Is This The Secret Russian Deal Trump Made?

Erik Prince sends mercenaries around the world to kill people on your tax dollar. Now he’s potentially involved in an international scandal involving Trump and Russia. Cenk Uygur, host of The Young Turks, breaks it down.



"Though Prince had no formal role with the Trump campaign or transition team, he presented himself as an unofficial envoy for Trump to high-ranking Emiratis involved in setting up his meeting with the Putin confidant, according to the officials, who did not identify the Russian.

Prince was an avid supporter of Trump. After the Republican convention, he contributed $250,000 to Trump’s campaign, the national party and a pro-Trump super PAC led by GOP mega-donor Rebekah Mercer, records show.

He has ties to people in Trump’s circle, including Stephen K. Bannon, now serving as the president’s chief strategist and senior counselor. Prince’s sister Betsy DeVos serves as education secretary in the Trump administration. And Prince was seen in the Trump transition offices in New York in December.

U.S. officials said the FBI has been scrutinizing the Seychelles meeting as part of a broader probe of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election and alleged contacts between associates of Putin and Trump. The FBI declined to comment.”

Read more here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/blackwater-founder-held-secret-seychelles-meeting-to-establish-trump-putin-back-channel/2017/04/03/95908a08-1648-11e7-ada0-1489b735b3a3_story.html

Hosts: Cenk Uygur
Cast: Cenk Uygur

How Bad Of A Businessman Is Donald Trump? Here’s How Bad.

How bad of a businessman is Donald Trump? Two experts, and one person impacted by Trump’s business deals, discuss his record.

Marvin Roffman, an analyst, took Trump to court after getting fired for telling the Wall Street Journal that Trump’s plan for the Taj Mahal was financially irresponsible. Trump settled the case and Roffman won financial compensation.

Prudence Gourguechon, past president of the American Psychoanalytic Association, argues that Trump views his business partners and even the banks which lend him money as expendable, since he can just use them until he gets a better deal.

“Donald Trump’s handshake, his signature and his word mean absolutely nothing in Atlantic City,” says Paul Friel, whose father’s cabinetry business was never paid in full for the work it completed on Trump Plaza.

Roland Martin To Paula White: Be A Prophetic Voice And Don't Just Be A Profitable Voice

Roland Martin rips Pastor Paula White for her partisan comments about Donald Trump: Be a prophetic voice and don't just be a profitable voice.

Trump is acting like he is running out of time

By Josh Delk

Former Watergate prosecutor Nick Akerman said Thursday that Donald Trump is acting in regards to the Russia collusion investigation as if he knows "time is running out."

"What we're finding is, as time goes on, we keep learning new, additional facts. But we don't know what [special counsel Robert] Mueller's staff knows. For all we know, we may just have the tip of the iceberg on this," Akerman told MSNBC's Ari Melber.

Akerman referenced a The Washington Post report that Trump had pushed back on legislation proposed in July that would block him from firing the special counsel investigating his campaign's ties to Russia without a federal judge's approval.

"Now it appears he's directly lobbying congress to try and ensure that he has a way to get rid of this investigation," Akerman said.

CNN reported this week that congressional investigators had unearthed an email from now-White House aide Rick Dearborn to campaign officials last year relaying information about a person who was trying to connect top Trump officials with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Federal and congressional investigators had already shown an interest in a meeting that Trump's eldest son Donald Jr. set up last summer between campaign officials and a Russian lawyer promising damaging information on his presidential rival Hillary Clinton.

"At the same time that we keep getting more evidence, we also learn that Donald Trump has consistently, from day one, tried to stop this Russia investigation," Akerman said.

Trump harshly criticized and later fired James Comey as FBI director amid the escalating Russia probe, and slammed Attorney General Jeff Sessions for recusing himself from the ongoing investigation.

"All of this comes down to one simple fact," said Akerman. "You have someone who is acting extremely guilty, someone who is acting in a way that he realizes that time is running out, and he's taking all kinds of desperate moves to try and stop this investigation."

Millions Willing To Work For Mueller For Free If That Would Speed Things Up

http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/millions-willing-to-work-for-mueller-for-free-if-that-would-speed-things-up

Trump Thinks Clean Coal Means That Workers Literally Hand Wash Pieces Of Coal

There were plenty of crazy comments from Donald Trump’s rally in Phoenix earlier this week, but one that got overlooked was the statement the President made that showed that he has no idea how coal works.

