Good morning everyone! Happy Tuesday to you!

Joining the panel for today's show, we have: Mark Halperin, Dorian Warren, Ayman Mohyeldin, Gen. Michael Hayden, Alex Seitz-Wald, David Brock, Chris Matthews, Patrick Healy, Jim Miklaszewski, Pete Williams, John Ridley, Jack and Suzy Welch, Bianna Golodryga, Tina Brown, Antonio Guterres, Mona Eltahawy and Bethenny Frankel.
I am also glad that Hilary can prove by showing her personal email letters that will easily will be able to disprove the latest allegations that a lot of money was taken by her foundation from foreign countries or foreign entities. How foreign donations to Clinton Foundation add up to baggage for Hillary? Questions about the influence of foreign donations are legitimate and Hillary Clinton needs to address them forthrightly or she may find that they don't go away. Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign has a fresh set of allegations to deal with just as it’s getting off the ground.
The New York Times reports that a forthcoming book by author Peter Schweizer asserts that foreign entities who made payments to the Clinton Foundation, and to former President Bill Clinton through speaking fees, received favors from the State Department when Hillary Clinton was serving as secretary of state. The examples from Schweizer, a speechwriting consultant to former President George W. Bush, include a free-trade agreement in Colombia that benefited a major foundation donor’s natural resource investments in the South American country. Also cited are development projects in the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake in 2010, and more than $1 million in payments to Bill Clinton by a Canadian bank and major shareholder in the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline around the time it was being debated at the State Department. Hillary Clinton was secretary of state from 2009 to 2013. Brian Fallon, a Clinton campaign spokesman, called the book “partisan-fueled fiction about the Clintons’ record.” The book, titled “Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich,” will be released on May 5. Conservative super PACs, meanwhile, are planning to seize on the book, according to the Times. And a pro-Democrat super PAC has assembled a dossier on Schweizer. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, is asking people who have information about the foundation’s contributions to send it to him.
The Clinton Foundation will henceforth accept funding from a limited roster of just six countries, including Britain, amid concerns that foreign donations may create conflict with Hillary Clinton running for president. It is also to scrap future overseas conferences beginning in June. Mrs Clinton, who resigned from the board of the foundation that was set up by her husband, Bill Clinton, after he left office, has been battered by questions about cash contributions from foreign governments that critics claimed were meant to curry favour with her as she prepared to see the White House.
The board said the six countries had all given donations before. As well as Britain, they are Canada, Norway, Australia, Germany and the Netherlands, all close allies of the United States already. But other nations that have given in the past not on the list include Oman and Saudi Arabia.  It is illegal in the US for overseas governments, individuals or companies to donate funds to presidential candidates.In the first days of her campaign, Mrs Clinton has made a strenuous effort to reinvent herself, including distancing herself from her Wall Street supporters by contrasting the earnings of ordinary Americans with hedge fund managers. “There’s something wrong when hedge fund managers pay lower taxes than nurses or the truckers I saw on I-80 when I was driving here over the last two days,” she said in Iowa.
Insulating herself from criticism about foreign funding of the foundation has also proved urgent.  In a statement, officials said it would also start issuing quarterly reports on where its funds are coming from. “While it’s common for global charities to receive international support, it’s rare to find an organization as transparent as the Clinton Foundation,” foundation spokesman Craig Minassian said. “Our current policy already goes above and beyond what’s required by voluntarily disclosing our more than 300,000 donors on our website for anyone to see.” Hillary Rodham Clinton has found herself on the defensive during her first presidential campaign visit to New Hampshire this year, pushing back against swirling questions about her family foundation. Clinton is taking part in a discussion of jobs creation Tuesday with students and teachers at New Hampshire Technical Institute, a community college.
But she spent much of Monday dismissing accusations that foreign governments that made donations to the Clinton Foundation received preferential treatment from the State Department while she served in the Obama administration. "We will be subjected to all kinds of distractions and attacks," she told reporters during a stop in the liberal bastion of Keene. "I'm ready for that. I know that that comes, unfortunately, with the territory." In her early campaign stops, Clinton has cast herself as above the political back-and-forth, vowing to change the harsh partisan tone in Washington. "I am tired of the mean-spiritedness in politics," she told voters who gathered in a supporter's living room in Claremont. "Enough with the attacks and the anger, let's find answers together and figure out what we're going to do."
Her family foundation has come under particular scrutiny for accepting foreign contributions, including from Middle Eastern nations that deny equal rights for women and are on the front lines in the fight against terrorism. Last week, the foundation revised its policy to permit donations from six U.S. allies in Europe, Australia, and North America but to bar giving from other nations to fund its globe-spanning public health, anti-poverty, and climate change programs. Republican candidates like Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul have seized on a coming book, "Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich," which argues that the Clinton family got speaking fees and donations in return for favors to various foreign interests doled out while she was secretary of state.
