WH press secretary tells Fox News she won't hold press briefings because reporters just 'want their moment on TV so they can peddle their books'

In a Thursday morning interview on "Fox & Friends," White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said she doesn't want to hold televised press briefings because reporters "just want their moment to peddle their books."

Sanders climbs, now tied with Biden among registered voters: Reuters poll

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders has been steadily climbing in popularity this year and is now tied with former Vice President Joe Biden for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination among registered voters, according to a Reuters/Ipsos national poll. The online poll, released Thursday, shows that 20% of registered Democrats and independents said they would back Sanders over 11 other candidates to run in the general election against President Donald Trump, an increase of 2 percentage points from a similar poll that ran last week. Another 19% supported Biden, 12% said they would vote for Senator Elizabeth Warren, 9% backed former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and 6% said they would support Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana.

USC officials doubted Lori Loughlin's daughters were 'serious' athletes, according to newly released emails in the college admissions scandal

Federal prosecutors released dozens of emails and call logs between Rick Singer and parents accused of taking part in the college admissions scandal.

Rachel Maddow and Lev Parnas explain why Parnas has publicly flipped on Trump and Giuliani

After MSNBC's Rachel Maddow aired her interview with Lev Parnas on Wednesday night, fellow host Lawrence O'Donnell told her it was an "extraordinary hour" of television. But "I think a lot of us, as we were watching, had one fundamental question: Why is he doing this?" he asked. "Why has he decided to basically turn on his friends in the conspiracy and talk about the conspiracy?" Parnas worked with Rudy Giuliani, President Trump's personal lawyer, to pressure Ukrainian officials to procure dirt on Joe Biden."What seemed to emerge today," Maddow said, "is that he really believes that the more he makes public about what he saw and what he knows and what he can document, the safer he is. He's, I think, worried that if the information he's got is only inside his own head or in his own, you know, electronic devices and things like that, that that's too easy — it's too easy to make that go away."Maddow said there's probably an "implicit" but far-fetched hope that cooperating with investigators and sharing what he knows will help him in his federal criminal case, but "I will tell you, Lawrence, I was convinced until the moment I was sitting there talking to him that it was going to be canceled." She added that for her, the "headline" from the interview was his claim about Vice President Mike Pence's involvement in the Ukraine meddling.Parnas also told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Wednesday that "of course" Pence was aware of what he and Giuliani were doing for Trump in Ukraine, and their mission "was all about 2020, to make sure he had another four years." Cooper asked if that's how Parnas "personally" saw the goal, and Parnas said "that was the way everybody viewed it. ... I mean, there was no other reason for doing it."Parnas told Cooper he "loved" and "idolized" Trump up to the moment Trump publicly denied knowing him. "The truth is out now, thank God," he said. "I thought they were going to shut me up and make me look like the scapegoat and try to blame me for stuff I haven't done." Parnas volunteered to testify at Trump's impeachment trial and predicted that between him and former National Security Adviser John Bolton, they "could fill in all the dots."Senate Republicans aren't expected to allow witnesses at Trump's trial.More stories from theweek.com Ukraine gives Trump the corruption investigation he asked for Is the media about to have a conniption fit over Bernie Sanders? 11 Americans were injured in Iran strike, suggesting a 'nearer miss than advertised'

Eastern Libya halts more than half the country's oil output

Eastern Libya ports controlled by commander Khalifa Haftar, who is trying to seize the capital Tripoli, are shutting down oil exports, slashing national crude output by more than half and ramping up tensions ahead of a summit in Germany to discuss the country's conflict.

from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/3aeCV5Y

Guinea-Bissau Supreme Court calls for clarification of presidential vote result

The outcome of Guinea-Bissau's presidential election was thrown into doubt on Friday after the Supreme Court called for a clarification of the tally hours after the electoral commission released the final results.

from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/2FYZzS1

Can Anyone Save the G.O.P.?

By BY BRET STEPHENS from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/360NSVr