Good morning everyone! Happy Tuesday to you!

Joining today's show are Mark Halperin, John Heilemann, Mike Barnicle, Bob Woodward, Chris Cillizza, Nicholas Confessore, David Brody, Mark McKinnon, Sen. Lindsey Graham, Jem Aswad, EJ Dionne, Fmr. Secy. Robert Gates, Sara Eisen and in Taiji, Japan, the hunters did not show up this morning. It's another BLUE COVE DAY! 2016-19-01 06:45am ‪#‎dolphinproject‬ ‪#‎tweet4dolphins‬ ‪#‎bluecovedance‬
The Eagles' Glenn Frey dead at 67. Glenn Frey, a founding member of the rock band the Eagles, has died at 67, a publicist for the band has confirmed.
"Glenn fought a courageous battle for the past several weeks but, sadly, succumbed to complications from rheumatoid arthritis, acute ulcerative colitis and pneumonia," reads a post on the band's official website.

Frey had been suffering from intestinal issues, which caused the postponement of the band's inclusion in the 2015 Kennedy Center Honors.

Frey and the other original members of the Eagles — Don Henley, Randy Meisner and Bernie Leadon -- came together to form singer Linda Ronstadt's backup band in the early 1970s.

They were all experienced musicians who forged a laid-back, country-tinged sound that the Eagles would eventually make famous.

"We are all in a state of shock, disbelief and profound sorrow," Henley said in a statement Monday. "I'm not sure I believe in fate, but I know that crossing paths with Glenn Lewis Frey in 1970 changed my life forever, and it eventually had an impact on the lives of millions of other people all over the planet.

"It will be very strange going forward in a world without him in it," Henley added. "But, I will be grateful, every day, that he was in my life. Rest in peace, my brother. You did what you set out to do, and then some." Throughout the early- to mid-1970s, Frey and the band released hit after hit, leading a renaissance of mellow California singer-songwriters with such artists as Ronstadt and Jackson Browne.

Frey and Henley co-wrote many of the band's biggest songs, including "Best of My Love," "Lyin' Eyes," "One of These Nights" and "Hotel California." Frey also famously helped Browne finish writing the Eagles' first hit, "Take It Easy," contributing the catchy verse, "it's a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford / slowing down to take a look at me."

Frey played guitar and keyboard and took lead vocal duties for the band on tunes like "Take it Easy" and "Tequila Sunrise."

With "Hotel California" in 1976, the band reached the pinnacle of its success, selling 16 million copies. They released four number one albums consecutively between 1975 and 1979: "One of These Nights," "Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975," "Hotel California" and "The Long Run."

"Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975," was the first album certified platinum and has sold 29 million copies in the United States, second only to Michael Jackson's "Thriller," according to Rolling Stone.

The Eagles have sold more than 100 million records worldwide and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. But while public reception was warm, the band had a prickly relationship with many critics.

"Another thing that interests me about the Eagles is that I hate them," wrote rock critic Robert Christgau in 1972, when they first hit it big.

The band succumbed to internal squabbles and broke up in 1980. Frey, Henley and other band members were famously contentious.

With his pop sensibilities and gift for melody, Frey was an ideal songwriting counterbalance to Henley's seriousness and penchant for weighty social statements.

"He was like a brother to me," Henley went on to say Monday. "We were family, and like most families, there was some dysfunction. But, the bond we forged 45 years ago was never broken, even during the 14 years that the Eagles were dissolved."

Frey saw solo success with the 1982 release "No Fun Aloud." He hit the top 40 with "The Heat Is On," "You Belong to the City," "True Love," and "Soul Searchin.'"

He also tried his hand at acting with a guest spot on "Miami Vice" and a small role in the 1996 film "Jerry Maguire," among other credits.

The Eagles reunited for 1994's Hell Freezes Over tour, which spawned an MTV special and a live album. They would continue to tour together over the years.

"Words can neither describe our sorrow, nor our love and respect for all that he has given to us, his family, the music community & millions of fans worldwide," the band said on its website Monday. CNN's Brandon Griggs contributed to this story.

Let's get to Politics today, in an NBC online poll, Trump, Clinton retain double-digit national leads. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton remain national front-runners for their party’s nominations less than three weeks before the Iowa caucus, according to a new NBC News|SurveyMonkey Weekly Election Tracking Poll released Tuesday morning.

The online poll of registered voters shows Trump with 38 percent support among Republicans, with Ted Cruz receiving 20 percent and Marco Rubio receiving 11 percent.
No other Republican garners double-digit backing. Ben Carson remains in fourth place at 9 percent; Chris Christie, Jeb Bush and Rand Paul each clock in at just three percent. Carly Fiorina, John Kasich and Mike Huckabee all received two percent support.

Trump leads among each of the major age, demographic and income groups. As in previous polls, his backing is strongest with men (40 percent), seniors (44 percent), those with a high school education or less (44 percent), and those with an income under $50,000 (41 percent.)

Among Republicans who describe themselves as independent, 34 percent support Trump, 22 percent support Cruz and 11 percent support Rubio.

