Newsy Live

and Trudeau discussed women in the workforce. Trade was also on
the agenda of their first in-person meeting. Trump is not
a big fan of NAFTA and has vowed to renegotiate it, but he said
he would only slightly tweak the parts of the trade deal that
involve Canada. Nearly 200,000 Californians living just north
of Sacramento were ordered to evacuate because of major
flooding concerns. Authorities issued the order because the
emergency spillway at Oroville Dam is in danger of failing. The
local sheriff emphasized this is "not a drill," and the governor
declared a state of emergency. New Zealand's Department of
Conservation warned South Island beachgoers to stay away from
exploding whales. A mass stranding left hundreds of whale
carcasses on the beach. Popular Science explains that as the
whale decomposes, gas is released and trapped beneath
thick skin and blubber. Authorities are cutting holes in
300 pilot whale carcasses to help release gas slowly.
Jeffrey Sandusky, the son of former Penn State assistant
coach Jerry Sandusky, has been charged with allegedly sexually
assaulting a minor. Jeffrey Sandusky is accused of sending
explicit text messages to a child whose mother he was
dating. In some of those texts, he allegedly asked for naked
photographs. His adoptive father, Jerry Sandusky, is still
serving a 30-60 year prison sentence after he was convicted
in 2012 of sexually abusing 10 boys. Jeffrey Sandusky defended
his father's innocence to Bleacher Report in 2015, saying:
"Dad himself says he had boundary issues. ... But he was
not doing it to be a creeper, a perv. No, he was doing it to say
'I care about you.'" Jeffrey Sandusky is facing 14 counts.
His bail has been set at $200,000.
Nearly 200,000 Californians living just north of Sacramento
were ordered to evacuate because of major flooding concerns.
Authorities issued the order because the emergency spillway
at Oroville Dam is in danger of failing. The local sheriff
emphasized this is "not a drill," and the governor
declared a state of emergency. After a remarkably rainy winter,
state officials discovered a hole in the dam's main spillway
Feb. 7. And now its emergency spillway,
which was used for the first time ever,
also has erosion damage. The dam itself is separate from the
spillway and is structurally sound. The California Department
of Water Resources said water stopped flowing over the
emergency spillway Sunday night. But it's not clear when
residents might be able to return home. The large amount of
precipitation this winter comes after a five-year drought in
California.
The Mexican government has warned its citizens in the U.S.
to "take precautions" in the wake of a recent executive order
signed by President Donald Trump. Mexico's Ministry of
Foreign Affairs said Friday the Mexican consulates in the U.S.
have "stepped up their work to protect nationals." The ministry
said the deportation of Arizona mother Guadelupe Garcia de
Rayos "illustrates the new reality" for the Mexican
community in the U.S. Rayos, whose children are U.S.
citizens, came to the U.S. illegally when she was 14. She
was convicted of criminal impersonation for using a fake
Social Security number to try to get work. Under the Obama
administration, Rayos was not considered a priority for
deportation since she was a non-violent offender. But the
executive order signed during Trump's first days in office
aims to expedite the removal of people who don't have a legal
claim to stay in the states ━ especially those convicted of
crimes. So when Rayos went to Immigration and Customs
Enforcement headquarters for her regular check-in Wednesday,
instead of being let out, she was detained. Her detainment and
deportation sparked protests that led to several arrests in
Phoenix. According to various media outlets, ICE conducted
raids in several U.S. cities, beginning shortly after the
signing of the executive order. Several outlets in California
report an "enforcement surge" resulted in the arrests of over
160 people. However, a statement from ICE says, "The focus was no
different than the routine, targeted arrests carried out by
ICE's Fugitive Operations Teams on a daily basis."
"They hit us. They hit us in the face and treated us like dogs."
"They dragged us like animals. I'm no animal; I am people."
Mexico's two-year-old Southern Border Program has prevented
thousands of undocumented immigrants from reaching the
U.S.-Mexico border. "If it were not for the hard work of Mexico
... we would have had much bigger problems on our borders,"
President Barack Obama said. But while the program was supposed
to offer safeguards for those leaving their countries, human
rights groups say it's actually exposed migrants to more
corruption and extortion by Mexican authorities. "Evidently
the Southern Border Program has been a success for immigration
authorities in the United States because Mexico, excuse me for
saying this, is doing the dirty work," said Ramon Marquez,
director of migrant shelter La 72. The Southern Border Program
was announced days after President Obama declared a
humanitarian crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2014. "It
is a huge humanitarian crisis on the border right now," said a
reporter on ABC. "More than 50,000 children have been caught
since October of 2013," an NBC reporter said. U.S. lawmakers
called on Mexico to secure its own border with Guatemala to
help control the flow of migrants. "We know that the
Mexican southern border is completely wide open," said Rep.
Mike McCaul (R-Texas), Homeland Security Committee chair.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto responded by creating the
program through an executive action. In his speech, he put
human rights ahead of securing the southern border. "The
Southern Border Program has a dual purpose. One, protect and
safeguard migrant human rights that enter and travel through
Mexico, and two, organize international crossing points,"
Pena Nieto said. But the program is so vague, migrants
could not only face immigration officials, but they could also
be picked up by the police or even the military, neither of
which has clearly outlined powers. That's made it hard to
weed out corruption or to give migrants access to justice.
"Today, the extortions and violence that government
officials practice on migrants have tripled. Before the
Southern Border Program, someone from immigration took the 200 or
300 pesos from a migrant, and they let them go. Now, now no.
Now on top of taking what little money they have, [the officials]
deport them," said Aracy Matus Sanchez, director of operations
for Albergue Jesus El Buen Pastor in Chiapas. "The officer
grabbed me by the neck," one migrant told NPR. "He squeezed
me hard and really hurt me. I said to him, 'Sir, with all due
respect, please don't treat me that way.' That's not even how a
dog should be treated." Most cases like that aren't reported,
and even fewer are investigated by the government. That's
because migrants fear retaliation or don't believe
their reports will make a difference. "The reality is in
many communities, citizens don't feel like they can go to
the police for protection, and a lot of the time, police are part
of the problem," said Maureen Meyer, senior associate for
Mexico and Migrant Rights for the Washington Office on Latin
America. Human rights groups want the Southern Border Program
gone. But Marquez of La 72 argues the problem is bigger
than Mexico. "Last year, El Salvador was declared the most
violent country in the world. ... A few years before that, it
was Honduras. So it's like a cancer that is spreading through
Central America. If the structural problems in Central
America aren't solved, this will never stop," said Ramon
Marquez, director of La 72.
Edward Snowden is weighing in on reports that say Russia might
send him back to the U.S. as a "gift." Snowden worked for years
in the intelligence community. In 2013, he leaked classified
National Security Agency files that showed the U.S.
government's mass surveillance programs. The feds charged him
with espionage and theft of government property. Since then,
he's been holed up in Russia. Anonymous U.S. intelligence
officials told NBC News recent Russian talks have centered
around handing the whistleblower over to work up favor with
President Donald Trump. The current U.S. president isn't
Snowden's biggest fan. He's called him a "traitor" and a
"spy who should be executed." But in response to the reports,
Snowden argued a handover would actually prove he's not a spy
because "no country trades away spies." The Justice Department
said it would welcome an exchange because Snowden still
faces charges in the states. But a spokesperson for Russian
President Vladimir Putin denounced the claims as
"nonsense." Snowden's ACLU lawyer said he hasn't heard
anything about the Russian reports, either.
There are some new questions about a conversation President
Trump's national security adviser had with Russia before
assuming his position. We already knew Gen. Michael Flynn
talked with the Russian Ambassador to the U.S. on the
same day the Obama administration imposed new U.S.
sanctions against Russia. That alone left the Trump
administration on the defensive. "It was strictly coincidental
that they had a conversation. They did not discuss anything
having to do with the United States' decision to expel
diplomats or impose censure against Russia," then Vice
President-elect Mike Pence told CBS' "Face the Nation" in an
interview that aired Jan. 15. That's not true, according to
new reports from The Washington Post and The New York Times.
Their reporting says the sanctions did come up in Flynn's
conversation. The Post, citing unnamed U.S. officials, says
there's no indication Flynn made any promises to the ambassador.
But even talking about the sanctions may have violated an
over 200-year-old U.S. law. Under the Logan Act, it is
illegal for U.S. citizens to engage in a dialogue with
foreign governments with an intent to influence their
decisions without the U.S. government's permission. Few
people have ever been prosecuted for violating the Logan Act. And
according to the Times, it's unlikely Flynn will be. But if
Flynn really wasn't telling the truth about his conversation, it
could deal another blow to the administration's credibility,
which is already on shaky ground with fact-checkers. According to
Politico and CNN, it's possible Flynn didn't tell Pence the
conversation included the topic of sanctions.
The U.S. Treasury Department is easing some of the
cybersanctions against Russia. Former President Barack Obama
ordered the sanctions in December after U.S. intelligence
concluded Russia's Federal Security Service, or FSB, helped
hack the Democratic National Committee's computer systems.
U.S. intelligence officials claim that hack and another
targeting Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign were part
of a Russian attempt to help President Donald Trump win the
U.S. election. Easing the sanctions will let American
companies make small transactions with the FSB to
gain permits and other certifications needed to import
tech products into Russia. Trump has said he might eventually cut
the most recent Russian sanctions. For now, all other
sanctions remain in place.
"It's a new type of information war," said Ilya Yashin, a Russian opposition
leader. "It's not about tanks, soldiers, and planes. It's about brains. To fight for
public opinion." That's Russian opposition leader Ilya Yashin. And he's talking about Hybrid
warfare. Cyber-attacks, propaganda, propping up extremist politicians. These
days, Russia uses these tactics brazenly on targets near and far. The U.S. is one of those
targets. "Moscow's influence campaign blended covert intelligence operations with
overt efforts by Russian government agencies, state-funded media, third party
intermediaries, and paid social media users," Director of National Intelligence James
Clapper told Congress in January. "It's not media," Yashin said. "It's not about
freedom of speech. It's just aggressive propaganda, it's fake news, it's lies and
it's provocations." Yashin knows these tactics well. His friend and colleague Boris
Nemtsov was shot dead near the Kremlin over a year ago while working on a report detailing
Russia's ground war in Ukraine - a ground war Putin denied. "There are no Russian armed
forces anywhere in the Eastern Ukraine," Russian President Vladimir Putin said. "There are
no special forces no instructors. All these people are local citizens." This report
shows a different reality. It's the report Nemtsov didn't survive to finish, completed by
Yashin. Photographs, testimony, letters from Russian soldiers revealed the war Russia was
fighting alongside rebels they backed in Eastern Ukraine. Now Yashin is out with a follow-up
report, exposing what he calls the Kremlin's hybrid war. "We collected the facts, the
arguments about propaganda, political provocations, corrupted politicians used by
Putin, used by Kremlin propaganda," Yashin told us. "Why do you think that people in
the U.S. and throughout Europe should care about what's going on in Ukraine?" Newsy's Liz Wahl
asked Yashin. "Because it's not only about Ukraine, it's about the global system of
security," he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law that drastically
reduces the punishment for domestic violence. The new law
sets the maximum penalty for domestic violence at 15 days in
prison, provided the violence doesn't inflict any serious
injury and doesn't happen more than once a year. The previous
maximum sentence was two years in prison. The bill has drawn
international condemnation, but it sailed through Russia's
legislature with more than 85 percent support. Those in favor
of the law say it brings domestic violence punishments
more in line with penalties for other forms of assault and
restores "traditional family values." But critics say this
essentially gives men a pass to hit their partners and children.
"The message basically is that bruises are OK. And it sort of
echoes the response that police usually give to victims of
domestic violence." Domestic violence is seriously
underreported in Russia. A state-run news agency said
domestic violence kills 12,000 women in Russia every year.
Vladimir Putin killed free speech, jailed his critics and
profited from deep corruption in his country. And yet, he's now a
politically partisan figure in the U.S. Somehow, feelings on
Russia's president are becoming a wedge issue, with Americans
becoming more split on approval. That's strange, considering how
un-American his ideas are ━ like silencing private press and
bringing media under state control. Since he became
president, 34 journalists have been killed in Russia. Only a
handful of those cases have seen any justice.
Anti-Corruption Activist Could Challenge Putin In 2018
Elections The same goes for some of Putin's political opposition,
who face being jailed or assassinated. Prominent Putin
critic Boris Nemtsov was shot just outside the Kremlin.
Internationally, Russia's human rights record has been in steady
decline, more recently due to the war crimes Russia is accused
of in Syria. And back home, Putin's corruption is deep and
well-documented. His personal wealth has vastly increased
during his time in office, his inner circle has made a lot of
money off government contracts. All of which makes the growing
support for Putin even more shocking.
"We are totally committed to lifting the regulatory and tax
burdens that are hurting American innovation and
companies." Trump's mission to strip away financial regulations
may have just gotten a lot easier. Federal Reserve Governor
Daniel Tarullo announced he will retire in April, even though his
term was set to continue until 2022. Appointed by President
Obama in 2009, Tarullo was in charge of enforcing regulations
like the Dodd-Frank Act on banks. Dodd-Frank came as a
response to the massive global recession of 2009. It
essentially forced banks to have more money in their reserves to
insulate them from another big crash. Since taking office,
Trump has rolled back regulations on financial
institutions and specifically targeted Dodd-Frank. Now, he
gets to nominate Tarullo's replacement. Bloomberg reports
economic researcher Neil Dutta told his clients, "Someone with
more lax attitudes on regulation is likely to come out of this.
Buy banks - the dog is running without its leash on." It looks
like plenty of people took that advice. Stocks for financial
funds gained as much as half a percent in the wake of Tarullo's
announcement.
Kellyanne Conway gave Ivanka Trump a free commercial from the
White House. It's a wonderful line, I own some of it, I'm
gonna give a free commercial here. Go buy it today,
everybody. You can find it online. That appears to violate
federal ethics regulations. That regulation applies to Conway.
She's a White House employee, and taxpayers fund her salary.
President Trump also used his position to lobby for Ivanka's
business. So, who's supposed to hold Conway accountable? The
White House, according to The Washington Post. Of course,
House Republicans could also hold Conway accountable.
New documents made public by The New York Times and ProPublica
show President Donald Trump isn't as detached from his
businesses as we thought. In a press conference days before his
inauguration, Trump and his tax lawyer announced he gave control
of his businesses to a trust. The newly released documents do
show the president's trust is run by his elder son and the
Trump Organization's chief financial officer. But they also
show Trump can retake control of the trust at any time. Beyond
that, the trust's tax information is under the
president's social security number. Trump has no legal
obligation to divest from his brand or his businesses. But his
continued business ties open him up to an unknown number of
conflicts of interest that could affect his decisions as
president. Trump's hotel in Washington, D.C., located in the
Old Post Office Building, is a good example. The building is
leased from a federal agency Trump oversees. But the 2013
lease agreement states no government official can profit
from any share of the lease. And, because foreign dignitaries
are interested in staying at the hotel, that could put Trump at
odds with the Constitution's Emoluments Clause, which forbids
office-holders from accepting gifts or bribes from foreign
governments.
You find a huge blind spot in the U.S. government when you try to answer this question: Who
holds President Donald Trump accountable for conflicts of interest? The truth is, there's
no good answer. For an example, let's look at Trump's hotel in Washington, D.C. The lease is
with a government agency Trump will control when he becomes president, and that lease says
elected officials can't benefit from the contract. Typically, that federal agency, the General
Services Administration, would determine if there's a breach in the contract and would end the
lease. But the GSA will technically be under Trump's control. And if the issue went
to court, Trump's company would be pitted against the GSA, likely represented by the
Justice Department, which Trump also oversees. So, if Trump or his family benefit financially
from government policy he shapes, what can be done? And who's supposed to do it? First,
wrongdoing would have to be exposed. That's really up to journalists, watchdog groups,
whistleblowers and some government agencies. But those groups can only point out
problems and make recommendations about what to do; they don't have the power to
fix the issue. And about this. "The president of the United States is allowed to have
whatever conflicts of interest he wants." Trump is technically right. U.S. code
exempts the president and vice president from conflict of interest laws. Of course,
Congress could change that. In fact, Congress and the courts are the only two bodies that can
really hold the president accountable. Congress can do that through impeachment, with a
simple majority in the House and a two-thirds majority in the Senate. Presidents can be
impeached for treason, bribery, abuse of power, perjury and other high crimes. But that's a
pretty extreme step, and Trump's party has a hold on both chambers. So, how did we end up
with a gap in our system for this kind of check on corruption in the executive branch? It's
because the U.S. has a system built on precedents. And Trump's far-reaching business, even in
the hands of his family, creates an unprecedented situation.
It seems like President Trump isn't going to let the judicial
suspension of his executive order on immigration stand. But
to challenge the hold any further, the Trump
administration will have to take its case to the Supreme Court.
And to do that, they'll need a lawyer. The Department of
Justice's Solicitor General represents the government during
Supreme Court cases. The current Acting Solicitor General, Noel
J. Francisco, has a few successful Supreme Court
challenges under his belt. But he's been kept off this case so
far since Francisco's former law firm, Jones Day, filed a brief
opposing the Trump administration. Trump hasn't
formally nominated his pick for the job yet; D.C. lawyer Charles
Cooper was in line for the role but took his name out of
consideration Thursday. Trump's next choice is reportedly New
York lawyer George T. Conway III - who happens to be married to
Trump's adviser, Kellyanne Conway.
