Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what’s happening in the world as it unfolds.
US warns ‘world is watching’ protests in Iran
Leave a reply
Tag Archives: united airlines
Trump’s press strategy: A few questions, then a quick escape
President Donald Trump is everywhere, and nowhere.
He’s opened up a one-way conversation with the public via his Twitter feed, letting the world in on his thoughts and opinions in an unprecedented way. He’s made a habit of answering questions, apparently off the cuff, during brief pool sprays in the Oval Office or on his way in or out of town on his frequent trips.
Story Continued Below
But his break with tradition in deciding to leave Washington for the holiday break without giving a formal year-end news conference was a move from the playbook that he’s used throughout his first year in office: Keep exchanges with the media short and avoid situations where he could be pinned down with in-depth questions and follow-ups.
Trump has done just a single solo press event since taking office — an impromptu 80-minute appearance last February in the East Room days after firing his former national security adviser Michael Flynn. President Barack Obama held 11 in his first year, according to figures kept by Martha Joynt Kumar, a retired political science professor from Towson University who tracks presidential appearances as director of the White House Transition Project.
But Trump has engaged reporters in 115 short QA sessions during his first year in office, usually for a few minutes at a time, a dramatic increase compared with Obama’s 46 short availabilities.
While Trump’s offhand sessions can lead to breaking news — for instance, on Dec. 17, when he declared that he did not intend to fire special counsel Robert Mueller — they also put the president in a position of control over the media.
Trump’s approach hews closer to the one set out by President George W. Bush, who did four solo news conferences and 144 short QA’s in his first year.
“The informality of it helps the president, and the fact that it’s typically three, four, five questions at a time helps the president,” said former George W. Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer. “It’s easier for the president to walk away when he wants to.”
Away from the strictures of the White House briefing room or the East Room, reporters typically are forced to shout out questions over one another — and often, the whir of Marine One — allowing Trump to pick and choose what he wants to answer. And if the president doesn’t like the questions, he has a literal escape vehicle right there.
Trump held 20 joint news conferences in 2017, by Kumar’s count, mostly bilateral affairs with foreign leaders in which each would take just two questions. Obama held 16 joint news conferences and Bush 15 in their first years, respectively.
Trump last took extended questions in October, when he abruptly canceled the daily briefing and invited the assembled press corps to the Rose Garden, where he spoke with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell by his side.
“Short QA’s are valuable because they get the president’s initial impressions of something that’s breaking,” Kumar said. “Solo press conferences are important because they represent a time when reporters can delve into events and issues in a deeper way.”
She said Trump’s preference for brief encounters with the press is “a reflection of the way that he thinks, what his priorities are. Just get out there what’s on the top of his head at the moment. Don’t delve deeply into any kinds of complexities.”
The White House did not respond to request for comment.
The president’s penchant for seemingly spontaneous interactions with the press extends to his habit of doing unplanned, extended one-on-one interviews with White House reporters, including one with POLITICO last April and several with the New York Times, most recently on Thursday at his Florida golf club. By grabbing reporters on the fly — typically without time for preparation — Trump is able to do even these lengthier interviews on his own terms.
Mark Knoller, a longtime CBS News White House correspondent said Trump’s approach has pros and cons. The gaggles as Trump comes and goes from the White House are “very helpful” and “make a lot of news,” Knoller said.
“I prefer those to the formal news conferences, frankly,” he continued. “It’s rapid fire, it’s sort of like a lightning round and you’re able to get reaction on news of the day.”
With so little time, though, the most pressing questions tend to get asked first, making it difficult to break out of the daily narrative that, often enough, Trump himself has created with a statement on Twitter or elsewhere.
“If you’re looking to ask a long thoughtful question or something of depth, it’s hard to ask over the din of the Marine One engines. It doesn’t lend itself to that kind of thing,” Knoller said.
Bloomberg senior White House correspondent Margaret Talev said the noise of the helicopter is often so loud that reporters must afterward check their quotes with audio recorded from the boom mics — not exactly a situation that leads to easy follow-ups.
