• SpotifyCEO Daniel Ek told Fast Company that he's "ruthless" about his daily schedule.
• He said he typically blows off social events in order to stay on task.
• According to Ek, the most creative people in the world are also the most rigidly organized.

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek doesn't have time for your "social thing."

In a recent interview with Fast Company, the CEO described how he takes a "ruthless" approach toward staying organized and on task.

His secret?

"I don't do social calls," Ek told Fast Company. "For so many people, you're beholden to this social thing, if I don't show up, someone is going to be sad. I'm just pretty ruthless in prioritizing."

When it comes alleviating hurt feelings, the Spotify CEO added that "transparency helps." He said that he typically tells people ahead of time that, while he likes to be invited, he "probably won't come."

"It's not a personal thing," Ek said. "It doesn't mean that I don't enjoy your company. It's just means that I'm focusing on something."

Ek said this strict approach ties back to his personal philosophy around creativity.

"People think that creativity is this free spirit that has no boundaries," Ek told Fast Company. "No, actually the most creative people in the world schedule their creativity. That's the irony. So I try to do the same."

Ek's time management practices also include eschewing most meetings, scheduling time to just think, and going without sleep for days at a time in order to ponder a specific issue.

Ek isn't the only billionaire tech CEO to come out with a unique view on work-life balance. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos reportedly told his employees to view their work and their personal lives holistically. Rather than balance and compartmentalize the two, Bezos advocated for viewing them as "reciprocal."

"If I am happy at home, I come into the office with tremendous energy," Bezos said. "And if I am happy at work, I come home with tremendous energy."

Other top execs like Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, Zillow Group CEO Spencer Rascoff, and Google SVP of platforms and ecosystems Hiroshi Lockheimer make sure to leave work at a certain time, in order to make time for family and personal pursuits.

Ek's approach certainly isn't for everyone. But if you're tempted to take up after the Spotify CEO, there are ways you can go about being "harsh" about your scheduling without coming across like a "mirage friend."

Business Insider's Shana Lebowitz reported that when you're cancelling plans, it's better to forgo making an excuse and just let the person down with a simple message like: "It's not going to work out tonight. I'm so sorry."

Are you a current or former Spotify employee with a story to share? Email acain@businessinsider.com.

SEE ALSO: We compared Spotify and Apple Music subscriptions — and the winner is clear

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• Theater chain Alamo Drafthouse is beta testing its movie ticket subscription service, Alamo Season Pass.
• Business Insider got details about the plan from Drafthouse chief technology officer, Mikey Trafton.
• The pass is only being used by a few hundred people at the chain's Yonkers, New York location, but over 40,000 are on a waitlist to use the pass (the beta is less than a month old).
• Currently, the subscription price is between $15 and $20 for unlimited 2D and 3D movies (including going back and seeing the same movie as many times as you want).
• Alamo Season Pass will be expanding to other locations in the future, however, Trafton said there will be many changes to the plan during the beta phase before it's rolled out to all Drafthouse theaters.

Since MoviePass disrupted the move-theater business last summer by offering a $10-a-month subscription, theater owners have taken a more serious look at launching their own plans.

That includes a theater chain with some of the most loyal followers in the country: Alamo Drafthouse. 

The chain is known best for being one of the first in the US to offer its patrons food and alcohol while watching movies. And Drafthouse is always looking for out-of-the-box ideas to showcase. That can be anything from doing female-only screenings last year of the first "Wonder Woman" movie to having a four-course meal while watching "Pineapple Express," which is happening later this month at its Brooklyn, New York location.

But for a company that loves to do things as big and outlandish as its homegrown Austin, Texas roots, Drafthouse has been very methodical about its movie-ticket subscription service, Alamo Season Pass. 

Launched in a beta version on July 18 at its Yonkers, New York location, Drafthouse has been generally mum about the pass, other than stating that for an undisclosed monthly free subscribers can see unlimited movies through its app, and can add on additional tickets. 

However, after Business Insider had a chat with Drafthouse's chief technology officer, Mikey Trafton, we now know more details about Alamo Season Pass and how much its customers are using it.

According to Trafton, a few hundred people are currently using Alamo Season Pass at its Yonkers theater, but that's not because it's having trouble finding subscribers. In less than a month, over 40,000 people have signed up for a waitlist for Alamo Season Pass, according to Trafton. Some of them are those waiting to be invited to use the service in Yonkers, but many are people in other parts of the country. 

"We're going to roll it out and test it in other cities in the future," Trafton told Business Insider. "We're using the waitlist to figure out the next locations we should test at."  

Trafton was very adamant that Alamo Season Pass is still in a beta version, and the plan will be tweaked often to figure out the best offer for when it's officially rolled out. But currently, at the Yonkers location, the pass has a monthly fee between $15 and $20 for unlimited movies, which includes seeing the same movie as many times as you want. 

Through the Drafthouse app you can pick the movie and showtime you want, reserve your seat (this doesn't need to be done at the movie theater, and you can do it days in advance), and add any additional tickets.

"You can just walk right into the theater and sit down," Trafton said, after you're done selecting the movie on the app. "You don't have to stop at the box office, there's no credit cards that you have to fiddle with, it's a completely seamless experience."

Alamo Season Pass currently doesn't offer food or beverage deals, and it's only for standard-format 2D movies and 3D tickets (but not for any special Drafthouse screenings that have a higher ticket price).

Trafton said the number of subscribers using the pass at the Yonkers location will increase over time. On a weekly basis, people on the waitlist in Yonkers are receiving email invites to take part. The price and features are included on the email — remember, they are beta testing, so the monthly price and options may change — and the invitee is given two weeks to agree to take part.

Trafton said the biggest takeaway so far has been the mix of movies people are seeing with the pass.

"Our number one movie people are seeing with Season Pass is 'Mission: Impossible — Fallout,' but our number two movie is 'Eighth Grade,'" Trafton said, referring to the acclaimed A24 release. "One of the big goals for having a subscription is to share independent films that we really think are the lifeblood of cinema and we love these movies and want to share them with as many people as possible. Our hypothesis is that if we can reduce the friction to seeing movies that people will take a chance on a movie that they didn't hear about as much as one of the big films. It's very early data, but that's really great."

The reason Drafthouse is being so methodical about rolling out Alamo Season Pass is because the company wants to have a price point and options that are ideal for the Drafthouse moviegoer, but also make business sense.

"If you price it too high the causal moviegoer won't be interested and if you go too low you'll drive yourself out of business from overuse," Trafton said. "The key variable is the price and then we have to determine what our members control, which is their behaviors, how often they see movies."

Trafton said it's hard to figure that out now because, comparing it to a gym membership, Season Pass is in a binge period (Trafton said the most pass members are going right now is every three days on average). He said it will take months to see how the members use it in normal behavior. In that time, Season Pass may be rolled out to other locations for beta testing, but it's "going to be a while," Trafton said, before the subscription plan is available at all 29 Drafthouse locations around the country. 

"People love it," Trafton said of the reaction to Season Pass so far. "The app has been solid and easy to use, the response has been over the moon."  

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• Cameron Yarbrough said when he worked as a couples counselor in San Francisco, he would see a lot of tech company cofounders seeking help in their relationships.
• The parallels between counseling a married couple and a set of cofounders were shocking, Yarbrough said.
• There's one key way in which a business partnership is like a marriage, according to Yarbrough. Both pairs should aim for having "symmetrical values" and "complementary skills."

Cameron Yarbrough was working as a couples counselor in San Francisco when he started booking appointments with a new type of client: would-be tech startup founders who were trying to launch the next billion-dollar company together.

The fit made sense, according to Yarbrough. Couples counseling is typically more affordable than individual therapy, because two people split the bill, and startup cofounders are typically eager to save money.

"The pricing was right," Yarbrough said, and the "expertise" of his clinic was the closest fit they could find to mediate the differences between business partners experiencing conflict.

In 2014, Yarbrough left his job running a mental health clinic in San Francisco to become a full-time executive coach. He meets with tech founders, CEOs, and billionaires to develop their soft skills, like stress management, empathy, and conflict resolution, that help these managers be more effective leaders in and out of the office.

Over the years, his clients have included Reddit CEO Steve Huffman and Atrium CEO Justin Kan, best known as the cofounder of Amazon's Twitch. Now, the tech icons are pouring money into Yarbrough's new business venture.

Yarbrough heads up a company called Torch that provides leadership development for managers through personalized coaching. Torch has just closed $2 million in funding from investors including Alexis Ohanian's Initialized Capital, as well as Huffman and Kan themselves. 

The relationship cycle is the same

Yarbrough told Business Insider that at first he was "shocked" by the parallels of counseling couples and cofounders.

