The very nature of emergencies means that they’re a surprise. That’s why having a “go bag” with essentials is a good idea—so you’ll have the basics if you need to evacuate in a hurry—and making changes to your house to make it safer during emergencies is a great idea. Something else you need to do is have a plan for…

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Proud Boys leader Joseph Biggs was handed one of the most severe sentences related to the January 6 insurrection after being convicted of seditious conspiracy and other charges. District Judge Timothy Kelly sentenced Biggs to 17 years in prison, the second longest sentence given so far related to the fatal riot at the Capitol.

CNN covered the news as it broke, and senior justice correspondent Evan Perez told CNN News Central host Jim Sciutto that Biggs’ sentence was just one year less than the longest sentence so far of 18 years, which was given to Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes. Perez also said that Biggs expressed in court that he was remorseful:

“I know that I have to be punished and I understand,” but added “please give me the chance, I beg you, to take my daughter to school and pick her up.”

“I know that I messed up that day, but I am not a terrorist,” he said through tears. Biggs said that he was “seduced” by the mob and “just moved forward.”

“I wanted to see what would happen,” he said. “My curiosity got the best of me and I’m going to have to live with that for the rest of my life.”

What “happened,” and what was proven in court, according to CNN, was that Biggs engaged in a seditious conspiracy to disrupt the peaceful transition of power on January 6, 2021. He “was subject to harsher sentencing penalties for domestic terrorism because he ripped down a fence on Capitol grounds during the riot that separated law enforcement officers from the mob, taking the mob one step closer to breaching the Capitol.” Prosecutors also presented evidence that Biggs and other Proud Boys “plotted and broadly encouraged violence” before the insurrection took place.

Biggs was one of five Proud Boys accused of seditious conspiracy related to January 6. Judge Kelly told Biggs: “That day broke our tradition of peaceful transfer of power. We don’t have it anymore.”

Watch the video via CNN.

Joe Rogan blasted actor Rainn Wilson for his criticism of Oliver Anthony’s viral blue collar working anthem “Rich Men North of Richmond.”

Anthony’s song went viral on Twitter earlier this month and the song has taken over the Billboard charts, maintaining the number one spot for two weeks in a row. Part of Anthony’s song has been criticized for the lyrics, “God, if you’re 5 foot 3 and you’re 300 pounds, taxes ought not to pay for your bags of fudge rounds.”

The Office actor shared his own criticism of the song on Twitter.

“If I were writing a song about “rich men north of richmond” I wouldn’t talk about obese people on welfare, I’d sing about CEOs who make 400 times their average workers salary (up from 50 times 30 years ago) & corps that pay zero taxes & offshore tax shelters for billionaires,” Wilson wrote.

During a Wednesday edition of The Joe Rogan Experience with Anthony, Joe Rogan took aim at the actor for what he viewed as an out of touch response to the viral song.

“I mean, it’s a subject of discussion. So, like, everybody is getting involved and then somehow or another it became cultural,” Rogan said of the song’s success.

“And then there was Dwight from The Office. He chimed in that if he was going to write a cultural anthem, what did he say? Something like he wouldn’t write about overweight people on welfare. He would write about billionaires and their taxes,” Rogan laughed.

Rogan challenged the actor to visit West Virginia to witness how regular people are struggling first hand.

“There’s nothing funnier than millionaires talking shit about billionaires. There is nothing funnier about millionaires pretending these billionaires are out of touch. Take Dwight from The Office down to West Virginia. Take him through those coal mining countries. Take him to those places in Appalachia where people have extreme poverty and pills have ravished those areas. Take him to there,” Rogan challenged.

Watch above via The Joe Rogan Experience.

Making one giant sandwich cake is easier than making 12 individual sandwiches. Let this truth motivate you to make the best damn deli meat sandwich any picnic or backyard barbecue has ever seen. With outdoor party season reaching its peak, you’ll need a hearty sando that packs in flavor and just plain packs (for…

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Press Association via AP Images

CNN staffers are cautiously optimistic about their incoming boss, a veteran of two of the most muscular and renowned newsrooms in the world.

The network announced Wednesday that Mark Thompson, the former CEO of the New York Times and director general of the BBC, will be the next CEO and chairman of CNN Worldwide. He will act, according to a press release, as the network’s global editor-in-chief, overseeing CNN’s vast international army of 4,000 employees.

David Zaslav, the CEO of CNN parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, settled on Thompson to replace the current leadership of CNN, a group of four executives — known internally as “the quad” — who have been running the network on an interim basis since the abrupt firing of former CEO Chris Licht.

The appointment comes at a truly precarious time in the history of the first cable news network, which has endured several years of layoffs, disappointing ratings, and bad headlines that ultimately brought morale down to historic lows under the stewardship of Licht, the producer wunderkind who was hired by Zaslav to replace Jeff Zucker.

CNN sources who spoke with Mediaite about the new boss expressed some hope in the future despite the recent turmoil.

“Everyone is just hoping for some stability,” a high-level CNN employee told Mediaite. “Licht was wildly unprepared. Thompson seems to have great credentials.”

“This is the third CNN president in 18 months. That’s not ideal,” one top on-air talent said. “Morale is in the shitter. People are tired of this. It’s bad.”

“But if the business is indeed changing to this brave new world of streaming, digital, [Thompson] does have experience in that area,” they added, before expressing reservations that Zaslav’s mandate for the network — to adopt a more centrist approach than the Zucker era — remains in place.

“There are a lot of unknowns,” they said. “What is David Zaslav up to? We don’t know the answer to that. There’s like five people on this earth who know the answer to that. The proof will be in the pudding.”

Another CNN insider expressed excitement about the hire, telling Mediaite: “Good to have a journalist at the helm, and one with some success at turning an outlet around. Things can only get better, one hopes.”

