Joining today's show are John Heilemann, Harold Ford Jr., Katty Kay, Jeremy Peters, Amy Holmes, Ari Shavit, Chris Cilizza, Andrea Mitchell, Sen. John McCain, Rep. Peter King, Jamie Weinstein, Sara Eisen, Doc King and more
Before today's show gets started, I did watch True Detective and Big Brother last night so far and I love True detective so far this year. I cannot believe there are only 3 more episodes left for the season and also, Colin Farrel is a sick actor. His character really went off big time last night. Plus, getting the three main characters together to help stop whatever corrupt issues the state and counties face, is great. I am psyched but from a production POV, they have jumped back and forth quickly because i had no clue that the would be suspended after that shoot, and then boom, from one scene to the next one, they were set up by the woman from 'The Wire' to work together but not as on duty police. Regardless, I just want them to work together and when Colin's character shows up at Vince Vaughan's characters house at the end, I could not believe the episode was already over last night.
And, with regard to BB (Big Brother), i hope that the double nominees and the 'on the block' competition stops sooner than later. With the alliances and with the contestants thinning out by this week, there is no one for anyone to pick and actually, it seems like everyone but the Head of Households are on the block. because again, when you add in the alliance of the six, there is no one to pick. Also, Audrey need to stop the lies three weeks ago and she was caught yapping about things again last night or in the last week. That will or should end her bid because she is just a yapper. Even the way the producers showed her get up after the three of them (James, Jason and meg) were talking about the nominations, I assumed she would run to talk to someone about what they just said in that room. She did that but in other ways or in defense mode. We also missed some of what was said because Jason did not even say that much directed at Audrey. The edits showed a normal conversation. But again, she just digs her own grave so to speak when after her big melee a few weeks ago, she should have shut up and minded her own business. Austin or Judas still annoys me. He is a wild card but at the same time, he will act all cool for at least a few more weeks because he of his so called bond in that group but he also has a big mouth that tells anyone anything at any given time. It will be a time bomb that will go off in due time because he won't win the entire thing, but he will turn on someone on a whim.
Anyway, the Donald (Trump) went there this weekend talking about how John McCain was captured back during the Vietnam War. The problem with it is that there are nuances to it. He was the leader of the group and he let other people get released before him, and i think he may have entered that situation because again, he led the regime or whatever its called. It was not a smart comment to say off the cuff like he did over the weekend. The reason on its own is again, there are nuances to John McCain's capture and he was not captured back then because he was bad at whatever he was doing strategy wise or military wise. (John) McCain did not put up his arms giving up during that war. There was a lot going on during it. And as of now, the
Donald (Trump) says he does not owe John McCain apology and the one and only thing he (Donald Trump) has going for him is that he is saying things out loud that a certain element want to hear. It will run its course. As Hillary (Clinton) says or said the other day or maybe it was yesterday, he (Donald Trump) is spewing out hate and negatives and honestly, it is really because it is all he has going for him. He has no solutions. He has no plan. He has no political strategy. He is just throwing bombs at everything (immigration issues and people not from America) and at anyone (John McCain, etc.). Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said he does not owe John McCain an apology for saying the Arizona senator is only a war hero “because he was captured.”
Trump told Martha Raddatz on ABC's "This Week" that he won't be pulling out of the presidential race over his comments, which he made Saturday during a campaign event in Iowa. Trump said he left to a "standing ovation" after speaking at the Family Leadership Council summit.
"When I left the room, it was a total standing ovation," said Trump. "It was wonderful to see. Nobody was insulted."
Hillary Clinton Calls Out Trump for 'Insults' of John McCain
Trump Draws GOP Fire for McCain Remarks at Iowa Summit
Trump Blasts McCain's Military Record, Says He's 'Not a Fan'
When speaking about McCain on Saturday, Trump said he likes "people who weren't captured." He didn't back down when asked about the comment.
"People that fought hard and weren't captured and went through a lot, they get no credit," he said. "Nobody even talks about them. They're like forgotten, and I think that's a shame, if you want to know the truth."
Before Trump's comments Saturday, McCain had said the real estate mogul was firing up "crazies." Trump had already found himself embroiled in controversy over comments he made last month regarding Mexican immigrants.
Raddatz asked Trump if McCain's capture in Vietnam -- where he spent five years as a prisoner of war and was beaten and tortured by the North Vietnamese -- described a war hero. He reiterated what his campaign said following his comments Saturday -- that he was disappointed in the Arizona senator because of how veterans are treated in the U.S.
"I'm very disappointed in John McCain because the vets are horribly treated in this country," said Trump. "I'm fighting for the vets. I've done a lot for the vets."
Trump said veterans were treated like "third-class citizens," adding that McCain has "done nothing to help the vets."
Trump didn't serve in the Vietnam War after receiving four student deferments and an additional medical deferment after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School in 1968. He said he would have "proudly served" but wasn't drafted because of his high lottery number.
"If I would have gotten a low number, I would have been drafted. I would have proudly served," he said. "But I got a number, I think it was 356. That’s right at the very end. And they didn't get -- I don’t believe -- past even 300, so I was -- I was not chosen because of the fact that I had a very high lottery number."
Asked if he would continue his pattern of "name-calling, using terms like 'dummy,' 'loser,' 'total losers' on Twitter and elsewhere" when he's "criticized or attacked" if he was elected president, Trump told Raddatz he only gives it back to people who attack him.
"When people attack me, I let them have it back," he said. "People are constantly attacking my hair. I don’t see you coming to my defense."
Trump has come under criticism from numerous fellow 2016 candidates on both sides of aisle. Hillary Clinton called the attack on McCain "shameful." Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry said the comments by Trump made him unfit to be president and said the reality TV star should withdraw from the race.
