Insanely Good: August 2017

Thursday, August 31, 2017

News Alert: First travel ban case settled

People blocked from entering the US under President Trump's first travel ban can reapply for visas, according to a settlement.

In the brief period after the first travel ban went into effect on January 27, a number of people with valid visas were denied entry into the US and put on planes back to where they came from. Two Iraqi nationals filed suit after being detained at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

Less than 24 hours after Trump signed the executive order, a federal judge ruled in their case that the travel ban was unconstitutional. Because the case was filed as a class action lawsuit, the ruling temporarily blocked the travel ban from being implemented nationwide.

The Supreme Court in June allowed parts of Trump's second travel ban executive order to go into effect and will hear oral arguments on the case in October.

----------------------------------------------
Get complete coverage of breaking news on CNN TV, CNN.com and CNN Mobile.
Watch CNN live or On Demand from your computer or mobile device using CNNgo.
----------------------------------------------

You have opted-in to receive this e-mail from CNN.com.
To unsubscribe from Breaking News e-mail alerts, go to: http://cnn.com/EMAIL/breakingnews/unsubscribe.html?l=domestic-adh-bn
One CNN Center Atlanta, GA 30303
(c) & (r) 2017 Cable News Network

News Alert: Wells Fargo uncovers up to 1.4 million more fake accounts

Wells Fargo says a deeper dig into the bank's broken sales culture has found a total of up to 3.5 million potentially fake bank and credit card accounts, up from its earlier tally of approximately 2.1 million. The additional 1.4 million fake accounts were discovered by a previously announced analysis that went back to January 2009 and that reviewed the original May 2011 to mid-2015 period.

The bank also discovered a new problem: thousands of customers were also enrolled in online bill pay without their authorization. The review found 528,000 potentially unauthorized online bill pay enrollments.

Wells Fargo has blamed the scandal, which began last September, on unrealistic sales goals placed on employees.

Explosions at Texas chemical plant

Two explosions and plumes of black smoke were reported at a flooded chemical plant in Crosby, Texas on Thursday, officials said.

One deputy has been taken to the hospital after he inhaled fumes from the Arkema peroxide plant, the Harris County sheriff's office tweeted. Nine others drove themselves to the hospital as a precaution, the sheriff's office said.

The explosions were reported around 2 a.m. (local time).

Joint show of force

The US and South Korea have staged a joint show of force over the Korean Peninsula, two days after North Korea fired a missile over Japan.

Two B-1B bombers, four F-15 fighter jets and four F-35B fighter jets took part in the joint US-South Korean exercise, an official with the South Korean Air Force tells CNN.

The exercise was designed to "strongly counter North Korea's repeated ballistic missile tests and development of nuclear weapons," the official said.

Wednesday, August 30, 2017

News Alert: Russia says Trump lawyer did write, but they didn't respond

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has confirmed that he got an email from Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's lawyer, asking for help moving a Moscow real estate deal forward, but said he did not respond and did not pass it on to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Peskov was responding to a question from CNN on a conference call with reporters.

Cohen -- who was executive vice president of the Trump Organization at the time he sent the email -- said on Monday that he had contacted the Kremlin for assistance in mid-January 2016 about building a Trump Tower in Moscow when the mogul was running for president, but denied that the project was related to Trump's campaign.

But the revelation appears to contradict Trump's vehement denials of any such business connections to Russia in the past.

Cohen told CNN on Monday his message to Peskov was "an email that went unanswered that was solely regarding a real estate deal and nothing more."

Tuesday, August 29, 2017

News Alert: Harvey continues to pound Texas

Thousands of people have been r escued from the flooding brought on by Harvey, but an untold number are still trapped in their homes awaiting help as Harvey continues to batter Texas.

The rainfall from Harvey reached a record high: Areas southeast of downtown Houston reported more than 48 inches of rain, the most ever recorded from a tropical storm in the contiguous US.

The storm is expected to make a second landfall on Wednesday. As water continues to rise in Houston and other parts of Texas, the deadly storm could dump up to 15 more inches of rain in the area and in western Louisiana.

Here are the latest developments:

-- Houston's mayor issued a nightly curfew for the flooded city from midnight to 5 a.m. until further notice to prevent property crimes of evacuated homes.

-- President Trump visited Corpus Christi and Austin on Tuesday to review aid efforts. He will go to Louisiana on Saturday.

-- A Houston police officer's body was recovered early Tuesday. He drowned trying to get to work during the flood.

-- Houston and Dallas opened up mega-shelters to host the thousands of evacuees.

-- Houston officials will not ask for immigration status or documentation from anyone at any shelter.

For how to help Harvey's victims, visit here.

