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43% of Americans watch something on Netflix any given day, tying all of cable TV, according to a new study

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robin wright house of cards season

  • 43% of US adults will watch something on Netflix on any given day, according to a study by the analytics firm YouGov.
  • This figure matched the percentage of American adults who will watch live TV through a cable provider on any given day, the firm said.
  • Netflix also led all networks in one poll the firm conducted to see which network had the highest "buzz" among consumers.

 

Netflix's popularity is close to surpassing that of cable television, at least by one measurement.

According to a new study by the analytics firm YouGov, nearly half of all Americans adults will watch some kind of programming on Netflix on a daily basis.

The firm surveyed 105,664 US adults and found that 43% of those surveyed will watch some content on Netflix on any given day. This figure equaled the percentage of US adults (43%) who will watch live TV through a cable provider on any given day, YouGov said.

The findings came from a YouGov report titled "TV's Everywhere Ecosystem: US consumer perception towards the television networks sector." The report includes an in-depth case study on Netflix's recent growth and consumer perception of its brand. 

Netflix led all networks in one poll the firm conducted to see which network had the highest "buzz" among consumers.

For the "buzz" poll, YouGov asked its survey participants the following question: "If you’ve heard anything about the following networks in the last two weeks, through advertising, news or word of mouth, was it positive or negative?" 

The firm then asked participants to assign scores to each network on a scale from -100 to +100, and Netflix led all networks with a positive net "buzz" score of 34% 16 points higher than Hulu, which came in second place, and 20 points ahead of its streaming rival Amazon. 

netflix

Read the full report over at YouGov. 

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An inside look at one of the last San Francisco neighborhoods to be taken over by big tech — and how change has come to the area anyway

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san francisco bayview neighborhood silicon valley 61

  • It's no secret that San Francisco's housing crisis is in full swing.
  • It's caused parts of the city to turn inside out in recent years to accommodate the influx of wealthy tech workers seeking housing in the Bay Area.
  • The neighborhood of Bayview is one of the more recent parts to be ensnarled in the drastic shifts demanded by the region's real estate plight.
  • Here's what the neighborhood is like and how it's changing.

At San Francisco's southeast corner sits the suburban-like district of Bayview. 

The once predominantly African-American neighborhood largely consists of mom-and-pop shops and is defined by its deep sense of community identity, one that was partly born out of the area's rich history in the city's maritime and butcher industries.

But the neighborhood is in the midst of an on-going transformation since being tugged into San Francisco's housing crisis. Housing developers are constantly clamoring for more space as the booming tech industry continues to create a high demand for living quarters.

But Bayview residents are determined to stand their ground and fend off the negative effects of gentrification snaking its way through other parts of the city.

I spent a day meandering through Bayview to see what it's all about — and to witness how the most competitive real estate market in the world is affecting the fabric of the community.

Check it out:

SEE ALSO: San Francisco's new $2.2 billion transit center, the 'Grand Central Station of the West,' is officially open to the public — take a look around

Welcome to the neighborhood of Bayview.



It sits on the southeast side of the city, right on the waterfront.



I was constantly catching whiffs of seawater while walking around the neighborhood.



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Trump's right-hand man in the China trade war once rattled Soviet negotiators by smoking an entire box of Cuban cigars in one sitting

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robert lighthizer

  • Robert Lighthizer is the US Trade Representative spearheading President Donald Trump's trade war with China.
  • According to a new Bloomberg profile, Lighthizer has been a hard-charging trade negotiator since the 1980s.
  • In one instance, Lighthizer smoked an entire box of Cuban cigars in a windowless room to throw off Soviet negotiators during a tense round of talks.

The point man for President Donald Trump's trade war with China is no stranger to tense negotiations — or a high-end cigar.

A new profile from Bloomberg's Shawn Donnan paints a striking picture of the long-time negotiator and current US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. His office is overseeing the ballooning tariffs on Chinese goods.

Lighthizer's long history as a trade warrior started under Sen. Bob Dole in 1978 and continued when he was appointed Deputy US Trade Representative under President Ronald Reagan in 1983.

During the Reagan years, Lighthizer helped to negotiate a slew of trade deals before joining a private law firm to practice international trade law.

One of the most striking examples of Lighthizer's tough tactics is from a rare media appearance back in January. After a round of NAFTA negations in Montreal, Lighthizer told reporters about a particularly notable encounter with the Soviets back in the 1980s.

During talks between the US and the Soviets regarding an end to America's embargo on grain exports to the USSR, Lighthizer was given a tin of Cuban cigars by his Soviet counterparts.

To catch the Soviets trade negotiators off guard, Lighthizer smoked the entire tin of cigars in the windowless room where the talks were being held.

At a critical point in the negotiations, Donnan wrote, Lighthizer opened the empty cigar box and cracked a joke that the Cubans appeared to be screwing over the Soviets, revealing the startling feat of tobacco consumption.

While Lighthizer keeps a lower public profile than fellow Trump administration members like Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, and National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow, the Bloomberg report details a few other personal flourishes.

In addition to the cigar habit (which, according to a 1987 Washington Post profile turned into a snuff and chewing tobacco habit before he quit tobacco entirely), Lighthizer keeps a life-size portrait of himself in his Washington, DC, home and is known for driving a Porsche.

Outside of the personal trappings, the US Trade Representative is staunchly anti-China and believes much of the US free trade policy of the last 30 years was a mistake.

Read the full profile at Bloomberg »

SEE ALSO: Trump's latest tariffs are about to hit you where it really hurts

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NOW WATCH: Inside the Trump 'MAGA' hat factory

Yale professor reportedly told students Kavanaugh prefers law clerks who look 'like models'

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Brett Kavanaugh

  • A Yale law professor reportedly advised female students on their appearances to bolster their chances of becoming Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh's law clerks.
  • Amy Chua, who has endorsed Kavanaugh and referred to him as a "mentor for women," instructed female law students prepping for interviews with him on how to be "model-like", The Guardian reported Thursday.
  • There's no substantial evidence Kavanaugh hired law clerks because of their physical appearances.
  • Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination is currently in jeopardy amid allegations he sexually assaulted a woman when they were teenagers at a high school party.

A Yale law professor reportedly advised female students on their appearances to bolster their chances of being hired by Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh as law clerks.

Amy Chua last year privately told a group of law students it's "not an accident" his clerks often "looked like models," The Guardian reported Thursday.

Chua, who has endorsed Kavanaugh and referred to him as a "mentor for women," reportedly instructed female law students prepping for interviews with him on how to be "model-like."

Such advice apparently made the students uncomfortable and in some cases led them to avoid pursuing clerkships with Kavanaugh, sources told The Guardian.

As a federal judge on the DC circuit court of appeals, clerking for Kavanaugh was a coveted spot, and many went on to clerk for Supreme Court justices, as well. In July, 18 of his female former law clerks sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee supporting Kavanaugh's confirmation.

"In our view, the Judge has been one of the strongest advocates in the federal judiciary for women lawyers," the women wrote in the letter.

Jed Rubenfeld, Chua's husband who's also a professor at Yale, reportedly told at least one student Kavanaugh likes clerks with a "certain look."

But there's no substantial evidence Kavanaugh hired law clerks because of their appearances, and one student who claimed to be advised in this manner told The Guardian that it's possible Chua and Rubenfeld were "making observations but not following edicts from him."