A formal news conference, she said, “is just a different format and it allows for different nuance or depth.”
Since the 1970s, presidents have traditionally used end-of-year news conferences to tout the achievements of the past 12 months and set a narrative going forward, but Trump was reportedly encouraged by staff to skip it for fear of stepping on the news of his recently signed tax law.
Talev, who serves as president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, said her group had been encouraging the administration to hold an end-of-year presser for several weeks, but to no avail.
“We’re disappointed that it didn’t happen before he left for Mar-a-Lago. It would be great if they decided in the closing days to do it,” she said. “I think it’s disappointing because both what the public can get out of a long-form news conference, and what he can get out of a long-form news conference, is a much deeper and more substantive understanding of individual issues of concern.”
“There’s a reason why presidents historically have done it,” she said. “There’s a value to it.”
Instead, last week, the White House held an off-camera briefing on background “regarding the accomplishments from the president’s first year in office,” according to the wording of an email sent to reporters.
According to the count kept by Knoller, who also tracks presidential appearances, Obama did year-end news conference in five of his eight years. The other three years featured less all-encompassing December events on specific topics, sometimes with Obama accompanied by another speaker. Bush did them in seven of eight years.
Fleischer said there were multiple reasons Bush observed the December ritual. “One, he was more of a traditional-style president and he would honor those traditions, so it was in keeping with his nature. Two, it helped sum up a year,” he said. “It’s a way to go on offense. But you know, Bush didn’t have Twitter. Bush didn’t have the tools that Trump has to go on offense and to go around the press.”
Fleischer said he approves of how Trump has relied on brief sessions to manage the news media, and that he dislikes formal news conferences — he believes there’s too much preening and showmanship by reporters. But he would like to see Trump answer more in-depth questions outside the immediate news cycle. One way to do that, he said, would be to do more television interviews.
While Obama and Bush faced a range of TV interviewers, Trump has stuck almost exclusively to Fox News and Fox Business Network, appearing on those channels 19 times, compared with twice on NBC or MSNBC, once each on CBS News and ABC News, and zero times on CNN.
Evening out that count could benefit Trump, Fleischer said.
“I do worry that, for Trump’s sake and for the Republicans’ sake in the midterms, Donald Trump’s appeal remains largely limited to his base,” he said. “He must grow that, and the way to grow it is talk to other media outlets, talk to people who he otherwise won’t reach.”
Trump tells NYT he thinks Mueller will ‘be fair’
Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what’s happening in the world as it unfolds.
Fire in New York City apartment block kills 12 including four children
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Investigators in New York City searched early on Friday for the cause of a blaze that ripped through an apartment building in the Bronx and killed 12 people including four children, in the city’s deadliest fire in at least a quarter of a century.
The fire broke out a little before 7 p.m. (0000 GMT) on the first floor of a brick building and quickly spread upstairs, city Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro told a news conference with Mayor Bill de Blasio. The cause was under investigation.
“We’re here at the scene of an unspeakable tragedy. In the middle of the holiday season is a time when families are together. Tonight, here in the Bronx, there are families that have been torn apart,” de Blasio said.
Children ages one, two and seven and an unidentified boy died in the fire along with and four men and four women, local media reported.
Four people were in hospital in critical condition “fighting for their lives,” the mayor said. Authorities said firefighters rescued 12 people from the building.
“People died on various floors of the apartment, ranging in age from 1 to over 50,” Nigro told reporters. “In a department that is surely no stranger to tragedy, we’re shocked by the lives lost.”
Two of the dead were found in a bathtub, according to cable news station NY1.
“People were screaming and that’s how we knew there was trouble,” eyewitness Kimberly Wilkins told WCBS-TV, an affiliate of CBS News. “People were screaming, ‘Fire. Help. Fire. Help.’”