The numbers are similar to the previous week’s tracking poll, which showed Trump at 35 percent and Cruz at 18 percent.

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton holds a 15 point lead over Bernie Sanders among Democrats nationwide. The Democratic front-runner gets the backing of 52 percent of voters, while 37 percent support Sanders. Former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley gets two percent.
Sanders bests Clinton by a wide margin with voters under 24 years old. Sixty-eight percent of these younger Democrats say they back Sanders, while just 26 percent support Clinton.

The former secretary of state has only a small advantage over Sanders with men (46 percent to 43 percent), but she boasts a significant lead with women (56 percent to 32 percent). She also has a huge lead over Sanders with African Americans (63 percent to 20 percent) and Hispanics (54 percent to 33 percent).

That data also closely matches the NBC News / SurveyMonkey poll’s findings from last week, when Clinton registered 53 percent support and Sanders received 36 percent.

Democrats remain slightly more certain than Republicans of their choices for their party’s primary. Fifty-one percent of Democrats said they are absolutely sure they will vote for their favored candidate, while 40 percent of Republicans said the same.

Heading into Tuesday night’s final State of the Union address for President Barack Obama, 45 percent of respondents said they approve of how Obama is handling his job, while 54 percent disapprove.

This SurveyMonkey Election Tracking data for the week of January 4, 2016 through January 10, 2016 was conducted online among a national sample of 9,746 adults aged 18 and over, including 8,655 who say they are registered to vote.

For full results and methodology for this weekly tracking poll, please click here. Sam Petulla contributed to this report. 

Bernie Sanders speaks in Birmingham to reported audience of 7k.  Hot off the heels of the Democratic debate in South Carolina, presidential candidate Bernie Sanders was in Birmingham Monday.

“We began this campaign about 9 months ago and when we began we were 50 points behind the inevitable Democratic nominee. Well guess what? That inevitable candidate is not so inevitable today,” Sanders said to a packed house at the Boutwell Auditorium.

According to Sanders’ campaign leaders, about 7,000 people came to hear him speak in Birmingham.
Buses started to roll in around 2:30 Monday afternoon, many of them packed with college students who traveled across the state to attend.

The crowd is diverse, but it was overwhelmingly young people who lined up to hear Sanders speak, and gauging from their reaction Monday evening, the were an enthusiastic audience.

“There must be some kind of mistake. I was told Alabama was a conservative state,” Sanders said to the crowd.

Sanders took the podium in front of a packed-in crowd at Boutwell. He laid out his plan for the presidency–including guaranteeing free public college tuition, pad family and medical leave, and raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour.

“We are going to create an economy that works for the middle class, not for the billionaire class,” he said.

Sanders also tailored his message for his Birmingham audience.

“I want to say to the folks here in Alabama, I come from a statue that’s going to vote democratic, I go to Massachusetts, and they’re going to vote democratic. The challenge you face and I respect you so much, is the work you have got to do is more difficult than work in my state.”

There were some tense moments in the middle of Sanders’ speech. A woman in the crowd became sick, and medical personnel were called. That caused a delay of about 10 minutes. The woman will reportedly be okay.

The audience applauded Sanders for pausing the speech to make sure he got medical attention.

Clinton pitches 'sensible, achievable' plans.
Hillary Clinton focused her sales pitch Monday on offering proposals that she contends are more realistic than those of a certain other Democratic presidential candidate.

“I don’t want to overpromise. I don’t want to come out with theories and concepts that may or may not be possible. We don’t need any more of that,” Clinton told about 300 voters gathered at the Reinig Civic Center. “What we need is a sensible, achievable agenda, where we roll up our sleeves and we work together.”

The former senator, secretary of state and first lady stressed her experience. “There is a complicated job waiting for the next president, that we have to make sure we get right," she said.

Clinton didn’t name the person she appeared to be contrasting herself with, though it was assuredly her chief Democratic rival, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

Two weeks before the Iowa caucuses, Clinton is running neck and neck with Sanders, who has drawn big crowds full of young liberals with his promises for a “political revolution.” Polls show most Iowa Democrats like both candidates. With that in mind, Clinton and Sanders have kept personal insults to a minimum even as they sharpen critiques of each other.

On Monday in Toledo, Clinton repeatedly referred to her “smart, achievable plans.” For example,  she continued her argument that it would be better to build on the Affordable Care Act than to scrap it in an attempt to pass a more radical, single-payer health care system. She has contended that’s what Sanders wants to do, although he denies it.

Clinton argued that it would be next to impossible to pass a new health care program instead of fixing flaws in the one President Barack Obama managed to sign into law.

“I will defend the Affordable Care Act, because I view it as one of the great accomplishments, not just of President Obama, but of the Democratic Party, of our nation,” she said. “…We can’t start over again, and plunge our nation into a divisive, contentious debate.”

AT THE EVENT
SETTING: The Reinig Civic Center in Toledo.

CROWD: About 300, many of whom were middle-age or older. 