But yeah, it took this John McCain comment to get the GOP field to finally speak up against him. Even when he said the immigration comment and those comments about the Mexican community, the silence was deafening and again, it took this comment for everyone to finally speak up against him.
Trump also said in so many words that McCain has abandoned our veterans and that he ("I") will fight for them.
John McCain has called his own constituents who want a secure border “crazies.” No one in the news media or the establishment, including the Republican National Committee, criticized the senator for those comments.
Now, as respected reporter Sharyl Attkisson has proved point by point, the news media are also distorting my words. But that is not my point. McCain the politician has failed the state of Arizona and the country.
During my entire business career, I have always made supporting veterans a top priority because our heroes deserve the very best for defending our freedom. Our Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals are outdated dumps. I will build the finest and most modern veterans hospitals in the world. The current medical assistance to our veterans is a disaster. A Trump administration will provide the finest universal access health care for our veterans. They will be able to get the best care anytime and anywhere.
Thanks to McCain and his Senate colleague Bernie Sanders, their legislation to cover up the VA scandal, in which 1,000+ veterans died waiting for medical care, made sure no one has been punished, charged, jailed, fined or held responsible. McCain has abandoned our veterans. I will fight for them.
The reality is that John McCain the politician has made America less safe, sent our brave soldiers into wrong-headed foreign adventures, covered up for President Obama with the VA scandal and has spent most of his time in the Senate pushing amnesty. He would rather protect the Iraqi border than Arizona’s. He even voted for the Iran Nuclear Review Act of 2015, which allows Obama, who McCain lost to in a record defeat, to push his dangerous Iran nuclear agreement through the Senate without a supermajority of votes.
A number of my competitors for the Republican nomination have no business running for president. I do not need to be lectured by any of them. Many are failed politicians or people who would be unable to succeed in the private sector. Some, however, I have great respect for.
My record of veteran support is well-documented. I served as co-chairman of the New York Vietnam Veterans Memorial Commission and was responsible, with a small group, for getting it built. Toward this end, I contributed over $1 million so our warriors can be honored in New York City with a proper memorial. I also helped finance and served as the grand marshal of the 1995 Nation’s Day Parade, which honored over 25,000 veterans. It was one of the biggest parades in the history of New York City, and I was very proud to have made it possible.
I will continue to fight to secure our border and take care of our veterans because these steps are vital to make America great again! Donald Trump is a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.
BTW, I had no clue Al Frankin made that comment about John McCain when he was running for POTUS. The bttom line is that even if you think that basic about getting captured at war, you do not say it out loud to anyone. Especially, if you are a person that has never been part of any military, let alone part of any wars.
The bottom line is that from a political POV, you cannot win that GOP nomination with the veterans behind you as a candidate.
Uber locks horns with NY city hall over fleet expansion. The ride-booking app Uber is fighting New York's city hall, which wants to keep in check a fleet of vehicles that already far outnumbers the Big Apple's trademark yellow cabs.
Townhall in the largest US city could vote as early as next week to limit increases in what it calls new for-hire vehicles (FHV) pending a study on their impact on traffic, and in particular traffic jams.
The limitation could be severe: an increase of just one percent per year for companies with more than 500 vehicles, and five percent with those with between 20 and 499 vehicles. "What is good for Uber may not be good for New York City," said Wiley Norvell, a spokesman for city hall.
He cites figures: more than 20,000 Uber vehicles now operate in New York, compared to 13,587 yellow taxis.
And 2,000 new permits for for-hire vehicles are granted every month, and the FHV fleet, of which Uber cars are just a part, has shot up 63 percent in size since 2011.
To back up its argument against unleashing more Uber cars, city hall cites such issues as quality of life, public health and businesses' ability to thrive.
It notes that average traffic speed in Manhattan has gone down nine percent between 2010 and 2014, going from 9.3 miles (15km) per hour to 8.5 miles per hour.
City hall says the New York's streets cannot necessarily handle a "tide of new vehicles."
Months of talks with Uber have gone nowhere. City hall blames what it calls an "ideological clash."
David Plouffe, a former aide to President Barack Obama and now chief strategist for Uber, made a special trip to New York this week for meetings with city officials. Tensions got even worse.
In recent days, Uber has gone all out with TV ads and a campaign of emails and petitions accusing Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio of "pushing the agenda of his big taxi donors."
"I think it is less about traffic congestion than it is about political contributions," Plouffe told reporters.
The price of a medallion - the city-issued license required to operate a yellow cab - has dropped 23 per cent since 2013, when it topped US$1 million.
Uber's ads feature drivers from minority ethnic heritages and say the mayor's proposals will destroy more than 10,000 jobs.
The ads also depict families in Queens or the Bronx, boroughs where it is hard to find a taxi.
"Vital services for thousands of New Yorkers may vanish," says one of the ads.
Uber users have received an email asking them to sign a petition denouncing the mayor's plans.
And a "de Blasio" tab has been added to the Uber app to show users the extra waiting time that they can expect to endure if the bill limiting expansion of for-hire vehicles wins approval.
"New York overall would not see a reduction in congestion from capping for-hire vehicles using Uber, but instead would halt progress made through technological innovation over the past years," the company said.
"Uber technology has helped expand service to those who were previously underserved." "Uber - a US$40 billion corporation - is spending millions on a misleading political campaign to convince New Yorkers that it doesn't need more oversight from the City," First Deputy mayor Tony Shorris said this weekend.
"Meanwhile, there are serious questions about how Uber treats its customers, its workers, and whether it is flooding New York City's already heavily-crowded streets with thousands of more vehicles."