Both clients go through the same stages of a relationship, he said. There's a honeymoon phase, when the pair sees "only the good in each other," followed by adolescence, when they "start to see their warts, their vulnerabilities, their weaknesses," Yarbrough said.

The couples and cofounders who reach the final "mature" stage of a relationship have learned how to communicate in a way that works for them, how to have healthy conflict, and how to repair their relationship when conflicts leave damage, according to Yarbrough.

Symmetrical values, complementary skills

There's one key way in which a business partnership is like a marriage, he said. Both pairs should aim for having "symmetrical values" and "complementary skills" for a lasting relationship.

A dating couple might have conversations around their spirituality, parenting styles, and their financial goals, which fall in the category of values, to help build the foundation for a stable marriage, as Yarbrough sees it.

Similarly, a set of cofounders will have to agree on their company's core values, such as integrity and collaboration, which can never be compromised, either for convenience or short-term economic gain, he says. 

Couples and cofounders should have different, but complementary, skills, however, according to Yarbrough. In most healthy relationships, each person brings behaviors and strengths that help the couple achieve what could not be done separately. Sometimes this is expressed as a division of labor, where one person takes on a project while the other provides support for that person's success.

Most startups have a founding team that includes people with sharp technical skills and people who have expertise in business development, sales, and marketing, for example. This makes it easier when it comes time to divide responsibilities, because the cofounders fall naturally into the roles they know and do best and bring their own perspectives to solving problems they encounter.

No two couples or sets of cofounders are alike, Yarbrough said. But they might be more like the other than they first think.

SEE ALSO: These 2 brothers each launched $1 billion companies in their 20s — now, Justin Kan says that their success came from how they did chores as kids

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• Some San Francisco streets are so covered in human feces that the city is launching a "Poop Patrol" to clean the mess.
• The Poop Patrol will ride around the Tenderloin neighborhood in a vehicle equipped with a steam cleaner.
• San Francisco's poop problem is a symptom of the housing crisis that has forced thousands to live on the streets. 

In San Francisco, people call the city's telephone hotline about 65 times a day to report piles of human feces on streets and sidewalks.

That adds up to 14,597 calls placed to 311 between January 1 and August 13, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Now, city officials are ramping up their response to San Francisco's poop problem.

Starting next month, a team of five employees from the Department of Public Works will take to the streets of San Francisco's grittiest neighborhood, the Tenderloin, in a vehicle equipped with a steam cleaner. They will ride around the alleys to clean piles of poop before citizens have a chance to complain about them, the Chronicle reported.

The poop problem has become a key issue for new Mayor London Breed, who grew up in public housing in San Francisco.

"I will say there is more feces on the sidewalks than I've ever seen growing up here," Breed told NBC in a recent interview. "That is a huge problem, and we are not just talking about from dogs — we're talking about from humans."

The feces piling up on sidewalks is a symptom of a much broader issue. San Francisco is in the throes of a housing emergency.

The median two-bedroom rent of $3,090 is more than double the national average of $1,180, and a report earlier this year found that only 12% of families in the city can afford to buy a home there. Because of a variety of factors, including a shortage of affordable housing and shortcomings in the mental-healthcare system, there are more than 7,400 people who are homeless in the city, many without access to restrooms and other necessities.

Is the poop problem dangerous?

In February, the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit spent three days surveying 153 blocks of downtown San Francisco to see what it would find. The search turned up drug needles, garbage, and feces in concentrations comparable to some of the world's poorest slums.

The poop problem is unsightly, as well as potentially dangerous.

When fecal matter dries, some particles become airborne and can spread viruses such as rotavirus. Inhaling those germs can be fatal, according to Dr. Lee Riley, an expert on infectious diseases at the University of California, Berkeley. In Los Angeles last year, an outbreak of hepatitis A was linked to a lack of accessible toilets for the city's 50,000 homeless people.

In San Francisco, Breed and the director of Public Works, Mohammed Nuru, hatched the idea for a Poop Patrol over conversations about the city's filth.

"We're trying to be proactive," Nuru told the Chronicle. "We're actually out there looking for it."

SEE ALSO: San Francisco's downtown area is more contaminated with drug needles, garbage, and feces than some of the world's poorest slums

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NOW WATCH: Inside the exclusive multimillion-dollar San Francisco street that a couple bought for $90,000

• Spotify jobs aren't static, according to CEO Daniel Ek.
• He told Fast Company that he views jobs as "tours of duty," just like LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman.
• At Spotify, while your title might stay the same, the actual work you're doing will almost certainly change over time.

In a recent interview with Fast Company, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said he thought of jobs as "missions," rather than static roles.

"You have a number of years when you perform a job, and then your tour is over, and it's time for you to think about what the next step is," Ek told Fast Company. "I describe them as missions. You may have the same title, but you don't have the same job more than two years, and the more honest we are about that, the better it is."

He said he borrowed the concept from LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, who viewed jobs as "tours of duty" that should be carried out over two to five years.

In a post on LinkedIn, Hoffman argued that this "tour of duty" approach "gives a valued employee concrete and compelling reasons to 'stick it out' and finish a tour."

"Most importantly, a realistic tour of duty lets both sides be honest about their goals and time horizons, which is a necessity for trust," Hoffman added. "In fact, acknowledging that your employees might leave is how you build the relationship that convinces great people to stay."

So how does Ek implement this philosophy at his streaming service company? He told Fast Company that he sits down with his leadership on an annual basis, just to ask them one simple question: "Is this what you want to do for the next two years?"

"I do this with myself, too, and I force them to do it with me," he said. "It's kind of excruciating. People will naturally, without really thinking about it, say yes. But after a while you get to if that's true, real passion."

Ek added that "very few people at Spotify last more than two or three of these rounds." The Spotify CEO said that these employees typically didn't leave the company due to poor performance. Rather, they were just better empowered to envision and pursue their true passions elsewhere.

Ek's strategy at Spotify is a variation of what LinkedIn recruiters do during the hiring process. Business Insider's Rich Feloni reported that LinkedIn's vice president of global talent Brendan Browne actually asks job candidates what they wanted to do after leaving the company.

Browne told Business Insider that his goal is "to see if you're willing to give me any indication, or a large description, of what you want to do with your life professionally and then have a conversation around what aligns with what LinkedIn does."

Ek's questions are also meant to ensure that the employee's goals still align with the work they do at Spotify. And, despite the occasional loss of a star employee, Ek said his mission-based philosophy is ultimately meant to boost retention and tamp down on job-hopping. He cited the case of Spotify's head of research and development, Gustav Soderstrom, who he described as a "great strategist" and a top team member.

Ek said that two years ago, Soderstrom revealed that he was considering leaving the company during a one-on-one conversation about his mission at Spotify. The reason? Soderstrom wanted "more influence, but he didn't want to do the work of leading all the people."

"I said to him, look, you can't sit on the sidelines and enact control," Ek said. "You're going to have to take the responsibility that comes with that."

After their conversation, Ek said Soderstrom revamped his management style, took on more responsibilities, and "completely outdid my expectations."

"Had we not had that honest discussion, he probably would have left," Ek said.

Are you a current or former Spotify employee with a story to share? Email acain@businessinsider.com.

SEE ALSO: The major music labels are upset that they don't get more play on Spotify's mega-popular playlists, says Deutsche Bank

DON'T MISS: Step inside Spotify's New York City office, where you'll find an airy roof deck, cold brew coffee, and a secret recording studio

SEE ALSO: Inside Spotify's new global headquarters — with live concerts, a penthouse bar, and a game room

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NOW WATCH: How to use Apple's Spotify killer — now on everyone's iPhone

• There are plenty of college rankings and ways to find out the best colleges in the US.
• These colleges enroll the smartest students in the country, according to SAT and ACT scores. 
• California Institute of Technology took the top spot, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Which schools have the brightest young minds in the nation?

To find out, we asked Jonathan Wai, Assistant Professor and Endowed Chair at the University of Arkansas. He created a ranking exclusively for Business Insider of the smartest US colleges and universities based on the schools' average standardized test scores.

While these tests are often criticized, research shows that both the SAT and ACT are good measures of general cognitive ability, since they rely on a person's ability to reason. Therefore, these scores give a reasonable snapshot of a school’s overall smarts.

This ranking included all the schools that report average SAT and ACT scores to the government. ACT scores were converted to the SAT scale for the purposes of this analysis.

See more detail on methods and limitations here. 

Once again, the Pasadena-based California Institute of Technology took the top spot on the list, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, University of Chicago, Vanderbilt University, and Yale University rounded out the top five schools. 

Keep scrolling to see the 50 smartest colleges in America.

SEE ALSO: 29 awesome career choices most college kids would never think of

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50. Jewish Theological Seminary of America — Average SAT: 1363

• Location: New York City
• Student population: 16,655
• Tuition: $21,160
• Best known for: A Conservative Jewish center for research and training, with joint programs at Columbia and Barnard. 