The blaze erupted in the Belmont section of the Bronx, a primarily residential, close-knit neighborhood known as the “Little Italy” of the borough, adjacent to the Bronx Zoo and Fordham University.
New York is going through a bitter cold snap with temperatures in the low-teens Fahrenheit and high winds, which according to one media account, stoked flames inside the building as residents flung open doors and windows.
Wherever fire hoses sprayed, the ground was covered with sheets of ice, according to an NY1 reporter.
One witness, Rafael Gonzalez, who lives across the street from the building, told television station WCBS-TV, an affiliate of CBS News, he saw some youths on a fire escape of the burning building as the fire raged.
“What woke me up was the smoke, because I thought it was my building,” he said.
More than 160 firefighters responded to the four-alarm blaze, the New York City Fire Department said.
Pictures posted on Twitter by the fire department showed two fire trucks with aerial ladders extended to the upper floors of a brick building bathed in flood lights, and firefighters on the fire escape outside what appeared to be a second- or third-floor unit.
The number of civilian fire fatalities in New York City last year dropped to 48, the fewest in the 100 years since record-keeping began, the FDNY said on its website. Data on 2017 fire fatalities was not immediately available.
Additional reporting by Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles and Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee; Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg
Roy Moore files complaint to block Alabama Senate result
Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what’s happening in the world as it unfolds.
Tim Cook now required to fly private as AAPL’s 2017 performance nets him $102M payout
Apple today published its most recent shareholder proxy statement, outlining some interesting details about its performance in 2017. As noted by Bloomberg, Tim Cook ended the year as a big winner, netting a 74 percent bonus thanks to the company’s strong performance in fiscal 2017…
Spigen TEKA RA200 Airpods Earhooks Cover
The filing explains that Tim Cook received $9.33 million in incentive pay for the fiscal year ending September 30th. In addition to that, he received $3.06 million in salary and an equity award of $89.2 million. For the year, Cook’s total payout comes to just under $102 million.
Tim Cook has already said that he will be giving away the majority of his fortune during his lifetime in a systematic approach to philanthropy.
CFO Luca Maestri, retail VP Angela Ahrendts, hardware technologies VP Johny Srouji, hardware engineering VP Dan Riccio, and former general counsel Bruce Sewell each received bonuses of $3.11 million, for total compensation of $24.2 million each.
In fiscal 2017, AAPL shares offered returns of 30 percent, which is double the rate of the SP 500. Executives are compensated in part based on performance of AAPL in comparison to the SP 500.
Another interesting detail from Apple’s proxy statement filling is that Tim Cook is now required to fly on private aircraft. This policy was implemented in 2017 and applies to Cook’s business related and personal travel. Apple’s board of directors made the call and says the policy is “in the interests of security and efficiency based on our global profile and the highly visible nature of Mr. Cook’s role as CEO.”
Cook accrued $93,109 worth of personal travel costs in 2017, which is considered extra compensation and taxable. Furthermore, the filing says that Apple paid $224,216 in “incremental” security costs for Cook, as reported by Business Insider.
Apple’s proxy statement comes after it announced that it will hold its annual share meeting on February 13th at Steve Jobs Theater. Due to limited capacity, Apple is requiring shareholders to register for the meeting on a first-come, first-served basis on January 22nd, 2018 at 8AM PT.
Apple’s full proxy statement can be found here on the SEC’s website.
Subscribe to 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news:
Dozens killed as blasts rock Kabul
Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what’s happening in the world as it unfolds.
Melania Trump Orders Large Portion Of Historic White House Tree Removed Due To Decay
Rachel died on December 22, 1828, days after her husband was elected as president. Jackson, who blamed his political enemies for his wife’s death, moved into the White House as a widower. He reportedly asked for a sprout from Rachel’s favorite magnolia tree at the couple’s farm in Tennessee to be planted on the White House grounds. It was placed at the west side of the South Portico in 1835, according to the White House Historical Association.
