Untouchable Subjects. Fearless, Nonpartisan Reporting.
Two top former intel officials at the center of the controversy over the Trump-Russia probe may be interviewed by the Trump administration U.S. attorney investigating the origin of it all.
That's according to one of the officials, former CIA Director John Brennan.
Brennan, an analyst for NBC News, says that he and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper are being asked to give interviews to U.S. Attorney John Durham.
Read the entire story by clicking the link below:
The following is an excerpt from an article in The Atlantic.
...[A]fter weeks of escalating combat with the president—over Ukraine, and China, and Syria, and impeachment—the gentleman from Utah suddenly appears ready to unload...
To Romney, Trump’s performance as president is inextricably tangled up in his character. “Berating another person, or calling them names, or demeaning a class of people, not telling the truth—those are not private things,” he says, adding: “If during the campaign you pay a porn star $130,000, that now comes into the public domain.”...
In just the past few weeks, he has denounced the president’s attempts to solicit dirt on political rivals from foreign governments as “wrong and appalling”; suggested that his fellow Republicans are looking the other way out of a desire for power; and condemned Trump’s troop withdrawal in Syria as a “bloodstain on the annals of American history.”
(Continued...Read the rest of the article by clicking the link below.)
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/10/mitt-romney-middle-impeachment-fight/600373/
The following is an excerpt of my Full Measure report. Watch the video and read the rest of the article by clicking the link at the end.
Today, we head to the Southwest border for an incredible story about an Arizona county that felt overrun by Mexican drug cartels for years. Now they claim they’ve been able to slow that to a trickle— without a lot of money, high tech, federal help or even a wall. How are they doing it? Today’s cover story is: Desert Eyes.
Sharyl: John Ladd is a fourth generation rancher. His great-grandparents settled this land in Arizona along Mexico’s border in 1896.
Listen to the related Podcast from Full Measure After Hours
John Ladd: Originally the ranch was about twice as big.
By Ladd’s count, the Border Patrol has caught hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants on his 16,000 acres over the past thirty years.
John Ladd: It's an every day deal.
Sharyl: What do you do?
John Ladd: We used to help them, but when you get 200 a day it gets overwhelming. They’ve stole about every car or truck we owned, and saddles, and horses.
Sharyl: The march of illegal immigrants into Arizona from Mexico is virtually nonstop. Here, a large group crosses over a so-called Normandy fence— like it’s not even there.
And with the traffic comes a steady stream of crime. This man crossed from Mexico and fired off a few shots.
These five drug smugglers brought 7 backpacks of meth and marijuana.
In a matter of days 380 pounds of pot, heroin, and meth, 1600 pounds of pot, Fentanyl opioids hidden in shoes, smuggled in bras, Meth disguised as ice pops, in vehicles, 50 pounds, 227 pounds.
But in Cochise County, where John Ladd lives, we found there’s been an incredible turnaround you may not have heard about.
Sheriff Mark Dannels: What I'm talking about is a virtual system of cameras, up to over 500 cameras now, that we've implemented.
Sharyl: One camera covers about 200 square feet. The success has been so dramatic, it surprised even those responsible, including Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels.
Sheriff Mark Dannels: We’re doing something right, and it's fair to our citizens. It's what they expect. I'm pretty proud of what we've done here.
Sharyl: And to point out, you've done this improved enforcement and you've gotten this result without a wall?
Sheriff Mark Dannels: Without a wall. Without a wall.
Sharyl: To see firsthand, we took to the air with Sheriff Dannels over the 6,200 rural square miles of Cochise County
Sharyl: Flying over the rugged terrain, it's easy to see why some people think you don't need a big wall here it’s too tough to cross but is that actually the case?
Sheriff Mark Dannels: No. The cartel likes this area out here. Though it's rugged, it provides great concealment for them to smuggle both humans and drugs into this country.
Sharyl: That led to the simple but ingenious concept to deploy a carefully placed network of motion-activated cameras in areas where there are gaps in federal surveillance.
Sheriff Mark Dannels: Remember that the end of that fence is where the federal government stops their protective plan. We pick that up here and that's where our virtual system has become effective. We have cameras inserted, throughout this region, this grid.
Sharyl: We landed to see the type of area where the hidden cameras have been put to good use, their precise locations a tightly held secret.