REACTION: The crowd asked questions on a range of topics, including the Affordable Care Act, the high cost of college and what can be done to cure cancer. They applauded repeatedly, including when Clinton talked about fighting for women's rights, workers' pay and renewable energy. 

WHAT'S NEXT: Clinton has announced stops in Burlington on Wednesday and Indianola, Vinton and Iowa City on Thursday.

A new poll of Florida Republicans shows Donald Trump opening his biggest lead in the Sunshine State. The poll, from Florida Times-Union and Fox35, has Trump in first place, with 31 percent support, twelve points higher than Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)97%, who is in second place with 19 percent.

Jeb Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)79%
 are locked in a battle for third, with Bush edging Rubio 13 percent to 12 percent. Rubio’s standing in this poll represents a 3 point decline from the Times-Union poll in December.

The Times-Union poll was conducted Sunday, after the Republican debate last week in Charleston. Nearly 70 percent of those interviewed for the poll reported watching the GOP debate.

Opinions of who won the debate closely match the head-to-head results. Nearly 37 percent of Republicans said Trump won the debate, while 25 percent said Cruz won the debate. The 12 point spread separating Trump and Cruz on debate performance is the same margin between them on a hypothetical vote.

Perhaps the most interesting finding is that the combined vote for Rubio and Bush is just 25 percent in their home state. This would put them below Trump and just slightly ahead of Cruz.

The findings are a serious blow to attempts by Florida Republicans, who moved the primary in a bid to help Bush or Rubio.

Florida moved its Presidential primary to March 15th, the first date at which primaries can be conducted under “winner-take-all” rules. Prior to March 15th, delegates in primaries and caucuses are awarded proportionally, i.e. even candidates finishing in second or third place can win delegates.

With “winner-take-all” rules in place, Florida, with 99 delegates, represents potentially the richest prize of delegates of all the early voting states. Even if Bush or Rubio failed to gain significant traction in other early voting states, taking all of Florida’s delegates could potentially have evened the delegate count.

That plan, obviously, lies in tatters. In a cruel twist, the Florida primary may end up killing off the campaign of either or both of the state’s native sons. It is especially telling that, even if their votes were combined, the support in Florida for Bush and Rubio wouldn’t be enough to prevent Trump from winning the state.

The combined vote of Rubio and Bush might not even be enough to ensure that one of them defeats Ted Cruz for second. Of course, unlike the states voting before Florida, coming in second in the Sunshine State is meaningless.

The wave of support for outsiders for the nomination is drowning more mainstream candidates across the country. Together, Trump, Cruz, and Ben Carson command 57 percent of the vote among Florida Republicans. This is more than double the support for Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio, in their own state. That is the 2016 Republican primary distilled.

5 things to know about Flint's water crisis. n once-quiet crisis in Flint is now drawing voluminous concern from around the nation as celebrities, politicians and presidential candidates steer attention to the toxic tap water in one of Michigan's biggest and most beleaguered cities.

It's hard to put anything about the issue in a nutshell, but a solid summary is as follows:

In charge of the city's budget amid a financial emergency, the state decided to temporarily switch Flint's water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River as a cost-saving measure until a new supply line to Lake Huron was ready. The river had a reputation for nastiness, and after the April 2014 switch, residents complained their water looked, smelled and tasted funny.

Virginia Tech researchers found the water was highly corrosive. A class-action lawsuit alleges the state Department of Environmental Quality didn't treat the water for corrosion, in accordance with federal law, and because so many service lines to Flint are made of lead, the noxious element leached into the water of the city's homes.

The city switched back to the Lake Huron water supply in October, but the damage was already done to the lead pipes. The state is now handing out filters and bottled water with the National Guard.

Here's a look at five recent developments:
State of emergency on three levels
Mayor Karen Weaver, who took office two months ago, and Gov. Rick Snyder, who has been at the state's helm since 2011, have both declared states of emergency, with Snyder calling in the National Guard to help deliver clean water to the city's nearly 100,000 residents.

Responding to Weaver's and Snyder's cry for federal assistance, which Snyder said would help with temporary housing and home repairs, President Barack Obama also issued a state of emergency Saturday.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security will lead Washington's response.

State Attorney General Bill Schuette is also taking action and said he will investigate how the crisis unfolded in an effort to determine if any laws were broken.

"The situation in Flint is a human tragedy in which families are struggling with even the most basic parts of daily life," he said in a statement.

Issue enters Democratic debate
Flint's water garnered some attention when leading Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders both made a point of mentioning it during Sunday's debate.

Sanders called out Snyder, a Republican, demanding his resignation and asserting that "a man who acts that irresponsibly should not stay in power."

Clinton said she sent a top campaign aid to meet with the mayor of Flint and said she had gone on a TV show to call for action.

"I think every single American should be outraged," Clinton said. "We've had a city in the United States of America where the population, which is poor in many ways and majority African-American, has been drinking and bathing in lead-contaminated water. And the governor of that state acted as though he didn't really care."

Snyder responded on Twitter that "political statements and finger pointing" were a distraction to those working to solve the crisis.