Clinton campaign aides and supporters moved quickly to discredit the author, Peter Schweizer, after word of his book emerged, casting him as a Republican operative working to defeat her. Schweizer is president of the Government Accountability Institute, a conservative organization, and has advised Republican politicians on foreign policy. "He's cherry-picked information that's been disclosed and woven a bunch of conspiracy theories about it," Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta said on PBS' "Charlie Rose." In New Hampshire, Clinton voiced her strong support for Social Security, a program some Republicans are eager to trim, describing it as "not a luxury" but "a necessity." Clinton also took issue Monday with economic views expressed by members of her own party, offering a dark assessment of a "stalled-out" U.S. recovery — a judgment at odds with President Barack Obama's brighter view of what the nation has achieved on his watch. "It's not enough just to tread water," she said.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton shakes hands at Kristin's Bakery during her first New Hampshire  campaign stop, Monday, April 20, 20...
There is no flat out denial by her in any way. She brushed any question about it off to saying that she cares about New Hampsire'ians and that is it. David Brock is on the show (Morning Joe) discounting the book about this Hilary issue although he has not read the book. He does say the author has a history of putting out rhetoric along these lines and he does say that he wants to know of any of the facts in the book are true. Which may be redundant because if it is a fact, than it is true. Should we discuss the bio of the author or whether there are facts behind what he says. David Brock's bio is not exactly the greatest either which Marc Halperin astutely pointed out to him in this same interview. 
Another tough interview had and seen today on the Morning Joe show. 
Speaking of tough interviews had on a show, that Judith Miller had a tough interview done with her on the Chris Hayes show last night. that was also brutal even though she did answer him well, but t was hard nosed. 
And, even though we are doing a deal with Iran, we seem to be getting involved in military action today. A US aircraft carrier sent to block Iranian arms shipments to Yemen rebels. A U.S. aircraft carrier was dispatched to the waters off Yemen Monday to join other American ships prepared to block any Iranian weapons shipments to Shiite Houthi rebels fighting in Yemen. A Navy official confirmed to Fox News that the USS Theodore Roosevelt -- along with her escort ship, the USS Normandy, a guided-missile cruiser -- left the Persian Gulf on Sunday en route for the Arabian Sea, to help enforce the blockade. A massive ship that carries F/A-18 fighter jets, the Roosevelt is seen more of a deterrent and show of force in the region.
The U.S. Navy has been beefing up its presence in the Gulf of Aden and the southern Arabian Sea amid reports that a convoy of about eight Iranian ships is heading toward Yemen and possibly carrying arms for the Houthis. The deployment comes after a U.N. Security Council resolution approved last week imposed an arms embargo on rebel leaders. The resolution passed in a 14-0 vote with Russia abstaining.
Tensions are rising in the region even as the U.S. and five other world powers scramble to strike a final deal with Iran on its nuclear program by the end of June. The fighting in Yemen, where U.S. ally Saudi Arabia is leading a coalition of mainly Gulf Arab countries against the Iran-backed rebels, is complicating matters. Massive explosions in Yemen as airstrikes target Houthis. Western governments and Sunni Arab countries say the Houthis get their arms from Iran. Tehran and the rebels deny that, although Iran has provided political and humanitarian support to the Shiite group.
The U.S. has been providing logistical and intelligence support to the Saudi-led coalition launching airstrikes against the Houthis. That air campaign is now in its fourth week, and the U.S. has also begun refueling coalition aircraft involved in the conflict. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest, without commenting specifically on any Navy movements, said the U.S. has concerns about Iran's "continued support" for the Houthis. "We have seen evidence that the Iranians are supplying weapons and other armed support to the Houthis in Yemen. That support will only contribute to greater violence in that country," he said. "These are exactly the kind of destabilizing activities that we have in mind when we raise concerns about Iran's destabilizing activities in the Middle East." 
He said "the Iranians are acutely aware of our concerns for their continued support of the Houthis by sending them large shipments of weapons." A written statement from the Navy on Monday said the two ships are joining others in conducting "maritime security operations" in the region. "In recent days, the U.S. Navy has increased its presence in this area as a result of the current instability in Yemen," the statement said. "The purpose of these operations is to ensure the vital shipping lanes in the region remain open and safe. The United States remains committed to its regional partners and to maintaining security in the maritime environment." There are now about nine U.S. Navy ships in the region, including cruisers and destroyers carrying teams that can board and search other vessels, as well as three support ships. 
The U.S. Navy generally conducts consensual boardings of ships when needed, including to combat piracy around Africa and the region. So far, however, U.S. naval personnel have not boarded any Iranian vessels since the Yemen conflict began. Officials said it's too soon to speculate on what the Navy ships may do as the Iranian convoy approaches, including whether Iran would consent to a boarding request, and what actions the Navy would take if its request was refused.Fox News' Lucas Tomlinson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
It is to block or fight off the rebels but who are the rebels and are they the enemy in this case? Because from my seat, and considering American and world history, is the regime the enemy or are the so called rebels it? I assume this is a lot of postering but it is a bold move to send a message this way. It is also a message to the Shiats to make sure they know that 'we have their backs.' We have also given a lot of lei way with regard to giving up a lot to make that Iran Nuclear work by say June 30th.
Did I just hear that correctly that Mohammed Morsi was sentenced to 20 years in jail / prison? That is astonishing because wasnt it us that put him into place? The Guadian did just the post this as being true. Cairo court’s sentence over killing of hundreds of protesters in 2012 comes as ousted leader faces two other trials.
Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s Islamist former president
Egypt’s former president Mohamed Morsi has been sentenced to 20 years in prison over the killing of demonstrators outside his palace in 2012, the first verdict to be issued against the country’s first freely elected leader. Elected president the year after Egypt’s 2011 revolution, Morsi was removed by the military in 2013 after an acrimonious year in office. Tuesday’s verdict stemmed from deaths during violent clashes between Muslim Brotherhood supporters and protesters who opposed Morsi in December 2012. Mohamed Morsi rails against Sisi ‘coup’ at Egypt espionage trial. The verdict and sentence were issued during a brief hearing in a crowded courtroom in a police academy on the outskirts of Cairo. The defendants in the case included several senior leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood.
In the same verdict, Morsi was acquitted of a murder charge for which he could have faced the death penalty. But his supporters were nonetheless outraged by the jail sentence. “His trial has been a travesty of justice, which has been scripted and controlled by the government and entirely unsupported by evidence,” Amr Darrag, a senior figure from the Muslim Brotherhood and a former minister under Morsi, said in a statement in Istanbul reported by Reuters. “They want to pass a life sentence for democracy in Egypt.”
The prisoners appeared inside a metal and glass cage inside the courtroom, dressed in white and blue jumpsuits. Throughout the short proceedings, they held aloft the four-finger salute used by Islamists to commemorate the 2013 killings of hundreds of Morsi’s supporters in Rabaa al-Adawiya Square, Cairo. Those deaths took place in the context of a clampdown on Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood group in the weeks after the military takeover.
An appeal against Tuesday’s verdict is expected. Morsi is also on trial in two other cases, one for escaping prison during the 2011 popular uprising, another for espionage. Verdicts in the trials are expected in May. A year after Morsi, Egypt's revolution is not over. Morsi is being held at a high-security prison near Alexandria. His incarceration there followed four months of detention at an undisclosed location. In past sessions, Morsi and most of the defendants turned their backs to the court when the judge, Ahmed Youssef, played video recordings of the clashes outside the palace in 2012.
Morning Papers: Penalty phase of Boston Marathon bombing trial set to begin. Jurors in the trial of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev are getting ready to hear evidence on what his punishment should be — life in prison or the death penalty — as survivors and victims' families weigh in with their views. The penalty phase of Tsarnaev's trial is set to begin Tuesday in federal court. Tsarnaev's lawyers are expected to continue to portray Tsarnaev's older brother, Tamerlan, as the mastermind of the 2013 deadly attack. They say Tsarnaev does not deserve the death penalty because he was a 19-year-old who was under the influence of his domineering brother. Prosecutors contend Tsarnaev was an equal partner with his brother and in the and deserves the ultimate punishment. They are expected to call people injured in the attack to describe what impact the bombings have had on their lives. Many people were killed and more than 260 were injured when twin pressure-cooker bombs exploded near the marathon finish line on April 15, 2013. Tsarnaev was convicted of all 30 charges against him on April 8. During the first phase of the trial, several people described losing legs in the bombings. Others described watching a friend or loved one die in the attack. The penalty phase will begin just days after the parents of an 8-year-old boy killed in the bombings urged the U.S. Justice Department to take the death penalty off the table in exchange for a life sentence with no possibility of release or appeals. Jessica Kensky and Patrick Downes, a newlywed couple who each suffered severe injuries, also announced their opposition to the death penalty and said life in prison would be the best outcome to assure that Tsarnaev "disappears from our collective consciousness as soon as possible." Judge George O'Toole Jr. told the jury the penalty phase is expected to last about four weeks.
Ironically yesterday, the 2013 Champion Wins Boston Marathon Again (which happened yesterday on patriots day in Boston). The field of 30,000 left Hopkinton on Monday morning. The runner who won the Boston Marathon in 2013 and donated his medal to the city after the deadly terrorist bombings has been crowned this year's men's winner. Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia held off countryman Yemane Adhane Tsegay for the victory, finishing with an unofficial time of 2 hours, 9 minutes, 17 seconds. Wilson Chebet of Kenya finished third and American Dathan Ritzenhein took seventh. Last year's winner, Meb Keflezighi, finished eighth. esisa, 25, was considered the consensus favorite in this year's race. He won the 2013 Boston Marathon in 2 hours, 10 minutes, 22 seconds, but did not finish the race in 2014 after injuring his ankle. He later donated his first-place medal to the people of Boston to honor the dead and wounded from the finish-line bombing. In the women's field, Caroline Rotich of Kenya finished first, with an unofficial time of 2 hours, 24 minutes, 55 seconds, edging out Mare Dibaba of Ethiopia in a sprint finish. Buzinesh Deba of Ethiopia finished third, and American Desiree Linden took fourth. Marcel Hug of Switzerland won the men's wheelchair division of the 2015 Boston Marathon, crossing the finish line around 10:47 a.m. He had finished fourth in 2013 and 2014. His official winning time was 1 hour, 29 minutes, 53 seconds. American Tatyana McFadden won the women's wheelchair division for the third consecutive year, finishing in 1 hour, 52 minutes, 54 seconds.
