The chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) lashed out against White House Chief of Staff John Kelly on Friday for comments he made about undocumented immigrants in an interview with NPR. "The Chief of Staff's bigoted comments about immigrants seeking refuge are a slap in the face to the generations of people who have come from foreign lands to contribute to the richness of our nation," said Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-N.M.). In an NPR interview Thursday, Kelly said a majority of undocumented immigrants "don't integrate well." "Let me step back and tell you that the vast majority of the people that move illegally into the United States are not bad people. They're not criminals. They're not MS-13," said Kelly. "But they're also not people that would easily assimilate into the United States, into our modern society. They're overwhelmingly rural people," he added. Lujan Grisham said "the intolerant and ignorant ideas he espoused from the White House are exactly the same comments and attitudes that were prevalent against all of our families." "It wasn't right then, and it isn't right now. Our country is better than this," she added. Kelly has had a fraught relationship with the CHC since the beginning of the Trump administration, both as chief of staff and as secretary of Homeland Security. He last butted heads with Hispanic Democrats in February, after he said some immigrants had been "too lazy" to apply for renewal of their Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status.

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — For eight years, Joe Hawley's life followed an inescapable rhythm — the monotony of practice, film study and offseason workouts, all of it on a seemingly endless loop. The NFL dictated where he had to be and what he had to do. It wrecked his body. It consumed his life. "It’s very structured. My whole life has been like that," Hawley says. "I felt like I just kind of wanted to experience life, be free." So when Hawley's career came to an end at 29 — a finish line he saw coming long before the Tampa Bay Buccaneers declined to renew his contract this spring — the former offensive lineman decided to adjust course. Hawley moved out of his Tampa apartment and donated most of his belongings to charity. He sold his Mercedes-Benz C300 coupe and purchased a 2007 Ford E-350 cargo van. He shed almost 50 pounds on an unusual diet that has him putting slices of butter in his coffee. He adopted a 2-year-old boxer mix from a shelter and aptly named her "Freedom." And now, he plans to spend the next however-many months driving around the country and living out of his van — meeting new people, exploring different regions and blogging about the whole thing. To say that Hawley is at a crossroads in his life is probably a bit dramatic. He prefers to describe all of this as an adventure or, more broadly, the first step in a “huge transition” away from football — the pursuit of "my next dream." One of his former teammates, however, had a different word for it. "I thought he was crazy," Alan Cross said with a laugh. At its core, Hawley’s trip is really just an attempt to re-prioritize his life — to dedicate his time and energy to the things that matter, all while attempting to fill the void that 16 years of football left behind. "(You try) to be great at something and put your mind to something. It just goes away," Hawley told USA TODAY Sports from the couch in his van, roughly two months after he effectively retired from the NFL. "So you have to figure out: What else can I be great at?" 'I got to live a kid's dream' At a campsite along the banks of Lake Lanier in northern Georgia, Hawley seasons four ribeye steaks with salt and pepper and arranges them on the grill. It's a breezy, overcast Wednesday morning, and he's insisted on cooking lunch. "How do you guys like your steaks?" he asks. Hawley has kept the grizzly beard from his playing days, but he's a slim shadow of the offensive lineman he once was. A fourth-round pick out of UNLV in the 2010 NFL draft, he spent the first five seasons of his career with the Atlanta Falcons. Then he followed former offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter to Tampa Bay, where he started 29 games in two years before moving into a backup role. All told, Hawley played 93 games and earned a little more than $13 million in his career. "I always gave him a hard time about being the instigator," said Koetter, who is now the head coach of the Buccaneers. "Joe was that guy who was always around the pile, was always trying to get the defense mad at him, trying to get them off their game." Hawley was smart and relentless, former teammates said, but his career was littered with injuries. Today, he says he doesn't have any cartilage left in either of his knees, which grind and pop as he moves. He's got bone spurs in both ankles. Torn labrums in both shoulders. A bulging disc in his neck. And a hip that he describes only as "pretty messed up." The mental side of the NFL also started to weigh on him — the anxiety that comes with always having to be at your best. Hawley says he lost 10 pounds last season due to a series of ulcers, which he believes were stress-related. His older sister, Ashleigh Stone, said he was so emotionally wrapped up in football that sometimes "you couldn’t even talk to him." "I think this pressure of the NFL, it was ruining him," she said. Last season, Hawley's role was more or less to mentor Ali Marpet, a 24-year-old guard, as he switched positions and took Hawley's job. In past years, Hawley would've been determined and fighting to get back onto the field. This time, it was different. Midway through the season, he was already thinking about purchasing a converted bus or van and hitting the road. "I’m so grateful I got to live a kid’s dream," Hawley says. "A lot of people just grind it out because they want to make more money. I have plenty of money to be happy. And I want to challenge myself to do something new." On the road again By early afternoon, the steaks are gone, the van has been packed and Hawley is drying off Freedom with a beach towel after she jumped in Lake Lanier. He shakes his head. “What are you doing, girl?” he says with a chuckle. “You’re soaked.” Hawley knows they need to get back on the road if they hope to get to Pensacola, Fla., before dark. He will join children with cancer in a fashion show that doubles as a fundraiser for the Rally Foundation — one of several events in these first few months that have kept him tied to the southeastern part of the country. Hawley has only been on the road for a month, but he's already grown comfortable with the tricked-out, four-wheel-drive diesel he now calls home. He bought it used for about $55,000 and paid another $15,000 or so to customize it. Among the most notable features are a 16-gallon fresh water tank, tiny sink, mini-fridge, pop-top roof, solar panels, retractable awning and customized front bumper. Freedom cranes her neck out of the passenger side window as they leave the campground, and before long, Hawley is streaming an afternoon baseball game between the Houston Astros and Los Angeles Angels through the van's sound system as he drives. He’ll switch to the Washington Nationals game later simply because Max Scherzer is on his fantasy team. "Watching him pitch will make you fall in love with baseball," he says. Until recently, Hawley thought he had a good sense of where his life was headed: He was going to marry his girlfriend of five years, retire and become a football coach. Then he wound up walking away from that relationship and discovering that he’s “kind of footballed out,” at least for the time being. This particular week, for example, talk of the NFL draft has consumed the sports world. “I could give two (expletives) about it,” Hawley says. Maybe he'll enjoy watching as a fan when the new NFL season starts, he adds. But for now, he'd rather stick to baseball. Behind all of Hawley’s excitement about living on the road, there’s also a lingering fear that it will get lonely. That’s one of the main reasons why he got Freedom. He always knew he wanted a co-pilot for his trip, and his ex-fiancée kept their old dog. He found Freedom shaking in fear in the back of her cage at the Hillsborough County Pet Resource Center and figured any dog who hated being cooped up that much would be grateful for a nomadic lifestyle. "Outhouse to the penthouse," he says while scratching her neck and smiling. "Or, uh, the van house." Living with less The sun is beginning to set when Hawley's van pulls into a Jet Pep gas station off Route 113 in rural Alabama. One of the cupboards on the inside of the back door came unhinged as he drove through Atlanta, so he scrounges around the van for his screwdriver and tightens it back into place. "If this is the worst thing that happens to me on the road, I'll be a lucky man," he says before dropping a chunk of cocoa butter into a cup of gas-station coffee. Hawley always wanted to be skinny. He wanted to have a six-pack. But the NFL demanded that he pack 300 pounds onto his 6-foot-3 frame. Since retiring, he says, he’s lost nearly 50 pounds thanks to an unusual ketogenic diet that’s high on fats and low on carbs — the sort of thing that usually prompts a “wait, what?” among non-believers. He eats a lot of meats, eggs, almonds and butter while losing weight and, he claims, thinking more clearly. © Tony Giberson, USA TODAY NETWORK Former NFL player Joe Hawley visits Pensacola Beach with his dog, Freedom. Hawley has also adopted a minimalist lifestyle in retirement, using a philosophy of “live with less, experience more” to de-clutter his life. "You don’t realize how much (expletive) you have until you try to get rid of it," Hawley says. "If you buy something new, it fills you with all this excitement, but that fades so quickly. Next thing you know, you want something else new to fill that void. And then it’s a cycle." In the months since donating most of his possessions, and about 70% of his wardrobe, Hawley says it's like "a physical weight" has been lifted. "I think there’s the common misconception of people that are in the NFL — that they’re all ballers, they all want to live extravagant lifestyles," his older sister, Ashleigh, said. "(With Hawley), it wasn’t a big jump, if that makes sense. … He always kind of lived a really conservative lifestyle." A co-pilot named Freedom A little more than six hours and 380 miles after leaving his campsite off the lake, Hawley arrives in Pensacola, Fla., just before 8 p.m., parking the van at an RV resort near the beach. He grabs dinner at a nearby sports bar — plus a coffee with butter to go — and returns to site No. 72, where Freedom has been patiently waiting in the back of the van. Hawley isn’t sure exactly how to describe the void that football leaves behind, but he says it’s a tangible, physical feeling. He mentally prepared for this moment for years, and still found himself unprepared. He’s chosen to combat feelings of uncertainty and self-doubt by not just diving into his trip but also visually documenting it. In addition to his “Man Van Dog Blog” — which, among other video entries, includes an MTV Cribs-style tour of his van — Hawley has already racked up more than 13,000 followers on Instagram, most of them people who want to follow his travels — and, in some cases, be a part of them. Since he hit the road April 4, he’s already received unsolicited offers for dog dates, places to stay, random meet-ups and everything in-between. “What a time to be alive. Seriously,” he says. “Doing this 20 years ago would be like me out there on the road... figuring it out.” And, just to be clear, there’s certainly still some of that. "It’s not something everybody does. Not something hardly anybody does," Koetter said. "But Joe is definitely a unique individual and his own man. I think it’s a really cool thing what he’s doing." Hawley doesn’t have a planned route as he zig-zags across the country this summer, but he does have a few stops in mind. He wants to see Glacier National Park in Montana and Redwood National Park in his home state, California. Niagara Falls, too. Baseball stadiums. Lots of baseball stadiums. And he wants to stop at children's hospitals along the route and hand out toys to kids. "He’s the ultimate free spirit," former teammate and close friend Mike Johnson said. "You look at his beard, you can kind of see his personality." Hawley still isn’t sure where he’ll travel, or for how long. He wonders if he’ll get lonely. Shoot, he wonders if he’ll just get sick of living out of a van. But that’s OK, he says. After eight years in the NFL, he can afford to wander. And, with Freedom as his co-pilot, he’s never been happier to have no idea where he’s headed.

