Former CIA Director John Brennan has been very outspoken slamming President Donald Trump in 2018, and he’s closing out the year expressing hope that the Republican party will end up abandoning him.

“It is my sincere hope that the forthcoming exposure of your malfeasance & corruption will convince enough Republicans to abandon you in 2019,” he tweeted. “We have had enough of your whining from the White House. We need an actual leader—our Nation’s future is at stake.”

It is my sincere hope that the forthcoming exposure of your malfeasance & corruption will convince enough Republicans to abandon you in 2019. We have had enough of your whining from the White House. We need an actual leader—our Nation’s future is at stake. https://t.co/dNzRGuOFdP

— John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan) December 31, 2018

He quote-tweeted Trump’s defense of his Syria decision that also lashed out at the “Fake News.”

[image via screengrab]

I have 470 podcast episodes in my queue right now, after some paring down. There’s just too much good stuff to listen to: fiction, chat shows, history lessons, interviews, reported documentaries, weird semi-fiction. Of the hundreds of podcast episodes I listened to this year, these are the 15 that taught or…

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We don’t all have the motivation to schlep to the gym every day, even during New Year’s resolution season, but you can keep in shape at home with this cleverly designed PowerBlock dumbbell set. Each dumbbell adjusts from 2.5 to 50 pounds in 2.5 pound increments with just the flick of a selector pin. It’s like a…

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If you’ve ever driven a baby around town simply because parking would mean waking her, then you know the power of a car’s ability to knock a kid out.

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In a tweet aimed at provoking Democrats amid the government shutdown, President Donald Trump claimed he was currently inside the Oval Office, a post that some White House reporters responded to by noting that no Marine was stationed outside the room at the time — an indicator that the president is working inside.

“I’m in the Oval Office. Democrats, come back from vacation now and give us the votes necessary for Border Security, including the Wall. You voted yes in 2006 and 2013,” he tweeted — after deleting a prior version of the same tweet in-which he claimed Democrats voted for a wall in “3013.”

“One more yes, but with me in office, I’ll get it built, and Fast!” He added.

I’m in the Oval Office. Democrats, come back from vacation now and give us the votes necessary for Border Security, including the Wall. You voted yes in 2006 and 2013. One more yes, but with me in office, I’ll get it built, and Fast!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 31, 2018

Several reporters physically close to the White House or following the pool reports were quick to fact check the president.

“The president just tweeted that he was in the oval, but no marine outside the west wing,” observed Bloomberg‘s Justin Sink.

As is his style, Playboy‘s correspondent Brian Karem accused Trump of pushing “another lie,” due to the lack of Marine presence.

POTUS tweet minutes ago claimed he was in the Oval Office. No marine there so that’s another lie. ⁦@realDonaldTrump⁩ pic.twitter.com/rnJnQt88HO

— Brian J. Karem (@BrianKarem) December 31, 2018

“POTUS tweeted earlier that he’s in the Oval Office. Per pool, as off 11 am there was no Marine guard outside the West Wing lobby, which there is when POTUS is in the Oval,” New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman tweeted.

However, in responses to Haberman, Associated Press White House reporter Zeke Miller suggested Trump could still be telling the truth even without a Marine present, as security changes are sometimes made on weekends and holidays.

Important: A Marine is usually, but *not always* outside the West Wing when the president is in the Oval. https://t.co/hb3ABsytHg

— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) December 31, 2018

Often nighttime, weekends and public holidays. The 100% indicator is whether a USSS agent is posted in the colonnade

— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) December 31, 2018

[image via Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images]

If I had to pick a theme to sum up technology in 2018, it would be “bother me less.” From social networks that collect way too much data to websites that leak your password to the world to the annual circus of hardware updates that feel less and less worthy of your hard-earned cash, it feels like now, more than ever,…

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Welcome to Ask Kate About Beer, in which The Takeout’s resident beer expert answers everything you’ve ever wanted to know about beer but were too drunk to ask. Have a question? Shoot it to beer@thetakeout.com.

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Round out 2018 with deals on Philips Hue lights, Anker charging gear, Amazon-branded trail mix, and a lot more.

