Good morning everyone! Happy Friday to you!

Joining the Morning Joe show today is Steve Rattner, Donny Deutsch, Amy Holmes, Chris Jansing, David Ignatius, Eugene Robinson, Mark Halperin, Rep. John Delaney, Thomas Sanderson, David Axelrod, Philip Mudd, Chuck Todd, Jim Miklaszewski, Brian Chesky, Jon Huntsman, Vanessa Hope, Patrick Gavin, Cindi Leive, Elizabeth Alexander and FULL HOUSE'S OWN LORI LOUGHLIN!!!!!
Joe is at a momentous family event today. The big story of yesterday / today is the drone strike that actually hit in January, but it did kill two of the hostages. I understand that we are getting some form of blame but fundamentally we must add that if they were not kidnapped in the first place by those terrorists, this would not be an issue today. And, drone strikes I hate to say it but they are a lot safer for our military people today. Its not a great resolution but again, it is the lesser of all evils quite frankly. But yeah, Obama apologizes for attack that killed two hostages yesterday in a press conference where he took no questions from the press core. A CIA drone strike in January that was aimed at a suspected al-Qaeda compound in Pakistan accidentally killed two hostages, including a kidnapped American, U.S. officials acknowledged Thursday.

U.S. officials said they did not realize until weeks later that two civilians had died in the attack — kidnapped aid workers Warren Weinstein of Maryland and Giovanni Lo Porto of Italy — despite assurances from the CIA at the time of the operation that only al-Qaeda fighters were present.The CIA had been conducting surveillance on the site near the Afghan border for hundreds of hours, U.S. officials said. But the spy agency later discovered the strike had also killed a second U.S. citizen, Ahmed Farouq, who U.S. officials said had joined al-Qaeda years earlier and was among the suspected militants at the compound.

After the CIA slowly pieced together what had happened, the spy agency’s director, John Brennan, delivered the news to President Obama last week. On Thursday, in brief remarks from the White House, a grim and downcast Obama informed the nation of the botched operation.“As president and as commander in chief, I take full responsibility for all our counterterrorism operations, including the one that inadvertently took the lives of Warren and Giovanni,” Obama said. “I profoundly regret what happened. On behalf of the United States government, I offer our deepest apologies to the families.”

Weinstein, 73, had been held since 2011 after being kidnapped in Lahore, Pakistan. Lo Porto, 39. had been in al-Qaeda captivity since 2012. Obama said he spoke Wednesday with Weinstein’s wife, Elaine, and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi to inform them. In a statement, Elaine Weinstein said Thursday that she and her family were “devastated” by the news and “do not yet fully understand all of the facts surrounding Warren’s death.”“We were so hopeful that those in the U.S. and Pakistani governments with the power to take action and secure his release would have done everything possible to do so and there are no words to do justice to the disappointment and heartbreak we are going through,” she said.

Earnest said the families of the two hostages will receive U.S. government compensation, but he declined to provide details. Obama said that the operation was “fully consistent with the guidelines” he has established for counterterrorism strikes against al-Qaeda but that he has ordered “a full review of what happened.” “It is a cruel and bitter truth that in the fog of war generally and our fight against terrorists specifically, mistakes, sometimes deadly mistakes, can occur,” the president added. “But one of the things that sets America apart from many other nations, one of the things that makes us exceptional, is our willingness to confront squarely our imperfections and to learn from our mistakes.”

Obama provided only limited details about the operation. He did not specify how or where the hostages were killed, or which arm of the U.S. government was responsible. A CIA spokesman declined to comment. Two Pakistani intelligence officials, both of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity, said they believe Weinstein, Lo Porto and Farouq were killed during a Jan. 15 drone strike in the Shawal Valley in North Waziristan, part of Pakistan’s tribal belt.

A statement released earlier this month by al-Qaeda’s media arm also reported that Farouq had been killed on Jan. 15 in the Shawal Valley, but it did not identify the little-known figure as an American or make any mention of the hostages. The CIA has been conducting drone strikes against al-Qaeda targets in Pakistan for more than a decade under a covert program first authorized by President George W. Bush and substantially expanded by Obama. The strikes have caused widespread public anger in Pakistan for inflicting civilian casualties but have been tolerated by the Pakistani government as part of an unspoken arrangement with the U.S. government.

Although Obama did not mention it in his remarks, another American was killed in a separate counterterrorism operation in January, the White House acknowledged in a statement Thursday. Adam Gadahn, 36, a California native who converted to Islam and joined al-Qaeda more than a decade ago, was killed in a CIA drone attack in Pakistan within a week of the strike that killed the hostages, U.S. officials said.

Gadahn, who called himself “Azzam the American” and helped run al-Qaeda’s propaganda department, was indicted by a federal grand jury in 2006 on charges of treason.
As with the strike that killed Farouq and the hostages, U.S. officials said they were targeting a suspected al-Qaeda compound and did not realize that an American citizen was there. White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Obama had not personally approved the operations but that U.S. counterterrorism officials had the authority to conduct them. Earnest described Gadahn and Farouq as al-Qaeda leaders but said the U.S. government had not classified either man as a “high-value target,” meaning they were not considered an imminent threat and otherwise would not have been singled out for a lethal attack.

Al-Qaeda had listed Farouq as a leader of its branch in the Indian subcontinent. U.S. officials said he was born in the United States and moved to Pakistan as a child. It is not the first time that the U.S. government has killed Americans in drone strikes overseas. In 2011, a CIA drone in Yemen targeted and blew up Anwar al-Awlaki, a New Mexico-born cleric who was a key figure in al-Qaeda’s franchise on the Arabian Peninsula. Four other Americans, including Awlaki’s teenage son, have died in drone attacks. In each of those cases, however, U.S. officials said they were unaware of the Americans’ presence beforehand and described them as incidental casualties.

In December, a failed rescue attempt carried out by U.S. Special Operations forces inadvertently led to the death of Luke Somers, an American held hostage in Yemen. Thursday’s disclosure of the accidental deaths was sure to bring increased pressure on Obama to curtail or scale back drone strikes, a signature tactic of his presidency. The bungled operation will also force the White House to confront lingering questions about its policies for responding to the kidnapping of Americans by extremist groups in the Middle East and South Asia.

