Burnett & MGM silent on why no ‘Apprentice’ Tapes release
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — With public clamor growing for the release of footage from Donald Trump’s reign on “The Apprentice,” the show’s executive producer and parent company remained silent Wednesday on why they say they cannot release any archived video or audio from the hit reality TV program.
Executive producer Mark Burnett’s production company, and entertainment giant MGM, which bought Burnett’s firm in December, have not responded since Monday to specific questions about why they are keeping the footage private.
The Associated Press previously had asked Burnett to provide the original “The Apprentice” footage for review, and asked again last week, after publishing a story detailing allegations by former cast and crew that Trump frequently used lewd, demeaning and sexist language while on set and pointed out which contestants he would like to have sex with.
In a joint statement issued Monday, Burnett said that he doesn’t have the ability or the right to release footage from the long-running show hosted by the Republican presidential nominee.
MGM said, “Various contractual and legal requirements also restrict MGM’s ability to release such material.”
Clinton aides mulled telling GOP ‘Bring a dolly!’ for emails
WASHINGTON (AP) — As news broke last year about Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, one of her top aides suggested simply releasing all the messages from her time as secretary of state.
The March 4, 2015, exchange is in the latest batch of emails hacked from the accounts of Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta published Wednesday by WikiLeaks. That was the day The Associated Press first reported that Clinton had been running a private server inside her home in New York.
Within hours of AP’s reporting, Republicans from the House Select Committee on Benghazi quickly issued a subpoena demanding Clinton’s emails regarding the deadly 2012 attacks on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Libya.
Adviser Phillipe Reines proposed that Clinton should respond by tweet: “No need for this, happy for you to have what I gave State. If they can’t, I will. Bring a dolly!” — referring to a moving cart.
Clinton lawyer and chief-of-staff Cheryl Mills responded: “Seriously?”
Drone attack on Kurdish, French forces reveals new threats
WASHINGTON (AP) — French and Kurdish forces in northern Iraq were attacked by an exploding drone, the Pentagon said Wednesday, adding a new worry to the wars in Iraq and Syria as militant groups learn to weaponize their store-bought drones.
Air Force Col. John Dorrian, the spokesman for the U.S.-led military coalition in Iraq, said an improvised device on a drone exploded after it was taken back to a camp near the Iraqi city of Irbil. He called it a Trojan Horse-style attack.
Two Kurds were killed in that incident on Oct. 2, according to a U.S. official, who said the drone looked like a Styrofoam model plane that was taped together in a very rudimentary style. The official said it appeared to be carrying a C-4 charge and batteries, and may have had a timer on it.
That official was not authorized to discuss the incident publicly so spoke on condition of anonymity.
France’s presidential spokesman, Stephane Le Foll, said Wednesday that two French special forces were seriously injured in the explosion.
Note 7 fiasco leaves Samsung’s smartphone brand in question
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The fiasco of Samsung’s fire-prone Galaxy Note 7 smartphones — and its stumbling response to the problem — has left consumers from Shanghai to New York reconsidering how they feel about the South Korean tech giant and its products.
Samsung Electronics said this week that it would stop making the Note 7 for good, after first recalling some devices and then recalling their replacements , too. Now, like the makers of Tylenol, Ford Pintos and other products that faced crises in the past, it must try to restore its relationship with customers as it repairs damage to its brand.
Samsung shares plunged as much as 8 percent in Seoul, their biggest one-day drop since the 2008 financial crisis, after the company apologized for halting sales of the Note 7 .
“I’m in a state of ‘I don’t know,’” said Pamela Gill, a 51-year-old who works at Pratt Institute, a college in New York City, and likes her replacement Note 7.
“You’re thinking, ‘Do I have to turn it in? Is it going to blow up?’” she said.
Democratic governor: Health law ‘no longer affordable’
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota’s Democratic governor said Wednesday that the Affordable Care Act is “no longer affordable,” a stinging critique from a state leader who strongly embraced the law and proudly proclaimed health reform was working in Minnesota just a few years ago.
Gov. Mark Dayton made the comments while addressing questions about Minnesota’s fragile health insurance market, where individual plans are facing double-digit increases after all insurers threatened to exit the market entirely in 2017. He’s the only Democratic governor to publicly suggest the law isn’t working as intended.
Dayton’s comments follow former President Bill Clinton’s saying last week that the law was “the craziest thing in the world” before he backtracked.
“The reality is the Affordable Care Act is no longer affordable for increasing numbers of people,” Dayton said, calling on Congress to fix the law to address rising costs and market stability.
The Democratic-driven criticism has emboldened Republicans in Minnesota and nationwide to try to scrap President Barack Obama’s 2010 law. Clinton faced backlash for the comments he made during a Michigan rally for his wife last week, and he later clarified his support for the law and called for fixes to address gaps in coverage.
River that gave life to N. Carolina town now tears it apart
LUMBERTON, N.C. (AP) — A day after fleeing from the swollen Lumber River, the residents of this down-but-not-quite-out former mill town waded into the swirling, tea-colored floodwaters Wednesday and filled jugs for something most of us take for granted: flushing their toilets.
“We still don’t have water or power in our house,” Caroline Kahn said as she sloshed through someone’s flooded front yard in a pair of flower-print boots. “So we need water for the necessities of life.”
The river gave this town its life. Now it has torn the community apart.
About 1,200 residents had to be evacuated by boat and plucked from their roofs by helicopters as the river crested. Two of the state’s 20 fatalities occurred in Robeson County, of which Lumberton is the seat.
Of all the towns affected by Hurricane Matthew, this city of 22,000 was among the hardest hit and the least able to absorb the blow.