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Congratulations to everyone who made it to the end of 2018, I dare say you deserve a drink (or seven). If you’re still scrambling, trying to figure out how to toast this year into oblivion, calm yourself, and gaze upon the many good three-ingredient cocktails we made and enjoyed this year. There are a lot to choose…

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When you read a lot of personal finance articles, you inevitably reach a point where you can’t buy a water bottle at the corner deli or buy gas without driving around to find something that’s two cents cheaper a gallon without feeling some sense of shame. Those are unnecessary purchases after all, and everyone knows…

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In looking back on 2018 while compiling this list, Mediaite’s editors were struck by the remarkable reshuffling of power and allegiances in the world of media, one that has contorted our “Most Influential” pecking order into exciting new twists.

How we measure influence can be intangible. There are obvious metrics, like ratings, social media reach, the strength of one’s coverage of the news as well as the ability to make it. But that’s not all. Then there are the little pieces of insight gleaned from a conversation with sources that hint to the unseen influence of a personality, which can be paired with the more…gut-level idea of their gravitas in the world of media and politics. One’s proximity to power is a key factor, as is one’s monopoly of an audience that rejects those in charge. A hit talk show which gets national news headlines, meanwhile, can be just as influential as the enterprising White House reporter who churns out scoops.

Here, we take a look at the past year in that world, assessing the anchors, the pundits, the reporters, the editors, the executives, the late night comedians and everyone in between that carried weight in the world Mediaite considers dear.

The Mediaite staff is proud to present the 2018 selections for Most Influential in Political News Media.

This list was reported by Aidan McLaughlin, Josh Feldman, Joe DePaolo, Ken Meyer, Colby Hall, Caleb Howe, Tamar Auber, Amy Russo and Caleb Ecarma.

75. Bill Hemmer

America’s Newsroom on Fox News got a major re-formatting this year, and with Bill Hemmer at its helm, the show is better than ever. The morning news program was expanded to three hours, and it’s turned up the heat thanks to often fiery panel discussions — always held together thanks to Hemmer’s talents as a broadcaster. He’s been hosting the program for almost a decade, but with these changes and the help of co-host Sandra Smith, Hemmer has emerged as one of the most prominent anchors on Fox, a network already top of the pile in influence.

74. Daniel Dale

Daniel Dale has made it his career mission to fact-check President Donald Trump’s statements. It’s a noble — and massive — undertaking and his Twitter threads chronicling the utterances made at each of the president’s many rallies have become a vital resource for those covering the current administration. It’s a thankless task, but someone has to do it. And as a result, Dale has become the foremost expert on the president’s mistruths. We’re praying for him as the 2020 race gets underway.

73. Joy Reid

No program in the MSNBC weekend lineup even approaches the influence of AM Joy — a must-watch for many progressives. A splashy New York Times feature on Reid earlier this year called her a “heroine of the resistance,” which, aside from the scandal over her old blog she claimed was hacked, remains the case to this day. Reid has also led the way in bringing diversity to the punditry by finding smart on-air analysts that others somehow overlooked. During the week, she’s got plenty of clout too. Her popular tweets frequently go viral and she’s the number one choice off the bench to take over when Rachel Maddow or Lawrence O’Donnell need a night off. Frankly, as Mediaite has written before, it’s not hard to imagine her in the primetime lineup for good sometime down the road.

72. John Oliver

John Oliver has one of the most biting in-depth late night shows on television. Airing Sunday nights — with the help of HBO’s ample budget funding a team of researchers and comedians — Oliver pairs the acerbic wit of an Armando Iannucci character with extensive coverage of important issues overlooked by the rest of the media. In recent episodes, Oliver has tackled child separation, Saudi Arabia, Brazil’s elections with 20-minute deep-dives packed with enough jokes to keep viewers’ attentions. What’s more, his knack for turning boring topics into viral commentary has actually changed policy.