“I’m saddened, disappointed and outraged that our government was not able to bring Warren home,” said Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.), Weinstein’s representative in Congress. “Today’s news is a personal tragedy for Warren’s family but also a sobering national security and government failure.” Although Obama has insisted that the CIA and U.S. military take every precaution to avoid civilian casualties, drone strikes have resulted in numerous deaths of Pakistani, Afghan and Yemeni civilians.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the panel had already been secretly reviewing the January strike that killed Weinstein, Lo Porto and Farouq but would now “review that operation in greater detail.” Feinstein added that more information should be made public about U.S. counterterrorism strikes, including an annual report on the number of combatants and civilians who are killed.
Jameel Jaffer, deputy legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union, said the January attacks in Pakistan raised doubts about the reliability of the intelligence used to justify drone strikes. In both operations, he said, “the U.S. quite literally didn’t know who it was killing. These and other recent strikes in which civilians were killed make clear that there is a significant gap between the relatively stringent standards the government says it’s using and the standards that are actually being used.”

U.S. officials confirmed that the strike that killed the hostages was a “signature strike” — a category in which the CIA has authority to attack based on suspicious patterns of activity even when it cannot identify the individuals being targeted.The sequence suggests the hostages had been held at the compound over a long period. Current and former U.S. officials said that analysts watching drone footage can typically detect the movement of hostages by al-Qaeda captors. It’s not clear how CIA drones, presumably equipped with infrared sensors, would have failed to recognize the presence of two additional people at the compound before it was hit. But officials said al-Qaeda has adapted to the drone campaign by taking extensive measures to obscure its facilities from drone cameras.

The number of U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan has gradually declined since reaching a peak in 2010, when there was, on average, one attack every three days. This year, there have been seven reported drone strikes in Pakistan, but only two since January. Although Obama said such counterterrorism operations were under review, other U.S. officials said the CIA drone program has not been suspended. Tim Craig in Mingora, Pakistan, Aamir Iqbal in Peshawar, Pakistan, and Julie Tate, Karen DeYoung, Dan LaMothe and Dan Morse in Washington contributed to this report.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton smiles before delivering the keynote address at the Women in the World summit in New York April 23, 2015.   REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton - RTX1A1Q0
Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
To make the economy prosper, help women prosper, Hillary Clinton said at a conference Thursday, emphasizing themes she's likely to invoke frequently in her bid to become the nation's first female president. Clinton, who launched her presidential campaign earlier this month, tied the issues of equal pay and paid maternity leave to the nation's economic growth in her remarks at a conference of, and about, women.
"This isn't just about women,'' she said, noting the prevalence of two-earner families. "When women get ahead, everyone gets ahead."

If women participated in the workforce at the same rate as men, she said, it would spur a 10% increase in U.S. economic growth by 2030. "Think of what that would mean in terms of rising wages and more opportunities.''
Clinton criticized Republican candidates who want to withdraw funding from Planned Parenthood and support deporting illegal immigrants "rather than risk the ire of talk radio'' and those who "play politics'' with the nomination of Loretta Lynch for attorney general.
In her remarks Thursday, she offered a personal story in talking about the difficult childhood of her mother, Dorothy Rodham, who went to work as a maid at age 14 and told Clinton how much the kindness and help of others had meant to her.
She also worked in anecdotes from her short time on the campaign trail, citing the example of a woman in Keene, N.H. who returned to work because her Social Security was not enough to live on.
The Women In The World conference provided an appreciative audience on a day when Clinton faced new controversy.
Clinton's campaign rebutted an article in The New York Times that said the Clintons' family foundation accepted donations from the chairman of a uranium mining company at the same time that the company was seeking approval from U.S. government agencies, including the State Department run by Clinton, to be acquired by the Russian government. Those donations were not disclosed, according to the report, despite an agreement that the Clinton Foundation would make public its donors.
"Hillary Clinton herself did not participate in the review or direct the (State) Department to take any position on the sale'' of the mining company, Uranium One, to the Russian government, campaign spokesman Brian Fallon said in a statement published on the website Medium.
Also on Thursday, the Congressional committee investigating the deaths of U.S. diplomats in Benghazi, Libya, said it has asked Clinton to testify next month about her use of a private email account during her tenure as secretary of State.
Hillary Clinton's Campaign Isn't Answering Questions About Sketchy Clinton Foundation Donations

The latest installment in the ongoing saga of shady Clinton Foundation finances is a story involving a deal in which Russians took take greater control of a major U.S. uranium company, Uranium One.

The details are somewhat involved, but the gist is that because the takeover deal involved uranium, a strategic asset, it required approval from then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Around the same time the deal was going through, the Clinton Foundation took millions of dollars in donations from a foundation run by the founder of Uranium One and did not disclose the transaction, in defiance of an arrangement made with the Obama administration to identify Clinton Foundation donors. In addition, Bill Clinton was paid $500,000 by a Russian financial firm linked to the Kremlin for a speech in Moscow as the deal was happening. The New York Times has an extensive report, building on work from Peter Schweizer’s book about the Clinton Foundation’s foreign funding, Clinton Cash, here.

The questions raised by the story are obvious: Did the millions in donations to the Clinton Foundation, and the hundreds of thousands of dollars paid to Bill Clinton for his speech, have any influence on Clinton's decision as Secretary of State to approve the project? 

The details of the story that have been reported so far establish no direct causal link between the donations or the speech and Clinton’s approval of the deal. But at minimum the report highlights the complicated and potentially ethically dicey ways that the Clinton’s massive, globally connected foundation intersected with Hillary Clinton’s work as America’s top diplomat.

The reaction to the story from team Clinton, meanwhile, does not exactly inspire confidence that the Clintons have been entirely transparent about what transpired.

For example, Fox News reporters, also drawing from Schweizer’s book, dug into various aspects of the story, and found evidence that officials from Kazakhstan’s state-owned energy company Kazatomprom visited with Bill Clinton at his home in New York to inquire about a possible deal with Westinghouse, which is also involved in the nuclear energy business. When contacted about the meeting by Fox News, a Clinton Foundation spokesperson denied that the meeting had ever happened. But when Fox News produced photos of the meeting, the Clinton spokesperson changed the story and said that it had happened.

In short, Clinton’s spokesperson flatly lied about a meeting Bill Clinton had with foreign officials, and admitted the truth only when presented with evidence to the contrary.