"I can not normalize Donald Trump. He, I believe, is a
danger to the Republic." Congressman Ted. Lieu told Newsy
in a recent sit down. That's Congressman Ted Lieu. Air Force
Vet, Californian and currently, a serious critic of President
Trump. Lieu has been an outspoken critic of Trump since
before the election. And since then, Lieu's ramped it up, even
creating a presidential "illegitimacy clock" on his
website. For almost every Trump controversy, Lieu's office
releases a statement rebuking the president. He says it's his
duty to speak out. And recent protests seem to have emboldened
him. "What you are seeing is a real populist movement of people
all across America who are opposing these actions by the
Trump administration," Lieu said. But then there's the
question of making sure opposition doesn't just turn
into completeobstruction, leaving us with a government
that doesn't get anything done. Remember moments like this? "Our
top political priority over the next two years should be to deny
President Obama a second term,"Lieu said. Lieu doesn't
seem entirely opposed to taking a note out of the GOP's Obama
years playbook. But, he hasn't thrown working with the
president out the window just yet. "Can a person like Trump,
who has made a series of racist, sexist and bigoted statements,
have a good idea? Well, yes, he can have a good idea. So if he
has a good idea, I could support it. But if he's got a bad or
unconstitutional crazy idea, I'm going to oppose it, and I'm
going to fight against it, and I'm going to highlight it," Lieu
said. And Lieu is in it for the long haul until the Trump
presidency is over. Whenever that is. "For every action,
there is an equal and opposite reaction. I am the reaction, we
are the reaction. People opposed to Donald Trump are the
reaction," Lieu said.
Deep in the ocean, you'll run into some pretty interesting
creatures. Their strange features help them survive in
their cold, dark world. Take the cockeyed squid, for example.
With one normal eye and one giant, bulging eye, it drifts
through the sea some 200 to 1000 meters below the surface in a
region called the "twilight zone." The sunlight that reaches
these depths is so dim that sometimes the bioluminescence of
other sea creatures is brighter. The cockeyed squid evolved to
spot both of these light sources. That's why one eye is
bigger than the other. In a recent study, biologist Kate
Thomas found the large eye looks upward. The squid uses it to
search for shadows of other sea creatures against the sunlight.
Its small eye looks down at the deeper, darker water and spots
bioluminescent flashes. Thomas used computer models to show
that increasing the size of the upward facing eye greatly
improves the squid's sensitivity to sunlight. But increasing the
size of the downward facing eye has little affect on its
sensitivity; it's too dim down there to see anything more
clearly. So, the cockeyed squid might look funny, but it may
have evolved those mismatched eyes to save energy.
Hundreds of pilot whales managed to return to the water after
being stranded on a New Zealand beach. But how do whales and
dolphins ━ who are naturally expert navigators ━ end up
getting beached? Individual animals will strand themselves
for simple reasons, including illness, injury and old age. But
mass strandings ━ like those in New Zealand ━ are a bit
more mysterious. Humans might have a hand in some whale
strandings. Loud sonar can cause them to flee and beach
themselves. But other factors could play a role as well.
Whales and dolphins are, for the most part, social creatures. And
some species follow a leader, which could lead them to shore.
Environmental factors could also be to blame. Scientists think
changes in the Earth's magnetic field could disorient them. And
red tides ━ poisonous red algae blooms ━ might have been
responsible for stranding over 300 whales in Chile in 2015.
Apparently dolphins chat it up like you and me. For the first
time, researchers claim to have recorded a pair of dolphins
having a conversation. They said they found dolphins have "a
highly developed spoken language,
akin to the human language." And apparently,
the animals even wait for the other to stop talking. The
conversation between two Black Sea bottlenose dolphins was in a
concrete pool at the Karadag Nature Reserve in Crimea.
According to the study published last month,
dolphins speak by creating pulses or whistles. It also said
they form words by changing the frequency and level of pulses.
Researchers said the results of this study lead them to believe
toothed whales have a similar "highly developed spoken
language." But not so fast. Some scientists are skeptical. One
told The Huffington Post, the study isn't "really a novel
item" because similarities between how dolphins and humans
communicate have been reported. A 2007 study also claimed
dolphins have their own language. The researcher found
dolphins used nearly 200 different whistles. The
possibility that dolphins use a highly developed language
shouldn't be surprising. Studies have found dolphins have complex
brains.
A lot of plastic ends up in our oceans every year, and animals
love to eat it. For a long time, scientists just assumed the
animals ate the plastic because it looked like food. But it
turns out, it smells like food, too. In fact, it smells so
enticing that 90 percent of seabirds eat it right now. And
by 2050, nearly all of them are expected to dine on it. It's not
just seabirds that are eating plastic. Over 700 species have
been seen eating it. And every year, over 100,000 marine
animals die from it. This discovery could help make
plastic safer for marine animals. But the bigger problem
is still the amount of plastic ━ 8 million tons ━ that gets
dumped into Earth's oceans each year.
Tardigrades, better known as "cute" and "cuddly" water bears,
can survive a lot of torture. The tiny organisms' huggability
factor is debatable, but the animals' toughness isn't. Most
recently, scientists in Japan thawed out three Antarctic
tardigrades after more than 30 years of frozen slumber. And
what did the water bears do? Well, one died, but the other
two laid some eggs and kept on living. Just like in extreme
heat, drought, pressure and radiation tests before, the
water bears slowly started to go about their usual business. And
that's why these "cute" little guys are actually terrifying.
They live all over the world, usually in damp moss or dirt,
but there are also fresh and saltwater varieties. Tardigrades
are also microscopic, somewhat transparent and can walk around
slowly on eight legs. Water bears aren't supposed to live
very long -- usually about a year at most, but in that time,
a tardigrade can lay 30 to 40 eggs. They also occasionally eat
some of those eggs to improve their own health. Other water
bear food sources include amoebas, nematodes and other
tardigrades. Yes, some are cannibals. Still think they're
cute? OK, let's go back to the part where they can prolong
their lives. Scientists have radically altered tardigrades'
environments in studies, and much like cockroaches, the
organisms adapt to survive. The New York Times writes,
"Confronted with drying, rapid temperature changes, changes in
water salinity or other problems, tardigrades can
curtail their metabolism to 0.01 percent of normal." The result
is a deep sleep, almost death-like state, similar to the
30-year freezing test. One time, the European Space Agency sent
about 3,000 water bears into space, and guess what? A lot of
them survived. No water, no air and cosmic radiation -- no
problem. Whether you think the water bear is cute or a
terrifying freak of nature, the little guys do deserve a little
praise. You see, scientists aren't just abusing them for
fun. Tardigrades make good experimental candidates -- like
fruit flies but hardier. And maybe water bears could lead to
leaps and bounds in cryonics, a type of cold preservation that
could allow humans to fall into a frozen sleep and wake up many
years later, none the worse. But discoveries like that are
probably still a ways off. So, it's fair to assume the
internet's beloved water bears will continue be tormented, all
in the name of science.
Oil companies are winning big under President Trump. The
environment is not. Trump gave the green light to the Keystone
XL and Dakota Access pipelines. He signed an executive action
expediting environmental review for infrastructure projects.
Trump nominated a climate change doubter to head the
Environmental Protection Agency. The House voted to repeal a rule
limiting methane emissions from drilling on public lands. The
Senate and House repealed the Stream Protection Rule, which
blocked coal mining companies from polluting streams and
rivers. The Senate and House repealed a transparency rule
that forced oil companies to disclose payments to foreign
governments. And we're only a few weeks in.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recently
canceled climate change conference will go on with
or without the CDC. Former Vice President Al Gore has announced
he will host a climate and health meeting in place of the
CDC's summit. That summit, which had been in the works for
months, was supposed to give public health officials the
chance to learn more about how climate change could affect
human health. The CDC quietly called it off ahead of Donald
Trump's inauguration without much explanation just that
it was considering rescheduling the summit later this year. That
didn't sit well with Gore. He said in a statement, "Health
professionals urgently need the very best science in order to
protect the public, and climate science has increasingly
critical implications for their day-to-day work." The move was
also met with criticism from environmental and public health
advocates who believe climate science should be a public
issue, not a partisan one. Gore's teaming up with several
nongovernmental sponsors to put on the meeting, including the
American Public Health Association, the Climate Reality
Project and the Harvard Global Health Institute. Gore didn't
say if CDC officials would attend the new meeting, which
will take place at the nonprofit Carter Center in Atlanta on Feb.
16.
For three weeks, we' re getting off the trail to talk about the
people, places and stories that really should be getting more
attention in this campaign. Our first stop was Tangier Island
off the coast of Virginia, which was fascinating for a lot of
reasons, not the least of which is because it has an incredible
history, a very strange accent. - "A lot of times Siri can't
understand me. She'll put more syllables and stretch a word
out." And because it's sinking under rising sea levels.
It'll be one of the first places in America underwater
because of climate change.
But those two words, "climate change,"
are actually really tricky words to use on Tangier
Island because not everybody on the island believes in climate
change. People see the erosion, and that's all they see -
erosion. - "Erosion is our number one problem. When this
green beacon was put here, you could step off that onto the
land." Even though on that island you see very drastic
effects of climate change, even though the Army Corps of
Engineers has made Tangier the subject of a lot of studying
they've done on the issue of climate change. - "We're the
only First World country where this is even a debate. Everyone
else is on board with climate change as a real thing that's
occurring." The science behind it is still in dispute on the
island even if there's a consensus within in the
Planting trees to help fight climate-change works, right?
Well, according to a new study that's not always the case. It
turns out that conifer trees, like evergreens, may actually
cause temperature increases where they've taken root in
place of broad-leafed trees. For example, look at Europe where
the study was focused. Once upon a time, its forests were largely
leafy deciduous trees. Now, a majority of Europe's trees are
managed by humans, and we've been planting trees like pines
and spruces because they grow faster. But by replacing older
forests with ones that are newer and faster-growing, Europe has
gone into "carbon debt." Harvesting those older trees and
replacing them with conifers has released 3.1 billion metric tons
of carbon. Researchers say this change caused a temperature
increase equal to 6 percent of warming attributed to fossil
fuels. Which may not sound like much, but small changes in
temperature can ripple out to larger changes in the
environment. It's not just about the carbon that's released,
though. Conifer trees are darker and absorb more solar radiation.
When less of that radiation is reflected into space, the planet
can heat up. Some countries are already planting trees to help
combat climate change. China, for instance, has been planting
a "green wall" in the Gobi Desert, a project that would
eventually include over a million square miles of trees.
(Video via American History of Natural History) And in 2014,
the U.N. established the New York Declaration on Forests to
restore deforested land. But the study warns that those types of
plans risk failure if countries don't consider the type of trees
used or the forestry management techniques used to maintain
them.
Climate change is destroying this Virginia island. Tangier Island is rapidly disappearing
under rising seas. In a few decades, it could be completely underwater. "It can be
depressing when you see places that used to be a thriving community. It's all gone now."
When we hear about islands going under rising sea levels, we often hear about the south
Pacific, about the Maldive Islands. What we don't hear about so often is this island,
even though it's just a few miles off of the mainland U.S. In the past 150 years, Tangier
has wasted away to just one-third of its previous size. And the 500 or so people who
live here know time is running out. "I've seen 75 feet from last October to now be washed
away from Uppards. We can't handle it any longer." "When this green beacon was put here,
in the '60s, you could step off that onto land." "Step off of this beacon right here?" "Yep,
that land was all the way over here." How long before Tangier Island is not habitable? "We've
got maybe about 50 years at the mid-range. And if the high-level sea level rise scenario is what
happens, at most, 25 years. So, they don't have a lot of time." David Schultz has studied
Tangier for 15 years. His proposal to life the island through engineering might be the
only way to save it. But that requires funding from a Congress that doesn't even acknowledge
the root of the problem. "How long will it take for the sea level to rise 2 feet? Think
about it. If your ice cube melts in your glass, it doesn't overflow." "We're the only
first-world country where this is even a debate. Everyone else is on board with climate change
as a real thing that's occurring." This is how a lot of people on the island make their
living isn't it? "Yeah, I would say it's almost 50/50. Part of the guys catch the hard crabs
and sell them by the bushel basket. And then the other guys do the soft crabs. Crabs are
what keeps the ball rolling here. It can be very discouraging. The bay that's
provided a living for everyone all these years is actually threatening the community now."
Tangier Island is a historical treasure. John Smith was the first European to see it. Later
in the 1600s, it was founded by a few families: the Parks, Pruitts and Crocketts among
them, each of which still live on the island. "This is eroding very quickly, too." "It's coming
right in on their backyard." "Yep, as a matter of fact, I live here. The one with the
black roof." "How much closer is it now that it was maybe 10 years ago, 20 years ago?" "Maybe
50 feet." Tangier is only a sliver of what it once was. Maps collected by the Army Corps of
Engineers show the rapid loss of land. As the north half, known as Uppards, wasted away
completely, new canals, creeks and swamps criss-crossed the island, and the west side was
steadily swallowed by the ocean.
"'Sup bat fans?"
This was one of the few weekends at the movies
where you could either relive your childhood or take
adulthood up a notch.
"I'd say that I don't currently have a 'bad guy.'
'I'm fighting a few different people. I like to
I like to fight around."
Showing that there can be some justice at the box
office "The LEGO Batman Movie" took the No.1 spot in an
exceptionally crowded box office weekend. The two-hour long toy
commercial brought in an estimated $55 million
domestically. What's even more exciting is DC comics finally
managed to make a Batman movie that people don't hate.
"It's a frenetic, unhinged celebration
of all things Batman."
The LEGO Batman movie
carries a rock solid 91% on the good 'ol
tomatometer but at some point DC is going to have to figure out
how to get similar praise for its live action films.
"No. No, no no no no etc."
On to No. 2
"You're just gonna stand there gawking?"
"Yes."
On the opposite end of the spectrum in just
about every way is "Fifty Shades Darker" bringing in an estimated
$46 million and proving that terrible popular books make
popular terrible movies. While our favorite kinky couple,
couldn't keep up with the original "Fifty Shades of Grey"
debut they still managed the best worldwide debut of 2017. If
American audiences are growing tired of Anastasia Steele and
Mr. Grey, foreign audiences are just getting strapped in. Fifty
Shades Darker defeated all challengers overseas bringing in
a whopping $100 million this weekend.
All the while making critics squirm.
"F**k it we're gonna make it the soap.
The silly goofy soap."
"There are a lot of really unintentionally
funny moments here."
And last but not least,
guns, adrenaline and Keanu Reeves. "John Wick: Chapter 2"
managed a $30 million debut nearly doubling the box office
debut of the original 'John Wick' film. What's equally
surprising is, John Wick Chapter 2 also has better reviews than
the original. And this one didn't even have to kill an
innocent dog to do it.
As for next week, Bostonian Matt Damon saves China.
"Let me fight with you"
It's where partying, performances and politics meet. You just couldn't resist the the 59th annual Grammy Awards.
Adele swept the top honors of the night, winning song, record and album of the year for "25." But her humanity stole the
headlines. First, she halted her George Michael tribute and started it over in order to pay proper respect to the singer who
died in December. Then, she let her producer, Greg Kurstin, take the mic to finish his speech after he was cut off earlier in
the night. But she really showed how golden her heart is after winning album of the year ━ an award she didn't think she
deserved. "I can't possibly accept this award. And I'm very humbled, and I'm very grateful and gracious. But my artist of
my life is Beyoncé, and this album to me, the 'Lemonade' album for me, was just monumental ━ Beyoncé, it was so
monumental," Adele said. We all got caught up in our permanent emotions as Beyoncé defied gravity onstage. A decorated
deity of sorts, Bey left the show with more gold than she showed up with. She won Grammys for best music video for
"Formation" and best urban contemporary album. "It's important to me to show images to my children that reflect
their beauty, so they can grow up in a world where they look in the mirror, first through their own families, as well as the
news, the Super Bowl, the Olympics, the White House and the Grammys," Beyoncé said. Jennifer Lopez, A Tribe Called
Quest and a constitutional Katy Perry also used their platform to bring politics to music's biggest night. In other
highlights, Chance The Rapper made history as the first streaming-exclusive artist to win a Grammy. David Bowie
posthumously won more Grammys in one night than in his entire career. And Lady Gaga was a crowd-surfing metalhead. But we
still have 21 questions about why Twenty One Pilots dropped trou and whether James Corden did his own stunts. His leg
muscles say yes.
If it seemed like Adele won everything at the 2017 Grammys
... she kind of did. Song of the Year, Album of the Year, Record
of the Year so what's the difference? Well, all three
categories honor different people for different roles. You
could take the same song and give Adele two honors based on
different things she brought to the table. Which is exactly what
the Grammys did for "Hello." Adele won Record of the Year for
her voice. But the award also went to the producers and
engineers who worked in the studio alongside her. "Hello"
also won Song of the Year for its songwriting. In this case,
that's still Adele, but she shares the accolade with
producer Greg Kurstin who co-wrote the song. The ultimate
team award is the Album of the Year. All producers, performers,
engineers and sound mixers are honored for their roles in
what's considered the best album, top-to-bottom. Last
night, Adele became the first artist to sweep the top three
awards on two different occasions a feat you now
know requires the best singing, songwriting, producing and
mixing.
Scientists say they've found the most attractive dance moves for
women, so pay attention if you're going out this weekend.
Psychologists in the U.K. used 3-D motion-capture technology to
record the dance movements of 39 female college students. Then
they had plain digital avatars act out the moves and asked 200
people to rate each dance. The study surveyed both heterosexual
males and heterosexual females, but both groups agreed on what
makes for a good dance: Moving the hips, thighs and arms were
rated as most attractive - so, basically the dance from
"Gangnam Style." This same team of researchers did a similar
study with men. The scientists found that unlike women, the
sexiest dance moves for dudes involved the upper body. So why
do scientists care about sexy dance moves? Besides the fact
that dancing is just plain fun, researchers say dance has an
evolutionary significance for human behavior. And studying it
tells scientists about some ways we attract partners. But don't
worry about that go-to move. You're already killing it with
that moonwalk.