“I’d imagine and hope that the changes are less ideological and more programming related,” they added.

Thompson, who starts the gig in October, will have to contend with not only bad morale, but also a ratings crisis. The network has yet to recapture the prime time audience it boasted when Chris Cuomo helmed the 9 p.m. hour before he was fired in 2021. Earlier this month, CNN debuted a new prime time lineup, with rising star Kaitlan Collins as its centerpiece. It remains to be seen whether the new schedule can build an audience, but for now CNN regularly loses out to Fox News and CNN on major news nights.

“We have a boring problem. And that’s a ratings problem,” the on-air talent said. “You want to foster an environment where there’s more risk-taking. And that will make the network more interesting.”

It will be up to Thompson to guide the network’s new programming slate through the upcoming presidential election campaign. CNN insiders suggested to Mediaite he should do so quietly. After all, CNN fired Licht in June in the wake of a devastating profile in The Atlantic that cast him as out-of-touch with the newsroom and overly critical of CNN’s coverage of the Trump era. Zaslav finally decided to oust his hand-picked leader after that profile, which came amid rock-bottom ratings and even lower morale.

“If I were them, I would hide Mark Thompson from the press,” the on-air CNN talent advised.

Labor Day is next week, but many retailers are already bringing you deals you can take advantage of right now. You can usually find a variety of products discounted for the holiday, including deals on clothing, mattresses, grills, major appliances, patio furniture, travel deals—and, of course, tech.

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Some people love hosting guests in their home. (They even specifically seek a house or apartment with a spare bedroom for such a purpose.) Some of us, however, hate the idea of opening up our homes to overnight guests—but it can be difficult to be honest about this. There’s a certain amount of societal pressure…

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Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy gave MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell an earful on Tuesday during a heated back-and-forth over climate change.

It began when Ramaswamy said fewer people die today from climate disasters due to the abundance of fossil fuels.

“I can also tell you today, there’s a hard fact, none of these things are disputed — eight times as many people die of cold temperatures than die of warm ones. The right answer to all temperature-related deaths is more plentiful, abundant access to fossil fuels.”

But, as Ramaswamy continued on about carbon emissions, Mitchell attempted to interrupt throughout:

RAMASWAMY: The Earth is covered by more green surface area today than it was half a century or a century ago because carbon dioxide is plant food. And carbon dioxide as a percentage of the atmosphere, is still at a relative low through human history. Those are hard facts. And I think we have to acknowledge those when having this debate.

MITCHELL: There’s a hard fact of the hurricane that is now approaching. The mayor, three generation St. Petersburg resident, says he has never seen anything like this, the ocean warming. But let me move on to some —

RAMASWAMY: Andrea, may I respectfully offer a response to that? And I mean this with due respect. If someone on the other side were an uneducated person from Arkansas who didn’t go to college and offered one weather event as an anecdote to support climate change, you would laugh them off the stage as a rube for saying they don’t follow data. The same shoe has to fit the other foot. Follow the actual data!

MITCHELL: I’m not talking about, I’m not talking about one person’s opinion. We talk to professors, academics.. —

RAMASWAMY: You literally just quoted one person’s opinion! With due respect, that’s exactly what you just quoted. And I think that that’s what’s driving this false narrative as opposed to the facts I’m citing.

MITCHELL: OK, OK. And Dr. Michael Mann and other professionals in this field. But let’s move on…

Watch the clip above via MSNBC.

For an app that regularly pushes new options on its users, Snapchat doesn’t explain a lot of its features. One of these is the Snapchat score, mostly referred to as Snapscore. If you want to increase your Snapscore, there are some tried and true ways to do so, but be warned: Only the company knows exactly what goes…

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Making upgrades to a rented space can be challenging. Often, either your lease will prevent you from making permanent changes, or you don’t necessarily want to invest a lot in a home you don’t own. Peel-and-stick molding has become a trendy way to add character and personality to an apartment without breaking the bank—…

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CNN’s aviation correspondent Pete Muntean called video of a Broward Co. Sheriff’s Office helicopter spinning out of control before crashing into an apartment building, “really hard to watch.”

Local media reported that two people were killed and four taken to the hospital after the Monday morning crash. Three people were aboard the helicopter, according to the FAA.

“We’re getting pretty scant details, but we can see in the video some really key clues here as to what happened in this crash,” Muntean said, continuing:

This Broward County Sheriff’s department fire rescue helicopter, it’s an EC-135, is the type of the helicopter. You can see in that video of the left side of the helicopter, something apparently on fire. The helicopter trailing some smoke. And then, this is where it gets really hard to watch. The pylon that goes out to the tail rotor, so critical in a helicopter to keep it flying straight, breaks into two, and the helicopter, the forces of the rotor, the main rotor just overcome it, and it spins out of control.

Video from the scene showed a huge impact crater through the roof of an apartment building. Muntean said it still wasn’t clear whether those taken to the hospital had been in the apartment building or the helicopter. He called it “a very grisly crash,” then continued:

This helicopter type has a very good safety record. Two engines on board. Built by Air Bus and Eurocopter. It’s been out for a long time, 2,000 of them out there. The flight path tells a really distinct story here… this helicopter took off at 8:45 this morning from the Pompano Beach Air Park, pretty busy airport there, a lot of flight training. They went out to the west, only got to about 650 feet, very low, and then immediately tried to make a turn back east to the airport when this accident so clearly happened…the video, very hard to watch. So clear that this helicopter was out of control, and not much the pilots could do, especially without a tail rotor. It is so hard to keep a helicopter flying straight without it.

Watch the clip above via CNN.

I am obsessed with ordering side salads at sushi restaurants. Not because I feel the need to keep my body running with leafy greens—because I love that damn ginger dressing. Luckily, it’s easy to make at home; you just need three ingredients and five minutes (an immersion blender helps too).