Numbers back up Clinton's characterization of Flint, where 57% of residents are black and more than 41% of residents live beneath the poverty line (as compared to the state and national rates of 17% and 15%, respectively).

Celebrities stepping in
Joining the political heavies are familiar names out of Hollywood, some of the city's favorite sons and daughters, namely filmmaker Michael Moore, actress Sandra Bernhard and singer-actress Cher.

Cher and bottler Icelandic Glacial are joining forces to donate 181,440 bottles of water, slated for delivery to a local food bank Wednesday. Bernhard has been active on the talk-show circuit and social media, instructing her fans and followers on the best ways to get clean water to her hometown.

Perhaps it's unsurprising that Moore -- his film "Roger and Me" focused on the closing of a General Motors plant in Flint and he's also known for "Bowling for Columbine" -- had the most radical celebrity response: He started a petition calling for Snyder's arrest, saying Michigan "effectively poisoned, not just some, but apparently ALL of the children in my hometown."

A Snyder spokesman called the petition inflammatory at a time when Snyder's "administration is working very closely with our partners in Flint and Genesee County to address health and safety issues."

Mayor worries about the long term
State officials initially told residents everything was OK -- then-Mayor Dayne Walling even made a point to drink the water on local TV -- until Virginia Tech researchers in August performed tests and found the elevated lead levels. The scope of the problem came into even better focus when local pediatrician Mona Hanna-Attisha announced that records showed lead levels in toddlers had doubled, and in some cases tripled, since the switch from Lake Huron.

Lead poisoning is dangerous for anyone -- the related woes include skin lesions, hair loss, vision loss, memory loss, depression and anxiety, according to a class-action lawsuit -- but Weaver seems equally worried about the future. Research shows lead exposure can affect a developing child's IQ, resulting in learning disabilities. Weaver worries that Flint will need an influx of funding in the future to deal with mental health issues and "an increase in the juvenile justice system."

There could be greater demand for adoptive and foster parents "as a result of social services needed due to the detrimental effects of the high blood lead levels," she has said.

Blame game
As Snyder pointed out, there is a lot of finger pointing surrounding the crisis, and he realizes a lot of those fingers are aimed in his direction. He apologized for the debacle earlier this month.

Everyone CNN interviewed for a recent story -- including residents, city workers, Walling, Weaver and Democratic U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee -- said they hold Snyder and the state Department of Environmental Quality responsible.

A 2011 study found that before water from the Flint River could be considered potable, it would need to be treated with an anti-corrosion agent, a measure that would have cost the state about $100 a day.

Experts say that water treatment would have prevented 90% of the problems with Flint's water.

Attorneys will meet Tuesday to discuss two new class-action lawsuits filed by Flint residents that target the governor, the state Department of Environmental Quality and the former Flint emergency managers who took control of the city's purse strings after the financial emergency, among others, said Eric Hood, who is coordinating media for the plaintiffs.

The suits will detail government officials' culpability and will provide a more detailed timeline than the previously filed federal lawsuit, Hood said. CNN's Jason Hanna, Z. Byron Wolf, Mariano Castillo, Greg Botelho, Linh Tran and Sara Ganim contributed to this report.

At Liberty University, Donald Trump again stumbles when discussing religion.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gestures during a speech at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., Monday, Jan. 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

If you grew up going to an evangelical church, as I did, chances are you attended youth groups at which a leader asked everyone to name their favorite Bible verse.

When I was in middle school, I had a trusty Scripture ready for any such occasion: Proverbs 27:17. It’s nine words long, easy to memorize, and it was just substantive enough to let me skate by without any meddlesome questions about the state of my soul.

Donald Trump’s awkward Scripture recitation in front of a large evangelical audience Monday reminded me of those youth group days.

The Republican presidential candidate spoke at Liberty University Monday to an audience of roughly 13,000 people inside the school’s main events building, the Vines Center. Most in the audience were students required by school policy to attend a weekly convocation meeting.

After beginning his remarks with his usual mention of how well he is doing in polls, Trump tried to identify with his audience by talking about the issues he thinks matter most to them. As is his way, Trump moved to his topic abruptly.

“We’re going to go through New Hampshire, through South Carolina,” Trump said, discussing the early primary voting states. “We’re going to go right through the whole group, and I think we can do something really special. And we’re going to protect Christianity. And I can say that. I don’t have to be politically correct. We’re going to protect it.“

“I hear this is a major theme right here,” Trump added.

It seemed to be a reference to the religious liberty debate, which has boiled over in the wake of a Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage and Obamacare’s contraception mandate. But Trump didn’t clarify. Instead, he brought out the Scripture verse he had chosen to share with the deeply religious crowd, who are accustomed to speakers citing the Bible and then talking at length about the “word of God.”

“II Corinthians, right? II Corinthians 3:17, that’s the whole ball game,” Trump said, as laughter rippled through the audience, perhaps because most Christians refer to the book as “Second Corinthians.”

Trump then read the verse: “‘Where the spirit of the Lord — right? — Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.’ And here there is Liberty College, Liberty University. But it is so true. You know, when you think, that’s really — is that the one? Is that the one you like? I think that’s the one you like because I loved it, and it’s so representative of what’s taking place. But we are going to protect Christianity.”