"I have no reason to believe he was saying, 'Send me the pretty ones,' but rather that he was reporting back and saying, 'I really like so and so,' and the way he described them led them to form certain conclusions," the student added.

Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination is currently in jeopardy amid allegations he sexually assaulted a woman when they were teenagers at a high school party. He has denied accuser Christine Blasey Ford's allegations.

Chua has reportedly canceled her classes at Yale this semester and is currently ill and in the hospital, according to an email her husband sent to the Yale Law School community.

Meanwhile, Rubenfeld is presently the subject of an investigation at Yale over his conduct toward female students, The Guardian learned. Rubenfeld confirmed to newspaper that the university informed him it's conducting an "internal review" of allegations against him, but the school would not comment on the matter.

A Yale Law School official also told The Guardian it would look into the claims Chua coached female students to look "model-like," and claimed to have no prior knowledge of the alleged practices.

SEE ALSO: A 2015 clip of Brett Kavanaugh joking about his days at an elite high school has resurfaced and is going viral

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The world's 3 biggest airlines have all raised their checked baggage fees

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American Airlines

  • American Airlines has joined Delta Air Lines and United Airlines in raising the fee of one checked bag from $25 to $30, and of a second checked bag from $35 to $40.  
  • The change in price begins for American Airlines tickets purchased on Friday, September 21. 
  • This trend of adding additional costs to passengers in the form of ancillary fees is standard industry practice and has been used for some time. It is known as unbundling.

American Airlines has joined Delta Air Lines and United Airlines in raising the fee of one checked bag from $25 to $30, completing a hat-trick for the world's three largest airlines and showcasing the industry-wide trend known as "unbundling."

The change in price begins for tickets purchased on Friday, September 21.

With American Airlines' announcement on September 20 to raise the fee on their first checked bag to $30 and a second checked bag from $35 to $40, the Fort-Worth-based carrier has quickly caught up to their national rivals.

United announced new prices for its checked bag fees on August 31. A few weeks later, on September 19, Delta declared that they would be raising their checked bag costs as well. American waited only one day to join their competitors. 

For all three carriers, fees for a checked bag are increasing from $25 to $30 for a first checked bag, and from $35 to $40 for a second checked bag.  

American Airlines website says that this is the first change in its domestic checked bag fees since 2010 and that they are simply following similar changes made by other airlines.

While Jet Blue set off this scramble on August 27 with their initial $30 first checked bag price hike, this trend of adding additional costs to passengers in the form of ancillary fees is standard industry practice and has been used for some time. It is known as unbundling.

Unbundling is the practice of separating various costs of services like baggage check, security check, seat assignments, meals, wi-fi use, and early boarding into their own price points. In short, charging little fees for different elements of travel. Unbundling first began in the late 2000s when airlines recognized the necessity of gaining extra revenue to counteract the higher price of crude oil, which had hit $132 a barrel in the summer of 2008.

According to Bob Mann, President of RW Mann & Company, an airline analysis firm with over 40 years of experience in the industry, American Airlines was the first to charge $20 for a baggage check.

"With that out of the box pretty much everybody else did it," Mann said. "It was the first big gasp of how to get unbundling started."

 

 

 

SEE ALSO: Why you have to pay a fortune to get a decent seat on a plane

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Trump and his allies' explanations for the campaign's Russia contacts have seen a stark evolution as new evidence has spilled out

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Trump Russia 4x3

  • In addition to investigating Russia's interference in the 2016 election, the special counsel Robert Mueller is scrutinizing dozens of contacts between President Donald Trump's campaign and Russia.
  • Trump and his surrogates have offered multiple, at times contradictory, explanations for those contacts.
  • Over time, they have claimed the campaign never communicated with Russia, that the contacts did not amount to collusion, and that even if they did, collusion is not a crime.

The special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election has so far produced 32 indictments, five cooperating witnesses, one conviction, and the seizure of $46 million in assets.

Last week, Paul Manafort, the former chairman of President Donald Trump's campaign, pleaded guilty and began cooperating with the Russia probe. Trump's former personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen has reportedly sat for hours of interviews with Mueller's team.

Since last May, Mueller has been investigating not only Russia's election meddling, but also whether the Trump campaign colluded with Moscow to tilt the race in Trump's favor.

The central thread in the probe focuses on the complex linkage of contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian individuals and entities.

Over time, Trump and his surrogates have had multiple, often contradictory, explanations for those contacts.

1. There was no contact with Russians

Vladimir Putin

In the days immediately following the election, Russian president Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov and a top Russian diplomat told the Associated Press the Russian government maintained "normal" contacts on matters of foreign affairs with both the Trump and Clinton campaigns.

Hope Hicks, then a campaign spokeswoman, categorically denied at the time that any such contacts had taken place.

"It never happened," she told the AP. "There was no communication between the campaign and any foreign entity during the campaign."

But subsequent reporting has now revealed at least 87 known points of contact between Trump campaign aides and Russia-linked individuals or entities.

Those include communications with Sergei Kislyak, Russia's former ambassador to the US; multiple powerful oligarchs closely aligned with Putin; and Russian intelligence officers who were involved in hacking then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's campaign and the Democratic National Committee. The officers disseminated the stolen emails via WikiLeaks to influence the election, Mueller has charged.

2. There was contact, but no 'collusion'

The Trump camp's explanations for its Russia contacts saw a significant shift in the summer of 2017, when a bombshell New York Times story revealed that three top campaign officials, including Manafort, son Donald Trump Jr., and senior adviser Jared Kushner met with two Russian lobbyists at Trump Tower.

After The Times reported on the meeting, Trump Jr. put out an initial statement claiming the meeting had nothing to do with Clinton or campaign business.

But the president's eldest son had to revise his statement several times after it emerged that he agreed to the meeting after he was offered "dirt" on Clinton. The offer, according to one email Trump Jr. received from the British music publicist Rob Goldstone, was "part of Russia and its government's support" for Trump's candidacy.

Donald Trump Donald Trump Jr.

In response, Trump Jr. said, "I love it."

The full picture surrounding the meeting is still somewhat murky.

But it was reported last year that one of the Russian lobbyists, the Kremlin-connected lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, did not arrive with the promised dirt on Clinton, and instead wanted to discuss a potential repeal of the Magnitsky Act, which sanctions high-level Russians suspected of human-rights abuses.

Trump and his lawyers initially claimed that the president did not know about the meeting until The Times broke the story about it.

But the Washington Post later reported that Trump "dictated" the initially misleading statement his son put out after he was contacted about the story.

Trump later acknowledged that although the meeting took place in order to get compromising information on Clinton, it did not count as collusion because the campaign did not get anything from Veselnitskaya.

"This was a meeting to get information on an opponent, totally legal and done all the time in politics - and it went nowhere. I did not know about it!" Trump tweeted in August.

3. Even if there was collusion, it doesn't matter because collusion isn't a crime

After Trump's early August tweet admitting he knew the meeting was to get damaging information on Clinton, his lawyers fell back on another strategy: arguing that collusion is not a crime.

"I have been sitting here looking in the federal code trying to find collusion as a crime," Rudy Giuliani, Trump's lead defense attorney, told Fox News in July. "Collusion is not a crime."

Trump echoed Giuliani in a series of tweets. "Where's the collusion? They made up a phony crime called Collusion, and when there was no Collusion they say there was Obstruction (of a phony crime that never existed)," he wrote.