Germany, London and Paris have faced the same problem, city hall says.
The war against the ride-booking app looks set to drag on: in San Francisco, the company was just fined US$7.3 million for not turning over internal information about rides, including handicap accessibility.
The issue is becoming political, too, as the campaign for the 2016 presidential election is taking shape.
Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush has defended Uber as providing a "pretty vital service."
Democrat Hillary Clinton has stressed that the sharing economy raises questions about protecting people's wage levels.
Mayor de Blasio bullied business groups to stay out of the Uber debate in the weeks leading up to the City Council vote this week on controversial bills to curtail new licenses for e-hail cars. Deputy Mayor Tony Shorris called Partnership for New York City’s Kathy Wylde and the Association for a Better New York’s Bill Rudin to alert them to the bills — and to threaten them to stay on the sidelines, sources said.
“Their message is, ‘This isn’t your fight. Stay out of this and we’re not going to bother you,’ ” said a political source familiar with the outreach. The implication was that if the groups defied the mayor, City Hall would “limit your business opportunities,” he said.
“It’s a heads-up that this is coming up and this isn’t something you should be involved in,” the source added.
Wylde, whose members include CEOs of companies that employ over 1 million New Yorkers, said the city shouldn’t be “trying to shut down innovative businesses” like Uber and Lyft.
“We do think the city should not be taking a knee-jerk reaction against these companies simply because they run afoul of historic interests,” said Wylde.
A spokeswoman for Rudin, whose group includes Uber, declined to comment. De Blasio spokesman Wiley Norvell said Shorris briefed business leaders on both bills, but denied they were lobbying.
Frustrated yellow-cab fleet owners have been pressuring the de Blasio administration to curb e-hail companies and protect their medallions, which are plummeting in value. The industry was one of the first major groups to back de Blasio during his nascent mayoral run, pouring $550,000 into his coffers since January 2013. They also kicked in $70,000 to his inauguration committee and dropped $10,000 into his universal pre-K fund.
But until now they had little to show for their support.
“The yellows have been getting progressively more furious at de Blasio for what they see as betrayal,” said one industry source. “Fleet owners went to Shorris or de Blasio, said: You’re really f–king with us. We’re there for you. Do the right thing by us — put a halt to Uber.”.
Cosby admitted pursuing younger women in deposition. Bill Cosby said he had sexual relationships with at least five women outside his marriage, gave prescription sedatives to women he wanted to have sex with and tried to hide the affairs from his wife, according to a court deposition obtained by CNN.
The deposition, first reported by the New York Times, was taken 10 years ago and stems from a civil lawsuit filed by Andrea Constand -- one of two dozen women who have publicly accused the comedian of sexual assault over four decades, often alleging he gave them some sort of drug without their knowledge.
CNN independently obtained a copy of the full deposition.
Cosby, 78, has never been criminally charged and has vehemently denied wrongdoing. In the deposition he says the sex and drug-taking were always consensual.
When reached for comment Sunday, Cosby publicist Andrew Wyatt said, "No comment at this time." Constand attorney Dolores Troiani said she could not comment due to the confidentiality of the lawsuit settlement. CNN has not been able to obtain Constand's deposition.
Intense questioning
In the deposition, taken in a Philadelphia hotel, the wealthy and popular entertainer faced intense questioning about how he conducted relationships with women. For instance, Troiani asked about a model he met more than two decades ago at a club in Denver.
Cosby: We had sex and we had dinners and sex and rendezvous.
Troiani: What are rendezvous?
Cosby: Rendezvous is when you call somebody and say, do you want to be at such and such and they say yes and you go there.
Troiani: Is there sexual contact associated with the rendezvous?
Cosby: There was with (the woman) every time.
The woman alleged Cosby drugged a cup of coffee and had sex with her while she was unconscious.
Troiani: She says that she was in a car and that when she awoke her clothes were a mess, her bra was undone, her top was untucked and I was sitting there going, oh, my God, what happened. Do you recall anything such as that ever happening with her?
Cosby: I wasn't there.
Earlier this month, a judge released a memorandum of law relating to the Constand lawsuit which contained portions of the deposition in which Cosby has admitted to getting prescription Quaaludes to give to young women he wanted to have sex with.
In those earlier documents, Cosby says he gave Constand one and a half tablets of Benadryl -- an over-the-counter antihistamine that can cause drowsiness -- to relieve stress.
Bill Cosby admitted to getting Quaaludes to give to women
Cosby says he obtained a prescription for the sedative Quaaludes from a Los Angeles doctor, ostensibly for a bad back. But Cosby said he never used the drug because they made him sleepy.
"Quaaludes happen to be the drug that kids, young people were using to party with and there were times when I wanted to have them just in case," he said.
For instance, Cosby said he was introduced to a young woman at the Las Vegas Hilton in the 1970s.
"She meets me backstage," he said. "I give her Quaaludes. We then have sex. ... I think she may very well have been very happy to be around the show business surroundings."
Constand's lawyer said, "She said that she believes she was not in the position to consent to intercourse after you gave her the drug. Do you believe that is correct?"
"I don't know," Cosby replied.
"Why don't you know?
"That's her statement," he said. "I don't know. How many years ago are we talking about? Nineteen seventy what?"
Twenty years later the woman contacted Cosby and asked for money, saying he'd promised her $500 for every A she earned in school, Constand's lawyer says in the deposition.
Cosby said he thought she was broke and gave her a total of $10,000.
When Constand's lawyer asked who Cosby wanted to hide the payments from, he replied: "Mrs. Cosby."