71. James Goldston

The ABC News chief has enjoyed a great 2018. World News Tonight and Good Morning America are scoring massive ratings, and the network has scored multiple big news-making interviews with the Trumps this year — Don Jr. in September, Melania in October, Ivanka just last week, and the president himself right after the North Korea summit. And, of course, James Comey’s first major interview this year was with ABC News. The View, meanwhile, is enjoying serious success, thanks to a thrilling lineup of hosts that keep things exciting.

70. Harris Faulkner

Harris Faulkner just keeps getting better. Her Fox News show Outnumbered: Overtime at 1 p.m. has scored big interviews, is on top in its time slot (in October she beat her CNN and MSNBC competitors combined), and consistently generates buzzworthy content. She’s able to balance out hard news anchoring with the sort of opinion coverage required on another show she co-hosts, Outnumbered. When 2020 rolls around, her show will definitely be a place to be for hopefuls, campaign spox and surrogates alike. She also happens to be the only black woman with her own daily show on cable news. That’s only relevant because it’s exactly the kind of statistic that other networks might use to criticize Fox News were it the other way around.

69. Bill Maher

Bill Maher, the longtime host of HBO’s political talk show Real Time with Bill Maher, still manages to make headlines almost every week. His HBO show regularly discusses and skewers the biggest news and newsmakers of the week, and holds buzzy panel discussions that bring together commentators from disparate fields. Master of a style dubbed “contrarian chic” by Esquire, Maher does not shy away from controversy, nor controversial guests. That was evidenced by one of his most talked about interviews this year, a conversation with Canadian professor and right-wing internet celebrity Jordan Peterson about political correctness and free speech.

68. Radhika Jones

Late last year, when Radhika Jones succeeded Graydon Carter as the editor of Vanity Fair, his were considered big shoes to fill. Since then it would be fair to ask Graydon who? She has injected fresh life into an old glossy, and done so with the tried and true method of pairing elegant long form writing with urgent scoops from a stable of star reporters — including from media reporter Gabriel Sherman. Writer Emily Jane Fox has arguably become the breakout star over at Condé, bounding from the pages of VF to the studios of MSNBC, breaking news thanks to strong sourcing in Trump World that she parlayed into a bestselling book on the first family. From reports on Michael Cohen to the broader Mueller probe, Fox has become a household name in breaking news. As print hobbles along, Vanity Fair’s influence remains undeniable — in no small part thanks to the new leadership of Jones.

67. Mark Levin

On the political right, Mark Levin is a household name. He was against Trump before he was for him, and for him before he was against him, and he’s been against and for him ever since. But Levin’s influence has never wavered and he recently added hosting a Fox News weekend show — Life, Liberty and Levin — to his resume. As a bombastic talk radio host, he always had a sizable following, and a knack for going viral with his commentary. But with the advent of streaming services, his Levin TV grew into CRTV — which already boasted a large roster of right-wing stars even before the big merger with Glenn Beck’s TheBlaze just this week. The new company will compete not only with major online presences like Daily Caller, Daily Wire, and Breitbart, but with Fox Nation too and Levin is its star both behind the scenes and with mike in hand.

66. Brooke Baldwin

CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin can do it all. Her show, CNN Newsroom, welcomes multi-guest panels, combative back-and-forths with big-name personalities, and informative interviews with key political players. Baldwin has also repeatedly proved her own talents as a journalist are versatile, doling out everything from fiery monologues fact-checking the president, to coverage of Hurricane Michael from a helicopter. The anchor’s ability to grab headlines — especially for Mediaite stories — continued into 2018. Her comments labeling the anti-Kavanaugh protesters a “mob” even managed to spur an entire news cycle — as pundits debated the use of that term.

NEXT PAGE: See who made the cut for our #65-56 selections!

As 2018 comes to a close, most of the major networks and CNN will host various New Year’s Eve specials tonight, which can also be streamed online.

News media will be front and center during the New York City’s annual Times Square ball drop, as one of the event’s organizers, Tim Tompkins, announced the end of the year celebration is a fitting place “to celebrate free press and free speech as we reflect on where we’ve been during the past year and what it is we value most as a society.”