50. Colby College — Average SAT: 1363

• Location: Waterville, Maine
• Student population: 1,857
• Tuition: $50,960
• Best known for: The 12th best liberal arts in the country according to U.S. News & World Report.

49. University of Virginia — Average SAT: 1364

• Location: Charlottesville, Virginia
• Student population: 16,655
• Tuition: In-state: $16,144; Out-of-state: $46,634
• Best known for: A top public research university founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson.

• Former White House adviser Omarosa Manigault Newman claims in her new book that President Donald Trump balked at the idea of putting abolitionist Harriet Tubman on the twenty-dollar bill.
• Manigault Newman wrote that Trump, when shown an image of Tubman, said "You want me to put that face on the twenty-dollar bill?"
• Trump has previously spoken out against removing former President Andrew Jackson's image, and the administration has yet to commit to featuring Tubman.
• The White House has called Manigault Newman's book "riddled with lies and false accusations".

Former White House adviser Omarosa Manigault Newman claims in her new book that President Donald Trump balked at the idea of putting abolitionist Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill.

In "Unhinged," Manigault Newman describes the deliberation over a new figure on the twenty-dollar bill. She wrote that Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin told her, "it's not something I'm focused on at the moment."

Manigault Newman wrote that she then pushed the decision to Trump, who reportedly replied, "You want me to put that face on the twenty-dollar bill?"

Manigault Newman wrote she was offended by Trump's reaction to "the woman who personally brought more than three hundred slaves to freedom, risking her own life every time."

Trump has previously objected to replacing former President Andrew Jackson's image on the $20 bill. After former President Barack Obama's treasury secretary announced Tubman as the new image in 2016, Trump said Jackson had "a great history," and Tubman should be honored on a bill of a different denomination.

"I think Harriet Tubman is fantastic," Trump told the "Today" show in April 2016. "I would love to leave Andrew Jackson and see if we can come up with another denomination. Maybe we can do the $2 bill? I don't like seeing it. I think it's pure political correctness."

The Treasury Department wouldn't commit to the switch as late as last month, and Mnuchin has avoided a declaration on the redesign since Trump took office, saying in a January speech "we haven't made any decisions."

Manigault Newman describes the move as favoring dismantling the legacy of the Obama administration over issuing a lasting token of legacy to Tubman, who was born into slavery and rose to prominence in American history for establishing the Underground Railroad.

Trump's alleged distaste for Tubman's face described in the book apparently came shortly after the violent clash between white supremacists and counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia that started over the removal of a Confederate statue.

Trump did not immediately condemn white nationalists for the incident, setting off a storm of backlash against the administration's often-criticized handling of racial tensions, which Omarosa refers to as the "long, horrible month."

The White House has dismissed Manigault Newman's claims

Manigault Newman's book contains many fiery hits against Trump's character, calling him a "racist," "misogynist," and a "bigot" based on anecdotes from her year-long stint in the administration, her work on his presidential campaign, and her appearances on his reality TV show, "The Apprentice".

Her claim that she heard a tape of Trump using the N-word while on the set of "The Apprentice" has set off a firestorm from officials, who flatly deny the allegation.

The White House didn't immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment on this story.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders released a statement saying the book is is "riddled with lies and false accusations", and Trump has been attacking Manigault Newman's credibility on Twitter for days.

In the White House press briefing on Tuesday, Sanders said Manigault Newman "clearly cares more about herself than our country."

"She worked here for a year, and didn't have any of these things to say. In fact, everything she said was quite the opposite — not just in the year that she worked here but the time that she spent on the campaign trail," Sanders said "I think it's really sad what she's doing at this point."

"Unhinged: An Insider's Account of the Trump White House" is on sale Tuesday.

SEE ALSO: 'They're making decisions about us without us': Omarosa says there are no African-American senior staffers left in the White House

DON'T MISS: 'She made it up': Trump and his aides go nuclear after Omarosa claims to have heard him say the N-word on tape

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• Costco deals aren't too hard to find.
• But there are a few less-than-obvious hacks and tips to apply if you ever spring for a membership.
• From watching the price tags to shopping on Mondays, here's a look at some insider tips from employees that you should know if you're going to shop at Costco.

Costco deals are easy to come by.

The retail chain is famous for having just about everything. And certainly, some of its offerings stretch beyond what you'd expect from a big-box store — Costco sells cars, vacations, food kits for the apocalypse, cheap eats in the food court, and even caskets.

Given the breadth of Costco's selection, it pays to come in armed with as much information as you can get. That way, you can keep an eye out for the best possible deals and shopping strategies the next time you visit your local Costco.

Costco employees tend to have the most insider knowledge, like knowing how to shop without a membership, how to avoid annoying them, and how to know when buying in bulk isn't worth it.

Here's a look at some tips that only Costco employees and seasoned shoppers know about:

SEE ALSO: We ate at a Costco food court, and it was one of the best dining experiences we've ever had

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You don't need a membership for everything

A standard Costco membership, which costs $60 a year, can help a customer rack up huge savings.

But you don't need a Costco membership to get an eye exam or grab a bite to eat at outdoor food courts.

A San Francisco-based employee added that you also don't need a membership to buy alcohol at the store. And a Costco employee in Illinois added that membership isn't required to buy gas at the chain, either.

The pharmacy's also open to non-members, according to another Costco employee Business Insider spoke with.

If you need a flu shot or a shingles vaccination, you can show up with a signed immunization consent form and take care of it.

So if you're trying to shop at Costco without a membership, just tell the Costco employee at the door what you're there for, Eat This Not That recommends.

Start your hunt in the middle of the store

Many Costco employees place the store's biggest bargains in the "center court" of the store, Business Insider's Kate Taylor reported.

You're better off skipping the more expensive displays at the store's entrance and starting somewhere in the middle.

There's a reason stuff gets moved around so much

The displays employees set up at Costco are far from static.

The chain touts the flux as a sort of "treasure hunt" — and in a sense, it's right.

Costco typically moves items around in order to get shoppers to see — and buy — more.

• White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders spent Tuesday's press briefing answering questions about Omarosa Manigault Newman's new book about her time in the Trump administration.
• Sanders blamed the media for giving Manigault Newman a platform for her "made-up" claims in her new memoir.
• She also said she couldn't "guarantee" President Donald Trump doesn't say the N-word on any recordings, as Manigault Newman has claimed he did.

Nearly every question during the White House press briefing on Tuesday was about former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman's new book.

As she fielded questions, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders took a shot at the media for giving Manigault Newman a platform for the "made-up" claims in her new memoir, "Unhinged".

"It wasn't until this individual started to negatively attack this president and this administration, and tried to tear this entire place down that she received the type of platform and rollout that she's getting," Sanders said, adding that "it would be great" if they "never had to talk about this again, and we actually got to focus on the real policies and the real things that matter."

Manigault Newman's book contains many fiery hits against Trump's character, calling him a "racist," "misogynist," and a "bigot", based on anecdotes from her year-long stint in the administration, her work on his presidential campaign, and her appearances on his reality TV show, "The Apprentice".

Her claim that she heard a tape of Trump using the N-word while on the set of "The Apprentice" has set off a firestorm from officials, who flatly deny the allegation.

During the briefing, Sanders said she had never heard the president use the word, but couldn't "guarantee" a tape didn't exist with Trump saying it.

Sanders said Manigault Newman "clearly cares more about herself than our country" and that the media is dividing the country by "elevating people like the author of this book."

"She worked here for a year, and didn't have any of these things to say," Sanders said. "In fact, everything she said was quite the opposite — not just in the year that she worked here but the time that she spent on the campaign trail. I think it's really sad what she's doing at this point."

Sanders also defended President Donald Trump's tweets in response to Manigault Newman's claims.

"I think the president is certainly voicing his frustration with the fact that this person has shown a complete lack of integrity, particularly by the actions following her time here at the White House," Sanders said.

Trump had continued his attacks on Manigault Newman on Tuesday morning.

"When you give a crazed, crying lowlife a break, and give her a job at the White House, I guess it just didn't work out," he tweeted. "Good work by General Kelly for quickly firing that dog!"

Last week, Sanders said in a statement that Newman's book was "riddled with lies and false accusations."

SEE ALSO: 'They're making decisions about us without us': Omarosa says there are no African-American senior staffers left in the White House

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• Former White House adviser Omarosa Manigault Newman claims in her new book that President Donald Trump said the Boy Scouts need to "man up" and "grow some hair on their chests" after backlash mounted over his controversial speech.
• Speaking at the 2017 National Boy Scout Jamboree, Manigault Newman wrote that she had to tell Trump to be mindful of his audience after he "decided to ramble on" about "fake news," "the swamp," and a "sexist and lascivious" story about a wealthy real estate developer.
• His bizarre comments earned widespread backlash, which Manigault Newman wrote made Trump "furious."
• The White House has said her book is "riddled with lies and false accusations."