"I don't even know if that's a crime — colluding with Russians. Hacking is the crime. The president didn't hack. He didn't pay for the hacking," Giuliani also told CNN.

Rudy Giuliani

Legal experts told Business Insider at the time that Giuliani's claim was a "red herring." While it is true that the word "collusion" is not a specific crime denoted in the federal code, they said that the focus is likely on whether the campaign was involved in a conspiracy to defraud the US.

"Mueller isn't investigating 'collusion.' He is investigating possible coordination between the campaign and the Russians, particularly any actual crimes committed in the context of that coordination," Bradley P. Moss, a lawyer specializing in national security issues, told Business Insider.

"Russian companies and individuals have been charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States as a result of their alleged acts of election interference and hacking and distribution of emails," Harvard Law School professor and former federal prosecutor Alex Whiting said.

"If American citizens knowingly assisted these efforts, which could be described as 'collusion,' they could also be charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States," he added.

SEE ALSO: Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort has just become a cooperating witness in the Mueller probe — here's what you need to know about him

DON'T MISS: Experts say federal investigators now have 'the perfect storm of cooperators' against Trump

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Cody Wilson made headlines with a blueprint for 3D-printable guns, now he's on the run after being charged with sexually assaulting a minor

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Cody Wilson

  • Cody Wilson, known most prominently for touting his blueprints for 3D-printable guns, has been formally accused of sexually assaulting a minor.
  • Wilson, who lives in Austin, Texas, traveled to Taiwan and missed a scheduled flight home after law-enforcement officials charged him with paying a 16-year old girl he met online for sex.
  • Earlier this year, the US State Department dropped a complaint that previously blocked Wilson from publishing the his gun blueprints online. 

Cody Wilson, known most prominently for touting his blueprints for 3D=printable guns, has been formally accused of sexually assaulting a minor, and authorities issued a warrant for his arrest on sexual assault charges.

Wilson, 30, was charged with paying a 16-year old girl he allegedly met on an adult-dating website $500 to have sex with him in July, a crime which constitutes second-degree sexual assault of a minor and could carry a 20-year prison sentence. and is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. 

But before police in Austin, Texas could arrest him, they say he had already fled to Taiwan after a friend of the victim tipped him off that police planned on charging him several days prior. He also missed a scheduled flight back to the US to appear at a gun conference this weekend, according to the Huffington Post. 

Wilson and his company, Defense Distributed, had been in conflict with the US State Department for years over the legality of his blueprints for 3D-printable weapons, which can be accessed from anywhere in the world and are virtually untraceable.

In June, the State Department dropped an Obama-era federal complaint against Defense Distributed, which previously prevented them from publishing the blueprints on the grounds that the blueprints posed a national security threat by violating laws on foreign exports of weapons technology. 

President Donald Trump responded to the government settling with Wilson by stating, "I am looking into 3-D Plastic Guns being sold to the public. Already spoke to NRA, doesn't seem to make much sense!" 

Trump's statement created some confusion, as his own State Department allowed Defense Distributed to proceed with publishing the blueprints. 

While a federal judge stepped in at the last minute to try and prevent Wilson from publishing the blueprints, the ruling only blocked Wilson from putting them online for free, not selling them. Wilson's website now sells them for $10 a piece, and other vendors have selling their own versions, too.

The genie of 3D-printed weapons has effectively been let out of the bottle, leaving regulators to navigate the complicated First Amendment and arms control issues surrounding them.

It's less clear what will happen to Wilson as he goes on the run to avoid facing serious criminal charges. The United States has no extradition treaty with Taiwan, meaning authorities have no process to compel him to return to the United States so long as he stays there. 

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NOW WATCH: Inside the Trump 'MAGA' hat factory

Why the Cleveland Browns still suck

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The Cleveland Browns finished the 2016 season with a 1-15 record. The next year, they couldn't even scrounge up a single win. In fact, the last time the Browns made the playoffs was in 2002. So, it's hard to argue with the fact that the Browns objectively suck. But why?

The team was one of the great dynasties of the pre-Super Bowl era, with eight league championships. They also boasted one of the greatest running backs to ever play the game in 3-time MVP Jim Brown. So, what went wrong? Many chalk it up to poor management and draft choices, resulting in a single playoff appearance since the team returned to Cleveland as an expansion team in 1999 after the franchise was moved to Baltimore in 1995. 

We asked NFL Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw, who led the Pittsburgh Steelers to four Super Bowl Championships. When Bradshaw signed with the Steelers in 1970, they were the worst team in the league. The living legend shared some aspects of the Browns organization that make him optimistic about the team's chances in the 2018 season. 

(Bradshaw spoke to Business Insider during his publicity tour for Pfizer's "All About Your Boom" campaign, which educates Baby Boomers about pneumococcal pneumonia.)

Following is a transcript of the video.

Narrator:  The Cleveland Browns have been struggling for a long time. In 2016, they went 1 and 15. In 2017, it somehow didn’t get any better, as they went 0 and 16, and they scored the least points of any team in the NFL.

Manny Ocbazghi: For the entirety of my life, it's been a comical atrocity. My name is Manny. I'm from Columbus, Ohio and I've been a Cleveland Browns fan for my whole life.

[Manny was born in 1992.]

Ocbazghi: There's been just no level of remote success for the entire time I've been alive.

Narrator: But the Browns didn’t always suck. In the pre-Super Bowl era, the team won eight league championships. And one of the greatest running backs of all time, Jim Brown, spent his entire career in Cleveland, where he was named MVP three times.

Ocbazghi: That's like before my time. So all I know is failure.

Terry Bradshaw: You've got to have a vision how you want to develop your football team. And I don't think the Browns ever had that.

Narrator:  Terry Bradshaw is an NFL Hall of Famer who led the Pittsburgh Steelers to four Super Bowl wins. And he knows a thing or two about starting at the bottom. When the Steelers signed him in 1970, they were the worst team in the league.

Bradshaw: When you make bad drafts, when you don't have a vision of how you want to build your football team. This is what you get into.

Narrator: In 1995, when Bill Belichick was the coach, the Browns packed up and moved to Baltimore, where the team became known as the Ravens. Four years later, the Browns were back in Cleveland as an expansion team. But since 1999, the Browns have only had one playoff appearance.

Tyler Lauletta: Their Badness has defied all logic. It's been a combination of management, coaching, awful drafting. I think the easiest way to pin to pin down the Browns’ struggles since they moved back in 1999 is an inability to find a quarterback. They have a tendency to try and get the flashy player that isn't going to succeed. Brady Quinn, Johnny Manziel, these were guys that were like big names in college football that like people were excited to see in the pros and really crashed and burned quickly.

Narrator: Whether it was through poor scouting or coaching, the Browns franchise has notoriously struggled with their first round picks over the years. And with the first pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, the Browns selected quarterback Baker Mayfield. But the team isn’t betting it all on their rookie QB. Instead, the team is focusing on the long game… letting Mayfield develop behind starting veteran Tyrod Taylor.

Lauletta: Those moves indicate to me that they're finally planning and like thinking about the Cleveland Browns beyond the next eight weeks. That's one of the reasons I think this iteration, the Browns might actually be the one to buck the trend.

Narrator: There was a slight glimmer of hope in Week 1 when the Browns tied the Steelers, in the first regular season game without a loss since 2004.