Journalists representing the industry at the event include New York Times deputy managing editor Rebecca Blumenstein, CNN New Day anchor Alisyn Camerota, NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt, and Washington Post global opinions editor Karen Attiah, who edited work by the paper’s late columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

As for the coverage this year, check out a list list top networks’ schedule for the night and how to watch their New Year’s Eve specials below:

1. Fox’s New Year’s Eve With Steve Harvey: Live From Times Square. 8-10 p.m. EST and PST (tape delayed).

Comedian and host Steve Harvey will bring in the new year alongside TV personality Maria Menounos. Expect cameos from Saturday Night Live star Kenan Thompson, actor Ken Jeong, and the hosting crew of NFL Fox Sunday. Robin Thicke, Sting, Jason Aldean, and Florence + the Machine will all be performing as well. Viewers can tune-in at 8 p.m. on both the east and west coast, as the broadcast will be tape delayed for PST, while those who wish to watch along online can use the network’s app.

2. CNN’s New Years Eve Live With Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen. 8 p.m. to 1:05 a.m. EST.

The cable news network’s 2018 countdown includes some of their top talent. As is tradition, Anderson Cooper will report on all the festivities happening in Times Square — alongside reality TV fixture Andy Cohen — while Don Lemon and Brooke Baldwin will follow the celebratory debaucheries going on in New Orleans. CNN’s coverage can be watched online for free, so viewers without cable or an account with the network can still follow along.

3. ABC’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest. 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. EST and 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. CST.

Hollywood media magnate Ryan Seacrest will ring in another new year in New York City with Jenny McCarthy, where the two will follow along with this year’s ball-drop countdown. The broadcast includes the most star-studded line up, as their New York slate includes Bastille Christina Aguilera, and Dan + Shay, while Camila Cabello, Shawn Mendes, Charlie Puth, Halsey, Christina Aguilera, Ciara, and Ella Mai will perform during ABC’s Los Angeles countdown. Viewers online can also watch ABC’s coverage via their app.

4. NBC’s New Year’s Eve. 10-11 p.m. EST/PST and 11:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. EST/PST (tape delayed).

The peacock network has assembled an interesting and unique cast to host their countdown this year, as TV personality Carson Daly, Saturday Night Live‘s Leslie Jones, and model/Twitter celebrity Chrissy Teigen will bring NBC back into the New Year’s coverage game after nixing the event last year. Singers Jennifer Lopez, Bebe Rexha, and Tiegen’s husband John Legend will all give performances in New York. Country music star Keith Urban will also perform on the network, with a special concert from Nashville’s Bicentennial State Park.

[image via screengrab]

Senator Elizabeth Warren made what many thought to be a curious decision of announcing her presidential plans for 2020 on December 31st, a day in which many people are taking a break from tracking news and are generally offline.

Warren’s presidential bid was brought up on a CNN panel discussion Monday morning and former Republican Representative and CNN contributor Charlie Dent spared little criticism towards Warren’s bid.

“I can’t tell you if it’s a smart move or not but this is a total gift to President Trump,” Dent proclaimed, adding “this is the candidate he clearly wants.”

Dent echoes a well-regarded notion that Warren is a perfect foil for Trump and his anti-identity-politics-cum-identity-politics base.

“Democrats want a new generation of leadership, he said. ” They’re looking at someone like Kamala Harris, Cory Booker or Beto O’rourke. I’ve been critical of my party for this social intolerance but Elizabeth Warren brings to the table much of what red state America dislikes, this war with industrial and agricultural America that too many Democrats are engaged W she doesn’t like the pharmaceutical industry, the insurance industry.”

Watch the clip above, courtesy of CNN.

As this frustratingly crazy year of 2018 officially comes to a close, it is a telling experiment to review the year through the lens of the many columns I wrote during the last twelve months, most of which chronicled the never-ending insanity of this unique era. Of my 144 commentaries, there were some notable hits, but also more misses than I would have hoped.

Here is an honest review of the highlights and lowlights…

Biggest Blunder:

Clearly, my biggest mistake of 2018 was jumping all over the theory that the Elliot Broidy/Shera Bechard scandal was actually a cover story to protect President Donald Trump. While I turned out to be dead wrong, as I explained in my mea culpa column, there were actually fairly sound reasons for why that miss-assessment was made.

