Good morning everyone! Happy Wednesday to you!

Joining the panel on the show for today's show is Mike Barnicle, Mark Halperin, Marc Morial, Michael Steele, Peter Alexander, Kasie Hunt, Del. Keith Haynes, Rep. Elijah Cummings, Mayor Michael Nutter, Nicolle Wallace, Chuck Todd, Pastor Jamal Bryant, Jayne Miller, Andrew Ross Sorkin, Dan Duquette and more

Baltimore protests: Crowds, police stand off after curfew.
Latest developments:
- 11:59 p.m. ET: Police arrested two people for looting and one for disorderly conduct, Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said. But most of the 10 arrests made after the 10 p.m. curfew were for curfew violation.

- 11:55 p.m. ET: Baltimore police have made 10 arrests since the 10 p.m. curfew went into effect Tuesday night, Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said. But he said the curfew is working, and "the city is stable."

- 11:33 p.m. ET: Police have the situation under control in West Baltimore, which includes one of the most violent intersections of the past 24 hours. "Twenty-four hours ago, that intersection had a burned out car, we saw a tavern being looted, we saw a liquor store being looted," CNN's Brian Todd said. On Tuesday night, aside from officers in riot gear standing next to armored vehicles, "there's not a soul in sight," Todd said.

- 11:18 p.m. ET: Authorities with riot gear and heavy armored vehicles stood their ground in the neighborhood where Freddie Gray was arrested, but no clashes were underway more than an hour after Baltimore's city curfew went into effect. "Everybody's kind of staring at everybody, seeing who blinks," CNN's Miguel Marquez said.

- 10:53 p.m. ET: Baltimore police said credentialed members of the media may continue covering events in the city after curfew, the department tweeted Tuesday night. Earlier, authorities in a helicopter told the media to move or possibly face arrest.

- The crowd has "definitely lessened" after police deployed pepper bullets and smoke canisters, CNN's Ryan Young said. But CNN's Chris Cuomo said some protesters have simply moved elsewhere.

- Police said late Tuesday on Twitter they were making arrests at one location, where they said people threw bricks and rocks at officers.

Full story:
Defiant protesters squared off with police in some parts of Baltimore well after a citywide curfew went into effect Tuesday night. Many protesters didn't budge after 10 p.m. curfew. Police said they have a "wide range of discretion" with how they enforce it, Baltimore police Capt. Eric Kowalczyk said before the curfew took effect.

"Officers are going to use common sense," he said.

Authorities, city leaders and fellow residents appealed for calm a day after the city devolved into chaos. Some 2,000 National Guardsmen and more than 1,000 police officers from across Maryland and neighboring states were assigned to the streets of Baltimore on Tuesday night, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said. "This combined force will not tolerate violence or looting, which has led to the destruction of property and put innocent Marylanders at risk."

Laquicha Harper, a 33-year-old resident, called the violence embarrassing and heartbreaking. "We owe it to ourselves to do better," she said. She was among those who responded to clean up the mess from Monday's violence. Cars and building were burned. Police were hospitalized, businesses were looted, and hundreds of people were arrested.

"I understand that everybody is upset, I understand that tension is brewing ... I'm here, I get it," Harper said. "But there are better ways that we can handle our frustration. And they can't hear us when we're behaving this way." President Barack Obama said Tuesday that "some police aren't doing the right thing" and that a lot of the tension between law enforcement and the black community stems from "a slow-rolling crisis" that has been brewing for decades.

Fixing it will require more investment in cities, criminal justice reform, better funding for education and soul-searching for some police departments, he said. "If we really want to solve the problem, if our society really wanted to solve the problem, we could. It's just it would require everybody saying this is important, this is significant. And that we don't just pay attention to these communities when a CVS burns," the President said.

