Joining today's show, we have John Heilemann, Mark Halperin, Ben Taub, Jeffrey Sachs, Eugene Robinson, Martin Smith, Mike Allen, Secy. Ray Mabus, Brandon Webb, Jerry Ferrara, Ali Rezaian, Brian Sullivan, Lisa Gibbs and Jason Tanz.
Three children hurt in Florida bounce house when waterspout comes ashore. Three children were injured on Monday when a waterspout came onshore and lifted the inflatable bounce house they were in, authorities said.
The house was swept across a parking lot into a roadway, according to police in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The National Weather Service in Miami reported that one adult was also injured and that one of the three children was seriously hurt.
Injuries in bounce houses are not uncommon.
Two boys from upstate New York were seriously injured last year after falling nearly two stories when a gust of wind swept up the house in which they were playing. A study by Dr. Gary Smith of the Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, found that the number of bounce house-related injuries rose 1,500% from 1995 to 2010. From 2008 to 2010, the rate of injuries more than doubled, according to the study, which was published in the journal Pediatrics in 2012. In 2010, 31 children were treated in emergency departments each day on average, according to the report. "That's about one child every 45 minutes," Smith, who is the director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital, said at the time.
Injuries in bounce houses are not uncommon.
Two boys from upstate New York were seriously injured last year after falling nearly two stories when a gust of wind swept up the house in which they were playing. A study by Dr. Gary Smith of the Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, found that the number of bounce house-related injuries rose 1,500% from 1995 to 2010. From 2008 to 2010, the rate of injuries more than doubled, according to the study, which was published in the journal Pediatrics in 2012. In 2010, 31 children were treated in emergency departments each day on average, according to the report. "That's about one child every 45 minutes," Smith, who is the director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital, said at the time.
Smith said the pattern of injuries from inflatable bounce houses is similar to injuries suffered from trampoline use. But while there are national safety guidelines for trampolines, there are none for inflatable bounce houses. CNN's Miriam Falco contributed to this report.
Four (4) (Sixteen (16) candidates have announced it now) more candidates for the GOP are expected to announce their run for the POTUS this week.
Former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum said on Fox News tonight that he will announce his decision on whether to make another run for the GOP presidential nomination on May 27.
Santorum, who served in the Senate from 1995 to 2007, surprised many observers with a strong showing in the 2012 Republican primaries, including a very narrow win over eventual nominee Mitt Romney in the Iowa caucuses.
He would go on to win 11 state contests with a campaign that appealed to social conservative voters. If he decides to jump in the 2016 race, he’ll face growing competition for support in that critical GOP constituency. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, the winner of the 2008 Iowa caucuses who announced on Tuesday he was running, figure to make a strong push for evangelical support.
Gov. Kasich comes closer than ever to announcing presidential bid. Appearing on ABC’s "This Week," Kasich said he’s happy with what he calls his metrics. Kasich’s Sunday talk show appearances have become a regular weekend event – this time he was on ABC’s This Week, saying he’s happy with what he calls his metrics – which are likely based on the money he’s raising.
“If we meet our metrics, I’m going to move forward,” Kasich said. “And I have to tell you that I’m increasingly optimistic about all of this.”
But when anchor Jonathan Karl asked about the vice presidency...“Forget it.”
Karl followed up, “Would you do it?”
“Forget it,” Kasich said again.
“No way?” Karl pressed.
“Forget it, Jon,” Kasich said. “I don’t play for second.”
Kasich will visit Georgia on Tuesday, and then travel to South Carolina – the first primary state – on Wednesday.
Santorum, who served in the Senate from 1995 to 2007, surprised many observers with a strong showing in the 2012 Republican primaries, including a very narrow win over eventual nominee Mitt Romney in the Iowa caucuses.
He would go on to win 11 state contests with a campaign that appealed to social conservative voters. If he decides to jump in the 2016 race, he’ll face growing competition for support in that critical GOP constituency. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, the winner of the 2008 Iowa caucuses who announced on Tuesday he was running, figure to make a strong push for evangelical support.
“If we meet our metrics, I’m going to move forward,” Kasich said. “And I have to tell you that I’m increasingly optimistic about all of this.”
But when anchor Jonathan Karl asked about the vice presidency...“Forget it.”
Karl followed up, “Would you do it?”
“Forget it,” Kasich said again.
“No way?” Karl pressed.
“Forget it, Jon,” Kasich said. “I don’t play for second.”
Kasich will visit Georgia on Tuesday, and then travel to South Carolina – the first primary state – on Wednesday.
Lindsey Graham: June 1 presidential announcement. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said Monday he'll announce his presidential plans June 1 — but seemed to have already made up his mind.
"You're all invited to come — spend money when you do — and I will tell you what I'm going to do about running for president," Graham said, teasing an announcement in "beautiful" central South Carolina at the beginning of next month on CBS "This Morning."
Graham has made no secret of his interest in the race and has been traveling to early primary states to gauge interest in a potential bid. He's widely expected to jump into the ever-expanding Republican presidential field, and seemed to confirm that suspicion in responding to a question on whether he's running because the rest of the field is lacking in foreign policy experience.
"I'm running," he said, "because I think the world is falling apart. I've been more right than wrong on foreign policy.
"It's not the fault of others or their lack of this or that that makes me want to run. It's my ability in my own mind to be a good commander-in-chief and to make Washington work," Graham added. He pointed to his last reelection fight, in which he fended off six primary challengers because, he said, he's been accused of "working with Democrats too much" as evidence of his bipartisan chops, and pledged to bring those to the White House.
"In my view, Democrats and Republicans work together too little, and I would try to change that if I got to be president. And when it came to radical Islam, I would go after them before they come back here again," he said.
Graham also weighed in on the controversy gripping the GOP field over the Iraq War and whether it was a mistake to invade Iraq, with the current knowledge that the intelligence on weapons of mass destruction was faulty. Graham said he would "probably not" have launched the invasion, but urged a focus on the future rather than the past.
"But that's yesterday's thinking. What do we do today, tomorrow and the day after?" he said.
George Pataki to announce presidential bid Thursday. Ignoring the polls and pundits, former New York Gov. George Pataki plans to announce Thursday that he’s joining the crowded Republican field for president.
The three-term governor will unveil his candidacy in Exeter, N.H., – which claims the birthplace of the Republican Party – and join a group of contenders who are inching toward the 20 mark. Skeptics abound about Pataki’s chances. He doesn’t register on national polls and has been out of elected office for nearly a decade. “I just don’t see where he could win,” GOP consultant Ed Rollins told The Post. “I’m not sure he could win in New York anymore.”
But Pataki says he’s undeterred by the odds. “It will be a very stiff climb up a very steep mountain, but that hasn’t stopped me in the past,” Pataki said in an interview. Pataki is putting most of his chips on a strong showing in New Hampshire – a state he’s visited more than any presidential contender.
The first-in-the-nation primary is a key test for the conservative Republican field and is open to the large contingent of independent voters who could favor a moderate like Pataki, who is pro-choice and has a record of tightening gun laws and environmental protections.
“I’m a Republican following in the tradition of Teddy Roosevelt who understands that conservatism isn’t just economic policy and but it’s also preserving and enhancing the outdoors,” Pataki said, arguing that decisions like marriage, gun rights and education should be left up to the states.
Pataki’s super PAC has been up with ads in New Hampshire. He’s met with longtime donors in New York and Florida about his presidential hopes. And he got a nudge to run from the Republican county chairs in New York City last week.
Pataki believes his can succeed with retail politics and so does one supporter, Alissa Tweedie, a 35-year-old Navy veteran from New Hampshire.
“The more time the governor spends here, the better he is doing,” said Tweedie, who likes Pataki’s record on charter schools, national security and leadership. “He meets with groups of any size without any pretenses – no scripting here. I think many have underestimated him and I think that’s just where he wants to be.” Pataki will have an uphill climb to make the national stage. For the first GOP debate Aug. 6, Fox News will only accept the top 10 candidates based on polling – and Pataki isn’t even registering on national polls. One New Hampshire poll this month didn’t even include him as an option.
“Right now, Gov. Pataki is on everyone’s list of also-rans. That’s remarkable to say about a three-term governor of New York who was a prominent part of 9/11, but it’s true,” said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.
Iowa straw poll on death watch? The Iowa straw poll deathwatch is underway. Political watchers in the Hawkeye State say the controversial event, which has served as the traditional starting point for the GOP presidential campaign, has suffered significant blows to its credibility and is at risk of collapsing. “The straw poll is toast,” said Steffen Schmidt, a professor of political science at Iowa State University. “The brand is dead.”
The event, which has been a big moneymaker for the state party, has been criticized for years, chiefly for two reasons: the cost of full participation for candidates has been prohibitive, and the results have tended to push forward long-shots with no real chance of winning the GOP nomination.
The state party has sought to address some of these issues, moving the event from Ames to a smaller venue in Boone, and no longer requiring candidates to pay enormous sums for prime positions and food for attendees.
But some in the state say the party hasn’t adequately addressed the political risks candidates take by participating in a poll that has only picked the eventual Republican nominee twice in several decades of existence.
In 2011, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) spent about $1 million at the event on his way to a third place finish. He bowed out of the race the next day, while then-Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) won the poll before flaming out in the caucuses.
“The mistake the Iowa Republican Party made is that they haven’t done anything to entice frontrunners to show them how they could benefit from this,” said former Iowa Republican Party political director Craig Robinson, who in 2007 served as the liaison between the straw poll and the campaigns.
That criticism has played out publicly over the last couple of weeks as two top-tier candidates said they’d take a pass on the event.
Jeb Bush will spend the second weekend in August in Georgia, along with five other declared or potential candidates, at a gathering hosted by conservative blogger and Red State founder Erick Erickson.
And on Thursday, GOP presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee said he too would skip the event, taking to the pages of the state’s most influential newspaper to trash the proceedings.