Former White House adviser Omarosa Manigault Newman claims in her new book, "Unhinged," that Trump said the Boy Scouts need to "man up" and "grow some hair on their chests" after backlash over a bizarre speech he gave at their Jamboree last year.

Speaking to the mostly teenage crowd at the 2017 National Boy Scout Jamboree in July, Trump delivered a raucous speech that included mentions of a party attended by "the hottest people in New York", and a story about wealthy real-estate developer William Levitt, whose hard work Trump said allowed him to buy a yacht and lead a "very interesting life."

Manigault Newman wrote in her book that Trump's mention of Levitt's "yacht, [which] was a WWII-era version of the Playboy Mansion. Nudge, wink," came off as "sexist and lascivious," a devolution from when Trump began the story to speak about merits of hard work.

She says she encouraged Trump to be mindful about what is appropriate for his audience, and that he said "[The Scouts] are going to have to man up and grow some hair on their chests. They're not little boys. They have to man up!"

"Tonight, we put aside all of the policy fights in Washington, DC, you've been hearing with the fake news and all of that. We're going to put that aside," Trump said during the speech. "I said, 'Who the hell wants to speak about politics when I'm in front of the Boy Scouts.'"

But the speech was filled with "political rhetoric". Trump also took shots at former President Barack Obama and his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, bragged about his crowd sizes, and assured the Boy Scouts, "Under the Trump administration, you'll be saying 'Merry Christmas' again when you go shopping."

After the speech, the Boy Scouts released a statement distancing the organization from Trump amid criticism from parents.

Manigault Newman wrote that Trump was confused and angered by the criticism, as he "thought he'd done a fabulous job with that speech and was furious about the criticism of it in general, and, specifically, that anecdote" about Levitt's yacht.

Trump has defended this speech before, as The Wall Street Journal and Politico reported last summer he grew upset at the suggestion it got a "mixed" reception.

"There was no mix there," Trump reportedly said. "That was a standing ovation from the time I walked out to the time I left, and for five minutes after I had already gone. There was no mix."

Several Trump administration officials have hit back at the claims Manigault Newman makes in her book. The White House didn't immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment on this story.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders released a statement Friday saying the book is is "riddled with lies and false accusations", and Trump has been attacking Manigault Newman's credibility on Twitter for days.

During the White House press briefing on Tuesday, Sanders said Manigault Newman "clearly cares more about herself than our country."

"She worked here for a year, and didn't have any of these things to say. In fact, everything she said was quite the opposite — not just in the year that she worked here but the time that she spent on the campaign trail," Sanders said "I think it's really sad what she's doing at this point."

"Unhinged: An Insider's Account of the Trump White House" is on sale Tuesday.

SEE ALSO: 'She made it up': Trump and his aides go nuclear after Omarosa claims to have heard him say the N-word on tape

DON'T MISS: Omarosa claims Trump referred to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos as 'Ditzy DeVos' and said he would 'get rid of her'

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• White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said during Tuesday's press briefing that she "can't guarantee" that we'll never hear a recording of President Donald Trump saying the N-word.
• Former White House senior adviser Omarosa Manigault Newman wrote in her newly released memoir "Unhinged" of a tape of Trump saying racial slurs on the set of "The Apprentice".
• In her media blitz on the book, the "Apprentice" star said she heard such a tape after her book went to press.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said during Tuesday's press briefing that she "can't guarantee" that we'll never hear a recording of President Donald Trump saying the N-word.

The exchange came as part of several questions reporters asked about former White House senior adviser Omarosa Manigault Newman's new book, "Unhinged" about her time as a contestant on Trump's reality TV show "The Apprentice", on the campaign trail with him, and working in the West Wing.

In the memoir, Manigault Newman claims she and other campaign officials discussed how to handle a tape of Trump saying racial slurs on the set of "The Apprentice."

The White House has flatly denied such a tape exists, and reporters grilled Sanders about Manigault Newman's claims during Tuesday's briefing.

"Can you stand at the podium and guarantee the American people they'll never hear Donald Trump utter the N- word on a recording, in any context?" NBC News White House correspondent Kristen Welker asked.

"I can't guarantee anything," Sanders responded. "But I can tell you that the president addressed this question directly; I can tell you I've never heard it."

Sanders went on to say that neither she nor any other White House staff member would be working in the West Wing if Trump "was who some of his critics claim him to be."

She then touted Trump's economic accomplishments for African Americans, including a dubious claim about black job growth under Trump compared to former President Barack Obama's tenure.

On Monday, Manigault Newman said she heard a recording of Trump using the N-word, which she says she had the opportunity to listen to after her book went to press.

Trump responded to Manigault Newman's claim on Monday, tweeting: "@MarkBurnettTV called to say that there are NO TAPES of the Apprentice where I used such a terrible and disgusting word as attributed by Wacky and Deranged Omarosa. I don't have that word in my vocabulary, and never have. She made it up."

Watch a clip of the press briefing below:

SEE ALSO: Sarah Huckabee Sanders gets grilled in press briefing about Omarosa's fiery new book

SEE ALSO: Sarah Huckabee Sanders made a bizarre claim about black employment under Trump compared to Obama as a defense against Omarosa's attacks

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• Davide Capello, a former soccer player who is now a firefighter, says he was on the Morandi Bridge in Genoa, Italy, when it collapsed Tuesday morning.
• His car was one of at least 33 vehicles that fell from the bridge, but he says he survived after his car got stuck to a pillar.
• Rescue missions are still underway to reach people trapped beneath the rubble from the collapse.
• Officials in the Liguria region told the Associated Press on Tuesday night that 26 people had died, saying two more bodies had been found and one of the 16 injured had died in surgery.

A 33-year-old former professional soccer player says he miraculously survived Tuesday's bridge collapse in Genoa, Italy, after his car fell 100 feet and got stuck to a pillar before plunging off the edge of the structure.

Davide Capello, a former goalkeeper who is now a firefighter, was driving across the Morandi Bridge when a 260-foot section collapsed during a violent storm Tuesday morning.

His car was one of at least 33 vehicles that fell from the bridge — and somehow he walked out alive.

"I was driving along the bridge, when at a certain point I saw the road in front of me collapse, and I went down with the car," Capello, who last played professional soccer in 2013, told the Italian TV channel Sky TG24.

He told Repubblica that he felt "helpless" inside the vehicle as it fell about 100 feet (30 meters).

But suddenly, his car stopped when it became "attached to a pillar."

Capello managed to free himself from the vehicle and climbed through the rubble to reach waiting emergency workers.

"I managed to get out of the car," he told Sky. "I don't even know how the car did not get crushed. The people who were there at the time helped me and then the rescuers arrived. It was a movie scene, it seemed like the apocalypse."

And amazingly, Capello managed to escape the collapse without suffering any major injuries.

"My colleagues say it was a miracle," he said. "My only consequence is this needle that they put in my arm when they took me to the hospital."

Rescue missions are still underway to reach people trapped beneath rubble from the collapse.

Officials in the Liguria region told the Associated Press on Tuesday night that 26 people had died, saying two more bodies had been found and one of the 16 injured had died in surgery. Reuters, citing local reports, is saying the death toll has reached as high as 35.

The collapsed Morandi bridge was a section of the A10 motorway, near the city center. The collapse took place as torrential rain fell in the region at 11:30 a.m. local time on Tuesday.

The section of the bridge that collapsed was about 80 meters (262 feet) long and 50 meters (164 feet) above the ground, and crossed over railway tracks and some buildings, according to Reuters.

SEE ALSO: At least 25 people are dead after a huge highway bridge collapse in Italy, and the death toll could rise 'significantly'

DON'T MISS: Before-and-after photos show the startling scale of the bridge collapse disaster in northern Italy

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• A grand jury in Pennsylvania released a 1,300-word report Tuesday detailing allegations about the Roman Catholic Church's decades-long cover-up of sexual abuse of nearly 1,000 children by 300 "predator priests."
• The report details what investigators described in the report as a "a playbook for concealing the truth" that was used by officials to cover up 70 years of abuse of children by 300 Roman Catholic priests.
• Across files from six dioceses, special agents identified several patterns using special language and illegitimate investigations to downplay accusations and protect the priests.

A grand jury in Pennsylvania released a 1,300-word report Tuesday detailing allegations that the Roman Catholic Church spent decades covering up sexual abuse claims against 300 "predator priests" who are said to have targeted nearly 1,000 children.

The report covers 70 years of alleged abuse and the lengths that church officials went to cover up the accusations, using what investigators described in the report as a "a playbook for concealing the truth."