As I said earlier this week, these sorts of report,are likely to dog Hillary Clinton’s campaign for a while, in part because of the book’s impending release and in part because major news organizations have made arrangements with Schweizer to follow up on his reporting. But they’re also going to stick, I think, because they play into the public perception of the Clinton’s as vaguely shady and corrupt, as power players and dealmakers who can never be fully trusted. That the Clinton foundation failed to report key donations, and that Clinton representatives have plainly lied to reporters about Bill Clinton’s dealings, only amplifies this impression.

So far, Hillary Clinton’s campaign hasn’t responded to particular questions about the book or related stories. Instead, the campaign and its allies have dismissed Schweizer as a smear artist while insisting that the book has no credible evidence of any real wrongdoing. The evidence, however circumstantial, appears to be strong enough though that it is raising questions amongst some of Hillary Clinton’s supporters. Noting the Clinton team’s dismissals as well as its disinclination to respond to various questions, Politico reported today….But that might not be enough to quell the firestorm on a day when a spokesman for Clinton’s foundation told Reuters that the charity would review and refile its non-profit tax forms for several recent years — to correct errors and omissions. And some longtime Clinton backers were feeling a little queasy.

“I think it should be a concern, yes. It’s a legitimate concern and I think that Sec Clinton needs to be able to explain this in a straightforward, constructive, thoughtful way,” said Clinton fundraiser Peter Buttenwieser, a philanthropist from Philadelphia. “And I think the sooner that she does that, the better. And I assume that she will rise to the occasion and work through this, it’s part of running and I think it’s critical that she do it and not wave it off.”

Hillary Clinton Channels Obama in Thunderous First 2016 Speech. Before a friendly audience in Manhattan on Thursday, Clinton took a page from the president’s speech playbook, placing her candidacy within women’s larger struggle for equality.

Meet the new Barack Obama: Her name is Hillary Clinton.

As Democrats transfer their allegiance from the candidate of “Yes We Can” and the rallies with hundreds of thousands to the candidate of the understated YouTube campaign kickoff and the small roundtable discussion, they may think they are giving up the kind of soul-stirring speech that sends partisan hearts fluttering.

But in the first speech of her nascent campaign, Clinton seemed to be borrowing a rhetorical page from her one-time opponent, who on the 2008 campaign trail placed his own candidacy within the larger American struggle for justice.

Speaking to a friendly crowd at the Women in the World Summit in Manhattan, Clinton thundered about the rights and opportunities, political or otherwise, of women and girls around the world.

“It is hard to believe that in 2015 so many women still pay a price for being mothers. It is also hard to believe that so many women are also paid less than many for the same work, with even wider gaps for women of color,” Clinton said to sustained applause. “And if you don’t believe what I say, look to the World Economic Forum, hardly a hotbed of feminist thought. Their rankings show that the United States is 65th out of 142 nations and other territories on equal pay.

“We should be No. 1.”

Clinton placed women’s struggle for equality within the struggle for a more equal economic playing field, pointing out that the lack of parity on wages meant that families had less to spend on education, health care, and retirement.

“When women are held back, our country is held back. When women get ahead, everyone gets ahead,” Clinton said.

“Our mothers and sisters and daughters are on the front lines of all of these battles,” Clinton added later. “But these are not just women’s fights. These have to be America’s fights and the world’s fights. We have to take them on, we have to win them together.”

“There are those who offer themselves as leaders who see nothing wrong with denying women equal pay.”

And although it remains unclear what role her husband, Bill Clinton, will play in her presidential campaign, two other figures of the extended Clinton family may get top billing: her baby granddaughter, who was mentioned first 90 seconds into Clinton’s speech and brought up several times thereafter, and Clinton’s own mother.

Dorothy Rodham, as Clinton described her, survived a difficult childhood by relying on the kindness of strangers and acquaintances. She died in 2011 at 92.

“How could you have survived?” Clinton asked. “How could you have built a family of your own, taking such good care of your children?”

The speech was part of the Women in the World Summit, hosted by Daily Beast founding editor Tina Brown, and will last three days at the David Koch Theater at Lincoln Center.

Just as in Clinton’s announcement video, which seemed to include all manner of member of the Democratic coalition—a gay couple readying to marry, a senior citizen preparing to retire, an immigrant entrepreneur starting a new business—Clinton paid tribute to the vast mosaic of issues that face womenkind, including gay and transgender women, undocumented women (she called directly for a “pathway to citizenship”), and women facing sexual assault on campus and in the military. She mentioned the legions of fast-food workers who went on strike and marched in the streets last week in the fight for a higher minimum wage, and she drew parallels between that fight and the fight for greater equality that she witnessed around the world as first lady and later secretary of state.

Clinton also made a thundering denunciation of unnamed Republican opponents, whom she accused of stalling women’s progress.

“We have to have leaders who recognize that the time has come. There are those who offer themselves as leaders who take a very different view,” Clinton said. “There are those who offer themselves as leaders who see nothing wrong with denying women equal pay. There are those who offer themselves as leaders who would defund the country’s leading provider of family planning and want to let health insurance companies once again charge women just because of our gender. There are those who offer themselves as leaders who deport mothers working to give their children a better life rather than face the ire of talk radio. There are those who offer themselves as leaders who would even play politics with the nomination of our nation’s chief law enforcement officer.”

When Obama would succumb to such rhetorical flourishes, he would often reference the grand sweep of history that saw rebels overthrow the British, settlers set out for the West, slaves run away for their freedom, immigrants sail for unknown shores, and African Americans conduct lunch counter sit-ins in the segregated South. That sweep included voters going to the polls to make history themselves and vote for him as president.
At Lincoln Center, Clinton said much the same thing.
“By coming here and being a part of this extraordinary conference, you now must be an agent of change, as well,” Clinton said. “It is up to all of us to be part of the progress we want to see.”

“I am confident,” she added, “that if we get to work, we will get it done, together.”

Steve Rattner is saying he believes that Hilary would do things different today and i do not really agree with that one. I tend to agree with everything he says but in this case, I truly think they would have acted the same and not only that, I also these actions and responses are all very calculated and planned her. The optics are horrible but she will get by all of what is happening today. I also believe it is natural for everything to rise to the surface if you will, the weeks after you announce yourself for POTUS. I just cannot believe her daughter is being grilled on it but then again, I think she does work for the Clinton Foundation which would make it fair game. The facts are that there are protocols with regard to getting money that way and considering what is being said about it, the entire administration would have had to be in on it and they would have had to approve things twenty times over. It was NOT as if Hilary could have made that happen on her own based on her position at that time. Many people would have had to be in on it. 