If Trump had been talking about religious liberty, he wasn’t now. He mentioned Christians in Syria who have been beheaded (the so-called Islamic State has killed Muslims and members of small religious sects as well). And he said that the Christian faith is “under siege.”

“Bad things are happening,” said Trump, before branching off into a discussion of what sounded more like religious identification along cultural or ethnic lines than the kind of devout faith that many American evangelicals are familiar with.

“I don’t know what it is, we don’t band together, maybe. Other religions, frankly, they’re banding together and they’re using it,” Trump said. “The power we have, somehow we have to unify, we have to band together, we have to do in a really large version what they’ve done at Liberty, because Liberty University has done that. You’ve banded together. You’ve created one of the great universities, colleges, anywhere in the country, anywhere in the world, and that’s what our country has to do that around Christianity. So, get together folks and let’s do it because we can do it.”

And that was all the religion Trump could stomach. He fled quickly back to discussing his own popularity. “No matter where I go, we’re having tremendous crowds and we’re setting records everywhere,” he said. Trump spent 45 more minutes on familiar material: his standard, rambling stump speech bashing President Obama and Hillary Clinton, the media and super-PACs, with an extra flourish on how he would negotiate with Iran over its nuclear program and the release of American hostages.

Trump’s handling of the Bible on Monday added to what is now a substantial list of comments indicating a superficial relationship, at best, with the words that Christians look to for guidance and spiritual sustenance. 

Trump has compared the Bible to a “great, incredible movie.” He could not name a favorite verse or passage of Scripture when asked in August. Weeks later, his answer to that question was: “Proverbs, the chapter ‘never bend to envy.’” No such phrase exists in Proverbs, and so Trump was forced to clarify that he was talking about Proverbs 24, which begins with the words, “Do not envy the wicked.”

Last summer, he said he did not think he had ever asked God for forgiveness, a statement he repeated this past Sunday in an interview on CNN.

Even so, Trump continues to pull support from a significant percentage of evangelical voters in some polls. To some extent that’s because Trump has been inoculated by comments like those made before his speech Monday by Liberty University’s president, Jerry Falwell Jr.

Falwell heaped praise on Trump during his 14-minute introduction. It was an implicit endorsement of his candidacy by the evangelical leader even though Falwell did not specifically say the word “endorse.” There were rumors that Falwell might endorse Trump in Iowa on Tuesday.

Falwell, one of two sons of the school’s now deceased founder, directly addressed concerns among evangelicals about Trump’s three marriages or his lack of familiarity with the faith. His father, Falwell said, was criticized for supporting Ronald Reagan in 1980 because he was “a Hollywood actor who’d been divorced and remarried and Jimmy Carter was a Southern Baptist Sunday school teacher.”

“My father proudly replied that Jesus pointed out that we are all sinners, every one of us,” Falwell said. “And while Jesus never told us who to vote for, he gave us all common sense to choose the best leaders. … Dad explained that when he walked into the voting booth, he wasn’t electing a Sunday school teacher or a pastor or even a president who shared his theological beliefs. He was electing the president of the United States, and the talents, abilities and experience required to lead a nation might not always line up with those needed to run a church or lead a congregation.”

“After all, Jimmy Carter was a great Sunday school teacher, but look at what happened to our nation with him in the presidency,” Falwell said.

Falwell called Trump “one of the greatest visionaries of our time,” and asserted that the businessman and reality TV personality is loved by his staff because of his “servant leadership.”

“Donald Trump is a breath of fresh air,” Falwell said, “in a nation where the political establishment from both parties has betrayed [its] constituencies time and time again with broken promises and a continuation of the status quo.”

Falwell’s praise for Trump drew a stinging rebuke from a top leader in the Southern Baptist Church. Russell Moore, president of the church’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, watched a live stream video feed of Falwell’s introduction of Trump with mounting anger. After listening to Trump’s opening remarks on Christianity, Moore took to Twitter to comment on the proceedings.

“Trading in the gospel of Jesus Christ for political power is not liberty but slavery,” Moore wrote. He added, “This would be hilarious if it weren’t so counter to the mission of the gospel of Jesus Christ. #TrumpatLiberty”

And Moore described Falwell’s praise of Trump as “absolutely unbelievable.”

Moore expounded on his “trading in the gospel” comments for me after the speech. “The problem is not supporting Trump or any other candidate,” he explained. “The problem is with allowing Trump to present himself as a man of faith and character, without calling him out on both. Trump has said that he has nothing for which to seek forgiveness. This is despite leaving two wives for other women, destroying families with casino vice, and trafficking in ugly, racially charged rhetoric. Portraying this lost soul as a brother in Christ is not only doing wrong to Trump himself, it preaches an anti-gospel to all who hear. The gospel is about repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, not about excusing sin and injustice for the sake of political power.”

Another evangelical leader, not in a position to criticize Liberty openly because he does not speak for his organization publicly, said that the Trump appearance would “set Liberty back years.”