Sheriff Mark Dannels: You know this is where our virtual system was implemented, in places like this.
Sharyl: There are cameras out here, we just don't know where?
Sheriff Mark Dannels: Yeah, we have, this is part of our virtual system.
Sharyl: Dannels explained that cartels learned to evade Border Patrol cameras by traveling in gullies and ditches. The new system plugs some critical holes.
Sheriff Mark Dannels: You know, the surface systems that the federal government has in place are up on top surface areas. They don't get down to the washes like this. So the cartels have exploited these areas. So we came into our areas with our virtual system. This is the areas we watch cause we know they're coming through here just like we're standing and, and that's one of the reasons we've been successful. We went to areas that the federal government didn't go.
Sharyl: So Mexico is right there?
Sergeant Timothy Williams: And we're probably being watched right now.
The following is an excerpt from my Full Measure story with media critic Howard Kurtz. Watch the video and read the full story at the link at the end of this article.
In recent days, after President Trump withdrew US troops from Syria, some of the criticism was accompanied by dramatic video on the news. ABC News aired video they claimed showed attacks by Turkish troops on Kurdish civilians, telling of slaughter and 'horrific reports of atrocities'. But ABC removed the video and apologized on Monday after online viewers seemed to find the video wasn’t shot recently and wasn’t even from the Mideast... but from a gun show demonstration in Kentucky in 2017.
The network did not explain -how- such a mistake could have happened. President Trump tweeted: A big scandal at @ABC News. They got caught using really gruesome FAKE footage of the Turks bombing in Syria.
The war between the media and Donald Trump sometimes looks like one of mutually assured destruction. And sometimes, truth is a casualty.
We talk about that with Fox News media critic Howie Kurtz, author of: Media Madness: Donald Trump, the Press and the War Over the Truth.
Sharyl: Is there such a thing as an objective press?
Howie Kurtz: There may not be such a thing as a purely objective press, because everybody brings their own biases. But, I think there is such a thing as a press corps that strives to be fair. I think there are reporters and journalists and even some anchors that do try to be fair, even in this hyper-polarized environment, where whatever you say or do, you get hammered by one side or the other as being pro-Trump or anti-Trump. It happens to me every hour or so. But, I think we're seeing fewer and fewer organizations committed to the notion of trying to be fair. There is this tone. Sometimes, it's snarky. Sometimes, it's disgusted about, what did he do today? How is he undermining democracy? Look, there's a lot to investigate in this administration. There was a two-year investigation of the Russia matter. Even when Bob Mueller came out and recommended no criminal charges, it seemed like there was a brief pause, and then the press was back at it night after night, day after day, in what Trump supporters would see as pretty hostile coverage.
Sharyl: You were on the leading edge in a way. You wrote before the Special Counsel Robert Mueller Report came out that the press had overreached too often when reporting on that.
Howie Kurtz: I don't think there is any question, even though I never said that this is a witch hunt or the Mueller investigation was somehow illegitimate or a coup. I've never bought into any of that language. Of course, there were a number of indictments. But, it seemed to me that every little development, somebody hiring a lawyer, some new peripheral player being interviewed, some subpoena battle on Capitol Hill, got the breaking news banners, crisis treatment, constantly, to the point where I think it exhausted the country. Especially, now, the President is not going to face any criminal charges, I think a lot of people are just tired of it. But, the media are not tired of it, and I think it's still working for them as a narrative and working for them as a business model. (Continued...)
Watch the story and read the rest of the article by clicking the link below.
http://fullmeasure.news/news/politics/media-mistakes-10-16-2019
Fight improper government surveillance. Support Attkisson v. DOJ and FBI over the government computer intrusions of Attkisson's work while she was a CBS News investigative correspondent. Visit the Attkisson Fourth Amendment Litigation Fund. Click here.
Nearly every move President Trump has tried to make to tighten up the southern U.S. border has been met with opposition and legal challenges.
So some border towns have been left to find their own way to protect their communities. And it turns out necessity is the mother of invention!
During my most recent reporting trip to the border, I found an Arizona County that recently devised and deployed an inexpensive, simple system to stop drug traffic. Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels says it's been so effective that it's nearly shut down drug trafficking in notorious hot spots.
The secret is a system of motion detecting game cameras. How could that make such a difference?