President Donald Trump welcomed Canadian Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau to the White House today. Among other issues, TrumT
and Trudeau discussed women in the workforce. Trade was also on
the agenda of their first in-person meeting. Trump is not
a big fan of NAFTA and has vowed to renegotiate it, but he said
he would only slightly tweak the parts of the trade deal that
involve Canada. Nearly 200,000 Californians living just north
of Sacramento were ordered to evacuate because of major
flooding concerns. Authorities issued the order because the
emergency spillway at Oroville Dam is in danger of failing. The
local sheriff emphasized this is "not a drill," and the governor
declared a state of emergency. New Zealand's Department of
Conservation warned South Island beachgoers to stay away from
exploding whales. A mass stranding left hundreds of whale
carcasses on the beach. Popular Science explains that as the
whale decomposes, gas is released and trapped beneath
thick skin and blubber. Authorities are cutting holes in
300 pilot whale carcasses to help release gas slowly.
Jeffrey Sandusky, the son of former Penn State assistant
coach Jerry Sandusky, has been charged with allegedly sexually
assaulting a minor. Jeffrey Sandusky is accused of sending
explicit text messages to a child whose mother he was
dating. In some of those texts, he allegedly asked for naked
photographs. His adoptive father, Jerry Sandusky, is still
serving a 30-60 year prison sentence after he was convicted
in 2012 of sexually abusing 10 boys. Jeffrey Sandusky defended
his father's innocence to Bleacher Report in 2015, saying:
"Dad himself says he had boundary issues. ... But he was
not doing it to be a creeper, a perv. No, he was doing it to say
'I care about you.'" Jeffrey Sandusky is facing 14 counts.
His bail has been set at $200,000.
Nearly 200,000 Californians living just north of Sacramento
were ordered to evacuate because of major flooding concerns.
Authorities issued the order because the emergency spillway
at Oroville Dam is in danger of failing. The local sheriff
emphasized this is "not a drill," and the governor
declared a state of emergency. After a remarkably rainy winter,
state officials discovered a hole in the dam's main spillway
Feb. 7. And now its emergency spillway,
which was used for the first time ever,
also has erosion damage. The dam itself is separate from the
spillway and is structurally sound. The California Department
of Water Resources said water stopped flowing over the
emergency spillway Sunday night. But it's not clear when
residents might be able to return home. The large amount of
precipitation this winter comes after a five-year drought in
California.
The Mexican government has warned its citizens in the U.S.
to "take precautions" in the wake of a recent executive order
signed by President Donald Trump. Mexico's Ministry of
Foreign Affairs said Friday the Mexican consulates in the U.S.
have "stepped up their work to protect nationals." The ministry
said the deportation of Arizona mother Guadelupe Garcia de
Rayos "illustrates the new reality" for the Mexican
community in the U.S. Rayos, whose children are U.S.
citizens, came to the U.S. illegally when she was 14. She
was convicted of criminal impersonation for using a fake
Social Security number to try to get work. Under the Obama
administration, Rayos was not considered a priority for
deportation since she was a non-violent offender. But the
executive order signed during Trump's first days in office
aims to expedite the removal of people who don't have a legal
claim to stay in the states ━ especially those convicted of
crimes. So when Rayos went to Immigration and Customs
Enforcement headquarters for her regular check-in Wednesday,
instead of being let out, she was detained. Her detainment and
deportation sparked protests that led to several arrests in
Phoenix. According to various media outlets, ICE conducted
raids in several U.S. cities, beginning shortly after the
signing of the executive order. Several outlets in California
report an "enforcement surge" resulted in the arrests of over
160 people. However, a statement from ICE says, "The focus was no
different than the routine, targeted arrests carried out by
ICE's Fugitive Operations Teams on a daily basis."
"They hit us. They hit us in the face and treated us like dogs."
"They dragged us like animals. I'm no animal; I am people."
Mexico's two-year-old Southern Border Program has prevented
thousands of undocumented immigrants from reaching the
U.S.-Mexico border. "If it were not for the hard work of Mexico
... we would have had much bigger problems on our borders,"
President Barack Obama said. But while the program was supposed
to offer safeguards for those leaving their countries, human
rights groups say it's actually exposed migrants to more
corruption and extortion by Mexican authorities. "Evidently
the Southern Border Program has been a success for immigration
authorities in the United States because Mexico, excuse me for
saying this, is doing the dirty work," said Ramon Marquez,
director of migrant shelter La 72. The Southern Border Program
was announced days after President Obama declared a
humanitarian crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2014. "It
is a huge humanitarian crisis on the border right now," said a
reporter on ABC. "More than 50,000 children have been caught
since October of 2013," an NBC reporter said. U.S. lawmakers
called on Mexico to secure its own border with Guatemala to
help control the flow of migrants. "We know that the
Mexican southern border is completely wide open," said Rep.
Mike McCaul (R-Texas), Homeland Security Committee chair.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto responded by creating the
program through an executive action. In his speech, he put
human rights ahead of securing the southern border. "The
Southern Border Program has a dual purpose. One, protect and
safeguard migrant human rights that enter and travel through
Mexico, and two, organize international crossing points,"
Pena Nieto said. But the program is so vague, migrants
could not only face immigration officials, but they could also
be picked up by the police or even the military, neither of
which has clearly outlined powers. That's made it hard to
weed out corruption or to give migrants access to justice.
"Today, the extortions and violence that government
officials practice on migrants have tripled. Before the
Southern Border Program, someone from immigration took the 200 or
300 pesos from a migrant, and they let them go. Now, now no.
Now on top of taking what little money they have, [the officials]
deport them," said Aracy Matus Sanchez, director of operations
for Albergue Jesus El Buen Pastor in Chiapas. "The officer
grabbed me by the neck," one migrant told NPR. "He squeezed
me hard and really hurt me. I said to him, 'Sir, with all due
respect, please don't treat me that way.' That's not even how a
dog should be treated." Most cases like that aren't reported,
and even fewer are investigated by the government. That's
because migrants fear retaliation or don't believe
their reports will make a difference. "The reality is in
many communities, citizens don't feel like they can go to
the police for protection, and a lot of the time, police are part
of the problem," said Maureen Meyer, senior associate for
Mexico and Migrant Rights for the Washington Office on Latin
America. Human rights groups want the Southern Border Program
gone. But Marquez of La 72 argues the problem is bigger
than Mexico. "Last year, El Salvador was declared the most
violent country in the world. ... A few years before that, it
was Honduras. So it's like a cancer that is spreading through
Central America. If the structural problems in Central
America aren't solved, this will never stop," said Ramon
Marquez, director of La 72.
Edward Snowden is weighing in on reports that say Russia might
send him back to the U.S. as a "gift." Snowden worked for years
in the intelligence community. In 2013, he leaked classified
National Security Agency files that showed the U.S.
government's mass surveillance programs. The feds charged him
with espionage and theft of government property. Since then,
he's been holed up in Russia. Anonymous U.S. intelligence
officials told NBC News recent Russian talks have centered
around handing the whistleblower over to work up favor with
President Donald Trump. The current U.S. president isn't
Snowden's biggest fan. He's called him a "traitor" and a
"spy who should be executed." But in response to the reports,
Snowden argued a handover would actually prove he's not a spy
because "no country trades away spies." The Justice Department
said it would welcome an exchange because Snowden still
faces charges in the states. But a spokesperson for Russian
President Vladimir Putin denounced the claims as
"nonsense." Snowden's ACLU lawyer said he hasn't heard
anything about the Russian reports, either.
There are some new questions about a conversation President
Trump's national security adviser had with Russia before
assuming his position. We already knew Gen. Michael Flynn
talked with the Russian Ambassador to the U.S. on the
same day the Obama administration imposed new U.S.
sanctions against Russia. That alone left the Trump
administration on the defensive. "It was strictly coincidental
that they had a conversation. They did not discuss anything
having to do with the United States' decision to expel
diplomats or impose censure against Russia," then Vice
President-elect Mike Pence told CBS' "Face the Nation" in an
interview that aired Jan. 15. That's not true, according to
new reports from The Washington Post and The New York Times.
Their reporting says the sanctions did come up in Flynn's
conversation. The Post, citing unnamed U.S. officials, says
there's no indication Flynn made any promises to the ambassador.
But even talking about the sanctions may have violated an
over 200-year-old U.S. law. Under the Logan Act, it is
illegal for U.S. citizens to engage in a dialogue with
foreign governments with an intent to influence their
decisions without the U.S. government's permission. Few
people have ever been prosecuted for violating the Logan Act. And
according to the Times, it's unlikely Flynn will be. But if
Flynn really wasn't telling the truth about his conversation, it
could deal another blow to the administration's credibility,
which is already on shaky ground with fact-checkers. According to
Politico and CNN, it's possible Flynn didn't tell Pence the
conversation included the topic of sanctions.
The U.S. Treasury Department is easing some of the
cybersanctions against Russia. Former President Barack Obama
ordered the sanctions in December after U.S. intelligence
concluded Russia's Federal Security Service, or FSB, helped
hack the Democratic National Committee's computer systems.
U.S. intelligence officials claim that hack and another
targeting Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign were part
of a Russian attempt to help President Donald Trump win the
U.S. election. Easing the sanctions will let American
companies make small transactions with the FSB to
gain permits and other certifications needed to import
tech products into Russia. Trump has said he might eventually cut
the most recent Russian sanctions. For now, all other
sanctions remain in place.
"It's a new type of information war," said Ilya Yashin, a Russian opposition
leader. "It's not about tanks, soldiers, and planes. It's about brains. To fight for
public opinion." That's Russian opposition leader Ilya Yashin. And he's talking about Hybrid
warfare. Cyber-attacks, propaganda, propping up extremist politicians. These
days, Russia uses these tactics brazenly on targets near and far. The U.S. is one of those
targets. "Moscow's influence campaign blended covert intelligence operations with
overt efforts by Russian government agencies, state-funded media, third party
intermediaries, and paid social media users," Director of National Intelligence James
Clapper told Congress in January. "It's not media," Yashin said. "It's not about
freedom of speech. It's just aggressive propaganda, it's fake news, it's lies and
it's provocations." Yashin knows these tactics well. His friend and colleague Boris
Nemtsov was shot dead near the Kremlin over a year ago while working on a report detailing
Russia's ground war in Ukraine - a ground war Putin denied. "There are no Russian armed
forces anywhere in the Eastern Ukraine," Russian President Vladimir Putin said. "There are
no special forces no instructors. All these people are local citizens." This report
shows a different reality. It's the report Nemtsov didn't survive to finish, completed by
Yashin. Photographs, testimony, letters from Russian soldiers revealed the war Russia was
fighting alongside rebels they backed in Eastern Ukraine. Now Yashin is out with a follow-up
report, exposing what he calls the Kremlin's hybrid war. "We collected the facts, the
arguments about propaganda, political provocations, corrupted politicians used by
Putin, used by Kremlin propaganda," Yashin told us. "Why do you think that people in
the U.S. and throughout Europe should care about what's going on in Ukraine?" Newsy's Liz Wahl
asked Yashin. "Because it's not only about Ukraine, it's about the global system of
security," he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law that drastically
reduces the punishment for domestic violence. The new law
sets the maximum penalty for domestic violence at 15 days in
prison, provided the violence doesn't inflict any serious
injury and doesn't happen more than once a year. The previous
maximum sentence was two years in prison. The bill has drawn
international condemnation, but it sailed through Russia's
legislature with more than 85 percent support. Those in favor
of the law say it brings domestic violence punishments
more in line with penalties for other forms of assault and
restores "traditional family values." But critics say this
essentially gives men a pass to hit their partners and children.
"The message basically is that bruises are OK. And it sort of
echoes the response that police usually give to victims of
domestic violence." Domestic violence is seriously
underreported in Russia. A state-run news agency said
domestic violence kills 12,000 women in Russia every year.
Vladimir Putin killed free speech, jailed his critics and
profited from deep corruption in his country. And yet, he's now a
politically partisan figure in the U.S. Somehow, feelings on
Russia's president are becoming a wedge issue, with Americans
becoming more split on approval. That's strange, considering how
un-American his ideas are ━ like silencing private press and
bringing media under state control. Since he became
president, 34 journalists have been killed in Russia. Only a
handful of those cases have seen any justice.
Anti-Corruption Activist Could Challenge Putin In 2018
Elections The same goes for some of Putin's political opposition,
who face being jailed or assassinated. Prominent Putin
critic Boris Nemtsov was shot just outside the Kremlin.
Internationally, Russia's human rights record has been in steady
decline, more recently due to the war crimes Russia is accused
of in Syria. And back home, Putin's corruption is deep and
well-documented. His personal wealth has vastly increased
during his time in office, his inner circle has made a lot of
money off government contracts. All of which makes the growing
support for Putin even more shocking.
"We are totally committed to lifting the regulatory and tax
burdens that are hurting American innovation and
companies." Trump's mission to strip away financial regulations
may have just gotten a lot easier. Federal Reserve Governor
Daniel Tarullo announced he will retire in April, even though his
term was set to continue until 2022. Appointed by President
Obama in 2009, Tarullo was in charge of enforcing regulations
like the Dodd-Frank Act on banks. Dodd-Frank came as a
response to the massive global recession of 2009. It
essentially forced banks to have more money in their reserves to
insulate them from another big crash. Since taking office,
Trump has rolled back regulations on financial
institutions and specifically targeted Dodd-Frank. Now, he
gets to nominate Tarullo's replacement. Bloomberg reports
economic researcher Neil Dutta told his clients, "Someone with
more lax attitudes on regulation is likely to come out of this.
Buy banks - the dog is running without its leash on." It looks
like plenty of people took that advice. Stocks for financial
funds gained as much as half a percent in the wake of Tarullo's
announcement.
Kellyanne Conway gave Ivanka Trump a free commercial from the
White House. It's a wonderful line, I own some of it, I'm
gonna give a free commercial here. Go buy it today,
everybody. You can find it online. That appears to violate
federal ethics regulations. That regulation applies to Conway.
She's a White House employee, and taxpayers fund her salary.
President Trump also used his position to lobby for Ivanka's
business. So, who's supposed to hold Conway accountable? The
White House, according to The Washington Post. Of course,
House Republicans could also hold Conway accountable.
New documents made public by The New York Times and ProPublica
show President Donald Trump isn't as detached from his
businesses as we thought. In a press conference days before his
inauguration, Trump and his tax lawyer announced he gave control
of his businesses to a trust. The newly released documents do
show the president's trust is run by his elder son and the
Trump Organization's chief financial officer. But they also
show Trump can retake control of the trust at any time. Beyond
that, the trust's tax information is under the
president's social security number. Trump has no legal
obligation to divest from his brand or his businesses. But his
continued business ties open him up to an unknown number of
conflicts of interest that could affect his decisions as
president. Trump's hotel in Washington, D.C., located in the
Old Post Office Building, is a good example. The building is
leased from a federal agency Trump oversees. But the 2013
lease agreement states no government official can profit
from any share of the lease. And, because foreign dignitaries
are interested in staying at the hotel, that could put Trump at
odds with the Constitution's Emoluments Clause, which forbids
office-holders from accepting gifts or bribes from foreign
governments.
You find a huge blind spot in the U.S. government when you try to answer this question: Who
holds President Donald Trump accountable for conflicts of interest? The truth is, there's
no good answer. For an example, let's look at Trump's hotel in Washington, D.C. The lease is
with a government agency Trump will control when he becomes president, and that lease says
elected officials can't benefit from the contract. Typically, that federal agency, the General
Services Administration, would determine if there's a breach in the contract and would end the
lease. But the GSA will technically be under Trump's control. And if the issue went
to court, Trump's company would be pitted against the GSA, likely represented by the
Justice Department, which Trump also oversees. So, if Trump or his family benefit financially
from government policy he shapes, what can be done? And who's supposed to do it? First,
wrongdoing would have to be exposed. That's really up to journalists, watchdog groups,
whistleblowers and some government agencies. But those groups can only point out
problems and make recommendations about what to do; they don't have the power to
fix the issue. And about this. "The president of the United States is allowed to have
whatever conflicts of interest he wants." Trump is technically right. U.S. code
exempts the president and vice president from conflict of interest laws. Of course,
Congress could change that. In fact, Congress and the courts are the only two bodies that can
really hold the president accountable. Congress can do that through impeachment, with a
simple majority in the House and a two-thirds majority in the Senate. Presidents can be
impeached for treason, bribery, abuse of power, perjury and other high crimes. But that's a
pretty extreme step, and Trump's party has a hold on both chambers. So, how did we end up
with a gap in our system for this kind of check on corruption in the executive branch? It's
because the U.S. has a system built on precedents. And Trump's far-reaching business, even in
the hands of his family, creates an unprecedented situation.
It seems like President Trump isn't going to let the judicial
suspension of his executive order on immigration stand. But
to challenge the hold any further, the Trump
administration will have to take its case to the Supreme Court.
And to do that, they'll need a lawyer. The Department of
Justice's Solicitor General represents the government during
Supreme Court cases. The current Acting Solicitor General, Noel
J. Francisco, has a few successful Supreme Court
challenges under his belt. But he's been kept off this case so
far since Francisco's former law firm, Jones Day, filed a brief
opposing the Trump administration. Trump hasn't
formally nominated his pick for the job yet; D.C. lawyer Charles
Cooper was in line for the role but took his name out of
consideration Thursday. Trump's next choice is reportedly New
York lawyer George T. Conway III - who happens to be married to
Trump's adviser, Kellyanne Conway.