“I have concluded this year's Iowa straw poll will serve only to weaken conservative candidates and further empower the Washington ruling class and their hand-picked candidates,” Huckabee wrote in the Des Moines Register.
Huckabee’s words were particularly powerful considering he finished second at the event in 2007 on his way to winning the caucuses. (The straw poll was won that year by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a somewhat incongruous result for an event that is widely perceived for favor “red-meat” conservatives.)
Despite the high-profile withdrawals, some Republicans in the state believe that reports of the straw poll’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.
“It’s way too early to administer last rites to the Iowa straw poll,” said former Iowa GOP chairman Matt Strawn. “There’s still no other gathering in Iowa or any early states where candidates will have the opportunity to get in front of upwards of 15,000 or 20,000 of the most active Republicans in the state. There’s clear value there.”
Strawn argued that there’s a breakout opportunity for one or more of the huge field of GOP contenders at the poll, especially those who may be excluded from the debates.
He also argued that there’s risk inherent in skipping, particularly for Huckabee, who faces competition from a handful of candidates who will be fighting for the votes of social conservatives and evangelical Christians who attend the event in big numbers.
“In 2007, [Huckabee] used the straw poll to become the movement conservative and effectively knocked out his competition,” Strawn said. “This year, someone else could be catapulted into that role.”
But for that to happen, the poll will need to land some firm commitments.
The Hill reached out to all of the declared candidates, and so far only two – Ben Carson and Donald Trump – have said they intend to participate.
Representatives for Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Ted Cruz said they’re still undecided, while a spokesperson for Carly Fiorina, who would appear to be almost an archetype of the kind of candidate that could benefit from a strong showing in the poll, was noncommittal. Sen. Marco Rubio’s campaign didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment.
“They need at least six candidates, because it’s not going to work with just two or three,” said Robinson. “And they really need to get Scott Walker. He’s at the top of the polls in Iowa and nationally. If they can get him to commit, a lot of things will fall into place, and some of the other candidates might worry that they’ll be damaged by skipping.”
A spokesperson for Walker’s political team said they’ll make that decision if the governor decides to run for president, as he’s expected to do some time in June.
Strawn said the state party just started reaching out to candidates about the logistics of the event, and he expects some big-name conservative groups will get on board, giving added incentive for candidates to attend.
Beyond the long-standing controversies, the poll has struggled to stay relevant among increased competition from other events in recent years.
This year alone, Iowa Republicans and presidential contenders have already gathered for Rep. Steve King’s Freedom Summit, the first-ever Ag Summit, and the Faith and Freedom Coalition Summit. In June, seven candidates will be attending Sen. Joni Ernst’s first-ever “Roast and Ride” event.
There is a GOP debate on Aug. 6 this year, just days before the straw poll, and the Red State gathering, which is going on the same weekend in Georgia, has generated considerable buzz, with Walker, Bush, Rubio, and Fiorina already confirmed, as well as Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
“You’re getting too many events before the caucuses and the straw poll is just one more, and it’s really become a nuisance,” said Schmidt. “I used to be a supporter, but it’s clear now that it’s become a disruption.” The Iowa straw poll deathwatch is underway. Political watchers in the Hawkeye State say the controversial event, which has served as the traditional starting point for the GOP presidential campaign, has suffered significant blows to its credibility and is at risk of collapsing. “The straw poll is toast,” said Steffen Schmidt, a professor of political science at Iowa State University. “The brand is dead.” The event, which has been a big moneymaker for the state party, has been criticized for years, chiefly for two reasons: the cost of full participation for candidates has been prohibitive, and the results have tended to push forward long-shots with no real chance of winning the GOP nomination.
The state party has sought to address some of these issues, moving the event from Ames to a smaller venue in Boone, and no longer requiring candidates to pay enormous sums for prime positions and food for attendees.
But some in the state say the party hasn’t adequately addressed the political risks candidates take by participating in a poll that has only picked the eventual Republican nominee twice in several decades of existence.
In 2011, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) spent about $1 million at the event on his way to a third place finish. He bowed out of the race the next day, while then-Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) won the poll before flaming out in the caucuses.
“The mistake the Iowa Republican Party made is that they haven’t done anything to entice frontrunners to show them how they could benefit from this,” said former Iowa Republican Party political director Craig Robinson, who in 2007 served as the liaison between the straw poll and the campaigns.
That criticism has played out publicly over the last couple of weeks as two top-tier candidates said they’d take a pass on the event.
Jeb Bush will spend the second weekend in August in Georgia, along with five other declared or potential candidates, at a gathering hosted by conservative blogger and Red State founder Erick Erickson.
And on Thursday, GOP presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee said he too would skip the event, taking to the pages of the state’s most influential newspaper to trash the proceedings.
“I have concluded this year's Iowa straw poll will serve only to weaken conservative candidates and further empower the Washington ruling class and their hand-picked candidates,” Huckabee wrote in the Des Moines Register.
Huckabee’s words were particularly powerful considering he finished second at the event in 2007 on his way to winning the caucuses. (The straw poll was won that year by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a somewhat incongruous result for an event that is widely perceived for favor “red-meat” conservatives.)
Despite the high-profile withdrawals, some Republicans in the state believe that reports of the straw poll’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.
“It’s way too early to administer last rites to the Iowa straw poll,” said former Iowa GOP chairman Matt Strawn. “There’s still no other gathering in Iowa or any early states where candidates will have the opportunity to get in front of upwards of 15,000 or 20,000 of the most active Republicans in the state. There’s clear value there.”
Strawn argued that there’s a breakout opportunity for one or more of the huge field of GOP contenders at the poll, especially those who may be excluded from the debates.
He also argued that there’s risk inherent in skipping, particularly for Huckabee, who faces competition from a handful of candidates who will be fighting for the votes of social conservatives and evangelical Christians who attend the event in big numbers.
“In 2007, [Huckabee] used the straw poll to become the movement conservative and effectively knocked out his competition,” Strawn said. “This year, someone else could be catapulted into that role.”
But for that to happen, the poll will need to land some firm commitments.
The Hill reached out to all of the declared candidates, and so far only two – Ben Carson and Donald Trump – have said they intend to participate.
Representatives for Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Ted Cruz said they’re still undecided, while a spokesperson for Carly Fiorina, who would appear to be almost an archetype of the kind of candidate that could benefit from a strong showing in the poll, was noncommittal. Sen. Marco Rubio’s campaign didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment.
“They need at least six candidates, because it’s not going to work with just two or three,” said Robinson. “And they really need to get Scott Walker. He’s at the top of the polls in Iowa and nationally. If they can get him to commit, a lot of things will fall into place, and some of the other candidates might worry that they’ll be damaged by skipping.”
A spokesperson for Walker’s political team said they’ll make that decision if the governor decides to run for president, as he’s expected to do some time in June.
Strawn said the state party just started reaching out to candidates about the logistics of the event, and he expects some big-name conservative groups will get on board, giving added incentive for candidates to attend.
Beyond the long-standing controversies, the poll has struggled to stay relevant among increased competition from other events in recent years.
This year alone, Iowa Republicans and presidential contenders have already gathered for Rep. Steve King’s Freedom Summit, the first-ever Ag Summit, and the Faith and Freedom Coalition Summit. In June, seven candidates will be attending Sen. Joni Ernst’s first-ever “Roast and Ride” event.
There is a GOP debate on Aug. 6 this year, just days before the straw poll, and the Red State gathering, which is going on the same weekend in Georgia, has generated considerable buzz, with Walker, Bush, Rubio, and Fiorina already confirmed, as well as Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry. “You’re getting too many events before the caucuses and the straw poll is just one more, and it’s really become a nuisance,” said Schmidt. “I used to be a supporter, but it’s clear now that it’s become a disruption.”
"You're all invited to come — spend money when you do — and I will tell you what I'm going to do about running for president," Graham said, teasing an announcement in "beautiful" central South Carolina at the beginning of next month on CBS "This Morning."
Graham has made no secret of his interest in the race and has been traveling to early primary states to gauge interest in a potential bid. He's widely expected to jump into the ever-expanding Republican presidential field, and seemed to confirm that suspicion in responding to a question on whether he's running because the rest of the field is lacking in foreign policy experience.
"I'm running," he said, "because I think the world is falling apart. I've been more right than wrong on foreign policy.
"It's not the fault of others or their lack of this or that that makes me want to run. It's my ability in my own mind to be a good commander-in-chief and to make Washington work," Graham added. He pointed to his last reelection fight, in which he fended off six primary challengers because, he said, he's been accused of "working with Democrats too much" as evidence of his bipartisan chops, and pledged to bring those to the White House.
"In my view, Democrats and Republicans work together too little, and I would try to change that if I got to be president. And when it came to radical Islam, I would go after them before they come back here again," he said.
Graham also weighed in on the controversy gripping the GOP field over the Iraq War and whether it was a mistake to invade Iraq, with the current knowledge that the intelligence on weapons of mass destruction was faulty. Graham said he would "probably not" have launched the invasion, but urged a focus on the future rather than the past.
"But that's yesterday's thinking. What do we do today, tomorrow and the day after?" he said.
The three-term governor will unveil his candidacy in Exeter, N.H., – which claims the birthplace of the Republican Party – and join a group of contenders who are inching toward the 20 mark. Skeptics abound about Pataki’s chances. He doesn’t register on national polls and has been out of elected office for nearly a decade. “I just don’t see where he could win,” GOP consultant Ed Rollins told The Post. “I’m not sure he could win in New York anymore.”
But Pataki says he’s undeterred by the odds. “It will be a very stiff climb up a very steep mountain, but that hasn’t stopped me in the past,” Pataki said in an interview. Pataki is putting most of his chips on a strong showing in New Hampshire – a state he’s visited more than any presidential contender.
The first-in-the-nation primary is a key test for the conservative Republican field and is open to the large contingent of independent voters who could favor a moderate like Pataki, who is pro-choice and has a record of tightening gun laws and environmental protections.