Friday afternoon during the 3 p.m. parade at Magic Kingdom, down at Walt Disney World in Florida, one of the floats caught fire. Specifically, the Maleficent float. The float, as it’s normally supposed to run, actually breathes fire — you know, because Maleficent is a DRAGON and stuff. But for reasons unknown, because fires are fickle, the head of the dragon float caught fire mid-way through the parade route for “Festival of Fantasy,” sending guests and cast members at the park scrambling. This is not something you see every day, and going forward, probably not something you’re ever going to see again. From the video and pictures posted to social media, it appears as if this incident happened in Liberty Square, right before the float passed in front of Cinderella Castle. Normally, the fire for the float comes out of the mouth — because once again, duh, it’s a dragon. But something somewhere went wrong, and it looks as if the fire quickly spread through the head of the float and down the neck. It appears as if THANKFULLY the fire did not spread elsewhere throughout the float, nor onto any other floats, surrounding buildings, or trees along the parade route. And, because this is Disney World and safety is of utmost importance, the fire was quickly dealt with and extinguished…but not before those pictures and videos started popping up on social media.

After he was criticized for the better part of a week, Ben Roethlisberger felt it was finally time to reach out to new Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph. So he picked up his phone and sent him a text, according to Rudolph. Roethlisberger made headlines all week after he initially offered a rude welcome to the incoming QB. Two weeks ago, the Steelers used a third-round pick in the draft to select Rudolph, a likely successor to Roethlisberger as the team's starting quarterback. That selection was met with shock from Big Ben, despite him flirting with retirement in the two previous offseasons. "I was surprised when they took a quarterback because I thought that maybe in the third round, you can get some really good football players that can help this team now," Roethlisberger said on a Pittsburgh-area radio show last Friday. "And nothing against Mason, I think he's a great football player ... I just don't know how backing up or being the third guy, who knows where he's going to fall on the depth chart ... helps us win now." Roethlisberger also said he'd likely respond to any questions from the rookie by simply pointing to the playbook. Rudolph took it all in stride, however, saying he'd "probably say the same thing."

The Raptors made the expected, though perhaps not wise, move on Friday and announced that they had fired coach Dwane Casey. Now comes the difficult task — finding his replacement. Taking over a team that won 59 games sounds like a good gig, but it might not be such an easy sell, because the Raptors don’t have many options when it comes to changing the roster, and Casey likely maxed out this team’s talent level. Still, some possibilities for Toronto... Mike Budenholzer At the very least, Budenholzer knows the sting of not being able to beat LeBron James in the playoffs, having brought his Atlanta team to 60 wins in 2015, only to lose to Cleveland in the conference finals. The last season with the Hawks has dinged Budenholzer’s reputation, but he is a 17-year veteran of Gregg Popovich’s staff in San Antonio and still a very bright tactician as a coach. Alvin Williams Williams was a Raptor for eight years, and has bounced around as a coach, with Toronto, Philadelphia and Boston. He is probably too green to take over the team, but his connection with the organization is strong. Kenny Smith Smith has expressed some interest in moving from the television set to the sidelines, and a team like the Raptors might be good for a guy who is new at this. Smith has a good gig with TNT, and would need the right job to be lured away from TV. He was a candidate for the job in Houston — where he spent the bulk of his NBA career — in 2016, and going to a ready-made winning situation like Toronto might have some appeal for him. Ettore Messina He’s a longshot, and his reputation for toughness might not go over too well among veteran Raptors. But he’s got the legitimacy that comes with spending time next to Popovich on the Spurs bench, and his track record of success in Europe is undeniable. Rex Kalamian/Nick Nurse There’s a chance that the Raptors could keep things simple and go with a guy already on staff. Kalamian and Nurse are two young Raptors assistants who have been getting consideration for head-coaching jobs. Kalamian has developed a knack for good relationships with star players — he had a bond with Russell Westbrook during his time in Oklahoma City, and has the same with DeMar DeRozan. Nurse is considered an offensive guru and was instrumental in instituting changes to the Toronto attack. It’s likely, though, that Toronto will bring in a new voice altogether. Jerry Stackhouse Stackhouse has been coaching Toronto’s G-League team for two years. He has a reputation for old-school discipline, which might not fit well with an established veteran team. He also runs a grinding style of offense that might not suit the Toronto offense. Monty Williams Like Stackhouse, Williams has a reputation for coaching a slower, more methodical style in an era of quickened pace and 3-point shots that come in a flurry — Williams’ teams in New Orleans were consistently in the bottom five in pace, and in the bottom half of the league in 3-pointers. He’d have to make adjustments to modernize a bit, but Williams has some credibility as a former head coach. Jay Larranaga Brad Stevens’ coaching stock has skyrocketed this season, especially in the playoffs, so it’s about time his staff begins to get raided. Larranaga has been getting attention as a potential head coach for a couple of years, and he is probably ready to make the leap. (He’s also interviewed with Charlotte.) David Blatt Blatt is eager to get back into the NBA, and his year-and-a-half with the Cavaliers — 83-40, 14-6 in the playoffs and a trip to the Finals — shows he is worthy of another chance. He’s a very good Xs and Os coach, and the book on him is that he’d be better with a young team in need of development. That’s not the Raptors, obviously, but he could get consideration anyway.

Last October, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released its 2016 traffic fatality figures, with a trend of increased road deaths emerging from the statistics. It reported 5,987 deaths as a result of pedestrians being hit by vehicles in 2016, the single worst year since 1990. Just seven years prior in 2009, statistics showed a lower rate of fatal accidents involving pedestrians than any other year in history at 4,092. However, during the aforementioned peak, 2016 statistics climbed by a measure of 1,895 over 2009's all-time low, a 46.3 percent increase over a period of only 7 years. Why the reversal? The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) crunched the numbers and found a multitude of attributable factors. Location, road type, and time of day are listed as contributing factors to fatal collisions, but the single greatest statistical hike comes from pedestrian versus SUV matchups: 81 percent. The IIHS partially attributes this to the taller profiles of SUVs and SUV-like crossover vehicles, which have swarmed the market in recent years, dominating sales. Hood height of these vehicles, greater than that of sedans, allows increased chances of chest or head injury, which are more likely to result in fatal injuries. High-horsepower vehicles showed correlation with greater accident rates, but taking into consideration the often-greater curb weight of SUVs, automakers tend to fit them with more powerful engines. Increased vehicle weight typically correlates with longer stopping distances, and taller ride height with dampened perceptions of speed, though neither factor was cited by the IIHS. Crossover and SUV demand is strong enough to pull struggling automakers like Mitsubishi back from the brink, but at what cost will it come to American pedestrians? Or vehicle buyers, who suffer from soaring new car prices?