Peter Schweizer, the author of that book is on the show next Tuesday.

Morning Papers: The Baltmore Sun reports that protesters take to Baltimore's streets for a fifth day. ndreds of protesters poured onto the streets of downtown Baltimore on Thursday, halting rush-hour traffic as they marched on the fifth consecutive day of demonstrations since Freddie Gray died after being severely injured in police custody. After rallying outside City Hall, protesters made their way through the Inner Harbor to Federal Hill and then to the Western District police station, where Gray was pulled unconscious from a prisoner transport van after his arrest on April 12. Gray, 25, died a week later.

Tensions remained high, with angry demonstrators yelling and swearing at mostly stoic police officers. Two protesters were arrested for disorderly conduct and destruction of property at Pennsylvania Avenue and Pitcher Street, causing a commotion in the street as the group made its way back to the police station.

But most of the protesters expressed their anger peacefully, blowing whistles and holding signs as they marched several miles from the City Hall event to the police station in Sandtown-Winchester. They high-fived people in their cars who honked their horns and others leaning out of buses.

A few confronted a taxi driver on Light Street who rolled down his window to voice his anger at the protests, but others pulled them away, encouraging them to keep moving and keep the demonstration nonviolent. Before the march, the Rev. Jamal H. Bryant, of the Empowerment Temple, prayed with protesters and led chants of "No justice, no peace!" outside City Hall. Protesters applauded the U.S. Senate for confirming Loretta Lynch as the first black woman as U.S. attorney general.

Bryant, one of several speakers who addressed the crowd, called for supporters of the Gray family to wear gray to church on Sunday in solidarity with them. "We are not calling for revenge," he said. "We are calling for justice." City leaders and police took additional steps to maintain order. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake allowed city employees downtown to leave early Thursday to ease traffic conditions. Police said in a statement that leave was canceled for all officers and other employees "to ensure adequate coverage of the city."

Police also called in reinforcements from the Maryland State Police to help monitor the protests, which are expected to continue Friday and into the weekend, with a large march and rally planned Saturday afternoon from the scene of Gray's arrest in Gilmor Homes to City Hall.

Many, including Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young, criticized the city for calling in police reinforcements for nonviolent protests. "You don't need it at all," Young said. "Our citizens, the majority of them, are not violent. They are frustrated and angry." City police, the Department of Justice and the Baltimore state's attorney's office continue to investigate Gray's death, while the six city police officers involved in his arrest remain on paid leave.

Baltimore police said Commissioner Anthony W. Batts met Thursday with representatives of the protesters and Gray's family, expressing his sympathy and updating them on the investigation. Juan Grant, 28, a childhood friend of Gray's, said he went on behalf of the family, who were too distraught to attend. Kiona Mack, 25, who recorded one of the videos of Gray’s arrest, and the Rev. Westley West of Faith Empowered Ministries, who has led daily protests and Thursday’s march around the city, accompanied Grant to the meeting with Batts.

"He convinced me that he is on top of the investigation," Grant said. "This is a full-on criminal investigation." West, 27, said he appreciated Batts inviting them to meet with them and said it was “enlightening to know he wants to work with us.” “I don’t want to give him too much credit,” he said. “We want to see action versus the words. I had a good experience, a good vibe. We want to make sure we have the support.”

Earlier Thursday, organizers from the Peoples Power Assembly held a news conference and rally at North Mount and Presbury streets, where they announced that the group is planning to conduct an independent investigation into Gray's death. "We do not have faith in the mayor's office or the Baltimore City police to conduct a fair and impartial investigation," said the Rev. Cortley "C.D." Witherspoon, an organizer with the Peoples Power Assembly, in a statement. Baltimore Sun reporter Justin George contributed to this article.

The Baltimore Fire Department first received a call for an "unconscious male" at the Western District police station at 9:26 a.m. on April 12, according to a new timeline provided by the department on its response in the Freddie Gray case. A medic unit arrived at the Western District at 9:33 a.m., within national response standards, and paramedics were on the scene providing "patient care" until their departure for Maryland Shock Trauma Center at 9:54 a.m., said Capt. Roman Clark, a Fire Department spokesman.

Clark said he could not disclose the kind of care Gray received during the medics' 21 minutes at the police station because of federal patient confidentiality laws. The medic unit arrived at Shock Trauma at 10 a.m., he said. Gray sustained a spinal injury to his neck sometime after being taken into custody by Baltimore police, and died a week after being admitted to Shock Trauma — Kevin Rector

BTW, how invasive would body cameras be on police officers? I say not at all but ironically the mayor of Baltimore was at first not really into having them placed on its officers but then has come a round a bit (she was on Chris hayes show this week) saying that what i said was NOT TRUE and that she wanted to evaluate that process and evaluate whether it would be effective to place body cameras on its officers. I say that is a no brainer and that all police officers should have them placed on their uniform. 

USA Today reports about the stage caving in when a bunch of students were dancing on it while singing that song by Journey "Don't Stop Believeing." At least a dozen students were injured Thursday night when a stage collapsed during a student performance at an area high school, authorities said.
Student performers at Westfield High School had just gathered toward the front of the stage for the last song of the concert when the platform they were standing on gave way, sending them tumbling into the orchestra pit. "Some parents rushed the stage area," said Mandi McKinley Brown, who was in the auditorium when the stage collapsed. "Most of us stayed in our seats to stay out of the way. People were lifting large pieces of the stage out of the pit from on top of the kids." Capt. Charles Hollowell of the Westfield Police Department said that authorities don't have an exact number of injuries but are certain more than 12 were hurt. He says at least one person was critically injured. 

No fatalities were reported.

Westfield police and fire crews were dispatched to the school north of Indianapolis at around 10:30 p.m. Westfield Fire Department Chief Joe Lyons said multiple injuries were reported, but he could not confirm how many. "We have some seriously injured people," Lyons told The Star. "Not one hospital is going to be able to handle this many patients." Cameron Snyder, 18, a senior at the school, was watching the show. When the stage collapsed, a mass of people ran toward it, trying to help their loved ones, Snyder said. "I was just in a state of shock," he said. Chris Baldwin, who works in human resources for the high school, said regularly scheduled classes will meet Friday.