Monday, August 28, 2017

Panic levels rise

Harvey continues dumping rain on East Texas and the waters continue to rise. People are starting to panic, rushing rescue boats and even shooting at them if they don't stop, said one volunteer rescuer.

Clyde Cain, of the Cajun Navy, a Louisiana-based rescue force that gained fame during Hurricane Katrina, said in one instance, a boat broke down, and while the crew sought shelter in a delivery truck, people tried to steal the inoperable boat.

Because of the hostile responses, the Cajun Navy has been forced to halt some rescue attempts, Cain said.

There is no indication the water will stop rising anytime soon. Forecasters say more rain is coming. Lots more.

Other developments:

-- President Donald Trump said he believes Congress will act quickly to provide disaster relief funding to the areas affected by Hurricane Harvey.

-- This photo treatment shows Houston then and now.

-- One analyst expects retail gas prices to go up about 15 cents a gallon, perhaps more along the Gulf Coast.

-- With emergency responders overwhelmed, civilians and strangers have become heroes for storm victims.

-- A Houston television station that temporarily stopped broadcasting Sunday is back on the air.

-- Harvey has dumped 11 trillion gallons of rain over Texas, according to a weather analytics expert. Here’s a look at Harvey’s impact by the numbers.

-- Want to help victims of Hurricane Harvey? Here's how.

News Alert: North Korea launches projectile

North Korea has launched a missile that flew over Japan, the Pentagon confirmed Monday.

The launch occurred at 5:57 a.m. local time. Japan's Chief Cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga said the missile passed over the Erimo Cape of Hokkaido. It is estimated to have fallen in the Pacific Ocean, about 1,180 km east of the Erimo Cape.

"We have to say that this morning's launch by the North is the most serious and grave threat ever to us, as the missile seems to have passed through our airspace," Suga told reporters at a news conference, according to Japan's NHK public broadcaster. "It could endanger peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region. It is also very dangerous and problematic in terms of the traffic safety of planes and ships. The launch is an obvious violation of UN resolutions. We cannot tolerate these repeated provocations by the North. We condemn this in the strongest possible way."

Sunday, August 27, 2017

National Weather Service: We've never seen rain like this

Flooding from Tropical Storm Harvey is overburdening resources as authorities in and around Houston scramble to save those trapped by the high waters.

The National Weather Service calls the flooding "unprecedented" and warns things may become more dire if a record-breaking rain total of 50 inches falls on parts of Texas.

"The breadth and intensity of this rainfall are beyond anything experienced before," the service said. "Catastrophic flooding is now underway and expected to continue for days."

Several states and the US military are sending emergency workers and equipment to Texas.

In Harris County, though, authorities are having trouble getting supplies and equipment.

"We've requested boats, all the things that would normally happen in a well-planned response to an event like this, but they can't get here," Harris County Judge Ed Emmett said.

Houston’s mayor warned the rain could exacerbate flooding for "four to five days," and Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Brock Long said he expects his agency "is going to be there for years."

Latest updates:

President Donald Trump plans to travel to Texas on Tuesday, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said.
The Houston Independent School District has canceled school for the week.
Houston's William P. Hobby Airport is closed until Wednesday because of flooding, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
Ben Taub Hospital is being evacuated after flooding in the basement "disrupted the power source," Emmett said.
Some 316,000 customers have lost electricity, Gov. Greg Abbott said.
The storm forced key oil and gas facilities on the US Gulf Coast to close.

Saturday, August 26, 2017

News Alert

In a result that shocked few, Floyd Mayweather defeated Conor McGregor by technical knockout at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The only certainty of this fight was that it would be a spectacle not seen before.

Two different sports worlds collided into a 12-round junior middleweight boxing match: Mayweather, considered one of the best defensive boxers of all time, coming out of retirement at age 40 seeking to become the first boxer to reach 50 fights undefeated. McGregor, 29, is the current UFC lightweight champion and the most exciting draw in mixed martial arts today -- but it was his first professional boxing match.

It was billed as the first boxing-UFC crossover bout in history.

Friday, August 25, 2017

Harvey marches into Texas

Hurricane Harvey made landfall Friday night between Port Aransas and Port O'Connor, Texas. Because it is expected to come to a near halt inland, Harvey could drop as much as 40 inches of rain in some places, and up to 30 inches in others, by Wednesday.

The Category 4 storm made landfall with winds of 130 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.

Harvey is the first Category 4 hurricane to make landfall in the United States since Hurricane Charley in 2004.

The storm is pounding the Texas coast and its millions of residents, knocking down trees, power poles and signs, and flooding streets with torrential rains.

