August 27, 2015

Ted Cruz And Donald Trump Planning Joint Event In Washington, DC

Source: TPM



Republican presidential rivals Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) are planning a joint event in Washington, DC to voice their opposition to the nuclear deal with Iran, The Washington Post reported on Thursday.

“We are talking to Ted Cruz, who is a friend of mine and a good guy, about doing something very big over the next two weeks in Washington,” Trump said after a campaign stop Thursday, according to the publication. He added the event was a "protest" against the deal.

A spokeswoman for Cruz told the newspaper that the senator invited Trump to join him, “to call on members of Congress to defeat the catastrophic deal that the Obama Administration has struck with the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

Cruz also tweeted about Trump's statement.

Ted Cruz ✔
@tedcruz

Glad @realdonaldtrump accepted my invitation to rally in DC to stop the catastrophic #IranDeal. http://www.stoptheirandeal.com

3:13 PM - 27 Aug 2015
357 357 Retweets 420 420 favorites

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Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/doanld-trump-ted-cruz-joint-event

August 27, 2015

Ted Cruz And Donald Trump Planning Joint Event In Washington, DC

Republican presidential rivals Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) are planning a joint event in Washington, DC to voice their opposition to the nuclear deal with Iran, The Washington Post reported on Thursday.

“We are talking to Ted Cruz, who is a friend of mine and a good guy, about doing something very big over the next two weeks in Washington,” Trump said after a campaign stop Thursday, according to the publication. He added the event was a "protest" against the deal.

A spokeswoman for Cruz told the newspaper that the senator invited Trump to join him, “to call on members of Congress to defeat the catastrophic deal that the Obama Administration has struck with the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

Cruz also tweeted about Trump's statement.

Ted Cruz ✔
@tedcruz

Glad @realdonaldtrump accepted my invitation to rally in DC to stop the catastrophic #IranDeal. http://www.stoptheirandeal.com

3:13 PM - 27 Aug 2015
357 357 Retweets 420 420 favorites

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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/doanld-trump-ted-cruz-joint-event

August 27, 2015

Clinton email story still lacks a punch line - By Steve Benen

Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton spoke to campaign reporters yesterday and took responsibility for the controversy surrounding his email-server-management issue. She apparently adopted a tone many of her critics wanted to hear.

“I know people have raised questions about my email use as secretary of state, and I understand why,” the former Secretary of State said. “I get it. So here’s what I want the American people to know: My use of personal email was allowed by the State Department. It clearly wasn’t the best choice. I should’ve used two emails: one personal, one for work.”

She added, “I take responsibility for that decision, and I want to be as transparent as possible, which is why I turned over 55,000 pages, why I’ve turned over my server, why I’ve agreed to – in fact, been asking to – and have finally gotten a date to testify before a congressional committee in October.”

The response coincided with an interesting report from the Associated Press, which raised the question of whether the controversy should even exist in the first place.

The transmission of now-classified information across Hillary Rodham Clinton’s private email is consistent with a State Department culture in which diplomats routinely sent secret material on unsecured email during the past two administrations, according to documents reviewed by The Associated Press.

Clinton’s use of a home server makes her case unique and has become an issue in her front-running campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. But it’s not clear whether the security breach would have been any less had she used department email.

The AP report noted that these practices were ordinary for many years, including in the Bush/Cheney State Department.

more
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/clinton-email-story-still-lacks-punch-line?cid=eml_mra_20150827

August 27, 2015

Is Biden Stoking the Fire - Or Throwing Cold Water on It?

First Read is a morning briefing from Meet the Press and the NBC Political Unit on the day's most important political stories and why they matter.

Biden: My heart and soul "are pretty well banged up"

We heard Vice President Joe Biden talk about his thoughts on a 2016 run for the first time since the speculation took off earlier this month, and he sounded like a man who's too personally wounded to jump into the presidential waters with both feet. In a conference call with DNC members yesterday to talk about the Iran deal, Biden said, "I've given this a lot of thought and dealing internally in the family about how we do this," referring to a possible White House run, as NBC's Kristen Welker reported on "Today." He later added to the DNC members, per Welker: "If I were to announce to run, I have to be able to commit to all of you that I would be able to give it my whole heart and my whole soul -- and right now both are pretty well banged up." Those comments match what we wrote yesterday, as well as Politico's Glenn Thrush's reporting. "The Joe Biden who has been reaching out to Democratic operatives and would-be donors for a potential 2016 bid isn't quite the happy warrior of bygone days," Thrush wrote.