Still, no angst can excuse what Obama called the behavior of "criminals and thugs who tore up" Baltimore. "When individuals get crowbars and start prying open doors to loot, they're not protesting. They're not making a statement. They're stealing," he said. "When they burn down a building, they're committing arson. And they're destroying and undermining businesses and opportunities in their own communities. That robs jobs and opportunity from people in that area."

No repeat of Monday night, governor says
Protesters rallied and marched Tuesday. Baltimore Police Capt. Eric Kowalczyk described them as peaceful, which he said is "what we're used to seeing in Baltimore." That said, about a dozen people had been arrested, according to the police captain. Tuesday night, a group started attacking officers with rocks and bricks, and more arrests were made, police said.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said at noon that he didn't know of additional instances of looting, damage or violence. But he was mindful that may not be true for long, and said he's especially concerned about Tuesday night.
If there is another flare-up, Hogan said, authorities will be prepared with "as much manpower and as many resources as we can (have)." "They are not going to be in danger, and ... their property will be protected," he said of Baltimore residents and business owners. "We're not going to have another repeat of what happened last night. It's not going to happen tonight."

Hogan declared a state of emergency Monday evening -- after a request from Baltimore's mayor around 6 p.m. -- that, among other things, expedited the deployment of hundreds of National Guard members. Up to 5,000 of them are ready to answer the call to join Baltimore police and up to 5,000 law enforcement officers were requested from around the Mid-Atlantic region, said Col. William Pallozzi of the Maryland State Police.

Rawlings-Blake has imposed a mandatory curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., which is one reason why the Baltimore Orioles postponed their Tuesday night game and the Baltimore Ravens called off an NFL draft party set for Thursday night. Wednesday's game between the Orioles and Chicago White Sox will be closed to the public, the Orioles announced. A source within Major League Baseball told CNN the league is not aware of any prior closed-door games in major league history. There was no public school Tuesday, nor were there classes at Johns Hopkins University. Baltimore City Public Schools will reopen on Wednesday.

We will not let these deplorable and cowardly acts of violence ruin .

"Seeing my city like this breaks my heart. But, like so many Baltimoreans, my resolve is strong," the mayor tweeted. "We will not let these deplorable and cowardly acts of violence ruin #OurCity." Meanwhile, citizens young and old are stepping up. They include people who came out to clean up, like Harper and 15-year-old Sulaiman Abdul-Aziz, who said he saw some of the mayhem. "I felt disappointed," Abdul-Aziz said, "because a lot of that could have been avoided if people would have started thinking before they would have done all that stuff." 

'Broken windows are not broken spines'
The tensions in Baltimore come after demonstrations across the country over the deaths of black men after encounters with police, including Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri; Eric Garner in New York; and Walter Scott in North Charleston, South Carolina.

This latest eruption came after days of protests over Freddie Gray, who mysteriously died on April 19, a week after Baltimore Police arrested him. Anger over his plight may have spurred Monday's violence, but Baltimore City Council Member Brandon Scott said it was also fueled by "a long, long, longstanding issue with young African-Americans."

"We're talking about years and decades of mistrust, of misfortune, of despair that it's just coming out in anger," Scott said. "No, it is not right for them to burn down their own city. But that is what's coming out of these young people." At least 20 officers were wounded in the unrest, according to Capt. Kowalczyk. One person is in critical condition as a result of a fire, he said.

"It's clear that what we have to do is change the culture within the Baltimore Police Department," Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said Tuesday. The process has been underway for more than two years, but there is more to do, he said. Deray McKeeson, a community organizer who was active in Ferguson and is now in Baltimore, said that while he doesn't condone using destruction and violence, he understands it as a way some vent frustrations. "Broken windows are not broken spines," he said.

McKeeson said the Baltimore vandalism, even the injuries to some officers, doesn't compare to the lost lives of Gray and other blacks at the hands of police. That's why he said protesters will remain out in full force, rallying against what they see as systemic injustice. "Police have continued to kill people," the activist said. "Tonight will be another night where people come out into the streets to confront a system that is corrupt."