WAPO reports that In major step, eight women make it through Ranger School’s grueling ‘RAP Week’
Eight women have made it through the initial, grueling four-day assessment at Ranger School, Army officials said Thursday, raising the prospect that female soldiers could graduate from the elite course for the first time ever.

The women made it through Ranger Assessment Phase, commonly known as “RAP Week,” along with 184 men, said officials at Fort Benning, Ga., where Ranger School is held. About 40 percent of students have historically made it through the phase, which includes everything from chin-ups and push-ups to an exhausting 12-mile road march and a water survival test that calls for climbing along a rope that is suspended over water.

Ranger School was opened to women for the first time ever starting Monday as the Pentagon assesses which new combat assignments it should allow women to hold. Army officials said 381 men and 19 women started on Day 1, meaning 48.3 percent of men and 42.1 percent of women made it through RAP Week. Both are within historic norms for Ranger School, Army officials said.

RAP Week is seen as the largest hurdle by many to graduating the 62-day Ranger School course. About 75 percent of the students who make it through eventually go on to graduate, Ranger School officials said. It can take months, however: Students can fail individual portions of the the course multiple times, and get “recycled” into a later group.

Any woman who graduates will be allowed to wear the Army’s prestigious Ranger tab, but not permitted to served in the 75th Ranger Regiment, the elite force that performs raids and other special operations. But Ranger School graduates have long served in other parts of the Army, and are considered among the service’s best soldiers.

The Army announced in January that it was opening Ranger School as part of a Defense Department directive to research more fully integrating women into the service. It required any woman attending Ranger School to pass an existing 17-day preparatory course known as the Ranger Training and Assessment Course (RTAC). It’s run by the Army National Guard at Fort Benning, and attended by more than 5,000 prospective Ranger students annually.

Four RTAC classes integrated with women were conducted this year, with some men and women who failed attending more than one. Twenty women ultimately qualified to take on Ranger School, with 19 electing to continue and one withdrawing before the course began Monday, Army officials said.

Ranger School — and RAP Week — began Monday with the Ranger physical fitness test, which requires each soldier to complete at least 49 push-ups, 59-sit-ups, six chin-ups and a five-mile run in under 40 minutes. Three women and 78 men in in the class failed it.

The initial phases of Ranger School will continue at Fort Benning. Later parts include mountain warfare training at Camp Merrill, about 65 miles north of Atlanta in Dahlonega, Ga., and swamp training around Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.

Also, the WAPO also reports that the Super Bowl Champs, the new England Patriots visited the White House yesterday. A joke by Obama about 11 of 12 of them falling flat was funny to me but it seemed like it (the joke) also fell flat too. Patriots' White House visit has Obama's deflate-gate joke, no Tom Brady. It was a little unusual that the team's best player wasn't there. Obama did mention Brady, calling him "an all-time great who couldn't be with us here today" and praising how well he played in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl. Brady did go to the White House the first three times he was part of a Super Bowl championship team. All three of those times George W. Bush, a Republican, was the president. CSNNE pointed out that Brady was also a guest at Bush's 2004 State of the Union address.

Obama had very high praise for the Patriots as an organization, and for good reason. They've put together one of the best dynasties in NFL history.

"The Patriots organization is as good of an organization as there has ever been in professional sports," Obama said. "To be able to maintain that kind of consistent excellence is a rare thing in any field, including on the football field."Tom Brady wasn't around to hear President Barack Obama's deflate-gate joke during the New England Patriots' visit to the White House. The customary trip to the White House for the NFL champions came on Thursday. Brady, the future Hall-of-Fame quarterback, didn't go because of what was described as a "prior family commitment," according to CSNNE.

The Patriots beat the Seahawks in one of the most exciting Super Bowls ever. It was also a Super Bowl that became known for the controversy in the lead-up to the game, the "deflate-gate" issue after a reported 11 of 12 Patriots' game balls were found to be under-inflated. That issue (which the NFL is still investigating ... yes, it hasn't wrapped up yet) infuriated the Patriots before the Super Bowl, but it didn't stop Obama from making a joke about it.

"I usually tell a bunch of jokes at these events, but with the Patriots in town I was worried that 11 out of 12 of them would fall flat," Obama said to uncomfortable laughter and groans from the Patriots players and coaches behind him. Obama followed that up by giving the Patriots credit for keeping focus during the "biggest media circus of the sports year." Obama had other jokes. He joked that he told tight end Rob Gronkowski to keep his shirt on during the ceremony. He joked about coach Bill Belichick wearing a suit instead of his usual customized hoodie.

"I'm particularly grateful that Coach decided to dress up today," Obama said. "We had some scissors in case he wanted to cut the sleeves off. Formal hoodies are allowed." Belichick didn't just dress up, it appeared he wore his first three Super Bowl rings. Owner Robert Kraft wore his usual tennis shoes with his suit.

The Kansas City star reports about how the benches clear in Chicago as Royals, White Sox brawl.
The White Sox's Jeff Samardzija (center) fights with Royals players during the seventh inning of Thursday’s baseball game in Chicago.
A storm brewing for three weeks erupted on Thursday evening when the Royals brawled with the White Sox during the seventh inning at U.S. Cellular Field. Lorenzo Cain traded blows with Chicago pitcher Jeff Samardzija as all 50 members of both clubs tussled on the diamond.

In the end, Cain and Samardzija were tossed, along with Ventura, White Sox starter Chris Sale and Royals pitcher Edinson Volquez. For the third consecutive game, Ventura triggered an on-field incident. This time, punches were actually thrown.

The game did not end for another five innings. Eric Hosmer ripped a double to plate Jarrod Dyson in the 13th. Dyson was only in the game because Cain had been tossed. The score had long since been usurped by the fisticuffs.

Eaton. Eaton turned back to confront Ventura. The umpires separated both. Mike Moustakas rushed to remove Ventura from the fray as the dugouts and bullpens emptied.

The players engaged in something resembling a rugby scrum for several moments. Manager Ned Yost spoke with Sale. At some point, Cain and Samardzija found each other. Samardzija charged at Cain, who was being held back by hitting coach Dale Sveum. Samardzija missed Cain and bowled over third-base coach Mike Jirschele. As Samardzija went to the ground, Edinson Volquez swung at his head and missed with a wild haymaker.