Cosby said he imagined his wife would have known he was helping pay for Constand's education but not because they'd had sex and Constand was now upset, he said in the deposition. In her lawsuit, Constand alleged she was the victim of non-consensual sex.
First meeting
In the deposition, Cosby mostly discusses his relationship with Constand but described sexual relationships with at least five women in different cities across the nation, in hotels and in one of his homes.
Constand was a staffer for the women's basketball team at Cosby's alma mater, Temple University, when she visited Cosby's Pennsylvania home in 2004. She told police in her home province of Ontario, Canada, in January 2005 that Cosby gave her medication that made her dizzy and she woke up to find her bra undone and her clothes in disarray.
In the deposition, Cosby says he first met Constand at a Temple athletic facility where he showed her a back-relaxation technique.
"It's one where she gets on my back with her back and her arms come under mine and I grab her and I say, now you relax," the deposition quotes him as saying. "And her legs are hanging out in the air and I go up and down and I give that jolt and it's supposed to line the vertebrae."
She talked about wanting a tighter butt, he said, so he touched it.
"It wasn't a sexual opening," he said. "It's a woman who is working with basketball players, who used to be a jock, who also got on my back and is like that and she was very comfortable about that."
When asked how he caused a romantic relationship to develop, Cosby said he acted as a mentor, "Inviting her to my house, talking to her about personal situations dealing with her life, growth, education access and thoughts to how to acquire a more aggressive attitude, protecting oneself in business."
Cosby said he always looked for nonverbal clues that women welcomed his sexual advances.
"I think I'm a pretty decent reader of people and their emotions in these romantic sexual things, whatever you want to call them," he said in the deposition.
Though sometimes argumentative and seemingly evasive with Constand's lawyer, Cosby described a sexual encounter in such detail that it took several deposition pages. He said he and Constand were sitting on a sofa when he touched her stomach.
"I don't hear her say anything," he said. "And I don't feel her say anything. And so I continue and I go into the area that is somewhere between permission and rejection. I am not stopped."
Constand went to authorities with her allegations in January 2005 but in February of that year authorities -- citing a lack of evidence -- said no charges would be filed against Cosby.
Similar stories
Cosby eventually settled Constand's suit in which 13 "Jane Does" had similar stories of sexual abuse. The suit was settled under confidential terms in 2006.
Since then, more than 25 women have publicly accused Cosby of raping or assaulting them over the past 40 years. He has never faced criminal charges, partly because almost all the accusations fall outside statutes of limitations.
Cosby talked about his philosophy of sex in the deposition, saying he tried to avoid sexual intercourse because he didn't want women falling in love with him.
My dad reminded me yesterday when I made a joke about him needing to get laid this way, that he was married. Even still, what a loser to act that way and how much fun is it to have sex with people that do not want to have sex with you? It seems like it cannot be that much fun. I say the same thing about violent rapes. It looks like it is NOT fun for even the people doing it because I do not get that way of acting towards other people. Let alone to what? have sex? It is very odd behavior to have sex that way.
The panel is back to discussing how Al Franken made that comment about John McCain's military service but honestly, Chris Rock made a joke or had some bit about it too. Should he apologize? I still find it funny how it takes this comment about John McCain for there to be an uproar with regard to Donald Trump in that GOP field, and yet it was silent when that one comment about how Mexican's rape people and moreover, how those are the people sent to America by the Mexican Government.
Israel's Netanyahu is pushing hard against Iran nuclear deal. But others are pushing back. By now it's pretty clear who hates the agreement reached between Iran and world powers over the country's nuclear program. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been front and center in attacking the agreement.
"A historic mistake for the world," he declared the day the agreement was reached. Today he took to ABC and CBS to urge the US Congress to stop the agreement from being ratified. "I think the right thing to do is merely not to go ahead with this deal. There are many things to be done to stop Iran's aggression and this deal is not one of them," he said on CBS.
Mr. Netanyahu and his political allies in the US and Israel have long been opposed to a negotiated settlement that lifts sanctions on Iran while allowing it to retain some nuclear infrastructure. He also called the 2013 preliminary agreement that led to the current deal a "historic mistake."
Could you pass a US citizenship test? Find out.
But what he's been light on is offering realistic alternatives. Many of his complaints focus on Iran's non-nuclear foreign policy - its support for Hamas, its support for Syria's Bashar al-Assad, and its involvement on the side of Baghdad in Iraq's civil war - essentially arguing that as long as the Islamic Republic remains the Islamic Republic it shouldn't be negotiated with. He told Israel's security cabinet this week that no concessions should be made to Iran until it stops calling for the destruction of the US and Israel. But there's the problem. The US managed to rally international support for an unprecedented sanctions regime on Iran by focusing exclusively on nuclear non-proliferation. Iran was offered a way out if it promised to drastically reduce its stockpile of enriched uranium, take centrifuges off line, and change its heavy water reactor at Arak in such a way that it will no longer be able to produce weapons grade plutonium. Iran has agreed to all that - and agreed to expanded inspections to verify that it's following through.
Is Iran's revolutionary regime, which built a lot of its legitimacy on anti-Americanism, going to abandon "death to American" chants at rallies any time soon? No. But it's conventional military is puny in comparison to the US (Iran's spending is about $15 billion a year, against America's $620 billion; total defense spending by the NATO alliance is around $900 billion.) Nuclear weapons are great equalizers for weaker states - one reason Iran might want one, and the reason is the Middle East's only nuclear power. If that's taken off the table, the threat from Iran recedes into the distance.
Even if Israeli pressure can convince enough members of Congress to not only vote against the deal, but provide a veto-proof two-thirds majority, that would leave Israel and the US alone on the issue. The other major parties to the agreement - China, Russia, Germany, France, and the UK - are not only united in support for the deal but are unlikely to come on board for a new sanctions regime as tough if it falls through.
