Five women who worked with journalist and Game Change co-author Mark Halperin told CNN he sexually harassed them when he was political director at ABC News.

Three women said Halperin, who joined ABC News in the late 1980s and was named political director in 1997, pressed his genitals against their bodies, and one said he grabbed her breasts; he denies any of these incidents took place. Three of the women also said Halperin propositioned them for sex while on the campaign trail, with one telling CNN he would say, "Why don't you meet me upstairs?" She would respond, "That's not a good idea," but "he would push the request further," the women said. All of the women said they never reported these incidents to ABC News management because they were afraid of retaliation, and they want to keep their anonymity now because they are embarrassed by what happened. They said he never promised them anything in exchange for sex or threatened retribution.

In a statement to CNN Wednesday night, Halperin, now an analyst for NBC News and Showtime's The Circus, said that "during this period, I did pursue relationships with women that I worked with, including some junior to me. I now understand from these accounts that my behavior was inappropriate and caused others pain. For that, I am deeply sorry and I apologize. Under the circumstances, I'm going to take a step back from my day-to-day work while I properly deal with this situation." Halperin left ABC News in 2007, and CNN did not speak to anyone who claimed he harassed them after he left the network. Catherine Garcia

Retired Navy Adm. William H. McRaven is standing in solidarity with former CIA Director John Brennan, whose security clearance was revoked by President Trump on Wednesday.

As commander of the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command from 2011 to 2014, McRaven oversaw the 2011 Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden. In an open letter to Trump published Thursday in The Washington Post, McRaven called Brennan "one of the finest public servants I have ever known," a man of "unparalleled integrity, whose honesty and character have never been in question, except by those who don't know him."

McRaven said he would consider it "an honor" if Trump would revoke his security clearance as well, "so I can add my name to the list of men and women who have spoken up against your presidency." McRaven said he was hopeful Trump would "rise to the occasion and become the leader this great nation needs," but his actions have instead "embarrassed us in the eyes of our children, humiliated us on the world stage, and worst of all, divided us as a nation. If you think for a moment that your McCarthy-era tactics will suppress the voices of criticism, you are sadly mistaken. The criticism will continue until you become the leader we prayed you would be." Catherine Garcia

President Trump's military parade has racked up quite the bill. A defense official told Reuters on Thursday that the event could cost about $92 million.

Trump earlier this year instructed the Pentagon to organize a military parade for Veterans Day, and preliminary estimates pegged the cost around $12 million. That number has quickly risen, as White House budget director Mick Mulvaney first ticked it up to $30 million and internal Pentagon memos fretted about the expense of a "heavy air component at the end of the parade."

The new budget — three times as large as Mulvaney's estimate — hasn't been approved by Defense Secretary James Mattis and could still be changed, notes Reuters. But Mulvaney said that the taxpayer-funded act of patriotism would come from money that Congress has already appropriated. CNBC reports that $40 million will come from the Pentagon, while $42 million will come from other agencies like the Department of Homeland Security.

Memos from the Pentagon's 50-member party planning committee show that the parade will "include wheeled vehicles only, no tanks," in an effort to "minimize damage to local infrastructure." Other parade features include helicopters, fighter jets, and historical military equipment to be displayed alongside 5,000 troops wearing uniforms that represent the "past, present, and future forces." The parade will march through Washington, D.C., in an attempt to "top" the Bastille Day parade in Paris that inspired Trump in the first place. Summer Meza

Kenya Barris is leaving ABC Studios for Netflix.

Famous for creating the hit sitcom Black-ish and writing the Tiffany Haddish-starring Girls Trip, Barris will now produce new shows exclusively for the streaming service. The three-year deal is reportedly worth $100 million, Variety reports.

Barris originally wasn't so sure about making a new home for himself at Netflix, but after some thought — and convincing — he was able to change his tune. "I started to believe that maybe this mom-and-pop shop with only 130 million subscribers might just be something," he quipped in a statement to Variety. "So I decided to take a swing ... a leap of faith if you will, and take a chance with the new kids on the block."

Cindy Holland, Netflix's vice president of original content, referred to Barris as "one of our great modern storytellers." Barris will join the ranks of Shonda Rhimes and Ryan Murphy as one of the streaming service's premiere creators. Just last year, the writer and producer had renewed his contract with ABC Studios through 2021, but he was able to secure his release from the studio several months ago after a public fraying of their relationship.

Fans of Black-ish and its spin-off Grown-ish have nothing to fear, however, as Barris will continue to be an executive producer on both series. If anything, it just means a whole lot more of Kenya Barris. Read more about the deal at Variety. Amari Pollard

Serena Williams is still crushing her opponents after more than two decades as one of the top tennis players in the world — and now she does it with a baby in tow.

In an interview with Time, Williams described her complicated comeback to tennis after giving birth, and promised she was nowhere near ready to call it quits. Williams' daughter, Olympia, was born in 2017, and Williams describes a fierce desire to bond with her during any moment that she's not on the court.

