In an article tracing how the political worldview of former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke has become mainstream in Louisiana, The New York Times dug up an interesting quote about Rep. Steve Scalise (R), who came under fire this week after it was revealed that he spoke to a summit of white supremacists and neo-Nazis in Louisiana in 2002:
Stephanie Grace, a Louisiana political reporter and columnist for the past 20 years, first with The Times-Picayune in New Orleans and now The Advocate of Baton Rouge, recalled her first meeting with Mr. Scalise.
"He was explaining his politics and we were in this getting-to-know-each-other stage," Ms. Grace said. "He told me he was like David Duke without the baggage. I think he meant he supported the same policy ideas as David Duke, but he wasn’t David Duke, that he didn’t have the same feelings about certain people as David Duke did." [The New York Times]
Many conservative commentators, including Michael Brendan Dougherty at The Week, have called for Scalise to step down as majority whip of the House. Ryu Spaeth
Omarosa Manigault Newman's new White House tell-all has some eye-catching rumors about first lady Melania Trump, including that she chooses her wardrobe to irk President Trump and can't wait to divorce him after Trump leave office. "That is going to be tough on Trump, because whatever lawyer she gets is already better than his," Stephen Colbert joked on Thursday's Late Show. Whether or not those allegations are true, "there are other signs Melania is distancing herself from Trump," he said, including her supportive statement about LeBron James after her husband called him stupid.
"Now, things may seem tense with Donald and Melania, but they also just spent last week on vacation together, so maybe they've patched things up," Colbert said. To get an insight on that, he turned to Late Show Melania Trump impersonator Laura Benanti. So, are Omarosa's allegations true? he asked. "Of course not, Stephen, she is a wacky lowlife," Late Show Melania replied. "What kind of person ends up in the White House after being on The Apprentice? Ohhh." And what about the LeBron James statement? "LeBron shows that it's never too late to leave home and sign with another team," she said, with sartorial backup. Watch the entire exchange, and the ersatz first lady doing the floss, below. Peter Weber
Late Thursday, a dozen former U.S. intelligence chiefs dating back to the Reagan administration joined retired Adm. William McRaven in openly criticizing President Trump's decision to revoke former CIA Director John Brennan's security clearance for what appear to be political reasons. The six former CIA directors, five deputy CIA directors, and one director of national intelligence said in their open letter they felt compelled to respond after Trump's "ill-considered and unprecedented remarks and actions" regarding Brennan's security clearance.
The intelligence officials defended Brennan as "an enormously talented, capable, and patriotic individual" and said "insinuations and allegations of wrongdoing on the part of Brennan while in office are baseless." They noted pointedly that not all of them have chosen to "speak out sharply" on Trump's perceived "threats to our national security," as Brennan has. But, they added:
Regardless, we all agree that the president's action regarding John Brennan and the threats of similar action against other former officials has nothing to do with who should and should not hold security clearances — and everything to do with an attempt to stifle free speech. You don't have to agree with what John Brennan says (and, again, not all of us do) to agree with his right to say it, subject to his obligation to protect classified information. We have never before seen the approval or removal of security clearances used as a political tool, as was done in this case. ... Decisions on security clearances should be based on national security concerns and not political views. [Letter from intelligence chiefs]
Trump is clearly sending a signal to other government officials, they wrote, and "that signal is inappropriate and deeply regrettable." Officials typically retain their security clearance after they leave the government "in order to ensure institutional continuity and in the event their expertise proves useful to their successors," CBS News explains, and some also use it to obtain jobs in the private sector. Peter Weber
It all started with one tree.
In 1979, Padma Shri Jadav "Molai" Payeng came across several snakes on Majuli Island in Assam, India. Flooding brought the snakes to the island, but due to erosion, there wasn't any shade and the snakes died from the heat. Payeng was 16 at the time, and he decided he was going to do something so this never happened again: he planted a sapling, and continued to plant one a day for the next 35 years.
Majuli is the world's largest river island, and 39 years after Payeng planted his first sapling, the trees cover more than 1,360 acres. Named Molai Forest in his honor, it's about 1.6 times larger than Central Park, Travel and Leisure reports, and has several thousand varieties of trees. Elephants, Bengal tigers, rhinos, wild boars, and reptiles call Molai Forest home, and Payeng wants to plant 5,000 more acres. Payeng, who received one of India's highest civilian awards in 2015, arrives in the forest at 5 a.m. every day to care for the trees. He also teaches children how to care for trees, and pushes for more environmental protections. Catherine Garcia
In 2015, when Stephen Colbert was hosting the Kennedy Center tribute to Carole King, Aretha Franklin sang King's "Natural Woman" just a few feet away from him, Colbert said on Thursday's Late Show, paying his respects to Franklin, who died Thursday. "And as she started, I said to the man standing next to me, one of the stagehands, I said, 'Man, I wish I could have seen her when she was younger, when she was in full voice.' And boy am I stupid. Because this is what happened."