“Jerry’s intro alone will make [the university] the scorn of the evangelical world,” he said.

British lawmakers debate banning Donald Trump from UK for 'hate speech'. For Donald Trump, in politics as in life, it seems the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.

But Monday, the Republican presidential candidate is entering unfamiliar territory, even by his larger-than-life standards, as members of the British Parliament hold a debate over a petition calling for the U.S. businessman-turned-politician to be banned from the country.

The unconventional debate is unlikely to result in any practical move by Parliament. No vote will be held at the end of the debate, and politicians are expected to treat it more as an opportunity to air their views on the divisive Republican under the protection of parliamentary privilege, which legally shields them from accusations of defamation or slander.

Scottish freelance journalist and activist Suzanne Kelly launched a petition last month to block the former reality TV star from British shores, which led to the debate. The petition accuses the 69-year-old of "hate speech" for calling for a travel ban on Muslims entering the United States. It has received more than 574,000 signatures.

Any petition that gets more than 100,000 signatures is considered by Parliament's Petitions Committee, which weighs whether to send the petition for debate by lawmakers in Parliament.

Some parliamentarians expressed support for Trump, while others slammed him.

"People often say that the public are apathetic about politics," said member Tulip Siddiq. "This online petition signed by nearly 600,000 people shows that when people feel a sense of justice, when people feel that we need to stop a poisonous, corrosive man (from) entering our country, they will act in good conscience."

She continued, "But this is not any man we're talking about. This is a man who is extremely high profile, involved in the American show business industry for years and years, a man who is interviewing for the most important job in the world. His words are not comical. His words are not funny. His words are poisonous. They risk inflaming tension between vulnerable communities."

Another lawmaker, Philip Davies, stood to say he thought Trump's approach was smart.

"In the race to become the next president, he's been gaining support with a political manner that can be described as blunt directness," Davies said. "He is definitely straight-talking, and as a Yorkshireman I certainly applaud him for that, too. In fact, I think in this country we could do with rather less political correctness and much more straight-talking across the board, and I think many of our constituents would agree."

Members of Parliament will also debate a counter-petition that calls for Trump not to be banned from the country.

"Leave the decision making on appropriate responses to the Americans. (Let's) mind our own business," reads the petition, launched by David Gladwin, which has received more than 40,000 signatures.

Cameron: 'Trump would unite us all against him' 02:30
British Home Secretary Theresa May already has the power to ban visitors who have been convicted of a crime, jailed or are in breach of immigration rules, and can ban visitors from outside the European Economic Area, whose presence in the UK is deemed nonconducive to the public good.

People who have been barred previously include Quran-burning U.S. pastor Terry Jones, a Hamas lawmaker and a former Ku Klux Klan leader.

Donald Trump debate: Could UK really ban him?

British Prime Minister David Cameron has already said he is not in favor of any ban on Trump.

In comments to Parliament last month, Cameron said that Trump's proposal for a temporary ban on Muslims from entering the United States for security was "divisive, stupid and wrong," but that a British ban on Trump in response was unnecessary.

"If he came to visit our country, I think he would unite us all against him," he said.

Frosty response to remarks in Britain
Trump's remarks on Islam after last month's San Bernardino, California, terror attack -- including the claim that parts of London were so radicalized that British police feared for their lives -- struck a nerve in the UK, drawing condemnation from a range of public figures.

London Mayor Boris Johnson labeled them "complete and utter nonsense," adding that "the only reason I wouldn't go to some parts of New York is the real risk of meeting Donald Trump."

And Scotland's Robert Gordon University stripped Trump of an honorary degree it had bestowed on him five years ago, saying the politician had made "a number of statements that are wholly incompatible with the ethos and values of the university" during the presidential campaign.

The university had been pressured by another petition launched by Kelly, author of the one to ban Trump from the UK, calling on it to revoke the honorary degree.

Kelly had previously campaigned against the development of the Trump International Golf Links, a high-end golf resort in Aberdeen, Scotland, which repeatedly has brought the billionaire into conflict with locals.

Last month, Britain's Supreme Court unanimously knocked back Trump's appeal against a wind farm being built overlooking the golf course, which he argued would be a blight on the coastal landscape.

Trump company: Debate 'absurd'
Trump International Golf Links responded to the debate on banning Trump in a statement Monday from Executive Vice President Sarah Malone, who labeled the episode "ridiculous."

"It is absurd that valuable parliamentary time is being wasted debating a matter raised as part of the American presidential election," she said.

"For the UK to consider banning someone who made a statement in America, about American borders during a U.S. election campaign is ridiculous."

She said that in holding the debate, the British Parliament was setting a "dangerous precedent" and "sending a terrible message to the world."

"The individuals who instigated this ... have a self-serving personal agenda and do not represent the views or interests of the vast majority of British people."

If Trump was banned, he would abandon his plans for a further £700 million ($1.1 billion) investment in Scotland, she said. CNN's Tim Hume, Lindsay Isaac, Max Foster and Joshua Berlinger contributed to this report.