Williams worries that her time-consuming training schedule cuts into her time with Olympia, but says that she ultimately knows that she wants to show her daughter that it's possible to have a thriving career no matter what, she told Time. After recovering from a life-threatening childbirth experience, Williams wanted to dive back into tennis. "I'm not done yet, simple," she said. "My story doesn't end here."

But Williams had to learn how to view her career through the lens of motherhood. After nursing Olympia for eight months, her coach told her she should stop in order to get back in shape. "It's absolutely hard to take from a guy," Williams said of the recommendation. “He's not a woman, he doesn't understand that connection." She said she eventually came around to the idea, and had "a really good conversation" with Olympia about needing to commit to her coach's training plan.

Read more about Williams' plan to reach the all-time record of Grand Slam singles titles — as well as her admiration for quarterback and activist Colin Kaepernick — at Time. Summer Meza

A young pharmaceutical startup wants to develop a groundbreaking new treatment for a relatively common cancer. Yet it struggles to find funding.

That's because the startup in question is Antiva Biosciences, and the cancer it aims to treat is cervical cancer. Stat reported Thursday on the company's struggles to attract investment, as well as its constant fight to receive buy-in from male doctors, quoting Antiva's top executives discussing frankly their perceptions of the problem: "It's very safe to say that we got more traction in [venture capital] firms where there was a woman partner who was in a decision-making role," Antiva CEO Gail Maderis told Stat.

Antiva's proposal is to replace the most common treatment prescribed for women who develop the precancerous cervical lesions that result from being infected with HPV, which is surgery. The operation removes the lesions by "essentially cutting off the tip of the cervix," Stat reports. The surgery has proven effective in eradicating the problem cells, but "women of childbearing age who undergo the surgery may later have difficulty conceiving, recurrent miscarriages, and preterm delivery," Stat explains.

Antiva says about 500,000 women undergo this procedure every year. Instead of surgery, the company is proposing a topical treatment that patients can administer themselves. But the reception has been lukewarm: Maderis told Stat of how one prospective male investor who appeared unenthused during Maderis' pitch. But after their meeting, he called Maderis to explain how his wife had pressed him to investigate the deal further after he'd told her about the company's mission.

One man, David Kabakoff, did invest in Antiva through his firm. His team has been calling gynecologists to glean their reactions to the topical treatment. "The trend was unmistakable," Stat wrote: "Male physicians tended to express skepticism ... Female physicians tended to say new treatment options are badly needed." Read more about Antiva at Stat. Kimberly Alters

Omarosa Manigault Newman has another tape.

Manigault Newman appeared on MSNBC on Thursday and played a secret recording of a conversation with Lara Trump, President Trump's daughter-in-law and a campaign adviser.

During the recorded phone call, Lara Trump offered Manigault Newman $15,000 a month to work on the re-election campaign. Manigault Newman told MSNBC that the offer came just days after she was fired from her White House position, calling it proof that the Trump family "can't keep their story straight" when it comes to whether they love or hate her.

The president on Tuesday called Manigault Newman "a crazed, crying lowlife" and a "dog," characterizing her as an incompetent liar who was "vicious, but not smart." In response, Manigault Newman is looking to prove that Trump never had a problem with her until she began criticizing the administration. "Every time the Trump people challenge me, I bring the receipts," she told MSNBC's Craig Melvin. She said she understood the job offer to be "hush money" to keep her from exposing the "corruption" she had witnessed in the White House. Lara Trump said in a statement that she offered the job "before we knew anything about the gross violations of ethics and integrity during her White House tenure."

After previously releasing recordings of Trump campaign advisers and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly firing her, Manigault Newman said she had more tapes to share if she felt she needed to "protect" herself. Watch the full interview below, via MSNBC. Summer Meza

Aretha Franklin's death on Thursday inspired a flood of heartfelt sentiments, from fellow musicians remembering her influence to fans reveling in her legacy. Politicians piped in as well, with a wide range of reactions.

President Trump tweeted that Franklin was a "great woman with a wonderful gift from God," but his extemporaneous words later in the day were slightly less focused on her talents. "I want to begin today by expressing my condolences to the family of a person I knew well," Trump said. "She worked for me on numerous occasions. She was terrific — Aretha Franklin — on her passing." He additionally said her legacy would "thrive and inspire many generations to come" and noted that "people loved Aretha."

Meanwhile, former president and first lady Barack and Michelle Obama issued a statement hoping the "Queen of Soul" may "rest in eternal peace" and recalling Franklin's "unmatched" musicianship. "Every time she sang, we were all graced with a glimpse of the divine," they wrote.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tweeted that Franklin deserves "our lasting gratitude for opening our eyes, ears, and hearts," while former President Bill Clinton joined his wife in a statement that called Franklin "elegant, graceful, and utterly uncompromising in her artistry." Summer Meza