"I can not normalize Donald Trump. He, I believe, is a
danger to the Republic." Congressman Ted. Lieu told Newsy
in a recent sit down. That's Congressman Ted Lieu. Air Force
Vet, Californian and currently, a serious critic of President
Trump. Lieu has been an outspoken critic of Trump since
before the election. And since then, Lieu's ramped it up, even
creating a presidential "illegitimacy clock" on his
website. For almost every Trump controversy, Lieu's office
releases a statement rebuking the president. He says it's his
duty to speak out. And recent protests seem to have emboldened
him. "What you are seeing is a real populist movement of people
all across America who are opposing these actions by the
Trump administration," Lieu said. But then there's the
question of making sure opposition doesn't just turn
into completeobstruction, leaving us with a government
that doesn't get anything done. Remember moments like this? "Our
top political priority over the next two years should be to deny
President Obama a second term,"Lieu said. Lieu doesn't
seem entirely opposed to taking a note out of the GOP's Obama
years playbook. But, he hasn't thrown working with the
president out the window just yet. "Can a person like Trump,
who has made a series of racist, sexist and bigoted statements,
have a good idea? Well, yes, he can have a good idea. So if he
has a good idea, I could support it. But if he's got a bad or
unconstitutional crazy idea, I'm going to oppose it, and I'm
going to fight against it, and I'm going to highlight it," Lieu
said. And Lieu is in it for the long haul until the Trump
presidency is over. Whenever that is. "For every action,
there is an equal and opposite reaction. I am the reaction, we
are the reaction. People opposed to Donald Trump are the
reaction," Lieu said.
Deep in the ocean, you'll run into some pretty interesting
creatures. Their strange features help them survive in
their cold, dark world. Take the cockeyed squid, for example.
With one normal eye and one giant, bulging eye, it drifts
through the sea some 200 to 1000 meters below the surface in a
region called the "twilight zone." The sunlight that reaches
these depths is so dim that sometimes the bioluminescence of
other sea creatures is brighter. The cockeyed squid evolved to
spot both of these light sources. That's why one eye is
bigger than the other. In a recent study, biologist Kate
Thomas found the large eye looks upward. The squid uses it to
search for shadows of other sea creatures against the sunlight.
Its small eye looks down at the deeper, darker water and spots
bioluminescent flashes. Thomas used computer models to show
that increasing the size of the upward facing eye greatly
improves the squid's sensitivity to sunlight. But increasing the
size of the downward facing eye has little affect on its
sensitivity; it's too dim down there to see anything more
clearly. So, the cockeyed squid might look funny, but it may
have evolved those mismatched eyes to save energy.
Hundreds of pilot whales managed to return to the water after
being stranded on a New Zealand beach. But how do whales and
dolphins ━ who are naturally expert navigators ━ end up
getting beached? Individual animals will strand themselves
for simple reasons, including illness, injury and old age. But
mass strandings ━ like those in New Zealand ━ are a bit
more mysterious. Humans might have a hand in some whale
strandings. Loud sonar can cause them to flee and beach
themselves. But other factors could play a role as well.
Whales and dolphins are, for the most part, social creatures. And
some species follow a leader, which could lead them to shore.
Environmental factors could also be to blame. Scientists think
changes in the Earth's magnetic field could disorient them. And
red tides ━ poisonous red algae blooms ━ might have been
responsible for stranding over 300 whales in Chile in 2015.
Apparently dolphins chat it up like you and me. For the first
time, researchers claim to have recorded a pair of dolphins
having a conversation. They said they found dolphins have "a
highly developed spoken language,
akin to the human language." And apparently,
the animals even wait for the other to stop talking. The
conversation between two Black Sea bottlenose dolphins was in a
concrete pool at the Karadag Nature Reserve in Crimea.
According to the study published last month,
dolphins speak by creating pulses or whistles. It also said
they form words by changing the frequency and level of pulses.
Researchers said the results of this study lead them to believe
toothed whales have a similar "highly developed spoken
language." But not so fast. Some scientists are skeptical. One
told The Huffington Post, the study isn't "really a novel
item" because similarities between how dolphins and humans
communicate have been reported. A 2007 study also claimed
dolphins have their own language. The researcher found
dolphins used nearly 200 different whistles. The
possibility that dolphins use a highly developed language
shouldn't be surprising. Studies have found dolphins have complex
brains.
A lot of plastic ends up in our oceans every year, and animals
love to eat it. For a long time, scientists just assumed the
animals ate the plastic because it looked like food. But it
turns out, it smells like food, too. In fact, it smells so
enticing that 90 percent of seabirds eat it right now. And
by 2050, nearly all of them are expected to dine on it. It's not
just seabirds that are eating plastic. Over 700 species have
been seen eating it. And every year, over 100,000 marine
animals die from it. This discovery could help make
plastic safer for marine animals. But the bigger problem
is still the amount of plastic ━ 8 million tons ━ that gets
dumped into Earth's oceans each year.
Tardigrades, better known as "cute" and "cuddly" water bears,
can survive a lot of torture. The tiny organisms' huggability
factor is debatable, but the animals' toughness isn't. Most
recently, scientists in Japan thawed out three Antarctic
tardigrades after more than 30 years of frozen slumber. And
what did the water bears do? Well, one died, but the other
two laid some eggs and kept on living. Just like in extreme
heat, drought, pressure and radiation tests before, the
water bears slowly started to go about their usual business. And
that's why these "cute" little guys are actually terrifying.
They live all over the world, usually in damp moss or dirt,
but there are also fresh and saltwater varieties. Tardigrades
are also microscopic, somewhat transparent and can walk around
slowly on eight legs. Water bears aren't supposed to live
very long -- usually about a year at most, but in that time,
a tardigrade can lay 30 to 40 eggs. They also occasionally eat
some of those eggs to improve their own health. Other water
bear food sources include amoebas, nematodes and other
tardigrades. Yes, some are cannibals. Still think they're
cute? OK, let's go back to the part where they can prolong
their lives. Scientists have radically altered tardigrades'
environments in studies, and much like cockroaches, the
organisms adapt to survive. The New York Times writes,
"Confronted with drying, rapid temperature changes, changes in
water salinity or other problems, tardigrades can
curtail their metabolism to 0.01 percent of normal." The result
is a deep sleep, almost death-like state, similar to the
30-year freezing test. One time, the European Space Agency sent
about 3,000 water bears into space, and guess what? A lot of
them survived. No water, no air and cosmic radiation -- no
problem. Whether you think the water bear is cute or a
terrifying freak of nature, the little guys do deserve a little
praise. You see, scientists aren't just abusing them for
fun. Tardigrades make good experimental candidates -- like
fruit flies but hardier. And maybe water bears could lead to
leaps and bounds in cryonics, a type of cold preservation that
could allow humans to fall into a frozen sleep and wake up many
years later, none the worse. But discoveries like that are
probably still a ways off. So, it's fair to assume the
internet's beloved water bears will continue be tormented, all
in the name of science.
Oil companies are winning big under President Trump. The
environment is not. Trump gave the green light to the Keystone
XL and Dakota Access pipelines. He signed an executive action
expediting environmental review for infrastructure projects.
Trump nominated a climate change doubter to head the
Environmental Protection Agency. The House voted to repeal a rule
limiting methane emissions from drilling on public lands. The
Senate and House repealed the Stream Protection Rule, which
blocked coal mining companies from polluting streams and
rivers. The Senate and House repealed a transparency rule
that forced oil companies to disclose payments to foreign
governments. And we're only a few weeks in.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recently
canceled climate change conference will go on with
or without the CDC. Former Vice President Al Gore has announced
he will host a climate and health meeting in place of the
CDC's summit. That summit, which had been in the works for
months, was supposed to give public health officials the
chance to learn more about how climate change could affect
human health. The CDC quietly called it off ahead of Donald
Trump's inauguration without much explanation just that
it was considering rescheduling the summit later this year. That
didn't sit well with Gore. He said in a statement, "Health
professionals urgently need the very best science in order to
protect the public, and climate science has increasingly
critical implications for their day-to-day work." The move was
also met with criticism from environmental and public health
advocates who believe climate science should be a public
issue, not a partisan one. Gore's teaming up with several
nongovernmental sponsors to put on the meeting, including the
American Public Health Association, the Climate Reality
Project and the Harvard Global Health Institute. Gore didn't
say if CDC officials would attend the new meeting, which
will take place at the nonprofit Carter Center in Atlanta on Feb.
16.
For three weeks, we' re getting off the trail to talk about the
people, places and stories that really should be getting more
attention in this campaign. Our first stop was Tangier Island
off the coast of Virginia, which was fascinating for a lot of
reasons, not the least of which is because it has an incredible
history, a very strange accent. - "A lot of times Siri can't
understand me. She'll put more syllables and stretch a word
out." And because it's sinking under rising sea levels.
It'll be one of the first places in America underwater
because of climate change.
But those two words, "climate change,"
are actually really tricky words to use on Tangier
Island because not everybody on the island believes in climate
change. People see the erosion, and that's all they see -
erosion. - "Erosion is our number one problem. When this
green beacon was put here, you could step off that onto the
land." Even though on that island you see very drastic
effects of climate change, even though the Army Corps of
Engineers has made Tangier the subject of a lot of studying
they've done on the issue of climate change. - "We're the
only First World country where this is even a debate. Everyone
else is on board with climate change as a real thing that's
occurring." The science behind it is still in dispute on the
island even if there's a consensus within in the
Planting trees to help fight climate-change works, right?
Well, according to a new study that's not always the case. It
turns out that conifer trees, like evergreens, may actually
cause temperature increases where they've taken root in
place of broad-leafed trees. For example, look at Europe where
the study was focused. Once upon a time, its forests were largely
leafy deciduous trees. Now, a majority of Europe's trees are
managed by humans, and we've been planting trees like pines
and spruces because they grow faster. But by replacing older
forests with ones that are newer and faster-growing, Europe has
gone into "carbon debt." Harvesting those older trees and
replacing them with conifers has released 3.1 billion metric tons
of carbon. Researchers say this change caused a temperature
increase equal to 6 percent of warming attributed to fossil
fuels. Which may not sound like much, but small changes in
temperature can ripple out to larger changes in the
environment. It's not just about the carbon that's released,
though. Conifer trees are darker and absorb more solar radiation.
When less of that radiation is reflected into space, the planet
can heat up. Some countries are already planting trees to help
combat climate change. China, for instance, has been planting
a "green wall" in the Gobi Desert, a project that would
eventually include over a million square miles of trees.
(Video via American History of Natural History) And in 2014,
the U.N. established the New York Declaration on Forests to
restore deforested land. But the study warns that those types of
plans risk failure if countries don't consider the type of trees
used or the forestry management techniques used to maintain
them.
Climate change is destroying this Virginia island. Tangier Island is rapidly disappearing
under rising seas. In a few decades, it could be completely underwater. "It can be
depressing when you see places that used to be a thriving community. It's all gone now."
When we hear about islands going under rising sea levels, we often hear about the south
Pacific, about the Maldive Islands. What we don't hear about so often is this island,
even though it's just a few miles off of the mainland U.S. In the past 150 years, Tangier
has wasted away to just one-third of its previous size. And the 500 or so people who
live here know time is running out. "I've seen 75 feet from last October to now be washed
away from Uppards. We can't handle it any longer." "When this green beacon was put here,
in the '60s, you could step off that onto land." "Step off of this beacon right here?" "Yep,
that land was all the way over here." How long before Tangier Island is not habitable? "We've
got maybe about 50 years at the mid-range. And if the high-level sea level rise scenario is what
happens, at most, 25 years. So, they don't have a lot of time." David Schultz has studied
Tangier for 15 years. His proposal to life the island through engineering might be the
only way to save it. But that requires funding from a Congress that doesn't even acknowledge
the root of the problem. "How long will it take for the sea level to rise 2 feet? Think
about it. If your ice cube melts in your glass, it doesn't overflow." "We're the only
first-world country where this is even a debate. Everyone else is on board with climate change
as a real thing that's occurring." This is how a lot of people on the island make their
living isn't it? "Yeah, I would say it's almost 50/50. Part of the guys catch the hard crabs
and sell them by the bushel basket. And then the other guys do the soft crabs. Crabs are
what keeps the ball rolling here. It can be very discouraging. The bay that's
provided a living for everyone all these years is actually threatening the community now."
Tangier Island is a historical treasure. John Smith was the first European to see it. Later
in the 1600s, it was founded by a few families: the Parks, Pruitts and Crocketts among
them, each of which still live on the island. "This is eroding very quickly, too." "It's coming
right in on their backyard." "Yep, as a matter of fact, I live here. The one with the
black roof." "How much closer is it now that it was maybe 10 years ago, 20 years ago?" "Maybe
50 feet." Tangier is only a sliver of what it once was. Maps collected by the Army Corps of
Engineers show the rapid loss of land. As the north half, known as Uppards, wasted away
completely, new canals, creeks and swamps criss-crossed the island, and the west side was
steadily swallowed by the ocean.
"'Sup bat fans?"
This was one of the few weekends at the movies
where you could either relive your childhood or take
adulthood up a notch.
"I'd say that I don't currently have a 'bad guy.'
'I'm fighting a few different people. I like to
I like to fight around."
Showing that there can be some justice at the box
office "The LEGO Batman Movie" took the No.1 spot in an
exceptionally crowded box office weekend. The two-hour long toy
commercial brought in an estimated $55 million
domestically. What's even more exciting is DC comics finally
managed to make a Batman movie that people don't hate.
"It's a frenetic, unhinged celebration
of all things Batman."
The LEGO Batman movie
carries a rock solid 91% on the good 'ol
tomatometer but at some point DC is going to have to figure out
how to get similar praise for its live action films.
"No. No, no no no no etc."
On to No. 2
"You're just gonna stand there gawking?"
"Yes."
On the opposite end of the spectrum in just
about every way is "Fifty Shades Darker" bringing in an estimated
$46 million and proving that terrible popular books make
popular terrible movies. While our favorite kinky couple,
couldn't keep up with the original "Fifty Shades of Grey"
debut they still managed the best worldwide debut of 2017. If
American audiences are growing tired of Anastasia Steele and
Mr. Grey, foreign audiences are just getting strapped in. Fifty
Shades Darker defeated all challengers overseas bringing in
a whopping $100 million this weekend.
All the while making critics squirm.
"F**k it we're gonna make it the soap.
The silly goofy soap."
"There are a lot of really unintentionally
funny moments here."
And last but not least,
guns, adrenaline and Keanu Reeves. "John Wick: Chapter 2"
managed a $30 million debut nearly doubling the box office
debut of the original 'John Wick' film. What's equally
surprising is, John Wick Chapter 2 also has better reviews than
the original. And this one didn't even have to kill an
innocent dog to do it.
As for next week, Bostonian Matt Damon saves China.
"Let me fight with you"
It's where partying, performances and politics meet. You just couldn't resist the the 59th annual Grammy Awards.
Adele swept the top honors of the night, winning song, record and album of the year for "25." But her humanity stole the
headlines. First, she halted her George Michael tribute and started it over in order to pay proper respect to the singer who
died in December. Then, she let her producer, Greg Kurstin, take the mic to finish his speech after he was cut off earlier in
the night. But she really showed how golden her heart is after winning album of the year ━ an award she didn't think she
deserved. "I can't possibly accept this award. And I'm very humbled, and I'm very grateful and gracious. But my artist of
my life is Beyoncé, and this album to me, the 'Lemonade' album for me, was just monumental ━ Beyoncé, it was so
monumental," Adele said. We all got caught up in our permanent emotions as Beyoncé defied gravity onstage. A decorated
deity of sorts, Bey left the show with more gold than she showed up with. She won Grammys for best music video for
"Formation" and best urban contemporary album. "It's important to me to show images to my children that reflect
their beauty, so they can grow up in a world where they look in the mirror, first through their own families, as well as the
news, the Super Bowl, the Olympics, the White House and the Grammys," Beyoncé said. Jennifer Lopez, A Tribe Called
Quest and a constitutional Katy Perry also used their platform to bring politics to music's biggest night. In other
highlights, Chance The Rapper made history as the first streaming-exclusive artist to win a Grammy. David Bowie
posthumously won more Grammys in one night than in his entire career. And Lady Gaga was a crowd-surfing metalhead. But we
still have 21 questions about why Twenty One Pilots dropped trou and whether James Corden did his own stunts. His leg
muscles say yes.
If it seemed like Adele won everything at the 2017 Grammys
... she kind of did. Song of the Year, Album of the Year, Record
of the Year so what's the difference? Well, all three
categories honor different people for different roles. You
could take the same song and give Adele two honors based on
different things she brought to the table. Which is exactly what
the Grammys did for "Hello." Adele won Record of the Year for
her voice. But the award also went to the producers and
engineers who worked in the studio alongside her. "Hello"
also won Song of the Year for its songwriting. In this case,
that's still Adele, but she shares the accolade with
producer Greg Kurstin who co-wrote the song. The ultimate
team award is the Album of the Year. All producers, performers,
engineers and sound mixers are honored for their roles in
what's considered the best album, top-to-bottom. Last
night, Adele became the first artist to sweep the top three
awards on two different occasions a feat you now
know requires the best singing, songwriting, producing and
mixing.
Scientists say they've found the most attractive dance moves for
women, so pay attention if you're going out this weekend.
Psychologists in the U.K. used 3-D motion-capture technology to
record the dance movements of 39 female college students. Then
they had plain digital avatars act out the moves and asked 200
people to rate each dance. The study surveyed both heterosexual
males and heterosexual females, but both groups agreed on what
makes for a good dance: Moving the hips, thighs and arms were
rated as most attractive - so, basically the dance from
"Gangnam Style." This same team of researchers did a similar
study with men. The scientists found that unlike women, the
sexiest dance moves for dudes involved the upper body. So why
do scientists care about sexy dance moves? Besides the fact
that dancing is just plain fun, researchers say dance has an
evolutionary significance for human behavior. And studying it
tells scientists about some ways we attract partners. But don't
worry about that go-to move. You're already killing it with
that moonwalk.