“I’m a Republican following in the tradition of Teddy Roosevelt who understands that conservatism isn’t just economic policy and but it’s also preserving and enhancing the outdoors,” Pataki said, arguing that decisions like marriage, gun rights and education should be left up to the states.
Pataki’s super PAC has been up with ads in New Hampshire. He’s met with longtime donors in New York and Florida about his presidential hopes. And he got a nudge to run from the Republican county chairs in New York City last week.
Pataki believes his can succeed with retail politics and so does one supporter, Alissa Tweedie, a 35-year-old Navy veteran from New Hampshire.
“The more time the governor spends here, the better he is doing,” said Tweedie, who likes Pataki’s record on charter schools, national security and leadership. “He meets with groups of any size without any pretenses – no scripting here. I think many have underestimated him and I think that’s just where he wants to be.” Pataki will have an uphill climb to make the national stage. For the first GOP debate Aug. 6, Fox News will only accept the top 10 candidates based on polling – and Pataki isn’t even registering on national polls. One New Hampshire poll this month didn’t even include him as an option.
“Right now, Gov. Pataki is on everyone’s list of also-rans. That’s remarkable to say about a three-term governor of New York who was a prominent part of 9/11, but it’s true,” said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.
Iowa straw poll on death watch? The Iowa straw poll deathwatch is underway. Political watchers in the Hawkeye State say the controversial event, which has served as the traditional starting point for the GOP presidential campaign, has suffered significant blows to its credibility and is at risk of collapsing. “The straw poll is toast,” said Steffen Schmidt, a professor of political science at Iowa State University. “The brand is dead.”
The event, which has been a big moneymaker for the state party, has been criticized for years, chiefly for two reasons: the cost of full participation for candidates has been prohibitive, and the results have tended to push forward long-shots with no real chance of winning the GOP nomination.
The state party has sought to address some of these issues, moving the event from Ames to a smaller venue in Boone, and no longer requiring candidates to pay enormous sums for prime positions and food for attendees.
But some in the state say the party hasn’t adequately addressed the political risks candidates take by participating in a poll that has only picked the eventual Republican nominee twice in several decades of existence.
In 2011, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) spent about $1 million at the event on his way to a third place finish. He bowed out of the race the next day, while then-Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) won the poll before flaming out in the caucuses.
“The mistake the Iowa Republican Party made is that they haven’t done anything to entice frontrunners to show them how they could benefit from this,” said former Iowa Republican Party political director Craig Robinson, who in 2007 served as the liaison between the straw poll and the campaigns.
That criticism has played out publicly over the last couple of weeks as two top-tier candidates said they’d take a pass on the event.
Jeb Bush will spend the second weekend in August in Georgia, along with five other declared or potential candidates, at a gathering hosted by conservative blogger and Red State founder Erick Erickson.
And on Thursday, GOP presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee said he too would skip the event, taking to the pages of the state’s most influential newspaper to trash the proceedings.
“I have concluded this year's Iowa straw poll will serve only to weaken conservative candidates and further empower the Washington ruling class and their hand-picked candidates,” Huckabee wrote in the Des Moines Register.
Huckabee’s words were particularly powerful considering he finished second at the event in 2007 on his way to winning the caucuses. (The straw poll was won that year by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a somewhat incongruous result for an event that is widely perceived for favor “red-meat” conservatives.)
Despite the high-profile withdrawals, some Republicans in the state believe that reports of the straw poll’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.
“It’s way too early to administer last rites to the Iowa straw poll,” said former Iowa GOP chairman Matt Strawn. “There’s still no other gathering in Iowa or any early states where candidates will have the opportunity to get in front of upwards of 15,000 or 20,000 of the most active Republicans in the state. There’s clear value there.”
Strawn argued that there’s a breakout opportunity for one or more of the huge field of GOP contenders at the poll, especially those who may be excluded from the debates.
He also argued that there’s risk inherent in skipping, particularly for Huckabee, who faces competition from a handful of candidates who will be fighting for the votes of social conservatives and evangelical Christians who attend the event in big numbers.
“In 2007, [Huckabee] used the straw poll to become the movement conservative and effectively knocked out his competition,” Strawn said. “This year, someone else could be catapulted into that role.”
But for that to happen, the poll will need to land some firm commitments.
The Hill reached out to all of the declared candidates, and so far only two – Ben Carson and Donald Trump – have said they intend to participate.
Representatives for Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Ted Cruz said they’re still undecided, while a spokesperson for Carly Fiorina, who would appear to be almost an archetype of the kind of candidate that could benefit from a strong showing in the poll, was noncommittal. Sen. Marco Rubio’s campaign didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment.
“They need at least six candidates, because it’s not going to work with just two or three,” said Robinson. “And they really need to get Scott Walker. He’s at the top of the polls in Iowa and nationally. If they can get him to commit, a lot of things will fall into place, and some of the other candidates might worry that they’ll be damaged by skipping.”
A spokesperson for Walker’s political team said they’ll make that decision if the governor decides to run for president, as he’s expected to do some time in June.
Strawn said the state party just started reaching out to candidates about the logistics of the event, and he expects some big-name conservative groups will get on board, giving added incentive for candidates to attend.
Beyond the long-standing controversies, the poll has struggled to stay relevant among increased competition from other events in recent years.
This year alone, Iowa Republicans and presidential contenders have already gathered for Rep. Steve King’s Freedom Summit, the first-ever Ag Summit, and the Faith and Freedom Coalition Summit. In June, seven candidates will be attending Sen. Joni Ernst’s first-ever “Roast and Ride” event.
There is a GOP debate on Aug. 6 this year, just days before the straw poll, and the Red State gathering, which is going on the same weekend in Georgia, has generated considerable buzz, with Walker, Bush, Rubio, and Fiorina already confirmed, as well as Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
“You’re getting too many events before the caucuses and the straw poll is just one more, and it’s really become a nuisance,” said Schmidt. “I used to be a supporter, but it’s clear now that it’s become a disruption.” The Iowa straw poll deathwatch is underway. Political watchers in the Hawkeye State say the controversial event, which has served as the traditional starting point for the GOP presidential campaign, has suffered significant blows to its credibility and is at risk of collapsing. “The straw poll is toast,” said Steffen Schmidt, a professor of political science at Iowa State University. “The brand is dead.” The event, which has been a big moneymaker for the state party, has been criticized for years, chiefly for two reasons: the cost of full participation for candidates has been prohibitive, and the results have tended to push forward long-shots with no real chance of winning the GOP nomination.
The state party has sought to address some of these issues, moving the event from Ames to a smaller venue in Boone, and no longer requiring candidates to pay enormous sums for prime positions and food for attendees.
But some in the state say the party hasn’t adequately addressed the political risks candidates take by participating in a poll that has only picked the eventual Republican nominee twice in several decades of existence.
In 2011, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) spent about $1 million at the event on his way to a third place finish. He bowed out of the race the next day, while then-Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) won the poll before flaming out in the caucuses.
“The mistake the Iowa Republican Party made is that they haven’t done anything to entice frontrunners to show them how they could benefit from this,” said former Iowa Republican Party political director Craig Robinson, who in 2007 served as the liaison between the straw poll and the campaigns.
That criticism has played out publicly over the last couple of weeks as two top-tier candidates said they’d take a pass on the event.
Jeb Bush will spend the second weekend in August in Georgia, along with five other declared or potential candidates, at a gathering hosted by conservative blogger and Red State founder Erick Erickson.
And on Thursday, GOP presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee said he too would skip the event, taking to the pages of the state’s most influential newspaper to trash the proceedings.
“I have concluded this year's Iowa straw poll will serve only to weaken conservative candidates and further empower the Washington ruling class and their hand-picked candidates,” Huckabee wrote in the Des Moines Register.
Huckabee’s words were particularly powerful considering he finished second at the event in 2007 on his way to winning the caucuses. (The straw poll was won that year by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a somewhat incongruous result for an event that is widely perceived for favor “red-meat” conservatives.)
Despite the high-profile withdrawals, some Republicans in the state believe that reports of the straw poll’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.
“It’s way too early to administer last rites to the Iowa straw poll,” said former Iowa GOP chairman Matt Strawn. “There’s still no other gathering in Iowa or any early states where candidates will have the opportunity to get in front of upwards of 15,000 or 20,000 of the most active Republicans in the state. There’s clear value there.”
Strawn argued that there’s a breakout opportunity for one or more of the huge field of GOP contenders at the poll, especially those who may be excluded from the debates.
He also argued that there’s risk inherent in skipping, particularly for Huckabee, who faces competition from a handful of candidates who will be fighting for the votes of social conservatives and evangelical Christians who attend the event in big numbers.
“In 2007, [Huckabee] used the straw poll to become the movement conservative and effectively knocked out his competition,” Strawn said. “This year, someone else could be catapulted into that role.”
But for that to happen, the poll will need to land some firm commitments.
The Hill reached out to all of the declared candidates, and so far only two – Ben Carson and Donald Trump – have said they intend to participate.
Representatives for Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Ted Cruz said they’re still undecided, while a spokesperson for Carly Fiorina, who would appear to be almost an archetype of the kind of candidate that could benefit from a strong showing in the poll, was noncommittal. Sen. Marco Rubio’s campaign didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment.
“They need at least six candidates, because it’s not going to work with just two or three,” said Robinson. “And they really need to get Scott Walker. He’s at the top of the polls in Iowa and nationally. If they can get him to commit, a lot of things will fall into place, and some of the other candidates might worry that they’ll be damaged by skipping.”
A spokesperson for Walker’s political team said they’ll make that decision if the governor decides to run for president, as he’s expected to do some time in June.
Strawn said the state party just started reaching out to candidates about the logistics of the event, and he expects some big-name conservative groups will get on board, giving added incentive for candidates to attend.
Beyond the long-standing controversies, the poll has struggled to stay relevant among increased competition from other events in recent years.