And it isn't just foreign powers who disagree with Netanyahu. There are plenty in Israel who do as well.
Meir Javedanfar, an Iranian-Israeli who teaches at the Interdisciplinary Center in Heziliya, has doubts about the agreement, but also sees positives.
"The leaders of Israel have every right to voice their concerns over the current deal. Even the opposition is concerned about it. But the deal’s restrictions on Iran mean that the breakout time needed to make a nuclear weapon has been pushed back to a year. Without the deal it would be two to three months," he writes.
It was completely unrealistic for Netanyahu to demand that Iran give up its entire nuclear program. The opposition is also guilty of having unrealistic expectations, for instance, about Iran’s funding of Israel’s enemies. How could any deal aimed at stopping Iranian financial support to Hezbollah and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad be verifiable? Also, when it comes to support for Hezbollah, Iran spends $200 million a year on the organization. Last year, Iran’s official budget was $294 billion. Help for Hezbollah was a mere .07 percent of the funds available to it. Even without the sanctions, Iran could still support Hezbollah.
Or take Uzi Even, an Iranian nuclear physicist who worked at the country's Dimona reactor. "The deal was written by nuclear experts and blocks every path I know to the bomb. The Iranians may be celebrating, but they have in fact swallowed a very bitter pill, more so than they would like to let on," he writes. " In simple terms, a violation of the deal will lead to new sanctions on Iran, hence my confusion regarding the staunch resistance inspired by this deal, especially among non-radical elements in Israeli politics."
To be sure, support in Israel for the agreement seems a lot slimmer than opposition. And in the US, the Obama administration is lobbying publicly today as well. Secretary of State John Kerry and Energy Secretary Earnest Moniz went on CNN to argue for the deal.
"The fact is that the real fear of that region should be that you don't have the deal. If Congress doesn't pass this, if Congress were to kill this, then we have no inspections, we have no sanctions, we have no ability to negotiate," Kerry said on "State of the Union."
Bernie Sanders Takes His Populism to the Red States and Draws Huge Crowd; Sanders' message seems to be resonating across the country. Today, Sanders took his Southwestern tour to Dallas and Houston. In Dallas, he spoke to nearly 10,000 people. The senator condemned the Democratic Party's political strategy in the South, saying that it has “conceded half of the states in the national level.” He said that when “childhood poverty in Texas is 27 percent, we've gotta take it on. When 34 percent of people living in Texas have no health insurance, we've gotta take it on.” The people sitting in the bleachers behind him took to their feet to applaud when he said it makes more sense to invest in “jobs and education” rather than “incarceration,” something that has become a feature of his stump speech.
Sanders' speech in Phoenix on Saturday night brought together an estimated eleven to twelve thousand people – one of the largest political rallies in the city's history (by comparison Barack Obama got 13,000 in January 2008). The crowd gave Sanders standing ovations at numerous points, such as when he condemned police violence, called for tuition-free college, and demanded that American provide for the veterans of its wars. It's worth noting that, in contrast to Donald Trump's homogeneous audience, Sanders’ crowd was extremely diverse; there was heavy representation of young Latinos, with one activist introducing the Senator before his speech.
Bernie is campaigning across the Southwest to show he has broader appeal than just the safe blue-state regions of the country. It is an echo of the swing through the South that Sanders did in 2013, when he was still considering his candidacy.
“I really strongly disagree with this concept that there’s a blue state and red state America,” he told In These Times in an interview that year. “I believe that in every state in the country the vast majority of the people are working people. These are people who are struggling to keep their heads above water economically, these are people who want Social Security defended, they want to raise the minimum wage, they want changes in our trade policy. And to basically concede significant parts of America, including the South, to the right-wing is to me not only stupid politics, but even worse than that—you just do not turn your backs on millions and millions of working people.”
Although the majority of the address in Phoenix was similar to the remarks the senator has given around the country, there were a few innovations. “God bless Pope Francis,” he joked. “Some people think my economic views are radical, you should check out this guy.” He also ended his address on a note of optimism, pointing out that while some may say this country can never have truly universal health care, this is the same country that in the span of two and a half years successfully defeated both the Germans and Japanese in the Second World War.
In Houston, Taylor Channing, a 25 year-old from Houston who has been volunteering with his local Bernie Sanders group, was thrilled by Sanders' visit.
“It's funny because whenever I found out the other day that he was coming to Houston, I mean it freaked out we weren't expecting such a gift or such an early visit to one of the reddest states in the nation,” he exclaimed. “I've never seen such a response to a progressive campaign in my lifetime. I thought the response I saw to Obama was huge but this is just, I mean it's just, it's insane.”
For Channing, this Southwestern tour is a sending a message to the entire country about the Bernie Sanders’ attitude towards politics. In his mind, Sanders is saying “I have no druthers about showing up in what is perceived to be a conservative bastion and just being who I am and seeing how the people respond.”
By the looks of the response in Phoenix and the expected response in Texas Sunday evening, this strategy is working.
I, like Mika, also believes that Joe Biden will enter the race fairly soon. I said it yet again at breakfast yesterday to my dad.
And Oh Yeah, have you seen that shark attack on Nick Fanning? I watched it as it happened yesterday. It was wild in that surreal sort of way. Former surfing world champion Mick Fanning has survived a shark attack during a surfing event at Jeffrey's Bay in South Africa.
US and Cuba restore ties by opening embassies; Full diplomatic ties officially restored as embassies open after 54 years of enmity between countries. The United States and Cuba have reopened embassies in each other's countries for the first time in 54 years in a move that officially restores their full diplomatic ties.