President Donald Trump welcomed Canadian Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau to the White House today. Among other issues, Trump
and Trudeau discussed women in the workforce. Trade was also on
the agenda of their first in-person meeting. Trump is not
a big fan of NAFTA and has vowed to renegotiate it, but he said
he would only slightly tweak the parts of the trade deal that
involve Canada. Nearly 200,000 Californians living just north
of Sacramento were ordered to evacuate because of major
flooding concerns. Authorities issued the order because the
emergency spillway at Oroville Dam is in danger of failing. The
local sheriff emphasized this is "not a drill," and the governor
declared a state of emergency. New Zealand's Department of
Conservation warned South Island beachgoers to stay away from
exploding whales. A mass stranding left hundreds of whale
carcasses on the beach. Popular Science explains that as the
whale decomposes, gas is released and trapped beneath
thick skin and blubber. Authorities are cutting holes in
300 pilot whale carcasses to help release gas slowly.
Jeffrey Sandusky, the son of former Penn State assistant
coach Jerry Sandusky, has been charged with allegedly sexually
assaulting a minor. Jeffrey Sandusky is accused of sending
explicit text messages to a child whose mother he was
dating. In some of those texts, he allegedly asked for naked
photographs. His adoptive father, Jerry Sandusky, is still
serving a 30-60 year prison sentence after he was convicted
in 2012 of sexually abusing 10 boys. Jeffrey Sandusky defended
his father's innocence to Bleacher Report in 2015, saying:
"Dad himself says he had boundary issues. ... But he was
not doing it to be a creeper, a perv. No, he was doing it to say
'I care about you.'" Jeffrey Sandusky is facing 14 counts.
His bail has been set at $200,000.
Nearly 200,000 Californians living just north of Sacramento
were ordered to evacuate because of major flooding concerns.
Authorities issued the order because the emergency spillway
at Oroville Dam is in danger of failing. The local sheriff
emphasized this is "not a drill," and the governor
declared a state of emergency. After a remarkably rainy winter,
state officials discovered a hole in the dam's main spillway
Feb. 7. And now its emergency spillway,
which was used for the first time ever,
also has erosion damage. The dam itself is separate from the
spillway and is structurally sound. The California Department
of Water Resources said water stopped flowing over the
emergency spillway Sunday night. But it's not clear when
residents might be able to return home. The large amount of
precipitation this winter comes after a five-year drought in
California.
The Mexican government has warned its citizens in the U.S.
to "take precautions" in the wake of a recent executive order
signed by President Donald Trump. Mexico's Ministry of
Foreign Affairs said Friday the Mexican consulates in the U.S.
have "stepped up their work to protect nationals." The ministry
said the deportation of Arizona mother Guadelupe Garcia de
Rayos "illustrates the new reality" for the Mexican
community in the U.S. Rayos, whose children are U.S.
citizens, came to the U.S. illegally when she was 14. She
was convicted of criminal impersonation for using a fake
Social Security number to try to get work. Under the Obama
administration, Rayos was not considered a priority for
deportation since she was a non-violent offender. But the
executive order signed during Trump's first days in office
aims to expedite the removal of people who don't have a legal
claim to stay in the states ━ especially those convicted of
crimes. So when Rayos went to Immigration and Customs
Enforcement headquarters for her regular check-in Wednesday,
instead of being let out, she was detained. Her detainment and
deportation sparked protests that led to several arrests in
Phoenix. According to various media outlets, ICE conducted
raids in several U.S. cities, beginning shortly after the
signing of the executive order. Several outlets in California
report an "enforcement surge" resulted in the arrests of over
160 people. However, a statement from ICE says, "The focus was no
different than the routine, targeted arrests carried out by
ICE's Fugitive Operations Teams on a daily basis."
"They hit us. They hit us in the face and treated us like dogs."
"They dragged us like animals. I'm no animal; I am people."
Mexico's two-year-old Southern Border Program has prevented
thousands of undocumented immigrants from reaching the
U.S.-Mexico border. "If it were not for the hard work of Mexico
... we would have had much bigger problems on our borders,"
President Barack Obama said. But while the program was supposed
to offer safeguards for those leaving their countries, human
rights groups say it's actually exposed migrants to more
corruption and extortion by Mexican authorities. "Evidently
the Southern Border Program has been a success for immigration
authorities in the United States because Mexico, excuse me for
saying this, is doing the dirty work," said Ramon Marquez,
director of migrant shelter La 72. The Southern Border Program
was announced days after President Obama declared a
humanitarian crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2014. "It
is a huge humanitarian crisis on the border right now," said a
reporter on ABC. "More than 50,000 children have been caught
since October of 2013," an NBC reporter said. U.S. lawmakers
called on Mexico to secure its own border with Guatemala to
help control the flow of migrants. "We know that the
Mexican southern border is completely wide open," said Rep.
Mike McCaul (R-Texas), Homeland Security Committee chair.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto responded by creating the
program through an executive action. In his speech, he put
human rights ahead of securing the southern border. "The
Southern Border Program has a dual purpose. One, protect and
safeguard migrant human rights that enter and travel through
Mexico, and two, organize international crossing points,"
Pena Nieto said. But the program is so vague, migrants
could not only face immigration officials, but they could also
be picked up by the police or even the military, neither of
which has clearly outlined powers. That's made it hard to
weed out corruption or to give migrants access to justice.
"Today, the extortions and violence that government
officials practice on migrants have tripled. Before the
Southern Border Program, someone from immigration took the 200 or
300 pesos from a migrant, and they let them go. Now, now no.
Now on top of taking what little money they have, [the officials]
deport them," said Aracy Matus Sanchez, director of operations
for Albergue Jesus El Buen Pastor in Chiapas. "The officer
grabbed me by the neck," one migrant told NPR. "He squeezed
me hard and really hurt me. I said to him, 'Sir, with all due
respect, please don't treat me that way.' That's not even how a
dog should be treated." Most cases like that aren't reported,
and even fewer are investigated by the government. That's
because migrants fear retaliation or don't believe
their reports will make a difference. "The reality is in
many communities, citizens don't feel like they can go to
the police for protection, and a lot of the time, police are part
of the problem," said Maureen Meyer, senior associate for
Mexico and Migrant Rights for the Washington Office on Latin
America. Human rights groups want the Southern Border Program
gone. But Marquez of La 72 argues the problem is bigger
than Mexico. "Last year, El Salvador was declared the most
violent country in the world. ... A few years before that, it
was Honduras. So it's like a cancer that is spreading through
Central America. If the structural problems in Central
America aren't solved, this will never stop," said Ramon
Marquez, director of La 72.
Edward Snowden is weighing in on reports that say Russia might
send him back to the U.S. as a "gift." Snowden worked for years
in the intelligence community. In 2013, he leaked classified
National Security Agency files that showed the U.S.
government's mass surveillance programs. The feds charged him
with espionage and theft of government property. Since then,
he's been holed up in Russia. Anonymous U.S. intelligence
officials told NBC News recent Russian talks have centered
around handing the whistleblower over to work up favor with
President Donald Trump. The current U.S. president isn't
Snowden's biggest fan. He's called him a "traitor" and a
"spy who should be executed." But in response to the reports,
Snowden argued a handover would actually prove he's not a spy
because "no country trades away spies." The Justice Department
said it would welcome an exchange because Snowden still
faces charges in the states. But a spokesperson for Russian
President Vladimir Putin denounced the claims as
"nonsense." Snowden's ACLU lawyer said he hasn't heard
anything about the Russian reports, either.
There are some new questions about a conversation President
Trump's national security adviser had with Russia before
assuming his position. We already knew Gen. Michael Flynn
talked with the Russian Ambassador to the U.S. on the
same day the Obama administration imposed new U.S.
sanctions against Russia. That alone left the Trump
administration on the defensive. "It was strictly coincidental
that they had a conversation. They did not discuss anything
having to do with the United States' decision to expel
diplomats or impose censure against Russia," then Vice
President-elect Mike Pence told CBS' "Face the Nation" in an
interview that aired Jan. 15. That's not true, according to
new reports from The Washington Post and The New York Times.
Their reporting says the sanctions did come up in Flynn's
conversation. The Post, citing unnamed U.S. officials, says
there's no indication Flynn made any promises to the ambassador.
But even talking about the sanctions may have violated an
over 200-year-old U.S. law. Under the Logan Act, it is
illegal for U.S. citizens to engage in a dialogue with
foreign governments with an intent to influence their
decisions without the U.S. government's permission. Few
people have ever been prosecuted for violating the Logan Act. And
according to the Times, it's unlikely Flynn will be. But if
Flynn really wasn't telling the truth about his conversation, it
could deal another blow to the administration's credibility,
which is already on shaky ground with fact-checkers. According to
Politico and CNN, it's possible Flynn didn't tell Pence the
conversation included the topic of sanctions.
The U.S. Treasury Department is easing some of the
cybersanctions against Russia. Former President Barack Obama
ordered the sanctions in December after U.S. intelligence
concluded Russia's Federal Security Service, or FSB, helped
hack the Democratic National Committee's computer systems.
U.S. intelligence officials claim that hack and another
targeting Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign were part
of a Russian attempt to help President Donald Trump win the
U.S. election. Easing the sanctions will let American
companies make small transactions with the FSB to
gain permits and other certifications needed to import
tech products into Russia. Trump has said he might eventually cut
the most recent Russian sanctions. For now, all other
sanctions remain in place.
"It's a new type of information war," said Ilya Yashin, a Russian opposition
leader. "It's not about tanks, soldiers, and planes. It's about brains. To fight for
public opinion." That's Russian opposition leader Ilya Yashin. And he's talking about Hybrid
warfare. Cyber-attacks, propaganda, propping up extremist politicians. These
days, Russia uses these tactics brazenly on targets near and far. The U.S. is one of those
targets. "Moscow's influence campaign blended covert intelligence operations with
overt efforts by Russian government agencies, state-funded media, third party
intermediaries, and paid social media users," Director of National Intelligence James
Clapper told Congress in January. "It's not media," Yashin said. "It's not about
freedom of speech. It's just aggressive propaganda, it's fake news, it's lies and
it's provocations." Yashin knows these tactics well. His friend and colleague Boris
Nemtsov was shot dead near the Kremlin over a year ago while working on a report detailing
Russia's ground war in Ukraine - a ground war Putin denied. "There are no Russian armed
forces anywhere in the Eastern Ukraine," Russian President Vladimir Putin said. "There are
no special forces no instructors. All these people are local citizens." This report
shows a different reality. It's the report Nemtsov didn't survive to finish, completed by
Yashin. Photographs, testimony, letters from Russian soldiers revealed the war Russia was
fighting alongside rebels they backed in Eastern Ukraine. Now Yashin is out with a follow-up
report, exposing what he calls the Kremlin's hybrid war. "We collected the facts, the
arguments about propaganda, political provocations, corrupted politicians used by
Putin, used by Kremlin propaganda," Yashin told us. "Why do you think that people in
the U.S. and throughout Europe should care about what's going on in Ukraine?" Newsy's Liz Wahl
asked Yashin. "Because it's not only about Ukraine, it's about the global system of
security," he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law that drastically
reduces the punishment for domestic violence. The new law
sets the maximum penalty for domestic violence at 15 days in
prison, provided the violence doesn't inflict any serious
injury and doesn't happen more than once a year. The previous
maximum sentence was two years in prison. The bill has drawn
international condemnation, but it sailed through Russia's
legislature with more than 85 percent support. Those in favor
of the law say it brings domestic violence punishments
more in line with penalties for other forms of assault and
restores "traditional family values." But critics say this
essentially gives men a pass to hit their partners and children.
"The message basically is that bruises are OK. And it sort of
echoes the response that police usually give to victims of
domestic violence." Domestic violence is seriously
underreported in Russia. A state-run news agency said
domestic violence kills 12,000 women in Russia every year.
Vladimir Putin killed free speech, jailed his critics and
profited from deep corruption in his country. And yet, he's now a
politically partisan figure in the U.S. Somehow, feelings on
Russia's president are becoming a wedge issue, with Americans
becoming more split on approval. That's strange, considering how
un-American his ideas are ━ like silencing private press and
bringing media under state control. Since he became
president, 34 journalists have been killed in Russia. Only a
handful of those cases have seen any justice.
Anti-Corruption Activist Could Challenge Putin In 2018
Elections The same goes for some of Putin's political opposition,
who face being jailed or assassinated. Prominent Putin
critic Boris Nemtsov was shot just outside the Kremlin.
Internationally, Russia's human rights record has been in steady
decline, more recently due to the war crimes Russia is accused
of in Syria. And back home, Putin's corruption is deep and
well-documented. His personal wealth has vastly increased
during his time in office, his inner circle has made a lot of
money off government contracts. All of which makes the growing
support for Putin even more shocking.
"We are totally committed to lifting the regulatory and tax
burdens that are hurting American innovation and
companies." Trump's mission to strip away financial regulations
may have just gotten a lot easier. Federal Reserve Governor
Daniel Tarullo announced he will retire in April, even though his
term was set to continue until 2022. Appointed by President
Obama in 2009, Tarullo was in charge of enforcing regulations
like the Dodd-Frank Act on banks. Dodd-Frank came as a
response to the massive global recession of 2009. It
essentially forced banks to have more money in their reserves to
insulate them from another big crash. Since taking office,
Trump has rolled back regulations on financial
institutions and specifically targeted Dodd-Frank. Now, he
gets to nominate Tarullo's replacement. Bloomberg reports
economic researcher Neil Dutta told his clients, "Someone with
more lax attitudes on regulation is likely to come out of this.
Buy banks - the dog is running without its leash on." It looks
like plenty of people took that advice. Stocks for financial
funds gained as much as half a percent in the wake of Tarullo's
announcement.
Kellyanne Conway gave Ivanka Trump a free commercial from the
White House. It's a wonderful line, I own some of it, I'm
gonna give a free commercial here. Go buy it today,
everybody. You can find it online. That appears to violate
federal ethics regulations. That regulation applies to Conway.
She's a White House employee, and taxpayers fund her salary.
President Trump also used his position to lobby for Ivanka's
business. So, who's supposed to hold Conway accountable? The
White House, according to The Washington Post. Of course,
House Republicans could also hold Conway accountable.
New documents made public by The New York Times and ProPublica
show President Donald Trump isn't as detached from his
businesses as we thought. In a press conference days before his
inauguration, Trump and his tax lawyer announced he gave control
of his businesses to a trust. The newly released documents do
show the president's trust is run by his elder son and the
Trump Organization's chief financial officer. But they also
show Trump can retake control of the trust at any time. Beyond
that, the trust's tax information is under the
president's social security number. Trump has no legal
obligation to divest from his brand or his businesses. But his
continued business ties open him up to an unknown number of
conflicts of interest that could affect his decisions as
president. Trump's hotel in Washington, D.C., located in the
Old Post Office Building, is a good example. The building is
leased from a federal agency Trump oversees. But the 2013
lease agreement states no government official can profit
from any share of the lease. And, because foreign dignitaries
are interested in staying at the hotel, that could put Trump at
odds with the Constitution's Emoluments Clause, which forbids
office-holders from accepting gifts or bribes from foreign
governments.
You find a huge blind spot in the U.S. government when you try to answer this question: Who
holds President Donald Trump accountable for conflicts of interest? The truth is, there's
no good answer. For an example, let's look at Trump's hotel in Washington, D.C. The lease is
with a government agency Trump will control when he becomes president, and that lease says
elected officials can't benefit from the contract. Typically, that federal agency, the General
Services Administration, would determine if there's a breach in the contract and would end the
lease. But the GSA will technically be under Trump's control. And if the issue went
to court, Trump's company would be pitted against the GSA, likely represented by the
Justice Department, which Trump also oversees. So, if Trump or his family benefit financially
from government policy he shapes, what can be done? And who's supposed to do it? First,
wrongdoing would have to be exposed. That's really up to journalists, watchdog groups,
whistleblowers and some government agencies. But those groups can only point out
problems and make recommendations about what to do; they don't have the power to
fix the issue. And about this. "The president of the United States is allowed to have
whatever conflicts of interest he wants." Trump is technically right. U.S. code
exempts the president and vice president from conflict of interest laws. Of course,
Congress could change that. In fact, Congress and the courts are the only two bodies that can
really hold the president accountable. Congress can do that through impeachment, with a
simple majority in the House and a two-thirds majority in the Senate. Presidents can be
impeached for treason, bribery, abuse of power, perjury and other high crimes. But that's a
pretty extreme step, and Trump's party has a hold on both chambers. So, how did we end up
with a gap in our system for this kind of check on corruption in the executive branch? It's
because the U.S. has a system built on precedents. And Trump's far-reaching business, even in
the hands of his family, creates an unprecedented situation.
It seems like President Trump isn't going to let the judicial
suspension of his executive order on immigration stand. But
to challenge the hold any further, the Trump
administration will have to take its case to the Supreme Court.
And to do that, they'll need a lawyer. The Department of
Justice's Solicitor General represents the government during
Supreme Court cases. The current Acting Solicitor General, Noel
J. Francisco, has a few successful Supreme Court
challenges under his belt. But he's been kept off this case so
far since Francisco's former law firm, Jones Day, filed a brief
opposing the Trump administration. Trump hasn't
formally nominated his pick for the job yet; D.C. lawyer Charles
Cooper was in line for the role but took his name out of
consideration Thursday. Trump's next choice is reportedly New
York lawyer George T. Conway III - who happens to be married to
Trump's adviser, Kellyanne Conway.