This year alone, Iowa Republicans and presidential contenders have already gathered for Rep. Steve King’s Freedom Summit, the first-ever Ag Summit, and the Faith and Freedom Coalition Summit. In June, seven candidates will be attending Sen. Joni Ernst’s first-ever “Roast and Ride” event.
There is a GOP debate on Aug. 6 this year, just days before the straw poll, and the Red State gathering, which is going on the same weekend in Georgia, has generated considerable buzz, with Walker, Bush, Rubio, and Fiorina already confirmed, as well as Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry. “You’re getting too many events before the caucuses and the straw poll is just one more, and it’s really become a nuisance,” said Schmidt. “I used to be a supporter, but it’s clear now that it’s become a disruption.”
Ben Carson Wins SRLC Straw Poll. Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson topped the SRLC 2015 straw poll results Saturday with 25 percent attendee support.
Carson bested Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker who came in second by 5 percent and beat Texas Sen. Ted Cruz who came in third by almost 9 percent.
Below are the final numbers:
Carson bested Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker who came in second by 5 percent and beat Texas Sen. Ted Cruz who came in third by almost 9 percent.
Below are the final numbers:
Ohio Gov. John Kasich received 0.2 percent, while former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore received 0.0 percent. Walker received the lion’s share of support from Oklahomans, while Carson received the most support from Texas and Arkansas. Carson was also the most popular with Tea Party voters.
According to SoonerPoll.com’s Bill Shapard, the straw poll results may have been affected by the absence of a candidate or potential candidate. Each Republican senator vying for the Oval Office was kept from delivering his speech at the event as a result of Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul’s filibuster of the NSA bill Wednesday.
While Paul had no intention of attending, Cruz, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham were forced to cancel their scheduled speeches and stay in Washington to vote in the USA Freedom Act.
“Ben Carson was 40 percent of the vote after the first day, which indicates to me that his voters came with a passion to vote for him. That was well before any of the senators had a problem coming to the event. Over the course of time that amount fell from about 40 percent to 25 is where he landed,” Shapard told reporters.
He continued, “So over the course of time, other candidates spoke and their voters began to vote for them. You could always theorize that their absence or their appearance only on television had an adverse impact on their votes. Quite frankly, those like Ben Carson who were able to rally their people and get them here were the ones that did the best.”
Shapard told reporters 64 percent of SRLC attendees voted in the the straw poll. That number came out to 958 people who participated
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders officially kicks off his campaign to become the Democratic nominee for President with a big event on the Burlington waterfront Tuesday afternoon. Live at noon, we talk to politics watchers about Senator Sanders' career, chances, and the campaign to come. Sen. Bernie Sanders is breaking out the Ben & Jerry’s for the formal kickoff of his presidential campaign on Tuesday. There are a lot of moving parts, but here’s what we know for sure.
Martin O’Malley plans upcoming Iowa trip. Former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley is scheduled to appear in Iowa, the leadoff caucus state, on Saturday, the same day he is expected to reveal in Baltimore whether he will seek the Democratic nomination for president.
A Democrat with knowledge of O’Malley’s travel plans, who spoke on condition of anonymity so as not to preempt the formal announcement, said O’Malley would appear in Davenport in the afternoon and Des Moines at night.
Sanders, an independent, announced last month he intends to seek the Democratic nomination. His official campaign kickoff will be held at Burlington’s Waterfront Park on Lake Champlain. Sanders worked to redevelop the park as mayor.
O’Malley has made several visits to Iowa this year and has two paid staffers there and plans to add more. He also invested heavily in Iowa last year, making four trips to the state and putting 14 staffers to work on state campaigns.
During a visit earlier this year, O’Malley said Iowa’s Democrats needed to get to know him.
A flash flood emergency has been declared in the Houston metro area, where hundreds of homes have been flooded by slow-moving torrential downpours. Due to widespread flooded freeways and surface streets, all travel in the Houston metro area is discouraged this morning.
Elsewhere, at least eight people have died in Oklahoma and Texas over the past three days. On Monday, tornadoes are suspected of killing one person each in Oklahoma and Texas.
Here are the latest reports of flooding and severe weather.
Flooding
- Southeast Texas: A flash flood emergency is in effect until 6 a.m. CDT Tuesday for parts of Harris and Fort Bend counties in the Houston metropolitan area, including much of the city of Houston. This is an extremely dangerous and potentially life-threatening flood situation.
- The Harris County Office of Emergency Management says hundreds of homes have been flooded on the west side of the county due to the widespread heavy rainfall.
- Houston TranStar reported 46 separate stretches of metro freeways in high water, including parts of the Katy Freeway (Interstate 10), the Westpark Tollway, the Interstate 610 west loop, Interstate 45 and U.S. 59 southwest in the immediate Houston area. Numerous feeder (frontage) roads and surface streets are also underwater in Houston.
- According to KPRC TV, about 200 fans remained at the Toyota Center in Houston early Tuesday morning, about 6 hours after the conclusion of an NBA playoff match between the Houston Rockets and the Golden State Warriors Monday evening.
- Rainfall rates of more than 4 inches per hour were observed on the west side of the city. Two Harris County Flood Control District rain gauges have recorded almost 11 inches of rain along Beltway 8 south of Interstate 10 on the southwest side of Houston.
- The extremely heavy rain moved into Houston late Monday evening. Water rescues have been reported. Buffalo Bayou at Shepherd Drive rose over 30 from late Monday night into early Tuesday morning.
- All METRO transportation (buses, rail) has been suspended Tuesday morning, until flood waters recede.
- CenterPoint Energy reported almost 72,000 customers without power in the metro area early Tuesday.
- Central Texas: Multiple water rescues were being performed in Austin, Texas, Monday evening, according to local storm reports. Shoal Creek was out of its banks in downtown Austin, as were several other creeks in the city. The National Weather Service issued a flash flood emergency for Williamson, Travis, Hays, Caldwell, Bastrop and Lee counties in central Texas.
- A dam failure in Bastrop State Park has prompted county officials to recommend the evacuation of people downstream in the Tahitian Village area Monday evening.
- A Weather Underground rain gauge in Round Rock, Texas, recorded 4.39 inches of rain in one hour. In nearby Hutto, serious flooding was reported as nearly 4 inches of rain fell in an hour. Rainfall totals Monday have exceed 6 inches in parts of the Austin area.
- East of Austin, numerous roads were reported closed in Bastrop, Caldwell, and Robertson counties.
- Oklahoma: Flash flooding on the Mountain Fork River in far southeast Oklahoma trapped 13 people in a two-story cabin outside of Broken Bow Monday afternoon. KSLA-TV in Shreveport, Louisiana, reported that all 13 were rescued by a National Guard helicopter after local rescue crews unsuccessfully attempted to rescue them by boat.
- Three children had to be rescued from the flooded Washita River in Carnegie, Oklahoma, Monday evening. They were eventually saved and taken to a local hospital for observation.
- A secondary road was washed out near Tahlequah, Oklahoma, around 6 p.m. local time.
- Kansas: Flooding struck parts of central and northeast Kansas Monday evening. A rural road was washed out near Marquette, north of Wichita. In northeast Kansas, four roads were closed by flooding in Hiawatha while parts of Kansas Highway 7 flooded near White Cloud.
- Swift-water rescues were reported in the Dallas area Monday afternoon.
- Flooding along the Arkansas River is threatening homes in Van Buren, Arkansas, according to KFSM-TV.
Tornadoes
- An elderly man died in a mobile home, four people were injured, and at least four other homes were destroyed by a suspected tornado in Milam County, Texas, around 4 p.m. Monday. The storm hit the small community of Pettibone, near the county seat at Cameron, Texas.
- A woman was reportedly killed when a tornado struck her mobile home near Blue, Oklahoma, around 2:55 p.m. CDT Monday.
Another report of a tornado came from the same cell 5 miles east-northeast of Caddo, Oklahoma, at 3:10 p.m. - As of 9:25 p.m. CDT, there had been 19 reports of tornadoes from the storm system in the Plains and Mississippi Valley since sunrise Monday. This does not count the tornado that injured four people in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Monday morning.
- A tornado was reported near Albion, Oklahoma, at 5:10 p.m. CDT. The National Weather Service in Tulsa said "severe damage" was reported in Albion, which is in southeast Oklahoma.
- A tornado was spotted 5 miles south of La Grange, Texas, at 6:20 p.m. CDT. This tornado has been confirmed via social media video.
- A tornado was spotted near Ola, Arkansas, at 6:38 p.m. CDT.
- A tornado was spotted 2 miles southwest of Maxwell, Texas, at 4:24 p.m. CDT.
- A tornado was spotted 3 miles east of Atoka, Oklahoma, at 3:43 p.m. CDT.
- One fatality was attributed to the Blue, Oklahoma, tornado.
- Tornado reported 2 miles south of Colbert, Oklahoma, near Highway 75 at 2:35 p.m.
- Two tornadoes were reported in Denison, Texas, at 2:30 p.m. CDT.
- A tornado was reported 3 miles east of Lampasas, Texas, at 1:46 p.m. CDT. The same supercell thunderstorm spawned a reported tornado 1 mile north of Pidcoke, Texas, at 2:18 p.m. CDT.
- A tornado was reported near Fredericksburg, Texas, at 12:43 p.m. CDT. The same cell spawned a reported tornado on the LBJ Ranch in Blanco County, Texas, at 1:01 p.m., and in Round Mountain, Texas, at 1:24 p.m. CDT.
- A likely tornado struck Amory, Mississippi, around 8:30 a.m. CDT. There are reports of buildings and trees damaged.
- A brief tornado was reported at 9:45 a.m. CDT near Sweetwater, Texas, along Highway 70.
High Winds, Large Hail
- More than three-fourths of all SWEPCO electricity customers in Scott and Sevier counties of Arkansas were without power late Monday night.
- Straight-line winds knocked trees onto homes in Poteau, Oklahoma, around 6:10 p.m. local time. A spotter clocked a 78-mph wind gust north of the eastern Oklahoma town at that time.
