Trump Reluctant to Admit, Airport Massacre

The Intel: Russian President Vladimir Putin “ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the U.S. presidential election,” and demonstrated “a clear preference for President-elect Trump” over Hillary Clinton, according to a declassified version of an intelligence report on Russian election hacking.

It’s a rare publicly-damning report that says Putin “aspired to help President-elect Trump’s election chances when possible by discrediting Secretary Clinton and publicly contrasting her unfavorably to him.”

President-elect Donald Trump received an extended briefing on Russian hacking yesterday by some of the highest intelligence and law enforcement officials in the country. Later, in a written statement, Trump begrudgingly admitted hacking by Russia, China and other countries, but focused on defending the legitimacy of his election, saying “there was absolutely no effect on the outcome of the election including the fact that there was no tampering whatsoever with voting machines.”

The intelligence investigation made no attempt to determine whether Russian hackers swayed the election, only that they tried.

Before the briefing, Trump spoke to the NY Times by phone and said, “China, relatively recently, hacked 20 million government names,” referring to the attack on the Office of Personnel Management. “How come nobody even talks about that? This is a political witch hunt.”

Shoot: A gunman killed five people and wounded eight yesterday in the baggage claim area of the Ft. Lauderdale airport before he was caught by the police. Investigators say the suspect, Esteban Santiago, a veteran of the National Guard who had served in Iraq, pulled a gun out of his checked bag and began shooting. Santiago has a history of mental instability. He once claimed that the CIA wanted him to join the Islamic State.

Money: The Dow Jones came within just 5 cents of hitting an historic 20,000, yesterday. It makes no difference to your life whether it does or doesn’t get there.

Last Words: Michelle Obama delivered her last official speech as First Lady at the White House yesterday, with a veiled message for the administration to follow. “It is our fundamental belief in the power of hope that has allowed us to rise above the voices of doubt and division, of anger and fear, that we have faced in our own lives and in the life of this country. The hope is that if we work hard enough and believe in ourselves we can be whatever we dream of, regardless of the limitations that others have placed on us.”

At the end, she was struggling with tears. “Being your first lady has been the greatest honor of my life, and I hope I’ve made you proud.”

Ice, Ice, Baby: An iceberg about the size of Delaware is about to break off from its Antarctic ice shelf. A crack in the ice has grown by 11 miles. When the iceberg calves, the Larsen C ice shelf will lose 10 percent of its area, shrinking to its smallest recorded size.

Blackfish: Tilicum, the orca who killed a trainer at the Orlando SeaWorld theme park and became the subject of the documentary “Blackfish,” has died of undetermined causes. The whale was 36 years old.

After years of pressure from animal rights activists, SeaWorld is ending its killer whale show in San Diego tomorrow. The whales will stay, but their tanks will be changed to look like a more natural environment and the big fish won’t do tricks anymore.

The trick shows will continue at other SeaWorld parks for a while.

Shopping Cart: The women’s clothing chain, The Limited, appears to be the victim of the trend toward online shopping. The chain announced that it is closing all 250 of its stores. They’ll continue to do business online.

Hollywood: The ashes of actress Carrie Fisher were buried yesterday in a foot-long container made to look like a Prozac pill. It was prescribed by her agent.

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It's Been Said

"Christians, get out and vote, just this time. You won't have to do it anymore. Four more years, you know what, it will be fixed, it will be fine, you won't have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians. I love you Christians. I'm a Christian. I love you, get out, you gotta get out and vote. In four years, you don't have to vote again, we'll have it fixed so good you're not going to have to vote."

  • Donald Trump courting the vote of the Christian right

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