"I can not normalize Donald Trump. He, I believe, is a
danger to the Republic." Congressman Ted. Lieu told Newsy
in a recent sit down. That's Congressman Ted Lieu. Air Force
Vet, Californian and currently, a serious critic of President
Trump. Lieu has been an outspoken critic of Trump since
before the election. And since then, Lieu's ramped it up, even
creating a presidential "illegitimacy clock" on his
website. For almost every Trump controversy, Lieu's office
releases a statement rebuking the president. He says it's his
duty to speak out. And recent protests seem to have emboldened
him. "What you are seeing is a real populist movement of people
all across America who are opposing these actions by the
Trump administration," Lieu said. But then there's the
question of making sure opposition doesn't just turn
into completeobstruction, leaving us with a government
that doesn't get anything done. Remember moments like this? "Our
top political priority over the next two years should be to deny
President Obama a second term,"Lieu said. Lieu doesn't
seem entirely opposed to taking a note out of the GOP's Obama
years playbook. But, he hasn't thrown working with the
president out the window just yet. "Can a person like Trump,
who has made a series of racist, sexist and bigoted statements,
have a good idea? Well, yes, he can have a good idea. So if he
has a good idea, I could support it. But if he's got a bad or
unconstitutional crazy idea, I'm going to oppose it, and I'm
going to fight against it, and I'm going to highlight it," Lieu
said. And Lieu is in it for the long haul until the Trump
presidency is over. Whenever that is. "For every action,
there is an equal and opposite reaction. I am the reaction, we
are the reaction. People opposed to Donald Trump are the
reaction," Lieu said.
Deep in the ocean, you'll run into some pretty interesting
creatures. Their strange features help them survive in
their cold, dark world. Take the cockeyed squid, for example.
With one normal eye and one giant, bulging eye, it drifts
through the sea some 200 to 1000 meters below the surface in a
region called the "twilight zone." The sunlight that reaches
these depths is so dim that sometimes the bioluminescence of
other sea creatures is brighter. The cockeyed squid evolved to
spot both of these light sources. That's why one eye is
bigger than the other. In a recent study, biologist Kate
Thomas found the large eye looks upward. The squid uses it to
search for shadows of other sea creatures against the sunlight.
Its small eye looks down at the deeper, darker water and spots
bioluminescent flashes. Thomas used computer models to show
that increasing the size of the upward facing eye greatly
improves the squid's sensitivity to sunlight. But increasing the
size of the downward facing eye has little affect on its
sensitivity; it's too dim down there to see anything more
clearly. So, the cockeyed squid might look funny, but it may
have evolved those mismatched eyes to save energy.
Hundreds of pilot whales managed to return to the water after
being stranded on a New Zealand beach. But how do whales and
dolphins ━ who are naturally expert navigators ━ end up
getting beached? Individual animals will strand themselves
for simple reasons, including illness, injury and old age. But
mass strandings ━ like those in New Zealand ━ are a bit
more mysterious. Humans might have a hand in some whale
strandings. Loud sonar can cause them to flee and beach
themselves. But other factors could play a role as well.
Whales and dolphins are, for the most part, social creatures. And
some species follow a leader, which could lead them to shore.
Environmental factors could also be to blame. Scientists think
changes in the Earth's magnetic field could disorient them. And
red tides ━ poisonous red algae blooms ━ might have been
responsible for stranding over 300 whales in Chile in 2015.
Apparently dolphins chat it up like you and me. For the first
time, researchers claim to have recorded a pair of dolphins
having a conversation. They said they found dolphins have "a
highly developed spoken language,
akin to the human language." And apparently,
the animals even wait for the other to stop talking. The
conversation between two Black Sea bottlenose dolphins was in a
concrete pool at the Karadag Nature Reserve in Crimea.
According to the study published last month,
dolphins speak by creating pulses or whistles. It also said
they form words by changing the frequency and level of pulses.
Researchers said the results of this study lead them to believe
toothed whales have a similar "highly developed spoken
language." But not so fast. Some scientists are skeptical. One
told The Huffington Post, the study isn't "really a novel
item" because similarities between how dolphins and humans
communicate have been reported. A 2007 study also claimed
dolphins have their own language. The researcher found
dolphins used nearly 200 different whistles. The
possibility that dolphins use a highly developed language
shouldn't be surprising. Studies have found dolphins have complex
brains.
A lot of plastic ends up in our oceans every year, and animals
love to eat it. For a long time, scientists just assumed the
animals ate the plastic because it looked like food. But it
turns out, it smells like food, too. In fact, it smells so
enticing that 90 percent of seabirds eat it right now. And
by 2050, nearly all of them are expected to dine on it. It's not
just seabirds that are eating plastic. Over 700 species have
been seen eating it. And every year, over 100,000 marine
animals die from it. This discovery could help make
plastic safer for marine animals. But the bigger problem
is still the amount of plastic ━ 8 million tons ━ that gets
dumped into Earth's oceans each year.
Tardigrades, better known as "cute" and "cuddly" water bears,
can survive a lot of torture. The tiny organisms' huggability
factor is debatable, but the animals' toughness isn't. Most
recently, scientists in Japan thawed out three Antarctic
tardigrades after more than 30 years of frozen slumber. And
what did the water bears do? Well, one died, but the other
two laid some eggs and kept on living. Just like in extreme
heat, drought, pressure and radiation tests before, the
water bears slowly started to go about their usual business. And
that's why these "cute" little guys are actually terrifying.
They live all over the world, usually in damp moss or dirt,
but there are also fresh and saltwater varieties. Tardigrades
are also microscopic, somewhat transparent and can walk around
slowly on eight legs. Water bears aren't supposed to live
very long -- usually about a year at most, but in that time,
a tardigrade can lay 30 to 40 eggs. They also occasionally eat
some of those eggs to improve their own health. Other water
bear food sources include amoebas, nematodes and other
tardigrades. Yes, some are cannibals. Still think they're
cute? OK, let's go back to the part where they can prolong
their lives. Scientists have radically altered tardigrades'
environments in studies, and much like cockroaches, the
organisms adapt to survive. The New York Times writes,
"Confronted with drying, rapid temperature changes, changes in
water salinity or other problems, tardigrades can
curtail their metabolism to 0.01 percent of normal." The result
is a deep sleep, almost death-like state, similar to the
30-year freezing test. One time, the European Space Agency sent
about 3,000 water bears into space, and guess what? A lot of
them survived. No water, no air and cosmic radiation -- no
problem. Whether you think the water bear is cute or a
terrifying freak of nature, the little guys do deserve a little
praise. You see, scientists aren't just abusing them for
fun. Tardigrades make good experimental candidates -- like
fruit flies but hardier. And maybe water bears could lead to
leaps and bounds in cryonics, a type of cold preservation that
could allow humans to fall into a frozen sleep and wake up many
years later, none the worse. But discoveries like that are
probably still a ways off. So, it's fair to assume the
internet's beloved water bears will continue be tormented, all
in the name of science.
Oil companies are winning big under President Trump. The
environment is not. Trump gave the green light to the Keystone
XL and Dakota Access pipelines. He signed an executive action
expediting environmental review for infrastructure projects.
Trump nominated a climate change doubter to head the
Environmental Protection Agency. The House voted to repeal a rule
limiting methane emissions from drilling on public lands. The
Senate and House repealed the Stream Protection Rule, which
blocked coal mining companies from polluting streams and
rivers. The Senate and House repealed a transparency rule
that forced oil companies to disclose payments to foreign
governments. And we're only a few weeks in.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recently
canceled climate change conference will go on with
or without the CDC. Former Vice President Al Gore has announced
he will host a climate and health meeting in place of the
CDC's summit. That summit, which had been in the works for
months, was supposed to give public health officials the
chance to learn more about how climate change could affect
human health. The CDC quietly called it off ahead of Donald
Trump's inauguration without much explanation just that
it was considering rescheduling the summit later this year. That
didn't sit well with Gore. He said in a statement, "Health
professionals urgently need the very best science in order to
protect the public, and climate science has increasingly
critical implications for their day-to-day work." The move was
also met with criticism from environmental and public health
advocates who believe climate science should be a public
issue, not a partisan one. Gore's teaming up with several
nongovernmental sponsors to put on the meeting, including the
American Public Health Association, the Climate Reality
Project and the Harvard Global Health Institute. Gore didn't
say if CDC officials would attend the new meeting, which
will take place at the nonprofit Carter Center in Atlanta on Feb.
16.
For three weeks, we' re getting off the trail to talk about the
people, places and stories that really should be getting more
attention in this campaign. Our first stop was Tangier Island
off the coast of Virginia, which was fascinating for a lot of
reasons, not the least of which is because it has an incredible
history, a very strange accent. - "A lot of times Siri can't
understand me. She'll put more syllables and stretch a word
out." And because it's sinking under rising sea levels.
It'll be one of the first places in America underwater
because of climate change.
But those two words, "climate change,"
are actually really tricky words to use on Tangier
Island because not everybody on the island believes in climate
change. People see the erosion, and that's all they see -
erosion. - "Erosion is our number one problem. When this
green beacon was put here, you could step off that onto the
land." Even though on that island you see very drastic
effects of climate change, even though the Army Corps of
Engineers has made Tangier the subject of a lot of studying
they've done on the issue of climate change. - "We're the
only First World country where this is even a debate. Everyone
else is on board with climate change as a real thing that's
occurring." The science behind it is still in dispute on the
island even if there's a consensus within in the
Planting trees to help fight climate-change works, right?
Well, according to a new study that's not always the case. It
turns out that conifer trees, like evergreens, may actually
cause temperature increases where they've taken root in
place of broad-leafed trees. For example, look at Europe where
the study was focused. Once upon a time, its forests were largely
leafy deciduous trees. Now, a majority of Europe's trees are
managed by humans, and we've been planting trees like pines
and spruces because they grow faster. But by replacing older
forests with ones that are newer and faster-growing, Europe has
gone into "carbon debt." Harvesting those older trees and
replacing them with conifers has released 3.1 billion metric tons
of carbon. Researchers say this change caused a temperature
increase equal to 6 percent of warming attributed to fossil
fuels. Which may not sound like much, but small changes in
temperature can ripple out to larger changes in the
environment. It's not just about the carbon that's released,
though. Conifer trees are darker and absorb more solar radiation.
When less of that radiation is reflected into space, the planet
can heat up. Some countries are already planting trees to help
combat climate change. China, for instance, has been planting
a "green wall" in the Gobi Desert, a project that would
eventually include over a million square miles of trees.
(Video via American History of Natural History) And in 2014,
the U.N. established the New York Declaration on Forests to
restore deforested land. But the study warns that those types of
plans risk failure if countries don't consider the type of trees
used or the forestry management techniques used to maintain
them.
Climate change is destroying this Virginia island. Tangier Island is rapidly disappearing
under rising seas. In a few decades, it could be completely underwater. "It can be
depressing when you see places that used to be a thriving community. It's all gone now."
When we hear about islands going under rising sea levels, we often hear about the south
Pacific, about the Maldive Islands. What we don't hear about so often is this island,
even though it's just a few miles off of the mainland U.S. In the past 150 years, Tangier
has wasted away to just one-third of its previous size. And the 500 or so people who
live here know time is running out. "I've seen 75 feet from last October to now be washed
away from Uppards. We can't handle it any longer." "When this green beacon was put here,
in the '60s, you could step off that onto land." "Step off of this beacon right here?" "Yep,
that land was all the way over here." How long before Tangier Island is not habitable? "We've
got maybe about 50 years at the mid-range. And if the high-level sea level rise scenario is what
happens, at most, 25 years. So, they don't have a lot of time." David Schultz has studied
Tangier for 15 years. His proposal to life the island through engineering might be the
only way to save it. But that requires funding from a Congress that doesn't even acknowledge
the root of the problem. "How long will it take for the sea level to rise 2 feet? Think
about it. If your ice cube melts in your glass, it doesn't overflow." "We're the only
first-world country where this is even a debate. Everyone else is on board with climate change
as a real thing that's occurring." This is how a lot of people on the island make their
living isn't it? "Yeah, I would say it's almost 50/50. Part of the guys catch the hard crabs
and sell them by the bushel basket. And then the other guys do the soft crabs. Crabs are
what keeps the ball rolling here. It can be very discouraging. The bay that's
provided a living for everyone all these years is actually threatening the community now."
Tangier Island is a historical treasure. John Smith was the first European to see it. Later
in the 1600s, it was founded by a few families: the Parks, Pruitts and Crocketts among
them, each of which still live on the island. "This is eroding very quickly, too." "It's coming
right in on their backyard." "Yep, as a matter of fact, I live here. The one with the
black roof." "How much closer is it now that it was maybe 10 years ago, 20 years ago?" "Maybe
50 feet." Tangier is only a sliver of what it once was. Maps collected by the Army Corps of
Engineers show the rapid loss of land. As the north half, known as Uppards, wasted away
completely, new canals, creeks and swamps criss-crossed the island, and the west side was
steadily swallowed by the ocean.
"'Sup bat fans?"
This was one of the few weekends at the movies
where you could either relive your childhood or take
adulthood up a notch.
"I'd say that I don't currently have a 'bad guy.'
'I'm fighting a few different people. I like to
I like to fight around."
Showing that there can be some justice at the box
office "The LEGO Batman Movie" took the No.1 spot in an
exceptionally crowded box office weekend. The two-hour long toy
commercial brought in an estimated $55 million
domestically. What's even more exciting is DC comics finally
managed to make a Batman movie that people don't hate.
"It's a frenetic, unhinged celebration
of all things Batman."
The LEGO Batman movie
carries a rock solid 91% on the good 'ol
tomatometer but at some point DC is going to have to figure out
how to get similar praise for its live action films.
"No. No, no no no no etc."
On to No. 2
"You're just gonna stand there gawking?"
"Yes."
On the opposite end of the spectrum in just
about every way is "Fifty Shades Darker" bringing in an estimated
$46 million and proving that terrible popular books make
popular terrible movies. While our favorite kinky couple,
couldn't keep up with the original "Fifty Shades of Grey"
debut they still managed the best worldwide debut of 2017. If
American audiences are growing tired of Anastasia Steele and
Mr. Grey, foreign audiences are just getting strapped in. Fifty
Shades Darker defeated all challengers overseas bringing in
a whopping $100 million this weekend.
All the while making critics squirm.
"F**k it we're gonna make it the soap.
The silly goofy soap."
"There are a lot of really unintentionally
funny moments here."
And last but not least,
guns, adrenaline and Keanu Reeves. "John Wick: Chapter 2"
managed a $30 million debut nearly doubling the box office
debut of the original 'John Wick' film. What's equally
surprising is, John Wick Chapter 2 also has better reviews than
the original. And this one didn't even have to kill an
innocent dog to do it.
As for next week, Bostonian Matt Damon saves China.
"Let me fight with you"
It's where partying, performances and politics meet. You just couldn't resist the the 59th annual Grammy Awards.
Adele swept the top honors of the night, winning song, record and album of the year for "25." But her humanity stole the
headlines. First, she halted her George Michael tribute and started it over in order to pay proper respect to the singer who
died in December. Then, she let her producer, Greg Kurstin, take the mic to finish his speech after he was cut off earlier in
the night. But she really showed how golden her heart is after winning album of the year ━ an award she didn't think she
deserved. "I can't possibly accept this award. And I'm very humbled, and I'm very grateful and gracious. But my artist of
my life is Beyoncé, and this album to me, the 'Lemonade' album for me, was just monumental ━ Beyoncé, it was so
monumental," Adele said. We all got caught up in our permanent emotions as Beyoncé defied gravity onstage. A decorated
deity of sorts, Bey left the show with more gold than she showed up with. She won Grammys for best music video for
"Formation" and best urban contemporary album. "It's important to me to show images to my children that reflect
their beauty, so they can grow up in a world where they look in the mirror, first through their own families, as well as the
news, the Super Bowl, the Olympics, the White House and the Grammys," Beyoncé said. Jennifer Lopez, A Tribe Called
Quest and a constitutional Katy Perry also used their platform to bring politics to music's biggest night. In other
highlights, Chance The Rapper made history as the first streaming-exclusive artist to win a Grammy. David Bowie
posthumously won more Grammys in one night than in his entire career. And Lady Gaga was a crowd-surfing metalhead. But we
still have 21 questions about why Twenty One Pilots dropped trou and whether James Corden did his own stunts. His leg
muscles say yes.
If it seemed like Adele won everything at the 2017 Grammys
... she kind of did. Song of the Year, Album of the Year, Record
of the Year so what's the difference? Well, all three
categories honor different people for different roles. You
could take the same song and give Adele two honors based on
different things she brought to the table. Which is exactly what
the Grammys did for "Hello." Adele won Record of the Year for
her voice. But the award also went to the producers and
engineers who worked in the studio alongside her. "Hello"
also won Song of the Year for its songwriting. In this case,
that's still Adele, but she shares the accolade with
producer Greg Kurstin who co-wrote the song. The ultimate
team award is the Album of the Year. All producers, performers,
engineers and sound mixers are honored for their roles in
what's considered the best album, top-to-bottom. Last
night, Adele became the first artist to sweep the top three
awards on two different occasions a feat you now
know requires the best singing, songwriting, producing and
mixing.
Scientists say they've found the most attractive dance moves for
women, so pay attention if you're going out this weekend.