Terry Bradshaw: They're on the right track. Just keep putting the pieces of it together. Josh Gordon came back, the wide receiver. You're talking about a weapon. Their tight end is pretty good, their running back is pretty good. They’re slowly getting better. So don't be surprised. The Browns could win five or six games, I think. 

Ocbazghi: All I want this year is like five or six wins honestly.  A lot of people are wanting the Browns to go to the playoffs this year, but for me...  just get a couple wins. For some reason, I think this is one of those situations where it's like the past 20 years have been horrible, but it's darkest before the dawn.

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16 pictures show North Korea's grand performance at the Mass Games, where South Korea's president gave his first speech directly to North Koreans

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빛나는 조국 north korea parade

  • South Korean President Moon Jae-in and a group of South Korean delegates were given a viewing of North Korea's capstone propaganda event, the Mass Games.
  • This year's performance is called "Shining Fatherland," or "Glorious Country."
  • An estimated 150,000 North Koreans were estimated to be in the audience.

As part of his summit tour of North Korea this week, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and a group of delegates were given a viewing of the regime's Mass Games — a theatrical gymnastics performance described by some viewers as "the most spectacular artistic performance in human history."

Moon, along with South Korean first lady Kim Jung-sook and several senior South Korean officials, sat alongside North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his wife, Ri Sol Ju, during an eye-catching performance that consisted of thousands of performers.

Check out this year's performance known as "Shining Fatherland," and "Glorious Country."

South Korean President Moon Jae-in, second to the left, South Korean first lady Kim Jung-sook, far left, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, second to the right, and his wife Ri Sol Ju, far right, receive flowers before watching the performance.

Source: 38 North



Around 150,000 people were estimated to be in the audience.

Source: Hankyoreh



The entire performance lasted around an hour.

Source: Yonhap News



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

The 'Joker' origin movie teases first footage of Joaquin Phoenix in clown makeup

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joaquin phoenix

  • Director Todd Phillips on Friday shared a "camera test" video of Joaquin Phoenix wearing clown makeup as The Joker for their upcoming origin movie of the DC villain. 
  • Phillips shared an image of Phoenix without makeup four days ago.
  • "Joker" is slated to hit theaters in October 2019.

 

Todd Phillips, the director of the upcoming "Joker" origin movie, took to Instagram on Friday to share new footage of Joaquin Phoenix as the film's title character. 

Labeled a "camera test" by Phillips, the clip ends with Phoenix's Joker wearing clown makeup. The footage comes four days after Phillips shared an image of Phoenix without makeup

Camera test (w/ sound). Joker.

A post shared by Todd Phillips (@toddphillips1) on Sep 21, 2018 at 10:00am PDT on

Though the film's plot is still under wraps, Phillips' two posts with Phoenix suggest that the origin story will start further back than we've ever seen The Joker portrayed on screen.

Phillips' previous directing credits include all three films in the "Hangover" franchise, "War Dogs," and "Old School."

"Joker" is slated to hit theaters in October 2019. Along with Phoenix, it will star Zazie Beetz, Robert De Niro, and Marc Maron.

SEE ALSO: 7 great movies you can watch on Netflix this weekend

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Rod Rosenstein reportedly discussed invoking the 25th Amendment and wearing a wire to record his conversations with Trump

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Rod Rosenstein

  • Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein last year discussed using the 25th Amendment to remove President Donald Trump from office and wearing a wire to record his conversations with him, The New York Times reported Friday.
  • Rosenstein is said to have first raised these ideas in the spring of 2017 after Trump revealed classified intelligence to Russian officials in an Oval Office meeting and fired James Comey as FBI director.
  • In a statement to The Times, Rosenstein denied ever having considered an effort to invoke the 25th Amendment or record Trump.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein last year discussed using the 25th Amendment to remove President Donald Trump from office and wearing a wire to secretly record him, The New York Times reported Friday.

Rosenstein first raised the issues in the spring of 2017 with officials in the Department of Justice and the FBI, The Times said, citing sources who were briefed on the conversations or on memos about Rosenstein written by FBI officials such as former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.

A Washington Post report published later Friday described a source as saying that Rosenstein's comment about wearing a wire was made sarcastically after McCabe pushed for the DOJ to investigate Trump. The newspaper said the source was at the meeting where McCabe's memos say the conversations about the 25th Amendment and recordings took place, though the person said Rosenstein didn't raise the possibility of invoking the amendment.

The source described Rosenstein's comment as along the lines of, "What do you want to do, Andy, wire the president?"

A contemporaneous memo of the meeting created by Lisa Page, then an FBI lawyer, also did not mention anything about Rosenstein bringing up the amendment, The Post said, citing a person familiar with Page's account.

While Rosenstein does not have the authority to invoke the 25th Amendment — that power belongs only to Cabinet officials— he mentioned to McCabe that he might be able to persuade Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the White House chief of staff, John Kelly, who are both members of the Cabinet, to lead an effort to remove Trump from office, The Times reported.

In spring 2017, Trump revealed classified intelligence to Russian officials in the Oval Office and fired James Comey as FBI director. Comey has detailed interactions with Trump in which he refused Trump's request for his loyalty and declined to drop an investigation into Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser who later pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.

In justifying Comey's firing, Trump cited a memo written by Rosenstein that criticized Comey's handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation, reportedly leading Rosenstein to feel that Trump had used him.

In a statement to The Times, Rosenstein denied that he discussed plans for removing Trump or considered wearing a wire.

"The New York Times's story is inaccurate and factually incorrect," he said. "I will not further comment on a story based on anonymous sources who are obviously biased against the department and are advancing their own personal agenda. But let me be clear about this: Based on my personal dealings with the president, there is no basis to invoke the 25th Amendment."

Rosenstein doubled down on that denial in another statement to NBC News on Friday night:

"I never pursued or authorized recording the President and any suggestion that I have ever advocated for the removal of the President is absolutely false."

Rosenstein is a frequent target for Trump

Trump Rosenstein

Rosenstein and Sessions have been frequent targets of Trump's ire since the special counsel Robert Mueller was tapped in May 2017 to oversee the FBI's Russia investigation.

Mueller is tasked with investigating Russia's interference in the 2016 election and whether members of Trump's campaign colluded with Moscow to tilt the race in his favor. Mueller is also building an obstruction-of-justice case against the president that stems from his decision to oust Comey.

Rosenstein has been overseeing the investigation since Sessions recused himself in March 2017, after he was found to have failed to disclose meetings he had during the campaign with Sergey Kislyak, then Russia's ambassador to the US.

Trump often rails against Rosenstein, Sessions, and the Justice Department at large, according to various media reports. At one point, he is said to have wondered why "my guys" at the "Trump Justice Department" weren't doing more to shield him from Mueller.

His anger toward Rosenstein ratcheted up another notch in April after it emerged that Rosenstein greenlit an FBI raid on the property of Michael Cohen, Trump's longtime lawyer.

Cohen has since pleaded guilty to eight charges related to tax evasion, bank fraud, and campaign-finance violations. He is now cooperating with prosecutors in the Southern District of New York, as well as Mueller's team.

Following the Cohen raid, Trump privately began wondering whether he should fire Rosenstein, The New York Times reported earlier this year.

"He takes the Russia stuff as a political hit job," the news website Axios quoted a source close to Trump as saying in April. The Cohen raid "was a personal affront" and "the red line," this person added.

