Politics

The Guardian reports: The Philippine president, Rodrigo Duterte, has said he would have his son killed if drug trafficking allegations against the younger politician were true, and that the police who carry out the hit would be protected from prosecution. Paolo Duterte, 42, appeared this month before a senate inquiry to deny accusations made by an opposition lawmaker that he …

Politico reports: Preet Bharara, whom President Donald Trump fired as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, is joining CNN as a Senior Legal Analyst, POLITICO has learned. Bharara was known for his media savvy on the job in Manhattan, and since leaving office in March has amassed nearly 440,000 Twitter followers. He also recently launched a podcast, …

Yesterday morning Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade mocked Jimmy Kimmel as a member of the “Hollywood elite” after Kimmel trashed Sen. Bill Cassidy’s Obamacare repeal bill. Last night Kimmel went ballistic. “This is a guy, Brian Kilmeade, who whenever I see him, kisses my ass like a little boy meeting Batman. Oh, he’s such a fan. He follows me …

The Washington Examiner reports: Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said Tuesday that if Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, or anyone else within the campaign colluded to influence the 2016 election, he hopes they “go to jail for the rest of their lives.” Lewandowski was responding to reports that Manafort, who became campaign manager after Lewandowski was fired, was wiretapped as …

The Week reports: President Trump announced that the nonexistent country of “Nambia” has an increasingly self-sufficient health-care system during a United Nations lunch with African leaders on Wednesday. So far, Trump appears to have failed to impress African leaders — a photo of the Zimbabwean delegation listening to Trump’s U.N. speech on Tuesday went viral and President Robert Mugabe appeared …

Swampity swamp swamp! Politico reports: In a sharp departure from his predecessors, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price last week took private jets on five separate flights for official business, at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars more than commercial travel. The secretary’s five flights, which were scheduled between Sept. 13 and Sept. 15, took him to …

AHEM. ABC News reports: First Lady Melania Trump spoke at a luncheon at the United Nations General Assembly this afternoon, extolling the value of teaching and protecting children. The “most important and joyous role I’ve ever had is to be a mother to my young son,” she said. This speech revisited her campaign promise to combat cyberbullying. She said that …

Via Mediaite: Sen. Bill Cassidy has responded to late night host Jimmy Kimmel’s searing indictment of his proposed health care bill in an appearance on CNN’s New Day. CNN’s Chris Cuomo asked Cassidy about Kimmel’s comments on Wednesday morning, to which the senator replied: “I’m sorry he does not understand. Under Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson more people will have coverage, and we protect …

The Hill reports: Comedian Stephen Colbert presented former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton with a packet of unused jokes from election night on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” “One of the things I regret the least about that night, but I do regret, is that we had a whole packet of unused Clinton victory jokes. This was a whole …

Politico reports: Libertarian-leaning Sen. Rand Paul is “such a negative force” on Republican efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare, President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter Wednesday morning amid a final GOP push to overhaul the nation’s healthcare system. Senate Republicans have restarted in recent days their stalled efforts to undo former President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare legislation, throwing support behind …

Reuters reports: U.S. President Donald Trump is using money donated to his re-election campaign and the Republican National Committee to pay for his lawyers in the probe of alleged Russian interference in the U.S. election, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Following Reuters exclusive report on Tuesday, CNN reported that the Republican National Committee paid in August more …

Variety reports: Jimmy Kimmel railed against a new Republican plan to repeal and replace Obamacare, this time calling one senator a liar for claiming that he supported a health care bill that guaranteed coverage for all families. The senator, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, has been saying that any type of health care plan had to pass what he called the …

The Washington Examiner reports: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said President Trump called him to apologize after members of his security detail were indicted for attacking protesters during his visit to Washington, D.C., in May. “Actually President Trump called me about a week ago about this issue,” Erdogan said, through a translator, during an interview with “PBS Newshour” that aired …

The Washington Post reports: President Donald Trump is mocking Sunday’s Emmy Awards ceremony — where he himself was frequently mocked by host Stephen Colbert, presenters and prize-winners. Trump tweets, “I was saddened to see how bad the ratings were on the Emmys last night – the worst ever.” The president’s Tuesday night tweet is a little off: The show was …

NPR reports: Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Corker has crossed swords with President Trump before — in August, he accused Trump of lacking the “stability” and “some of the competence” needed to be successful. But the Tennessee Republican may now be defying Trump with more than just words. In a brief interview at the Capitol, Corker told NPR his …

CBS News reports: A spokesman responding on behalf of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort issued a rare response, after CBS News confirmed Manafort was wiretapped during an investigation of the efforts of Russian operatives to influence the election. “If true, it is a felony to reveal the existence of a FISA warrant, regardless of the fact that no charges …

Three Democratic members of the US House were arrested after refusing to leave Fifth Avenue outside Trump Tower this afternoon. Talking Points Memo reports: “We’re taking the necessary steps to make it clear to President Trump, the Republicans and the Democrats that we will continue this peaceful fight for DREAMers and immigrants as long as it takes to enact legislation …

ABC News reports: A chief sponsor of Republican bill to dismantle Obamacare says he’s “never felt better about where we’re at” but stopped short of predicting the GOP has the votes to pass the measure. That word comes from South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham who spoke to reporters after Republicans’ closed-door luncheon where Vice President Mike Pence joined the lobbying …

The New York Times reports: New figures released by the U.S. Department of Commerce show a drop in international visitors to the United States by close to 700,000 in the first quarter of 2017 compared to the previous year. European countries were down 10.1 percent, and Mexico was off 7.1 percent in the quarter. The largest drops were from the …

The Hill reports: Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman (R), President Trump’s choice to serve as U.S. ambassador to Russia, said Tuesday that there is “no question” that the Kremlin interfered in the 2016 presidential election. Huntsman made the declaration during his opening statement when testifying before Congress at his confirmation hearing. “There is no question that the Russian government interfered …