The hurricane center warns that some areas will see storm surges of up to 13 feet and large, destructive waves.

"Texas is about to have a very significant disaster," said Brock Long, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

News Alert: Trump issues controversial pardon

President Trump has pardoned controversial former sheriff Joe Arpaio of his conviction for criminal contempt, the White House said.

Arpaio, who was a sheriff in Maricopa County, Arizona, was found guilty of criminal contempt last month for disregarding a court order in a racial profiling case. Arpaio's sentencing had been scheduled for October 5.

"Not only did (Arpaio) abdicate responsibility, he announced to the world and to his subordinates that he was going to continue business as usual no matter who said otherwise," wrote US District Judge Susan Bolton in the July 31 order.

Trump indicated he would pardon Arpaio at a rally in Phoenix, Arizona, on Tuesday: "I won't do it tonight because I don't want to cause any controversy."

"I'll make a prediction," Trump said, adding, "I think he's going to be just fine."

However, civil rights groups have pushed back against the possibility of Arpaio's pardon.

After Trump's comments at the Phoenix rally, the ACLU tweeted out a statement and a graphic that read: "No, President Trump. Arpaio was not 'just doing his job.' He was violating the Constitution and discriminating against Latinos."

Arpaio, who has called himself "America's toughest sheriff," was an early Trump supporter, but his stance on illegal immigration was what had earned him national recognition.

News Alert: Trump signs directive banning transgender recruits

President Trump has directed the military not to move forward with an Obama-era plan that would have allowed transgender individuals to be recruited into the armed forces, following through on his intentions announced on Twitter a month earlier to ban transgender people from serving.

The presidential memorandum also bans the Department of Defense from using its resources to provide medical treatments for transgender individuals currently serving in the military.

Trump also directed the departments of Defense and Homeland Security "to determine how to address transgender individuals currently serving based on military effectiveness and lethality, unitary cohesion, budgetary constraints, applicable law, and all factors that may be relevant," a White House official said.

The official signaled that the administration was returning to the military's pre-2016 policy under which no transgender individuals were allowed to serve openly in the armed forces, but said Trump was giving the secretaries of defense and homeland security leeway to determine the policy on currently serving transgender troops.

News Alert

Lee Jae-yong, the de facto leader of the Samsung business empire, has been sentenced to five years in prison by a South Korean court after he was found guilty of bribery and other charges on Friday.

Dubbed the "trial of the century," Lee's case has gripped the country for months, channeling widespread discontent over the cozy ties between big business and government.

Thursday, August 24, 2017

News Alert

Harvey has strengthened to a Category 2 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 100 mph, the National Weather Service says.

Highways in Texas filled with cars Thursday into the night as coastal residents made their way north and out of the path of a hurricane that forecasters say will bring "life-threatening" amounts of rain.

Some areas could get as many as 35 inches of rain from Hurricane Harvey and many will get more than a foot, forecasters from the National Hurricane Center say.

Harvey is rapidly becoming more powerful and is forecast to become a Category 3 hurricane with winds of at least 111 mph by the time it hits the middle Texas coast late Friday or early Saturday, the hurricane center says.

After hitting Corpus Christi, the storm is expected to stall over the state, forecasters say.

News Alert: Record Powerball winner's big plans

And the winner is … Mavis Wanczyk.

She takes home the largest single lottery jackpot ever in North America, the $758.7 million grand prize in Wednesday's Powerball.

Wanczyk, who has two adult children, said her big plan is to retire early, and she's already called her boss to say she isn't coming back. Asked what she planned to do to celebrate on Thursday night, she responded, "I'm going to just hide in my bed."

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Clinton says her 'skin crawled' in debate with Trump

In her upcoming memoir, Hillary Clinton expresses regret and explains what she wishes she could go back and do differently during her failed 2016 campaign, according to excerpts released Wednesday.

In one of the excerpts, Clinton specifically addressed how she felt to have now-President Donald Trump standing behind her during a debate at Washington University in St. Louis.

"It was incredibly uncomfortable," she said, describing the moment. "He was literally breathing down my neck. My skin crawled. It was one of those moments where you wish you could hit pause and ask everyone watching, well, what would you do?"

The book -- which is titled "What Happened" and is rendered as a statement, not a question, on the cover -- is set to be released September 12. The excerpts were obtained by MSNBC's "Morning Joe," which aired the audio recording of Clinton reading the book herself.

Tuesday, August 22, 2017

News Alert

James Clapper, the former national intelligence director, questioned President Trump's fitness for office after the President's campaign rally in Phoenix on Tuesday.

Clapper, talking with CNN's Don Lemon after Trump's speech, also expressed concern about the President's access to nuclear codes.