Some of Trump's legal advisers have also argued that they have a strong case to support Rosenstein's firing, according to CNN.

According to the report, they believe they can prove that Rosenstein has overstepped his authority and that he is conflicted because he is also a witness in the Russia investigation, given that he recommended Trump fire Comey last year.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on The Times' Friday report.

SEE ALSO: Trump's deputy attorney general reportedly discussed invoking the 25th Amendment, which lets 14 people remove a sitting president from office

DON'T MISS: Trump and his allies' explanations for the campaign's Russia contacts have seen a stark evolution as new evidence has spilled out

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Inside the Trump 'MAGA' hat factory

Trump's deputy attorney general reportedly discussed invoking the 25th Amendment, which lets 14 people remove a sitting president from office

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trump pence

  • The 25th Amendment formally outlines the transition of power if the president is unable or unfit to serve.
  • Section IV allows the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet to remove the president from office.
  • Americans have been particularly interested in the amendment since President Donald Trump took office.

An anonymous senior official in President Donald Trump's administration wrote an op-ed in The New York Times September 5, claiming there's a "quiet resistance" undermining the president.

The official wrote that "there were early whispers within the cabinet of invoking the 25th Amendment."

On Friday, The New York Times, citing anonymous officials who were briefed on the meetings, reported that deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein discussed invoking it in conversations with other Justice Department officials after Trump fired James Comey as FBI director in May 2017.

Trump himself reportedly didn't know what the 25th Amendment did. When former adviser Steve Bannon told him it posed the biggest threat to his presidency, according to Vanity Fair, Trump said, "What's that?"

After President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Congress proposed and the states ratified the 25th Amendment in 1967 to formally outline the transition of power. Before that, the vice president didn't officially have the power to take over.

The amendment states that if the president dies, resigns, or is removed from office, the vice president becomes president. If there is a vacancy in the vice presidency for any reason, the president can choose someone to fill it.

And if the president is unable to fulfill his duties — like when President George W. Bush was under general anesthesia for colonoscopies in 2002 and 2007— he can temporarily transfer his powers to the vice president, and get them back when he's done.

But Section IV is what someliberals have been frantically searching for more information on, because it could be a way to legally remove Trump from office.

A legal loophole

trump mnuchin ross lighthizer navarro

Under the amendment's fourth stipulation, it would only take 14 people to depose the president — Vice President Mike Pence and 13 of Trump's 24 Cabinet members.

Section IV reads:

"Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President."

John D. Feerick, former dean of Fordham Law School, is one of the chief architects of the 25th Amendment who shepherded it through Congress in the early 1960s.

He told Business Insider in March 2017 that the senators who signed the provision into law specified that declaring the president unfit must rely on "reliable facts regarding the president's physical or mental faculties," not personal prejudice.

"If you read the debates, it's also clear that policy and political differences are not included, unpopularity is not included, poor judgment, incompetence, laziness, or impeachable conduct — none of that, you'll find in the debates in the congressional record, is intended to be covered by Section IV," Feerick said.

Policy and political differences, unpopularity, poor judgment, incompetence, laziness, or impeachable conduct — none of that is intended to be covered by section IV.

Section IV goes on to say that if two-thirds of both houses of Congress don't vote to uphold the decision and keep the vice president in charge within 21 days, then the powers and duties automatically transfer back to the president. So if the president doesn't want to give up his office, Feerick explained, he doesn't have to if Congress agrees he shouldn't.

Akhil Reed Amar, a leading constitutional scholar at Yale University, said in a podcast for the National Constitution Center on the topic that the president's own running mate is the one who triggers a "palace coup," in order to maintain political stability.

"The 25th Amendment doesn't try to specify in great detail what might count as a disability, but does try to in effect identify who and how we go about the process," Amar said. "Here's the key point: The vice president is the pivot in the whole process. Unless the vice president puts himself — maybe one day, herself — forward, no one else can really basically, at least within the 25th Amendment framework, proclaim an unwilling president 'disabled.'"

The idea is that the Cabinet and VP are the president's closest advisers, Feerick said, so they would be the ones with the best sense of his mental faculties. They, and Congress, could also consult doctors to evaluate the president's physical and mental health in order to determine if he or she is fit for the job, though they don't have to.

The 25th Amendment is a separate process from impeachment, which allows Congress to remove a sitting president if a majority of the House of Representatives votes that he has committed treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors, and a trial in the Senate convicts him.

In either case, legal scholars argue, the goal is to make the process as objective as possible.

"In a time like this of unusual crisis, one had to count on leaders in the executive branch and Congress to really be patriots, not partisans," Joel K. Goldstein, a constitutional expert at St. Louis University, said at a symposium that Fordham Law School hosted in September.

A renewed interest in the 25th Amendment

25th_amendment Google_Trends

Americans have been brushing up on their knowledge of the Constitution during Trump's presidency, according to Google Trends data.

The search term "25th Amendment" spiked in popularity after Trump took office, particularly after he signed the controversial travel bans, and after he tweeted an edited video of him body slamming CNN.

Interest was rejuvenated amid the release of the explosive book, "Fire and Fury" — whose author, Michael Wolff, said the amendment was brought up "all the time" in the White House.

Feerick, who didn't discuss applying Section IV to Trump, said he hopes this renewed interest in the Constitution will encourage Congress to consider filling some of the legal gaps in the amendment that he and other legal scholars have proposed over the years.

For example, the Constitution doesn't outline what happens if the vice president is unable to serve, and he and other experts agree that the order of succession shouldn't include members of Congress as it does today.

"It's important that people be educated about the Constitution. It's our greatest charter of liberty," Feerick said. "I'm really happy that there's greater education going on — I'm obviously not happy about all the division in the country — but I'm happy that at least there's greater education being provided about the amendment."

SEE ALSO: Here's who's in Trump's Cabinet

DON'T MISS: A senior member of the Trump administration says he is part of a secret resistance working against the president in the White House

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This is how impeachment works — and what a president would have to do to be impeached

Trump's former lawyer reportedly wanted to cover Manafort's and Gates' legal fees, but backed off when associates warned him it would look like an attempt at obstruction

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John Dowd

  • John Dowd, President Donald Trump's former lead defense attorney, reportedly tried to help pay the legal fees for Paul Manafort and Rick Gates earlier this year.
  • At one point, Dowd is said to have pledged $25,000 of his own money to help Manafort, but he backed down after Trump's associates advised him against it out of fear that it could appear to be an attempt by the White House to interfere in the Russia probe.
  • Dowd said he did not try to cover Manafort's and Gates' legal fees out of concern that they would cooperate, but rather because he cares "about a lot of people" and was "offended as a citizen and a lawyer."

John Dowd, the defense attorney who formerly led President Donald Trump’s legal team, tried to help pay legal fees for Paul Manafort and Rick Gates earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

Dowd initially tried to use money from the White House's legal defense fund and later solicited donors, sources familiar with the matter told The Journal. He even reportedly pledged $25,000 of his own money at one point but ultimately didn't make the contribution.

Dowd told the Journal that he took those actions because he was opposed to how investigators had treated Manafort.

"I care about a lot of people," Dowd said. "I was offended as a citizen and a lawyer."

He added that he was not worried about Manafort and Gates becoming cooperating witnesses in the special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether the Trump campaign colluded with Moscow.

Manafort pleaded guilty last week to two counts of obstruction and conspiracy and has since been cooperating with the special counsel.