Suicide bomber kills at least 10 in northwest Pakistan. A suicide bomber blew himself up close to a police checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, killing at least 10 people and wounding more than 20, officials said.

The bomber rammed his motorcycle into a police vehicle next to the roadside checkpoint in the Jamrud area on the edge of Pakistan's volatile Federally Administered Tribal Areas, local government official Munir Khan told Reuters.

"He was riding an explosives-laden motorcycle and hit the checkpoint and the vehicle of the line officer," Khan said.

Among the dead were at least five police officers including the line officer whose vehicle was targeted by the bomber, as well as a child and a local journalist, officials said. TV footage showed the burnt-out remains of cars as rescue workers rushed to evacuate the wounded.

The Pakistani Taliban senior commander Maqbool Dawar claimed responsibility for the attack. He told Reuters it was revenge for what he alleged were the recent deaths of arrested Taliban men while in government custody, and said that the journalist was not the target.

A Taliban splinter group also claimed it was behind the bomb.

The attack took place in an area where security forces have stepped up their fight against the Taliban and other militant groups along the border with Afghanistan, following the massacre of more than 150 people, mostly children, at an army-run school in December 2014.

Attacks have fallen since the government crackdown and the Taliban squeezed into small pockets of territory, but militant groups remain able to launch hit-and-run and suicide attacks on security forces.

A spokesperson for the Hayatabad Medical Complex in nearby Peshawar, to where the wounded were evacuated, said earlier that the hospital had received six bodies, including that of a child.

Last month, a suicide bomber attacked a government office in northwestern Pakistan, killing at least 23 people. Reporting by Jibran Ahmed; Writing by Tommy Wilkes; Editing by Nick Macfie and Richard Borsuk.

Match-fixing claims rock tennis world as Australian Open gets under way. The world of professional tennis was rocked by a major gambling scandal Monday after a leaked report named dozens of players suspected of rigging matches in exchange for cash, and one of the sport's biggest stars said he wanted those names public.

 "I would love to hear names," Roger Federer said Monday. "It's super serious and it's super important to maintain the integrity of our sport."

The contents of the report, prepared by investigators working for the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and dated from 2008, were first reported on by the BBC and Buzzfeed, which did not name the players involved. Among other notable claims, the report alleged that three possible fixed matches took place at Wimbledon, the most prestigious tournament in tennis.

The report also claims that 16 players ranked in the Top 50 over the past 10 years, including some who have won Grand Slam doubles titles, have been repeatedly reported to tennis authorities for taking part in suspicious matches, with no action being taken by the ATP.

At a press conference Monday, ATP President Chris Kermode denied that officials had sought to cover up suspected improprieties.

"I think it's always disappointing when stories come out like this just before a big event," Kermode said. "But we are so confident there's nothing in the sport that has been suppressed."

The BBC reported that eight of the 16 suspected repeat offenders were scheduled to take part in the Australian Open, the first of tennis' four majors, which got under way Monday in Melbourne. 

The BBC and Buzzfeed reported that it would not name names at this stage because it was impossible to fully determine whether the players had taken part in match-fixing without access to phone, computer or bank records.

In all, investigators named 28 players as having taken part in suspect matches. However, one of the investigators, Mark Phillips, told the BBC, "There was a core of about 10 players that we believed were the most common perpetrators, that were at the root of the problem really."

The investigators also discovered that members of three gambling syndicates, based in Russia, Sicily and northern Italy, had bet large amounts of money on dozens of matches. 

"You'd have one player [who] would win a set and then they would go a break of serve up," Phillips said, "and then almost as soon as that happened there would just be a flood of money [bet on] the other player, who would then miraculously win eight games in a row."

Phillips said that when the investigative team presented their findings to the ATP's newly formed Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU), they received little response. 

"It soon became clear they didn't really want our advice on that or anything else," Phillips said. ATP President Kermode told the BBC that the evidence presented by the investigators was too weak to act on. Results and the scorching heat weren't what most people were talking about on the first day of the Australian Open. Instead, the murky world of match fixing was the center of discussion.

Tennis' governing bodies rejected claims they covered up or ignored evidence related to match fixing in the wake of an investigation that said grand slam winners were among a group of 16 players "who have repeatedly been reported for losing games when highly suspicious bets have been placed against them."

The investigation, conducted by BuzzFeed News and the BBC, also said that one top-50 player at the Australian Open is "suspected of repeatedly fixing his first set."

No names were mentioned.
The documents -- reportedly handed over by whistleblowers -- also allegedly show gambling syndicates in Russia and Italy profited by betting on games believed to have been fixed, according to the Buzzfeed and BBC reports.

The tennis authorities, comprised most notably of the men's ATP Tour, women's WTA Tour and the international ITF, "absolutely reject any suggestion that evidence of match fixing has been suppressed for any reason," it said in a statement released in Melbourne, site of the Australian Open.

Previous investigations
Match-fixing scandals have rocked football's Serie A in 2006 and international cricket in 2010 but no major cases have led to penalties in top-tier tennis. So far, there have been 18 "convictions," as ATP head Chris Kermode put it, and six lifetime bans stemming from the Tennis Integrity Unit, which was formed in 2008.

