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Hillary Clinton on Monday was pressed by NPR Fresh Air host Terry Gross to say whether she would “completely rule out questioning the legitimacy of this election if we learn that the Russian interference in the election is even deeper than we know now.” Clinton, who has been promoting her new campaign memoir What Happened, replied, “No, I wouldn’t rule it out.” When Gross asked Clinton, “What would be the means to challenge it, if you thought it should be challenged?” the former secretary of state said, “Basically I don’t believe there are. There are scholars, academics, who have arguments that it would be, but I don’t think they’re on strong ground. But people are making those arguments. I just don’t think we have a mechanism.” Gross also revisited the contentious portion of her 2014 interview with Clinton that centered on her marriage equality evolution, calling her own questions “a little unclear and unfocused” but adding that Clinton “a little evasive” as well. | |
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Former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told The New York Times that he “absolutely” regrets berating journalists over the size of President Donald Trump's inauguration crowd. Spicer spoke to the Times after Sunday night's Emmy Awards, where he made a brief appearance onstage, prompting backlash from people who said the appearance was an attempt to rehabilitate his image after serving the Trump administration. Despite claiming to regret his standoff with journalists in January, Spicer also said he hoped Trump would not be angry over his appearance at the Emmys. “I certainly hope not,” Spicer told the Times. “This was an attempt to poke a little fun at myself and add a little bit of levity to the event.” | |
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Secretary of Defense James Mattis on Monday released interim guidance regarding the Pentagon’s new policy for transgender troops. At the outset, the Pentagon declares: “First and foremost, we will continue to treat every Service member with dignity and respect.” The policy will be in effect until at least Feb. 21, 2018, when the Pentagon is expected to provide guidance to President Trump on the implementation of his transgender ban. In the meantime, the military will no longer accept new transgender individuals into its ranks, though current service members will be allowed to re-enlist, continue their service, and receive treatment for gender dysphoria. The guidelines, however, also provide a deadline for new sex-reassignment surgeries. | |
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Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore referred to Native Americans and Asians as “reds and yellows” while lamenting racial divisions between Americans during a campaign speech on Sunday. “We were torn apart in the Civil War—brother against brother, North against South, party against party. What changed?” Moore said. “Now we have blacks and whites fighting, reds and yellows fighting, Democrats and Republicans fighting, men and women fighting. What’s going to unite us? What’s going to bring us back together? A president? A Congress? No. It’s going to be God.” Moore, the former chief justice of Alabama’s Supreme Court will face off with incumbent interim Sen. Luther Strange in primary runoff next week for Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ seat. Moore also implied last week that the 9/11 terror attacks could have been caused by a lack of religious faith. View this cheat in a browser to see this video. | |
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A bracing portrait of what drives people to fanaticism, “The State,” writer/director Peter Kosminsky’s new four-part National Geographic series, gives viewers a look at life inside ISIS. Amplifying “The State’s” power is the cinematography of DP Gavin Finney. Shooting in a handheld style that intimately traces the rocky paths of its protagonists—all of whom have travelled from England to Syria to join the Islamic State’s caliphate cause—Finney employs a docudrama form to bring viewers directly into the action. “Our job is to capture the moment and to try and make it as immediate and real as possible,” he says. “We’re trying to shoot it the way a good documentary camera person would shoot a real piece of action, and I think it definitely injects a fluidity and a naturalism to the scene, which is perfect for this material.” Using multiple cameras for every sequence is one way he and Kosminsky succeed at providing a comprehensive, gripping view of their large-scale drama, and as Finney confesses, sometimes such an approach provided unexpected benefits. “The actors are free to move within the scene that they are playing where they like,” he explains. “Sometimes, if we miss [maintaining visual focus] slightly and are slightly behind the action, it adds a certain urgency to the scene and makes it even more real!” Don’t miss a rare glimpse into the world of ISIS recruitment. The two-night miniseries event, The State, premieres tonight 9/8c on National Geographic. View this cheat in a browser to see this video. | |
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Conservative radio host Laura Ingraham will host a primetime show on Fox News, bumping Sean Hannity from the 10 p.m. time slot, the outlet confirmed in a Monday statement. Ingraham, whose new show will be called The Ingraham Angle, was a vocal Trump supporter during his campaign, appearing at the Republican National Convention in support of him, and has remained one of his most notorious sycophants since. Ingraham is also editor-in-chief of her website LifeZette, which was accused of running conspiracy theories about the Clintons during the 2016 election, and, more recently ran into trouble with accusations of sexual harassment by its CEO. Hannity will remain at Fox News, moving to the 9 p.m. slot, thus bumping gabfest The Five back to its original slot of 5 p.m. ET. Ingraham’s show is slated to premier October 30. | |
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The state of Rhode Island will cover every Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient’s renewal fee, Gov. Gina Raimondo announced Monday. The move comes amid President Trump’s efforts to repeal DACA—the program allowing some undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children to remain in the country for two years, after which they must renew their DACA status. The renewal fee costs $495 and, per Raimondo, Rhode Island will cover all renewal fees, using more than $170,000 in contributions from individual donors and advocacy organizations. Some organizations have also volunteered to provide free legal services to DACA recipients, the governor’s office said in a statement. | |
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A group of DREAMer protesters on Monday interrupted a press conference run by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, demanding she “not sell out” by compromising with President Trump to pass immigration legislation. “We undocumented youth will not be a bargaining chip for Trump's xenophobic agenda,” they shouted. The protest comes after Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said last week that they made a deal with Trump to extend protections for young undocumented immigrants and finalize a border security deal that does not include building a wall along the Mexican border. View this cheat in a browser to see this video. | |
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Residents in South Baltimore are taking shelter indoors after a HAZMAT leak at a nearby plant caused a cloud of Chlorosulfonic acid to escape from a valve on Monday morning, The Baltimore Sun reported. The acid leaked when it was being transferred from a tanker to a trailer, fire officials said. A HAZMAT team has since entered the plant to turn off the valve. Chlorosulfonic acid “is very corrosive to the eyes, the skin and the respiratory tract,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and while it is not flammable by itself, it can enhance the combustion of other substances. No injuries have been reported. | |
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A New York City MTA bus and a Dahlia charter bus collided in Queens on Monday morning, killing three people and injuring more than a dozen others, DNA Info reported. The buses were reportedly moving so quickly that they “spun around” upon impact and ran over the curb, according to MTA Chairman Joseph Lhota. The buses killed one pedestrian and crashed into a nearby Kennedy Fried Chicken. The charter-bus driver and an MTA bus passenger were also killed in the crash. “It's a tragic morning here in Flushing, Queens. It’s hard to compare to anything I’ve ever seen—the sheer destruction from the impact of this collision,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. Dahlia buses have a history of driving at excessive speeds and have been involved in numerous accidents. | |
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