Cuba on Monday was to open its Washington mission with a ceremony attended by hundreds of guests, while the US was to restore its former Havana mission, which has operated under the auspices of the Swiss Embassy, into a fully-fledged US embassy after midnight on Sunday.
Presidents Barack Obama and his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro exchanged letters last month agreeing to unfreeze ties on July 20, when the embassies could be reopened.
Obama - who was born the year the US embassy was closed, in 1961 - then hailed the deal as a "historic step forward" that would end a failed and archaic US policy of isolating the island.
Al Jazeera's Lucia Newman, reporting from Havana, described the decision as "a long-awaited game changer".
"This week's renewal of diplomatic relations does not erase political differences but psychologically it raises the curtain for most Cubans," she said.
Obama ordered a review of Cuba's status on America's state sponsors of terrorism list as part of a landmark policy shift in December when he and Castro announced they would work towards a broader normalisation of ties.
Will Havana survive or become 'just another city'?
The announcement followed a half-century of enmity, a crippling economic embargo, CIA assassination plots and a Cuban missile crisis.
The presidents then met in April at the Summit of the Americas in Panama City in the first meeting between the countries' leaders in decades and announced a "turning point" towards warmer relations.
The United States formally dropped Cuba from a list of state sponsors of terrorism the following month, and has since announced moves to allow increased trade and travel between the countries.
Larry Luxner, the editor of the Washington Diplomat, said it was clear from recent developments in America's relationship with Iran and Cuba, that Obama wanted to leave a legacy of improved diplomatic ties.
"It's a new approach by the White House of wanting to correct the wrongs of the past," he told Al Jazeera. Source: Al Jazeera and agencies.
Anyway, John McCain is on the show and the Today Show viewers are with Morning Joe for this interview too. He (John McCain) is acting like I had known he would act. Which is very magnanimous and certainly not angered about Trumps comment we spoke about many times today. Joe calls it the 'high road' and Joe reminds everyone that people that dodge the draft and that have never spent one day in the military should probably not speak about (let alone criticize) other people that have served for America.
And, regarding his opinions about the Nuclear Deal with Iran, he just did mention how Vietnam and the U.S.'s relationship has grown to be a positive one. He should not be hypocritical about but then again, Vietnam's situation was much different back then compared to Iran today and over the last decade or so. I just wish we would have gotten our six prisoners out from the grasp of the Iranian government and police. That to me would have been a deal breaker. No one in jail in Iran should be in it. But again, it is a bit hypocritical to think that our relations with Vietnam and how that has grown to be great today is OK but yet we cannot get to those levels with say Iran. The bottom line is that for the most part in Iran, they love America and our culture.
Chattanooga, Tennessee: FBI Probes Shooting Suspect's Computer for Islamic State Group Ties. Investigators are also searching the cellphone of Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez, who officials say killed five service members. Abdulazeez had suffered from depression for years, his family said.
Jordan Spieth Surges in Round 3 of British Open, Grand Slam in Reach.The 144th British Open was about rain, wind and balls moving around on the greens seemingly of their own accord. It was about Nick Faldo’s sweaters, Tom Watson’s twilight, Tiger Woods’s ennui, and waiting—mostly waiting. In other words we didn’t really know what this Open was about.
We do now. Jordan Spieth, 21, took advantage of a defenseless Old Course, rocketing up the leaderboard with a third-round 66 to put himself in position for a historic third straight major championship victory. Should that come to pass, he would keep the calendar-year grand slam in his sights; no one has ever won all four majors in one year.
“I do recognize what’s at stake,” Spieth said. “And for me to accomplish that feat is going to be to simplify things and just go about our business.” Vying to become the first player to win the season’s first three majors since Ben Hogan in 1953, Spieth shot a back-nine 32 to get to 11-under par and was just one shot behind co-leaders Jason Day (67); 22-year-old Irish amateur Paul Dunne (66); and South African Louis Oosthuizen (67), who won the 2010 British Open at St. Andrews.
Two-time British Open winner Padraig Harrington (65) also shot into contention and was at 10-under par, just two back. Zach Johnson (70), Adam Scott (70) and 46-year-old Retief Goosen (69) were among those in a massive logjam at 9-under. There were 14 players within three shots of the lead, but aside from the amateur Dunne, who just graduated from the University of Alabama Birmingham, there was no doubt who would draw the most attention in Monday’s final round: Spieth.
“He’s a heavy favorite, even being one shot back,” said Australia’s Day, who will join Spieth in the second to last twosome for the final round. “Everyone knows it.”
With a victory, Spieth, who will turn 22 next week, would make history—neither Jack Nicklaus nor Tiger Woods ever won the first three majors of the golf season—and also surpass the injured world No. 1 Rory McIlroy atop the World Ranking.
That’s a lot to play for, and Spieth was already trying to steady himself.
“It hasn’t come up in my head while I’ve been playing yet,” he said after taking just 27 putts Sunday, including crucial par-savers at 13 and 17. “I can’t speak for tomorrow, given that it’s the last round, and if I have a chance coming down the stretch, if it creeps in, I’ll embrace it—I’ll embrace the opportunity that presents itself.” Rain and wind made the season’s third major a maddening stop-and-start affair, pushing the start of the third round to Sunday, when competitors found an easier Old Course—soggy from rain that fell overnight and in the morning, and devoid of wind.
The birdie barrage was on—David Duval shot a 5-under 67 to get to 5-under. Rickie Fowler came in with a 66 to get to 7-under. English pro Eddie Pepperell, 24, came in with a 66 (8-under total) despite hitting his drive off the Old Course Hotel and making a double-bogey at the 17th hole. Marc Leishman had a 64 to get to 9-under.
