALLS IT “THE TRUMP-FOX FEEDBACK LOOP.” THEY DO IT, FIRST, TO GET EVERYBODY MARCHING IN LOCKSTEP, AND SECOND, TO PURIFY “THE MESSAGE” OF ANY CONFUSING OR ENLIGHTENING INDIVIDUALITY. THAT COULD BE A GENUINE ERROR, A DISAGREEMENT, OR A PIECE OF SHEER BRILLIANCE – WHICH SOUNDS LIKE IT OUGHT TO BE A GOOD THING, BUT IT IS ALSO MUCH TOO “DIFFERENT” FOR THAT CLOSED GROUP.

I PERSONALLY AM THE SORT PERSON WHO DOESN’T TAKE MY CUES OF WHAT TO SAY, AND PARTICULARLY WHAT TO THINK, FROM “THE GROUP.” I ALSO HAVE NO RESPECT OR TRUST FOR THOSE WHO DO. THE IOP HAS BEEN DOING THIS FOR AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER. IT’S THEIR BASIC METHOD. THE FACT THAT IT’S LIES DOESN’T USUALLY BOTHER THEM AT ALL.

HERE SHEPARD SMITH IS STANDING AGAINST HIS FOX COMPATRIOTS ON THE BASIS OF FACTS AND PRINCIPLES. I HOPE HE WILL SOON LEAVE FOX AND JOIN MSNBC OR ANOTHER COMPANY THAT VALUES HONESTY AND INTELLIGENCE. OF COURSE, THE DEMS MAY DISAGREE FAIRLY WIDELY, AND LIKEWISE, MAY NOT BE WILLING TO VOTE IN CONGRESS IN UNISON THE WAY THE IOP DOES. THAT, THOUGH IT MAKES ME TRUST AND ADMIRE THEM MORE AS INDIVIDUALS, DOES TEND TO TURN CONGRESS INTO THE PROVERBIAL “HERD OF CATS.” THAT’S OKAY. I LOVE CREATIVITY AND PERSONAL COURAGE. GO DEMS!

http://money.cnn.com/2017/07/10/media/fox-and-friends-donald-trump-tweet-james-comey/index.html
Anatomy of anti-Comey talking point: the Trump-Fox feedback loop in action
by Tom Kludt @tomkludt
July 10, 2017: 3:08 PM ET

The talking point, once again, filtered its way through Fox News before landing on President Donald Trump's desk.

In what has become a familiar pattern, Trump tweeted something on Monday that was clearly influenced by his preferred morning television program, "Fox & Friends."

"James Comey leaked CLASSIFIED INFORMATION to the media," Trump tweeted at 6:40 A.M. ET. "That is so illegal!"

But the claim -- and the on-air report on which it was based -- was false.
Eight minutes before Trump's tweet, "Fox & Friends" tweeted this from its official account:

Follow
FOX & friends ✔ @foxandfriends
Report accuses material James Comey leaked to a friend contained top secret information
6:32 AM - 10 Jul 2017
13,266 13,266 Retweets 34,236 34,236 likes

The tweet contained a clip from that morning's broadcast of the show. In the clip, an anchor explained that "a brand new bombshell report" suggests former FBI Director James Comey "may have actually broken the rules" and put "our national security at risk" when he shared with a friend a memo he'd written detailing one of his conversations with Trump.

The tweet itself, which was also shared by Trump, said the report "accuses" Comey of leaking "top secret information" to a friend.

But on-air and on Twitter, "Fox & Friends" had mischaracterized the report it cited, which was published Sunday night by The Hill.

The report, citing "officials familiar with the documents," indicated that more than half of the seven memos Comey wrote to memorialize his conversations with the president were determined "to contain classified information."

"Four of the memos had markings making clear they contained information classified at the 'secret' or 'confidential' level, according to officials directly familiar with the matter," the report said.

The Hill's article does not say, as "Fox & Friends" suggested, that the particular memo Comey shared with a friend with the intent of having it reported on in the news media contained "top secret information."

A Fox News spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

As the Washington Post's Philip Bump pointed out, Comey testified last month that the particular memo eventually reported on by the New York Times -- which memorialized a February conversation Comey had with Trump regarding the FBI's investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn -- was unclassified.

Columbia Law School Professor Daniel Richman, Comey's friend who received the memo and shared it with the Times, told CNN that the document "was not classified at the time and to my knowledge is not classified now."

"Jim Comey never gave me a memo that was classified; and the memo whose substance I passed on the Times has never to my knowledge been classified," Richman said. "Memos that went to Congress, and not me, may well have been classified. The Director of the FBI does indeed write classified memos."

Even The Hill's own report quotes from Comey's testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, during which he recalled preparing "an unclassified memo of the conversation about Flynn and discussed the matter with FBI senior leadership."

But while Trump's cable news obsession might make it easier to identify the source of misleading reports he shares, fact-checking will likely do nothing to stop his supporters on social media from repeating the falsehood.

Later on Monday morning, senior White House adviser Kellyanne Conway hyped the report as she made the morning television rounds.

The feedback loop was complete shortly after 8 a.m., when Fox News reported that Trump had "accused former FBI Director James Comey of having illegally leaked classified material."

-- CNN's Manu Raju contributed reporting.

Also Read:
'Morning Joe' Hosts' 'Late Show' Visit Hands Colbert His Top Rating in 2 Months


MSNBC TIME

IF YOU AREN’T A TRUMP CONSERVATIVE, WATCH THIS MADDOW VIDEO:

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/rachel-maddow/watch/trump-role-in-publishing-hacked-material-draws-lawsuit-996875331601?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