TEHRAN, Iran — The White House is condemning Iran's "reckless actions," accusing the country of "exporting destabilizing influence throughout the Middle East." White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders has issued a statement citing actions in Syria and Saudi Arabia. She is calling on "responsible nations" to pressure Iran to "change this dangerous behavior." An Iranian rocket barrage on Israeli positions in the Golan Heights prompted an Israel attack Thursday on Iranian targets in Syria. Saudi Arabia is accusing Iran of providing missiles that Yemeni rebels have fired toward Riyadh. Trump spoke with British Prime Minister Theresa May Friday. The White House said both condemned the rocket attacks. Downing Street also said May reiterated support for the Iran nuclear deal, which Trump withdrew from this week.

Iran will prepare for the “industrial scale” production of nuclear fuel even as it seeks guarantees from other countries to honor the Iran deal despite the recent United States' withdrawal from the agreement. Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif described his government’s reaction to President Trump’s decision on Tuesday to re-impose U.S. sanctions on foreign companies that do business with Iran, in a statement posted to Twitter on Friday. "The President of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran has been tasked with taking all necessary steps in preparation for Iran to pursue industrial-scale enrichment without any restrictions, using the results of the latest research and development of Iran's brave nuclear scientists," the statement said. Germany and France said they would seek to shield European companies from U.S. sanctions, which would prohibit companies that do business in Iran from using the U.S. financial system. And Russian President Vladimir Putin has spoken to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Turkey’s President Recep Erdogan about how to save the 2015 agreement with Iran, according to Russia's official press agency TASS. Putin has long advocated for a new financial system with China that would circumvent the reach of U.S. sanctions, which also target his country. The nuclear deal was negotiated by then-president Barack Obama with Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia to limit Iran’s nuclear activities in return for relief from crippling international sanctions coordinated by the Obama administration. The deal focused on limiting and monitoring Iran’s production of nuclear fuel, a key ingredient for producing such weapons. Under the deal, Iran permanently altered a heavy water nuclear power plant to prevent it from ever producing plutonium for a bomb. It also disconnected and scaled back its facilities for producing nuclear fuel through a process called uranium enrichment. The deal allowed Iran to reconnect the machines and eventually build an industrial-scale enrichment program starting in 2025. Trump said he wants to impose new conditions on Iran, to address its ballistic missile program, its support for terrorism, the expiration dates and inspection provisions in the agreement. Zarif’s statement said that with the U.S. withdrawal from the deal, Iran is prepared to embark on the 2025 enrichment project now. Zarif’s statement puts pressure on U.S. European allies and other parties to the deal to find a way to keep it alive despite Trump's efforts to ice it, said Suzanne Maloney, an Iran analyst at the Brookings Institution. “Zarif is saying we have our hardliners and … who knows what they’re going to do,” Maloney said. “They moved very quickly when it was time to implement the deal and they can move very quickly if they decide to undo it.” Germany is ready to help 120 of its firms to keep doing business with Iran, German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said on Friday. “We are ready to talk to all the companies concerned about what we can do to minimize the negative consequences,” he told Deutschlandfunk radio, according to Reuters. “That means, it is concretely about damage limitation” and offering legal advice, he said. But it's not clear if those European efforts would succeed. Maloney said the Europeans can try to shield some companies but cannot preserve all the trade and investment that transpired under the sanctions waivers that Trump eliminated this week. Each company and bank will have to decide whether to risk being cut off from the U.S. financial system. "In the end, the size of the U.S. market dwarfs any prospect of any benefit they can get from Iran," Maloney said.

CHICAGO - The Land of Lincoln is in such financial disarray, it's looking at selling some of the Lincoln. The foundation that supports the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum indicated Thursday that prestigious memorabilia tied to the home-state 16th president could be sold to help pay back a loan taken out to buy a trove of items more than a decade ago. "If the foundation is not able to secure commitments in the very near future to retire most - if not all - of the remaining $9.7 million debt, it will have no choice but to accelerate the possibility of selling these unique artifacts on the private market - which would likely remove them from public view forever," the Lincoln library foundation said in a statement. Officials sounded the alarm bell publicly after meeting with aides to Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner this week but "receiving no financial commitments." The Lincoln officials added that they've asked state lawmakers for money three times, to no avail. A Rauner spokeswoman called the museum "a jewel for the state." "We are certainly interested in working with the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation as they work through their options," Patty Schuh said. "We are listening to their business plan." Finding the money and getting the long-warring parties at the Capitol to agree to spending it could prove challenging. The state is billions of dollars in debt despite approving a major income-tax increase last summer. There's been little progress in putting together a budget this spring as a scheduled adjournment looms at month's end. And it's an election year, meaning that money is under the microscope as lawmakers prepare to ask voters to re-elect them. State government runs and funds the Lincoln library and museum. The separately run foundation raises private funds to support the presidential complex. The foundation, which is not funded by the state, operates a gift store and restaurant but has little role in the complex's operations, programs and oversight. The financial issues stem from a $23 million loan taken out to bankroll the 2007 purchase of a trove of Lincoln and non-Lincoln artifacts. The foundation bought a collection of more than 1,000 items from Louise Taper of Beverly Hills, Calif., who also donated memorabilia in what was viewed as a big coup for the popular $145 million museum, which has drawn more than 4 million visitors since opening in 2005 in downtown Springfield. The Taper collection included a beaver fur stovepipe hat that library officials are satisfied that Lincoln wore, though some critics are not convinced there is empirical evidence of an attachment to Honest Abe. There also are Lincoln eyeglasses, a billfold and gloves he wore to Ford's Theatre when he was shot on April 14, 1865. They carry some of the blood spilled when he was assassinated. The collection also includes items like a dress worn by 1950s movie star Marilyn Monroe that is now considered a non-Lincoln item that potentially could fetch big bucks to help pay off the loan. Museum officials are sorting out which Taper collection items were donated and transferred to the state, and what might end up for sale - if it should come to that. One item that won't be on the auction block is the state's rare copy of the Gettysburg Address, written in Lincoln's own hand. The long-held showcase document wasn't part of the Taper purchase. The state's collection of tens of thousands of Lincoln artifacts draws researchers from across the globe and gives the public a chance to see up close big and small pieces of history tied to a person considered by many the greatest president in U.S. history. Tony Leone, who once served on a historic preservation panel that had some oversight of the Lincoln library, maintained losing items because of an inability to make loan payments would give the state a "black eye." Leone questioned whether the library or the foundation, which operates separately, would have "priority over what part of the collection they can keep." The museum foundation and the state have some time. The loan doesn't come up for renewal until October 2019. The lender, which was not disclosed, has been helpful with terms in the past, the foundation said. Rene Brethorst, the foundation's chief operating officer, said in an email that the sale of Lincoln items is "something we are working hard to avoid." "But, if we don't secure funding, we will have to accelerate that possibility," she wrote. "We don't know which items might be sold, but the vast majority of items in this collection are related to Abraham Lincoln, his family or others with direct connections to him." While Rauner and Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan's long-running dispute has impacted state government, the two have a track record of negotiating on issues surrounding the Lincoln complex. After some disputes, last year Rauner signed an executive order creating a stand-alone state agency for the Lincoln center. That was a change Madigan had requested for years, arguing it would free up the museum from bureaucratic red tape. In addition, the governor and first lady Diana Rauner have worked with groups to raise private funds to cover Springfield needs. That includes a renovation of the Executive Mansion, a home visited by presidents including Lincoln and Barack Obama. Diana Rauner announced in late February that the governor's mansion would reopen for public tours July 14, marking the end of a $15 million renovation that includes the installation of a new roof, HVAC system and entrance to the storied building. Rauner is trying a similar approach to fixing up the crumbling Illinois State Fairgrounds. If nothing else, the wealthy Rauner has proven to be a fan of keeping valuable memorabilia out of private hands. In 2016, the state's first couple spent a reported $625,000 on items related to "The Godfather." The Rauners donated the papers and possessions formerly belonging to the classic gangster movie's author, Mario Puzo, to Dartmouth College, the governor's alma mater.