Gates pleaded guilty in February to one count of conspiracy and one count of lying to the FBI and is also cooperating.

One day before Gates' guilty plea, according to the Journal, Dowd emailed several Trump associates that Manafort and Gates needed more money to cover their legal expenses immediately, and that he was planning on giving $25,000 to Manafort's legal defense fund the next day.

He said he backed after people advised against the move, warning it may look like an attempt by the Trump team to interfere in Mueller's ongoing investigation.

After Manafort's guilty plea was announced last week, The New York Times reported that Dowd emailed members of Trump's legal team and said Manafort "has no info on president or campaign."

This is not the first time Dowd's name has cropped up in connection to speculation about whether the president's legal team sought to prevent witnesses from talking to investigators.

Earlier this year, The Times reported that Dowd dangled pardons to Manafort and former national security adviser Michael Flynn when speaking to their lawyers last summer. Flynn pleaded guilty in December to lying to the FBI and has been cooperating with Mueller since then.

Dowd resigned as Trump's lead defense lawyer in March.

SEE ALSO: Trump walks back his decision to declassify sensitive Russia docs after the DOJ and key US allies caution against it

DON'T MISS: Trump and his allies' explanations for the campaign's Russia contacts have seen a stark evolution as new evidence has spilled out

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Inside the Trump 'MAGA' hat factory

Are 'luxpeditions' the new glamping?

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If you're a thrill-seeker who also loves luxury, your perfect travel experience might just be a "luxpedition."

It's similar to glamping, which entails camping in a luxury tent with a bed, feather duvet, and often Wi-Fi and running water.

But a luxpedition takes that a step further by throwing rugged adventures into the mix, too. London-based company Brown + Hudson, who coined the term "luxpedition," offers unique trips for those who want their adrenaline rush accompanied by luxurious amenities.

"A Luxpedition is for those who want their Bear Grylls experience during the daytime but, at night, want to blast away the dust, dirt and sweat with a power shower and slip beneath crisp, clean sheets," Philippe Brown, the founder of Brown + Hudson, said in a press release obtained by Forbes. "Or maybe, somewhere along the trail, they'd like a loved one helicoptered in to join them — so they can share in the excitement for a night or two."

Past trips have included taking a family through Utah by raft, aircraft, all-terrain vehicles, canyoneering, and mountain bike by day, and then spending nights in luxury camps built from scratch, with privately chartered flights to ensure no time was wasted, according to the company's website.

Utah Holeman Springs Basin man mountain biking

Another luxpedition entailed taking clients on a 12-hour camel ride somewhere in the Middle East, Forbes reported. Eight hours in, they stopped in the shade of an oasis to find cold glasses of their favorite craft beer.

"Perhaps your luxury and motivation will be found in a tent with a heated floor, a sat phone when you least expected it, a shower when you hadn't seen water for ages and Michelin-starred cuisine," reads the company's website. "Alternatively it might be a chopper to take you surfing at the beach, fresh socks, chilled Champagne and massage." 

Those with an appetite for adventure and with the bank account to pay for the luxury version of it can turn to a variety of companies to satisfy their every want.

Two ex-British Army Captains cofounded Pelorus, a company which plans travel experiences for the super-rich. The trips are unique and range from a $52,000 Angola tribe experience to an espionage mission with counter-terrorism experts.

The emergence of these adventure-focused luxpeditions follows that of glamping, a travel trend that has gained popularity in recent years. On an island in New York Harbor, people pay up to $700 a night to sleep in Scandinavian-inspired tents with king-sized beds and 1,500-thread count sheets, en-suite bathrooms, electricity, Wi-Fi, and a French Press coffee bar. And an ex-Wall Street banker came up with Tentrr, a sort of "Airbnb for camping" that lets travelers find and book upscale campsites on private land.

SEE ALSO: I visited the glittering Greek island of Mykonos, the summer destination of choice for billionaires — and it's a very different experience if you aren't swimming in money

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NOW WATCH: What happens when you sleep in your contacts

Rod Rosenstein reportedly thought he could convince John Kelly and Jeff Sessions to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove Trump from office

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Rod Rosenstein

  • Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein reportedly thought he could persuade Attorney General Jeff Sessions and then-Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly to lead an effort to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove President Donald Trump from office.
  • The New York Times reported the news Friday, citing anonymous sources who were briefed on Rosenstein's comments or memos from FBI officials, including Andrew McCabe, the former deputy director of the bureau.
  • Rosenstein disputed The Times' story.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein thought he could persuade Attorney General Jeff Sessions and then-Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly to lead an effort to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove President Donald Trump from office last May, The New York Times reported on Friday.

Rosenstein, The Times reported, said as much to then-FBI Acting Director Andrew McCabe in the days that immediately followed Trump firing FBI Director James Comey.

The Times reported that Rosenstein commented on invoking the 25th Amendment and about secretly recording Trump in meetings and conversations with Justice Department and FBI officials, according to several people who described the comments to the publication.

Those sources were either briefed on the comments or on memos FBI officials such as McCabe authored.

In a statement to The Times, Rosenstein disputed the story, calling it "inaccurate and factually incorrect." He added that the information was planted by "anonymous sources who are obviously biased against the department and are advancing their own personal agenda."

"But let me be clear about this: Based on my personal dealings with the president, there is no basis to invoke the 25th Amendment," he said.

sessions kelly tillerson new travel ban

An anonymous Justice Department spokeswoman told The Times that a person who was present when Rosenstein proposed secretly recording Trump by wearing a wire during a meeting with the president said the comment was made sarcastically.

Other publications reported that the comment was sarcastic in nature.

McCabe's attorney told The Times in a statement that his client "has no knowledge of how any member of the media obtained those memos."

Rosenstein's proposals did not ultimately come to fruition, The Times wrote.

The 25th Amendment has come up quite a bit during Trump's presidency

There has been plenty of chatter about invoking the 25th Amendment during the course of Trump's presidency.

Earlier this month, a senior official in President Donald Trump's administration authored an anonymous New York Times op-ed in which they wrote that members of the Cabinet discussed it.

"Given the instability many witnessed, there were early whispers within the cabinet of invoking the 25th Amendment, which would start a complex process for removing the president," the anonymous official wrote. "But no one wanted to precipitate a constitutional crisis. So we will do what we can to steer the administration in the right direction until — one way or another — it's over."

That followed a discussion earlier this year that was in line with the release of the explosive book, "Fire and Fury" — whose author, Michael Wolff, said the amendment was brought up "all the time" in the White House.

And late last year, a Vanity Fair report suggested that former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon believes it is the most plausible way Trump could be removed from office.

But the amendment contains a fatal flaw that renders it essentially useless in such a scenario.

A section of the 1967 constitutional amendment allows for the vice president plus a majority of the Cabinet members to declare that the president is unfit for office.

But there is no mechanism for dealing with a president who simply decides to fire Cabinet members who choose to join with a majority declaring the president unfit once a president were to catch wind of the effort.

SEE ALSO: Everyone's talking about the 25th Amendment — but it has a 'fatal flaw' that makes it essentially useless

DON'T MISS: Rod Rosenstein reportedly discussed invoking the 25th Amendment and wearing a wire to record his conversations with Trump

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Inside the Trump 'MAGA' hat factory


I tried the 'healthy' fast-casual chain that Californians love, and I was disappointed

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Lemonade

  • Lemonade is a California-based fast-casual chain.
  • It's part of the "fast slow food" movement, which aims to serve up healthy fare quickly and relatively cheaply.
  • During a recent trip to Los Angeles, I decided to try out Lemonade for myself.