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was booed at Sunday at a prayer vigil for the victims of the Jacksonville Dollar General mass shooting when he stood up to speak.

Over the weekend, a White man killed three Black people at a Dollar General Store in Jacksonville, Florida in a racially motivated attack, according to law enforcement. The shooter used a high-powered rifle decorated with swastikas’ and a handgun.

The shooter also reportedly left several racial manifestos ranting about his hatred for black people. Political leaders including President Joe Biden have offered their prayers to the victims and denounced White supremacy.

DeSantis, a Republican presidential hopeful, traveled to a prayer vigil on Sunday to pay tribute to the victims and their families. As governor, he has pushed back against gun control and derided “wokeness.”

When DeSantis took the stage, the crowd began to loudly boo and jeer the governor, making it difficult to hear his remarks.

The moment was caught on camera from multiple people in the crowd, as well as by the press, such as reporter Aleesia Hatcher of News4Jax.

Many in the crowd demanded DeSantis leave and some levied blame at him for the increase in gun violence.

However, Jacksonville City Councilwoman Ju’Coby Pittman, who delivered remarks before DeSantis took the stage, stepped to ask the crowd to quiet down and listen.

“It ain’t about parties today,” she told the audience. “A bullet don’t know a party.”

DeSantis vowed that he would begin providing financial support for additional security at Edward Waters University, an HBCU school close to where the shooting occurred, and denounced the gunman as a “major league scumbag.”

Watch the clip above via News4JAX.

Republican Gov. Chris Sununu told MSNBC’s Jen Psaki on Sunday that Republican voters who support Donald Trump for president are “effectively” supporting the future presidency of, not President Joe Biden, but Vice President Kamala Harris.

Sununu appeared on the latest Inside with Jen Psaki to talk about last week’s Republican primary debate and other political news, and had a lot to say about Trump — almost all negative.

Psaki asked about the positions taken by Vivek Ramaswamy on the stage, and Sununu said, “there’s no doubt he took some positions that for me, personally, are a challenge.”

But, “all those candidates can win in November of 24 and that’s exciting,” he said. “Donald Trump can’t win in 24. The math doesn’t work out.”

“If you’re supporting Donald Trump today you’re effectively handing it to Kamala Harris, potentially down the road,” he said.

But he reiterated that he believed the rest of the field looked good at the debate.

“I think the opportunity is a new face, fresh ideas, but I think Vivek, Haley, Pence, DeSantis – they all did very, very well,” he said.

He said again that there’s “no way” Trump can win the election. And a lot more about Trump and the indictments.

Watch the clip above via MSNBC.

A massive brawl broke out at Curt Sliwa anti-immigration rally in New York City where the former mayoral candidate was arrested on Sunday.

Hundreds of protesters from Staten Island lined up outside Mayor Eric Adams‘ home at Gracie Mansion in opposition to the opening of new migrant shelters across the five boroughs of New York.

“Today, the valiant citizens of Staten Island have a 24-hour vigil outside of St. John Villa Academy for what would’ve been 300 illegals, there are now eight,” said Sliwa to supporters during the protest. “And I have the feeling, just like Eric Adams’ recognized, he made another mistake when he sent the illegal aliens into the public schools in Coney Island and Sunset Park and he saw people of color, mothers and fathers of color, with their children, protesting outside.”

However, Sliwa along with his supporters engaged in fights with counter-protesters, forcing law enforcement to break up the brawls and make multiple arrests. In one video, Sliwa himself can be seen having to wrangle a supporter from beating on a masked individual.

Watch the interactions below:

Later, police warned Sliwa and his followers that if they tampered with or crossed the designated barriers they would be arrested. After the order was ignored, NYPD moved him to arrest Sliwa and other protesters.

Last week, Sliwa was also arrested by NYPD at another anti-immigration protest near an upcoming migrant shelter.

—

MSNBC Legal Analyst Jill Wine-Banks said this weekend the main advantage to co-defendants in requesting speedy trials in Georgia’s RICO case against them and Donald Trump is that being tried with the ex-president might ensure they lose – or, as host Yasmin Vossoughian noted, are sabotaged deliberately as scapegoats for Trump.

On Saturday’s Yasmin Vossoughian Reports on MSNBC, the host asked Wine-Banks about why some Trump co-defendants like former Trump lawyer Kenneth Chesebro are requesting and being granted speedy trials under the law.

Wine-Banks said that one thing some of the defendants could gain from a speedy trial request is an “early look” at evidence they may not know about, because they can be charged with all parts of the conspiracy under RICO. She added that another reason to make the request could be they hoped prosecutor Fani Willis wouldn’t be able to be ready in time.

But she said there isn’t really “much to gain” other than not wanting to be tried with Trump.

“I don’t think they have much to gain by doing it, other than they may feel that severing themselves from the former president is an advantage, that being tried with him presents courtroom hurdles and evidentiary hurdles because of the attitude about, you know, and so that they may feel they get a better chance at acquittal being on their own,” she said. “That’s the only advantage I can think they might have thought.”

“Well especially if Trump’s team ends up using some of them as scapegoats,” Vossoughian replied, prompting an expression of emphatic agreement from Wine-Banks.

When Vossoughian asked what a judge would “weigh” in granting such a request, Wine-Banks noted that it’s not really the case they can “weigh” anything.

“It is a mandatory right under Georgia law. And under federal law,” she said.

VOSSOUGHIAN: Let’s talk about this speedy trial request. Sidney Powell is the second codefendant to call for this after Kenneth Chesebro. Chesebro’s trial is now set for October 23rd. We just told you in the last segment, John Eastman’s lawyer says they’re meeting this weekend to decide, but he’ll likely make the same request. What do they stand to gain and lose from this request?