President Trump has the power to sink pharmaceutical stocks with a single jab about high drug prices. But in a much-anticipated speech on the topic on Friday, Mr. Trump largely avoided the issues the industry fears the most, such as allowing Medicare to directly negotiate drug prices, or allowing Americans to import drugs. Investors noticed: Stocks of major drug companies rose after his speech, as did those of pharmacy benefit managers, or the “middlemen” that Mr. Trump said were getting “very, very rich.” Sign Up For the Morning Briefing Newsletter As the health care world parsed the president’s newly released “blueprint” to lower drug prices, the overarching insight seemed to be this: The drug industry’s formidable lobbyists had won some key victories, even if they did not escape entirely unscathed. Many proposals were light on detail and will need action by Congress to become real. Yet Mr. Trump won some praise for having taken a stab at tackling such a complex and vitally important issue to many Americans. Here is a rundown of the key proposals unveiled on Friday. Lower drug prices for older people On the campaign trail, Mr. Trump embraced allowing Medicare to negotiate the price of the drugs it buys for older people, an issue traditionally supported by Democrats but long opposed by Republicans — and the powerful drug industry. Friday’s proposal falls far short of that goal. But it does include some ideas for giving the government better leverage in negotiating with drug companies. It calls for exploring whether to allow Medicare drug plans to pay different amounts for the same drug, depending on the illness involved. And it would experiment with “value-based purchasing” in federal programs, essentially a money-back guarantee in which a drugmaker promises to refund money if a medication does not work as expected. Drug companies and insurers are increasingly entering into these kind of arrangements, although the evidence is far from clear that they lower costs. The administration also reiterated earlier proposals: making generic drugs free for some low-income older people on Medicare and allowing people to keep a portion of the rebates that are normally pocketed by the insurers that manage the Medicare drug program. Persuade other countries to pay more One key proposal would involve pressuring other countries to raise their prices for prescription medicines. Drug prices in the United States are the highest in the world; many countries with centralized health care systems have successfully negotiated lower prices from pharmaceutical companies. Mr. Trump, echoing the longstanding position of the drug industry, has said these companies are “free-riding” off the ingenuity of American corporations, and that high drug prices in the United States are subsidizing innovation that benefits the whole world. “We have great power over the trading partners; you’re seeing that already,” Mr. Trump said on Friday. “America will not be cheated any longer, and especially will not be cheated by foreign countries.” The Trump administration plans to work with several federal agencies to address what it described as this “unfair disparity.” But it is unclear whether other countries would be willing to raise their prices, or whether doing so would lead drug companies — which are beholden to shareholders hungry for profit — to lower prices in the United States. Require drug ads to include the price Prescription drug commercials are ubiquitous. But what if those ads had to disclose the drug’s price? That is something the Trump administration says it wants to explore. The idea would certainly grab attention, and fear of a consumer backlash could pressure some drugmakers into dropping their prices. But the notion poses a lot of issues For one: which price? The list price, which is about what a pharmacy would charge if someone paid for the drug in cash? Or the discounted price that insurers and employers pay? Most consumers have health insurance and pay a much smaller out-of-pocket cost, although that can still add up to thousands of dollars a month. Other questions include whether such a requirement would survive a First Amendment challenge, and whether posting a high sticker price — which few ultimately pay — could dissuade patients seeking out a necessary drug. Finally, drug companies are masterful at distracting viewers from the lengthy list of risks and side effects that is already required by the Food and Drug Administration. Some have been known to employ noisy brass sections or buzzing bees to de-emphasize the required information. Would the drug’s price similarly fade into the background? Ban ‘gag clauses’ for pharmacists Some contracts between pharmacies and pharmacy benefit managers prohibit pharmacists from telling patients when a drug they need would be cheaper if they paid in cash, rather than using their insurance. “This is a total rip-off, and we are ending it,” Mr. Trump said in his speech on Friday. The administration’s written proposal is more vague, saying that it “may” prohibit these gag clauses in plans for Part D, the Medicare drug program. End the patent games Patent protection for new drugs is vital, the industry insists, to allow drugmakers to recoup the millions of dollars invested in researching and developing lifesaving products. But over the years, the industry has become known for finding new ways to hold on to that patent protection, and with it the power to charge whatever it wants without generic competition. One recent flashpoint has been the refusal of some brand-name companies to turn over samples of their drugs to generic drugmakers, effectively preventing competing products from being developed. Republican and Democratic lawmakers have proposed changes that would end this practice but have been unsuccessful. Trump said on Friday he would rein in this game-playing, saying “our patent system will reward innovation, but it will not be used as a shield to protect unfair monopolies.” On the horizon Some of the most theoretical ideas also have the potential to be the most disruptive. One is to upend the existing rebate system, in which drug companies pay rebates, or discounts, off the list price to insurers and employers. But those rebates are often considered trade secrets, and pharmacy-benefit managers pocket a portion of the rebate for themselves, creating what many have described as perverse incentives that keep drug prices rising. The Trump administration has said it is examining whether it should consider rebates to be a form of illegal kickback, a change that would likely require congressional action.

The man named by President Trump last year to oversee regulation of the nation’s $1.4 trillion credit union industry has taken a novel approach to the agency he leads. Instead of going to his office near Washington every day, J. Mark McWatters works from his home. In Dallas. McWatters, whose salary as chairman of the National Credit Union Administration board is $165,300, may be the federal government’s most unlikely telecommuter. The arrangement adds a wrinkle to the tendency among some Trump administration officials to spurn traditional government norms. An NCUA spokesman confirmed a Washington Post finding that McWatters works from Dallas and declined to say how often he travels to the headquarters in Alexandria, Va., where more than 400 of the agency’s 1,200 employees are based. Government watchdog groups said they could not recall another agency chief routinely working so far from his office. Subscribe to the Post Most newsletter: Today’s most popular stories on The Washington Post “It’s unprecedented and in­cred­ibly troubling,” said Meredith McGehee, executive director of Issue One, a nonpartisan group composed of scores of former lawmakers and Cabinet secretaries from both parties. “How can he lead a federal agency from his house?” McWatters declined multiple requests for interviews and did not respond to questions emailed to him. The White House did not respond to questions about the vetting of McWatters or whether Trump knew about McWatters’s practice of telecommuting. Agency spokesman John Fairbanks downplayed the significance of McWatters’s remote work, saying it has had no impact on NCUA operations, because the agency is “predominantly a virtual workforce.” He said McWatters travels to Alexandria at his own expense for monthly board meetings and other occasions when his duties, such as testifying before Congress, require that he be there. “Regardless of location, Mr. McWatters is engaged with staff at the NCUA every day using the full suite of video, voice and electronic tools available to our staff,” Fairbanks said. The government has for years encouraged wider use of telework among federal workers, citing improved recruitment, retention and other factors. Almost a half-million federal workers participated in telework programs in fiscal 2016, according to data maintained by Telework.gov. But watchdog groups and longtime observers say it is rare for senior managers, and almost unheard of for an agency leader, to routinely work from home. Trump named McWatters acting chairman of the agency on Jan. 23, 2017 — after his more than two years as a minority-party member of the agency’s board, appointed by President Barack Obama — and then chairman in June. McWatters has since followed through on promises to ease the regulatory burden on credit unions and to cut costs and staffing at the agency, documents and interviews show. A lawyer, an accountant and an advocate of free-market principles, McWatters has sometimes spent agency money in the style of a corporate executive. Not long after he joined the board in 2014, McWatters bought nearly $22,000 worth of furniture for a headquarters office he rarely used, records show. Though leaders of many government agencies must notify Congress if they want to spend more than $5,000 on office furniture and upgrades, that requirement does not apply to the NCUA, which is funded through fees paid by credit unions. “All new board members are permitted to purchase office furniture, and it is commonly done,” Fairbanks said. McWatters has used limousine services dozens of time while traveling to meetings across the country, spending about $114 per trip on average, according to records provided by the agency. He once paid $582 for a “luxury sedan” and driver for himself and a colleague to travel from Madison, Wis., to Green Bay. Last year, he spent $12,000 to fly from Dallas to Barcelona to attend a conference. Fairbanks said that all of McWatters’s work-related expenses conform to agency guidelines and that all board members travel frequently on agency business. In email exchanges, Fairbanks initially said McWatters’s “main office and duty station” is the NCUA headquarters in Alexandria. Two days later, he added that McWatters “works from his location.” Days after that, in response to questions about the meaning of “his location,” Fairbanks acknowledged McWatters is a long-distance telecommuter. “Chairman McWatters does work from his residence in Dallas,” Fairbanks wrote. Fairbanks said McWatters chose to work remotely in part because, after he and his wife divorced, their son lived in his house in Dallas. “It was important for Chairman McWatters to telework from Dallas when his duties did not require his presence in Alexandria,” Fairbanks said. Fairbanks said McWatters has been an effective leader. McWatters has reorganized the agency, trimmed more than 5 percent of the workforce through attrition and cut more than $10 million in costs while ensuring credit unions operate safely and account holders are protected, Fairbanks said. The NCUA became an independent federal agency in 1970 to regulate and insure the deposits of credit unions, which operate as nonprofit financial institutions on behalf of members. There are more than 5,500 federally insured credit unions, with 111 million members, most of them middle-class people. Though the number of federally insured credit unions has been dropping for a quarter-century, they have become larger and more complex as the number of customers and the average assets have risen sharply. The board is composed of three members who serve six-year terms, and it can have no more than two members from a single political party. The chairman is responsible for implementing regulations and policies and interacts with Congress and other federal officials. All board members work full time for the agency and are more directly involved in management than the members of a corporate board typically are. No other chairman in memory has worked remotely, former board members said. Concerns about McWatters’s teleworking surfaced during a board meeting in February 2016, almost a year before he became the agency’s leader. McWatters was complaining that his colleagues had not adopted a wording change he had proposed, at 6 p.m. the night before, to a rule they were considering. He suggested they should be more flexible, particularly because “from the perspective of a practicing lawyer, 6 o’clock is practically the middle of the day,” a transcript and video of the meeting show. Deborah Matz, then the chair, and Rick Metsger, then the vice chairman, bridled at the criticism. “Perhaps if you came to the office more than three days a month and got your briefing more than two days in advance of our meeting, we’d be able to have discussions about issues in a timely fashion,” Matz, a Democrat, told McWatters. When traveling as a member to board meetings, generally scheduled on the third Thursday of every month, McWatters typically arrived in Northern Virginia on Monday afternoon and left after the meeting, according to people who worked at the NCUA at the time. In a statement to The Post, Matz declined to discuss McWatters but said she believes the agency chairman needs to be present to be effective. “I couldn’t imagine doing the job as chairman effectively if I wasn’t in the office every day interacting with the regulatory staff, attorneys, and other regulators at other financial services agencies,” wrote Matz, who served as chair from August 2009 through April 2016. “It is a very full-time position.” Michael E. Fryzel, a Chicago native who was appointed chairman in 2008, said he also felt it necessary to work in Alexandria. Fryzel, a Republican, said he had hoped his presence would help him manage problems and send a signal to staff members during the global financial crisis. “It was important that staff knew the Chairman was working as hard as he wanted them to,” he wrote to The Post. Before he was named to the board, McWatters, 63, was assistant dean of graduate programs and a professor at Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law, and an adjunct professor at SMU’s business school. He had been a law partner at a prominent firm, worked as counsel to Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.) and served on the oversight panel for the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Hensarling, also a free-market advocate, is chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, which oversees McWatters’s agency. McWatters took an unusual approach to the regulatory job from the start. After his Senate confirmation in June 2014, he waited nearly three months to take his oath of office — and then did so at Hensarling’s office in Texas.