'Dark day for our city'
There were many other secondary casualties -- people who saw their neighborhoods torn apart, their homes and vehicles damaged, their hopes for stability and progress thwarted by the mayhem. There were people like Cindy Oxendine, who took to the streets to sweep up rocks, glass and more despite her aching back.

"It started off peaceful, and it ends up like this," Oxendine told CNN affiliate WBAL. "I've seen stuff like this on the news in other cities, but I never thought I would see it in front of my doorstep. It's crazy." In addition to the clashes with police came the flames, and investigators from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are joining local authorities to look into arson, a federal law enforcement source said.

The same source said that dozens of fires that erupted around Baltimore appear to be tied to the unrest. This includes one that consumed an affordable housing center for seniors that was just months away from opening.
Pastor Donte Hickman of the Southern Baptist Church, which owns the facility, said 60 units of senior housing were lost. "What happened ... destroyed so much of the progress that the people who actually live here have been working for," said Mayor Rawlings-Blake, calling Monday "a very dark day for our city." But she found light in what she saw Tuesday.

"Today, I think we saw a lot more of what Baltimore is about. We saw people coming together to reclaim our city, to clean our city, and to help heal our city. I think this can be our defining moment," the mayor said. Baltimore streets previously rocked by riots were quiet Wednesday morning at the lifting of a nighttime curfew that was enforced by 3,000 police and National Guardsmen. The curfew ended at 5 a.m. with no reports of disturbances in the early morning hours. The morning rush was getting underway with traffic flowing on most streets downtown.

The curfew, which went into effect at 10 p.m. Tuesday, got off to a not-so-promising start, however, as about 200 protesters initially ignored the warnings of police officers and the pleas of community activists to disperse. Some threw water bottles or lay down on the ground. A line of police behind riot shields hurled tear gas canisters and fired pepper balls at the crowd and slowly advanced forward to push it back. Demonstrators picked up the canisters and hurled them back at officers. But the crowd rapidly dispersed and was down to just a few dozen people within minutes.

The clash came after a day of high tension but relative peace in Baltimore, which was rocked by looting and widespread arson Monday in the city's worst outbreak of rioting since 1968. Police, city leaders and many residents condemned the violence, and hundreds of volunteers showed up Tuesday to sweep the streets of glass and other debris.

Baltimore Police: City Is Stable
Just before midnight Tuesday, Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts declared the curfew a success. "We do not have a lot of active movement throughout the city as a whole. ... Tonight I think the biggest thing is the citizens are safe, the city is stable," he said. "We hope to maintain it that way."

Batts said a total of 10 people were arrested after the curfew went into effect: two for looting, one for disorderly conduct, and seven for violating the curfew. Gov. Larry Hogan, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and other officials made appearances throughout the day, promising to reclaim and restore pride to their city. Baltimore Public Schools CEO Gregory Thornton said in a notice posted on the school system's website that schools will be open Wednesday. The notice said after-school sports and clubs will also take place.

But life was unlikely to get completely back to normal anytime soon: The curfew was to go back into effect at 10 p.m. Wednesday and baseball officials — in what may be a first in the sport's 145-year history — announced that Wednesday's Baltimore Orioles game at Camden Yards would be closed to the public. The violence set off soul-searching among community leaders and others, with some suggesting the uprising was not just about race or the police department, but also about high unemployment, high crime, poor housing, broken-down schools and lack of opportunity in Baltimore's inner-city neighborhoods — issues that are not going away anytime soon.

Activists also stressed that they would continue to press authorities for answers in the case of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who died of a spinal-cord injury under mysterious circumstances while in police custody. His case is what spurred Monday's riots. A group of pastors announced plans to hold a rally and prayer vigil for the city of Baltimore and Gray's family at noon Wednesday and to "draw public attention to 17 police accountability bills the state legislature failed to pass during the recent legislative session."