Special agents identified several common practices across the files from the six dioceses they investigated that kept the accusations within the church, and avoided recording any criminal identifications in the documents.

The report lays out what it said were mechanisms for shielding accused priests from legitimate punishment, including:

• Using euphemisms for the sexual assaults. "Never say 'rape'; say 'inappropriate contact' or 'boundary issues.'"
• Choosing fellow clergy members, not unbiased professionals to "ask inadequate questions and then make credibility determinations about the colleagues with whom they live and work."
• "For an appearance of integrity, send priests for 'evaluation' at church -run psychiatric treatment centers," as the priest's diagnosis would be mostly based on his own "'self -reports,' regardless of whether the priest had actually engaged in sexual contact with a child."
• To completely conceal any wrongdoing even if the priest is removed, "don't say why. Tell his parishioners that he is on "sick leave," or suffering from 'nervous exhaustion.' Or say nothing at all."
• "Even if a priest is raping children, keep providing him housing and living expenses, although he may be using these resources to facilitate more sexual assaults."
• If a predator's conduct becomes known to the community, don't remove him from the priesthood to ensure that no more children will be victimized. Instead, transfer him to a new location where no one will know he is a child abuser."
• "Finally and above all, don't tell the police," though sexual abuse of minors is a universally punishable crime, "don't treat it that way; handle it like a personnel matter, 'in house,'" the text said, according to the report.

The report goes on to list 300 cases of individual priests from Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Scranton, Erie and Greensburg dioceses with names and graphic details from their accusers.

Some of the accused priests protested the report after it was announced, saying it would unfairly damage their reputations. Some information in the document is redacted, but the court released it in full.

For decades, the Catholic Church has been hit with sexual abuse allegations in parishes worldwide. Pope Francis has recently accepted a number of resignations from church officials in Chile and Argentina as a result.

The Pope admitted in 2017 the Catholic Church was "a bit late" in realizing the damage done by predatory priests who had been accused of raping and molesting children, and was only made worse by the decades-long practice of moving pedophiles around rather than punishing and removing them. 

Read the full report below:

SEE ALSO: Landmark Pennsylvania grand jury report finds more than 300 'predator priests' sexually abused more than 1,000 children

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NOW WATCH: Meet the woman behind Trump's $20 million merch empire

• Applebee's parent company, Dine Brands, and its second-largest franchisee, RMH Holdings, are battling in court, with Dine Brands attempting to take control of dozens of the franchisee's restaurants.
• RMH controls more than 140 Applebee's locations and filed for bankruptcy in May, blaming Dine Brands' "ill-advised and value-destroying" decisions for struggling sales and millions of wasted dollars.
• The franchisee filed for bankruptcy at 3:30 a.m. on May 8, hours after Dine Brands' CEO issued an ultimatum: send $12 million in unpaid royalties by the end of the day, or lose your restaurants.
• Dine Brands claims that RMH owes the company more than $23 million in unpaid and lost future royalties and other fees. 

There's a battle raging within Applebee's.

On one side is the chain's parent company, Dine Brands. On the other is Applebee's second-largest franchisee, RMH Holdings, which filed for bankruptcy earlier this year — at 3:30 a.m. on Tuesday, May 8, to be exact.

The bankruptcy filing came hours after a fateful phone call on Monday afternoon between Dine Brands CEO Steve Joyce and RMH representatives.

In the phone call, which is said to have lasted less than five minutes, Joyce said that if the franchisee didn't wire Dine Brands $12 million by the end of the day, dozens of the franchisee's stores would be shut down, according to three people with knowledge of RMH's thinking on the matter.

RMH said it was a shocking ultimatum, with one source with direct knowledge of the conversation calling it the equivalent of "having a nuclear bomb dropped on your head." This person asked to remain anonymous to be able to speak frankly about the situation.

Before filing for bankruptcy, RMH had refused to pay royalties for almost a year. The franchisee additionally stopped paying advertising fees four months earlier, in January. A court filing by RMH says the franchisee believes it had every right to stop paying the fees because of what it saw as "ill-advised and value-destroying" decisions on the part of Dine Brands.

Dine Brands' CEO has said he feels differently.

"They thought they could keep doing what they were doing for a longer period of time," Joyce told Business Insider in an interview on August 2. "But they were doing it for a long time."

Now, the two sides are facing off in court.

Dine Brands claims in a lawsuit that RMH owes it more than $23 million in unpaid and lost royalties and fees, and it is demanding the franchisee hand over control of dozens of restaurants because of the termination of its franchise agreement.

RMH, in a counterclaim, says the agreement was not terminated, and it is demanding Dine Brands reimburse it for damages linked to what it says was mismanagement on the part of Applebee's parent company. The counterclaim says those damages could be millions of dollars in total.

Applebee's multimillion-dollar mistakes

While many restaurant-chain companies own and operate at least a portion of their locations, Applebee's is 100% franchised — every Applebee's restaurant in the US is owned by one of 34 franchisees. In exchange for the use of Applebee's branding and national marketing support, franchisees are expected to make monthly royalty payments, based on a percentage of sales, along with contributions to an advertising fund as part of their franchise agreement.

When franchisees refuse to pay royalties, the entire business model can be ruined. One doing so is manageable at a chain with thousands of franchisees, but when one of fewer than 40 franchisees stops paying royalties, it can seriously affect a company's bottom line.

The problems between Dine Brands and RMH began not long after the franchise group was founded in 2012 as one of the private-equity firm ACON Investments' portfolio companies. At the time, Dine Brands was called Dine Equity; it changed its name in February.

Applebee's, famous for its "eating good in the neighborhood" motto and two-for-$20 deals, began a push to make the chain seem more upscale in 2014. In 2015, Applebee's moved its headquarters from Kansas City to Glendale, California. That year, it announced plans to make adjustments to 40% of its menu items.

In May 2016, Applebee's executives announced that all 2,000-plus locations across the US would install wood-fired grills, which the chain said at the time would require an investment of more than $40 million by its franchisees. RMH said in its counterclaim, filed this June, that the grills and related expenses cost it almost $3 million, including $180,000 it said it spent on steaks that ended up wasted as employees learned how to cut the meat by hand.

RMH added that Dine Brands' "mismanagement reached its crescendo" with the installation of the wood-fired grills, saying the initiative proved to be a "colossal failure." Other franchisees also pushed back on the rollout, calling it a "disaster," RMH said in the counterclaim.

RMH estimates that the value of its business had decreased by more than $141 million, comparing the 12 months leading up to April 2018 to the 12 months leading up to April 2016. The investments were expensive, and customers simply didn't appear to be interested. Comparable sales fell a whopping 5% at Applebee's in fiscal 2016.

Finally, in late December 2016, a group of franchisees that included RMH requested that Applebee's March 2017 menu not feature the hand-cut steaks at all. Applebee's agreed. By February 2017, Dine Brands announced that CEO Julia Stewart, who engineered the company's takeover of Applebee's in 2007 and led the push for hand-cut steaks, had left the company.

Turnarounds and inner turmoil

In March 2017, Applebee's announced it had hired John Cywinski to take over as its president and engineer the chain's turnaround.

Cywinski had worked at Applebee's from 2001 to 2006, a period that Greg Flynn, the CEO of Applebee's largest franchisee, Flynn Restaurant Group, told Business Insider included the chain's "glory years." Cywinski already knew some of the longer-term franchisees, including Flynn, and was up front about the mistakes Applebee's had made.

"Coming in, it was clear to me who we are and what we stood for," Cywinski told Business Insider in a recent interview for a story about Applebee's turnaround. "Being with the franchisees enlightened me on maybe some of the missteps we had taken historically."

Cywinski described 2017 as the year in which Applebee's needed to stabilize its business, with the chain ditching upscale steaks for deals like the $1 margarita. Same-store sales finally turned positive in the fourth quarter of 2017, and that has continued into the first two quarters of this year.

Still, RMH and several other franchisees were struggling financially, resulting in issues with paying royalties to Dine Brands and with contributing to the company's advertising fund. Dine Brands hired Trinity Capital Investment Banking, a firm with experience restructuring chains like Burger King and Taco Bell, in early 2017 to advise franchisees. As of the end of this June, Applebee's had $14 million outstanding in loans to franchisees.

RMH said it stopped paying its monthly royalties in June 2017, after nine straight quarters of its stores experiencing declining sales. It stopped paying advertising and other fees in January.

"Despite repeatedly conceding its missteps, the Franchisor never offered help to the franchisee network, such as reducing royalty rates, providing a royalty vacation, or doing anything else to help offset the financial damage it had caused the franchise network," RMH said in the June court filing.