Possibly Worst Prediction:

When the secretly recorded tape that Michael Cohen made of his conservation with then candidate Trump was released, my initial reaction was that this was interesting, but really no big deal. While Trump has yet to suffer from that recording (though apparently Cohen has), he has been implicated in a serious crime because of it, which may eventually come back to haunt him. My possible miscalculation here was based on the notion that the National Enquirer would need to “flip” on Trump for anything from the tape to be proven, which, at the time, seemed highly unlikely.

Most Important Point the Media Keeps Missing:

The irony of me apparently blowing it on the Cohen tape is that, when it comes to the overall significance of the National Enquirer’s scandalous relationship with Trump, I have been way ahead of the rest of the news media. I wrote three columns, the first in mid-April, arguing that the real “crime” here was Trump taking the oath of office while knowing that he had given the National Enquirer enormous leverage over him, which could be used to blackmail him and/or sold to foreign governments.

Best Predictions:

I made a lot of predictions in 2018, but none were better than forecasting the lack of effect from high-profile, negative books about Trump. On three occasions, I correctly stated that there would very limited impact on Trump, and that the president would be effectively immunized from negative news because nothing else after them could be seen as dramatic enough to make a real dent in the public consciousness.

Not that it was that difficult, but I also correctly predicted that the Democrats would win the House, and that the Republicans would retain the Senate, with likely 53 seats.

Predictions Which Are Looking Good:

There are three other “predictions” I made in 2018 on which the jury is still out, but where the prospects are currently good. One was that there is no Russian “pee tape,” because it is mostly likely an urban legend created by a conflation of separate stories. The second is that there is no “n-word tape” from The Apprentice.

The third was more of a question combined with an implication. Why the heck has Sean Hannity been so incredibly soft on Michael Cohen after he became Trump World’s “Public Enemy Number One”?

Successfully Swimming Against the #MeToo Tide:

Perhaps the “best” work I did in 2018 was in the area of expressing fact-based skepticism, when almost no one else in the media did, about certain “#MeToo” allegations which made news.

In my view, my work help reveal the allegations against Republican Congressman Jim Jordan, which have since totally disappeared from the news, to not be credible. Similarly, when most of the media was piling on Tom Brokaw, I urged caution, and it turned out that his critics were eventually forced to pretend the whole thing never happened.

I am most proud, however, of the many columns I wrote defending Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh against sexual abuse allegations during his highly contentious confirmation process. While his ultimate confirmation does not prove he was innocent, there is still not a shred of credible evidence corroborating any of the dubious claims against him, which, given how much publicity the story generated, seems highly exculpatory.

Best Wild Theory That May Actually Be True:

Even for someone who is unafraid of articulating highly unconventional theories, when I used the bizarre Kanye West/Donald Trump summit to promote my unusual view of the relationship between Trump’s “Cult 45” and their own masculinity, it was pretty darn out there. However, vindication came soon afterwards when, just a couple of weeks later, The Washington Post published a remarkably similar take.

Best Interviews:

I would be willing to wager that there was not another podcast, with as small an audience as mine, which conducted any better interviews than the three best that I did in 2018. They were:

Radio Host Glenn Beck.

Democratic Congressman John Yarmuth.

Russian Roulette co-author Michael Isikoff (an interview which was tweeted about three times by Trump)

What Might/Should Have Been:

2018 should have seen six years of incredibly arduous and costly work I have done, attempting to expose the real truth of maybe the biggest non-political story of this decade, finally pay off. Instead, what resulted was probably the most crushing blow of my already calamity-filled career.

In March, one day from publication, Newsweek killed a massive cover story, which writer Ralph Cipriano and I had been working on with them for five months, on how the media’s entire narrative of the “Penn State/Joe Paterno/Jerry Sandusky Scandal” is false. I was so devastated that I nearly gave up on life, and have essentially given up on ever getting justice for what I am 100% certain is the most egregious case of the news media blowing a major story in modern history (it is all just sitting right here waiting to be scooped up by any legitimate reporter with brains, guts, and the ability to be the hero that I failed to be).