The weather was cold and damp but the atmosphere festive at this year's marathon, two years after the race was defined by deadly bombings. All along the 26.2-mile course on Monday, spectators banged cowbells and blew air horns amid chilly weather and light rain. Most of the runners, though, are not professional athletes who finished with elite times. "Actually, I hate running," said Kirsten Phillips, who raised money for the Learning School Prep in Newton, Massachusetts. "And then it was something hard that I wanted to do." Love it, like it, or even hate it, it was not easy spending six hours trudging along in the cold driving rain. And if that might not be the way you'd want to spend your Patriots' Day, this was "mission accomplished" for the first-time runner. "I'm drenched, it feels spectacular," said Phillips.
Near the Boylston Street finish line, crowds roared each time an athlete approached, shouting words of encouragement. Those who attended last year's race said Monday's atmosphere felt less intense and emotionally charged. Some were ready to move on and enjoy the sights and sounds of one of the city's most cherished events. But throughout were reminders of the 2013 attacks, which killed three spectators and wounded more than 260 others. "Boston Strong" - the phrase that became the city's defiant rally cry after the attack - was everywhere. Rebekah Gregory, a Texas survivor whose leg was amputated, was understandably emotional when she crossed the finish line. Many ran in honor of the victims and survivors of the bombings. "We congratulate Tatyana in defending her title in Boston and representing TeamMR8 for a second straight year," read a statement on behalf of Bill and Denise Richards, the parents of 8-year-old Martin Richards, who was killed in the attacks. "She is an inspiration to all runners, not just those with disabilities. We are honored to call her a friend.
Below are results from this year's marathon:
MEN'S RESULTS:
Lelisa Desisa (ETH) 2:09:17
Yemane Adhane Tsegay (ETH) 2:09:48
Wilson Chebet (KEN) 2:10:22
Bernard Kipyego (KEN) 2:10:47
Wesley Korir (KEN) 2:10:49
Frankline Chepkwony (KEN) 2:10:52
Dathan Rizenhien (USA) 2:11:20
Meb Keflezighi (USA) 2:12:42
Tadese Tola (ETH) 2:13:35
Vitaliy Shafar (UKR) 2:13:52
WOMEN'S RESULTS:
Caroline Rotich (KEN) 2:24:55
Mare Dibaba (ETH) 2:24:59
Buzunesh Deba (ETH) 2:25:09
Desiree Linden (USA) 2:25:39
Sharon Cherop (KEN) 2:26:05
Caroline Kilel (KEN) 2:26:40
Aberu Kebede (ETH) 2:26:52
Shure Demise (ETH) 2:27:14
Shalane Flanagan (USA) 2:27:47
Joyce Chepkirui (KEN) 2:29:07
MEN'S WHEELCHAIR RESULTS:
Marcel Hug (SUI) 1:29:53
Masazumi Soejima (JPN) 1:36:27
Ernst Van Dyk (RSA) 1:36:27
Kota Hotinoue (JPN) 1:36:29
Tomasz Hamerlak (POL) 1:38:14
WOMEN'S WHEELCHAIR RESULTS:
Tatyana McFadden (USA) 1:52:54
Wakako Tsuchida (JPN) 1:53:48
Susannah Scaroni (USA) 1:57:21
Amanda McGrory (USA) 1:57:21
Sandra Graf (SUI) 1:59:18
[CLICK HERE for full results from the 2015 Boston Marathon.]
The NY Times reports that there is a New Blood Test Shows Promise in Cancer Fight. In the usual cancer biopsy, a surgeon cuts out a piece of the patient’s tumor, but researchers in labs across the country are now testing a potentially transformative innovation. They call it the liquid biopsy, and it is a blood test that has only recently become feasible with the latest exquisitely sensitive techniques. It is showing promise in finding tiny snippets of cancer DNA in a patient’s blood.
The hope is that a simple blood draw — far less onerous for patients than a traditional biopsy or a CT scan — will enable oncologists to quickly figure out whether a treatment is working and, if it is, to continue monitoring the treatment in case the cancer develops resistance. Failing treatments could be abandoned quickly, sparing patients grueling side effects and allowing doctors to try alternatives. “This could change forever the way we follow up not only response to treatments but also the emergence of resistance, and down the line could even be used for really early diagnosis,” said Dr. José Baselga, physician in chief and chief medical officer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Researchers caution that more evaluations of the test’s accuracy and reliability are needed. So far, there have been only small studies in particular cancers, including lung, colon and blood cancer. But early results are encouraging. A National Cancer Institute study published this month in The Lancet Oncology, involving 126 patients with the most common form of lymphoma, found the test predicted recurrences more than three months before they were noticeable on CT scans. The liquid biopsies also identified patients unlikely to respond to therapy.
Oncologists who are not using the new test say they are looking on with fascination. “Our lab doesn’t do it, but we are very interested,” said Dr. Levi Garraway of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. “It’s exciting,” he added. “It’s a top priority.” Researchers are finding out things about individuals’ cancers that astonish them. MarySusan Sabini, a fifth-grade teacher from Gardiner, N.Y., has lung cancer that resisted two attempts at chemotherapy and a round of radiation. Her doctors at Sloan Kettering saw cancer DNA in her blood when she began taking an experimental drug in October that was her last hope.