During the speech, Trump defended his responses to the Charlottesville attack, but omitted that he blamed the clashes on "many sides."

Trump spent roughly 15 minutes near the beginning of his remarks going through each of the three public statements he made in response to the violence at the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville that left one counterprotester dead. In retelling his remarks, Trump didn't include his reference to "many sides" in his response on the day of the violence and his reference to "both sides" last Tuesday, comments seen as equating neo-Nazis with counterprotesters.

Trump also hinted he could pardon Joe Arpaio, the controversial former Maricopa County sheriff, amid reports the President is planning to pardon him for his conviction on criminal contempt charges.

"I'll make a prediction: I think he's going to be just fine, OK?" Trump said. "But I won't do it tonight because I don't want to cause any controversy. But Sheriff Joe should feel good."

News Alert: Missouri execution blocked

A Missouri man convicted of murder will not be put to death tonight after Gov. Eric Greitens ordered a review of his case amid new DNA evidence.

"A sentence of death is the ultimate, permanent punishment," Greitens said in a statement. "To carry out the death penalty, the people of Missouri must have confidence in the judgment of guilt. In light of new information, I am appointing a Board of Inquiry in this case."

The execution of Marcellus Williams, 48, had been scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. He was convicted in the death of Felicia Gayle, 42, a former reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper who was stabbed 43 times inside her home in August 1998.

Williams' lawyers say newly acquired evidence shows Williams' DNA was not found on the murder weapon, though DNA from another male was found.

That evidence was not available when Williams went to trial in 2001, court documents say. Williams maintains his innocence and says he was convicted on the testimony of individuals who were themselves convicted felons.

However, the Missouri Attorney General's Office had argued the execution should be carried out, saying the DNA evidence doesn't overcome non-DNA evidence that connects Williams to the crime.

Monday, August 21, 2017

News Alert: Trump says no deadlines on Afghanistan

President Trump laid out his goals for the war in Afghanistan in a primetime speech, saying he will not announce dates or troop levels but "from now on victory will have a clear definition."

Trump said those objectives will include "obliterating ISIS" and "preventing the Taliban from taking over Afghanistan." To achieve these goals, Trump said he would expand authority for the US millitary to target criminal and terrorist networks in Afghanistan.

Still, Trump warned that he was not offering a blank check of US support to Afghanistan, insisting that the country will have to continue to show a serious commitment and make strides toward addressing persistent issues like corruption.

In a CNN town hall aired live immediately after the President spoke, House Speaker Paul Ryan said he supported the President's war plan and that he was especially happy with how Trump came to his decision.

"I'm pleased with the decision," Ryan told CNN's Jake Tapper. "We cannot allow another safe haven for terrorists to materialize again."

Ryan said that he believed he'd heard a new "doctrine" Monday night from Trump.

News Alert: Total eclipse begins

The total solar eclipse has begun. It is the first to cross the United States from coast to coast in 99 years.

The moon will completely block out the sun over an approximately 70-mile-wide "path of totality," traveling from Oregon to South Carolina over the course of 94 minutes.

Watch CNN's unprecedented 360-degree live stream from 7 US locations as the eclipse moves east. Follow live updates.

And here’s how to make your own eclipse viewer in less than 10 minutes.

News Alert

Millions of people are forecast to flock to the very narrow swath -- 70 miles wide -- that today's solar eclipse will travel across the US.

"This will be like Woodstock 200 times over -- but across the whole country," said Alex Young, solar scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

The Federal Highway Administration is calling this a "planned special event for which there has been no recent precedent in the United States."

The moon, which many of us often take for granted, will quite literally have its day in the spotlight. Science geeks have been counting down to the millisecond for today's eclipse.

Professional photographers and amateur astronomers have bought and tested special solar filters for their cameras.

Even the surfers at surfline.com have gone along the Oregon coast and cleaned the lenses off their surf cameras so they can catch the first glimpses of the moon's shadow reaching the western shore.

Now, the day is here.

"The hair on the back of your neck is going to stand up, and you are going to feel different things as the eclipse reaches totality. It's been described as peaceful, spiritual, exhilarating, shocking," said Brian Carlstrom, deputy associate director of the National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Directorate.

If you don't believe, stop, watch and listen.

Sunday, August 20, 2017

Search and rescue underway

Ten US Navy sailors are missing after a US Navy guided-missile destroyer collided with a merchant ship east of Singapore early Monday, the Navy said in a statement.

The Navy's 7th Fleet said the USS John S. McCain collided with the merchant vessel while the destroyer was making its way to a port visit in Singapore. The collision was reported at 5:24 am local time, according to the Navy statement.