Best Explanation of 2018, From the Beginning of 2018:

If there is one column I wrote this year, which you should read every morning before taking a look at the latest Trump-related insanity, this one is likely it.

John Ziegler hosts a weekly podcast focusing on news media issues and is documentary filmmaker. You can follow him on Twitter at @ZigManFreud  or email him at johnz@mediaite.com

[Photo by Ashley Feder/Getty Images]

Outgoing Secretary of Defense James Mattis delivered a farewell message to the Department of Defense employees that he will no longer be overseeing and included what some may see as a passive aggressive parting shot to President Donald Trump. 

The brief farewell note opened by citing a one sentence telegram sent by President Abraham Lincoln to General Ulysses S. Grant that read “Let nothing which is transpiring change, hinder or delay your military movements, or plans.” He then followed with glowing words towards the U.S. military before adding “Our Department is proven to be at its best when the times are most difficult.”

On December 20th, General Mattis resigned in protest over Trump’s surprise withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria and delivered a resignation letter that many saw as a public rebuke of Trump’s foreign policy.

When Mattis resigned, he pledged to stay on as Defense Secretary through the end of February. But press reports suggested that President Trump was so unhappy with media reports on Mattis letter, that he hastened Mattis departure, replacing him with Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, who will take over the Pentagon on January 1st of 2019.

Deadspin Dan Snyder Doesn’t Get It | The Slot Lawyer Who Filed Complaint Against Brett Kavanaugh Says He Was ‘Like a Crazed Conspiracy Theorist’ | Splinter DoubleTree Fires Employees Who Evicted Guest for ‘Calling His Mom While Black’ | TV Club Outlander brings…

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Before we head off into the land of hope and awesomeness that is 2019, we have a few hours left to take stock of how far we’ve come in the past year. I’m preparing next year’s fitness challenges and want to hear what you thought of the ones we just did. What did you love? What motivated you to keep going?

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Elizabeth Warren sent out a video to supporters announcing that she is forming an exploratory committee — a first step before a 2020 presidential run — and it provides a good indication of the culture war set to emerge in the oncoming campaign.

The video is part biographical, tracking her ascent from law professor to senator. The rest, serving as a primer of the current political climate, comes out swinging against the president supporters in the media, particularly his Fox News boosters that Warren warns have taken the country down a “dark path.”

“Today, corruption is poisoning our democracy,” Warren says in the video. “Politicians look the other way while insurance companies deny patients life-saving coverage, while big banks rip off consumers.”

“The whole scam is propped up by an echo chamber of fear and hatred,” she continues, as an clip of Fox News star Sean Hannity flashes. “Designed to distract and divide us with people who will do or say anything to hang on to power, point the finger at anyone who looks, thinks, prays, loves differently than they do.”

Clips of Tucker Carlson, White House aide Kellyanne Conway on Fox & Friends, former Trump adviser Steve Bannon and and current Trump adviser Stephen Miller flash.

“This dark path doesn’t have to be our future,” Warren says, as the video takes a turn towards a more optimistic crescendo.

Watch above.

Read the rest of this entry »

Following President Donald Trump’s tweets over border wall material and “never abandoned” plans for concrete walls,  CNN contributor Brian Karem could no longer contain his frustration with what he clearly saw as the absurdity of the conversation, calling Trump’s demand for border wall funding “a scam” that was built on a “racist issue.”

The White House correspondent for Playboy Magazine  — and Executive Editor of the Montgomery County Sentinel  — explained that, in his esteem, “this whole issue is a scam from the beginning to end.”

He then explained Trump’s shifting positions on the wall “It was come up with on the campaign trail. It was supposed to be Mexico was going to pay for it. They didn’t. It was going to be 1900 miles long. It isn’t. It was going to be 1,000 miles. It isn’t. It was going to be 500. It isn’t. It was going to be see-through. It was going to be eco-friendly, all of this is just a scam.”