WINE-BANKS: Well, one of the things that the other codefendants stand to gain is an early look at the evidence, because, since it is a RICO charge, the evidence establishing all elements of the RICO can be admitted against each of these people, even as to conspiracies that they weren’t part of. It’s all part of one overarching conspiracy. So that’s an advantage to those who do not join. I’m sure that there was some thought that she would, not that Fani Willis, the district attorney, would not be ready that fast. And so they called her bluff under a very stringent law in Georgia for speedy trial, which means that it must commence before November 3rd. And so, that’s why the October date was chosen. It’s late enough that they can be prepared. I don’t think they have much to gain by doing it, other than they may feel that severing themselves from the former president is an advantage, that being tried with him presents courtroom hurdles and evidentiary hurdles because of the attitude about, you know, and so that they may feel they get a better chance at acquittal being on their own. That’s the only advantage I can think they might have thought.

VOSSOUGHIAN: Well especially if Trump’s team ends up using some of them as scapegoats. What does a state judge weigh when granting or deciding a request like that on speedy trial?

WINE-BANKS: Well, actually, it’s not so much that they can weigh anything. It is a mandatory right under Georgia law. And under federal law. There’s a federal speedy trial act. So if you ask for a speedy trial, the law in Georgia defines it as, it must start within the term that were indicted, term of court, or the next term. And that next term ends on November 3rd. So, the trial has to start before then once that right is invoked, The federal law says you have 70 days after indictment. So – and then also sets off, there are certain actions that can delay it. Certain motions will toll the time from the, or add to the 70 days. So it still would be very fast even in the federal court.

Watch the clip above, via MSNBC.

Tucker Carlson told a crowd in Budapest that the current American leadership hates both Hungary and Russia because they are Christian countries, and is punishing them for it.

Speaking at MCC Feszt in Budapest, Hungary on Friday, Carlson said that the “people who run” the United States right now are “dangerous and insane,” and it can be seen in the way they treat Hungary even though it is “not exporting their views to anybody else.”

“This is a country concerned with its own safety and prosperity. That’s, in the words used to hear a lot in the United States, a country that is minding its own business,” he said.

He said that, because of that, if he were running the State Department, he’d say “let’s take a pass on Hungary. We’ve got bigger problems.”

“But they can’t,” he said of current American leadership. “They hate Hungary. And they hate it not because of what it’s done, but because of what it is. It’s a Christian country and they hate that. And that’s the truth. And nobody wants to say it, but it’s true.”

Tucker equated that rationale with American policy toward Russia, as well, saying that being a Christian country is what “incites” U.S policymakers against the nation that, under Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian rule, invaded Ukraine.

“That is exactly why they hate Russia,” he said.

He claimed that the reason some call Viktor Orbán a “Putin suck-up” is because “one thing that Russia and Hungary have in common is, a big part of the population identify as Christians.”

That Christian identity, he said, is “not fine with Washington at all.”

“It’s deeply offensive to see that alive in Europe,” he said. “And that is the core. It’s not rational. It’s, this is happening on a gut level, but it is expressed through policy.”

The overall sentiment drew many reactions on social media over the weekend, particularly Carlson roping in Russia as being the object of hostility for being a Christian nation. One notable example of that pushback was Jonah Goldberg of The Dispatch and formerly National Review.

–

Here’s a partial transcript of Carlson’s remarks:

I love the United States. It’s my country. To restate, I was born there and I’m never leaving. And I love my country. But the people who run it right now are dangerous and insane. And you can see that in the way they’re treating your country.

Which, even if you don’t like the values of the majority of Hungarians, even if you reject the Hungarian Constitution, is Christo-centric and think that Viktor Orbán is a bad guy and you hate goulash. Even if everything about Hungary is repugnant to you, if you’re in the United States, you’re still not going to spend a lot of time hassling Hungary because Hungary isn’t hassling anybody else.

Hungarians have views, your government has views, and even if you disagree with them, you must acknowledge that Hungary is not exporting their views to anybody else. You’re not rolling across the border to reclaim territory you lost after the first World War. Though, that could happen. But it’s not happening now anyway. Transylvania is safe in Romanian hands at the moment.

But it’s true. This is not an expansionist power. This is not a power that’s crushing weaker nations with sanctions. This is not a power that’s exporting something ugly to the rest of the world. This is a country concerned with its own safety and prosperity. That’s, in the words used to hear a lot in the United States, a country that is minding its own business.

And so even if you disagree, which for the record, I do not, but even if I did and I ran the State Department, I would say, you know, let’s take a pass on Hungary. We’ve got bigger problems.

But they can’t. They hate Hungary. And they hate it not because of what it’s done, but because of what it is. It’s a Christian country and they hate that. And that’s the truth. And nobody wants to say it, but it’s true.

And it’s not a particularly provocative Christian country. I don’t think most Hungarians go to church. It’s not a theocracy. You’re not required to believe in the catechism to live here. It’s nothing like that. It’s a soft Christian country, the softest ever. 300 years ago, people would look at modern Hungary and say, that’s not a Christian country. But by modern standards, it’s one of the last countries that identifies as a nation built on Christian precepts.

Again, not imposing them on anyone else. But that is enough to incite our policymakers in the United States. And that is exactly why they hate Russia, by the way.

I’m not a fan of Russia, and if I was, I wouldn’t admit it to a Hungarian audience. When I hear Orbán described as a Putin suck-up, I think, really? That image of Orbán being pushed against a police car with a baton to his neck by Soviet-backed policemen comes to mind. Yeah, he’s probably not pro-Russian, just guessing.