The pile shifted to the ground. Cain emerged with his jersey over his head, like a hockey player. White Sox utility man Emilio Bonifacio, a former Royal, played peacemaker by separating Kelvin Herrera, and later Ventura, from the fight.

The fight between Cain and Samardzija stemmed from Opening Day. Samardzija drilled Cain with a pitch. The Royals felt it was intentional. They left their dugout to shout at Samardzija. Seventeen days later, the bill arrived. 

The scene stained yet another outing in Kansas City’s defense of their American League title. The club saw six people ejected against Oakland this past weekend. Major League Baseball suspended Herrera and fined Ventura for targeting Oakland third baseman Brett Lawrie.

Anyway, John Boehner may hold House vote to subpoena Hillary Clinton’s email server.House Speaker John A. Boehner said Thursday that the full House may have to vote to subpoena former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s email server, as the chairman of the Benghazi investigative committee officially called on her to testify twice to his panel.

The invitation by Rep. Trey Gowdy, South Carolina Republican and chairman of the House Select Committee on Benghazi, sets up a test for Mrs. Clinton, the former first lady and newly announced Democratic presidential candidate, whose attorney has said she wants to appear before the committee only once, in public.

“With her cooperation and that of the State Department and administration, Secretary Clinton could be done with the Benghazi Committee before the Fourth of July,” Mr. Gowdy said. “We appreciate Secretary Clinton’s willingness to cooperate so the committee can move as expeditiously as possible to conclude the investigation.”

Mr. Gowdy has asked Mrs. Clinton to appear once for a private transcribed interview on her email practices, and then to come before the committee for an open hearing on the events of Sept. 11, 2012, when the diplomatic post in Benghazi came under attack by terrorists, leaving four Americans dead.

The email use and the Benghazi events have become intertwined after Mrs. Clinton acknowledged that she refused a department-issued account and instead set up her own server and account to conduct her official business, after Mr. Gowdy demanded to see her emails concerning the attack.

That sent the Obama administration scrambling, and Mrs. Clinton was asked belatedly to comply with the law and turn over her communications. Nearly two years after she left office, she turned over about 30,000 emails she deemed government business, announced she had deleted another 32,000 that were private, and then wiped her server clean.

Mr. Gowdy asked Mrs. Clinton to turn over the server to a neutral third party, but she declined. Mr. Gowdy said his committee probably lacks the ability to subpoena the server, but the whole House could — and Mr. Boehner hinted that “all options are on the table.”

“If we need to do that, we may have to,” he said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “It’s important for the American people to know the truth about what happened in Benghazi, and it’s important to know what was going on [at] the State Department before, during and after the events that occurred in Libya.”

Mr. Boehner said Mrs. Clinton “violated the law” in setting up a private email system to conduct official business and that it “goes against every transparency issue that the president likes to tout.”

“At some point, they just can’t ignore the fact that there are a lot of public documents on [the] server that the American people have a right to see,” Mr. Boehner said, calling on Mrs. Clinton to turn over the server to the State Department’s inspector general.

The Benghazi committee this week signaled that its inquiry could stretch into next year, right in the heart of the presidential campaign. The committee said it has had trouble getting cooperation from the administration.

Mrs. Clinton’s attorney David E. Kendall has said she answered questions about her email use in a public press conference last month and that she is willing and even eager to appear for a single public hearing to handle any questions the committee wants to pose.

Mrs. Clinton’s camp didn’t respond to questions Thursday about Mr. Gowdy’s official invitation, but Democrats on the committee said it was Republicans who were holding up the process.

“The Republicans’ multiyear search for evidence to back up their Benghazi conspiracy theories has turned up nothing,” said Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Maryland Democrat and ranking member on the committee.

Also about John Boehner is that Boehner makes comments about Jeb’s (Bush) ‘Handicap': ‘His Name Is Bush,’ Will Take Voters ‘A While’ To Get Over That. In an interview with Bloomberg’s Mark Halperin Thursday, Speaker John Boehner said that it will take voters “a while” to get over former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush because of his “handicap”: his last name.

Boehner said he told Bush to not look at a poll for six to eight months, adding that it will take a while for Americans to “figure out” he’s not his brother George W. Bush or father George H.W. Bush.

HALPERIN: Jeb Bush. You have been a fan of his. Last year, you said that he’d be a good candidate and that you’ve been nudging him to run. You’ve said that, on the record and I know that privately in the last election and in this one, you have been pretty keen on him to run. What makes you think he would be a good candidate for your party and, if he won, a good president? BOEHNER: Jeb and I have been friends for a long time. I think that Jeb can talk about the values of our party as good as anybody that we have. Secondly, he has a track record as governor of Florida. A conservative governing record that is exemplary. Obviously, he has a handicap. His name is Bush. But as I told him, I would not look at poll for the next six, seven, eight months. It’s going to take a while for them to get over the fact that his name is Bush. It’s going to take a while to figure out that he is not George or his dad. I think he is a good guy.

BTW, i want to preface my points about the drone program versus using actual military people by saying that i am against all wars. I do NOT want to be in any war. I feel we (USA) should not ever be in wars.

Also BTW, Fox News Poll: Rubio jumps to head of 2016 GOP pack, Clinton honesty questioned. The Bush dynasty is a negative for voters and Marco Rubio is seen as a leader of the future, as the Florida senator jumps to the head of the GOP pack.  The Clinton dynasty is a plus -- and even though Hillary could have an honesty problem, she dominates the Democratic side.  And both the Republican faithful (with their crowded field) and the Democratic faithful (with their sole favorite) are happy with their range of 2016 choices. 

These are some of the findings from the latest Fox News poll on the 2016 presidential election.  Here are some more:

Announcing your candidacy helps your poll numbers.  Florida Sen. Marco Rubio receives a five percentage-point bump after his April 13 announcement and has the backing of 13 percent in the race for the Republican nomination -- just a touch over Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker who gets 12 percent among self-identified GOP primary voters.  Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul comes in at 10 percent, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee earn 9 percent each and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz gets 8 percent.  

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson each garner 6 percent.  Last month Christie was at 4 percent and Carson at 11 percent. White evangelical Christians are most likely to support Huckabee (13 percent), Paul (11 percent), Cruz and Rubio (10 percent each). Top picks among the Tea Party include Walker (19 percent), Rubio (14 percent), Paul (13 percent), Huckabee and Cruz (10 percent each).