- Hail researchers measured hailstones 4.75 inches in diameter – larger than softballs – in a rural area of Brown County in northeast Kansas Monday afternoon.
- Golfball-size hail was reported near Nebraska City, Nebraska, early Monday evening.
- Wind snapped utility poles in Fisher County, Texas, around 10 a.m. CDT.
Ben Taub: From Princeton to NBC's "The Voice" to the "Turkish / Syrian" Border. The PHS graduate didn't have a voice lesson until last week, but that didn't stop him from wowing the coaches on the popular television show.
When Ben Taub auditioned for NBC's "The Voice," he not only beat out tens of thousands of competitors, but he also had two music legends vying to mentor him.
County music singer Blake Shelton and singer/ rapper CeeLo Green both wanted 21-year-old Taub.
"I love classic music and I would love to work with you and have you on my team," Green told him.
Now the 2009 Princeton High School graduate is sharing his talents each week with a national television audience, but his success is no surprise to Joe Bongiovi, director of Princeton High School's Studio Band who has known Taub for years.
"I was surprised that he went for "The Voice," but I wasn't surprised that he made it," Bongiovi said. "He is so demure and so soft spoken and he will not take any accolades at all, so for him to take that step and go there was surprising. I was nervous for him, but I was pretty sure he was going to make it."
Taub remembers being a bit nervous during the audition.
“Actually I became much more nervous after CeeLo turned around,” said Taub, who sang an arrangement of Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good." “I’m a big fan of his (Green's) and in a very small way he pressed my button and showed that he was a fan of mine. It was suddenly very shocking and surprising. And then Blake turned around and having two people turn around made it feel like it was less of a fluke.”
Taub chose Green as his musical mentor.
Not bad someone who never had a vocal lesson until last week.
But Taub has always been musical, playing oboe in the PHS orchestra and serving as orchestra president. The summer after his senior year, he toured Europe with the Philadelphia Jazz Orchestra as a tenor vocalist, entertaining audiences with songs by Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darrin and Michael Bubble.
"As soon as we got him in front of an audience, especially in Italy, they loved him," said Bongiovi, who also directs the Philadelphia Jazz Orchestra. "He's a good looking guy and he's got a great voice."
Taub hasn't forgotten about his PHS roots. Last week, home from a trip to Morocco, he dropped by the high school to sing with the Studio Band and invited some freshman from the men's choir to join him.
While at PHS, Taub performed in multiple drama productions and played the lead in the musicals “Anything Goes” and “Into the Woods.”
“PHS has a strong music program, I think that's apparent by its record and various competitions,” Taub said. “I played in orchestra for four years which was paramount to me learning a lot about music and blending and balance as well as reading music. And with the Philadelphia Jazz Orchestra, suddenly I was switching instruments to something I’d never had lessons in."
Taub attends Princeton University, although he is currently taking what would have been his senior year off to see where his singing career takes him.
He is under contract with NBC and unable to disclose if he will make to the live shows of “The Voice,” slated for November. Of the 64 contestants chosen out of a nearly 100,000 in person and online auditions, only 20 will make it to the live television competition which begin in November.
At some point, Bongiovi expects the show's producers will showcase Taub's history and journey to "The Voice," just as the show does with other contestants. But he jokes that Taub's background might not be exciting enough for television.
"He grew up too normal," Bongiovi laughed. "He wasn't destitute and he wasn't addicted to anything. He's just a typical great kid, humble and soft-spoken."
Want to follow Taub's journey? “The Voice” airs on NBC every Monday and Tuesday at 8 p.m.
Click here to read the New Yorker article he wrote entitled, 'Journey to Jihad, Why are teen-agers joining ISIS?'
In the WSJ editorial, 'Secret Agent Sidney' (Blumenthal), Secretary Clinton relied on a political crony for backdoor intelligence. The State Department on Friday published about 848 of the some 55,000 pages of emails that Hillary Clinton personally decided were relevant before erasing the rest of her private server. Yet even this twice cherry-picked dossier—with a focus on the 2011-2012 Libya crisis—is revealing about the kind of operation she was running at Foggy Bottom. All that’s missing is the shoe phone from the “Get Smart” spy farce. Assistant Editorial Page Editor James Freeman on the unanswered questions about the Clinton Foundation and the former President’s speaking fees. In the pre-Memorial Day weekend news dump, long-time Clinton plumber Sidney Blumenthal plays Maxwell Smart, passing along intel on Benghazi from half a world away. Secret Agent Blumenthal apparently derived this wisdom from his new business associates who were attempting to win contracts from Libyan nationals. Mrs. Clinton often circulates the memos among her top diplomats with comments like “useful insight” and “very interesting,” and they would often then push them down the chain of command, without identifying the source.
County music singer Blake Shelton and singer/ rapper CeeLo Green both wanted 21-year-old Taub.
"I love classic music and I would love to work with you and have you on my team," Green told him.
Now the 2009 Princeton High School graduate is sharing his talents each week with a national television audience, but his success is no surprise to Joe Bongiovi, director of Princeton High School's Studio Band who has known Taub for years.
"I was surprised that he went for "The Voice," but I wasn't surprised that he made it," Bongiovi said. "He is so demure and so soft spoken and he will not take any accolades at all, so for him to take that step and go there was surprising. I was nervous for him, but I was pretty sure he was going to make it."
Taub remembers being a bit nervous during the audition.
“Actually I became much more nervous after CeeLo turned around,” said Taub, who sang an arrangement of Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good." “I’m a big fan of his (Green's) and in a very small way he pressed my button and showed that he was a fan of mine. It was suddenly very shocking and surprising. And then Blake turned around and having two people turn around made it feel like it was less of a fluke.”
Taub chose Green as his musical mentor.
Not bad someone who never had a vocal lesson until last week.
But Taub has always been musical, playing oboe in the PHS orchestra and serving as orchestra president. The summer after his senior year, he toured Europe with the Philadelphia Jazz Orchestra as a tenor vocalist, entertaining audiences with songs by Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darrin and Michael Bubble.
"As soon as we got him in front of an audience, especially in Italy, they loved him," said Bongiovi, who also directs the Philadelphia Jazz Orchestra. "He's a good looking guy and he's got a great voice."
Taub hasn't forgotten about his PHS roots. Last week, home from a trip to Morocco, he dropped by the high school to sing with the Studio Band and invited some freshman from the men's choir to join him.
While at PHS, Taub performed in multiple drama productions and played the lead in the musicals “Anything Goes” and “Into the Woods.”
“PHS has a strong music program, I think that's apparent by its record and various competitions,” Taub said. “I played in orchestra for four years which was paramount to me learning a lot about music and blending and balance as well as reading music. And with the Philadelphia Jazz Orchestra, suddenly I was switching instruments to something I’d never had lessons in."
Taub attends Princeton University, although he is currently taking what would have been his senior year off to see where his singing career takes him.
He is under contract with NBC and unable to disclose if he will make to the live shows of “The Voice,” slated for November. Of the 64 contestants chosen out of a nearly 100,000 in person and online auditions, only 20 will make it to the live television competition which begin in November.
At some point, Bongiovi expects the show's producers will showcase Taub's history and journey to "The Voice," just as the show does with other contestants. But he jokes that Taub's background might not be exciting enough for television.
"He grew up too normal," Bongiovi laughed. "He wasn't destitute and he wasn't addicted to anything. He's just a typical great kid, humble and soft-spoken."
Want to follow Taub's journey? “The Voice” airs on NBC every Monday and Tuesday at 8 p.m.
Click here to read the New Yorker article he wrote entitled, 'Journey to Jihad, Why are teen-agers joining ISIS?'
In the WSJ editorial, 'Secret Agent Sidney' (Blumenthal), Secretary Clinton relied on a political crony for backdoor intelligence. The State Department on Friday published about 848 of the some 55,000 pages of emails that Hillary Clinton personally decided were relevant before erasing the rest of her private server. Yet even this twice cherry-picked dossier—with a focus on the 2011-2012 Libya crisis—is revealing about the kind of operation she was running at Foggy Bottom. All that’s missing is the shoe phone from the “Get Smart” spy farce. Assistant Editorial Page Editor James Freeman on the unanswered questions about the Clinton Foundation and the former President’s speaking fees. In the pre-Memorial Day weekend news dump, long-time Clinton plumber Sidney Blumenthal plays Maxwell Smart, passing along intel on Benghazi from half a world away. Secret Agent Blumenthal apparently derived this wisdom from his new business associates who were attempting to win contracts from Libyan nationals. Mrs. Clinton often circulates the memos among her top diplomats with comments like “useful insight” and “very interesting,” and they would often then push them down the chain of command, without identifying the source.
Mrs. Clinton was the Secretary of State, for heaven’s sake, one of the five most powerful national security positions in the U.S. government. She had the entire State Department intelligence division at her disposal, known as the Bureau of Intelligence and Research or INR, and presumably had access to the 16 other U.S. agencies that make up the intelligence community.
Yet she’s consuming and taking seriously information from an “analyst” who knows nothing about the subject. Mr. Blumenthal’s expertise is in political wet work and monetizing his connections to the Clintons. The imprimatur that Mrs. Clinton’s office put on Mr. Blumenthal’s outside improv offered him a way to influence policy even after the Obama White House had barred Mrs. Clinton from formally hiring him.
Somehow we doubt the distinguished likes of Dean Acheson or George Shultz were taking the measure of Moscow on the counsel of amateur stringers dabbling in Kremlinology and sending hearsay over the transom.
Mrs. Clinton now wants to be an American President. Will we have Sid set up his own parallel intelligence service from Blair House? What other Clinton henchmen will be reprising their roles from the 1990s, only this time with a national-security portfolio?