“Perfect conditions,” said Jim Furyk, who shot 66 to get to 6-under.
“Getting out with no wind was amazing,” said Leishman, who made eight birdies and no bogeys.
After making birdie at the par-4 first hole and the par-5 fifth, Spieth was stuck in neutral. He birdied the par-4 seventh to get to 8-under but bogeyed the ninth, where he’d split the fairway and left himself only a lob wedge for his approach shot.
“I think I punched my golf bag,” he said. “I wasn’t going to break a club or anything, or throw a club, but I just—I didn’t want to hit Michael [Greller, Spieth’s caddie], so I figured I’d hit my golf bag. … To be at 2-under at that point, when the front nine is gettable and as easy as the conditions get, I was extremely frustrated.”
In retrospect, it was a very productive outburst. On the inward nine, where Spieth had shot no better than even par for the week, he went 4-under.
Monday will no doubt feature a crowded leaderboard, and most likely there will be more wind and rain, which was falling shortly after the end of play Sunday. Harrington, 43, will be going for his third Open title and his fourth major. Day will try to heed the lessons of close calls at the Masters and elsewhere. Oosthuizen, who could and probably should have won a second major by now, will try to right that wrong. There will be many possible storylines, and the amateur Dunne is sure to be a crowd favorite.
But after a shaky couple of days the Spieth Slam is back on, and nothing is bigger than that. The 144th British Open has found its footing. For more news that golfers everywhere are talking about, follow @golf_com on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and subscribe to our YouTube video channel.
In the United States alone, twenty-two Veterans commit suicide per day. Project 22 follows two combat-wounded Veterans on a mission to find hope. Riding motorcycles from San Francisco to New York, Daniel and Doc speak with Veterans about post-war challenges that lead to suicide and the healing Veterans are finding in alternative forms of therapy such as sailing, pottery, education, service dogs and more. During the 6,500 mile journey, our riders interview leading researchers, mental health clinicians and educators who specialize in Traumatic Brain Injury and Post Traumatic Stress, as well as, a leading expert in Warrior Culture and Combat Stress. Asking hard hitting questions and opening up about their own struggles, Daniel and Doc will stop at nothing to reach tomorrow's twenty-two. After tragedy struck home last year, two combat-wounded Veterans set out to end a little-known epidemic in America. Their 6,500 mile, cross-country mission was to raise awareness of the high rate of suicide amongst Veterans and to show their Brothers and Sisters-in-arms that there is hope for them. During their journey, they interviewed researchers, health-care providers and Veterans. Many of those they encountered had either contemplated or attempted suicide and were able to share the life-saving alternative sources of hope that they had found. Asking hard-hitting questions and opening up about their own struggles, and painfully spurred on by recent estimations that 22 Veterans take their own lives every single day, Daniel and Doc will stop at nothing to reach tomorrow's twenty-two.
Overall is what Jamie Weinstein has said today and it is what I also said to my dad yesterday over breakfast yesterday, along with me saying it many times but with regard to Donald Trump. If you praise the guy, he will speak highly of you calling you the best thing since sliced bread so to speak and if you speak about him in any derogatory ways, he will put you down in a big way. Case in point is over the last few days with John McCain and it is only because he (McCain) spoke down about him over the last two weeks. The same goes with Lindsey Graham. He will be next on Trump's negative list if his name gets brought up to him. But again and overall, that is Donald Trump and that is how he gauges other people.
Regardless of it, stay in touch.
Cuba on Monday was to open its Washington mission with a ceremony attended by hundreds of guests, while the US was to restore its former Havana mission, which has operated under the auspices of the Swiss Embassy, into a fully-fledged US embassy after midnight on Sunday.
Presidents Barack Obama and his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro exchanged letters last month agreeing to unfreeze ties on July 20, when the embassies could be reopened.
Obama - who was born the year the US embassy was closed, in 1961 - then hailed the deal as a "historic step forward" that would end a failed and archaic US policy of isolating the island.
Al Jazeera's Lucia Newman, reporting from Havana, described the decision as "a long-awaited game changer".
"This week's renewal of diplomatic relations does not erase political differences but psychologically it raises the curtain for most Cubans," she said.
Obama ordered a review of Cuba's status on America's state sponsors of terrorism list as part of a landmark policy shift in December when he and Castro announced they would work towards a broader normalisation of ties.
Will Havana survive or become 'just another city'?
The announcement followed a half-century of enmity, a crippling economic embargo, CIA assassination plots and a Cuban missile crisis.
The presidents then met in April at the Summit of the Americas in Panama City in the first meeting between the countries' leaders in decades and announced a "turning point" towards warmer relations.
The United States formally dropped Cuba from a list of state sponsors of terrorism the following month, and has since announced moves to allow increased trade and travel between the countries.
Larry Luxner, the editor of the Washington Diplomat, said it was clear from recent developments in America's relationship with Iran and Cuba, that Obama wanted to leave a legacy of improved diplomatic ties.
"It's a new approach by the White House of wanting to correct the wrongs of the past," he told Al Jazeera. Source: Al Jazeera and agencies.
Anyway, John McCain is on the show and the Today Show viewers are with Morning Joe for this interview too. He (John McCain) is acting like I had known he would act. Which is very magnanimous and certainly not angered about Trumps comment we spoke about many times today. Joe calls it the 'high road' and Joe reminds everyone that people that dodge the draft and that have never spent one day in the military should probably not speak about (let alone criticize) other people that have served for America.