He mentioned in his speech that “clean coal” is when workers take the coal and then clean it – He literally thinks that they sit there with a bucket of soap and water and scrub the dirt off the coal!

Yeah, that’ll fix our emissions problems. Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins discusses this.



https://thinkprogress.org/trump-thinks-clean-coal-is-when-workers-mine-coal-and-then-actually-clean-it-b56a2d4317bc/

I was detained for protesting Trump. Here’s what the Secret Service asked me.

By Melissa Byrne August 23 at 6:00 AM

Melissa Byrne is a political strategist living in Philadelphia.

Trump at his Trump Tower news conference last week. (Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images)

Like many events that end up with a person in handcuffs, my story begins in a bar. I was in Atlanta earlier this month for Netroots Nation, the annual meeting of progressive organizers and writers, when I overheard friends discussing how to resist President Trump’s first visit to Trump Tower. I jumped into the conversation: “Well, you call me, of course.” Twenty minutes later, we had a rough plan that we would unfurl a banner inside Trump Tower the following week. I have been to many protests since the inauguration, and I was proud to do my part.

Together with Ultraviolet and the Working Families Party, we commissioned a painted banner that simply read “Women Resist White Supremacy.” Through sheer luck, not only would Trump be in Trump Tower during my act of resistance, but he would be giving a news conference about 3:30 p.m. I knew from my previous work as a campaign advancer that the Secret Service would begin sweeps to clear the space about an hour before he spoke, so the best possible time for the action was 2 p.m.

Unlike previous presidents, Trump’s home is in a public space. You don’t have to sneak into Trump Tower. You enter via an atrium next to a Nike store. Then you pass through airport-style security run by the Secret Service. I wore my banner as a slip of sorts under my flowy dress. It was made of fabric, so it didn’t set off the metal detector.



Protesters gathered outside Trump Tower in Manhattan on Aug. 14, as Trump arrived back for the first time since being inaugurated into office. (evilevestrikesagain/Instagram)

Like every good political operative — I worked for Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) 2016 campaign and then the MoveOn super PAC supporting Hillary Clinton’s campaign — I run on coffee. Conveniently, the Starbucks inside Trump Tower is located on the second floor and overlooks an atrium — exactly where I’d want to hang the banner. I sipped a flat white and waited for the right moment, when uniformed NYPD wouldn’t be nearby. Then I unfurled the banner. A security officer grabbed it almost immediately. I ended up on the ground.

Since Starbucks is a public place and I was a paying guest, I knew I hadn’t violated any laws. At worst, I could be banned from the building. I expected from past protest actions that I’d be given a warning and a request to leave. I clearly and politely explained to the NYPD officers who detained me that the protest was done and I was heading out.

They had other ideas.

A detective grabbed my wrist and cuffed me. A gaggle of officers from multiple law enforcement agencies escorted me to a room near the atrium. A few chairs had Trump campaign materials plastered on them. Inside the room with me were more than 10 officers from the NYPD and the Secret Service.

Then the questions began, and they were bananas. A young woman from the Secret Service began the questioning; male NYPD officers tagged in and out. They never asked me whether I understood my rights, and I wasn’t actually sure at that moment what rights, if any, I had. I was focused on not getting put in a car and being whisked away.

It was clear right away that these officials wouldn’t see me the way I see myself: as a reasonably responsible, skilled nonviolent political operative who works on a mix of electoral and issues campaigns. To them, I was clearly a threat to national security. It felt like an interrogation on “Homeland.” Here are my favorite parts of the conversation, as I remember them.

NYPD: “Why would you come to the president’s home to do this?”
Me: “It was wrong for the president to support white supremacy.”
NYPD: “Don’t you respect the president?”
Me: “I don’t respect people who align with Nazis.”
Secret Service: “Do you have negative feelings toward the president?”
Me: “Yes.”
Secret Service: “Can you elaborate?”
Me: “He should be impeached and should not be president.”

They were concerned with who bought my train ticket, once they saw the receipt on my phone. The NYPD officers didn’t seem to believe me that some organizations work for justice and organize these legal protests. Each time they touched my phone, I said I don’t consent to the search of my phone. (They held my phone during the interview, and I can only hope they didn’t poke around it — although they wouldn’t have found much to interest them, unless they like Bernie GIF's.)