A Navy official told CNN the McCain was fighting flooding in several places and that it had limited propulsion and electrical power.

In addition to the 10 missing sailors, the Navy said five were injured in the collision.

Search and rescue efforts are underway, the Navy statement said, with helicopters and Marine Corps Osprey aircraft from the amphibious assault ship USS America responding.

Trump to address the nation

President Donald Trump will outline the United States' "path forward" in Afghanistan in a speech Monday night at 9p ET, the White House announced Sunday.

Trump's address at Fort Myer in Arlington, Virginia, comes as Trump and Secretary of Defense James Mattis have said a decision has been made on a new US strategy in Afghanistan.

Tune in to CNN's special live coverage of President Donald Trump's address at 9p ET Monday, followed by an exclusive town hall with House Speaker Paul Ryan, hosted by CNN's Jake Tapper.

Jerry Lewis dies at 91

Jerry Lewis, the slapstick-loving comedian, innovative filmmaker and generous fundraiser for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, died Sunday after a brief illness, his publicist Candi Cazau said. He was 91.

Cazau would not elaborate on the illness from which Lewis was suffering.

Lewis first gained fame for his frenzied comedy-and-music act with singer Dean Martin. When that ended in the mid-1950s, Lewis went solo, and by the early '60s, he had become a top draw in movies such as "The Bellboy," "The Nutty Professor" and "The Patsy." Along the way, he pioneered the use of videotape and closed-circuit monitors in moviemaking, a now-standard technique called video assist.

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

News Alert

In a remarkable news conference in the lobby of Trump Tower, President Donald Trump blamed the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, Saturday on both sides of the conflict, equating the white supremacists on one side with the "alt-left" on the other side.

"I think there is blame on both sides," he said.

“What about the alt-left that came charging at, as you say, the alt-right, do they have any semblance of guilt?" Trump said. "What about the fact they came charging with clubs in hands, swinging clubs, do they have any problem, I think they do."

He added: "You had a group on one side that was bad and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent. nobody wants to say it, but I will say it right now.”

Trump defended his 48-hour delay in denouncing white supremacists, arguing that he took his time because he didn't know the facts.

Friday, August 11, 2017

Trump: US military 'locked and loaded'

President Trump further escalated the war of words with North Korea Friday morning, saying the US was ready to respond militarily should the rogue nation "act unwisely."

"Military solutions are now fully in place, locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely. Hopefully Kim Jong Un will find another path!" he tweeted.

Trump has refused to back down in his verbal confrontation with the North Korean leader, suggesting to reporters Thursday that his threat to unleash "fire and fury" may not have gone far enough.

The standoff between the two nuclear nations has unsettled regional allies, which are scrambling to work out how to respond to the sudden escalation.

Thursday, August 10, 2017

News Alert: ‘Fire and fury’ not enough?

President Donald Trump reiterated his bellicose warning to North Korea from earlier in the week, telling reporters that his vow to bring "fire and fury" if North Korea continued to threaten the United States may not have gone far enough.

"Maybe it wasn't tough enough," Trump said during a lengthy exchange at his golf club in New Jersey.

In the same exchange, Trump hinted that GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell should consider stepping down if he can’t deliver legislation on health care, taxes and infrastructure.

Trump also said that his administration is working to declare the opioid crisis a national emergency, a designation that would offer states and federal agencies more resources and power to combat the epidemic.

News Alert: Poll finds Trump is more popular than Congress

Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress have earned the ire of most Americans, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, with nearly seven in 10 (68%) judging the Republican Congress a failure.

Approval of the current Republican leaders in Congress has dropped from 39% in January to just 24% now. President Trump gets the approval of 38% of Americans in the poll.

Only one in three Americans (34%) say they approve of Democratic leaders in Congress, while six in 10 (59%) disapprove.

Congress left for its August recess without passing any sweeping, comprehensive legislation, failing in its attempt to pass something on health care and leaving tax reform on the docket. A vote on the debt ceiling looms this fall.

Separately, a CNN poll found that 70% of Americans feel the President's finances are fair game in a probe of Russian meddling in the 2016 US elections. The poll was conducted in the wake of news that federal investigators are looking into whether Trump and his associates have financial ties to Russia.

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

News Alert: New warning to North Korea

US Defense Secretary James Mattis issued a dramatic warning to North Korea to "cease any consideration of actions that would lead to the end of its regime and destruction of its people" -- just one day after President Trump warned that the US could unleash "fire and fury" on Pyongyang.

"The DPRK must choose to stop isolating itself and stand down its pursuit of nuclear weapons," Mattis said in a written statement. Mattis has consistently said that he prefers to resolve issues over North Korea's missile and nuclear programs through diplomacy -- noting military action could yield catastrophic consequences.