Psychologists in the U.K. used 3-D motion-capture technology to
record the dance movements of 39 female college students. Then
they had plain digital avatars act out the moves and asked 200
people to rate each dance. The study surveyed both heterosexual
males and heterosexual females, but both groups agreed on what
makes for a good dance: Moving the hips, thighs and arms were
rated as most attractive - so, basically the dance from
"Gangnam Style." This same team of researchers did a similar
study with men. The scientists found that unlike women, the
sexiest dance moves for dudes involved the upper body. So why
do scientists care about sexy dance moves? Besides the fact
that dancing is just plain fun, researchers say dance has an
evolutionary significance for human behavior. And studying it
tells scientists about some ways we attract partners. But don't
worry about that go-to move. You're already killing it with
that moonwalk.
President Donald Trump welcomed Canadian Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau to the White House today. Among other issues, Trump
and Trudeau discussed women in the workforce. Trade was also on
the agenda of their first in-person meeting. Trump is not
a big fan of NAFTA and has vowed to renegotiate it, but he said
he would only slightly tweak the parts of the trade deal that
involve Canada. Nearly 200,000 Californians living just north
of Sacramento were ordered to evacuate because of major
flooding concerns. Authorities issued the order because the
emergency spillway at Oroville Dam is in danger of failing. The
local sheriff emphasized this is "not a drill," and the governor
declared a state of emergency. New Zealand's Department of
Conservation warned South Island beachgoers to stay away from
exploding whales. A mass stranding left hundreds of whale
carcasses on the beach. Popular Science explains that as the
whale decomposes, gas is released and trapped beneath
thick skin and blubber. Authorities are cutting holes in
300 pilot whale carcasses to help release gas slowly.
Jeffrey Sandusky, the son of former Penn State assistant
coach Jerry Sandusky, has been charged with allegedly sexually
assaulting a minor. Jeffrey Sandusky is accused of sending
explicit text messages to a child whose mother he was
dating. In some of those texts, he allegedly asked for naked
photographs. His adoptive father, Jerry Sandusky, is still
serving a 30-60 year prison sentence after he was convicted
in 2012 of sexually abusing 10 boys. Jeffrey Sandusky defended
his father's innocence to Bleacher Report in 2015, saying:
"Dad himself says he had boundary issues. ... But he was
not doing it to be a creeper, a perv. No, he was doing it to say
'I care about you.'" Jeffrey Sandusky is facing 14 counts.
His bail has been set at $200,000.
Nearly 200,000 Californians living just north of Sacramento
were ordered to evacuate because of major flooding concerns.
Authorities issued the order because the emergency spillway
at Oroville Dam is in danger of failing. The local sheriff
emphasized this is "not a drill," and the governor
declared a state of emergency. After a remarkably rainy winter,
state officials discovered a hole in the dam's main spillway
Feb. 7. And now its emergency spillway,
which was used for the first time ever,
also has erosion damage. The dam itself is separate from the
spillway and is structurally sound. The California Department
of Water Resources said water stopped flowing over the
emergency spillway Sunday night. But it's not clear when
residents might be able to return home. The large amount of
precipitation this winter comes after a five-year drought in
California.
The Mexican government has warned its citizens in the U.S.
to "take precautions" in the wake of a recent executive order
signed by President Donald Trump. Mexico's Ministry of
Foreign Affairs said Friday the Mexican consulates in the U.S.
have "stepped up their work to protect nationals." The ministry
said the deportation of Arizona mother Guadelupe Garcia de
Rayos "illustrates the new reality" for the Mexican
community in the U.S. Rayos, whose children are U.S.
citizens, came to the U.S. illegally when she was 14. She
was convicted of criminal impersonation for using a fake
Social Security number to try to get work. Under the Obama
administration, Rayos was not considered a priority for
deportation since she was a non-violent offender. But the
executive order signed during Trump's first days in office
aims to expedite the removal of people who don't have a legal
claim to stay in the states ━ especially those convicted of
crimes. So when Rayos went to Immigration and Customs
Enforcement headquarters for her regular check-in Wednesday,
instead of being let out, she was detained. Her detainment and
deportation sparked protests that led to several arrests in
Phoenix. According to various media outlets, ICE conducted
raids in several U.S. cities, beginning shortly after the
signing of the executive order. Several outlets in California
report an "enforcement surge" resulted in the arrests of over
160 people. However, a statement from ICE says, "The focus was no
different than the routine, targeted arrests carried out by
ICE's Fugitive Operations Teams on a daily basis."
"They hit us. They hit us in the face and treated us like dogs."
"They dragged us like animals. I'm no animal; I am people."
Mexico's two-year-old Southern Border Program has prevented
thousands of undocumented immigrants from reaching the
U.S.-Mexico border. "If it were not for the hard work of Mexico
... we would have had much bigger problems on our borders,"
President Barack Obama said. But while the program was supposed
to offer safeguards for those leaving their countries, human
rights groups say it's actually exposed migrants to more
corruption and extortion by Mexican authorities. "Evidently
the Southern Border Program has been a success for immigration
authorities in the United States because Mexico, excuse me for
saying this, is doing the dirty work," said Ramon Marquez,
director of migrant shelter La 72. The Southern Border Program
was announced days after President Obama declared a
humanitarian crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2014. "It
is a huge humanitarian crisis on the border right now," said a
reporter on ABC. "More than 50,000 children have been caught
since October of 2013," an NBC reporter said. U.S. lawmakers
called on Mexico to secure its own border with Guatemala to
help control the flow of migrants. "We know that the
Mexican southern border is completely wide open," said Rep.
Mike McCaul (R-Texas), Homeland Security Committee chair.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto responded by creating the
program through an executive action. In his speech, he put
human rights ahead of securing the southern border. "The
Southern Border Program has a dual purpose. One, protect and
safeguard migrant human rights that enter and travel through
Mexico, and two, organize international crossing points,"
Pena Nieto said. But the program is so vague, migrants
could not only face immigration officials, but they could also
be picked up by the police or even the military, neither of
which has clearly outlined powers. That's made it hard to
weed out corruption or to give migrants access to justice.
"Today, the extortions and violence that government
officials practice on migrants have tripled. Before the
Southern Border Program, someone from immigration took the 200 or
300 pesos from a migrant, and they let them go. Now, now no.
Now on top of taking what little money they have, [the officials]
deport them," said Aracy Matus Sanchez, director of operations
for Albergue Jesus El Buen Pastor in Chiapas. "The officer
grabbed me by the neck," one migrant told NPR. "He squeezed
me hard and really hurt me. I said to him, 'Sir, with all due
respect, please don't treat me that way.' That's not even how a
dog should be treated." Most cases like that aren't reported,
and even fewer are investigated by the government. That's
because migrants fear retaliation or don't believe
their reports will make a difference. "The reality is in
many communities, citizens don't feel like they can go to
the police for protection, and a lot of the time, police are part
of the problem," said Maureen Meyer, senior associate for
Mexico and Migrant Rights for the Washington Office on Latin
America. Human rights groups want the Southern Border Program
gone. But Marquez of La 72 argues the problem is bigger
than Mexico. "Last year, El Salvador was declared the most
violent country in the world. ... A few years before that, it
was Honduras. So it's like a cancer that is spreading through
Central America. If the structural problems in Central
America aren't solved, this will never stop," said Ramon
Marquez, director of La 72.
Edward Snowden is weighing in on reports that say Russia might
send him back to the U.S. as a "gift." Snowden worked for years
in the intelligence community. In 2013, he leaked classified
National Security Agency files that showed the U.S.
government's mass surveillance programs. The feds charged him
with espionage and theft of government property. Since then,
he's been holed up in Russia. Anonymous U.S. intelligence
officials told NBC News recent Russian talks have centered
around handing the whistleblower over to work up favor with
President Donald Trump. The current U.S. president isn't
Snowden's biggest fan. He's called him a "traitor" and a
"spy who should be executed." But in response to the reports,
Snowden argued a handover would actually prove he's not a spy
because "no country trades away spies." The Justice Department
said it would welcome an exchange because Snowden still
faces charges in the states. But a spokesperson for Russian
President Vladimir Putin denounced the claims as
"nonsense." Snowden's ACLU lawyer said he hasn't heard
anything about the Russian reports, either.
There are some new questions about a conversation President
Trump's national security adviser had with Russia before
assuming his position. We already knew Gen. Michael Flynn
talked with the Russian Ambassador to the U.S. on the
same day the Obama administration imposed new U.S.
sanctions against Russia. That alone left the Trump
administration on the defensive. "It was strictly coincidental
that they had a conversation. They did not discuss anything
having to do with the United States' decision to expel
diplomats or impose censure against Russia," then Vice
President-elect Mike Pence told CBS' "Face the Nation" in an
interview that aired Jan. 15. That's not true, according to
new reports from The Washington Post and The New York Times.
Their reporting says the sanctions did come up in Flynn's
conversation. The Post, citing unnamed U.S. officials, says
there's no indication Flynn made any promises to the ambassador.
But even talking about the sanctions may have violated an
over 200-year-old U.S. law. Under the Logan Act, it is
illegal for U.S. citizens to engage in a dialogue with
foreign governments with an intent to influence their
decisions without the U.S. government's permission. Few
people have ever been prosecuted for violating the Logan Act. And
according to the Times, it's unlikely Flynn will be. But if
Flynn really wasn't telling the truth about his conversation, it
could deal another blow to the administration's credibility,
which is already on shaky ground with fact-checkers. According to
Politico and CNN, it's possible Flynn didn't tell Pence the
conversation included the topic of sanctions.
The U.S. Treasury Department is easing some of the
cybersanctions against Russia. Former President Barack Obama
ordered the sanctions in December after U.S. intelligence
concluded Russia's Federal Security Service, or FSB, helped
hack the Democratic National Committee's computer systems.
U.S. intelligence officials claim that hack and another
targeting Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign were part
of a Russian attempt to help President Donald Trump win the
U.S. election. Easing the sanctions will let American
companies make small transactions with the FSB to
gain permits and other certifications needed to import
tech products into Russia. Trump has said he might eventually cut
the most recent Russian sanctions. For now, all other
sanctions remain in place.
"It's a new type of information war," said Ilya Yashin, a Russian opposition
leader. "It's not about tanks, soldiers, and planes. It's about brains. To fight for
public opinion." That's Russian opposition leader Ilya Yashin. And he's talking about Hybrid
warfare. Cyber-attacks, propaganda, propping up extremist politicians. These
days, Russia uses these tactics brazenly on targets near and far. The U.S. is one of those
targets. "Moscow's influence campaign blended covert intelligence operations with
overt efforts by Russian government agencies, state-funded media, third party
intermediaries, and paid social media users," Director of National Intelligence James
Clapper told Congress in January. "It's not media," Yashin said. "It's not about
freedom of speech. It's just aggressive propaganda, it's fake news, it's lies and
it's provocations." Yashin knows these tactics well. His friend and colleague Boris
Nemtsov was shot dead near the Kremlin over a year ago while working on a report detailing
Russia's ground war in Ukraine - a ground war Putin denied. "There are no Russian armed
forces anywhere in the Eastern Ukraine," Russian President Vladimir Putin said. "There are
no special forces no instructors. All these people are local citizens." This report
shows a different reality. It's the report Nemtsov didn't survive to finish, completed by
Yashin. Photographs, testimony, letters from Russian soldiers revealed the war Russia was
fighting alongside rebels they backed in Eastern Ukraine. Now Yashin is out with a follow-up
report, exposing what he calls the Kremlin's hybrid war. "We collected the facts, the
arguments about propaganda, political provocations, corrupted politicians used by
Putin, used by Kremlin propaganda," Yashin told us. "Why do you think that people in
the U.S. and throughout Europe should care about what's going on in Ukraine?" Newsy's Liz Wahl
asked Yashin. "Because it's not only about Ukraine, it's about the global system of
security," he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law that drastically
reduces the punishment for domestic violence. The new law
sets the maximum penalty for domestic violence at 15 days in
prison, provided the violence doesn't inflict any serious
injury and doesn't happen more than once a year. The previous
maximum sentence was two years in prison. The bill has drawn
international condemnation, but it sailed through Russia's
legislature with more than 85 percent support. Those in favor
of the law say it brings domestic violence punishments
more in line with penalties for other forms of assault and
restores "traditional family values." But critics say this
essentially gives men a pass to hit their partners and children.
"The message basically is that bruises are OK. And it sort of
echoes the response that police usually give to victims of
domestic violence." Domestic violence is seriously
underreported in Russia. A state-run news agency said
domestic violence kills 12,000 women in Russia every year.
Vladimir Putin killed free speech, jailed his critics and
profited from deep corruption in his country. And yet, he's now a
politically partisan figure in the U.S. Somehow, feelings on
Russia's president are becoming a wedge issue, with Americans
becoming more split on approval. That's strange, considering how
un-American his ideas are ━ like silencing private press and
bringing media under state control. Since he became
president, 34 journalists have been killed in Russia. Only a
handful of those cases have seen any justice.
Anti-Corruption Activist Could Challenge Putin In 2018
Elections The same goes for some of Putin's political opposition,
who face being jailed or assassinated. Prominent Putin
critic Boris Nemtsov was shot just outside the Kremlin.
Internationally, Russia's human rights record has been in steady
decline, more recently due to the war crimes Russia is accused
of in Syria. And back home, Putin's corruption is deep and
well-documented. His personal wealth has vastly increased
during his time in office, his inner circle has made a lot of
money off government contracts. All of which makes the growing
support for Putin even more shocking.
"We are totally committed to lifting the regulatory and tax
burdens that are hurting American innovation and
companies." Trump's mission to strip away financial regulations
may have just gotten a lot easier. Federal Reserve Governor
Daniel Tarullo announced he will retire in April, even though his
term was set to continue until 2022. Appointed by President
Obama in 2009, Tarullo was in charge of enforcing regulations
like the Dodd-Frank Act on banks. Dodd-Frank came as a
response to the massive global recession of 2009. It
essentially forced banks to have more money in their reserves to
insulate them from another big crash. Since taking office,
Trump has rolled back regulations on financial
institutions and specifically targeted Dodd-Frank. Now, he
gets to nominate Tarullo's replacement. Bloomberg reports
economic researcher Neil Dutta told his clients, "Someone with
more lax attitudes on regulation is likely to come out of this.
Buy banks - the dog is running without its leash on." It looks
like plenty of people took that advice. Stocks for financial
funds gained as much as half a percent in the wake of Tarullo's
announcement.
Kellyanne Conway gave Ivanka Trump a free commercial from the
White House. It's a wonderful line, I own some of it, I'm
gonna give a free commercial here. Go buy it today,
everybody. You can find it online. That appears to violate
federal ethics regulations. That regulation applies to Conway.
She's a White House employee, and taxpayers fund her salary.
President Trump also used his position to lobby for Ivanka's
business. So, who's supposed to hold Conway accountable? The
White House, according to The Washington Post. Of course,
House Republicans could also hold Conway accountable.
New documents made public by The New York Times and ProPublica
show President Donald Trump isn't as detached from his
businesses as we thought. In a press conference days before his
inauguration, Trump and his tax lawyer announced he gave control
of his businesses to a trust. The newly released documents do
show the president's trust is run by his elder son and the
Trump Organization's chief financial officer. But they also
show Trump can retake control of the trust at any time. Beyond
that, the trust's tax information is under the
president's social security number. Trump has no legal
obligation to divest from his brand or his businesses. But his
continued business ties open him up to an unknown number of
conflicts of interest that could affect his decisions as
president. Trump's hotel in Washington, D.C., located in the
Old Post Office Building, is a good example. The building is
leased from a federal agency Trump oversees. But the 2013
lease agreement states no government official can profit
from any share of the lease. And, because foreign dignitaries
are interested in staying at the hotel, that could put Trump at
odds with the Constitution's Emoluments Clause, which forbids
office-holders from accepting gifts or bribes from foreign
governments.
You find a huge blind spot in the U.S. government when you try to answer this question: Who
holds President Donald Trump accountable for conflicts of interest? The truth is, there's
no good answer. For an example, let's look at Trump's hotel in Washington, D.C. The lease is
with a government agency Trump will control when he becomes president, and that lease says
elected officials can't benefit from the contract. Typically, that federal agency, the General
Services Administration, would determine if there's a breach in the contract and would end the
lease. But the GSA will technically be under Trump's control. And if the issue went
to court, Trump's company would be pitted against the GSA, likely represented by the
Justice Department, which Trump also oversees. So, if Trump or his family benefit financially
from government policy he shapes, what can be done? And who's supposed to do it? First,
wrongdoing would have to be exposed. That's really up to journalists, watchdog groups,
whistleblowers and some government agencies. But those groups can only point out
problems and make recommendations about what to do; they don't have the power to
fix the issue. And about this. "The president of the United States is allowed to have
whatever conflicts of interest he wants." Trump is technically right. U.S. code
exempts the president and vice president from conflict of interest laws. Of course,
Congress could change that. In fact, Congress and the courts are the only two bodies that can
really hold the president accountable. Congress can do that through impeachment, with a
simple majority in the House and a two-thirds majority in the Senate. Presidents can be
impeached for treason, bribery, abuse of power, perjury and other high crimes. But that's a
pretty extreme step, and Trump's party has a hold on both chambers. So, how did we end up
with a gap in our system for this kind of check on corruption in the executive branch? It's
because the U.S. has a system built on precedents. And Trump's far-reaching business, even in
the hands of his family, creates an unprecedented situation.
It seems like President Trump isn't going to let the judicial
suspension of his executive order on immigration stand. But
to challenge the hold any further, the Trump
administration will have to take its case to the Supreme Court.