WASHINGTON — White House chief of staff John Kelly said President Donald Trump is "somewhat embarrassed" by the special counsel's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. But he later clarified that the president is "distracted." Kelly told National Public Radio in an interview that aired Friday the probe "may not be a cloud" over the White House, but it gets discussed. He told NPR: "When world leaders come in, it's kind of like, you know, Bibi Netanyahu is here ... who's under investigation himself, and it's like, you know, you walk in, and you know, the first couple of minutes of every conversation might revolve around that kind of thing." Asked about the embarrassment comment, Kelly told a group of reporters later Friday that he "corrected that and said 'distracted.'" Asked if the president was distracted by the probe, Kelly said, "It's untrue, it's a witch hunt, right, and it distracts him — not too much, but it's unfair." In the NPR interview, Kelly also spoke about the Trump administration's efforts to fight illegal immigration. He said most people coming into the country illegally "are not bad people," but said they won't assimilate easily. "They're overwhelmingly rural people. In the countries they come from, fourth-, fifth-, sixth-grade educations are kind of the norm," Kelly said. "They don't speak English; obviously that's a big thing. ... They don't integrate well; they don't have skills." While Kelly's role in the administration appears to have diminished of late, he told NPR that he has a close relationship with Trump and said he has never considered leaving the White House. "There's times of great frustration, mostly because of the stories I read about myself or others that I think the world of, which is just about everybody who works at the complex, and wonder whether it's worth it to be subjected to that," he said. He also said he wished he had been in his role sooner: "''I think in some cases in terms of staffing or serving the president that first six months was pretty chaotic and there were people some people hired that maybe shouldn't have."

The U.S. Postal Service placed most of the blame for the $1.3 billion it lost in its second fiscal quarter on “inflexible” government policy, and some of it on inflation and a decline in first-class mail, but it did not blame any of it on delivery deals made with customers, including, notably, Amazon.com Inc. The net loss for the quarter ended March 31 widened from $562 million in the same period a year ago. The “controllable” loss, which excludes items that are not recurring and outside of management’s control, was $656 million, after a profit of $12 million last year. Total revenue rose 1.4% to $17.50 billion, as 9.5% growth in shipping and package revenue and a 15% rise in international revenue helped offset a 2.5% drop in first-class mail and a 0.4% decline in marketing mail. First-class-mail revenue of $6.46 billion represented 36.9% of total revenue, down from 38.3% last year, while the percentage of shipping and package revenue increased to 29.4% from 27.3%. USPS called the controllable loss primarily a result of a $236 million increase in retiree health-benefits costs because of changes in actuarial assumptions and a $364 million rise in compensation expenses to support its “labor-intensive package business” and contractual wage adjustments. Higher fuel costs and highway-contract-route inflation lifted transportation expenses by $155 million. In addition to controllable expenses, unfunded retiree benefits and retiree health benefits jumped $766 million because of changes in actuarial assumptions, while worker-compensation expenses declined $658 million because of changes in interest rates. USPS said it would take “urgently needed legislative and regulatory changes,” as well as continued management actions, to return to financial stability. “Despite growth in our package business, our financial results reflect systemic trends in the marketplace and the effects of an inflexible, legislatively mandated business model that limits our ability to generate sufficient revenue and imposes costs upon us that we cannot afford,” said Postmaster General Megan Brennan. That seems to differ from comments made by President Donald Trump last month. Trump said the USPS was losing “billions of dollars” because of a “Delivery Boy” deal with Amazon, under which, he said, the post office lost an average of $1.50 on each package delivered for the e-commerce giant. At that time, the post office told MarketWatch it had no comment on the matter. Don’t miss: Amazon stock extends fall after Trump tweets ‘concerns’ about U.S. Postal Service, taxes. After many contradicted the president’s claims, including former Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe, Trump issued an executive order on April 12 calling for an evaluation of the post office’s finances. In the past, one USPS complaints was with a government-imposed rate-setting system, which forced the post office to remove a 2-cents-per-stamp increase for a first-class letter back in 2016. “America needs a financially strong Postal Service that can invest in its future and can continue to fulfill the needs of American businesses and consumers,” Brennan said. “With continued aggressive management and greater legal authority to respond to changes in our marketplace and to control our costs, the Postal Service can return to financial sustainability.” The USPS’s results come at a time that, over the past three months, shares of package-delivery service United Parcel Service have rallied 8.9% and those of rival FedEx have climbed 6.7%, while Amazon’s stock has soared 19.8% and the S&P 500 index has gained 4.2%.

The commander and the senior enlisted adviser of a US Navy SEAL Team deployed to Africa have been relieved of their duties and sent home due to sexual misconduct allegations regarding multiple fellow US military female service members, a US defense official tells CNN. "Special Operations Command Africa commander Maj. Gen. Mark Hicks suspended the Special Operations Command Forward - East Africa commander and senior enlisted adviser of their duties on May 10 due to allegations of misconduct," Maj. Casey Osborne, a spokesman for Special Operations Command Africa, told CNN. "Gen. Hicks directed both individuals to return to their home station for further adjudication regarding the allegations," Osborne added, while not specifying the nature of the allegations. Many of the Navy SEALs in East Africa conduct operations in Somalia, where they advise Somali forces battling al-Shabaab, the local affiliate of al Qaeda. The two Navy SEALs are being investigated by the Navy's Criminal Investigative Service. "A commanding officer and command master chief assigned to an East Coast-based Naval Special Warfare unit have been relieved of their duties overseas due to alleged misconduct," Lt. Jacqui Maxwell, a spokesperson for Naval Special Warfare Group TWO, told CNN. "Naval Special Warfare and NCIS have initiated investigations as appropriate," she added. A spokesperson for NCIS did not immediately respond to questions from CNN about the investigation. ABC was first to report the allegations. News of the investigation comes as Special Operations Forces in Africa have come under increasing scrutiny. Earlier on Friday US Africa Command, which oversees US military operations on the continent, issued a statement saying it was reviewing allegations that civilian casualties had been caused during a May 9 "Somali-led operation to disrupt and degrade al-Shabaab's terrorist network near Bulcida, Somalia." Africa Command said US military advisers had partnered with the Somali forces during the operation where the alleged civilian casualties took place. NCIS is also still investigating the alleged killing of civilians in August during a joint US-Somali military operation in Somalia. The initial investigation by US Special Operations Command Africa concluded that the only casualties during the operation were al-Shabaab fighters, however, the commander of Africa Command, Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, referred the matter to NCIS following media reports that alleged "misconduct by US personnel who participated in the operation." And on Thursday, the Pentagon released a summary of its months-long investigation into an October 4 ambush that left four US soldiers dead in a remote part of Niger. The investigation identified "individual, organizational, and institutional failures and deficiencies that contributed to the tragic events of 4 October 2017," according to the summary.