But why did they make that charge? Because one thing that Russia and Hungary have in common is a big part of the population identify as Christians. Now, why would that be provocative? A huge part of Malaysians identify as Muslim. Fine with me. But it’s not fine with Washington at all. It’s deeply offensive to see that alive in Europe.

And that is the core. It’s not rational. This is happening on a gut level, but it is expressed through policy. Policies that I’m ashamed of that most Americans don’t even know exist.

Watch the clip above via Tucker Carlson on X.

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu told MSNBC host Jen Psaki during an interview that the GOP wants to save the country, but Donald Trump is only looking to “save himself” amid his legal troubles.

Psaki noted Republican candidates during the Fox News debate earlier this week were hesitant to speak about the former president’s four criminal indictments. Sununu responded by noting that candidates should be looking “forward” and not get bogged down in only talking about Trump.

“Republicans are trying to save the country. Donald Trump is trying to save himself,” Sununu told Psaki. “When it comes to a debate, we don’t want to just, kind of, be rehashing yesterday’s news, we want to be forward, we want to be about 2024.”

He added, “We want to be about what we can bring to the table with the economy and securing the border and, you know, energy independence and all these sorts of things. So, huge opportunity there. And they grabbed onto it. They didn’t fall for the trap, so to say, of talking about the big guy.”

The day after the debate, Trump had his mugshot taken in Fulton County Jail during his arrest for charges related to his attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election result in Georgia.

“Trump will love it. He’ll be selling t-shirts within minutes of it being taken,” Sununu said of Trump’s mugshot. “It allows him to maintain his presence in the media… He wants this drama to keep going.”

Watch the full segment above via MSNBC.

MSNBC Host Jen Psaki blasted Republican presidential candidates for claiming Democrats support abortion up until birth during the first GOP primary debate.

During the debate on Fox News earlier this week, candidates such as Ron DeSantis, Tim Scott, and Nikki Haley claimed that Democrats are in support for late-term abortion. Psaki sent out a tweet during the debate that read, “No one supports abortion up until birth.”

“This claim that Democrats support abortion up until the moment of birth is entirely misleading. First of all, abortions past the point of fetal viability do not happen often. They are incredibly rare. And those that do happen involve agonizing, emotional, and ethical decisions,” she told her audience on Inside With Jen Psaki on Sunday morning.

The former Biden press secretary then cited statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated that 90 percent of abortions take place in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy and that less than one percent are late-term abortions after 21 weeks.

“No one is running on the platform of aborting viable babies. No one is selling late term abortions as Ron DeSantis claims. No one. Not Joe Biden. Not Kamala Harris. Not Hillary Clinton. Not Nancy Pelosi — or any other politician demonized by the right wing — roots for more late-term abortions,” Psaki continued.

“Are Ron DeSantis and Tim Scott in favor of a mother dying as a result of her pregnancy,” Psaki said. “If a doctor determines a baby can not survive outside of the womb should a mother be required to carry that baby to term? And those choices should not be made by any politician or any legislature.”

She concluded, “They should be made by the woman carrying the baby and by her doctor. That is what Democrats are trying to protect. That is not politics. That is healthcare.

Watch the full clip above via MSNBC.

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy made the rounds on the Sunday morning talk shows this week. And his appearances delivered some truly wild moments.

In a pair of interviews with Dana Bash on CNN and Chuck Todd on NBC, the businessman — whose upstart candidacy made him the target of his rivals at Wednesday night’s debate — confronted both hosts, made outrageous claims, and produced a series of bizarre moments which dominated the headlines Sunday morning.

Here are the highlights:

1. Bash Battles Ramaswamy for Comparing Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) to a “Modern Grand Wizard” of the KKK

The CNN anchor pressed Ramaswamy about comments at a recent event — in which he claimed Pressley spoke “the words of the modern grand wizards of the modern KKK” back in 2019 when she said, “We don’t want any more black faces that don’t want to be a black voice. We don’t want any more brown faces that don’t want to be a brown voice.”

“How, in any way, are the views you’re talking about comparable to the views and atrocities committed by the KKK?” Bash asked.

“What I said is the grand wizards of the KKK would be proud of what they would hear her say,” Ramaswamy replied. “Because there’s nothing more racist than saying that your skin color predicts something about the content of your viewpoints or your ideas.”

“You didn’t just say they would be proud,” Bash said, firing back.. “You said these are the words of the modern grand wizards of the modern KKK.”

2. Ramaswamy Confronted With Comment About White Supremacists Being as Rare a Unicorns

There was another recent comment about race on which Bash confronted Ramaswamy. The CNN anchor played a remark from Friday in which Ramaswamy said, “I’m sure the bogeyman white supremacist exists somewhere in America, but I’ve never met him. Never seen one. Never met one in my life. Maybe I’ll meet a unicorn sooner. And maybe those exist too.”

The presidential candidate responded by arguing most present-day racism in America “has come from the modern left.”

3. Ramaswamy Pressed on Why He’s Running for President, Given He Thinks Trump was the Best President of the 21st Century

Ramaswamy made the claim, at Wednesday night’s debate, that he believes former President Donald Trump was the best president of the 21st century.

Given that position, Chuck Todd asked Ramaswamy an entirely logical question.

“If you believe Donald Trump is the greatest president of the 21st century … why are you running against him?”

Ramaswamy was vague in his reply — saying “I believe I can take the America First agenda even further than Donald Trump did,” but failing to elaborate beyond some vague claims about his electability.

4. Ramaswamy Tries to Sidestep Accusation that He Called Trump a ‘Sore Loser’

The upstart candidate’s constantly shifting positions have drawn more scrutiny as he’s risen in the polls. And indeed, Todd confronted Ramaswamy on a comment which seemed to be all about Donald Trump.

