Fatal Schoolbus Crash, Beat the Press

Chattanooga Bus Crash: Five elementary school children died yesterday in the crash of a Chattanooga, TN school bus in what has been described as a horrific scene. Some children were ejected from the bus and rescuers spent hours prying others from the wreckage. About two dozen kids were taken to the hospital.

The bus appeared to have rolled onto its right side and hit a tree with its roof, nearly splitting the bus in two.

The bus was carrying 35 children ranging from kindergarteners to fifth grade. The 24-year-old driver is being charged with vehicular homicide.

In Transition: President-elect Donald Trump released an online video yesterday outlining his political agenda. “I’ve asked my transition team to develop a list of executive actions we can take on day one to restore our laws and bring back our jobs,” Trump says on the tape.

Trump says, “Truly great and talented men and women, patriots indeed, are being brought in, and many will soon be a part of our government, helping us to make America great again.”

He says he will withdraw the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement and lift restrictions on oil and coal production. He says he will make a rule that for every new regulation his government writes, two must be retired.

Money, Money: The three major US stock indexes hit record highs again yesterday as the money business rides a post-election wave. Oil prices are rising, and investors like that, but they also think Trump’s promise of tax cuts and fewer regulations will be good for business.

World: A 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Japan yesterday, triggering small tsunami waves in the area of the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

Nation: Rapper and fashion mogul Kanye West was checked into a Los Angeles hospital yesterday for observation after an incident at his home. West had an on-stage meltdown Saturday night and cancelled his concert tour. Saturday in Sacramento, he delivered a rambling speech supporting Donald Trump, performed a few songs, and left. West is reported to be a workaholic who has completely exhausted himself.

The Sports Page: New tests have found 75 athletes from the 2008 and 2012 summer Olympics in London and Beijing guilty of using performance enhancing drugs. Most of the athletes are from Russia and East European countries. Forty of them won medals.

The rulings mean that athletes who won medals will have to give them back to be re-awarded to competitors who finished behind them. After three women’s high jumpers were disqualified, American jumper Chaunté Lowe was moved up to a bronze medal.

>After US Men’s soccer was outgunned 4-0 by Costa Rica, damaging the Americans’ prospects of making it to the 2018 World Cup, Coach Jurgen Klinsmann was fired. The 52-year-old Klinsmann has been a lightning rod. He once trashed the quality of Major League Soccer in the US, which provided half his players.

Candid Off Camera: Donald Trump, who has not held a press conference since he was elected, held an off-the-record meeting with network news executives and anchors at Trump Tower yesterday. Trump aide Kellyanne Conway described the meeting as “very cordial, candid, and honest.” That’s code for “loud.”

The NY Post reports that the meeting was a disaster, with Trump lambasting the attendants. The Post quotes its source describing Trump saying, “‘We’re in a room of liars, the deceitful dishonest media who got it all wrong.’ He addressed everyone in the room calling the media dishonest, deceitful liars. He called out Jeff Zucker by name and said everyone at CNN was a liar, and CNN was network of liars.”

The press representatives went to the meeting thinking they would be talking about matters of access to Trump. Of particular concern to the press is re-establishing what’s called the “tight pool,” a small pack of reporters and cameramen who traditionally travel with the president everywhere he goes in public.

Trump was scheduled to meet with executives and reporters of the NY Times today, but he tweeted this morning, “I cancelled today’s meeting with the failing @nytimes when the terms and conditions of the meeting were changed at the last moment. Not nice.”

The headline on today’s NY Post says, “Beat The Press.”

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Sunday, May 5, 2024

Page Two

The Most Corrupt Justice

Monday, October 2, 2023

Democracy and Video in the Dark

Sunday, February 26, 2023

Page Two: Do the Right Thing

Tuesday, February 1, 2022

Page Two: Sound Recall

Monday, September 13, 2021

Page Two: Cuomo Must Go

Friday, August 13, 2021

Trump and the Truth

Tuesday, November 3, 2020

The “Great” President

Monday, March 30, 2020

The Wright Stuff

Saturday, February 29, 2020

It's Been Said

"In my mind, I’ve never crossed the line with anyone, but I didn’t realize the extent to which the line has been redrawn. There are generational and cultural shifts that I just didn’t fully appreciate, and I should have, no excuses."

-Andrew Cuomo, resigning as governor of New York after accusations of sexual harassment

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