Meanwhile, President Trump touted US nuclear capabilities in a morning tweet, potentially escalating further the growing standoff with Pyongyang.

"My first order as President was to renovate and modernize our nuclear arsenal. It is now far stronger and more powerful than ever before," Trump wrote, in an apparent reference to a review of US nuclear weapons that began earlier this year. "Hopefully we will never have to use this power, but there will never be a time that we are not the most powerful nation in the world!"

Also earlier in the day, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson sought to allay fears of a military confrontation -- defending Trump's comments but telling reporters there was no sign that the threat level from North Korea had changed and that Americans should "sleep well at night."

Tillerson dials back North Korea rhetoric

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is trying to reassure Americans that war with North Korea is not imminent, despite bellicose rhetoric from both President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.

"I have nothing that I have seen and nothing that I know of would indicate that the situation has dramatically changed in the last 24 hours," Tillerson said on a flight from the region. "Americans should sleep well at night," he said.

Tuesday, August 8, 2017

North Korea threatens US base

North Korea's military is "examining the operational plan" to strike areas around Guam with medium-to-long-range strategic ballistic missiles, state-run news agency KCNA said early Wednesday local time.

The threat comes just hours after US President Donald Trump warned Pyongyang that if they continued to threaten the US, they would "face fire and fury like the world has never seen."

Dubbed the "Tip of the Spear," Guam is a key to the US military's forward deployed presence in the Pacific and is home to thousands of American service members and their families.

The news comes as Americans have grown increasingly concerned that North Korea poses a very serious threat to the United States, according to a new CNN Poll conducted by SSRS.

Almost two-thirds of those polled, 62%, say Kim Jong Un's isolated dictatorship poses a deep threat to the US, up from 48% who said the same in March and the highest that figure has been in polling dating back to 2000.

That shift comes as 77% say they think North Korea is capable of launching a missile that would be able to hit the US.

'Rhinestone Cowboy' singer Glen Campbell dead at 81

Glen Campbell, the upbeat guitarist from Delight, Arkansas, whose smooth vocals and down-home manner made him a mainstay of music and television for decades, has died following a battle with Alzheimer's disease, his family announced on Facebook. He was 81.

Campbell is best remembered for a string of country-inflected hits that ran from the mid-'60s to the late '80s: "Gentle on My Mind," "Rhinestone Cowboy," "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," "Wichita Lineman," "Galveston," "Southern Nights" and "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" among them.

They fit in neatly on both pop and country radio, with two of them -- "Rhinestone Cowboy" and "Southern Nights" -- hitting No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. He was also famous for "The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour," a TV variety show that ran from 1969 to 1972.

In 2011, he announced he had Alzheimer's. Despite the diagnosis, he released an album, "Ghost on the Canvas," to positive reviews, and followed it with a tour. There were times he would forget lyrics or find himself suddenly unfamiliar with a chord change, but the audience urged him on.

He told CNN he had no regrets.

"I am content with it. Don't cry over spilt milk," he said. "Get up and be a man and do what you have got to do."

Campbell is survived by his wife, Kim, and eight children. Three previous marriages ended in divorce.

News Alert: Trump threatens North Korea with 'fire and fury'

President Trump has issued an extraordinary ultimatum to North Korea, warning Kim Jong Un not to make any more threats against the United States or they will "face fire and fury like the world has never seen."

The harsh words followed reports that US intelligence analysts have assessed that North Korea has produced a miniaturized nuclear warhead, according to multiple sources familiar with the analysis of North Korea's program. It is not believed that the capability has been tested, according to the sources.

"North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen... he has been very threatening beyond a normal state. They will be met with fire, fury and frankly power the likes of which this world has never seen before," the President said, delivering the comments during a photo op at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey.

Monday, August 7, 2017

News Alert: Most Americans don't trust Trump's White House

Six months into his presidency, Donald Trump's overall approval rating stands at its lowest point in CNN polling, while three-quarters of Americans say they can't trust most what they hear from the White House.

Overall, 38% say they approve of Trump's handling of the presidency, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, with 56% saying they disapprove. Just one other newly elected president has held an approval rating below 50% at this point in his presidency since modern polling began: Bill Clinton, whose approval rating stood at 44% at this point in 1993.

Still, these tepid ratings come even as most Americans feel things in the country are going well (53% say so), a number that's held roughly steady since April.

Sunday, August 6, 2017

Uprising in Venezuela

Venezuela remained a powder keg on Sunday as authorities said they had quelled an anti-government paramilitary attack at a military base.