“‘No one likes a sore loser,'” Todd said, quoting from Ramaswamy’s book, published just last yer. “‘That’s one of the worst victim complexes of all.’ Are you referring to Donald Trump?”

“I referred in that chapter both to Stacey Abrams and to Donald Trump,” Ramaswamy replied.

But Todd confronted the candidate with another of his own quotes:

“The Republican Party seems to be moving towards the position that any races it wins are legitimate and any it loses were stolen. It’s just the preferred conservative brand of victimhood, a knee-jerk kind of sore losing more common to playgrounds than great republics.”

“Chuck, I stand by everything I said,” Ramaswamy replied. ?That was a book where 11 of the 12 chapters were dedicated to a lot of left-wing victimhood in this country. But it would have been incomplete for me not to call out my own tribe. And my point is I don’t want to see this in terms of red versus blue.:

5. Ramaswamy Makes an Utterly Outrageous Claim About the Scope of Mike Pence’s Powers on Jan. 6

Finally, the topper. Ramaswamy was confronted with a question he did not answer at Wednesday night’s debate — whether he believed former Vice President Mike Pence’s actions on Jan. 6 were right.

“I would have done it very differently,” Ramaswamy said. “I think that there was a historic opportunity that he missed to reunite this country in that window. What I would have said is, ‘This is a moment for a true national consensus,’ where there’s two elements of what’s required for a functioning democracy in America. One is secure elections, and the second is a peaceful transfer of power. When those things come into conflict, that’s an opportunity for heroism. Here’s what I would have said, ‘We need single-day voting on Election Day. We need paper ballots, and we need government-issued ID matching the voter file. And if we achieve that, then we have achieved victory, and we should not have any further complaint about election integrity.'”

“So what would you have done as Mike Pence?” Todd asked.

Ramaswamy replied with an outrageous claim vastly overstating the powers of the vice presidency — arguing Pence should have unilaterally overturned the election and implemented nationwide voting reform.

“So, in my capacity as president of the Senate, I would have led through that level of reform, then, on that condition, certified the election results, served it up to the president, President Trump then, to sign that into law, and on January 7th, declared the reelection campaign pursuant to a free and fair election,” Ramaswamy said. “I think that was a missed opportunity.”

Watch above, via CNN and NBC.

Using a high-powered rifle and a handgun, a white man killed three black people at a Dollar General Store in Jacksonville, Florida over the weekend in a racially motivated attack, according to law enforcement.

The suspect has not yet been publicly identified, but is deceased after shooting himself following the violent Saturday attack, Reuters reports. Moreover, the shooter wore a tactical vest before killing two men and a woman.

“This shooting was racially motivated, and he hated Black people,” said Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters in a statement to the press. “The hate that motivated the shooter’s killing spree adds an additional layer of heartbreak.”

The shooter is believed to have acted alone, and before the shooting, wrote “several manifestos” which detailed his racial hatred for black people. The individual used a Glock and an “AR-15 style” rifle that was decorated with swastikas.

Per Reuters:

He said the shooter was spotted at a local historically Black college, Edward Waters University, where he put on his vest and a mask before going to the local branch of the Dollar General, a discount chain with stores across the United States.

Sherri Onks, special agent in charge of the Jacksonville FBI office, said federal officials had opened a civil rights investigation and would pursue the incident as a hate crime.

‘Hate crimes are always and will always remain a top priority for the FBI because they are not only an attack on a victim, they’re also meant to threaten and intimidate an entire community,’ Onks said.

In a statement to Mediaite, Fox News apologized for the now-unpublished story claiming that the family of a Marine killed in Afghanistan two years ago today was billed $60,000 to have her remains transported to Arlington National Cemetery.

The article published at Fox News on July 25 claimed that the family of Marine Sgt. Nicole Gee, who was killed in the August 26, 2021 attack at the Kabul airport during the Afghanistan Withdrawal, were billed by the Pentagon for the transport of her remains for burial at Arlington. The piece cited Florida Republican Rep. Cory Mills.

The claims fell apart when the family disputed the congressman’s claims and issued their own apology.

This week, Military.com published a report that the Marine Corps “worked behind the scenes” to have the incorrect Fox News story taken down, and the article was removed from the site in August.

Mediaite reached out to Fox and obtained the following apology and statement:

“The now unpublished story has been addressed internally and we sincerely apologize to the Gee family.”

Members of Gee’s family were among those Gold Star families who spoke before Congress earlier this month about their grief and anger over the handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal by President Joe Biden and his administration.

Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy on Saturday ordered flags to half-staff at the Capitol to honor the tragic two-year anniversary of the deaths of the 13 fallen servicemembers.

On Saturday, Republican Speaker of the House Rep. Kevin McCarthy ordered the U.S. Capitol’s flags lowered to half-staff to mark the 2-year anniversary of the 13 Americans killed in the attack on the Kabul airport during the disastrous American withdrawal from Afghanistan under President Joe Biden.

“Two years ago today, we tragically lost 13 brave servicemen and women in Afghanistan,” said McCarthy on Saturday. “I have directed the flags at the U.S. Capitol to be lowered to half-staff in honor of these American heroes.”

In a post on X (formerly Twitter) he shared the names of the fallen servicemembers, and retweeted remarks from other members of the House Republicans.

Two years ago today, we tragically lost 13 brave servicemen and women in Afghanistan. I have directed the flags at the U.S. Capitol to be lowered to half-staff in honor of these American heroes. pic.twitter.com/BTMrRNl5Av

— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) August 26, 2023

Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo, 25
Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, 23
Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover, 31
Cpl. Hunter Lopez, 22
Cpl. Daegan W. Page, 23
Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez, 22
Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza, 20
Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz, 20
Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, 20
Lance Cpl. Dylan R.… pic.twitter.com/OEmnpozHyB

— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) August 26, 2023

“Today marks two years since we lost 13 brave heroes who were working to get Americans to safety at the Kabul International Airport in Afghanistan,” wrote Rep. David Kustoff of Tennessee in a post shared by McCarthy. “Join me in remembering their sacrifices.”