A Dine Brands spokeswoman said in an email to Business Insider that the company's turnaround plan was working for partners and franchisees who had demonstrated an "individual commitment" to it. She added that Applebee's had invested in the success of its franchisees and that the company was seeing "some of the best sales and traffic in a decade," with same-store sales growing 5.7% in the most recent quarter.

In a 100% franchised system such as Applebee's, the parent company's revenue depends on royalties. Executives are incentivized to get the franchisee to start paying again — and fast.

And with Joyce starting as CEO in September 2017, Dine Brands was ready to turn up the heat.

"When a franchisee fails to meet its legal and financial obligations, we are forced to take action to protect the brand for the benefit of the restaurants and fellow franchisees who are paying their share," the Dine Brands spokeswoman said.

In September, Dine Brands sent RMH a notice of default, saying the company owed more than $3.4 million in royalties. While the notice originally said RMH was required to pay in 90 days, the deadline was pushed back in December to add another 30 days.

More days were added in January, in February, in March, and — one final time — on April 8, at which point Dine Brands said RMH owed the company at least $12,161,823.

"Your past assurances that RMH and ACON intend to move forward expeditiously appear questionable at this point," Bryan Adel, Dine Brands' attorney, wrote in an April 16 letter to RMH included in court filings. "We have no choice but to interpret any further delay as an indication that RMH and ACON do not consider this matter to be a priority."

RMH, meanwhile, wanted to pay back other lenders before playing catch-up with royalty payments. While sales were turning around and RMH's cash flow was increasing, it expressed a desire to pay back other debts before dealing with its franchisor, sources familiar with the franchisee's thinking said.

After the turmoil of the hand-cut steaks, Dine Brands gave several franchisees some leeway on payments. Now that RMH had as much as $18 million in cash, the franchisee and franchisor clashed on who RMH should pay back first.

Dine Brands and RMH went back and forth for months, from September to April, with discussions and proposals about how much RMH should be required to pay and the date that the franchisee needed to pay it, court filings outline.

According to Dine Brands, RMH's failure to pay the money by April 27 meant that the franchisee had lost its rights to operate Applebee's locations on that day.

"After numerous attempts to resolve the situation, we had no choice but to take action," the Dine Brands spokeswoman said.

RMH denies that Dine Brands had terminated the agreement. The lack of formal notice before the franchisee's bankruptcy filing, RMH's court filing says, means that the agreement is still valid and that the franchisee is still free to continue running Applebee's locations.

But everything would soon come to a head.

A 'nuclear' phone call and a midnight scramble toward bankruptcy

On May 7, RMH representatives and Joyce got on a phone call.

According to three people with knowledge of the situation, RMH expected the conversation to be a continuation of the previous months' slow work toward a solution. Representatives from RMH had been in touch with Applebee's over the prior week, and Dine Brands executives had attended RMH's annual general manager conference, held from April 30 to May 3.

Per sources with knowledge of RMH's thinking, Daniel Jinich, a managing partner at ACON, the private-equity firm that owns the franchisee, had set up the phone call to discuss a potential meeting among RMH, Dine Brands representatives, and other lenders to the franchisee.

Instead, RMH claims in its court filing, Jinich and Robert Hersch, a senior managing director at the financial adviser Mastodon Ventures, faced an ambush.

On the call, Joyce said it was "too late" for RMH to attempt to work toward a solution, a source with direct knowledge of the situation said. Dine Brands had apparently already made a decision — the next day, RMH would receive a letter terminating the chain's franchise agreement to operate 41 restaurants in Arizona and Texas.

The only way to prevent the takeover, Joyce said, was if RMH sent Dine Brands $12 million by the end of the day, RMH's filing says. Then, sources say, Joyce said there was nothing else to discuss. The call ended.

RMH had expected there would be a ratcheting up of tensions before Dine Brands issued such a demand. The franchisee felt it experienced the equivalent of "having a nuclear bomb dropped on your head," the source familiar with RMH's thinking said.

Dine Brands disagrees with RMH's characterization of the call, describing it in an email to Business Insider as "a courtesy notice following the repeated written notices and emails pursuant to our Franchise agreement that the franchisee chose to ignore for over nine months."

Joyce said RMH's shocked reaction, as documented in court filings, was an insincere response.

"Whatever their intent was, I don't know," Joyce told Business Insider. "They were hurting the system, hurting the franchisees, hurting the ad fund. And it's my job to protect that."

As Jinich and Hersch spoke with people at ACON and legal counsel, including bankruptcy lawyers, it became clear that the only way to prevent Dine Brands from taking over the Arizona and Texas restaurants would be to file for bankruptcy before RMH received the letter that terminated the agreement, sources say. So the franchisee began an all-night mission to do just that.

At 3:30 a.m., RMH filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. At 5:59 a.m., Hersch emailed Applebee's and Dine Brands executives, informing them of the filing.

At 8:02 a.m., Dine Brands had a letter hand-delivered to RMH saying the company's franchise agreement for 41 restaurants in Arizona and Texas had been terminated, effective, retroactively, as of April 27.

The battle continues

In the wake of the drama in early May, both sides have been trying to stake their claim to RMH's Applebee's locations — specifically the Arizona and Texas spots.

On the ground, RMH's 146 Applebee's locations are still up and running. The franchisee has closed 13 restaurants in the months following the bankruptcy filing.

On May 25, Dine Brands filed a complaint demanding that RMH surrender the Arizona and Texas restaurants and stop using Applebee's branding in other restaurants. Dine Brands estimates that the damages suffered by Applebee's at the hand of RMH exceed $23 million, including more than $12 million in unpaid royalties and other fees, plus an additional $10 million in lost payments from RMH restaurants that closed without Dine Brands' permission.

According to Joyce, Dine Brands is now being paid by all franchisees, something he called "a significant change from a year ago."

RMH filed the counterclaim in June denying that Dine Brands terminated the franchise agreement before the bankruptcy filing. According to RMH, conversations in late April and early May between representatives from RMH and Dine Brands, as well as a lack of final notice, prove that.

The franchise group also claimed some new slights against Applebee's. RMH took issue with Applebee's sister brand IHOP temporarily changing its name to IHOb to promote its new burger line, saying it was a move that added "insult to the injury" and had the potential to cannibalize Applebee's burger sales. (Cywinski, Applebee's president, dismissed the concern, citing Applebee's comparable sales growth of 5.7% in the most recent quarter.)

The two sides are set to face off in court again in late August. According to Joyce, it's too soon to say how things will play out as the parties search for a solution that "everyone can live with."

"We want a solution that protects the system, because they were hurting the system," Joyce said.

"They had the money to pay us, and they weren't paying us," he continued. "As simple as that."

SEE ALSO: Applebee's is making a comeback by ditching food that people 'can't pronounce'

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• Former White House adviser Omarosa Manigault Newman's new book hits hard against President Donald Trump, but paints a more well-rounded picture of first lady Melania Trump.
• Manigault Newman describes the first lady as a dedicated wife, mother, and someone who sometimes challenges her husband.
• The first lady's office did not respond to requests for comment but the White House said last week the book is "riddled with lies and false accusations".

Former White House adviser Omarosa Manigault Newman's new book, "Unhinged, an Insider's Account of the Trump White House," hits hard against President Donald Trump on nearly every page.

But it paints a caring and complex picture of first lady Melania Trump.

In 330 pages, Manigault Newman lobs a wide variety of allegations and insults at the president, calling him a "racist," "misogynist," and a "bigot," but Manigault Newman had much nicer things to say about Melania.

Manigault Newman first met the Trumps as a three-time contestant on Trump's reality TV show, "The Apprentice", then joined him on the campaign trail and for a year in the West Wing before chief of staff John Kelly fired her in December 2017.

As a wife

Manigault Newman wrote that Melania is a dedicated and loving wife who "would gaze at him with adoration," despite that Trump behaved "like a dog off the leash" when he attended events without Melania.

Since Trump took office, two instances of his arrangement for hush money to silence past sexual relationships have emerged. Manigault Newman said beyond those extramarital relationships that have been reported, "It would be safe to assume that there were many others."

Porn star Stormy Daniels stated in a lawsuit she had an affair with Trump in 2006, the same year Melania gave birth to Barron. Manigault Newman wrote the relationship was an open secret in Trump's circle, but if Melania "had any idea about his extracurricular activities, I didn't know, and it wasn't my business."

When Trump's outside attorney, Rudy Giuliani, said Melania "believes her husband" Daniels' allegation of an affair, Melania's spokesperson, Stephanie Grisham, told The New York Times, "I don't believe Mrs. Trump has ever discussed her thoughts on anything with Mr. Giuliani."

As a mother

Manigault Newman wrote that Melania is "an incredible mother" to son Barron.

When the family was together at Mar-a-Lago, she wrote, Melania's affectionate doting on Barron is a side of her "the world doesn't get to see."