Meanwhile, under the state of emergency Gov. Hogan declared Monday, the more than 200 people arrested since the unrest began could wait longer than usual to have their day in court. Normally, state law requires that people arrested without warrants appear before a court official within 24 hours of their arrests. But as part of the state of emergency, the governor extended the period to no later than 47 hours, according to a letter he sent Tuesday to Judge Barbara Baer Waxman, the administrative judge for the Baltimore District Court.

"This exercise of my authority is necessary to protect the public safety and to address the more than 200 arrests that were made by Baltimore Police Department and other law enforcement officials," Hogan wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press. Associated Press writers Juliet Linderman, Matthew Barakat, Tom Foreman Jr., Jessica Gresko and Jeff Horwitz contributed to this report.

Nepal earthquake: tensions rise over slow pace of aid.
Tensions in Nepal are rising over the slow pace of aid delivery. Dozens of people blocked traffic and shouted slogans against the government after being denied space on free buses out of Kathmandu.
Beware reports of violence and outbreaks of disease in the aftermath of an earthquake, writes Jonathan Katz, who witnessed first hand how the international media and aid agencies got it so wrong following the earthquake in Haiti in 2010. There is violence after disasters, just as there is violence every day wherever humans live. But taking a hard look back puts the lie to the idea that societies somehow become less cohesive after a natural shock, at a moment when most people are busy trying to put their lives back in order ...

As for the notion of post-disaster disease outbreaks, epidemiologists have gone looking for evidence of epidemics resulting from calamities such as earthquakes, and they have generally concluded that they don’t happen ... Nepal is not Haiti, and 2015 is not 2010. Nepal has its own unique concerns, including high mountain passes at risk for avalanches and colder nights than we ever dreamed of in the Caribbean. Cholera, long endemic there, may spike in the coming monsoon season, as it often does. Nepal’s government is trying harder to coordinate the disaster response than Haiti’s did or could; among other things, it is asking for direct financial support online. More than in past disasters, I’ve seen many people on social media encouraging others to donate to local Nepalese organizations who know their country, and who will stay long after the relief phase ends.

Those engaged in the response, whether covering it or participating in it, now have to ask the questions we’ve failed to ask in the past: How exactly did the earthquake affect a given problem? What are the specific goals of the relief effort concerning it? And how will we know if they’ve been met? We don’t know for sure what will come of a relief effort in which everyone is asking those questions, because we’ve never really done it before. But for the people now struggling through their ordeal in the Himalayas, there’s no better time to try.

epal’s prime minister Sushil Koirala was confronted by survivors desperate for relief deliveries when he visited a hospital in Kathmandu today, writes Ishwar Rauniyar. Many survivors and their relatives gathered in front of the prime minister to request to water, food and tents. The prime minister pledged to do what he could to provide basic needs, a local radio station reported.

Koirala was visiting visited Tribhuvan University Teaching hospital in Kathmandu to get the update on the crisis. He was accompanied by the chief of the Nepal Army Gaurab Sumsher Rana. Nepal will face a secondary crisis involving diseases such as cholera and potentially fatal diarrhoea in children unless water and sanitation and hygiene issue are addressed urgently, an aid agency has warned, writes Lisa O’Carroll.

“In the international community we are all concerned about moving quickly and delivering. There was some unrest here yesterday. People are hungry and concern is mounting about how long this can go on,” said Sean Casey, who is heading up the earthquake response for the International Medical Corps in Kathmandu. There are no latrines in the camps, he said, calling for clearer leadership. “There is not a lot of clarity about the priorities and where they lie,” he said.

IMC has scrambled a team of about 40 international and local medical volunteers together since Sunday but Casey said access to the worst-hit areas was a challenge for all aid agencies. One of its two mobile medical units was “pushing on by foot” in the district of Dhading, close to the quake’s epicentre, because of access issues.