"There is no queen of soul right now, and she can never be replaced," Colbert said. Aretha Franklin is certainly a hard act to follow, but on The Tonight Show, Ariana Grande paid tribute to Franklin by singing the same song with The Roots.
If that seems unfair to Grande, Trevor Noah sang a few bars of "Natural Woman" during his Daily Show between-the-scenes homage to Franklin, too, explaining how he'd sing the song as a kid in South Africa before he really understood that he was singing about being a woman. Then he talked a bit about Franklin's life and legacy and grit. Watch below. Peter Weber
Elon Musk's nonstop work schedule is fracturing his relationships with friends and family, plus taking a toll on his health, the Tesla CEO told The New York Times on Thursday.
Musk spoke with Times reporters for an hour, and he would sometimes laugh before switching to crying. "This past year has been the most difficult and painful year of my career," he said. "It was excruciating." Musk, 47, said he often works up to 120 hours a week, and he barely made it to his brother's recent wedding, only to leave right when it was over. Spending so much time at work "has really come at the expense of seeing my kids, and seeing friends," he said.
Musk made headlines last week when he tweeted: "Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured." Tesla shares went up, and investigators from the Securities and Exchange Commission have since asked Musk to explain the tweet, people familiar with the matter told the Times, and sent subpoenas to Musk and Tesla's board. Musk said he sent the tweet while driving to the airport, and no one else knew he was going to post it. People with knowledge of the matter said funding is not really secured, and it could be coming from a Saudi Arabian government investment fund, but nothing is set in stone.
They also said the Tesla board is concerned about Musk's workload, his use of Ambien, and his strange tweets (he called a British diver who volunteered to help rescue the children stuck in a cave in Thailand earlier this summer "pedo guy"), and they are searching for someone to come in and work as Musk's No. 2. Musk, meanwhile, is certain that "the worst is yet to come" for him, and he's worried about short-sellers who are "desperately pushing a narrative that will possibly result in Tesla's destruction." Read more of the bleak interview at The New York Times. Catherine Garcia
Omarosa Manigault Newman's Unhinged book tour has really gotten under the president's skin, Stephen Colbert said on Thursday's Late Show, wondering if President Trump regrets having fired her (again). Trump has reportedly told advisers he wants Manigault Newman arrested, though it's unclear what the charge would be. "What law did she break?" Colbert asked, in Trump voice. "Is my heart a law?"
He turned to Omarosa's new secret recording, this one involving Lara Trump offering Manigault Newman "$15,000 a month to hush, to work for the campaign in a job as assistant secretary of keeping your trap shut." Omarosa has made it clear she has a lot more recordings, she's not going away, and her tapes are better than their tapes. "Maybe, but I bet Russia has you both beat," Colbert said. In her maudlin response, Lara Trump tried to shame Omarosa, saying there are some things, like friendship, "you just can't put a price on." Colbert agreed, "but silence is about $15,000 a month."
"You think you can arrest Omarosa?" Seth Meyers asked on Late Night. "This is a person you tried to fire four times, and you still can't get rid of her." Still, Trump's first attempt to silence her was hiring her for a fifth time, with that $15,000-a-month job offer, he noted. "So first they hired Omarosa, then they fired her, then they tried to hire her again to buy her off. This is how Trumpism works: Everyone is conning everyone else, and in the process, they're conning the rest of us, too," Meyers said. Even Fox & Friends, Trump's favorite feel-good TV show, is "telling you that it's all just a giant grift."
At The Daily Show, Trevor Noah and Michael Kosta looked at the booming, sometimes grift-y business of hating on Trump. Watch below. Peter Weber
A state of emergency has been declared in British Columbia, as thousands of firefighters battle at least 566 wildfires burning across the Canadian province.
More than 3,000 residents have been evacuated from their homes, and 18,000 have been told to prepare to leave at a moment's notice. So far this year, there have been more than 1,800 fires in the province, scorching 939,000 acres. Firefighters have come from as far away as Mexico and New Zealand to help battle the blazes.
"We're going to throw everything we've got at these fires, but in a lot of cases, Mother Nature is going to be in the driver's seat," Kevin Skrepnek, British Columbia's chief fire information officer, told reporters Thursday. There isn't any rain in the forecast, and the smoke is causing a layer of haze across British Columbia and into Seattle. British Columbia's public safety minister, Mike Farnworth, told reporters the fire season is starting earlier, and "the bulk of the fires, what we have seen this year, have been lightning-caused." Catherine Garcia