Lemonade is trying to sweeten California's fast-casual dining scene.

The menu? "Seasonal Southern California comfort food." What that seems to mean is a lot of lean proteins, leafy salads, and entreés like poke made from seasonal produce. Oh, and fresh-pressed lemonade, of course.

The first store opened in 2008, and it has expanded slowly across Southern California and into Northern California as well. The expansion has been fueled by investments like a $22 million infusion from Butterfly in 2016 and an undisclosed amount from KKR in 2014. It now has 28 locations up and down the state. 

Lemonade's food is served cafeteria-style, à la carte and complete with trays. Only some of the cooking is done on-site. Some items are finished in-store after being supplied by a central kitchen.

It's been a hit with Californians, so on a recent trip to Los Angeles, I decided I needed to try it myself. Here's what it was like: 

SEE ALSO: Nike has unveiled a new way to try on sneakers at its stores without talking to anyone. Here's how it works.

I visited one of Lemonade's newest stores, located on Abbot-Kinney in the heart of Venice. It's one of Lemonade's "next-generation" stores, and it opened in 2017.

Source: QSR



As I first step foot in the store, I am immediately overwhelmed. It's lunchtime on a Saturday, and the restaurant is filled with hungry Angelenos. The decor feels very California chic.



A quick look at the menu makes me no less anxious. I have no idea what to order, and there isn't anyone I can ask before i get up to the counter.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Joe Biden says Christine Blasey Ford 'should be treated with respect', apologizes for the way he handled Anita Hill's testimony 27 years ago

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Joe Biden

  • Former Vice President Joe Biden said on the "Today" show Friday that he thinks the FBI should investigate Christine Blasey Ford's claims against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
  • If she agreed to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Biden said Blasey "deserves to be treated with dignity."
  • He also issued an apology to Anita Hill, who accused Justice Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment during his confirmation hearings in 1991, which Biden presided over and was widely criticized for.

Former Vice President Joe Biden weighed in on the accusations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Friday, while reflecting on one of the lowest points of his political career — the testimony of Anita Hill.

Kavanaugh's confirmation has been brought to a halt by allegations that he attempted to rape psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford when they were both in high school in the 1980s.

Ford's allegations have drawn parallels to Justice Clarence Thomas' nomination in 1991, when his former subordinate, Anita Hill, accused him of sexual harassment.

Biden was the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee at the time and widely criticized for not shielding Hill from the all-male committee members' questions, which were largely considered sexist. He also didn't take advantage of the multiple witnesses who agreed to speak before the committee in support of Hill.

It looks as though Ford will follow in Hill's footsteps and tell her story to the Senate Judiciary Committee. She has also asked that the FBI investigate her claims.

'She deserves to be treated with dignity'

Brett Kavanaugh

In an interview on the "Today" show Friday morning, Biden supported the idea of an FBI investigation, saying they had one done in Hill's case and it only took two days. If there's no investigation, he says Kavanaugh's nomination should not come to a vote.

If Ford does agree to testify, Biden said he hopes it will be different this time.

"Anita Hill was vilified when she came forward by a lot of my colleagues, character assassination," he said. "I wish I could have done more to prevent those questions and the way they asked them. I hope my colleagues learned from that. She deserves to be treated with dignity.

Biden added: "It takes enormous courage for a woman to come forward under the bright lights of millions of people watching and relive something that happened to her ... and she should be treated with respect."

An apology to Anita Hill

anita hill

Biden said his biggest regret when it came to Hill's testimony is that he didn't know how to protect her from the other senators on the panel who attacked her character.

"Under the Senate rules, I can't gavel you down and say you can't ask that question, although I tried. So what happened was, she got victimized again during the process," he said.

When asked what he would say to Hill, if she were watching, Biden said he would apologize.

"I'm sorry I couldn't stopped the kind of attacks that came to you," Biden said. "I never attacked her. I supported her. I believed her from the beginning and I voted against Clarence Thomas."

While he thinks that Kavanaugh should be presumed innocent until proven guilty, he also believes that women "should be given the benefit of the doubt."

"I hope they understand what courage it takes for someone to come forward and relive what they believe happened to them, and let them state it," Biden said. "Treat her with respect, ask tough questions, ask substantive questions … but don't go after the character assassination."

Things have changed

biden 1991

When NBC's Craig Melvin pointed out that it seemed like Biden "gets it now," Biden said he thinks he understood what Hill was going through 27 years ago as well, but "people have their own opinion."

He pointed to his writing the Violence Against Women Act as evidence of this, as well as his push to get women on the Senate Judiciary Commit ee after Thomas' confirmation.

But Biden said it does seem that people are more sensitive to the plight of female sexual harassment and assault victims today.

"So much has changed since I wrote the Violence Against Women Act," he said. "So much has changed about how the public understands the pressure on women. And I've learned a lot, as well, too."

Biden's name consistently lands on Democratic prospects to challenge President Donald Trump in 2020, and the former vice president hasn't yet ruled out running.

SEE ALSO: Here's what happened the last time a Supreme Court nominee was accused of sexual misconduct, and how it compares to now

DON'T MISS: Anita Hill says senators should 'push the pause button' on Kavanaugh's confirmation to investigate Christine Blasey Ford's sexual assault claim

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Inside the Trump 'MAGA' hat factory

Donald Trump Jr. lashes out at Rod Rosenstein after explosive New York Times report

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Donald Trump Jr

  • Donald Trump Jr. blasted Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in a Friday tweet.
  • The tweet was in a response to a New York Times article reporting Rosenstein had discussed removing President Donald Trump from office and secretly recording him in spring 2017.
  • Rosenstein oversees the special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election, a frequent of target of Trump and his son Donald Jr.'s ire.

It didn't take long for Donald Trump Jr. to fan the flames of the ongoing conflict between the White House and Department of Justice after an explosive New York Times article came out on Friday.

The Times reported that deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein had discussed removing his father, President Donald Trump, from office and secretly recording him, citing sources in the Department of Justice and FBI who were present in Rosenstein's conversations or briefed on memos about them.

"Shocked!!! Absolutely Shocked!!! Ohhh, who are we kidding at this point? No one is shocked that these guys would do anything in their power to undermine @realdonaldtrump," Donald Jr. wrote on Twitter.

In multiple conversations and meetings with other DOJ and FBI officials, Rosenstein reportedly floated enlisting Attorney General Jeff Sessions and White House chief of staff John Kelly in an effort to invoke the 25th amendment of the Constitution to remove Trump from office, as well as surreptitiously recording Trump.

In a statement to The Times, Rosenstein called the story "inaccurate and factually incorrect."

Trump and his allies have long been in conflict with Rosenstein, who oversees special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether the Trump campaign illegally conspired with Russia to influence the race in Trump's favor.

Donald Jr. has largely echoed his father's criticisms that the probe is a rigged "witch hunt", accusing the DOJ of being corrupt and biased against the administration. He himself is a central figure in the Mueller probe due to his role in a June 2016 meeting in Trump Tower with a Russian lobbyist who offered the Trump campaign damaging information on Trump's Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.