Four days later, the cancer DNA shards had vanished, a sign, the doctors hoped, that the treatment was working. But they dared not tell her the good tidings. The blood test itself was so new they were afraid to rely on it. Within weeks, Ms. Sabini began to breathe easier. Months later, she had a CT scan, an X-ray test that uses a computer to assemble detailed images of slices of tumor tissue. It confirmed her tumors were shrinking. “Every cancer has a mutation that can be followed with this method,” said Dr. David Hyman, the oncologist at Sloan Kettering who is leading the study of the experimental drug Ms. Sabini takes. “It is like bar coding the cancer in the blood.”
The idea for the test grew out of a discovery made years ago about fetuses: They shed little pieces of DNA into the bloodstreams of mothers-to-be. It turned out that all growing cells, including tumors, shed tiny DNA fragments. But finding those minuscule bits of DNA, floating in a sea of other molecules, is not easy. They remain in circulation for just a couple of hours before they are metabolized. And the detection method became useful only when cancer researchers, using advanced methods for DNA sequencing, found hundreds of mutations that could serve as bar codes for cancers and developed the technology for finding a snippet of DNA.
The standard methods of assessing a treatment’s effectiveness have serious drawbacks. Doctors routinely monitor patients for symptoms like pain or shortness of breath, but some people do not have any. In those who do, it can take time for such symptoms to wane — the tumor can die, but the body has to heal. Patients often have scans to determine if tumors are shrinking, but it can take weeks or months before a tumor looks smaller on a scan, in part because a scan shows not just the cancer but also connective tissue, immune system cells and scars at the site. Doctors can be fooled into thinking a tumor is present when, in fact, it is gone.
“When you are treating a patient — and we see this many times — your treatment is quite effective but there is some residual lesion on a scan,” Dr. Hyman said. “You take the patient to surgery for a biopsy, and all you see is scar tissue. There is no visible cancer there.” The blood tests also allow frequent monitoring of tumors as they spread and mutate or develop resistance to treatment. The only other way to know is with biopsies. “I cannot do a weekly liver biopsy and see how things are going,” Dr. Baselga said. “But I can do a blood test every week.”
Another possible application — early diagnosis of cancer — is trickier. If a blood test showed cancer DNA, what would that mean? Where is the tumor, and would it help to find and treat it early? Some cancers stop growing or go away on their own. With others, the outcome is just as good if the cancer is found later. One early use for DNA blood tests may be helping doctors decide which patients with Stage 2 colon cancer need chemotherapy. Eighty percent of patients with these large tumors that have not spread outside the colon are cured by surgery alone; the rest have recurrences. Six months of intense chemotherapy reduces the risk the cancer will return, but there is no way to predict who needs the treatment.
Two Australian scientists, working with Dr. Bert Vogelstein of Johns Hopkins, wondered if a cancer DNA blood test might be predictive. They began with a study of 250 patients, looking for cancer DNA in blood after surgery. The tumors recurred in 80 percent of those with cancer DNA in their blood but only 6 to 8 percent of those whose blood did not have detectable cancer DNA. Now the Australian researchers, Dr. Jeanne Tie and Dr. Peter Gibbs of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, are starting a study of 450 patients randomly assigned to have the blood test or not. Those who have it will get chemotherapy if the test finds cancer DNA. Those who do not have the blood test will get usual care, whatever their physician prescribes. The patients will be told their blood test results, although the investigators worry how some will react. “If you find DNA and tell the patient there is a very high risk of recurrence, that creates a lot of anxiety,” Dr. Gibbs said. “And we are not sure chemotherapy will be helpful.” The blood test, they hope, will answer that question. “This will be the first real test of whether circulating tumor DNA can be clinically useful,” Dr. Vogelstein said. Promise in cancer fight
The Associated Press in Australia and CNN reports about the plea by Phil Rudd that is pleading guilty to murder charge. Phil Rudd, the drummer for legendary hard rock band AC/DC, has pleaded guilty to charges of threatening to kill and possession of drugs in a New Zealand court. Rudd, who previously denied all allegations, made a surprise guilty plea Tuesday before the trial began. The 60-year-old Australian was arrested in November last year after police found methamphetamine and cannabis while executing a search warrant at his home in New Zealand.
According to a court summary, Rudd fired several employees because the release of his solo album in August had flopped in the charts. A month later, he called an associate and said he wanted his personal assistant "taken out." He later then called the victim -- his personal assistant -- on the phone and said, "I'm going to come over and kill you." Rudd made several calls to his personal assistant over the following days, but he terminated the calls after realizing it was Rudd on the phone. 'An angry phone call'. "As a result of the threats made by the defendant, the victim was genuinely very fearful of his safety," read the summary. The drummer's lawyer, Craig Tuck, told reporters outside the court that the charges were "essentially just an angry phone call." "I will be seeking to have him discharged without conviction," Tuck added in an email to CNN. Rudd could face up to seven years in prison for the charge of threatening to kill. He is currently released on bail until the sentencing hearing on June 26. In November, the court dropped the police charge of "attempting to procure murder" after prosecutors decided there wasn't enough evidence.