This isn't a way to build up a fire for 2016; it's a way to throw water on it

Folks, this isn't a way to stoke the 2016 fire. Indeed, it's more throwing water on it. It's as if Biden was trying to tell the political world: calm down. Of course, Biden's comments come as another Quinnipiac poll (this one national) shows him with a better fav/unfav rating than Clinton, and has him performing slightly better in hypothetical general-election matchups than Hillary does. (The same poll, though, shows Hillary leading both Biden and Sanders in the Dem race.) Then again, campaigns-in-waiting are usually going to poll better than the campaigns already underway. In football terms, think about it as the excitement for the backup quarterback who hasn't thrown an interception yet.

Biden and Elizabeth Warren aren't exactly BFFs

By the way, given Biden's meeting last weekend with Elizabeth Warren -- plus the speculation that Warren could be part of a ticket with the vice president -- don't miss the Boston Globe piece noting that they haven't been BFFs in the past. Just consider this 2002 New York Times letter to the editor that Warren wrote, which called out Biden for work he was doing a bankruptcy bill. "Banking and credit lobbyists have been trying to change the bankruptcy laws for years. The current bill was stuck in conference between the Senate and House until Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware — where many banks and credit-card issuers are incorporated — agreed to vote with Republicans on almost all the issues that were holding up the bill. But Mr. Biden also told his Democratic colleagues that he would support an amendment to stop abortion protesters from using bankruptcy protection to avoid damages they might otherwise have to pay for violating federal law in violent clinic protests." Warren wasn't wrong here: There's a reason why so many banks and credit-card companies are based in Delaware.

http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/biden-stoking-fire-or-throwing-cold-water-it-n416866

August 27, 2015

3rd Virginia TV Shooting Victim Upgraded To Good Condition

Source: TPM

Vicki Gardner, the local Chamber of Commerce director who was being interviewed on camera when a gunman opened fire Wednesday, has been upgraded from stable to good condition.

Gardner was shot in the back in the shooting that left journalists Alison Parker and Adam Ward dead, WDBJ reported on Thursday.

Gardner's husband, Tim Gardner, told CNN he was watching the morning news broadcast and the shooting on live TV. Although she has a long recovery process ahead, Tim Gardner said his wife was able to talk and walk to the ambulance after the incident.

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Read more: Link to source

August 27, 2015

Kentucky Clerk Once Again Denies Gay Marriage License, Despite Federal Order

Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS

MOREHEAD, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky clerk's office on Thursday again refused to issue a marriage license to a gay couple, in defiance of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage across the country two months ago.

Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis has refused to issue any marriage licenses, citing her Christian faith and constitutional right to religious freedom, since the landmark decision in June.

On Thursday morning, a deputy clerk in her office refused to issue a marriage license to William Smith Jr. and James Yates. It was their third attempt to get a license. They said they will not give up.

"They just don't like gay people, they don't want us to get married," Yates said. "And they'd rather burn the earth and not let straight people in Rowan County get married either." The action Thursday came just a day after a federal appeals court upheld a ruling ordering the clerk in rural Rowan County to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

-snip-

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/kim-davis-kentucky-clerk-again-denies-license

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Court orders defiant Kentucky clerk to issue same-sex marriage licenses in compliance with SCOTUS ruling

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141189499

August 27, 2015

Donald Trump slams Jeb Bush — from the left: The Donald blasts Bush’s Wall Street ties

The billionaire mogul hits the scion of America's most famous Republican dynasty

SOPHIA TESFAYE

Donald Trump, who claims to be worth $10 billion, is attempting to portray rival Jeb Bush as the preferred candidate of Wall Street, offering a critique of the former Florida governor from the left.

“Jeb is never going to bring us to the promised land. He can’t,” Trump told the Washington Post’s Robert Costa and Phillip Rucker in a new interview described as containing 33 jabs at the Bush political dynasty in 35 minutes, or “about one put-down per minute.”