The president's eldest son later tweeted: "We likely have a winner in the search for 'anonymous.' Anything to subvert a president who is actually getting things done for America... for a change," referring to the anonymous senior official who wrote a New York Times op-ed criticizing Trump earlier this month.

He also re-tweeted messages from Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Mark Meadows of North Carolina encouraging the DOJ to hand over to Congress former FBI Director Andrew McCabe' memos, which the Times cites as a major source for their story.

Earlier this summer, Jordan and Meadows were part of a group of lawmakers who led an ultimately unsuccessful effort to impeach Rosenstein.

SEE ALSO: Rod Rosenstein reportedly discussed invoking the 25th Amendment and wearing a wire to record his conversations with Trump

DON'T MISS: Rod Rosenstein reportedly thought he could convince John Kelly and Jeff Sessions to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove Trump from office

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Inside the Trump 'MAGA' hat factory

A new perk for the wealthy, right in their own apartment buildings: resident-only restaurants and drinks on the house in private bars

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  • Luxury apartments are rolling out fancy and resident-exclusive restaurants.
  • The Wall Street Journal reported that a recent crop of such eateries has sprung up in Miami.
  • Glitzy real estate offerings of the past have featured similar wild giveaways, like art galleries and trips to space.


Landlords occasionally attach a few perks to apartments or houses to sweeten the deal for buyers and attract new tenants.

Luxury residences are no different, in that regard. They just serve up more ostentatious giveaways.

Take private restaurants and bars, for instance. The Wall Street Journal reported on a number of fancy eateries that have cropped up in Miami. They're all attached to a luxury residence. The Porsche Design Tower has Fuel, Palazzo Del Sol has the Café Sol, and the Oceana Bal Harbour has Ballerina.

You can't just walk into these restaurants from off the street and snag a table. They are reserved for the people who live in these astronomically pricey skyscrapers. So if you even want to get a glimpse at the menu, you'd have to shell out millions for an apartment.

As one would expect, these exclusive eateries offer pretty sumptuous culinary experiences. At Ballerina, for instance, the Wall Street Journal reported that guests can get meals catered to their rooms. The restaurant also hosted a black truffle festival for the building.

It's not just Miami, either. Residents of Boston's Millennium Tower flock to the private restaurant Mina, while Chicagoans who live in the planned 1000M high-rise will be able to grab drinks at the Club 1000 when it opens in 2022. All drinks at Club 1000 will be on the house, too.

Swanky private restaurants aren't the only perks that luxury residences have thrown out there to please residents and entice prospective buyers. Business Insider previously reported that a deal for an $85 million penthouse apartment in New York City also included two tickets to space, a $1 million yacht, a Hamptons vacation rental, two Rolls-Royce Phantoms, and a Lamborghini Aventador Roadster.

And previously, a luxury apartment Miami provided its residents with Tesla-driving chauffeurs, while another established a whole art gallery for tenants to peruse.

SEE ALSO: Inside New York City's hidden neighborhood where Wall Street big shots, celebrities, and billionaire heirs mingle

DON'T MISS: This $85 million NYC condo comes with 2 tickets to outer space, a $1 million yacht, 2 Rolls-Royce Phantoms, and a Lamborghini

SEE ALSO: Inside notoriously ritzy Gangnam, 'the Beverly Hills of South Korea' that's home to the country's biggest celebrities

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This robotic bartender is the Keurig of mixed drinks

Trump's media allies are pushing him to fire Rod Rosenstein 'immediately' after the bombshell New York Times story

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Laura Ingraham

  • President Donald Trump's allies in conservative media asked him to fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein "immediately" on Friday after a New York Times bombshell.
  • The Times reported that Rosenstein had discussed the 25th Amendment in the days after the president fired FBI Director James Comey.
  • "He needs to go. Today," tweeted Fox News host Laura Ingraham.

President Donald Trump's allies in conservative media were quick to suggest that he fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein "immediately" after The New York Times reported Friday that he discussed the 25th Amendment in the days after the president fired FBI Director James Comey.

Fox News hosts Laura Ingraham and Jeanine Pirro, in addition to legal analyst Gregg Jarrett, pushed the president to fire Rosenstein soon after The Times published its story.

"He needs to go. Today," tweeted Ingraham, who added in another tweet that the deputy attorney general "must be fired today," tagging Trump's Twitter account.

The Times reported that Rosenstein commented on invoking the 25th Amendment and about secretly recording Trump in meetings and conversations with Justice Department and FBI officials, according to several people who described the comments to the publication. Those sources were either briefed on the comments or on memos FBI officials such as then-FBI Acting Director Andrew McCabe authored.

jeanine pirroIn a statement to The Times, Rosenstein disputed the story, calling it "inaccurate and factually incorrect." He added that the information was planted by "anonymous sources who are obviously biased against the department and are advancing their own personal agenda."

"But let me be clear about this: Based on my personal dealings with the president, there is no basis to invoke the 25th Amendment," Rosenstein said.

An anonymous Justice Department spokeswoman told The Times that a person who was present when Rosenstein proposed secretly recording Trump by wearing a wire during a meeting with the president said the comment was made sarcastically. Other publications subsequently reported that the comment was sarcastic in nature.

A section of the 25th Amendment allows for the vice president plus a majority of the Cabinet members to declare that the president is unfit for office. But there is no mechanism for dealing with a president who simply decides to fire Cabinet members who choose to join with a majority declaring the president unfit once a president were to catch wind of the effort.

Rosenstein's proposals did not ultimately come to fruition, The Times wrote.

"Driven by vengeance, Rosenstein sought to secretly record the President," Jarrett tweeted. "He must be fired immediately! Since a clearly biased Rosenstein has been in charge of the Mueller investigation, it must be terminated. This illegitimate probe has been tainted by corruption from the start."

Donald TrumpMultiple judges have upheld the special counsel Robert Mueller's probe, which Rosenstein oversees, as legitimate.

"Rod rosenstein shld have been fired long ago for being part of the 'resistance' and not providing documents to congress in order to save his corrupt pals," Pirro tweeted, mentioning the document requests made by conservative House members of Rosenstein. "NOW HE MUST BE FIRED."

Interestingly, Trump's allies seemed to be OK with using an anonymously sourced story from The Times as the basis of its calls to fire Rosenstein as soon as today.

"When you see 'anonymous source,' stop reading the story, it is fiction!" Trump himself tweeted last month, the same day he suggested that such sources "don't even exist."

As for The Times, Trump has repeatedly referred to the publication as "The Failing New York Times" when the outlet publishes a story he is not fond of.

Some conservatives expressed caution in their response to The Times story, however.

"When it comes to President @realDonaldTrump..... BEWARE of anything coming out of the @nytimes," tweeted Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who has become more of a Trump ally in recent months.

Former Republican Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a fellow Trump ally, tweeted that he was not sure if the story was true because it was published by the "NY Slimes."

But, he said if it were true, Attorney General Jeff Sessions "needs to fire Rosenstein and if he won’t ⁦⁦⁦⁦⁦@realDonaldTrump⁩ needs to fire both of them since Rosenstein doesn’t seem to have the integrity to resign."

SEE ALSO: Rod Rosenstein reportedly discussed invoking the 25th Amendment and wearing a wire to record his conversations with Trump

DON'T MISS: Rod Rosenstein reportedly thought he could convince John Kelly and Jeff Sessions to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove Trump from office

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