Variety reports that Jon Stewart Sets August 6 As Departure Date From ‘Daily Show’.
Jon Stewart Skewers Media Hypocrisy In
Jon Stewart now has a firm departure date from Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show.” The comic announced on Monday’s broadcast of the program that he will leave the show after its August 6th broadcast. The disclosure paves the way for the show’s new host, Trevor Noah, and suggests that Stewart will not hang around as candidates start to make announcements this year about running in the 2016 election for U.S. President.Stewart had said previously that he would continue to do the program until some time between July and the end of 2015.
Stewart made the announcement at the very end of the evening’s broadcast, just before rolling the program’s signature “Moment of Zen” final segment. He offered few details about what he might do for his final broadcast, but did reiterate a contest that would give a viewer the chance to attend the program’s last taping. Stewart’s announcement sets the stage for Trevor Noah, a South African comic who has hosted a late-night program in that country, to take the reins of the series. Noah is a relative unknown in the United States and has already come under scrutiny for a series of controversial tweets made in past years that were discovered on social media after Comedy Central announced him as Stewart’s heir. The Viacom-owned network and Stewart have both come out in support of Noah, urging audiences to give him a chance before passing judgement on his humor.
Alsdo, Time magazine shows that photos of a “newly discovered and described” translucent species of frog are going viral because media outlets say the creature looks like Kermit the Frog. Brian Kubicki, founder of the Costa Rican Amphibian Research Center, claims his team has found six specimens of a type of glass frog that has been called Hyalinobatrachium dianae in the Talamanca Mountains. “With the addition of this newly described species, Costa Rica is known to have 14 glassfrogs inhabiting its tiny national territory,”according to a statement on the center’s Facebook page. The findings are detailed in a piece recently published in the journalZootaxa by Kubicki, with co-authors Stanley Salazar and Robert Puschendorf. 
Next, do we care about that a 120-pound Molly Schuyler eats three Big Texan 72-ounce steak dinners in 20 minutes because in real life matters, it looks as of after a lot of pressure over the last two weeks, including that from the POTUS himself, the Senate sees breakthrough with Loretta Lynch vote. 
POLITICO reports now that finally our Senate eyes breakthrough on Lynch vote, trafficking bill. Top sources in both parties, including Harry Reid, say negotiators have made headway. The Senate is nearing a resolution to a monthlong dispute that’s halted a human trafficking bill and confirmation of attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch, even as Minority Leader Harry Reid on Monday resumed his rhetorical assault on Republicans for the delay. Top sources in both parties — and even Reid himself — said negotiators had made headway toward a compromise on abortion language included in the sex trafficking bill that Democrats have strongly opposed. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has vowed that the trafficking bill must be completed before the Senate votes to confirm Lynch.
“We’re getting closer, but we’re not quite done yet,” said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas), who wrote the trafficking bill and is working closely with Reid on a way forward. “The negotiations are ongoing and somewhat delicate.” Asked when the Senate might finally pass the trafficking bill, and in turn propel Lynch to a vote, Cornyn said: “I’m hoping for it to break any minute.” Still, any public announcement of a deal might have to wait until Tuesday, when Democrats and Republicans meet as caucuses for the first time this week. The latest round of deal making — so sensitive that knowledgeable sources refused to discuss legislative text in any capacity — follows escalating political tensions. Senate Democratic leaders and the White House have lost patience in recent days over the protracted delay for Lynch, who would be the first black female attorney general. The confirmation process has stretched more than five months — the longest of any attorney general nominee since the Reagan administration. Democrats have suggested that race is a factor in the delay, and Obama had a simple message for Senate Republicans last week: “Enough.”
Even as he plays a central role in negotiating a way forward on the floor, Reid (D-Nev.) on Monday lambasted Republicans’ “embarrassing” handling of Lynch’s confirmation and said McConnell should heed other Republicans who’ve called for a vote on her confirmation, including Rep. Peter King of New York and presidential hopeful Jeb Bush, who said last week that “presidents have the right to pick their team.” “No wonder Jeb Bush stood up for Lynch in New Hampshire,” Reid said Monday. “Bush didn’t just show grace in doing that. He also showed more common sense than his brother showed in eight years as president of the United States. Jeb Bush has to know that Sen. Mitch McConnell hijacking this process does him absolutely no good.” Democrats could have pressed forward with her nomination during the last two months of their majority in 2014, but they chose to wait until this year. The GOP-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee advanced Lynch to the floor in February.