Authorities said the early-morning rebellion, which took place at a military base in Valencia, about 150 kilometers (95 miles) west of Caracas, was swiftly contained.

After months of economic hardship and bloody political turmoil, a Constituent Assembly was voted into office last week, taking the place of the opposition-led National Assembly.

Saturday, August 5, 2017

New UN sanctions on North Korea

The United Nations Security Council today unanimously passed a resolution imposing new sanctions on North Korea for its continued intercontinental ballistic missile testing and violations of UN resolutions.

The sanctions will slash North Korea's $3 billion annual export revenue by more than a third, according to the office of US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley.

Haley, in an interview with CNN's Ana Cabrera, called the sanctions "a gut punch" to North Korea and warned of possible military action should the regime continue its aggression.

"What I will tell you from the United States' perspective, we're prepared to do whatever it takes to defend ourselves and defend our allies," Haley said. "The ball is North Korea's court. They now have to decide where they want to go from here. We hope that they will go the route of peace and security."

Haley’s comments echo those of H.R. McMaster, the White House national security adviser. McMaster said the possibility that North Korea could possess nuclear weapons capable of reaching the United States would be "intolerable" and could lead to a US military response.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, meanwhile, will meet Sunday with the Association of East Asian Nations in the Philippines. As part of his pressure campaign against North Korea, he will ask members to consider ousting the country from the group.

Friday, August 4, 2017

News Alert: Weather disasters to impact 2 out of 3 Europeans by 2100, study says

By the end of the century, two out of three people living in Europe will be affected by heat waves, coastal floods and other weather-related disasters, largely due to global warming and climate change, according to a study published Friday in the journal Lancet Planetary Health.

That's 350 million people in 31 countries subjected to an increased risk of death and health hazards.

Overall, weather-related disasters are expected to cause 152,000 deaths a year in Europe between 2071 and 2100, jumping from 3,000 weather disaster-related deaths a year between 1981 and 2010.

News Alert: Martin Shkreli convicted

Martin Shkreli, who gained national notoriety two years ago for jacking up the price of an AIDS drug, was convicted of securities fraud Friday for mismanaging two investment funds.

A jury in Brooklyn deliberated almost five days before returning guilty verdicts against Shkreli, 34, on two counts of securities fraud and a single count of conspiracy. He was acquitted on five other charges.

Outside court, Shkreli called his prosecution "a witch hunt of epic proportions."

News Alert: July jobs report is a milestone for Trump

America has added more than a million jobs since President Trump took office.

The US economy gained a strong 209,000 jobs in July, more than economists had expected. The unemployment rate fell to 4.3%, matching a 16-year low. Just after the Great Recession in 2009, unemployment peaked at 10%.

Many economists say the United States is at or near "full employment," meaning the unemployment rate won't go down significantly more.

While the United States has added 1.07 million jobs during Trump's six months in office, he isn't entirely responsible for the job market's wins and losses. A slew of factors throughout the economy affect hiring decisions.

Thursday, August 3, 2017

CNN Exclusive

Federal investigators exploring whether Donald Trump's campaign colluded with Russian spies have seized on Trump and his associates' financial ties to Russia as one of the most fertile avenues for moving their probe forward, according to people familiar with the investigation.

The web of financial ties could offer a more concrete path toward potential prosecution than the broader and murkier questions of collusion in the 2016 campaign, these sources said.

One year after the FBI opened an investigation, the probe is now managed by special counsel Robert Mueller. Sources described an investigation that has widened to focus on possible financial crimes, some unconnected to the 2016 elections, alongside the ongoing scrutiny of possible illegal coordination with Russian spy agencies and alleged attempts by President Donald Trump and others to obstruct the FBI investigation. Even investigative leads that have nothing to do with Russia but involve Trump associates are being referred to the special counsel to encourage subjects of the investigation to cooperate, according to two law enforcement sources.

News Alert: Transcripts reveal details of Trump's calls with world leaders

President Trump boasted about his election victory, pressured his Mexican counterpart to remain quiet about a border wall and called New Hampshire a "drug-infested den" in a phone call with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, according to a transcript of the conversation revealed on Thursday by The Washington Post.

The January 27 phone call with Peña Nieto came seven days after Trump entered office. In it, he focused mainly on issues of trade and immigration, with contentious moments coming in his insistence that Mexico will eventually pay for a wall along with US southern border. Peña Nieto has insisted publicly his country will not pay for the wall's construction.

"You cannot say that to the press," Trump said on the phone call.

Another transcript obtained by the Post reveals a tense January conversation with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in which Trump repeatedly scoffed at an Obama-era deal that called for the US to take in 1,250 of Australian refugees.