Secret Service: “Have you ever been inside the White House?
Me: “Yes.”
Secret Service: “How many times?”
Me: “Many. I was a volunteer holiday tour guide for the White House Visitors Center.”
Secret Service, eyes wide: “When was the last time you were there?”
Me: “December.” I explained that I probably wouldn’t be invited back until we have a new president.

The officers ran through a raft of predictable questions about firearms. (I don’t own any, and they seemed puzzled by my commitment to nonviolence as a philosophy.) They asked whether I wanted to hurt the president or anyone in his family. Obviously not. Then came the mental health questions.

Secret Service: “Do you have any mental health disorders?”
Me: “No.”
Secret Service: “Have you ever tried to commit suicide?”
Me: “No.”
Secret Service: “Have you ever had suicidal thoughts?”
Me: “No.”

I was trying very hard not to roll my eyes at the repeated questions when an NYPD detective suggested my protest could be charged as a felony. In the next second, the Secret Service agents asked me to sign Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act waivers so they could gather all my medical records. My mind was still focused on the f-word: felony. But I didn’t want to sign the waivers.

I meekly asked whether I should talk to a lawyer. I was told it was my prerogative but also that it might mean I’d be held longer. Being in a room with that many enforcement agents hurt my ability to reason dispassionately, and I was now looking at a criminal record from a basic, even banal, nonviolent protest. I signed the forms.

Trump was about to start his now-famous news conference, and the Secret Service needed to resume patrols. They let me go with just a ban from the building.


Trump on Aug. 15 said that “there’s blame on both sides” for the violence that erupted in Charlottesville on Aug. 12. (Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post) 

But a few days later, I heard they were canvassing my neighborhood, in West Philadelphia, looking for information about me, including from people I’ve never met. One woman they approached found my contact information online and told me about this exchange in a Facebook Messenger request. They asked her whether she knew me and whether I was a threat to the president. Since I live in West Philly, she replied that the only threat lives in the White House and that the president is racist.

Secret Service: “Do you know Melissa Byrne?”
Neighbor: “No.”
Secret Service: “Why would she protest President Trump?”
Neighbor: “Because he’s a fucking racist.”
Thanks, neighbor!

In the end, I couldn’t stop wondering why they were devoting so much time to me when they could be pursuing neo-Nazis. I was treated as a national security threat when all I’d done was exercise my First Amendment right to free expression. This isn’t normal, and it shouldn’t be how nonviolent protesters are treated by armed agents of the government.

Alex Jones Runs Around Yelling At People

"The Seattle livestream began in fairly typical Alex Jones style, with the InfoWars host using a recent global tragedy (Barcelona) as an excuse to rant about one of his favorite boogeymen (the lame-stream media). But it soon devolved into a random dude opening up his thermos and soaking Jones in coffee.

Who could have possibly foreseen that Jones wouldn't be greeted warmly in famously liberal Seattle?

In response to a question about whether a wild Alex Jones unleashed on city streets is worthy of police intervention, the Seattle PD responded with an awe-inspiring burn.”



Read more here: http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/news/a57102/a-random-guy-poured-coffee-all-over-alex-jones/

Hosts: Cenk Uygur

Cast: Cenk Uygur

Donald Trump demonstrates the wrong way to watch an eclipse

 

Donald Trump took in the solar eclipse from the Truman Balcony of the White House on Monday.

Sporting eclipse glasses — only for part of the viewing — and standing alongside Melania Trump and their son Barron, Trump viewed what was a partial eclipse in Washington, DC. The partial eclipse began at 1:17 p.m., peaked at 2:42 p.m., and was set to end at 4:01 p.m. ET, The Washington Post reported. The moon covered 81% of the sun at the eclipse's peak in Washington.

Trump, at one point, did look up at the eclipse without wearing the glasses, which could be extremely harmful to a person's eyesight. According to a White House pool report, one of Trump's aides shouted "don't look" when Trump initially came out and pointed at the sky.

Much of the nation focused on the Monday event, the first total eclipse to cross the country in nearly a century. The path of totality, where the moon fully eclipsed the sun, stretched from Oregon to South Carolina, but much of the rest of the country was able to view at least a partial eclipse of the sun.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-watching-solar-eclipse-20017-photos-2017-8?op=1

Crisis Of The Week

Trump's Chaotic Four Weeks

CNN’s Brooke Baldwin on Friday had a priceless reaction to the news that Donald Trump has fired chief White House strategist Steve Bannon, reading headlines from the president’s “chaotic four weeks” that were so long she had to stop and drink a cup of water.