A Democratic House candidate from New Mexico hopes to draw attention in an ad with an especially pointed message for the National Rifle Association: "F*** the NRA." Albuquerque City Councilor Pat Davis, who is running in the June 5 primary uses the profanity at the beginning of a 15-second ad that he said went on the air on Friday. "Their pro-gun policies have resulted in dead children, dead mothers and dead fathers," he continues. A former police officer, Davis told USA TODAY that Democrats have been too cautious in their positions on gun-control in past election cycles. He hopes to show Democrats with later primary elections that gun control is a winning issue. "It’s become more clear now than ever that the NRA has way too much power in the halls of Congress and being polite about our demands will only get us thoughts and prayers in return," Davis said in a fundraising letter. NRA spokesman Jennifer Baker said, “At least the gun-control lobby and their anti-Second Amendment shills are keeping the campaign to ban guns classy. Beyond that observation, I won’t dignify their obscenity with a response.” KRQE, a local TV station where Davis is airing the ad, said it cannot censor the f-bomb. Federal election rules prohibit the station from censoring or editing the commercial, said Bill Anderson, the station's general manager. “What we can control however, is the 15 seconds of air time preceding it, which we will use to warn the viewer of a possible offense, disclaim our own views, and cite the federal laws imposed on candidates and TV stations," he said, according to a story on the KRQE website. Davis told USA TODAY he’s targeting air time that adult voters, not children, will see. “Kids aren’t watching the news shows on Sunday morning or the in-depth policy wonky shows where we’ll be running it, he said. Davis is one of several Democrats vying in a competitive primary for a solidly Democratic open seat in the district covering central Albuquerque.

BALTIMORE — A disgraced police sergeant who once led a rogue Baltimore police unit has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison. There were gasps and tears from his relatives as a U.S. judge handed down the sentence Friday for Thomas Allers, a former officer-in-charge of the Gun Trace Task Force. Allers is the first member of the disbanded unit to be sentenced. He had pleaded guilty to nine robberies over roughly three years in a federal racketeering case focused on the unit. Seven other members were indicted on charges that include robbery, extortion, and selling drugs seized during police operations. U.S. Judge Catherine Blake said that as a onetime leader of the unit, Allers joined in with corrupt activities and "emboldened what other people on the task force were doing."

The Russian company charged with orchestrating a wide-ranging effort to meddle in the 2016 presidential election overwhelmingly focused its barrage of social media advertising on what is arguably America’s rawest political division: race. The roughly 3,500 Facebook ads were created by the Russian-based Internet Research Agency, which is at the center of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s February indictment of 13 Russians and three companies seeking to influence the election. While some ads focused on topics as banal as business promotion or Pokémon, the company consistently promoted ads designed to inflame race-related tensions. Some dealt with race directly; others dealt with issues fraught with racial and religious baggage such as ads focused on protests over policing, the debate over a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico and relationships with the Muslim community. The company continued to hammer racial themes even after the election. USA TODAY Network reporters reviewed each of the 3,517 ads, which were released to the public this week for the first time by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. The analysis included not just the content of the ads, but also information that revealed the specific audience targeted, when the ad was posted, roughly how many views it received and how much the ad cost to post. Among the findings: Of the roughly 3,500 ads published this week, more than half — about 1,950 — made express references to race. Those accounted for 25 million ad impressions — a measure of how many times the spot was pulled from a server for transmission to a device. At least 25% of the ads centered on issues involving crime and policing, often with a racial connotation. Separate ads, launched simultaneously, would stoke suspicion about how police treat black people in one ad, while another encouraged support for pro-police groups. Divisive racial ad buys averaged about 44 per month from 2015 through the summer of 2016 before seeing a significant increase in the run-up to Election Day. Between September and November 2016, the number of race-related sports rose to 400. An additional 900 were posted after the November election through May 2017. Only about 100 of the ads overtly mentioned support for Donald Trump or opposition to Hillary Clinton. A few dozen referenced questions about the U.S. election process and voting integrity, while a handful mentioned other candidates like Bernie Sanders, Ted Cruz or Jeb Bush. Interactive Graphic: Explaining Russia's Facebook campaign aimed at Americans Young Mie Kim, a University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher who published some of the first scientific analysis of social media influence campaigns during the election, said the ads show that the Russians are attempting to destabilize Western Democracy by targeting extreme identity groups. “Effective polarization can happen when you’re promoting the idea that, ‘I like my group, but I don’t like the other group’ and pushing distance between the two extreme sides,” Kim said. “And we know the Russians targeted extremes and then came back with different negative messages that might not be aimed at converting voters, but suppressing turnout and undermining the Democratic process.” The most prominent ad — with 1.3 million impressions and 73,000 clicks — illustrates how the influence campaign was executed. A Facebook page called “Back the Badge,” landed on Oct. 19, 2016, following a summer that saw more than 100 Black Lives Matter protests, NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s national anthem protests in August and protests over the police shootings of Terence Crutcher in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Keith Lamont Scott in North Carolina. The information analyzed by the USA TODAY Network shows the Internet Research Agency paid 110,058 rubles, or $1,785, for the Facebook spot. It targeted 20 to 65-year-olds interested in law enforcement who had already liked pages such as “The Thin Blue,” “Police Wives Unite” and the “Officer Down Memorial Page.” The very next day, the influence operation paid for an ad depicting two black brothers handcuffed in Colorado for “driving while black.” That ad targeted people interested in Martin Luther King Jr., Malcom X and black history. Within minutes, the Russian company targeted the same group with an ad that said “police brutality has been the most recurring issue over the last several years.” USC professor Nick Cull, author of The Cold War and the United States Information Agency, says the ad campaign is reminiscent of tactics employed during the Soviet era. His book explored how the KGB tried to disrupt the LA Olympics by faking propaganda from the KKK threatening black athletes. "Soviet news media always played up U.S. racism, exaggerating the levels of hatred even beyond the horrific levels of the reality in the 1950s," Cull wrote in an email. "It was one reason Eisenhower decided to move on civil rights." Adam Schiff, the Minority Leader of the House Intelligence Committee, said he made the ads available to the public so that academics could study both the intention and breadth of the targeting. “These ads broadly sought to pit one American against another by exploiting faults in our society or race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and other deeply cynical thoughts,” Schiff said in an interview with USA TODAY Network. “Americans should take away that the Russians perceive these divisions as vulnerabilities and to a degree can be exploited by a sophisticated campaign.” A federal grand jury in February indicted 13 individuals accused of working for the Internet Research Agency to produce the ads. The charges related to meddling in the 2016 election, the only election interference case Mueller's office has filed so far. The indictment included emails from the Russian company's employees that left no doubt that their objectives were “to sow discord in the U.S. political system, including the 2016 U.S. presidential election.” This effort “included supporting the presidential campaign of then-candidate Donald J. Trump and disparaging Hillary Clinton,” the indictment states. Peter Carr, a spokesman for the special counsel, declined comment on the ads this week. An attorney for two of the companies indicted by Mueller did not respond to a request for comment. One of the companies, Concord Management and Consulting, LLC, entered a not-guilty plea on Wednesday in the U.S. District Court in D.C. The USA TODAY Network analysis found that Russians effort first used a raft of viral memes referencing banal American pop culture, like Spongebob Squarepants and Pokémon, to apparently build support behind legitimate-looking connections before deploying the racially-tinged spots. Hundreds of ads mixed race and policing, with many mimicking Black Lives Matter activists that melded real news events with accusations of abuse by white officers. That type of subversion only hurts legitimate efforts to calm tensions over policing and hate crimes, said Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Johnson said the Russian ads likely helped to fuel “hateful, xenophobic rhetoric” throughout the 2016 presidential campaign. “When you’re stoking fear to get a negative action directed at a targeted population based on race, and when a foreign nation uses that fear to subvert and undermine democracy, that’s become a serious problem,” Johnson said. “It’s a warning for technology companies and corporations that private citizens have entrusted with their privacy to receive factual information.” It’s hard to measure precise impact of the campaign targeting police and their families, but it certainly didn’t help, said Jim Pasco, senior adviser to the president of the National Fraternal Order of Police, the nation’s largest police union. "There is absolutely no doubt that these ad placements further inflamed tensions in already volatile and already sensitive situations at critical times," Pasco said. The tech tools have changed, but the themes of disruption have not, said Bret Schafer of the German Marshall Fund’s Alliance for Securing Democracy, which tracks activity of Russia-linked social media bots and trolls. Social media is an effective way to target wedge issues because of the ability to micro-target ads, sending messages to confederate flag supporters at the same time as Black Lives Matter sympathizers to stoke divisions, he said. “They are stirring up the racial pot, while then trying to connect with minority groups and saying: Look at how racist the content is online. They don’t really have to do that because the content online is racist without the Russians, to be very clear,” Schafer said. He added that it's hard to measure how effective the campaigns were in general. Some of the ads "completely bombed," based on interactions. But stoking racial fears and tensions was often effective. "Some of the most racist ads put out got the highest levels of engagement,” Schafer said. “It seems that when their messaging went to the extreme on some of these issues, it actually landed the hardest punch. “If they hit 10% of the time, it's still effective for them,” Schafer said.