But the Senate has ground to a halt over the trafficking bill, which includes some prohibitions on spending federal money on abortions that Democrats want removed. After weeks of delay and bickering, Republicans are eager to put the trafficking measure and Lynch’s nomination behind them so they can take up a bill allowing congressional review of a nuclear deal with Iran. The sex trafficking measure became mired after Democrats noticed a provision barring a victim-restitution fund that the bill created from paying for abortion procedures. Democrats want that language scrapped entirely, while Republicans have countered with a proposal that routes the restitution fund’s money through the federal government’s general fund, where it would be subject to abortion restrictions established by the Hyde amendment. Aides in both parties described negotiations focusing on some midpoint between those poles, though more than a dozen offers have been exchanged over the past month by Democrats and Republicans, to no avail. “There seems to be a path forward, but there is no guarantee,” Reid said. “Every day that passes without a newly confirmed attorney general proves once and again Republicans can’t lead and they certainly can’t govern.” A GOP aide was more bullish than Reid: “I’m pretty optimistic we’re going to get to where we need to be on this.” 
Reid has threatened to go to the Senate floor and attempt to force a vote on Lynch’s nomination if there were no breakthrough on the trafficking bill, an effort that would require five Republicans to vote against McConnell on the Senate floor and would constitute a major breach of protocol in the chamber. An aide said he still may use that tactic, though Reid has set no firm deadline for deploying that floor strategy. Republicans have responded to Reid by noting how close the Senate is to movement on the trafficking bill — and subsequently Lynch’s nomination — and predicting Reid’s gambit would fail.
Forces outside the Senate also sought to increase pressure on McConnell on Monday as former Bush Attorney General Alberto Gonzales publicly pressed for a vote on Lynch to succeed Attorney General Eric Holder, joining other Republicans like King, Bush and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Former New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly on Monday called Lynch “tremendously supportive” of the city’s law enforcement community, and Charlotte Police Chief Rodney Monroe argued that Lynch’s confirmation will be critical to combating human trafficking. “Human traffic has come on our radar fast and furious like terrorism. … Loretta has enormous experience when it comes to prosecuting these cases,” Monroe told reporters. “We need someone with that the experience and that leadership.”
If and when Lynch receives a vote in the Senate, she is slated to be narrowly confirmed with the support of at least five Republicans. And if the human trafficking bill’s abortion dispute can be settled, that bill is destined for easy passage: It came to the Senate floor with the consent of all 100 senators and passed through the Judiciary Committee unanimously before Democrats noticed language they say amounts to a major expansion of abortion restrictions.
BTW, a big non story today that is making the wires is the one of the Koch brothers said on the fly at a lunch that he would like to see Scott walker lead that GOP primary and now it seems to be taken as being written in stone so to speak. The new York Times first draft reports or that Charles G. and David H. Koch, the influential and big-spending conservative donors, appear to have a favorite in the race for the Republican presidential nomination: Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin.
On Monday, at a fund-raising event in Manhattan for the New York State Republican Party, David Koch told donors that he and his brother, who oversee one of the biggest private political organizations in the country, believed that Mr. Walker would be the Republican nominee. “When the primaries are over and Scott Walker gets the nomination,” Mr. Koch told the crowd, the billionaire brothers would support him, according to a spokeswoman. The remark drew laughter and applause from the audience of fellow donors and Republican activists, who had come to hear Mr. Walker speak earlier at the event, held at the Union League Club.
Two people who attended the event said they heard Mr. Koch go even further, indicating that Mr. Walker should be the Republican nominee. A spokeswoman disputed that wording, saying that Mr. Koch had pledged to remain officially neutral during the primary campaign. But Mr. Koch’s remark left little doubt among attendees of where his heart is, and could effectively end one of the most closely watched contests in the “invisible primary,” a period where candidates crisscross the country seeking not the support of voters but the blessing of their party’s biggest donors and fund-raisers.
Few donors have been courted as aggressively as the Kochs, whose network of political nonprofits, “super PACs” and like-minded donors plans to spend almost $900 million over the next two years advancing conservative candidates and policies. Republican presidential contenders including Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey have sought out the men for private meetings in Wichita, Kan., and New York, joined them for rounds of golf, and sought coveted invitations to the brothers’ annual donor conference in Southern California. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky wrote an opinion article for Time Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People” issue last week, praising the two men for their “passion for freedom and their commitment to ideas.”
But the ultimate value of the Kochs’ good will in a Republican primary is difficult to measure. Mr. Koch’s remarks suggested that the political organizations they oversee — which include Americans for Prosperity, a grass-roots organization, and Freedom Partners, a donor trade group with an affiliated “super PAC” — would not intervene in the Republican primary process on behalf of a single candidate. But according to the two attendees, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to freely describe the remarks, Mr. Koch suggested that the Koch family might personally offer financial support to Mr. Walker.
In a statement, Mr. Koch described the Wisconsin governor as “terrific,” but said he was not making an endorsement. “Let me be clear, I am not endorsing or supporting any candidate for president at this point in time,” Mr. Koch said..
A lot is happening already today and BTW, Chris Mathews interviewed the POTUS (Barack Obama) which airs on his hardball show tonight. he is also on Morning Joe today or now for that matter. 