And to do that, they'll need a lawyer. The Department of
Justice's Solicitor General represents the government during
Supreme Court cases. The current Acting Solicitor General, Noel
J. Francisco, has a few successful Supreme Court
challenges under his belt. But he's been kept off this case so
far since Francisco's former law firm, Jones Day, filed a brief
opposing the Trump administration. Trump hasn't
formally nominated his pick for the job yet; D.C. lawyer Charles
Cooper was in line for the role but took his name out of
consideration Thursday. Trump's next choice is reportedly New
York lawyer George T. Conway III - who happens to be married to
Trump's adviser, Kellyanne Conway.
"I can not normalize Donald Trump. He, I believe, is a
danger to the Republic." Congressman Ted. Lieu told Newsy
in a recent sit down. That's Congressman Ted Lieu. Air Force
Vet, Californian and currently, a serious critic of President
Trump. Lieu has been an outspoken critic of Trump since
before the election. And since then, Lieu's ramped it up, even
creating a presidential "illegitimacy clock" on his
website. For almost every Trump controversy, Lieu's office
releases a statement rebuking the president. He says it's his
duty to speak out. And recent protests seem to have emboldened
him. "What you are seeing is a real populist movement of people
all across America who are opposing these actions by the
Trump administration," Lieu said. But then there's the
question of making sure opposition doesn't just turn
into completeobstruction, leaving us with a government
that doesn't get anything done. Remember moments like this? "Our
top political priority over the next two years should be to deny
President Obama a second term,"Lieu said. Lieu doesn't
seem entirely opposed to taking a note out of the GOP's Obama
years playbook. But, he hasn't thrown working with the
president out the window just yet. "Can a person like Trump,
who has made a series of racist, sexist and bigoted statements,
have a good idea? Well, yes, he can have a good idea. So if he
has a good idea, I could support it. But if he's got a bad or
unconstitutional crazy idea, I'm going to oppose it, and I'm
going to fight against it, and I'm going to highlight it," Lieu
said. And Lieu is in it for the long haul until the Trump
presidency is over. Whenever that is. "For every action,
there is an equal and opposite reaction. I am the reaction, we
are the reaction. People opposed to Donald Trump are the
reaction," Lieu said.
For the first time in decades, archaeologists say they have
found another cave they believe once held Dead Sea Scrolls. A
team of scientists was excavating a cave near the
northwestern shore of the Dead Sea when they discovered pretty
much everything except a completed scroll. The long list
of uncovered items includes smashed jars,
a piece of blank parchment, cloth used to wrap scrolls and a
leather strap that would have bound a scroll together.
Archaeologists say the cave was most likely looted,
considering they also found a pair of pickax heads from the
1950s. As one of the team members told The Washington
Post, "Thank God they took only the scrolls. They left behind
all the evidence that the scrolls were there." Until now,
scientists thought only 11 caves had contained Dead Sea Scrolls,
which are historically, religiously and linguistically
important. The first scrolls were discovered in the late
1940s. It's unclear who wrote them,
but some scholars believe a Jewish sect known as the Essenes
may be responsible. Archaeologists say they will
continue excavating in the desert northwest of the Dead Sea
in the hopes of finding more ancient treasures.
Thousands of animal abuse records have disappeared from
the U.S. Department of Agriculture website. The USDA
says the inspection reports ━ which detail cases of
mistreatment, death and injuries at labs,
zoos, animal breeders and factory farms ━ were removed
because of privacy concerns. Those records have been public
for decades, and sensitive information is redacted in files
available to the public. So the move has many asking: Why are
privacy concerns now an issue? Critics claim pressure from
industries that exploit animals led to the removal. They're
accusing those industries of trying to cover up
indiscretions. Journalists and other watchdogs have used the
files to publicize instances of abuse and help change
legislation surrounding animal welfare. But some businesses
that rely on animals argue the public files push consumers to
unfairly target or avoid certain companies. The documents will
still be available through Freedom of Information Act
requests, but those can take years to come through.
Velcro, Penicillin and the microwave are proof that
scientific progress sometimes happens by mistake. Now, a new,
sticky gel can be added to that list - one that could someday be
used to pollinate plants. This hairy, sticky, wax-like gel was
originally created to be an electrical conductor, but the
researcher who created it deemed it a failure. Now, a decade
later, he may have found another use for it. Inspired by the
recent decline in honeybee populations, Dr. Eijiro Miyako
explored whether the gel was just sticky enough to pick up
and deliver pollen. He took horse hair - which mimics the
fuzzy exterior of bees - coated it with the gel and attached it
to the underside of a tiny, four-propeller drone. He found
that the robot could absorb and distribute pollen as it moved
from flower to flower. The idea is this pollen-carrying gel
could eventually be attached to something like Harvard
University's RoboBee, which mimics how bees fly and creates
swarms of artificial pollinators. But for now, that
technology is still very distant. Some scientists predict
we won't see artificial pollinators in the field for at
least another 20 years.
The rusty patched bumblebee would've officially been
designated an endangered species Friday, but the Trump
administration has delayed the listing until March 21. The
White House says the delay gives them time to review "questions
of fact, law and policy." The move is in line with an order by
the administration that freezes some regulations issued by the
Obama administration. Two of the biggest threats to the rusty
patched bumblebee are monocropping - when farmers
plant the same crop year after year - and pesticides. Which
has some agricultural groups worried that listing the bee as
endangered might make it hard for them to fully utilize their
farmland. But the senior attorney at the Natural
Resources Defense Council says the delay "has put the rusty
patched bumblebee back on the path to extinction." The
bumblebee species used to be fairly common in the U.S., but
it's lost 90 percent of its old range in the past 20 years.
Hunting provides a sustainable, repeatable model on which
wildlife could be managed and protected. We really have to
stop talking about the separation between the lawful
sportsman and the poacher the line all too often gets blurred.
Hunters are an indispensable part of the conservation
ecosystem. It's great to talk about Teddy Roosevelt.
But what about now? You know, when you think about the United
States, two billion acres is the land mass of this country. 700
million acres is owned by the federal government. Just 2 or 3
percent of that land has been purchased as a consequence of
hunting-oriented programs Hunters provide 80 percent of
the funding to fish and game wildlife agencies. There's about
37 million hunters in the United States, and every single one of
them contributes. All told, sportsmen contribute a billion
dollars a year to wildlife conservation. To me, that's not
a small number. These funds come from a variety of ways. The
first source of these funds is through hunting licenses. Well,
there's a tax on tobacco, and some of that money goes to the
healthcare system. Does that make tobacco companies and
smokers healthcare advocates? No. It just happens to be that
they're taxed because there are costs to the enterprise. At the
turn of the 20th century, habitat loss and market hunting
had had our species at the point of extinction. Concerned
hunters, including the editors of Field & Stream and New Yorker
Theodore Roosevelt, pushed to set game laws, base wildlife
management on science, and make it managed by the public.
Hunting is at the center of this story. It's a tool for managing
wildlife, but it also makes hunters a powerful tool and
advocate for wildlife -- supporters of wildlife. The
problem of this concept is yo-yo conservation. We want wolves to
recover in the Great Lakes region, only so that we can hunt
them back again. When it comes to wolves, I think one
thing we need to recognize is since they were delisted, and
the state agencies opened seasons, they've only been
increasing in number and they've only been increasing in range.
Look at wolves in Yellowstone. Thirty-five million
dollars generated through ecotourism more than four times
as much as hunting in the same area. Conservation does not
come for free. It is a very capital intensive effort. You
know, something we talked a little bit about photo tourism
and ecotourism and that's great. We need that, too, but the
reality is in Africa it's not possible everywhere. You
can watch a lion 500 times. You can monetize that each time,
aggregating more dollars for the economy for rural communities,
Animals do best in pristine environments. When we protect
wilderness areas, we get more animals, and the ecosystem stays
healthier than developed land. But human influence is growing -
and for the planet's biggest animals, these protected areas
could one day be the only land they have left. Big animals like
elephants and cheetahs need big spaces to find food without
competition, to avoid predators and to find healthy mates. But
these days, uninterrupted ecosystems like that are getting
smaller. From 2000 to 2013, these landscapes shrank by more
than 7 percent all over the world. Roads and deforestation
in unprotected wilderness are slicing off bits of their range.
In response, we're protecting more wilderness than ever
before. Governments and conservation groups have set
targets to protect big chunks of land and sea by 2020. In the
U.S., President Obama has protected more land than any
other president. And the number of protected areas worldwide has
been climbing this decade. Conservationists hope that if it
keeps up, these areas will feel less like a last resort for the
animals who live there - and more like a home.
We've seen Will Ferrell take on often-overlooked sports like
NASCAR with "Talladega Nights" and figure skating with "Blades
of Glory." Now he's doing it again - this time, with
e-sports. Ferrell is slated to play a character who's similar
to the big, hairy American winning machine Ricky Bobby -
"Here's the deal: I'm the best there is plain and simple. I
wake up in the morning and I piss excellence." except in the
new film, he's "an anomaly in a sport where players usually
retire in their 20s due to slowing hand-eye coordination."
As he did in "Talladega Nights," Ferrell is capitalizing on one
of the fastest-growing forms of entertainment. Though it doesn't
get the same recognition as football or baseball, e-sports
can get even more viewers. The 2013 League of Legends
Championship sold out the Staples Center where the Los
Angeles Lakers play. This year, 43 million people watched the
finals. Top players can get millions of dollars in
endorsements and prize money. The industry is expected to be
worth more than $1 billion dollars by 2019. Lots of people
don't consider e-sports a real sport, but exposure from a Will
Ferrell could help move the competition into the mainstream.
The movie is still in its early stages, so we don't know the
title, release date or whether Ferrell's character will have
any musical demands. "We're gonna skate to one song and one
song only. I'm gonna get you get you drunk. Get you drunk off my
lady humps,"
There's a lot of money to be had in the world of video game
broadcasting, for game streaming sites, for the gamers themselves
and for those who have figured out how to exploit the system.
The eSports industry is part livestream video gaming and part
real-life, tournament-style video gaming. Amazon got into
the mix in 2014 when it acquired Twitch, the most popular game
streaming platform, for about $970 million. But before that,
the site was already kind of a big deal in eSports. Twitch is
pretty similar to YouTube: An individual can livestream and
archive their matches, and audiences can follow a gamer and
subscribe to his or her videos. But the Twitch gamers who garner
enough of a following may be offered a spot as one of the
site's official partners, meaning they could get paid to
game. But it's not easy to reach that celebrity status; and this
is where viewerbots have learned even they can make a buck.
Viewerbot sites will take money in exchange for artificially
boosting viewer counts and faking popularity. Which is why
Twitch is suing seven online viewerbot services for
artificially inflating gamers' audiences. "Ultimately though,"
Twitch's senior vice president of marketing writes, "the best
way to stop viewbot sellers from profiting off of empty promises
is to not buy their services." Generally, for gamers, making
livable wages off streaming is not that easy. But, aside from
paying for fake followers, some gamers have asked their fans for
donations. Deutsche Welle says some people have also been able
to find their own sponsors outside of Twitch's partnership.
The other option, of course, is to get good. Players who can
compete at the highest levels stand to win millions of dollars
playing in tournaments. If you've never watched the final
round of a tournament live before, it's a lot like any
other sporting event. The crowd is electric, the players are
passionate, but, in the end, there can only be one winning
team.
How many rides have you given so far? This is actually my first ride. And we're both minorities too, so we're, like, making
history. Absolutely. By now, you already know how the game works. You have to walk different places to catch
Pokemon and to arrive at different Pokestops. But ━ the weather is nice now ━ it's a little warm, though, and it
might rain. So instead, I'm going to hitch a ride. This is the famous Chicago Lakeshore Drive. The idea was to provide
a ride share sort've service to people who are very enthused about playing Pokemon. Isn't this, like, cheating? Here's
the thing: you get tired of walking around. What do you do? Moving around in a car is a lot more secure. It helps you get
further if there's a reported sighting of some kinda legendary Pokemon & What's a legendary Pokemon? I would say Moltress,
Artikuno, Zapdos & Those are actual Pokemon names? Yes. I caught a Charmander, a Weedle and a Ratata. And I hate my
outfit. There's a rumor swirling that you can find fire type Pokemon at a gas station. But I went to two gas stations
yesterday & No Pokemon? No Pokemon there. Have you met anybody that's met someone special? Oh, yeah! Apparently
people are hooking up meeting through Pokemon Go. I'm waiting for that think-piece. “Pokemon Go helped me fill in
the blank. Pokemon Go helped me get laid." I guess now, it's Pokemon Go & Chill.
There's a new Hawaii-flavored Pokemon game out for Nintendo's
mobile console right now. But if you're willing to wait quite a
few months, you might be able to play it on your TV instead.
Eurogamer reports Nintendo's upcoming console, the Switch,
will be getting a version of "Pokemon Sun and Moon" It's
tentatively titled "Pokemon Stars," and it's slated to come
out in late 2017. If that's true, this will mark the first
time a major Pokemon sequel has graced one of Nintendo's home
consoles. While offshoot games like "Pokken Tournament" have
shown up on TV screens before, the series' big
gotta-catch-'em-all games have been confined to hand-held
consoles. A big Pokemon game could add some heft to the
Switch's lineup of games. The only big first-party Nintendo
game confirmed for the console so far - "The Legend of Zelda:
Breath of the Wild" - is also coming out on the company's last
console, the Wii U.
It'll be weeks before it launches,
but the Nintendo Switch just had its gala debut event. In between
the magic tricks, squid scientists and spaghetti
Westerns, Nintendo dropped some new details about its quirky new
console. The Nintendo Switch comes out March 3 and should
cost about $300. It can be played on a TV or on the
device's stand-alone touch screen. Its portable mode has
between 2.5 and 6 hours of battery life,
depending on how you use it. Also coming out on March 3 is
the massively anticipated "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the
Wild." Based on Nintendo's new trailer for the game,
this supposedly RPG-esque entry in the franchise might be a
tear-jerker. Nintendo's other big launch title is "1-2
Switch," which is about ... cowboys? Sailors? It's not
clear, but apparently it's a collection of minigames that
don't require watching the screen to play. The Switch's
post-launch lineup includes "Arms," a sort of cartoonish
take on boxing; players can actually throw punches with the
controllers. That's scheduled to debut this spring. In the
summer, Nintendo will drop "Splatoon 2," a sequel to the
original squid-based multiplayer shooter on the previous console,
the Wii U. And finally, "Super Mario Odyssey" is slated for the
end of the year. Despite the giant fruits,
flying hat-ships and a dapper Bowser,
somehow, the weirdest part of the trailer was watching Mario
interact with real, properly proportioned humans. OK,
no. The eyes on Mario's hat are actually the weirdest part.
Games for the Switch are expected to retail for about $60
a pop, and the cartridges look like an SD card. For those who
want to demo the console before it's out,
Nintendo has a few preview events in certain cities.
Valentine's Day is about love. And in this day and age,
we tend to express our love through gifts. And the most
popular gift is candy ━ specifically,
chocolate. The National Confectioners Association says
as many as 40 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate
are sold each year. Conversation hearts are also a longstanding
Valentine's Day tradition. Necco produces 8 billion hearts each
year, and the association says that's enough to stretch from
Rome to the town of Valentine, Arizona,
and back almost two dozen times. The second most popular gift to
give on Feb. 14 is a greeting card ━ probably because nothing
says "I love you" more than actually writing it. Many
couples also celebrate by seeing a show or going out to a
restaurant. And yes, that even includes Valentine's Day dinner
at White Castle. Flowers are the fourth most beloved gift to
give. Red and pink roses tend to be the top pick for flowers this
time of year, but tulips might also be rising in popularity.
And rounding out the list of the most popular Valentine's Day
gifts is jewelry. That might explain why it's the fourth most
popular day to get engaged after Christmas Eve,
Christmas Day and New Year's Eve. But a recent U.K. survey
found a majority of women would rather be proposed to on
Valentine's Day than any other holiday or anniversary. Just a
hint.
Do you find Republicans attractive? Do you want to dive into the ivory sea of interns behind Paul Ryan How bad do you
want to find the McConnell to your Chao? Thankfully for you, a Southern Californian man created a dating site called
TrumpSingles, and it vows to "make dating great again" by putting you in a pool with others who share your political
beliefs. "People told us they went on dates like at gun ranges, restaurants and all the various places. We've had a lot
of positive feedback since we got big," Founder David Goss explained. The site started last summer for a $5 monthly
subscription. TrumpSingles now sets you back about $20 a month and delivers 20,000 GOP-ers to your fingertips. It all sort of
makes sense because you may not be able to walk down the aisle if you can't reach across it. OkCupid pointed out 50 percent
of its users couldn't date someone with different political views ━ a number that's risen since 2008. That could be why
the TrumpSingles Twitter page says its prospective users should "stop wading through posers and losers on other
#dating sites." So if the Electoral College swiped right on your candidate, TrumpSingles could hold the right right-wing
partner for you.
One of the world's most popular e-sports might have just gotten
one step closer to relevance, thanks in part to baseball. Riot
Games, which runs the wildly popular game "League of
Legends," agreed to a $300 million streaming deal with
BAMTech, owned by Major League Baseball Advanced Media. The
deal, which lasts through 2023, means "League of Legends"
e-sports events will soon be streamed via an app,
which can be used on a computer or smartphone,
and BAMTech will have exclusive rights to make money off of it.
The money from BAMTech means "League of Legends" will give
Riot more "economic sustainability" going forward as
it tries to grow its sport. Despite the popularity of
"League of Legends," Riot Games doesn't make much money off of
e-sports events. It costs a lot to rent out arenas worldwide,
and the company doesn't make a ton in ticket revenue. In fact,
the games stream for free online. "We deliberately
designed our events, on the other hand,
to be inclusive experience for all of our fans,
even our World Championship," Riot Vice President of E-Sports
Dustin Beck said at the 2016 Game Developers Conference.
"We've never priced out our fans. We'd rather eat the cost."

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