The Story Of The Game Genie - Gaming's Most Famous Cheating Device!

In the 80's, if you wanted extra lives, the ability to skip levels, to be invincible, or anything that wasn't included in your console's video game...you were out of luck. That all changed in 1990 when Codemasters created the Game Genie, opening the world of console video games to amazing ways to cheat and to an extent, a form of hacking.

The Game Genie was important not only for being a groundbreaking device but also for establishing a legal precedent. In this video we'll take a quick look at the Game Genie's various abilities and console versions, how it worked, as well as its fight just to make it to the market.

Donald Trump Responds To Barcelona Terror Attack With A Lie

Lawrence O'Donnell reacts to Donald Trump's newest lie about fighting terrorism, as well as top Republican senator Bob Corker saying Donald Trump lacks the "stability" and "competence" to be president.

Fleeing Trump, Charities Cancel Events At Mar-A-Lago

Three different charities have cancelled scheduled events at Mar-A-Lago after Trump’s refusal to denounce the attacks that took place over the weekend and by aligning himself with the alt right. This is a lot of money lost for Trump, but importantly, shows that these charities understand that some money just isn’t worth it, and they’ll find new venues to host their events. Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins discusses this.

Link – http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/347068-third-charity-cancels-mar-a-lago-event

Trump Calls Obama To Talk About Charlottesville & Twitter

Trump asks his predecessor if he has any poignant Nelson Mandela quotes he can borrow.

HEY, STEVE BANNON, YOU WHITE SUPREMACIST COCKSUCKER...YOU'RE FIRED...HA HA HA

FUCK STEVE BANNON - YOU LIVER SPOT COVERED MOTHER FUCKER

WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU DOING IN THE WHITE HOUSE  IN THE FIRST PLACE - YOU NO TALENT, COUPON CLIPPING, COPENHAGEN SNUFF DIPPING, CORN COB PIPE SMOKING, BISCUIT AND GRAVY SOPPING REDNECK

http://www.inquisitr.com/4438850/steve-bannon-fired-trump-reportedly-axed-bannon-for-leaking-information-from-the-white-house/

Trump Defends Confederacy More Than Southern Republican

Trump is defending Confederate monuments more than Lindsey Graham. Cenk Uygur, the host of The Young Turks, breaks it down.



“Washington (CNN)The feud between President Donald Trump and Sen. Lindsey Graham over the President's response to racially motivated protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, continued Thursday, with the South Carolina senator accusing Trump of stoking tensions, a claim Trump called "a disgusting lie."

"Your tweet honoring Miss Heyer was very nice and appropriate. Well done," the South Carolina lawmaker said Thursday morning, referring to Heather Heyer, the 32 year old woman who was killed in a car attack on Saturday. The man charged in her killing has been described as a Nazi sympathizer.

"However, because of the manner in which you have handled the Charlottesville tragedy, you are now receiving praise from some of the most racist and hate-filled individuals and groups in our country. For the sake of our nation -- as our President -- please fix this."

"History is watching us all," added Graham, who has been one of the few Republican lawmakers to directly denounce Trump's equivocation earlier this week between white supremacists and those who were protesting them in Charlottesville. The President blamed "both sides" for inciting violence and said there were "very fine people" protesting in the Virginia city amid the torch-bearing protesters.”

Read more here: http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/16/politics/lindsey-graham-donald-trump-charlottesville/index.html

Fox News Admits They Can’t Find Republicans Willing To Defend Trump On The Air Anymore

After a string of disastrous press conferences – and an overall tanking of his presidency – Fox News host Shepard Smith admitted Wednesday that his team of producers were unable to find a single Republican willing to come on the air and defend Donald Trump’s disaster of a week.

When Fox News can’t find a pro-Trump Republican, you know things are getting bad in Trumpland.

Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins discusses this.



Link – http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/346867-foxs-shepard-smith-we-couldnt-find-a-republican-willing-to-come

Donald Trump Race Crisis A Test For Congress To Take Real Action

Sherrilyn Ifill, president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, talks with Rachel Maddow about how Congress can do more than the bare minimum of tweeting condemnation of racism to address the actual problem with legislation.

PREDICTION: Trump Will Resign In Disgrace...Soon

Trump’s days in office are numbered. Cenk Uygur, the host of The Young Turks, breaks it down.