Although it was a race against time to save any quake survivors in the villages, it is also vital to get medical supplies out of the capital, Casey said. “Even people who have relatively minor injuries, unless they are treated they are at risk of infection. Water and sanitation is also a serious concern for people who are isolated. This area is prone to cholera and we could see disease outbreak,” he said.

Casey visited the town of Gorkha on Sunday and said although it was badly damaged the hospital was functioning. “The problem is getting to the northern villages, some of which are two days walk under normal circumstances. With landslides everyone is facing access problems,” he said.

The return journey to Kathmandu “took hours and hours” he said. “It was a parking lot with people living the city and there are landslides along the road to India.” Thousands of earthquake survivors across Nepal have been venting their anger at the government for failing to address their basic needs for food, water and shelter, writes Ishwar Rauniyar.

A group of protestors broke into government offices in Dolakha district. “Hundreds of people came to the office and vandalised it” said the senior official in the district, Prem Lal Lamichhane. “We have been requesting for basic tents, food and water, but we haven’t received anything from the centre, so how can we provide help,” he said.

Lamichhane said the protesters did not have a place to sleep, and lack food and drinking water. Sasmita Shrestha, 24, in Chautara of Sindhupalchowk district said people were very angry with the government. “None of the government bodies or the aid agencies have visited us to provide relief. We are still living in the open.”

She said there were chaotic scenes after the first relief packages were brought into government offices. “It’s true we haven’t been able to reach to all the places,” said Krishna Prasad Gyawali, a top bureaucrat in the district. There are similar problems in Lalitpur district in Kathmandu valley, according to the chief district officer Yadav Koirala. He said dozens of people have gathered in the goverment offices to demand more aid.

The Nepalese government’s promise of free bus rides out of Kathmandu continues to backfire as those frustrated at queue for places vent their anger at the government. Reuters reports that 200 Nepalis protested outside parliament, demanding the government increase the number of buses going to the interior hills and improve distribution of aid. There have been more scuffles this time over water, AFP reports:

Desperate Nepalis clashed with riot police and seized supplies of bottled water in the capital Wednesday as anger boiled over among survivors of the earthquake. Supplies are running thin and aftershocks have strained nerves in the ruined city, home to some 2.5 million before it was shattered by Saturday’s 7.8 magnitude quake. Desperate to leave, thousands of people began gathering from before dawn outside the main bus station after the government promised to lay on special services to far-flung rural areas.

But when the buses failed to materialise, anger began surging and scuffles broke out between the crowds and riot police who were sent in to try to contain the situation near parliament. Some protesters forced a truck carrying drinking water off the road and climbed on top of it, throwing the bottles into the crowd.

Columns of riot police stood behind rolls of barbed wire as rioters armed with sticks surged into the street, attacking buses and other vehicles. At one point a young woman was pulled from her scooter and assaulted by an angry protester. Onlookers screamed at him to stop before riot police pulled him away. The government acknowledged it had been overwhelmed by the devastation.

“There have been some weaknesses in managing the relief operation,” Communications Minister Minendra Rijal told Nepal’s Kantipur Television. “The disaster has been so huge and unprecedented that we have not been in a position to meet the expectations of the needy people. But we are ready to accept our weakness, learn and move ahead in the best way possible.”

Nepal’s police spokesman Kamal Singh Bam has acknowledged that many Nepalese are “dissatisfied” by the slow pace of relief supplies, writes Ishwar Rauniyar. Bam said: “We are trying our best with our available resources. We lack expertise and human resources to act promptly.” He added: “We have sent relief packages to different districts including Kathmandu valley, Kavre Sindhupalchowk, Dolakha, Dhanding, Gorkha and others, so we hope people will get some respite soon,” Bam said.

Dozens of people in Kathmandu expressed anger when they were denied free bus tickets promised by the government. “The government is neither helping us to go out of Kathmandu, nor providing us proper relief,” said Ramesh Mahato (pictured) 25, from Sarlahi district. “We are living under the tent, with no water and food,” he added. Reuters has more on the tensions over rescue flights and relief supplies among trekkers and locals.