In the quest for the Democratic nomination, former Sec. of State Hillary Clinton remains on top with 62 percent support among self-identified Democratic primary voters.  She’s the only declared candidate on the Democratic side.  Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (12 percent) and Vice President Joe Biden (9 percent) lag far behind.

Despite far fewer options, Democratic primary voters (71 percent) are a tad bit more likely than their GOP counterparts (67 percent) to say they are satisfied with their 2016 choices. 

The Bush dynasty is seen as a negative while the Clinton dynasty is a positive.  By a 58-34 percent margin, voters say being related to previous presidents is a disadvantage for Jeb Bush, yet by a 52-39 percent margin they think it’s an advantage for Hillary Clinton. Republicans say the Bush dynasty is a negative, yet Democrats view the Clinton dynasty as a positive. 

A leader of the Future or the Past?
Who’s a leader of the future?  Rubio tops that list.  Voters see him “more as a leader of the future” (50 percent) than the past (21 percent) by a 29-point margin. 

That dwarfs the numbers who see Paul (by 12 points), Warren (by 11 points) and Walker (by 10 points) as leaders of the future.  By a 2-point margin, more see Clinton as a leader of the future (43 percent) than the past (41 percent). 

Biden (by 33 points) and Bush (by 17 points) are the only two seen more as leaders of the past. 

Honest and Trustworthy
Of those tested on the poll, Clinton, Biden and Cruz fare the worst on the “honest and trustworthy” question.

Currently, 45 percent of voters think Clinton is honest.  That’s mostly unchanged from last month, but down 9 points from 54 percent a year ago (April 2014).  She lost ground among men (-10 points), women (-9 points) and Democrats (-7 points).  Moreover, only 33 percent of independents see Clinton as honest. That’s down 13 points since last year.

Overall, Clinton’s honesty score is negative six (45 percent “yes, she is” minus 51 percent “no, she isn’t”), Biden’s is negative four (44-48 percent) and for Cruz it’s negative one (37-38 percent). On the positive side: Rubio (+13), Paul (+12) and Carson (+7) score best on the honesty measure.  Bush (+4) and Walker (+4) are also in positive territory. 

Clinton is the only one who has a majority saying she is not honest and trustworthy (51 percent).  Still, it’s important to remember that, many on the GOP side are largely unfamiliar to voters.  As a result, 43 percent are unable to rate Carson’s honesty, 34 percent are unable to rate Walker, 25 percent are unable to rate Cruz and 24 percent Rubio. 

Voters are getting more familiar with Rubio since his announcement.  The portion unable to rate his honesty dropped from 39 percent last month to 24 percent today.  Being better known cuts both ways:  both the number saying Rubio is honest (+10) and the number saying he isn’t (+6 points) went up since March. 


Hypothetical Matchups
Clinton bests each of the Republicans tested in hypothetical matchups for a 2016 presidential contest: she leads Paul 46-43 percent, Bush 45-41 percent, Rubio 46-42 percent, Cruz 47-42 percent and Walker 46-40 percent.  In each of these matchups the candidates are at or within the margin of sampling error of each other. 

The poll asks voters whether Clinton “seems too old” and if Rubio “seems too young” to be president.  Nope. And nope.  About one in five (19 percent) says Clinton seems too old and the same number says Rubio seems too young (19 percent). Those ages 35-54 are the most likely to feel Rubio seems too young (22 percent).  That drops to 15 percent among voters under 35.  Rubio is 43 years old. 

Voters ages 65 and over are the most likely to say Clinton seems too old (26 percent) and they are more than twice as likely as voters under 35 to feel that way (11 percent).  Clinton is 67.

The Fox News poll is based on landline and cell phone interviews with 1,012 randomly chosen registered voters nationwide and was conducted under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R) from April 19-21, 2015. The full poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points. The results among Democratic and Republican primary voters have an error of plus or minus five points.

'Truckin' is played on the outro at the 7:38AM after the Air BNB guy is on the show. 

And, when former Utah governor Jon Huntsman was appointed United States Ambassador to China, the charming career politician arrived at his new post with his entire family—including his adopted Chinese daughter, Gracie. In "All Eyes and Ears" Huntsman's diplomatic struggles and triumphs are explored in the broader context of China’s relationship with the rest of the world, and intersected with Gracie's personal experience living in China as a Chinese-American. "All Eyes and Ears" will debut on April 20 in New York City as part of the Tribeca Film Festival. For more information about the film visit alleyesandears.org.

Last, I will be working to review the White House Correspondence dinner that is being held tomorrow night and that is being hosted by someone I find very attractive and very smart, Cecily Tyson., We miss her as the host of the Weekend Update big time. Which I hate the fact they call it the 'Nerd Prom' and speaking of being called a nerd, its ridiculous. I am not sure how to describe people that do it but its a way for them to gain some form of odd attention. First off, most people that say they are 'nerds' are not nerds. And, nerd being a derogatory term for people to call other people went out when the movie 'Revenge of the Nerds' came out in the 80's. It annoys the hell out of me when people refer to themselves as a Nerd. Some girl did that to me as a way to show off or to say that because she is into Star wars or Star Trek that she is a so called nerd. Or, that because she works on computers that she was/is a nerd. When in reality, she wanted a compliment or we all know that when people use that term, its a back slapping compliment. Or, I dunno if I am describing how it annoys me best but man does it annoy me when people refer to themselves as it. They infer that its a negative but its not one. I did not articulate this well, but I will end it by saying that it (people referring to themselves as a nerd) annoys me for some reason.

And, even though the show entered the show with the blurb about the David Patreus sentencing and the Lorretta Lynch nomination, nothing was said about it all AM. Oh Well. I'll spare everyone my points about then too. But then again, I have been rather vocal about the Loretta Lynch issue for a while now.

Actually, I stand correct. Mika is now discussing how the Senate (FINALLY) Confirms Loretta Lynch as Attorney General After Long Delay. 
After one of the nation’s most protracted cabinet-level confirmation delays, the Senate Thursday approved Loretta E. Lynch to be attorney general. She is the first African-American woman to hold the position.

Ms. Lynch, the United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York, was confirmed 56 to 43, with 10 Republicans voting for her.