Record-setting Christmas storm buries Pennsylvania’s fourth largest city under more than 4 feet of snow
Lake-effect snow buried Pennsylvania’s fourth largest city under more than four feet of snow over Christmas, smashing both local and state snowfall records while hampering holiday travel around the Great Lakes.
With snow falling at a rate of up to three inches per hour, the National Weather Service reported Erie, Pa., picked up at least 58 inches of snow since the storm began on Christmas Eve. The bulk of that fell in a 30-hour period from Christmas morning into Tuesday.
Erie officials have declared a state of emergency and are pleading with motorists to stay off city streets and nearby highways, including Interstates 90 and 79. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) was also expected to call up some national guardsmen because so much snow has fallen there is concern ambulances will not able to reach some patients.
“They don’t have vehicles high enough, so we are currently working with the national guard to be able to deploy Humvee ambulances to assist them,” said Richard D. Flinn, the secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Emergency Management. “We will also provide the state police with Humvees in case they need it.”
According to the National Weather Service, Erie received 34 inches on Christmas Day, easily topping its previous 24-hour snowfall record. After another 24 inches piled up from midnight through 5 p.m. Tuesday, the National Weather Service said Erie had broken Pennsylvania’s previous all-time two-day state snowfall record, set in 1958 when Morgantown received 44 inches.
An additional one foot to two feet of snow could fall across Erie through Wednesday.
So far, Erie has received 97 inches of snow in December, making it the snowiest month in the city’s history. The city averages about 100 inches of snow in an entire season.
Located along Lake Erie nearly midway between Buffalo and Cleveland — which the storm has largely spared, so far — Erie’s 99,000 residents are used to heavy snow and brutal winds. In late fall and early winter, cold air pours over the relatively warm lake waters, picking up moisture and depositing it downwind as snow.
[ How this Pennsylvania city got more than 4 feet of snow in just 30 hours ]
But the heaviest snow usually falls away from the immediate lakeshore, where higher elevation helps to squeeze out the most moisture. It’s also relatively rare for the most intense snow bands to remain parked over one area for an extended period.
This time, the snow band stalled along the shoreline, clogging streets in Erie with mounds of snow. At times on Christmas, parts of Erie were receiving one inch of snow every 15 minutes, according to accounts on social media.
In an interview, Erie Mayor Joseph E. Sinnott (D) said the snow is so deep cars have been “bottoming out” in it.
“The last two decades we haven’t had as much snow as we used to have in the 70s,” Sinnott said. “Although we have had snow, not like this, so people are not used to it. . . . We managed to keep the main streets as clear as possible, but the side streets are very deep, and even the SUVs are having trouble.”
Despite whiteout conditions at times, travel around Erie was complicated by residents who tried to press ahead with their Christmas plans.
Jane Dorler, 41, said she and her husband relied on their Toyota Tundra truck to make it to her parents’ house for Christmas dinner.
“We didn’t have to, but my husband wanted to, and he thought it was an adventure,” Dorler said. “We had to go 10 miles across town, and I remember when I got out onto the road, I was like, ‘they haven’t even plowed this. And I said to him, ‘this is probably the worst I have ever seen.’”
Though they passed several cars that got stuck in the snow, the couple made it to her parents’ home safely.
At times on Monday, travel lanes on Interstate 90 were blocked by stuck vehicles or jackknifed tractor-trailers. But the highway remains open, although Pennsylvania State Police are urging motorists to postpone travel if possible.
[ Woman gets $284 billion electric bill, wonders whether it’s her Christmas lights ]
Scores of motorists have been stranded on Interstate 90 in both Pennsylvania and New York during major lake-effect events. In Pennsylvania, the highway runs parallel to the lake, about 10-miles inland in an elevated location highly susceptible to whiteouts from blowing and drifting snow.
“The value added today is many people are still off, and obviously the schools are closed (for Christmas), so you don’t have as many people going to work or out in the community,” Flinn said. “The bad news is, if people are coming back from Christmas, traveling on interstates, that is obviously a concern.”