It said Israeli trekkers fought for food and for places on rescue helicopters after being denied shelter by locals in the aftermath of the earthquake. Up to 250 people were feared missing immediately after an avalanche on Tuesday hit a village in Langtang, a national park north of the capital Kathmandu. In the event, there were no confirmed deaths or serious injuries.

Hundreds of trekkers, many of them cold and hungry, were unable to make it back to safety because roads and paths had been blocked, while some guest houses damaged in the quake shut their doors to visitors. Israeli trekker Lily Milkovich said there had been fights to get on the choppers, but tensions eased when it became clear that there would be enough flights to bring everyone to safety. One Israeli rescuer described the situation in Langtang as “tense”, and said there had been fights over scarce food between stranded trekkers and Nepali villagers.

“Villagers think the tourists are taking too much of the food,” said Amit Rubin, who is based at Kathmandu airport with a team from Magnus International Search & Rescue. District governor Uddhav Bhattarai, directing operations from the pick-up point, said 100 people were airlifted out on Wednesday morning with another 125 to come. The Israeli helicopters were rescuing their own nationals first, before retrieving people from other countries, he told Reuters.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders to announce 2016 presidential run.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders to announce 2016 presidential run
(J. Scott Applewhite/AP)
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, is planning to announce on Thursday that he will run for president in 2016 and will enter primary and caucus contests as a Democrat, a senior Sanders adviser told ABC News. The announcement will indicate that Sanders will launch his campaign in May, most likely in his home state of Vermont.

Sanders’ entry in the race gives Democrats at least one liberal alternative to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who declared her candidacy earlier this month. Sanders will also be Clinton’s first formal Democratic challenger. Sanders is a self-described independent socialist and will enter the race as a definite long shot. The expected announcement comes at a time of growing liberal unease over President Obama’s agenda and amid angst that Clinton won’t be pushed sufficiently leftward with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, taking a pass on the race.

Sanders, 73, currently serves as the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee and previously served as the chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. Sanders has proudly noted he’s the longest-serving independent member of Congress in U.S. history. ABC News’ Arlette Saenz contributed to this report.

Justice Roberts revives an old argument that could save gay marriage.
This artist rendering shows former Michigan Solicitor General John Bursch defending state laws during the Supreme Court hearing on same-sex marriage. Justices, from left: Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer, Antonin Scalia, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Samuel Alito and Elena Kagan. (Photo: Dana Verkouteren/AP)
The gay rights movement has spent years trying to convince judges across the country that prohibiting same-sex marriage discriminates against gays and lesbians solely because of their sexual orientation. But on Tuesday, a surprising question from Chief Justice John Roberts revived a very different legal strategy that the gay rights movement had all but abandoned.
Roberts, who generally sides with the court’s conservatives, asked John Bursch, who was defending Michigan’s same-sex marriage ban, whether the law discriminates against people based on their gender. "Counsel, I’m not sure it’s necessary to get into sexual orientation to resolve the case,” Roberts said. “I mean, if Sue loves Joe and Tom loves Joe, Sue can marry him and Tom can’t. And the difference is based upon their different sex. Why isn’t that a straightforward question of sexual discrimination?”
Bursch responded that he believed the government can legally draw lines based on sex if it’s related to biology, such as the ability to procreate. But Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg disagreed with his interpretation, interrupting his rebuttal.
The argument quickly moved on to other questions, but the point Roberts raised hung in the air, suggesting a way for the chief justice to strike down state bans on gay marriage on relatively narrow grounds, without finding a fundamental right to marriage for LGBT people.
Twenty years ago, the gay rights movement won its first legal victory in the Hawaii Supreme Court using this very samegender discrimination argument. Same-sex couples are generally denied marriage licenses based on their gender, not their sexual orientation. If a straight man wanted to marry a straight man, he would not be allowed to in a state that bans same-sex marriage. So, as Roberts points out, the reason a man is denied a marriage license to marry another man is his gender. If he were a woman, he could marry his partner.
But since the Hawaii decision — which was later rebutted by a Constitutional same-sex marriage ban — judges have gone out of their way to reject it. In 2008, the California Supreme Court explicitly said that the marriage ban discriminated against gay people — not against people for their gender. And gay marriage advocates have focused on the fact that LGBT people are a group that’s unfairly discriminated against for their sexual orientation.