“He’s not up to snuff,” Trump determined, citing Bush’s work after leaving the governor’s mansion in Tallahassee as disqualifying: (emphasis added)

Trump was especially accusatory when he talked about Jeb Bush’s work in investment banking. After leaving the governor’s office in 2007, Bush was an adviser to Lehman Brothers and, later, Barclays, earning between $1.3 million and $2 million a year. Trump called Bush’s role at Lehman a “no-show job” and suggested it was a reward for helping direct Florida state funds to the firm, whose collapse in 2008 helped kick off the Great Recession.

“That’s a Hillary Clinton kind of situation,” Trump said, referring to the Democratic front-runner. “This is huge. Let me ask you: Why would you pay a man $1.3 million a year for a no-show job at Lehman Brothers — which, when it failed, almost took the world with it?”

According to the Wall Street Journal, Bush was never an official employee of Lehman, “but was paid to attend meetings, dinners and conferences where he spoke to clients and bank executives.”

more
http://www.salon.com/2015/08/27/donald_trump_slams_jeb_bush_from_the_left_the_donald_blasts_bushs_wall_street_ties/

August 27, 2015

2 million

Jorge Ramos, the anchor of Noticiero Univision, was thrown out of a Donald Trump press conference Tuesday after asking the real estate developer about his immigration policies. On Wednesday, Joe Scarborough — another foe of Trump — said Ramos was seeking 15 minutes of fame. Why is this hilarious? Scarborough helms MSNBC’s Morning Joe, which averages between 400,000 and 500,000 viewers. Noticiero Univision has, on average, about 2 million viewers. (@alexweprin)

Jose A. DelReal
@jdelreal

Joe Scarborough just said that Jorge Ramos was "looking for his 15 minutes of fame." How completely out of touch with hispanic media.

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http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/significant-digits-for-thursday-aug-27-2015/

August 27, 2015

Colorado movie gunman sentenced to 12 lifetimes and 3,318 years

Condemning movie massacre gunman James Holmes to 12 life sentences and the maximum 3,318 years in prison for his rampage in a midnight screening of a Batman film, a Colorado judge said on Wednesday that evil and mental illness are not mutually exclusive.

"It is the court's intention that the defendant never set foot in free society again ... If there was ever a case that warranted the maximum sentences, this is the case," Arapahoe County District Court Judge Carlos Samour said.

"The defendant does not deserve any sympathy."

Survivors and relatives of those killed clapped and cheered as Samour then ordered deputies to remove Holmes from his courtroom, and the gunman was led away in shackles.

The 27-year-old was found guilty last month of murdering 12 people and wounding 70 after donning a helmet, gas mask and body armor, then opening fire with a semiautomatic rifle, shotgun and pistol.

The jury did not reach a unanimous decision on whether Holmes should be executed. That meant the former neuroscience graduate student, who had pleaded insanity, got a dozen automatic life sentences with no parole for his attack on the packed screening at the Century 16 multiplex in the Denver suburb of Aurora.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/26/us-usa-shooting-denver-idUSKCN0QV1RV20150826

August 27, 2015

Univision Prez Slams Trump: Treatment Of Jorge Ramos 'Beneath Contempt'

Source: TPM

Donald Trump and Univision were no fans of one another before Trump kicked renown Univision host Jorge Ramos out of a press conference Tuesday. But in a statement released Wednesday evening, Univision president Randy Falco made clear his disapproval of Ramos' ejection from the press event.

-snip-

Read the full statement:

The recent treatment that Jorge Ramos received at Mr. Trump's press conference in Iowa is beneath contempt. As a Presidential candidate, Mr. Trump is going to get tough questions from the press and has to answer them. Jorge Ramos is one the most professional, dedicated and respected journalists I have seen or worked with in my 40 years in media. He always asks hard questions of candidates and elected officials, regardless of party or issue. Mr. Trump demonstrated complete disregard for him and for the countless Hispanics whom Jorge seeks to represent through press questions that are at the heart of the First Amendment. I remain grateful for the first-rate journalistic work that Jorge and all of his news colleagues at Univision and Fusion do to bring all points of view to the 57 million Hispanics in this country.

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/donald-trump-univision-statement