Mr. Blumenthal even does a cameo on the terrorist assaults on the Benghazi diplomatic mission and CIA annex that killed four Americans including Ambassador Christopher Stevens. On Sept. 12, 2012, Mr. Blumenthal reports to Mrs. Clinton—based on “Sources with direct access to the Libyan National Transitional Council, as well as the highest levels of European Governments, and Western Intelligence and security services”—that the attack was merely a mob inspired by what they viewed as a “sacrilegious internet video.”
The Administration went with that narrative, with National Security Adviser Susan Rice repeatedly claiming that “it was a spontaneous, not a premeditated response.” The goal was to blame YouTube, not the Administration’s foreign policy failures.
Yet the next day, citing “sensitive sources,” Mr. Blumenthal recanted and explained that the attack had been orchestrated by al Qaeda affiliate Ansar al-Sharia. “We should get this around asap,” Mrs. Clinton told Jake Sullivan, who did work at State. No wonder she couldn’t get her Benghazi story straight for so long.
Notably, and intriguingly, there are also selective omissions in the State disclosures that do not appear in the batch of emails obtained by the New York Times, about a third of the Libya trove. On April 8, 2011, for example, Mrs. Clinton (“hrod17@clintonemail.com”) suggests that “The idea of using private security experts to arm the opposition should be considered.” This line was redacted by State.
Mrs. Clinton also seems to have had sensitive, if not classified, information on her email like the location and travel schedules of U.S. security officials. They could have been compromised if foreign enemies hacked her unsecured personal email account, which is why there are supposed to be protocols to protect high-level communications.
The larger question isn’t Mr. Blumenthal’s faux life of danger. It’s why a potential Commander in Chief invested so much trust in such a figure. The Southern Gothic novel that is Clinton family political history—with its melodrama, betrayals and paranoia—has left them dependent on insular loyalists like Mr. Blumenthal whose opinions are never second-guessed. Voters should know they’d not only be electing Hillary, and Bill, and Chelsea, but this entire menagerie.
Feds ready to end NSA collection of phone records. The failure of the U.S. Senate last weekend to deal with expiring provisions of the anti-terrorism Patriot Act has led the Obama Administration to begin work to end a controversial National Security Agency surveillance program dealing with the bulk collection of phone records. “We have long said that we would not continue the program if the statutory authority expired on June 1 and we have begun the wind down process, including by not filing an application for reauthorization,” a senior intelligence official told me on Memorial Day.
The move came after gridlock in the Senate early on Saturday morning, as Senators could not muster 60 votes to either approve a House-passed reform of terrorism surveillance laws or an alternative pushed by GOP leaders in the Senate. Unable to act, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tried to get a short-term extension of current surveillance laws past June 1, but that was objected to repeatedly by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY).
The main target of Paul and other critics has been Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which has been used by U.S. Intelligence for the bulk collection of records – but there are two other provisions of the anti-terror law that also expire June 1:
+ A provision on roving wiretaps that extended the authority to use roving wiretaps in criminal cases for terrorism and counterintelligence as well;
+ The “lone wolf” provision, which authorizes the gathering of intelligence on individuals who are not linked to any terrorist group under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
While the FBI Director and other top U.S. officials have argued for the preservation of their investigative powers under Section 215, some like constitutional lawyer Bruce Fein aren’t swayed.
But there are lawmakers in both parties who say the gridlock is unacceptable, and that there must be a push in coming days to ensure these provisions of the Patriot Act don’t expire. “What are we doing?” Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) asked with an incredulous tone after 1 a.m. on Saturday. “We can’t even pass a law.”
But the “parliamentary quagmire” – in the words of Mikulski – may not change in coming days, one reason why the Intelligence Community is moving to end the NSA bulk collection program by June 1. Nothing is expected to happen this week in the Congress, as both the House and Senate are out on break; the Senate will return on Sunday evening – May 31 – to see if Congress can address the matter, just hours before those provisions expire. The House won’t return to work until the next day, June 1. And so, U.S. Intelligence is ready to end this NSA program that was revealed by Edward Snowden, who fled the country after his giant leak about NSA surveillance
“The President Blinked”: Why Obama Changed Course on the “Red Line” in Syria. In August of 2013, a rebel-held suburb of Damascus was attacked with sarin gas — a nerve agent that causes lung muscle paralysis and results in death from suffocation.
The attack killed 1,400 men, women and children, and at the White House, officials asserted “with high confidence” that the government of Bashar al-Assad was responsible.
One year earlier, President Barack Obama had described Assad’s potential use of chemical weapons as “a red line” that would have “enormous consequences” and “change my calculus” on American military intervention in Syria’s civil war.
When Assad appeared to cross that line, Obama ordered the Pentagon to prepare to attack.
“Our finger was on the trigger,” Gen. Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, tells veteran FRONTLINE correspondent Martin Smith in tomorrow’s new documentary, Obama at War. “We had everything in place and we were just waiting for instructions to proceed.”
Obama at War airs Tuesday, May 26 at 10 p.m. EST on PBS (check local listings) and will stream in full, for free, online at pbs.org/frontline.
Obama at War airs Tuesday, May 26 at 10 p.m. EST on PBS (check local listings) and will stream in full, for free, online at pbs.org/frontline.
But as FRONTLINE details in the below excerpt from Obama at War, the president had second thoughts.
“The president was looking for a way to not have to make good on the threat that he had made,” Col. Andrew Bacevich (Ret.), author of The Limits of Power, tells FRONTLINE. “I think because the president having drawn that red line realized that he had no appetite for direct military engagement in Syria.”
As the documentary details, wary of involving America in a potentially long-term military engagement, Obama decided to seek airstrike authorization from a Congress he knew to be opposed rather than proceed with his initial plan.
“He was describing it as seeking strong political support for this decisive move. He had all the rhetoric of action,” David Ignatius of The Washington Post tells FRONTLINE. “But in truth, it was stepping back from the imminent attack that was ahead … it was all in motion, and at the last minute, the president blinked.”
Go inside one of the most controversial foreign policy decisions of Obama’s presidency in this advance excerpt from Obama at War:
In the end, a surprise diplomatic opportunity arose: following an off-hand remark from Secretary of State John Kerry that Assad could avoid airstrikes by turning over all of his chemical weapons, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov contacted his Syrian counterpart, who got Assad to agree.
“It was the right decision,” Derek Chollet, former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, tells FRONTLINE in tomorrow’s film. “Had we conducted the military campaign that had been planned, we would not have taken out a high percentage of his chemical weapons. The credible threat of force brought about an opening for diplomacy, to come in, which then led to something that no one thought was possible.”
But extremist groups, including what would eventually become ISIS, exploited the decision not to attack, gaining a foothold by promising Syrian locals what the U.S. had not: protection from the Assad regime.
For a full, inside look at the Obama administration’s ongoing struggle to deal with Syria’s civil war and the accompanying rise of ISIS, watch Obama at War tomorrow night at 10 p.m. EST on PBS.
Huckabee on Judicial Review: 'The Supreme Court Is Not the Supreme Being'. 2016 presidential candidate and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee joined Chris Wallace on "Fox News Sunday" to discuss a variety of topics, including Hillary Clinton's emails, the NSA's bulk data collection program, his fair tax proposal and the very interesting debate surrounding judicial review.
Wallace pointed out that Huckabee said in his campaign announcement, "Many of our politicians have surrendered to the false god of judicial supremacy, which would allow black-robed and unelected judges the power to make law as well as enforce it." Wallace said that the country has operated under the concept of judicial review since Marbury v. Madison in 1803. "Judicial review is exactly what we've operated under. We have not operated under judicial supremacy," Huckabee asserted. "Presidents have understood that the Supreme Court cannot make a law."
"The notion that the Supreme Court comes with a ruling and that automatically subjects the two other branches to following it defies everything there is about the three equal branches of government," Huckabee said.
"Chris, the Supreme Court is not the 'supreme branch,' and, for God's sake, it isn't the Supreme Being. It is the Supreme Court." If you're elected president, would it be up in the air as to if you will obey the Supreme Court? Wallace asked.
"We are sworn to uphold the Constitution and the law," Huckabee said. "And it has to be consistent and agreed upon with three branches of government. One can’t overrule the other two. That’s all I’m saying." "We learned that in ninth grade civics, but I'm convinced a lot of Ivy League law schools must have forgotten that simple, basic civics lesson along the way." Watch more from the wide-ranging "Fox News Sunday" interview above.
Cops Say No Homicide Investigation in B.B. King's Death.
Two B.B. King heirs who've been most outspoken about the blues legend's care in his final days have accused King's two closest aides of poisoning him, but the attorney for King's estate called the claims ridiculous and police said there was no active homicide investigation.
Three doctors determined that King was appropriately cared-for, and King received 24-hour care and monitoring by medical professionals "up until the time that he peacefully passed away in his sleep," attorney Brent Bryson told the AP on Monday.
Daughters Karen Williams and Patty King allege that family members were prevented from visiting while King's business manager, LaVerne Toney, and his personal assistant, Myron Johnson, hastened their father's death.
Toney is named in King's will as executor of an estate that, according to court documents filed by lawyers for some of King's heirs, could total tens of millions of dollars. Johnson was at B.B. King's bedside when he died May 14 in hospice care at home in Las Vegas at age 89. No family members were present.
"I believe my father was poisoned and that he was administered foreign substances," Patty King and Williams say in identically worded sections of affidavits provided to The Associated Press by their lawyer, Larissa Drohobyczer.
"I believe my father was murdered," they say.
An autopsy was performed Sunday. Test results will take up to eight weeks to obtain and shouldn't be affected by the fact that King's body had been embalmed, Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg said.
Fudenberg issued a statement Monday saying there was no immediate evidence supporting the murder allegations, and Las Vegas police Lt. Ray Steiber told the AP that there was no active homicide investigation. Toney and Johnson each declined to comment on the accusations.
"They've been making allegations all along. What's new?" said Toney, who worked for King for 39 years and had power-of-attorney over his affairs. A week before King's death, a judge in Las Vegas dismissed a request from Williams to take over as King's guardian.