Justice Roberts revives an old argument that could save gay marriage
An opponent of gay marriage protests outside the Supreme Court Building. The historic case could prevent states from banning gay marriage. (Photo: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA)

“Courts recently haven’t been particularly open to the argument,” said Doug NeJaime, a law professor at the University of California at Irvine. The argument also avoids confronting the issue of discrimination against the actual LGBT people who are affected by same-sex marriage bans.
“I can’t say it’s been a winning theory, but there’s a lot about it that’s correct,” said Mary Bonauto, the gay rights lawyer who argued on behalf of same-sex married couples Tuesday. Bonauto had mentioned gender discrimination in a reply brief to the Michigan government, but it was not a main argument in her case.
Iran diverts Marshall Islands cargo ship in Strait of Hormuz
Iran diverts Marshall Islands cargo ship in Strait of Hormuz
Maersk Tigris in Egypt’s Damietta Port. (Photo credit: dpa.gov.eg)
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps ships intercepted a Marshall Islands-flagged commercial cargo vessel in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, forcing it “further into Iranian waters,” the Pentagon said. Multiple U.S. government sources said there were no Americans aboard the Maersk Tigris.
Several Iranian patrol craft intercepted the Tigris at 5:05 a.m. eastern time as it traveled “on an internationally recognized maritime route,” according to a statement from the Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
“The IRGCN contacted the vessel and directed the Maersk Tigris’ master to divert further into Iranian Waters. The master initially declined and one of the IRGCN patrol craft fired shots across the Maersk Tigris’ bow. The master then complied and diverted under escort by the IRGCN vessels,” according to the statement.
In response to a distress call, the U.S. Navy ordered the USS Farragut, an Arleigh Burke Class Guided Missile Destroyer, “to proceed at best speed to the nearest location of the Maersk Tigris,” while reconnaissance aircraft kept track of the diverted vessel, according to the statement.
The U.S. military has been in contact with officials from the Maersk shipping company, who say that the Iranians boarded the Tigris.
The confrontation occurred as the U.S. Senate prepared to take up legislation aimed at giving lawmakers more of a say on President Barack Obama’s proposed nuclear deal with Iran.
While the Marshall Islands are a sovereign state, “the United States has full authority and responsibility for security and defense of the Marshall Islands,” according to the State Department.
The semi-official Iranian news agency Fars reported that Iran had taken control of a U.S. ship and its 34 crew for “trespassing” in its territorial waters, Reuters said.
Nicole Wallace has a new what sems like a very interesting concept in her new book / novel. USA Today (Patty Rhule) reviews it saying that a female president stars in new novel.
The 45th president of the United States has a thick shock of blond hair and a husband who strayed.
Calm down, Republicans: This isn't the "inevitable" Hillary Clinton. President Charlotte Kramer is the Republican head of state in Madam President (**½ out of four), Nicolle Wallace's latest capital dish about life in the White House.
A co-host of TV's The View, Wallace was communications director for President George W. Bush and most famously, an adviser to vice presidential hopeful Sarah Palin who later revealed unflattering traits of the former governor of Alaska.
In her third novel about Washington, Wallace tells the story of President Kramer and the women who serve her: Melanie, her secretary of defense, who is pregnant with her first child, and Dale, the president's press secretary, a former White House correspondent.
President Kramer is a uniter, not a divider. So after revealing to the American people that the first gentleman had an affair with Dale during her first term in office, Kramer naturally makes the now-disgraced White House reporter one of her closest aides. If you can get past that unlikely event, this novel will prove a breezy romp through the corridors of power town.
President Kramer is dealing with the aftermath of a post-9/11 terror attack on five U.S. cities as Melanie jets home from Iraq. Dale is trying to manage the press. Madame President swirls with characters who will have readers speculating over who inspired them. And Wallace provides another dig at Palin, when Kramer crosses party lines to choose a Democrat to replace a vice president who stepped down due to mental health issues.
635657330359487111-Madam-President-cover-image
It turns out terrorists take a back seat to the pushy press corps who dog Dale, including a CBS duo — Lucy and Richard — filming a "day in the life" special the day of the attacks. These two read like a mashup of Charlie Rose and Gayle King and Morning Joe's Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough. But even demanding journalists have their soft sides, and when personal disaster strikes Dale, Lucy proves herself a friend.
Wallace knows her way around Washington and the type-A plus women you find there. This well-timed book about a president who happens to be female is bound to get attention as campaign 2016 steams forward. But it's no replacement for a good episode of West Wing.
Madam President, By Nicolle Wallace