"This is going to kill me. I am the world’s greatest person that does not want to let people into the country," Trump said, among other things.

Wednesday, August 2, 2017

News Alert: NAACP issues travel warning

The NAACP issued its first-ever state travel advisory -- for Missouri. The organization's warning sends a strong message to people of color traveling through the state: Go at your own risk.

The travel advisory comes after the state passed a law that Missouri's NAACP conference says allows for legal discrimination. The warning cites several discriminatory incidents in Missouri, included as examples of "looming danger" in the state.

"Individuals traveling in the state are advised to travel with extreme CAUTION," the advisory warns. "Race, gender and color based crimes have a long history in Missouri."

News Alert: Trump rolls out plan to curb legal immigration

President Donald Trump has thrown his support behind legislation that looks to curb the level of legal immigration into the United States by proposing a skills-based system.

Top White House aides have been working with Republican Sens. David Perdue and Tom Cotton on a bill that -- if passed -- would dramatically remake the current immigration system, which allows a number of ways to bring family members to the US along with job-based visas.

Trump cast the proposal as a way to protect American workers by reducing unskilled immigration and creating a merit-based system that grades possible immigrants based on their ability to work in the United States.

"It has not been fair to our people, to our citizens, to our workers," Trump said of the current immigration system, specifically citing low-income and minority workers. The bill, Trump said, "would represent the most significant reform to our immigration system in half a century."

The effort is expected to be met with skepticism from both Democrats and Republicans. But Trump's support could help the measure gain traction.

News Alert: Trump signs Russia sanctions

President Donald Trump signed into law legislation that levies new sanctions against Russia and restricts Trump's own ability to ease sanctions in place against Moscow, a White House official said.

The bill is one of the first major pieces of legislation that was sent to Trump's desk, and it represents a rebuke of the President by giving Congress new veto power to block him from removing Russia sanctions.

Even before Trump signed the bill, the measure prompted Russian President Vladimir Putin to retaliate against the US over the new sanctions, which Congress levied over Russian interference in the 2016 US election, as well as Russia's annexation of Crimea and aggression in Syria.

Tuesday, August 1, 2017

News Alert: White House comments on Trump Jr.'s statement

President Donald Trump "weighed in" on a statement that was released after his son, Donald Trump Jr., was revealed to have met with a Russian lawyer in 2016, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Tuesday.

"The statement that Don Jr. issued is true," Sanders said. "There's no inaccuracy in the statement. The President weighed in as any father would, based on the limited information that he had."

The New York Times initially reported in early July that Trump Jr. met with a Russian lawyer along with Jared Kushner and former campaign chair Paul Manafort in Trump Tower in June 2016. Trump Jr. responded with a statement claiming the meeting was "primarily" about adoption and its relation to US sanctions on Russia under the Magnitsky Act.

But shortly after that first report, it was shown the initial statement was misleading. The Times reported that Trump Jr. accepted the meeting in hopes that it would yield damaging information on Hillary Clinton, but Trump Jr. said he received no information of consequence.

News Alert: Fox concocted Seth Rich story with White House, suit says

The White House worked with Fox News and a wealthy Republican donor to push a story about the murder of Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich, according to an explosive lawsuit filed Tuesday.

The story was pushed in an attempt to discredit the US intelligence community's determination that Russia hacked the Democratic National Committee and obtained the emails released by Wikileaks, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit, which was first reported by NPR, was filed in US District Court in the Southern District of New York. The plaintiff is Rod Wheeler, a Fox News contributor and former homicide detective hired to investigate Rich's death, who alleges that he was misquoted as part of the effort to put the story together. Douglas Wigdor, who is representing current and former Fox employees in other lawsuits against the network, is Wheeler's lawyer.

21st Century Fox, the Fox News Channel, Fox News reporter Malia Zimmerman and Republican donor Ed Butowsky are named as defendants. Butowsky denies the allegations in the lawsuit.

A spokesperson for the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reached for comment, a Fox News spokesperson pointed CNN to a comment that Jay Wallace, the network's president of news and editorial, gave to NPR in which he said an investigation found no "concrete evidence" Wheeler was misquoted.

Thursday, August 31, 2017

Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Monday, August 28, 2017

Sunday, August 27, 2017

Saturday, August 26, 2017

Friday, August 25, 2017

Thursday, August 24, 2017

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Monday, August 21, 2017

Sunday, August 20, 2017

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Friday, August 11, 2017

Thursday, August 10, 2017

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Monday, August 7, 2017

Sunday, August 6, 2017

Saturday, August 5, 2017

Friday, August 4, 2017

Thursday, August 3, 2017

Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Tuesday, August 1, 2017

Followers

Blog Archive

About Me