WASHINGTON — Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, dined last year in Rome with Cardinal George Pell, a prominent climate-science denialist and Vatican leader who was also facing sexual abuse allegations. The E.P.A. later released official descriptions of the dinner that intentionally did not mention the cardinal’s presence, according to three current and former E.P.A. officials. Kevin Chmielewski, Mr. Pruitt’s former deputy chief of staff for operations, said in an interview that top political appointees at the agency feared that the meeting would reflect poorly on Mr. Pruitt if it were made public. Twenty days after the dinner, authorities in Australia charged Cardinal Pell with sexual assault; he has denied the charges. Sign Up For the Morning Briefing Newsletter “It was a no-brainer,” Mr. Chmielewski said of the decision to keep Cardinal Pell’s participation quiet. His account was confirmed by two people who were familiar with the handling of the trip, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of concern over retribution. On Friday, Jahan Wilcox, an E.P.A. spokesman, issued a statement confirming the June 9 meal took place while emphasizing that it “was not a private one-on-one dinner” and saying that Mr. Pruitt wasn’t aware of the allegations against Cardinal Pell. He also said the E.P.A. had no knowledge the cardinal would be attending the dinner. However, emails obtained through the Freedom of Information Act show that as early as May 12, Mr. Pruitt’s scheduler, Millan Hupp, was working on plans for Mr. Pruitt to meet with Cardinal Pell. “Dinner with Cardinal Pell and others,” an email says, proposing the dinner for June 7 and adding, “Note: His 76th birthday is tomorrow.” The dinner Cardinal Pell attended ultimately took place June 9 at La Terrazza, a restaurant in the five-star Hotel Eden overlooking Rome. An internal debate over whether to proceed with any meeting with Cardinal Pell had begun well before Mr. Pruitt left for Italy, according to three current and former agency officials. Mark Kasman, a career E.P.A. official who helps supervise international affairs at the agency, found media reports describing the allegations against Cardinal Pell and approached Mr. Chmielewski with them, Mr. Chmielewski said, urging the agency to cancel any such meetings. Cardinal Pell has been under investigation in connection with sexual abuse allegations since 2016. Mr. Kasman, reached in Morocco where he was attending a meeting with other United States government officials, referred questions to the agency’s Office of Public Affairs. Cardinal Pell’s presence at the dinner was initially revealed in E.P.A. emails obtained by the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group, this week. “I am at dinner with Cardinal Pell and Mr. Pruitt,” Samantha Dravis, Mr. Pruitt’s former policy chief, wrote the evening of the dinner to another Vatican official. Ms. Dravis, reached Friday, said she did not know about the investigation into Cardinal Pell at the time of the dinner, and did not participate in any conversations or deliberations about whether the cardinal’s name should be left off the schedule. At the dinner, Mr. Pruitt and Cardinal Pell discussed a plan of Mr. Pruitt’s to stage public debates challenging the established science of climate change, the email shows. The emails also show that much of Mr. Pruitt’s time in Rome was spent attending events recommended or arranged by Leonard A. Leo, executive vice president of the Federalist Society, a conservative organization that promotes limits on federal regulations. The May emails suggest that Mr. Leo was involved in planning for a dinner. Mr. Leo did not respond to a request for comment. Mr. Chmielewski said that a move to keep Cardinal Pell off official schedules came after Cardinal Pell was charged on June 29. Some senior members of the agency’s leadership team agreed that it was best not to list Cardinal Pell’s name in any official schedule the agency would release, according to Mr. Chmielewski and a second agency official. Mr. Chmielewski said that he personally shared that view. At least fourversions of Mr. Pruitt’s formal and detailed schedules for his week in Italy — one posted online, and three released under the Freedom of Information Act — have been obtained by The New York Times. Two of them list individual attendees at the dinner, including Mr. Pruitt and his chief of staff, Ryan Jackson. None include Cardinal Pell’s name. Mr. Chmielewski joined the E.P.A. in 2017 after having worked on Republican presidential campaigns. Earlier this year, he said, he was fired from the agency for challenging Mr. Pruitt’s spending decisions. Mr. Pruitt faces 11 investigations into his spending and management practices at the agency. Mr. Pruitt testified to Congress recently that Mr. Chmielewski resigned. Mr. Jackson said that neither he nor the administrator was informed about the investigation into Cardinal Pell before the trip. He also said discussions about leaving Cardinal Pell’s name off the schedules never took place. “The only ever conversation that happened was, ‘Hey, these schedules change so quickly that we need to be really diligent about keeping the records of what actually happened,’” Mr. Jackson said. He added that he did not know why Cardinal Pell’s name did not appear on official schedules, but noted that schedules are fast-moving and participants change frequently. “Documents change every five minutes, to be entirely candid with you,” he said.

President Donald Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, explained why he won't debate Stormy Daniels' lawyer, Michael Avenatti, on Friday. Giuliani told Business Insider that he doesn't "get involved with pimps." Avenatti tweeted earlier that he was "willing to participate on any network provided both sides are provided a fair shake." President Donald Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, on Friday escalated his battle with Michael Avenatti, the attorney for adult-film actress Stormy Daniels. Avenatti had challenged Giuliani to a head-to-head debate earlier this week. "It would be very helpful for the public to witness a discussion between Mr. Giuliani and me concerning the facts of the case, etc," Avenatti tweeted Tuesday. "I am willing to participate on any network provided both sides are provided a fair shake. I am also willing to do it on 12-hrs notice." During a phone interview with Business Insider, Giuliani said he wouldn't debate Avenatti because the lawyer is "pimping for money." "I don't get involved with pimps," he said of the lawyer. "The media loves to give him room because he makes these roundabout charges and they turn out to mean nothing. I think he's going to get himself in serious trouble." Avenatti, a cable news mainstay, made waves this week with the revelation of some Michael Cohen's financial dealings after the 2016 presidential election. Cohen, the longtime lawyer to Trump, accepted payments from AT&T, pharmaceutical company Novartis, Korea Aerospace Industries, and Russian-tied investment firm Columbus Nova. Those companies paid Cohen in excess of $1.2 million through the shell company, Essential Consultants LLC, that he set up to facilitate the $130,000 hush money payment to Daniels, who alleges she had an affair in 2006 with Trump. Cohen and White House aides denied the affair took place, though Giuliani made extensive headlines last week when he said Trump reimbursed Cohen for the payment. Cohen is under criminal investigation in the Southern District of New York for possible campaign finance violations and bank fraud. He has not been charged with a crime. Avenatti did not make clear how he obtained the banking records, and experts were left guessing just how he came upon them. The Treasury Department's inspector general opened an investigation this week into whether Suspicious Activity Reports were leaked to Avenatti, who did not immediately return a request for comment from Business Insider. "I think he's got a lot of explaining to do," Giuliani said, noting that he did not know how Avenatti would come upon those records. "I wouldn't debate him, because it wouldn't be fair," the former New York City mayor and US attorney continued. "I debate like really intelligent skilled people," he added, pointing to famed attorney and Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz. "I know Alan Dershowitz," Giuliani said. "He's no Alan Dershowitz."

President Trump went after the news media on Friday evening for not reporting that his administration was opposed to the AT&T merger with Time Warner, following reports that his personal attorney Michael Cohen was paid by AT&T for consulting. "Why doesn't the Fake News Media state that the Trump Administration's Anti-Trust Division has been, and is, opposed to the AT&T purchase of Time Warner in a currently ongoing Trial. Such a disgrace in reporting!" Trump tweeted. Trump attacked the media after reports that Cohen had pitched himself as a consultant on Trump administration policy in the days after the 2016 election and received hundreds of thousands of dollars from AT&T, among other companies. The Washington Post reported this week that Cohen received $600,000 to consult for AT&T about the merger, among other issues. The company has since called the contract a mistake and said Cohen could not provide the services they expected. The deal is significant because it raises questions about whether Trump knew about his personal attorney's financial dealings with AT&T and other companies with business before the Trump administration. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders defended the optics of the deal at a press briefing Friday, claiming it was proof that the Trump administration would not be influenced by outside forces. "This further proves the president is not going to be influenced by special interests. This is actually the definition of 'draining the swamp,'" she said, directing further questions to the president's outside counsel. "I think it's pretty clear the Department of Justice opposed the merger, so the president or his administration hasn't been influenced by any outside special interest. ... He's going to do what he finds to be in the best interest of Americans across the country," Sanders said. Cohen's consulting organization, Essential Consultants LLC, is also significant because Cohen used the firm before the 2016 election to facilitate a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels, an adult film actress who claims to have had an affair with Trump in 2006. Trump has denied the affair, and Cohen claims the payment was made to silence Daniels's false claims.