Today marks two years since we lost 13 brave heroes who were working to get Americans to safety at the Kabul International Airport in Afghanistan. Join me in remembering their sacrifices. We will never forget their service to our country.

— Rep. David Kustoff (@RepDavidKustoff) August 26, 2023

Arkansas Republican Rep. Steve Womack said that the House GOP has “vowed and executed on holding Biden accountable” for the deaths in another message reposted by McCarthy.

2 years ago today, 13 brave servicemembers lost their lives in the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan. Please join me in praying for the families of these heroes who paid the ultimate price. @HouseGOP has vowed and executed on holding Biden accountable. #NeverForget pic.twitter.com/iNSSHjKyYn

— Rep. Steve Womack (@rep_stevewomack) August 26, 2023

Conference chair Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York issued a statement blasting Biden for the deaths.

Two years ago today, our nation was devastated by the deaths of 13 brave Servicemembers in the deadliest attack on Americans in Afghanistan since 2011, which was a direct result of President Biden’s catastrophic Afghanistan withdrawal. We will never forget their courageous service and sacrifice on half our great nation. That day, House Republicans vowed that we would hold President Biden and his Administration accountable for their disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal. Since retaking control of the House, we have delivered on that promise despite the Biden Administration’s efforts to stonewall our investigations. House Republicans remain committed to delivering justice for those 13 brave Servicemembers and all of our Afghanistan veterans.

Meanwhile, Biden’s Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin issued an official statement on the tragic anniversary of the “horrific terrorist attack” on the Kabul airport.

In the final days of America’s war in Afghanistan, the men and women of the United States military undertook a tremendously difficult task amid hazardous conditions. Along with the rest of their teammates, these 13 Service members—11 Marines, a Soldier, and a Sailor—tackled their mission with skill, compassion, and extraordinary courage. Their selflessness and valor helped defend their comrades and lift tens of thousands of Afghans to safety, allowing them to pursue new lives in freedom.

As we mark this painful milestone, my heart is with the families of these 13 American heroes. Today, the entire Department of Defense stands in sorrow with them—along with all of the families whose loved ones gave their lives during our 20 years in Afghanistan. We will never forget what they gave to serve this country that we love.

President Biden and his administration have faced long-term, fierce criticism over the deaths of the American military members, the civilian casualties during and since the withdrawal, the loss of American military equipment and weapons to the Taliban, and that oppressive terror group’s iron-fisted clamping down on the people of Afghanistan in the wake of the American exit.

Imprisoned Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has appealed his pre-trial detention to a Russian court on Saturday.

The journalist has been imprisoned inside Russia since March on charges of so-called espionage. A court ruled that his detention should be extended until November. He was detained in Yekaterinburg in central Russia eight months ago while on a work assignment.

Gershkovich is the first American journalist to be jailed inside Russia on espionage charges since the days of the Soviet Union. Relations between Russia and the United States have deteriorated due Vladimir Putin‘s invasion of Ukraine over a year ago.

Prosecutors have not announced when a trial will be held for Gershkovich. Currently, the 37-year-old is imprisoned inside the Lefortovo prison in Moscow. The appeal will be brought to the Moscow City Court.

The Wall Street Journal, Gershkovich, and the U.S. government all deny the espionage allegations brought forward by the Russian Federal Security Service.

“We are deeply disappointed he continues to be arbitrarily and wrongfully detained for doing his job as a journalist,” Wall Street Journal said in a statement. “The baseless accusations against him are categorically false, and we continue to push for his immediate release. Journalism is not a crime.”

Moreover, Editor in Chief Emma Tucker and Newspaper Publisher Almar Latour said in a statement his arrest was ““also a reminder of the fight we’re in as Evan has now been wrongfully detained for five months—a horrific and sobering milestone in our efforts to free him.”

Fox News host Jesse Watters kept telling viewers how “hard” ex-President Donald Trump looked in his mugshot — taking care to assure the audience of his “unblemished record of heterosexuality.”

Trump became the first U.S. president to pose for a mugshot when he was arrested in Fulton County, Georgia Thursday on 13 counts related to election crimes in a sweeping RICO case brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

Upon its release shortly after Trump’s arrest, the mugshot immediately became the featured image on a cornucopia of campaign merchandise — and the subject of some intense reactions on both sides.

Watters was among the intense pro-Trump reactions. On Friday’s edition of Fox News Channel’s The Five, Watters boasted of his heterosexuality before telling co-host Jeanine Pirro, in a moment flagged by Acyn Torabi, how “hard” Trump looked:

JESSE WATTERS: Why do they need a mugshot in Georgia? Not everywhere else. The sheriff said that’s protocol and they weren’t going to make an exception.

And I am now going to book the Fulton County photographer for my Christmas card, because Judge, and I say this with a unblemished record of heterosexuality. He looks good. And he looks hard!

And why would you think that you wouldn’t practice the shot? Is that a surprise? Of course you practice the mugshot! You only don’t practice if you’re drunk.

And on Friday night’s edition of Jesse Watters Primetime, Watters added that Trump looked “fierce and hard” in the mugshot, and lashed out at the media for pointing out that Trump and his team gamed out the pose prior to his booking:

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Handsome guy. Wonderful guy.

JESSE WATTERS: That’s the first time Biden’s told the truth. It’s a handsome mugshot. My wife says he looks fierce. He looks hard. But he doesn’t look scared. Does he? Doesn’t look humiliated. He looks exactly the opposite of how the left thought he’d look. So the media, once they observe the impact of the image, now say it wasn’t natural, it wasn’t authentic because the look was planned.