In 2015, the first lady told People magazine that when it comes to parenting, "I like to be hands-on. I think it's very important." That same year, Melania called herself a "full-time mom" who prepares Barron's meals and takes him to and from school.

As Trump's third wife and mother of his fifth child, Melania's style with Barron is reportedly different than that of Trump's first wife Ivana Trump, who had two nannies to take care of their three children.

As a rebellious dresser

Manigault Newman hypothesized that Melania dresses strategically, sometimes using her fashion choices to poke at Trump, something the media has previously speculated.

For example, Melania wore a Gucci blouse described as a "pussy-bow shirt" to an October 2016 presidential debate, two days after then-candidate Trump was heard on a leaked 2005 recording boasting about pursuing a married woman and remarking that he could "grab" women "by the p---y" because "when you're a star they let you do it."

Most recently, Melania made headlines in the middle of the administration's immigration scandal when its "zero-tolerance" policy left thousands of immigrant children separated from their families after crossing the US border.

Melania sparked widespread backlash when she was spotted boarding a plane to Texas to visit immigrant children wearing a green military jacket that said "I really don't care, do u?"

"It's a jacket," Grisham said at the time in a statement to Business Insider. "There was no hidden message."

The White House has discredited the memoir

The White House nor Grisham didn't immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment on this story.

Regarding Manigault Newman's musings about Melania, Grisham told Newsweek that the first lady "rarely, if ever, interacted with Omarosa. It's disappointing to her that she is lashing out and retaliating in such a self-serving way, especially after all the opportunities given to her by the president."

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders released a statement saying the book is is "riddled with lies and false accusations", and Trump has been attacking Manigault Newman's credibility on Twitter for days.

During the White House press briefing on Tuesday, Sanders said Manigault Newman "clearly cares more about herself than our country."

"She worked here for a year, and didn't have any of these things to say. In fact, everything she said was quite the opposite — not just in the year that she worked here but the time that she spent on the campaign trail," Sanders said. "I think it's really sad what she's doing at this point."

"Unhinged: An Insider's Account of the Trump White House" went on sale Tuesday.

SEE ALSO: Full coverage of 'Unhinged'

DON'T MISS: Inside the marriage of Donald and Melania Trump, who broke up once before, reportedly sleep in different bedrooms, and are weathering rumors of his affairs

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• "Crazy Rich Asians" is an extravagant, hilarious, and poignant examination of Asian American and Asian cultures. 
• It is a new kind of rom-com for many reasons.
• The cast is wonderful, and shows that Constance Wu and Henry Golding can carry a movie with their charm and outstanding talent in both comedy and drama.
• Awkwafina and Michelle Yeoh are other highlights. 

It’s a shame that it took decades of filmmaking to get a delightful yet poignant movie like “Crazy Rich Asians” made. It’s an incredible, moving, and hilarious film that is just as rich in details and clever social satire as Kevin Kwan’s 2013 best-selling novel of the same name.

Director Jon Chu says that “Crazy Rich Asians” is “not just a movie, it’s a movement.” It’s also an experience — of lavish food, culture, interiors, fashion, and Singapore itself. You might look up flights to Singapore as you walk out of the movie, like I did.

And to get the full experience, it's absolutely necessary to see the movie in theaters, so it's a good thing director Jon Chu and author/executive producer Kevin Kwan didn't go with Netflix's massive offer. The first time I saw "Crazy Rich Asians" was at a small press screening. There were laughs, of course, but there weren't nearly as many reactions coming from an audience of critics as there were weeks later at a sold-out screening I attended. Seeing the movie with an engaged audience added to the movie, which I loved even more after seeing it for the second time. Seeing the movie on the big screen also helps you take in the gorgeous shots of Singapore, the clothing, the jewelry, the food, and the over-the-top wedding more so than if you wait to watch it on a small screen. 

The film is hilarious, emotional, and educational as it examines the differences between Rachel Chu (played by Constance Wu, a natural lead), an Asian American woman who grew up with a Chinese single mom, and her boyfriend, Nick Young, who comes from and incredibly wealthy and traditional Singaporean family. The problem? Nick never bothered to tell Rachel about his family.

Though screenwriters Peter Chiarelli and Adele Lim take some narrative departures to make the story tighter, the movie follows the book's story quite religiously. After some convincing, Rachel accompanies Nick to Singapore for his best friend's wedding which, unbeknownst to her, is basically a Singaporean royal wedding.

Rachel visits her best friend from college Goh Peik Lin, played by a scene-stealing Awkwafina, and then she meets Nick's family. Once that happens, there's tension between Rachel and Nick's mother Eleanor Sung-Young (played by Yeoh). Rachel quickly realizes that friends and family look down on her for being an Asian American and assume that she's just after Nick's money. 

The beloved characters from the book are brought to life by its perfect cast: from Constance Wu to Michelle Yeoh to its all-Asian supporting characters and extras. Everyone involved in this film had the time of their lives filming it, and that joy shows in every frame.

“Crazy Rich Asians” is not only significant as the first major theatrical release starring Asian Americans in 25 years, since 1993’s “Joy Luck Club,” but for its vast and entirely Asian cast.

What’s also refreshing is its story. Movies, especially romantic comedies, often tell the same story: a workaholic 26-year-old white blonde woman, who is played by an actress in her 30s, can’t find love because she’s too obsessed with her job. Then, in comes a white man played by an actor in his 40s to make her reconsider her personality.

“Crazy Rich Asians” ignores many tropes set for rom-coms. At the beginning of the movie, the main characters have already been dating for over a year. And their relationship's obstacles — family and money — are more real than most romantic comedies.

If Hollywood listens, “Crazy Rich Asians” absolutely has the potential to bolster a change for Asian actors, filmmakers, and stories. It’s a necessary push for inclusivity in the film industry. Like February’s “Black Panther,” it makes a lot of people who’ve largely been ignored feel seen. It also proves these specific stories work for everyone, even if they don’t look the same as the people on screen.

“Crazy Rich Asians” is a blast, and within minutes it will immerse you into its extraordinary extravagance and extraordinary talent.

The movie is in theaters today.

SEE ALSO: 'Crazy Rich Asians' star Henry Golding hadn't acted before the movie, and was suggested by an accountant who recognized his charm

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It's odd to think that depriving yourself of a necessity for life might be one of the most powerful ways to transform your health. Yet there's more and more evidence for the idea that fasting could have powerful health benefits for both the body and brain.

There are many different forms of fasting, ranging from going extended periods without food to consistently eating less (perhaps cutting caloric intake by 20%) to intermittent or periodic fasting.

But of all these different kinds of fasting, intermittent fasting is very likely the most popular and certainly the trendiest one. Celebrity adherents include Hugh Jackman, Tim Ferriss, and Beyonce. In Silicon Valley, whole groups of self-optimization-obsessed biohackers meet to collectively break their fast once a week, and executives at companies like Facebook say fasting has helped them lose weight and have more energy.

The hard part about classifying "intermittent fasting" is that there are a number of different forms of this kind of fast. Intermittent-fasting regimens range from allowing yourself to consume calories only within a certain span of the day, likely between six and 12 hours, to eating normally five days a week and dramatically cutting calories on two fasting days, to taking a 36-hour break from food every week.

The different forms that these fasts can take mean that much of the research showing benefits might be true for one of these fasts but not necessarily others. Yet there is good research on several of these fasts indicating that the benefits of intermittent fasting go beyond weight loss. There may be real long-term disease-fighting health improvements.

Here's what we know so far.

SEE ALSO: Fasting could prevent aging and transform your body, but it goes against everything we think of as healthy

Several studies suggest that intermittent fasting can do more than help people lose weight; it also may improve blood pressure and help the body process fat.

For one small study, researchers had overweight participants either cut calories every day or eat normally five days a week and consume only 600 calories on their two fasting days.

Both groups were able to lose weight successfully, but those on what's known as the 5:2 diet did so slightly faster (though it's unclear if the diet would always help people lose weight faster).

More significant, those from the intermittent-fasting group cleared fat from their system more quickly after a meal and experienced a 9% drop in systolic blood pressure (the "regular diet" group had a slight increase in blood pressure).

In another study, where researchers intentionally gave people enough food that they wouldn't lose weight, doctors found that intermittent fasters who ate all their calories within one window improved their blood pressure and blood sugar levels.

Other studies indicate intermittent fasting could reduce risk for forms of cancer, but more research is needed.

Other small studies on a similar 5:2 diet and on other intermittent-fasting diets have shown that this form of intermittent fasting is associated with physical changes that could lead to reduced cancer risk, particularly for breast cancer.

Much more research on this area is needed, but these are promising results, Mark Mattson, a neuroscientist at the National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health, previously told Business Insider.

