Megyn Kelly Cartoons

NBC, Megyn Kelly vow to press ahead with Alex Jones interview amid ratings slump

The head of NBC News said Tuesday that the network would move forward with plans to air Megyn Kelly's interview with conspiracy theorist and radio host Alex Jones, despite a backlash that has cost the show advertisers.
It was not immediately clear how many companies had pulled ads from this week's edition of "Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly." The only advertiser to publicly say it was doing so has been the financial firm JPMorganChase.
"That comes with the territory," NBC News Chairman Andy Lack told the Associated Press when asked about the commercial response. "It's not unusual. We kind of know when we're doing controversial stories, that's going to happen. It doesn't stop us from doing controversial stories."
The network has been taken aback by the response to booking Jones, the "Infowars" host who has questioned whether the massacre of 26 people, including 20 children, in 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., was a hoax. Lack said the story will be edited with the sensitivity of its critics in mind.
"It's important to get it right," Lack said.

Kelly, who jumped to NBC News from Fox News Channel earlier this year, received more bad news from the ratings book Tuesday. After the debut episode of "Sunday Night" drew an estimated six million viewers June 4, the show's second episode pulled just 3.6 million viewers, less than half the number drawn by a repeat episode of CBS' "60 Minutes."
"What I think we're doing is journalism," Kelly told the Associated Press in an interview later Tuesday. "The bottom line is that while it's not always popular, it's important. I would submit to you that neither I nor NBC News has elevated Alex Jones in any way. He's been elevated by 5 or 6 million viewers or listeners, and by the president of the United States. As you know, journalists don't get the choice over who has power or influence in our country."
Sandy Hook Promise, an anti-gun violence group, said it had asked Kelly to step down as host of its Wednesday night gala in Washington. Nicole Hockley, the group's co-founder and managing director, said the group could not support Kelly or NBC's decision to give a platform to Jones and hopes NBC reconsiders its plan to broadcast the interview. Hockley, whose 6-year-old son Dylan was killed in the tragedy, founded the organization with Mark Barden, who lost his 7-year-old son Daniel.
Kelly said she understood and respected the decision, but was disappointed.
To some critics, NBC's timing in airing the Jones interview on Father's Day makes the decision worse. NBC said it was scheduled for competitive reasons, because Jones had been booked to appear on ABC's daytime show "The View" next week. A representative of "The View" said Jones had canceled his appearance there and he will not be rescheduled.
Lack noted that he had suggested approaching Jones for an interview to David Corvo, the NBC News executive who supervises the network's newsmagazines. He said there's nothing new about putting people on the air even if they're unpopular or have views that are deplorable to many.
"I've got tremendous understanding of why they're so upset, as they have every right to be," he said. "Of course we're looking at it. We're looking at the editorial process."upset, as they have every right to be," he said. "Of course we're looking at it. We're looking at the editorial process."
Jones, for his part, has already denounced the interview as "fake news" and said it was purposeful hit job on him.
"I knew in my gut this was going to blow up in their face," he said on his show.

Otto Warmbier: American student freed by North Korea back on US soil

A plane carrying Otto Warmbier, the U.S. college student arrested, tried and imprisoned in North Korea for more than a year, and who is now in a coma, landed in his hometown of Cincinnati Tuesday night and he was rushed to a hospital for urgent medical treatment.
The U.S. military flight landed at Lunken Airport at approximately 10:20pm ET and was met by an ambulance en route to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.
A U.S. official confirmed to Fox News that Warmbier, 22, was in a coma and had been for "over a year." The official added that the North Koreans told the U.S. that Warmbier contracted botulism before slipping into a coma. However, the two U.S. doctors traveling with him have not been able to confirm that claim, the official said.