Watch above via Fox News Channel’s The Five and Jesse Watters Primetime.

ESPN star Stephen A. Smith announced this week that sports commentator and former NFL star Shannon Sharpe will be joining the First Take team, a move that was rumored a week ago and which reports Smith tamped down as “premature.”

But days later he was able to confirm, with “literally 60 seconds” notice, that ESPN had made it official.

“It’s all about not standing still and taking it to another level. And official this morning, Mr. Shannon Sharpe will be joining the crew. He will be joining First Take,” said Smith on Thursday’s show. “It is official. Shannon Sharpe is coming to First Take.”

After ESPN made the news official, Sharpe shared an amazing photoshopped image to promo his premier with First Take.

Sharpe also announced this week that his Club Shay Shay podcast is joining Colin Cowherd’s The Volume network.

The moves follow Sharpe’s buyout from FS1 and the contentious break-up of Undisputed, which he co-hosted with Skip Bayless.

Smith made the announcement about Sharpe on air and shared the clip on social media with the sudden but not surprising announcement. “I just learned this 60 seconds ago,” he said. “Literally 60 seconds ago.”

Sharpe will debut on Monday, September 4th, and then each Monday and Tuesday after, Smith said. And he teased another big announcement in the coming week, too.

MSNBC host Jen Psaki said ex-President Donald Trump’s “will backfire in 2024” even though Trump currently “thinks this is a political winner for him.”

Trump became the first U.S. president to pose for a mugshot when he was arrested in Fulton County, Georgia Thursday on 13 counts related to election crimes in a sweeping RICO case brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

Upon its release shortly after Trump’s arrest, the mugshot immediately became the featured image on a cornucopia of campaign merchandise — and the subject of some intense reactions on both sides. On the right, the photo is being presented as a political gift that was carefully planned out by Trump.

But Psaki, former Biden White House press secretary and the host of MSNBC’s Inside With Jen Psaki, has a different take that she wrote in a commentary teasing this week’s episode:

He thinks this is a political winner for him. But as New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu told me in an interview that airs Sunday, “independents hate it.”

The fact remains that Trump is going to need to expand his voting base to win a general election. Yes, Trump has turned politics on its head. But it’s very unlikely independents and moderates in the suburbs of Milwaukee, Phoenix or Detroit are going to become more likely to vote for Trump because he has was booked in the Fulton County Jail.

Already, 26% of likely Iowa Republican caucus-goers said Trump had committed serious crimes, according to a new poll from NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom.

There’s new polling out that may back her up, with a whopping 62 percent of Americans believing Trump “committed a crime” — and a surge of 12 points in two weeks among independents to 67%. That poll was taken before the mugshot, but that’s a steep slide to reverse. While it seems to be rallying the Trump base, they’re already where he wants them: only 28 percent of Republicans believe he committed a crime.

Fox News host Jessica Tarlov torpedoed a comparison of ex-President Donald Trump’s mugshot with MLK’s — then dropped some brutal new poll numbers on Trump’s alleged crimes.

Trump became the first U.S. president to pose for a mugshot when he was arrested in Fulton County, Georgia Thursday on 13 counts related to election crimes in a sweeping RICO case brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

Upon its release shortly after Trump’s arrest, the mugshot immediately became the featured image on a cornucopia of campaign merchandise — and the subject of some intense reactions on both sides.

On Friday’s edition of Fox News Channel’s The Five, co-host Will Cain mentioned Trump’s mugshot in the same breath as those of historical figures like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., which drew a flag from Tarlov.

She also delivered some bad news for Trump fans who think Trump’s prosecutions are being viewed as purely political, citing a brutal Navigator Research survey showing most Americans believe Trump committed a crime:

WILL CAIN: When it comes to the mugshot, you know, there are kind of two different types of mugshots that go out there in the world. There’s the Tiger Woods, Bill Cosby, pathetic figure, mugshot.

And then there’s the mugshots that you see of people like Frank Sinatra when he was young or Janis Joplin. And these mugshots, which include people like MLK, these project a different image, not sad and pathetic, but an image of defiance.

And I think that what you’re seeing right there is defiance. And that’s the exact message that Trump wants to convey, because this is defiance in his estimation and his supporters and for much of America against a broken system.

—

JESSICA TARLOV: I don’t think, Will, to your point, that anyone except, you know, the biggest Donald Trump fans is sitting there thinking that that mugshot has anything to do with what it looked like when MLK had his mugshot taken, and that stuff about how much he weighs and all of that. I don’t like that kind of commentary.

I think it is completely useless and it distracts from the point here, which is that Donald Trump was indicted in four jurisdictions around this country by juries of regular Americans in New York and D.C. and Atlanta and in South Florida, where he calls home.

This wasn’t Joy Reid and Rachel Maddow sitting there. It was regular people who listened to the evidence that was brought before them.

When you say that people are rallying behind him, his diehard base is but the average American isn’t. There’s new polling out today. 62% think he committed a crime, including 67% of independents. 61% think that he must stand trial before the election.

Why? Because you don’t want to put someone in office who’s going to jail. And 59% think that the DOJ is being fair, that shoot straight through the argument that this is a two-tiered system of justice. I you know, if you don’t like the Joe Biden is fundraising off of it, you know, Donald Trump is doing the same thing. He’s having his moment. I’m Mitch McConnell. Even remember, you fundraised off cocaine, Mitch. People need the money.

WILL CAIN: We’ll find out. Time will tell if the public agrees with you this is not a two-tiered system of justice.

JESSICA TARLOV: I don’t think when they think of a two-tiered system of justice, they think of a white billionaire who tried to overthrow the election.

Watch above via Fox News Channel’s The Five.