There may be evolutionary reasons why depriving ourselves of food for some time makes us feel energetic and focused.

"Hungry," from an evolutionary perspective, isn't lifeless or drained. It's when our bodies and brains need to function at maximum capacity.

"It makes sense that the brain needs to be functioning very well when an individual is in a fasted state because it's in that state that they have to figure out how to find food," Mattson told Business Insider. "They also have to be able to expend a lot of energy. Individuals whose brains were not functioning well while fasting would not be able to compete and thrive."

This August marks the 49th anniversary of the famed Woodstock Music and Art Festival, which took place on Max Yasgur's 600-acre farm in Bethel, New York.

Every notable musician of the time, from Jimi Hendrix to Janis Joplin, played during the three-day festival. Even with 400,000 attendees, zero reports of violence were made to the police during or after the festival, and with two babies reportedly born on the premises, it certainly was a weekend of peace, love, and music.

Ahead, take a look at those who made it into the music festival's premises and became part of the renowned "Woodstock generation."

SEE ALSO: Vintage photos show what Glastonbury music festival was like in 1989

When residents of Wallkill, New York, denied plans for Woodstock to occur near their town, farmer Max Yasgur came to the rescue, offering his land near Bethel at the price of $75,000.

Woodstock was created by the then-novice promoters John Roberts, Joel Rosenman, Artie Kornfield, and Michael Lang. Originally, the four had hoped the festival would be a way to raise funds to build a recording studio and rock-and-roll retreat near Woodstock, New York.

Tickets to the event cost $6.50 a day, and festival organizers told authorities they were expecting around 50,000 people, even when 186,000 tickets had already been sold.

• Director Jon M. Chu was looking for a way to stop Hollywood whitewashing when the script for "Crazy Rich Asians" fell in his lap.
• But the movie also gave him a chance to prove to audiences that he can do more than make forgettable Hollywood titles like "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" and "Jem and the Holograms." 
• He told Business Insider how the fear of failure drove him to making "Crazy Rich Asians," the most acclaimed movie of his career to date.

Jon M. Chu is the first to admit he’s taken a different path than most to becoming a working director in Hollywood.

He was immediately thrust into the studio system when his short film at USC, “When the Kids Are Away,” caught the eye of Steven Spielberg. With that blessing, he quickly got jobs making Hollywood titles like “Step Up 2: The Streets,” “Step Up 3D,” “G.I. Joe: Retaliation,” and “Jem and the Holograms.”

But then in the last few years, Chu came across online protests like #WhitewashedOut and #StarringJohnCho that put a spotlight on the lack of Asian representation in US movies, and realized he had to stop trying to just survive in the industry, and get behind the cause.

“I realized that I was actually part of the problem, not by contributing in some crazy way, but the fact that I hadn't done anything to help shift that,” Chu told Business Insider.

Unbeknownst to Chu, redemption was coming in the form of the script adaptation of the book “Crazy Rich Asians.”

The national best-seller written by Kevin Kwan follows the funny gossip and scheming that occurs when “ABC” (American-born Chinese) Rachel Chu (star Constance Wu in the movie) spends the summer in Singapore with her boyfriend Nicholas Young (Henry Golding) as they attend a wedding. What Rachel quickly realizes is that Nicholas’ family is one of the wealthiest in Asia, and the wedding is the social event of the year.

Chu realized this was what he was looking for and in convincing producers Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson he was right for the project, made a presentation that was filled with personal insights about his background and family in the hopes of convincing them that he was the right person to direct.

Chu would learn after getting the job that being Chinese-American wasn’t his only connection to the material. He and his family are actually in the book.

“I had no idea my cousin is best friends with Kevin and he wrote my family in the book,” Chu said. “I had no idea that I was literally ‘the cousin who makes movies’ in the book. When I met Kevin I was like, ‘What the hell is happening here?’”

According to Chu, he was extremely confident in how to adapt the book so whether you were Asian or not in the audience, you could relate to the story. But it wasn’t just the need to tackle a project that looked into his own cultural identity that drove Chu, he also wanted to prove that he was more than a filmmaker who made second-tier Hollywood movies, many of which weren’t hailed critically or at the box office.

“I had to see if I’m a real filmmaker,” Chu said. “I mean, I have proven myself in movies and franchises, but am I an artist? Can I contribute something to a medium that I love so much?”

Chu said if he got anything out of making movies that found the ire of critics — 2015’s “Jem and the Holograms” was the low point, with a 19% Rotten Tomatoes score and Universal yanking it from over 2,000 screens in just its second week in theaters— it’s to have a thick skin and not get gun shy. And Chu often had to remind himself that on the set of “Crazy Rich Asians.”

“The fear of doing [‘Jem’] again was definitely present,” he said. “I always told myself after ‘Jem,’ I don't want fear to change my choices. Fear is a destruction of creativity. Any time I had a fear about this movie I would go to that idea, don't let ‘Jem’ determine your choices here. You were destined to be here and do this movie.”

And though he felt he was on the right path during production — with encouragement from the producers, and even a flashy presentation at this year’s CinemaCon, where the movie’s studio, Warner Bros., showcased to theater owners why the first Hollywood-produced movie with an all-Asian cast in 25 years would work — behind the scenes Chu wouldn’t get too excited.

“Our test screenings were hard to recruit,” he said. “It was 20-1 saying yes to see a free screening of ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ back in November and December. It was so hard to convince Caucasian people that this movie was for them. And Asian people, if they didn't know the book, they thought the title was offensive. So it was always an uphill battle.”

Chu said it was the “just see the movie” marketing approach by Warner Bros. that convinced him audiences would want to see his rom-com with a family backbone. It wasn’t a blitz of internet and TV ads. It was just finally showing audiences early screenings of the movie that led to a word-of-mouth buzz that is powering the movie (which opens Wednesday) to have a big opening weekend.

For Chu, it’s confirmation of the abilities that caught Spielberg’s eye all those years ago ("Crazy Rich Asians" is the first "fresh" score Chu has even gotten on Rotten Tomatoes) and it’s led to bigger projects. He’s going to direct the screen adaptation of the Lin-Manuel Miranda Broadway musical “In the Heights” and he’s signed on for one of the Thai cave rescue movies. But “Asians” is also a landmark moment in the movement to end whitewashing in Hollywood.

“That's the one party we haven't been invited too,” Chu said, referring to advances in Asian casting in TV and streaming. At one time, “Crazy Rich Asians” could have been a Netflix release, but Chu knew that wouldn’t have been right in proving Asians can carry a movie.

“The big screen is the big show,” Chu continued, “and that means [a studio] has to spend tens of millions of dollars on marketing and tell the world that this is worth your time and energy, so we felt that was the important message that needed to be told. I fully believe this whole fervor that's going on would not have happened if we were on Netflix. For this movement, we needed a parade.” 

SEE ALSO: Inside Alamo Drafthouse's beta test of its movie-ticket subscription plan, which has a waitlist of over 40,000 after less than a month

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• Rapper Travis Scott announced on Tuesday that he would commemorate the success of his No. 1 album, "Astroworld," by giving away $100,000 to his fans through the Cash App. 
• Scott has since sent sums ranging from $50 to $1,000 to several fans on Twitter, for tweeting lyrics from "Astroworld" along with their "cash tag" for the app.
• The giveaway appeared to be ongoing on Wednesday morning.

Rapper Travis Scott announced on Tuesday night that he would commemorate the success of his No. 1 album, "Astroworld," by giving away $100,000 to his fans through the Cash App.

Scott's label, Epic Records, confirmed the giveaway to Billboard on Tuesday.

Scott has since sent sums ranging from $50 to $1,000 to several fans on Twitter for tweeting lyrics from "Astroworld" along with their "cash tag" for the app. 

"SO I KNOW ITS HARD FOR THE KIDS SO I DECIDED TO UNLOAD MY BANK ACCOUNT ON U GUYS," Scott tweeted on Tuesday. "IM BUSTING DOWN $100,000 AND GIVING AWAY TO ANY FANS THAT CAN TWEET ME THERE CASH TAG WITH LYRICS FROM ASTRO. GANG !!"

The giveaway appeared to be ongoing on Wednesday morning, as Scott tweeted late Tuesday night that he had "$75K left" to give, and he continued to retweet accounts he had sent money to in the morning. 

Scott's third studio album, "Astroworld," debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart after its release last week. The album moved 537,000 equivalent album units, the second-highest first week sales for an album this year, behind Drake's June release, "Scorpion," according to Billboard.

Scott's previous album, "Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight," also debuted at No. 1 in September 2016 but earned only 88,000 equivalent album units. 

Listen to "Astroworld" below:

SEE ALSO: Musicians only got 12% of the $43 billion the music industry generated in 2017, and it mostly came from touring

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