Carrie Underwood is back! Nearly six months after a terrifying fall forced her to take a healing hiatus, the singer has returned to the studio and the stage. And on Thursday, she returned to TODAY and opened up to Hoda Kotb about returning to the spotlight Fans got their first live look at Underwood's big return when she took the stage at the Academy of Country Music Awards in April with a powerful performance that earned cheers, tears and a standing ovation. "When you're singing something that is straight from your heart, it's easy to just be in the moment and be connected to it," she explained. "And I never realized how much it translates until after the ACM Awards. It was like, 'Wow, you know, there was something different about that performance.'" It was something triumphant for the 35-year-old, who just months earlier, didn't know what the future would hold for her. In November of last year, Underwood suffered a fall that resulted in a broken wrist and an injury to her face that required more than 40 stitches. "Plain and simple, it was just kind of a freak accident," she recalled. "I just fell. I just tripped taking my dogs out to do their business. So it could have happened to anybody. I say if I'd fallen anywhere else it wouldn't have been a problem, but there was just one little step that I went to catch myself on, and I missed." It was a frightening moment that left her filled with uncertainty. "In the beginning, I feel like I didn't know how things were gonna end up," she said. "It just wasn't pretty." That's hard to imagine for anyone who sees her today, looking as amazing as ever. "I have a dedicated team of professionals who can spackle and paint and paste," she said with a laugh. "I'm feeling, every day, a little more back to normal." For the "Cry Pretty" singer that means singing, songwriting and even getting back to the gym with her CALIA by Carrie Underwood fitness wear line — and Hoda joined her there for workout. And someone else stopped by, too. Underwood's mother, Carole, was on hand and ready to feel the burn alongside them. But mostly, she was there to celebrate her daughter as Mother's Day approaches. © TODAY Carrie UnderwoodCarrie Underwood's mother, Carole, joined the singer and Hoda Kotb for a workout and more. "You know, she's a great mom," Carole said. "She's a great daughter. She's a great person. I just want her to always be that way." We can't imagine her any other way.

Spotify caused a mighty stir yesterday when it announced that, under a new public policy against "hate content and hateful conduct," it would no longer feature R. Kelly on its playlists. The following day, Apple Music and Pandora announced they will also stop promoting the R&B singer, who is facing multiple sexual misconduct and assault allegations. Sources told Pitchfork and The Blast that Apple Music had quietly pulled R. Kelly from featured playlists before Spotify's announcement and that Pandora does not currently promote the singer's music. R. Kelly’s music is still available on both streaming platforms – and Spotify's – but users have to search for it specifically, rather than coming across it on company-curated playlists. Apple Music said its decision was made weeks ago; Pandora said it has been overhauling its approach to "artists with unacceptable conduct" for months. "Pandora's policy is to not actively promote artists with certain demonstrable behavioral, ethical or criminal issues," the company said in a statement. For all three companies, the task of policing artists is murky territory. Spotify, Apple and Pandora have all stated artists will be judged on a "case-by-case" basis – language that deflects the larger question of how the companies will distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable behavior going forward. (When asked for a comment, XXXTentacion's management team gave lists of other musicians who have been accused of violence and abuse and asked if they'll also be taken off Spotify.)

The Billboard Music Awards has yet another major act to add to this year's all-star performance lineup: Salt-N-Pepa. The legendary rap trio will team up with vocal group En Vogue for a special performance celebrating the 30th anniversary of becoming the first female rap artists to hit the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100. Cheryl James (Salt), Sandra Denton (Pepa) and DJ Spinderella made their chart debut in 1987, and one year later, their iconic track “Push It" became the first rap song by a female act to hit the top 40 of the Hot 100 -- eventually making it all the way to No. 19. “Thirty years later, we’re still Pushing It all over the world and we’re still loved and celebrated by fans we grew up with as well as new fans,” Salt-N-Pepa said in a statement. “Looking back at all the barriers we’ve broken as women in this very male dominated genre of music, being the first two female rappers to break the Top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 is right up there as one of the best moments of our amazing career. We are blessed.” The group reached even higher heights on the chart in 1994, teaming up with En Vogue for the No. 3-peaking Hot 100 hit "Whatta Man." Other performers announced for the 2018 BBMAs include host Kelly Clarkson, Camila Cabello, BTS, Ariana Grande, John Legend, Dua Lipa, Jennifer Lopez, Shawn Mendes and Christina Aguilera featuring Demi Lovato. The ceremony takes place May 20 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The three-hour telecast will air live on NBC at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

A body found Thursday night is that of missing Frightened Rabbit frontman Scott Hutchison, police in Scotland confirmed Friday. The body was discovered about 8:30 p.m. local time Thursday (12:30 p.m. PT) in Port Edgar, Queensferry, just west of Edinburgh, the Scottish capital. Although no official cause of death has been given a statement from Hutchinson’s family, issued Friday afternoon by Police Scotland, suggested the singer had been suffering from mental health issues. The statement read: “As a family, we are utterly devastated with the tragic loss of our beloved Scott. Despite his disappearance, and the recent concerns over his mental health, we had all remained positive and hopeful that he would walk back through the door, having taken some time away to compose himself. Scott, like many artists, wore his heart on his sleeve and that was evident in the lyrics of his music and the content of many of his social media posts.” The family said Hutchison had “battled bravely with his own issues formally years.” “Depression is a horrendous illness that does not give you any alert or indication as to when it will take hold of you,” read the statement. “We are immensely proud of [Scott] for being so open with his struggles. His willingness to discuss these matters in the public domain undoubtedly raised awareness of mental health issues and gave others confidence and belief to discuss their own issues.” The 36-year-old singer and guitarist was reported missing early Wednesday, and was last seen near the Dakota Hotel in South Queensferry. Hutchison had issued a tweet Tuesday night referring to his life in the past tense: “Be so good to everyone you love….I didn’t live by that standard and it kills me.” Twenty minutes later, his final, poignant tweet simply said: “I’m away now. Thanks.” Hutchison’s family was informed of the discovery of the body, and formal identification took place Friday. Hutchison formed Scottish indie rock band Frightened Rabbit in 2003. The group’s first studio album, 2006’s “Sing the Greys,” featured just Hutchison and his brother Grant, who is the band’s drummer. Their most recent, fifth album, “Painting of a Panic Attack,” was released in 2016 on Atlantic Records. The band also includes Billy Kennedy, Andy Monaghan and Simon Liddell. On Wednesday, the group tweeted: “We are worried about Scott, who has been missing for a little while now. He may be in a fragile state and may not be making the best decisions for himself right now.” News of the body’s discovery prompted tributes from other Scottish musicians, including Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos and Belle and Sebastian singer Stuart Murdoch. Kapranos tweeted that Hutchison’s death was “a terrible loss.” Murdoch said the Scottish music community had been praying for a different outcome and encouraged anyone “having dark thoughts” to talk to family, friends or a doctor. Irish rock band Snow Patrol said they were devastated to hear the news about their friend. Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon said it was “heartbreaking news,” calling Hutchison “a remarkable and much loved talent.”

The CW may have passed on Supernatural's spin-off, Wayward Sisters, but it's just picked up a whole bunch of series with some serious buzz. The Roswell and Charmedreboots were both ordered to series, though the former has been renamed Roswell, New Mexico. This retelling of everyone's favorite alien-centered series has an illegal immigrant twist that's sure to spark discussion amongst fans of the show, both old and new. Charmed won't be undergoing a name change, though it does promise to be a fierce, funny and feminist reboot of the original. The Originals spin-off, newly titled Legacies, also received a pickup, so prepare to see more of Hope Mikaelson (Danielle Rose Russell) as she navigates her way through teenage life as a witch at the Salvatore Boarding School for the Young and Gifted. Two new series, All American and In the Dark, are also headed to The CW in the 2018-2019 season. All American tells the story of a high school football player from South L.A. is recruited to play for Beverly Hills High, and his struggles as he integrates into a new world. In the Dark follows a flawed and irreverent blind woman, who is the only "witness" to the slaying of her drug-dealing friend. After the police dismiss her story, she sets out with her dog, Pretzel, to find the killer. The CW will announce its fall schedule next week.