Honestly, I loved it when Chris Christie addressed that issue about having to take money and not do what that donor wants for it. He used a term for it that has slipped my mind right now but that was the first time I ever a heard a politician say that along those lines. that is why Chris Christie could do well in the long run and its because no matter what his stances or platforms, he does say what he feels which is all we can ask for in a politician today. Remember too when people get attacked in say a book, the first line of that defense is to attack and plant negatives on whomever to discount them. So,m it makes sense that the Clinton people will put down the author calling him a hack in so many words. Chris Mathews says it great by stating that we must think that he is truthful or Innocent at first, and then if it gets disproved factually, so be it. That is when the attacks sdhould occur but then again, this is America where you are deemed as and treated as guilty before you get to some norm which is know as innocent. Whether it is the legal civil system or criminal legal system, you are at a low and you must dig yourself out of it, to get a mere norm. There is never such a thing as 'innocent till proven guilty. By the time anyone is found Innocent in any way, that damage has been done. 
Anyway, Freddie Gray dies a week after being injured during arrest. At a news conference, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts said they are committed to providing the public with information about the circumstances of Gray's death.  "I understand the frustration of the community and I take very seriously my obligation of transparency," Rawlings-Blake said. "However we also have to balance that with our obligation to ensure a proper and thorough investigation is undertaken. Therefore we have to move forward in a responsible way to determine all the facts of this incident so that we can provide the community with answers."
More than 100 protesters have gathered for two days outside the Western District station, demanding answers about what happened to Gray. The Rev. Jamal Bryant of the Empowerment Temple led Saturday night's demonstration, and members of the People's Power Movement and a New York City-based activist group converged on North Mount Street outside the station after Gray's death was announced Sunday.
William "Billy" Murphy Jr., a lawyer for Gray's family, contradicted a Police Department timeline of the arrest, which said medics were called to the Western District station 30 minutes after the police van carrying Gray left the scene. Murphy said he has information indicating Gray was at the police station for an hour before medics were called. "What we know is that while in police custody for committing no crime — for which they had no justification for making the arrest except he was a black man running — his spine was virtually severed, 80 percent severed, in the neck area," Murphy said. He called Gray's injuries "catastrophic."
Murphy said Gray "lapsed into a coma, died, was resuscitated, stayed in a coma and on Monday, underwent extensive surgery at Shock Trauma. "He clung to life for seven days," he said. The attorney also said that the city has a camera above where the arrest occurred and requested that the footage be released to the public.
"We believe the police are keeping the circumstances of Freddie's death secret until they develop a version of events that will absolve them of all responsibility," Murphy said. "However, his family and the citizens of Baltimore deserve to know the real truth; and we will not stop until we get justice for Freddie." Four bicycle officers tried to stop Gray about 9 a.m. on April 12 in the 1600 block of W. North Ave. for an alleged violation that police have not disclosed. He ran, police said, and the officers caught him and restrained him on the ground while awaiting backup.
According to the police timeline, he was conscious and speaking when he was loaded into a van to be taken to the district station. Medics were called to the station, and he was taken to an area hospital, police said. Deputy Commissioner Jerry Rodriguez said police have interviewed community members and some officers involved in the incident. He declined to provide more details, citing the need to make sure the investigation is not compromised.
He's gone. What else is there to say? - Richard Shipley, stepfather of Freddie Gray
Explanation of what prompted the arrest, remains "a bit vague," according to Rodriguez. He said that officers in a high-crime area with drug problems suspected Gray was "immediately involved or had been recently involved in criminal activity." Rodriguez said police "have no physical, video or any other evidence of an altercation" that would result in Gray's injuries.
"The question is how and why, and more importantly if there is anything contributory from our agency, how can we prevent that?" he said. "We're not there yet but we will get there." Police are assembling a task force to review the incident, expected to include personnel across a range of departments, including training and lab prep personnel, as well as teams from homicide investigators and force investigation, Batts said.
An independent board also will review the administrative case against the officers, after State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby decides whether or not to file criminal charges and that case concludes. A spokeswoman for Mosby could not be reached Sunday. Rawlings-Blake spokesman Kevin Harris said he does not know yet who will serve on the independent review board, which officials referred to as a "blue-ribbon" panel. Officers involved have been placed on administrative leave as a matter of department policy.
In a statement posted to Twitter, the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 3, Baltimore's police union, asked for "no rush to judgment until the investigation is complete and all the facts are known." "We thank Mayor Rawlings-Blake and Commissioner Batts for their leadership and welcome a thorough and complete investigation into the death of Mr. Gray, as we also agree that all lives matter," the union said. Gray's family has declined to meet with police so far, Batts said. Police intend to try again this week. "I extend my deepest sympathies to his family. I have no words to offer that will ease the pain that has resulted," Batts said.
"All lives matter," he added, in a nod to the "Black Lives Matter" mantra shouted at protests across the country in response to recent police brutality incidents. The U.S. Department of Justice is conducting a separate review of complaints about Baltimore's Police Department at Batts' request. That request followed a Baltimore Sun investigation that found taxpayers had paid nearly $6 million since 2011 to settle more than 100 lawsuits alleging police brutality and other misconduct. Baltimore Sun reporter Justin Fenton contributed to this story.
Speaking of crime, John Ridley is on the show (Morning Joe) today. He is pushing his new 'American Crime' TV show that is on ABC. I know about this show coming out soon. It looks great. 
Jack and Suzy Welch are also on the show today and regardless of it all on this crazy news morning, please stay in touch!