The New York Times, citing an unnamed senior American official, said the U.S. had received intelligence reports in recent weeks that Warmbier had been repeatedly beaten.
Warmbier has served just over a year of his 15-year sentence -- allegedly for taking down a sign of the late dictator Kim Jong Il while he was in the country with a tour group
Neighbor Tom Purdy described him to Fox News as "a great kid - truly outstanding... an athlete, a National Merit scholar and prom king. He is awesome."
"We're very concerned for his health and future. We hope he can return to normal. We've been praying for him every night."
Blue and white ribbons lined the street near the family home.
A group of students playing tennis outside Wyoming High School, which Warmbier attended, said he is known in the community as "an outstanding student" and a "wonderful guy". While happy he's home, one student said he was "heartbroken to learn he's in a coma."
His medical evacuation followed a brief flurry of diplomatic activity that involved the highest level of the State Department.
"At the direction of the president, the Department of State has secured the release of Otto Warmbier from North Korea," Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said. "Mr. Warmbier is en route to the United States, where he will be reunited with his family. The Department of State continues to have discussions with the DPRK regarding three other U.S. citizens reported detained. Out of respect for the privacy of Mr. Warmbier and his family, we have no further comment on Mr. Warmbier."
Warmbier's parents, who have appeared on Fox News Channel in the past to plead for their son's release, expressed somber gratitude.
“Our son is coming home,” Fred Warmbier told The Washington Post Tuesday morning, after his son had been evacuated from North Korea. “At the moment, we’re just treating this like he’s been in an accident. We get to see our son Otto tonight.”
Top U.S. officials were quick to express revulsion at North Korea’s reported abuse of the student.
“Otto’s detainment and sentence was unnecessary and appalling, and North Korea should be universally condemned for its abhorrent behavior,” Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, said in a statement. “Otto should have been released from the start. For North Korea to imprison Otto with no notification or consular access for more than a year is the utmost example of its complete failure to recognize fundamental human rights and dignity.”
“Otto has been in a coma for over a year now and urgently needs proper medical care in the United States,” former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who worked for Warmbier's release with his Center for Global Engagement, said in a statement obtained by Fox News. “We received a call from Cindy and Fred Warmbier early today to update us on Otto’s condition. In no uncertain terms North Korea must explain the causes of his coma.”
Warmbier was detained on Jan. 2, 2016, at Pyongyang International Airport, while visiting the country as a tourist with Young Pioneer Tours. He was charged with stealing the sign from a staff-only floor in the Yanggakdo International Hotel in Pyongyang and committing “crimes against the state.” He was given a one-hour trial in March 2016, when the government presented fingerprints, CCTV footage and pictures of a political banner to make its case against the American student.
“I beg that you see how I am only human,” Warmbier said at his trial. “And how I have made the biggest mistake of my life.”
Despite his pleas, the college student was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. In a post-trial video released to the world, Warmbier, under obvious duress, praised his captors for his treatment and for handling of the case “fair and square."
Foreigners who have been detained or imprisoned in the Hermit Kingdom often have a shared experience: confusion, forced confessions, communication blackouts and isolation.
Warmbier's release leaves three U.S. citizens currently known to be held in North Korea: accounting professor Kim Sang Duk, businessman Kim Dong Chul and Kim Hak-Song, who worked at Pyongyang University.
AMERICANS RELEASED FROM NORTH KOREAN CAPTIVITY BACK ON US SOIL
Warmbier's release comes amid worsening tensions between the U.S. and North Korea, largely owing to Pyongyang's continued testing of nuclear-capable missiles.
The U.S. has no diplomatic relations in North Korea.
Meantime, former NBA star Dennis Rodman, a self-described friend of Kim Jong Un, recently landed in North Korea on a non-U.S.-sanctioned mission he said was aimed at promoting sports in the isolated nation.

Gingrich on Mueller: Can’t Trust Someone Who Only Hires Dems

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich doubles down on his claims special counsel Robert Mueller’s team can’t be trusted.
In an interview Tuesday morning, Gingrich said congressional republicans should investigate the democrats Mueller is hiring.
He added he can’t “give the benefit of the doubt” to someone who only hires democrats, and who he suggested will be “after President Trump.”
Gingrich also said he spoke with President Trump on Monday night to discuss his concerns, explaining it’s a mistake to think the investigation is going to be neutral.

U.S. Places Sanctions on ISIS Chemical Weapons Leaders

FILE — In this Saturday, March 26, 2016 file photo, a firefighter cleans houses exposed to a chemical attack in Taza, 10 miles (20 kilometers) south of Kirkuk in northern Iraq. According to a new analysis from Conflict Monitor by IHS Markit, the Islamic State’s chemical weapons capability has been degraded, although the group likely retains expertise to produce small batches of sulphur mustard and chlorine agents. (AP Photo/Anmar Khalil, File)

The United States is placing sanctions on ISIS chemical weapons experts, which is the first move of it’s kind aimed at the terror group.
The Islamic State has repeatedly used low-grade chemical weapons like chlorine, sulfur, and mustard gas in Syria and Iraq.
The State and Treasury Departments say the new sanctions stop two ISIS weapon makers from accessing property or interests under U.S. jurisdiction.
One weapon maker was in charge of an explosive manufacturing factory in Iraq.
The other ISIS leader was a member of the Taliban since 2003, and received chemical weapons training in Syria before returning to Iraq in 2015.