Dorler, who works at a local nursing home but is off until Friday, plans to heed that advice and stay indoors on Tuesday.
Even though even more records could fall before the storm ends, both Sinnott and Dorler expect Erie will be back up and operating normally within days.
Sinnott said well-tested Erie public works crews can quickly make streets passable again once the snow stops. And Dorler said any true Erieite won’t allow the snow to keep them confined indoors for long.
“It’s really quite stunning but it’s not really that shocking,” Dorler said. “I’ve lived here long enough.”
Prince Harry edits Radio 4’s Today programme
Prince Harry has talked of how people can make a “difference” in changing society for the better, as he guest edited BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
The programme focused on the armed forces, mental health, youth crime and climate change.
It included interviews he conducted with former US President Barack Obama and his own father, Prince Charles.
Ahead of his wedding to Meghan Markle, Prince Harry said he was determined 2018 would be a “fantastic year”.
He said: “For me, post-Christmas, at this time of year, I just hope everyone out there has had a chance to just think about the things that really matter and the difference that every single one of us can make.”
In the prince’s interviews, Mr Obama said irresponsible use of social media was distorting the public’s understanding of complex issues, while the Prince of Wales said climate change was causing untold horrors” in different part of the world.
It is the 14th year public figures have been in control of the Today’s output between Christmas and New Year.
Other guest editors this week include a robot, Bletchley Park code-breaker Baroness Trumpington, Tamara Rojo of the English National Ballet and poet and novelist Benjamin Okri.
Prince Harry spent Christmas at Sandringham with other members of the Royal Family, and his fiancée Meghan Markle.
Presenters Justin Webb and Sarah Montague turned the microphone on the fifth in line to the throne at the end of programme.
Prince Harry, 33, said he had an “amazing time” at Christmas – Ms Markle “really enjoyed it and the family really loved having her there” although there were “plenty” of family traditions he needed to explain to her.
He said they had a great time staying with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and “running around with the kids” and were really looking forward to 2018.
Obama’s departure
The programme also featured an audio diary recorded by Prince Harry in Toronto at the Invictus Games, the Paralympic-style competition for injured service personnel he launched in 2014.
He also conducted an interview with British artificial intelligence entrepreneur Demis Hassabis.
Another section saw Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick interviewed.
Image copyright
JEFF OVERS/BBC
Prince Harry in the Today studio with presenters Justin Webb and Sarah Montague
Prince Harry chose Abdurahman Sayed, from the Al-Manaar Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre in North Kensington, which has been helping residents following the fire in June at the nearby Grenfell Tower, to speak in the programme’s Thought for the Day spot.
Speaking about his editing role, Prince Harry said: “I haven’t done that many interviews but it was quite fun, especially interviewing President Obama.
“It’s been a big learning curve, but also these are incredibly important topics that I think we all need to think about that need to be discussed and I’m incredibly fortunate to have a platform like this.”
Prince Harry, who was in the Army for 10 years, said he wanted to include an item about the armed forces because “there’s a huge role that they play and we must make sure it’s not sympathy but it’s respect we show”.
During the programme, the Prince of Wales said he had “bored you [the prince] to tears over so many years” with discussions on the environment.
Prince Charles added he wanted to “ensure that you and your children, my grandchildren… have a world fit to live in, that provides them with opportunity”.
Mr Obama reflected on his time in office and voiced concerns about the direction the United States is moving in.
He warned that social media was stopping normal conversations and talk about the responsibility of people in positions of leadership.
Mr Obama expressed concern about a future where facts are discarded and people just read and listen to things that reinforce their own views.
In one of his first interviews since leaving office, the former president also reflected on the day he handed over power to Donald Trump.
Despite feeling satisfied, he said it was “mixed with all the work that was still undone.”
“Concerns about how the country moves forward but, you know, overall there was serenity there,” he said.
Listen to the prince’s edition of the Today programme from 06:00 GMT here.