And, about this debate (and its quite a debate) happening on the show now, if the White House administration would get involved in that Hillary Clinton issue, it would not be good for Hillary. They will not chime in about that issue any time soon. That is why they have been so silent about it. it would prove to be detrimental to the democratic party.

I forgot to mention and write about how the Baltimore oriole game will be played in an empty stadium. That is the most ridiculous thing i ever heard and honestly, when i heard about that last night, I thought I heard wrong. I forgot about it till now and I have to say that is just ridiculous. 
Baltimore police officers stand outside the stadium prior to the cancellation of the game between the Chicago White Sox and Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, April 27, 2015. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports
Baltimore Orioles to play in empty stadium as Baltimore reels from rioting.In what will be a first for Major League Baseball, the Baltimore Orioles will host the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday in a stadium closed to fans as Baltimore copes with some of the worst U.S. urban rioting in years.

The Orioles said Wednesday's scheduled 7:05 p.m. game would be played at 2:05 p.m. before an empty Camden Yards ballpark.

The team's games scheduled for Monday and Tuesday nights were postponed after Baltimore erupted in violence following the funeral of Freddie Gray, a black man who died in a hospital a week after sustaining injuries in police custody.

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake set a week-long curfew in the city beginning on Tuesday.

Major League Baseball has never played a game without fans, said MLB's official historian, John Thorn. Some European soccer games have been closed to the public as punishment for unruly fan behavior at previous matches.

"After conversations with the Orioles and local officials, we believe that these decisions are in the best interests of fan safety and the deployment of city resources," MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said.

"Our thoughts are with all those who have been affected by violence in Baltimore, and everyone in our game hopes for peace and the safety of a great American city."

It is not the first time events outside the ballpark have disrupted baseball's schedule. On the day of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.'s funeral on April 9, 1968, Major League Baseball postponed all its scheduled season-opening games. Baltimore and other major U.S. cities experienced rioting after the civil rights leader's assassination.

During the July 1967 riots in Detroit, the Tigers postponed one game and rescheduled two others to be played in Baltimore.

Major League Baseball shut down for a week after the Sept. 11, 2001, hijacked plane attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon outside Washington.

The 1989 World Series between the Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants was put on hold for 12 days after an earthquake struck the Bay Area before Game 3 in San Francisco on Oct. 17.

The Orioles said on Tuesday that games scheduled at Camden Yard Friday through Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays would be moved to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

This week's postponed Orioles-White Sox games will be made up as part of a doubleheader at Camden Yards on May 28.

(This version of the story adds details about Freddie Gray's death in the third paragraph)

(Reporting by Steve Ginsburg in Washington; Editing by Peter Cooney and Lisa Shumaker)
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