An April 29 petition alleged that Toney had blocked King's friends from visiting him and had put her family members on King's payroll. It also alleged that large sums of money had disappeared from King's bank accounts.
But Clark County Family Court Hearing Master Jon Norheim said on May 7 that police and social services investigations in October and April uncovered no reason to take power-of-attorney from Toney. Williams, Patty King and another daughter — Rita Washington — vowed to keep fighting.
"We lost the battle, but we haven't lost the war," Williams said then. This week's allegations come days after a public viewing in Las Vegas drew more than 1,000 fans and mourners and a weekend family-and-friends memorial drew 350. A Beale Street procession and memorial are scheduled Wednesday in Memphis, Tennessee, followed by a Friday viewing and Saturday burial in King's hometown of Indianola, Mississippi. Fudenberg said Monday that his office's investigation shouldn't delay those services.
Bryson said the allegations were "extremely disrespectful" to King. "He did not want invasive medical procedures," he said. "He made the decision to return home for hospice care instead of staying in a hospital. These unfounded allegations have caused Mr. King to undergo an autopsy, which is exactly what he didn't want."
Art Garfunkel on Paul Simon: 'I created a monster' - Forty-five years after Simon & Garfunkel split up, the singer is still consumed with bitterness.
I hear Art Garfunkel before I see him, singing to himself as he drifts across the hotel lobby in a blue T-shirt, heading for the lifts. At 73 his golden curls have become white dandelion seeds, and he is not as tall as you might imagine — an illusion that was probably created during all those years standing next to the diminutive Paul Simon.
As I’m early, I hang back and wait for him to reappear. When he does, he has changed into a white shirt and is carrying a large manila envelope. He tilts back his head to study me through black-framed glasses before proffering his left hand to shake, explaining that he trapped his right one in a door. We find a quiet corner in the bar area and instead of ordering a coffee – it is 10am – he asks for a bowl of pea soup.
Oh good, I think, this is going to be a memorable encounter.
“I’m allowing myself to be victimised here,” he says, jiggling his knee, not making eye contact. By me? “By the press. I’m nervous.” Really? Someone who can sing in front of half a million people (as he and Paul Simon did in 1981 for that historic, but temporary, reunion “the concert in Central Park”)? “Oh, I was nervous there, too. You feel vulnerable. Exposed. You might forget a lyric. It’s brave work, this work. I want you to respect it.” But I do, I say, I do – which is why I’ve already bought my tickets to see him in concert when he returns to London in the autumn, to play at the Royal Albert Hall. ‘Gorgeous acoustics,’ he says, relaxing a little at this. It will be a tour of seven cities, and it nearly didn’t happen because in 2010 he suffered from a “paresis” of his vocal chords. “Since I lost my voice – and I have now almost fully recovered it – the loud, high notes haven’t quite come back, so I need a mic for volume.”
When the middle range of his voice went, he was devastated. “I teased it back by singing in empty theatres. I would sing, and crap out, and my knees would buckle and I would whimper in frustration. I didn’t know how I was going to carry on. Was I going to be some guy named Walter who doesn’t sing? Did I have to get a regular job instead? I’ve been singing since I was five. It’s my identity. I can get away with murder when I sing.” He is often described in terms of that goosebump-inducing voice of his – “angelic”, “haunting” and so on. But when I ask him to describe himself he says: “I’m a misanthrope.” There is something in that, given what he will go on to say about his father, and Paul McCartney, and Paul Simon. But I would also add “eccentric”. Take his habit of listing on his website every book he has ever read. “You notice it’s heavy sh*t,’ he says. ‘It’s not fluff.”
Since Simon & Garfunkel split up in 1970, he has married twice and raised two sons, had a film career, walked across America and Europe – ”to get away from people” – and continued recording. Although his solo hits (Bright Eyes, I Only Have Eyes for You) were written by other people, and though Paul Simon wrote all the Simon & Garfunkel songs, he does write. Prose poems, mostly. In long hand. “I never bought a computer or a cell phone.”
He also does a lot of mathematics, having read it as a student at Columbia. “I’m precise. I think in proportions. I play games with numbers and I proportionalise. I imagine we have now done 1/8th of our interview.” I check my watch. He even took a job as a maths teacher at one point, in the Seventies, despite being a world famous pop star.
“I’d just got married and moved to Connecticut, and there was a nearby preparatory school and so I taught math there. It was a weird stage of my life, to leave Simon & Garfunkel at the height of our success and become a math teacher. I would talk them through a math problem and ask if anyone had any questions and they would say: “What were the Beatles like?” At the risk of sounding like one of his pupils, I ask about the Beatles, specifically George, who felt his talents were overshadowed.
“George came up to me at a party once and said “my Paul is to me what your Paul is to you.” He meant that psychologically they had the same effect on us. The Pauls sidelined us. I think George felt suppressed by Paul and I think that’s what he saw with me and my Paul. Here’s the truth: McCartney was a helluva music man who gave the band its energy, but he also ran away with a lot of the glory.” Shortly before they split up, Simon & Garfunkel released what was to become the (then) biggest selling album in history, Bridge Over Troubled Water. Why did they walk away from that phenomenal success?
“It was very strange. Nothing I would have done. I want to open up about this. I don’t want to say any anti Paul Simon things, but it seems very perverse to not enjoy the glory and walk away from it instead. Crazy. What I would have done is take a rest from Paul, because he was getting on my nerves. The jokes had run dry.
But a rest of a year was all I needed. I said: ‘I’m not married yet. I want to jump on a BMW motorbike and tour round Europe chasing ladies.’” Did he have a seduction technique? “I had it down to an art form. When you sign autographs after a show, you see the real pretty one and make sure you get to her last. Then you ask, ever so casually, ‘Have you had dinner?’”
Paul Simon once said that it upset him that audiences thought Garfunkel had written his masterpiece, the song Bridge Over Troubled Water – because Garfunkel sang it as a solo, with piano accompaniment. “I saw that quote, too. But how many songs did I sing upfront and have a real tour de force of vocal? Does he resent that I had that one? I find that ungenerous.” It’s an intriguing answer, one that makes me suspect that Paul Simon is not only a musical genius – that overused word seems appropriate – but also an insecure man who has to be the centre of attention. When I mention that I went to see Paul Simon and Sting at the O2 a few weeks ago, Garfunkel sits forward. “Oh tell me, I’m curious. Did he do Bridge Over Troubled Water?” Ended the show with it.
“It was a gamble that he did that. And when they did it, was Sting on the arrangement?" When I say he was, Garfunkel jiggles his knee again, looks over his shoulder, reaches into his manila envelope and produces a clutch of his prose poems marked with pink Post-it labels and reads one to me. It is about a zebra.
He’s a hard man to get the measure of, Art Garfunkel.
On the one hand he still seems eaten up by bitterness about his divorce from Paul Simon, yet he also talks about his old friend (they were at school together) with deep affection. He can seem vainglorious, too, referring to his own “beautiful” voice and being a “helluva singer”, but egomania is not incompatible with self-doubt, or misanthropy. And perhaps if he was nervous about this interview it was to do not with what I would ask but what he would answer.
He grew up in Queens, New York, a few blocks away from Paul Simon (they attended the same high school and started impersonating the Everly Brothers when they were 13). But what about his home? Was there singing there? "Dad played rudimentary piano and sang with my mum, in thirds, but it was all middlebrow stuff."
His father was a travelling salesman of men's coats. "At the end of the war there were a lot of surplus bomber jackets that needed to be unloaded. He travelled in the north east, four-day trips with sample cases in the trunk. Lately I've been thinking why did he not want to stay home with us more? Did he have a girlfriend on the road? I think the man who goes through his adult life as if he was born to carry a burden on his back has an inferiority complex. He thinks his place is not to stand up with dignity but to carry the samples."
He sips a spoonful of pea soup as his 24-year-old son, Art Junior, appears and says hello, before heading off to wait at the bar. “We were estranged for a while,” he says. “Aged 16, my kid created a distance. He broke my heart a little. Now he’s moving back to love of family. For these shows I’m going to bring him on stage. We harmonise. He’s got the singing gift.”
Art Garfunkel performing with his son Art Jr in 2002
When I ask what advice he has given his son he makes me laugh with his answer: “Watch out for traffic.” Anything else? “Be kind to people. I’m working on that second one myself, because I’m not always kind. I’m judgemental and picky. When I order room service and they get it wrong I try so hard to be kind and I fail. ‘But I only asked for three things! How could you get one wrong?’
"Or to the taxi driver: 'How can this be hard? Listen to the address and take me there. Don't you care about your job?'"
I say there is one more question I have to ask, and he will have guessed what it is. “Will I do another tour with Paul? Well, that’s quite do-able. When we get together, with his guitar, it's a delight to both of our ears. A little bubble comes over us and it seems effortless. We blend. So, as far as this half is concerned, I would say, 'Why not, while we're still alive?'
"But I've been in that same place for decades. This is where I was in 1971." He then seems to address not me but his old friend. “How can you walk away from this lucky place on top of the world, Paul? What’s going on with you, you idiot? How could you let that go, jerk?”
Actually, another question strikes me. I speculate about whether Paul Simon might have a Napoleon complex. Is there a height thing there, between them? “I think you’re on to something. I would say so, yes.” He adds that at school he felt sorry for Paul because of his height, and he offered him love and friendship as a compensation. “And that compensation gesture has created a monster. End of interview.”
When he drifts off back to the lifts, singing to himself again, I check my watch. Turns out his mental clock, when he guessed how far we were through the interview, was exactly right. Art Garfunkel tours the UK this September. Tickets are on sale now from www.livenation.co.uk
Fighter jets scramble after reports of threats to planes. Delta flight arriving in Boston among those threatened. As many as 10 flights were impacted by threats at airports in New York, New Jersey and Boston Monday, 5 Investigates Karen Anderson reported.
JFK Airport:
An Air France plane was escorted to JFK Airport in New York City Monday morning after an anonymous threat was made against the flight, law enforcement officials told ABC News. The FBI said the plane has since been checked and cleared with "no incidents or hazards reported on board the flight by either the passengers or its crew."