After Karem noted the threat of potential tunnels undermining a potential border wall, fellow panelist Jackie Kucinich offered a more pressing immigration issue of “people overstaying their Visas.”

Karem agreed, before adding that he believes that this is “a racist issue and it boils down to the fact that the Republicans think that those coming in from South America and Central America, when they get here, will vote democratic and they’re afraid of that..”

Former Ted Cruz campaign Communications Director Alice Stewart, took issue with Karem’s explanation saying that it was “not a responsible way to address” this issue.

Watch the clip above courtesy of CNN.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren announced her 2020 campaign for president on Monday, multiple outlets reported, kicking off what will be a long and crowded path to the next presidential election.

Warren announced in a video message to supporters that she was establishing an exploratory committee, making her the first Democrat to take that first step towards a run.

“America’s middle class is under attack,” Warren said in the video. “How did we get here? Billionaires and big corporations decided they wanted more of the pie. And they enlisted politicians to cut them a fatter slice.”

Warren, a progressive star known for fighting against Wall Street as a member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, narrated her ascent to higher office from her beginnings as a law professor. She did not mention a recent high-profile gaffe, in which the senator released results of a DNA test showing she had a very small dash of Native American ancestry — a move that drew mockery.

President Donald Trump is pushing back on criticism about the sudden announcement from a week and a half ago about plans to remove U.S. troops from Syria and that ISIS was defeated. This decision reportedly came despite advice from military and intelligence leadership and eventually led to the protest resignation from Secretary of Defense James Mattis.

On New Year’s Eve, President Trump apparently felt the need to clear the air and defend his position via a short series of tweets that explained his process as a simple fulfillment of his campaign promise. And, as his is wont, he included some not-so-subtle digs at his detractors.

Trump tweeted:

If anybody but Donald Trump did what I did in Syria, which was an ISIS loaded mess when I became President, they would be a national hero. ISIS is mostly gone, we’re slowly sending our troops back home to be with their families, while at the same time fighting ISIS remnants……

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 31, 2018

…I campaigned on getting out of Syria and other places. Now when I start getting out the Fake News Media, or some failed Generals who were unable to do the job before I arrived, like to complain about me & my tactics, which are working. Just doing what I said I was going to do!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 31, 2018

…..Except the results are FAR BETTER than I ever said they were going to be! I campaigned against the NEVER ENDING WARS, remember!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 31, 2018

Following the announced plans to withdrawal, Trump has received bipartisan criticism for the planned withdrawal. Senator Lindsey Graham, a close Senate ally to the White House, notably was vocal in pushing back on this plan, though his rhetoric has softened more recently.

Trump’s dig at “some failed generals” is certainly a dig at Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who in a recent interview with ABC News’ Martha Raddatz, spared little criticism for a president who he sees as “immoral.”

President Donald Trump is rebutting comments from one of his own officials that plans for an all-concrete border wall were abandoned early in the administration.

This detail emerged in a revealing “exit interview” that former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly provided to the Los Angeles Times which was published over the weekend. Kelly told the Times:

“The president still says ‘wall’ — oftentimes frankly he’ll say ‘barrier’ or ‘fencing,’ now he’s tended toward steel slats. But we left a solid concrete wall early on in the administration, when we asked people what they needed and where they needed it.”

Not so, says President Trump, who celebrated New Year’s Eve with this early morning tweet:

An all concrete Wall was NEVER ABANDONED, as has been reported by the media. Some areas will be all concrete but the experts at Border Patrol prefer a Wall that is see through (thereby making it possible to see what is happening on both sides). Makes sense to me!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 31, 2018

John Kelly, a former four-star general, spent 17 months as White House Chief of Staff after a few months as the Secretary of Homeland Security, so his knowledge of conversations surrounding border security have some merit.

President Trump has effectively shut down the government over a lack of funding for a $5 Billion border wall that was central to his 2016 presidential run that led to his presidency.

Cancún is already pretty well-packaged for tourists. So this week’s Hack Your City is a challenge: what lays undiscovered in this young city? What has sprung up outside the crowded strip of beach resorts? And what tricks help locals get by in this tourist-dominated town?

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