And, regarding his opinions about the Nuclear Deal with Iran, he just did mention how Vietnam and the U.S.'s relationship has grown to be a positive one. He should not be hypocritical about but then again, Vietnam's situation was much different back then compared to Iran today and over the last decade or so. I just wish we would have gotten our six prisoners out from the grasp of the Iranian government and police. That to me would have been a deal breaker. No one in jail in Iran should be in it. But again, it is a bit hypocritical to think that our relations with Vietnam and how that has grown to be great today is OK but yet we cannot get to those levels with say Iran. The bottom line is that for the most part in Iran, they love America and our culture.
Chattanooga, Tennessee: FBI Probes Shooting Suspect's Computer for Islamic State Group Ties. Investigators are also searching the cellphone of Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez, who officials say killed five service members. Abdulazeez had suffered from depression for years, his family said.
Jordan Spieth Surges in Round 3 of British Open, Grand Slam in Reach.The 144th British Open was about rain, wind and balls moving around on the greens seemingly of their own accord. It was about Nick Faldo’s sweaters, Tom Watson’s twilight, Tiger Woods’s ennui, and waiting—mostly waiting. In other words we didn’t really know what this Open was about.
We do now. Jordan Spieth, 21, took advantage of a defenseless Old Course, rocketing up the leaderboard with a third-round 66 to put himself in position for a historic third straight major championship victory. Should that come to pass, he would keep the calendar-year grand slam in his sights; no one has ever won all four majors in one year.
“I do recognize what’s at stake,” Spieth said. “And for me to accomplish that feat is going to be to simplify things and just go about our business.” Vying to become the first player to win the season’s first three majors since Ben Hogan in 1953, Spieth shot a back-nine 32 to get to 11-under par and was just one shot behind co-leaders Jason Day (67); 22-year-old Irish amateur Paul Dunne (66); and South African Louis Oosthuizen (67), who won the 2010 British Open at St. Andrews.
Two-time British Open winner Padraig Harrington (65) also shot into contention and was at 10-under par, just two back. Zach Johnson (70), Adam Scott (70) and 46-year-old Retief Goosen (69) were among those in a massive logjam at 9-under. There were 14 players within three shots of the lead, but aside from the amateur Dunne, who just graduated from the University of Alabama Birmingham, there was no doubt who would draw the most attention in Monday’s final round: Spieth.
“He’s a heavy favorite, even being one shot back,” said Australia’s Day, who will join Spieth in the second to last twosome for the final round. “Everyone knows it.”
With a victory, Spieth, who will turn 22 next week, would make history—neither Jack Nicklaus nor Tiger Woods ever won the first three majors of the golf season—and also surpass the injured world No. 1 Rory McIlroy atop the World Ranking.
That’s a lot to play for, and Spieth was already trying to steady himself.
“It hasn’t come up in my head while I’ve been playing yet,” he said after taking just 27 putts Sunday, including crucial par-savers at 13 and 17. “I can’t speak for tomorrow, given that it’s the last round, and if I have a chance coming down the stretch, if it creeps in, I’ll embrace it—I’ll embrace the opportunity that presents itself.” Rain and wind made the season’s third major a maddening stop-and-start affair, pushing the start of the third round to Sunday, when competitors found an easier Old Course—soggy from rain that fell overnight and in the morning, and devoid of wind.
The birdie barrage was on—David Duval shot a 5-under 67 to get to 5-under. Rickie Fowler came in with a 66 to get to 7-under. English pro Eddie Pepperell, 24, came in with a 66 (8-under total) despite hitting his drive off the Old Course Hotel and making a double-bogey at the 17th hole. Marc Leishman had a 64 to get to 9-under.
“Perfect conditions,” said Jim Furyk, who shot 66 to get to 6-under.
“Getting out with no wind was amazing,” said Leishman, who made eight birdies and no bogeys.
After making birdie at the par-4 first hole and the par-5 fifth, Spieth was stuck in neutral. He birdied the par-4 seventh to get to 8-under but bogeyed the ninth, where he’d split the fairway and left himself only a lob wedge for his approach shot.
“I think I punched my golf bag,” he said. “I wasn’t going to break a club or anything, or throw a club, but I just—I didn’t want to hit Michael [Greller, Spieth’s caddie], so I figured I’d hit my golf bag. … To be at 2-under at that point, when the front nine is gettable and as easy as the conditions get, I was extremely frustrated.”
In retrospect, it was a very productive outburst. On the inward nine, where Spieth had shot no better than even par for the week, he went 4-under.
Monday will no doubt feature a crowded leaderboard, and most likely there will be more wind and rain, which was falling shortly after the end of play Sunday. Harrington, 43, will be going for his third Open title and his fourth major. Day will try to heed the lessons of close calls at the Masters and elsewhere. Oosthuizen, who could and probably should have won a second major by now, will try to right that wrong. There will be many possible storylines, and the amateur Dunne is sure to be a crowd favorite.
But after a shaky couple of days the Spieth Slam is back on, and nothing is bigger than that. The 144th British Open has found its footing. For more news that golfers everywhere are talking about, follow @golf_com on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and subscribe to our YouTube video channel.
Overall is what Jamie Weinstein has said today and it is what I also said to my dad yesterday over breakfast yesterday, along with me saying it many times but with regard to Donald Trump. If you praise the guy, he will speak highly of you calling you the best thing since sliced bread so to speak and if you speak about him in any derogatory ways, he will put you down in a big way. Case in point is over the last few days with John McCain and it is only because he (McCain) spoke down about him over the last two weeks. The same goes with Lindsey Graham. He will be next on Trump's negative list if his name gets brought up to him. But again and overall, that is Donald Trump and that is how he gauges other people.
Regardless of it, stay in touch.