Authorities said that the decision to have the plane escorted by two fighter jets from the Massachusetts Air National Guard was done "out of an abundance of caution" after the Maryland State Police McHenry Barrack, in Garrett County, received an anonymous call of a “chemical weapons threat” aboard Air France Flight 22, which was en route from Paris to the New York City airport.
The tip was called in at 6:45 a.m. on an untraceable line and the caller did not identify himself, a senior federal official told ABC News. Two F-15 planes were scrambled and followed the plane into U.S. airspace, but they flew in a way so that the passengers and crew would not be able to see the military planes, sources said.
The Airbus A-330 has since landed and was taken between two runways and locked down while the threat is investigated. A police dispatch that was sent out after the jets were scrambled noted that the area where the plane was taken is generally known as the "hijack site" because it is the area used in such scenarios. During an initial investigation, nothing dangerous has been found on board, the federal official told ABC News.
A Saudi Airlines flight from Saudi Arabia was also escorted to a remote area at JFK. It was cleared and passengers were brought back to the terminal, officials said.
For an American Airlines flight from Birmingham, England, to JFK, the pilot was initially instructed to taxi to a remote area, but the threat was determined not credible and the plane was cleared to go to the terminal.
Newark Airport:
Two flights to Newark, New Jersey, were also affected -- a Delta Air Lines flight from London and a United Airlines flight from Madrid, authorities said.
Logan Airport:
A threat also turned up negative for a Delta flight from Paris to Logan Airport in Boston, authorities said. 5 Investigates Karen Anderson reported that this threat was connected to the others.
Biden calls Iraqi PM to calm outcry over Carter remarks on fight against Isis. Criticism of Iraqi forces based on ‘incorrect information’ says Baghdad. Iranian military commander says US has ‘no will’ to fight Isis.
Vice-President Joe Biden on Monday spoke to the Iraqi prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, to reassure him of US support, a day after controversial remarks by the defense secretary, Ash Carter, sparked a war of words over the recent military successes of Islamic State.
Carter told CNN on Saturday Iraqi forces had shown “no will to fight” Isis and had fled in Ramadi despite outnumbering the militants. Isis also captured Palmyra, in Syria, last week.
A spokesman for Abadi subsequently told the Associated Press Carter had been given “incorrect information”, and said: “We should not judge the whole army based on one incident.”
A White House statement on Monday said Biden recognised “the enormous sacrifice and bravery” that Iraqi forces had displayed over the past 18 months in Ramadi and elsewhere, and welcomed an Iraqi decision to mobilise additional troops and prepare for counter-attack operations.
Nonetheless, rival powers and allies traded barbs and accusations over the recent successes of Islamic State, amid warnings that it may execute hundreds of hostages captured in its latest battles.
In Iran Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force, the external operations arm of the Revolutionary Guards, said the US had “no will” to fight Isis.
“Today, there is nobody in confrontation with [Isis] except the Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as nations who are next to Iran or supported by Iran,” Soleimani told a daily newspaper, Javan, on Monday. Soleimani said US fighter jets had done nothing to halt the Isis advance on Ramadi, and said the US was complicit in the group’s expansion.
On Monday, the most senior British military officer to be involved in postwar planning in Iraq, Major General Tim Cross, said the Iraqi army lacked the necessary “moral cohesion” to fight against Isis.
In Washington, Republican attacks on the Obama administration over its policy against Isis have grown louder. On Sunday John McCain, the chair of the Senate armed services committee, mocked President Obama for saying climate change was a threat to US national security when advances by Isis had not been checked.
The international war of words highlighted disagreements between the US, Iraq and Iran over how to combat Isis. Months of air strikes have failed to check its advances.
Last week, the militant group seized the capital of the predominantly Sunni Anbar province, its greatest victory in Iraq since its conquest of Mosul last summer and its declaration of a caliphate spanning swaths of Iraq and Syria.
Isis advances have not been limited to Iraq. Last week, the group took control of the historic Syrian city of Palmyra and strategic gas fields nearby after a week-long siege that routed forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. The victory has triggered a humanitarian crisis, due to the flight of thousands of residents.
The Guardian view on Isis victories: terrible but not terminal
Editorial: Isis outsmarts its enemies, but has its own grave weaknesses. Isis has so far executed more than 200 people in the city and nearby villages, including civilians as well as pro-Assad fighters, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group with wide contacts in Syria.
The group also holds some 600 captives from its battles in the east of the city of Homs and Palmyra, including pro-government fighters and civilians it accuses of aiding Assad. They are likely to face the same fate.
The Assad regime said Isis had killed 400 civilians in Palmyra over the weekend, a claim both unsupported and contradictory to the regime’s own declaration when it withdrew from Palmyra that it had evacuated most of the civilians in the city.
Assad’s air force launched more than a dozen air strikes on Palmyra on Monday, including raids near the ancient ruins of the city, which many fear Isis may damage or destroy.
And, Matriarch of Comic Stiller Family, Anne Meara Dies. Actress and comedian Anne Meara, known for her role in one of the most successful comedy duos of all time, has died at the age of 85. Actress and comedian Anne Meara, whose comic work with husband Jerry Stiller helped launch a 60-year career in film and TV, has died. She was 85.
Jerry Stiller and son Ben Stiller said Meara died Saturday. No other details were provided. The Stiller family released a statement describing Jerry Stiller as Meara’s “husband and partner in life.” “The two were married for 61 years and worked together almost as long,” the statement said.
The couple performed as Stiller & Meara on “The Ed Sullivan Show” and other programs in the 1960s and won awards for the radio and TV commercials they made together. Meara also appeared in dozens of films and TV shows, including a longtime role on “All My Children” and recurring appearances on “Rhoda,” ”Alf,” ”Sex and the City” and “The King of Queens.” She shared the screen with her son in 2006’s “Night at the Museum.”
Meara was twice nominated for an Emmy Award for her supporting role on “Archie Bunker’s Place,” along with three other Emmy nods, most recently in 1997 for her guest-starring role on “Homicide.” She won a Writers Guild Award for co-writing the 1983 TV movie “The Other Woman.”
Besides her husband and son, Meara is survived by her daughter, Amy, and several grandchildren.
The family statement said: “Anne’s memory lives on in the hearts of daughter Amy, son Ben, her grandchildren, her extended family and friends, and the millions she entertained as an actress, writer and comedienne.”
Jerry Ferrara is on now/next to promote the Entourage Movie:
Post reporter’s trial in Iran will be closed to the public.
Carol Morello at the WAPO reports about her Washington Post co-reporter Jason Rezaian will go on trial Tuesday on espionage charges in a Tehran courtroom that will be closed to the public, including his family.
Martin Baron, executive editor of The Post, said in a statement released Monday that both Rezaian’s mother and his wife, a journalist who also faces related charges and will be tried separately, have been barred from attending. The Post tried to obtain a visa for an editor to be in Iran during Rezaian’s trial, but its inquiries were not answered, Baron said.
In recent days, the State Department and the Committee to Protect Journalists have called on Iran to open the proceedings in Tehran’s Revolutionary Court to the public, to no avail. The court’s spokesman told reporters in Tehran that only the judge in the case can decide to make a trial public or comment on it.
“This decision by the trial to be open to the public or closed is dependent on the judge’s decision based on the content of the file case, and no one else can comment on it,” he said. Baron called the treatment of Rezaian in the Iranian justice system “shameful” and “disgraceful.”
“There is no justice in this system, not an ounce of it, and yet the fate of a good, innocent man hangs in the balance,” Baron said. “Iran is making a statement about its values in its disgraceful treatment of our colleague, and it can only horrify the world community.”
The trial of Rezaian, The Post’s Tehran bureau chief who was born and raised in California and holds dual citizenship, is the climax of his 10 months in detention since he was arrested July 22. During months of nuclear negotiations with Iran, the State Department has repeatedly raised the case of Rezaian and two other Americans already convicted in Iran, former U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati and pastor Saeed Abedini, as well as a missing former FBI agent, Robert Levinson.
Rezaian’s case has attracted international condemnation, in part because several journalist organizations have campaigned on his behalf.
“Iran must end this travesty of justice immediately,” said Sherif Mansour, Middle East and North Africa program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists. “After more than 300 days of unwarranted detention, the least Iran could do is to release Rezaian on bail and grant his employer entry to the country and access to the legal proceedings.”
It is difficult to know exactly what the case against Rezaian is based upon, because the proceedings have been secretive. What is known comes mostly from sparse Iranian media accounts and from what Rezaian’s brother, Ali, has said.
Rezaian has been held in Evin Prison, notorious as a place where political prisoners and journalists have been taken for interrogation. His initial months were spent in solitary, and he suffered health problems exacerbated by his lengthy confinement, although he eventually was allowed outside to see physicians.
His case was assigned to a judge known for his harsh sentencing in the past, which has included the death penalty for anti-government protesters.
Rezaian’s family had to seek out several lawyers before recently finding one who agreed to take the case and who the court would accept as counsel. They have met only once to discuss the case, for about 90 minutes. She has told the Iranian media that Rezaian is accused of four serious charges including espionage in what she said stemmed from his journalistic pursuits.
“No evidence has ever been produced by prosecutors or the court to support these absurd charges,” Baron said Monday. “The trial date was only disclosed to Jason’s lawyer last week. And now, unsurprisingly but unforgivably, it turns out the trial will be closed.”
Rezaian’s mother, Mary Rezaian, has been in Tehran for the past two weeks hoping to attend her son’s trial, but she will not be permitted in the courtroom, according to Baron. Nor will his wife, Yeganeh Salehi, an Iranian national who was arrested along with Rezaian and later released on bail.
Regardless of it all and especially regardless of this crazy situation Jason Rezaian is in today (secret court session after being snatched up for reporting on things) on this Monday Morning, Please Stay In Touch Today!