We'll explain in our cover story investigation on Sunday's Full Measure.
I also have a very timely interview with Howie Kurtz, Fox News media critic and author of the book "Media Madness." He'll dig into the psychology and pathology behind media mistakes and bias in the era of Trump.
And we'll bring you a fascinating report by Scott Thuman on the U.S. effort to destroy our last stockpiles of chemical weapons of mass destruction. It's a time consuming and dangerous process that few outsiders have seen.
We hope you'll check us out!
The following is a news analysis.
There's a new article that echoes the reporting I've done on the co-opting, bias and agenda editing that has become rampant at the world's most popular encyclopedia: Wikipedia.
According to the report in Hollywood Reporter, NBC hired a "Wikipedia Whitewasher" to handle Matt Lauer's biography page and make it look cleaner than it otherwise might.
According to the article, which reports on a new book by Ronan Farrow:
Farrow asserts that NBC used other methods to sanitize and neutralize reporting about Lauer's behavior, including employing a Wikipedia whitewasher to 'unbraid references to Oppenheim, Weinstein and Lauer' after the allegations became public. When the network hired as a paid contributor an outside reporter who made investigative calls to women who worked with Lauer, one woman who had received those calls texted Farrow: 'Coverup.' Farrow doesn't identify the reporter. 'There are several striking examples of the way in which that routine corporate practice of covering up and paying out to get rid of allegations of misconduct rather than addressing them or removing the people involved intersected with my [Weinstein] reporting in a very direct way,' Farrow says. 'That is not an appropriate corporate practice when you are a news outlet.'
The Hollywood Reporter
I recently sat down to talk with the co-founder of Wikipedia, Larry Sanger, who parted ways with the project over its biases and other problems. You can watch that interview by clicking here.
Sanger and others have started a modern online encyclopedia that they hope will solve some of the nagging problems Wikipedia has experienced. It's called Everipedia.
If you're interested, you can listen to my podcast on "The Weaponization of Wikipedia" and read some of my previous reporting on the topic.
Read a related article about NBC's alleged Wikipedia Whitewashing in Newsweek by clicking the link below:
https://www.newsweek.com/nbc-wikipedia-whitewashing-matt-lauer-weinstein-ronan-farrow-1464118
Republican efforts to defeat Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, netted a victory over the weekend thanks to President Trump, say analysts.
In Saturday's primary election, Edwards didn't manage to get 50% of the vote and so will face a November 16 runoff with the top vote-getting Republican: Eddie Rispone.
Many analysts say Edwards was on his way to a likely firm victory without a runoff until President Trump got involved. At a "raucous," lively and well-attended rally in Louisiana last week, the president encouraged attendees to get out and vote for one of the two Republicans who were running.
The "Trump bump" was felt despite widespread media attention given to Democrats' efforts to disparage and impeach Trump. Several polls reportedly show a majority of Americans, or a near-majority, favors removing Trump from office over his request for Ukraine to investigate alleged corruption involving former Vice President Joe Biden. Biden, a Democrat, is running against Trump for president.
Trump has said that his request was appropriate as part of an effort to investigate who was behind efforts to interfere with the 2016 election and target his campaign.
The Media is not talking about the big Republican victory last night in Louisiana where a sitting Democrat Governor was forced into a runoff by not getting 50%. Big upset! Now @EddieRispone, who will be a great Governor, will win!
President Donald Trump Tweet, Sunday Oct. 13
While Edwards did not get 50% of the vote, he handily beat each of his opponents: he received 47%. Rispone got second place with 27%, earning the runoff spot. Republican Congressman Ralph Abraham came in third with 24%.
Theoretically, if the Republican vote is added together, it bests the Edwards primary vote. It's unclear what turnout in next month's general election will look like.
A Scott Rasmussen poll weighs in along with all the others asking about the possible impeachment of President Trump.
Forty-six percent (46%) of voters polled say President Trump should be impeached and removed from office.
In other findings, the number approving of the president’s performance has remained steady: it's at 46%.
According to Scott Rasmussen, "This extreme divide highlights just how politically polarized our nation has become. If nothing changes, these figures suggest we could have a close election in 2020 decided by a small group of voters who are less engaged. Of course, a lot can happen in the next 13 months, so this outcome is far from assured."
On another note, 63% of voters recognize that our society is not as polarized as our politics.