The highest profile investigation conducted by the ATP revolved around a match played a year earlier in Sopot, Poland, between former world No. 3 Nikolay Davydenko and Martin Vassallo Arguello. Despite suspicious betting patterns, neither player was formally charged.

"A year-long investigation into the Sopot match in 2007 found insufficient evidence," Kermode said in a press conference prior to the statement. He added: "The investigators hit a brick wall and it just wasn't possible to determine who the guilty party was in relation to this match."

Indeed, players under investigation are under no obligation to hand over potentially incriminating evidence.

"We can demand their phones and laptops and iPads," said TIU director of integrity Nigel Willerton in the press conference. "Obviously they have to consent to give them."

One player who didn't co-operate, Ivo Klec, was given a two-year ban last year.

"We also work closely with law enforcement, because the tennis anti-corruption program does mirror criminal offenses basically, but we are not law enforcement," said Willerton. "Whereas they could arrest people and seize those items, we cannot."

'Difficult to catch everyone'
Top-ranked men's player Novak Djokovic said an approach was made to his team by match fixers in 2007 but was immediately rejected. He called some of the report "speculation."

"Of course, there is no room for any match fixing or corruption in our sport," the defending champion said in his press conference after beating Hyeon Chung in his opening match Monday. "We're trying to keep it as clean as possible. We have, I think, a sport (that has) evolved and upgraded our programs and authorities to deal with these particular cases.

"I don't think the shadow is cast over our sport. In contrary, people are talking about names, guessing who these players are, guessing those names. But there's no real proof or evidence yet of any active players, for that matter. As long as it's like that, it's just speculation. So I think we have to keep it that way."

Read: Roger Federer on new coach - 'I need to be pushed'

Djokovic confirmed that his support team was offered $200,000 for him to lose a first-round match in St. Petersburg almost a decade ago -- but he did not play at that tournament.

"I was approached through people that were working with me at that time, that were with my team. Of course, we threw it away right away," the Serbian said.

"It didn't even get to me -- the guy that was trying to talk to me, he didn't even get to me directly. There was nothing out of it.

"Unfortunately there were some -- in those times, those days -- rumors, some talks, some people were going around. They were dealt with. In the last six, seven years, I haven't heard anything similar."

Women's No. 1 Serena Williams said if match fixing was taking place, she was unaware of it.

"I'm kind of sometimes in a little bit of a bubble," she told reporters after her first-round victory over Camila Giorgi.

Paul Annacone, the former coach of Roger Federer and Pete Sampras, believed elite players didn't need to participate in match fixing to make good money.

"I would be shocked if it was prevalent with top players because they are earning such a good living and making their professional progress so well that why would you risk that much?" he told CNN.com.

Djokovic pocketed $21 million in 2015, while world No. 100 Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain made $350,000 -- a good wage even after subtracting expenses such as flights, hotels and support personnel.

Due to the sheer volume of matches in professional tennis, it's difficult to catch everyone, according to Kermode.

Players in the second-tier Challenger system and third-tier Futures may be targets because of how little they make. The BuzzFeed and BBC investigation said players could be offered $50,000 or more per fix.

"There are nearly 21,000 active professional players and over 2,100 officials, playing and officiating in over 1,500 tournaments in 80 countries around the world," said Kermode. "The vast majority of these individuals are good people of high integrity.

"Unfortunately there is always a minority who seek personal gain from corrupt activity. Those individuals will continue to be subject to investigation by the TIU and disciplinary sanctions."

Annacone added: "It would surprise me at the top of the game. It wouldn't surprise me so much for lower-level players that are trying to make a living. I could see lower-level players being tempted."

When that happens, the players just have to do the right thing, said doubles No. 1 Marcelo Melo.

"If I was a Futures player I wouldn't do it because I don't think this is right," he told CNN.com. "But some people don't think like that. You have to get your money the right way."

Ivanka Trump cuts radio ad for dad. Ivanka Trump is going to bat for her dad's presidential campaign, saying he is "deeply grounded in tradition" and touting his deal-making abilities in a new radio ad running in Iowa and New Hampshire.

The famous daughter of the real estate mogul, and an executive vice president at Trump's organization, offers a striking contrast with the harsh rhetoric of her father in the radio spot, speaking calmly over soft piano music about the parental wisdom he provided her as a child and praising his leadership.

"When I was a young girl, my father Donald Trump always told me that I could do anything that I set my mind to if I coupled vision with determination and hard work," Trump says. "He meant it."

Trump describes her father as "a man who is deeply grounded in tradition," a pitch aimed at social conservatives, and adds "he raised my siblings and me to work hard."

Trump also references her father's business record, saying he's "achieved success at the highest level across multiple industries."

"Countless times, I've watched my dad make deals that seemed impossible to get done," she continues, repeating a theme central to Trump's White House bid. "As president, my father will keep his word. He'll never quit fighting for this country of its future."

And adding another campaign refrain, Trump closes, "He will make America great again."

Sunset Daily News & Sports
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19 January 2016
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