Her confirmation took longer than that for all but two other nominees for the office: Edwin Meese III, who was nominated by President Ronald Reagan, and A. Mitchell Palmer, who was picked by President Woodrow Wilson, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Republicans have found themselves in a quandary for months. They longed to replace Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., and they agreed that Ms. Lynch was qualified for the job. But they opposed her because Ms. Lynch defended President Obama’s executive actions on immigration.

What’s more, Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and majority leader, had held up the nomination until the Senate voted on a human trafficking bill, a process that dragged on for weeks. The measure passed on Wednesday by a vote of 99 to 0.

And some Republicans continued to strongly oppose Ms. Lynch. “We do not have to confirm someone to the highest law enforcement position in America if that someone has committed to denigrating Congress,” Senator Jeff Sessions, Republican of Alabama, said on the Senate floor Thursday. “We don’t need to be apologetic about it, colleagues.”

In the end several Republicans — to the surprise of many of their own colleagues — voted aye for Ms. Lynch, including Mr. McConnell.

Some conservative groups had called on Senate Republicans to block a vote on Ms. Lynch altogether because of her stance on the president’s immigration policies. Many Senate Republicans feared the party would face serious political repercussions if it blocked an African-American woman with strong credentials and enthusiastic support from many in law enforcement.

Opponents still forced a procedural vote before her final confirmation, an unusual requirement for such a high position. The nomination moved along easily, by a vote of 66 to 34.

“She is a historic nominee, but also Senate Republicans are making history,” said Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont. “And I would say for the wrong reasons.” He added: “I can only hope that Senate Republicans will show her more respect as the attorney general of the United States than they did as a nominee. She has earned this respect. Her story is one of perseverance, of grace and grit.”

The vote also served as a lens on the 2016 elections. “The Republican majority if it so chose could defeat this confirmation,” said Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, a Republican presidential candidate, who called Ms. Lynch “lawless.” Mr. Cruz, who made his remarks on the floor in the morning, was present to vote against the procedural motion to move the vote forward. But he missed the confirmation vote a few hours later, because, his spokeswoman said, he had left for Texas, where he had a fund-raiser.

Mr. Cruz’s comments were immediately answered by several Democrats, who came to the floor to defend Ms. Lynch, recall her personal and professional accomplishments, and assail Mr. Cruz and his colleagues who opposed her. “This should be a happy day for America,” said Senator Claire McCaskill, Democrat Missouri. She said Republicans opposed Ms. Lynch merely because “she agrees with the man who selected her,” a posture Ms. McCaskill called “beyond depressing — it’s disgusting.”

Senator Kelly Ayotte, a New Hampshire Republican who faces re-election next year, was among those in her party who voted for Ms. Lynch. “Ms. Lynch is a well-respected U.S. attorney with a proven record and significant experience handling difficult cases,” Ms. Ayotte said in a prepared statement. “After meeting with her and reviewing her qualifications, I believe she is clearly qualified and has the necessary experience to serve as Attorney General.” Another Republican running for re-election, Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, also gave Ms. Lynch a thumbs-up.

As far as the segment on the show (Morning Joe) about harassing women, i am so scared of rejection, that I do the opposite. I never approach women. It sucks. I can't believe people disrespect other people that way let alone they just mentioned that it happens to a 10 year old kid. WTF? 

Also, another huge story being talked about now is about that Robert Gates guy (aka, Paul Blart, the mall cop). But the Tulsa Reserve Deputy Robert Bates Was Investigated in 2009. Gabe Gutierrez reports that e Tulsa reserve sheriff's deputy who shot and killed an unarmed man earlier this month was probed in 2009 for uncompleted training and allegations he was using his personal vehicle to conduct traffic stops, NBC News has learned.
Robert Bates, a 73-year-old retired insurance executive volunteering with the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office, was charged with manslaughter in the April 2 death of Eric Harris. Bates claimed he thought he grabbed his Taser but actually grabbed his handgun and shot Harris after Harris ran from officers. Bates has pleaded not guilty.
An internal review was launched in 2009 regarding Bates not completing training and his on-duty behavior, a source with knowledge of the investigation told NBC News. A sheriff's deputy interviewed after the fatal shooting told investigators Bates used his personal vehicle to conduct unauthorized vehicle stops, the source said.
The review concluded Bates received special treatment, the source said.
"The public's entitled to know the truth. The Harris family is entitled to know the truth," Bob Blakemore, an attorney for the Harris family, said. "They need to be transparent."
Questions have been raised as to Bates' training and why the retiree was allowed to provide backup during the sting operation that ended in Harris' death. Sheriff's Maj. Shannon Clark said there was a 2009 internal review, but no action was taken.
Tulsa County Sheriff Stanley Glanz has said Bates was qualified, but the department was having trouble finding all the training records. Bates told TODAY that accusations he wasn't properly trained and was allowed to "play cop" are "unbelievably unfair."
Bates' attorney said Thursday he has not seen an investigation report, but said that the sheriff's office has previously acknowledged the 2009 review.
"In the six years since 2009, Mr. Bates has received hundreds of hours of training and experience in the field," attorney Clark Brewster said. "No one involved in the Harris operation has raised any concern that Mr. Bates was unqualified or undertrained for the containment position he was assigned."
The Tulsa World reported on April 16 that Bates was given credit for field training he never completed and firearms certifications he never received. The sheriff's office said the report relied on "unconfirmed sources" and said it would not respond to what it called "rumor."
The sheriff described Bates as a friend of about 25 years who had served as his insurance agent. He said that they had vacationed together once in the Bahamas. A judge on Tuesday allowed Bates to take a previously scheduled trip to the Bahamas.
During the deadly encounter, Bates can be heard on video shouting "Taser! Taser!" and, after the gunshot, says "I shot him! I'm sorry!"
Asked this week whether Bates should have been on the street providing backup the day Harris was killed, Glanz replied, "Yes, he should have been."
The judge overseeing Bates' criminal case on Wednesday acknowledged potential conflicts of interest in a court filing. District Judge James M. Caputo, a Tulsa County sheriff's deputy for six years in the '90s, said he has known Glanz for 23 years but has not had any professional or personal dealings with Bates.
He said in the document that "I took an oath to be fair and impartial and I have been true to that oath since serving in the capacity of district judge." A preliminary hearing in Bates' case is scheduled for July 2, according to court records.

Regardless of it all happening this week, please stay in touch!