Trump accuses media of trying ‘to score political points’
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — President Donald Trump lectured the media at length on Friday evening, accusing reporters of trying “to use the sinister actions of one individual to score political points” against him hours after police apprehended a staunch supporter of his in connection with the mail-bomb scare targeting Democrats and CNN.
Trump was campaigning in Charlotte, North Carolina, to support two GOP candidates facing close races in the state.
Trump has been on a rally blitz, hoping to help vulnerable Republicans ahead of the Nov. 6 elections that will determine which party controls Congress. He’s planning at least 10 rallies over the five-day stretch before Election Day.
Trump, who held back some of his usual name-calling at a rally in Wisconsin earlier this week, was back to his usual attack lines Friday evening even as he called for an end to the “politics of personal destruction.”
Not long after, he referred to his 2016 opponent as “Crooked Hillary Clinton,” prompting a round of “Lock her up!” chants.
Family offers reward for info in death of billionaire
TORONTO — A Canadian lawyer announced Friday a multimillion-dollar reward for information about the death of drug-company billionaire Barry Sherman and his wife, Honey.
Lawyer Brian Greenspan said Toronto police haven’t properly handled the case.
He said the billionaire’s family has set up a tip line and is offering up to 10 million Canadian dollars ($7.6 million) for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of a suspect.
“We’re trying to light the fire,” Greenspan said. “To provide new incentive for the members of the public to come forward with information but also to light the fire under the Toronto police service.”
He also said he would like Toronto police to share information with his private investigators.
Yosemite rangers recover bodies of 2 who fell from overlook
SAN FRANCISCO — Yosemite National Park rangers have recovered the bodies of two people who fell 800 feet (245 meters) from a popular overlook after working to reach them for hours, an official said Friday.
Park spokeswoman Jamie Richards said rangers had to rappel down and climb the steep terrain in Taft Point as they worked to reach the bodies of a male and female. A California Highway Patrol helicopter assisted them, she said.
Officials are investigating when the pair fell and from which spot at the overlook 3,000 feet (900 meters) above the famed Yosemite Valley floor, Richards said. A tourist spotted the victims Wednesday. They have not been identified.
Railings only exist at a small portion of Taft Point, which offers breathtaking views of the valley, Yosemite Falls and towering granite formation El Capitan. Visitors can walk to the edge of a vertigo-inducing granite ledge that does not have a railing and has become a popular spot for dramatic engagement and wedding photos.
More than 10 people have died at the park this year, six of them from falls and the others from natural causes, park spokesman Scott Gediman said. An 18-year-old Israeli man accidentally fell hundreds of feet to his death last month while hiking near the top of 600-foot-tall (180-meter-tall) Nevada Fall.
NBC cancels Megyn Kelly’s show after blackface controversy
NEW YORK — Megyn Kelly, the former Fox News Channel personality who made a rocky transition to softer news at NBC, was fired from her morning show Friday after triggering a furor by suggesting it was OK for white people to wear blackface at Halloween.
“‘Megyn Kelly Today’ is not returning,” NBC News said in a statement. The show occupied the fourth hour of NBC’s “Today” program, a time slot that will be hosted by other co-anchors next week, the network said.
NBC didn’t address Kelly’s future at the network. But negotiations over her exit from NBC are underway, according to a person familiar with the talks who wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Bryan Freedman, an attorney for Kelly, said in a statement that she “remains an employee of NBC News and discussions about next steps are continuing.” He did not elaborate.
Kelly is in the second year of a three-year contract that reportedly pays her more than $20 million a year.
