At least 60 people died and dozens were injured in Abidjan as crowds stampeded overnight during celebratory New Year's fireworks, Ivory Coast rescue workers said Tuesday.
The head of military rescue workers, Lieutenant Colonel Issa Sako, told public television that "60 people" died and 200 were injured based on a preliminary toll. Another rescue official said told AFP the toll is "61 dead and 48 injured."
Taylor Budowich, an aide to former President Donald Trump, blasted the U.S. justice system after he testified before a federal grand jury hearing evidence about the alleged mishandling of government documents.
Reports said Budowich was questioned on Wednesday by Jay Bratt, a counterintelligence chief at the Justice Department.
"Today, in what can only be described as a bogus and deeply troubling effort to use the power of government to 'get' Trump, I fulfilled a legal obligation to testify in front [of] a federal grand jury and I answered every question honestly," Budowich wrote on Twitter. "America has become a sick and broken nation—a decline led by Joe Biden and power hungry Democrats."
"I will not be intimidated by this weaponization of government," he added. "For me, the need to unite our nation and make America great again has never been more clear than it is today. That starts with re-electing President Donald J. Trump, a purpose I will not be deterred from pursuing."
Special counsel Jack Smith is said to be using two grand juries — in Florida and Washington, D.C. — to investigate Trump.
Today, in what can only be described as a bogus and deeply troubling effort to use the power of government to “get” Trump, I fulfilled a legal obligation to testify in front a federal grand jury and I answered every question honestly.
America has become a sick and broken…
— Taylor Budowich (@TayFromCA) June 7, 2023
The set of "The View" got heated on Wednesday as the show's co-hosts debated former Vice President Mike Pence, who announced he was running for president that morning.
After working for him for many years during Donald Trump's administration, Alyssa Farah Griffin has long been a Pence advocate and loyalist.
"What scares me, Alyssa," Sunny Hostin began, "you are incapable of defending a man that you worked for. You're saying you need to hear more —"
Griffin cut her off to respond. Hostin said she was still speaking."You said that you needed to hear more from him. I don't need to hear more from Pence for several reasons," Hostin said.
That's when Hostin began listing off all of the things she thought Pence did wrong as governor of Indiana.
Hostin said that she was living in Indiana and attending Notre Dame when Pence allowed an HIV/AIDS crisis to play out in one Indiana county after he stopped a clean needle program. It took him more than two months to respond.
She listed off a number of other things, like his war against LGBTQ people, that hurt the economy. The IndyStar made it clear: "When you deal your state a crushing economic blow, when you seem incapable of understanding the role you have played in creating this mess — well, that makes clear that you are not in the right job."
Griffin kept trying to talk over Hostin, asking if she could respond.
But Hostin continued listing off several problems she had with Pence.
"This is not what the show is about. This is Barbara Walters' legacy. Let a woman speak," Griffin said.
That's when Goldberg stepped in and sent the show to a commercial break.
When they returned the conversation was calmer, and they began debating about Pence's role as the chair of Operation Warp Speed during the pandemic.
See the debate below or at the link here.
Part 1:
Part 2:
CNN boss Chris Licht got canned following a tumultuous one-year tenure and just days after a devastating profile raised serious questions about his leadership.
Parent company Warner Bros. Discovery dumped Licht on Wednesday in the wake of the 15,000-word profile by The Atlantic's Tim Alberta, who revealed that Licht had lost the support of CNN employees and the media conglomerate's CEO David Zaslav, and just weeks after the widely criticized town hall with Donald Trump.
The writing seemed to be on the wall, but many were surprised by how swift his downfall came.
"Chris Licht: the latest in a line of media leaders who burned their own house down with their determination to be antiwoke and prove their 'independence' from liberals who criticize them on twitter," tweeted journalist Wesley Lowery.
"The only option after Licht is me, yeah?" said Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, posting a photo of the "Succession" character Kendall Roy, the scion of that show's fictional media dynasty.
"I agree with this and would add: Although this vision — to coax Trump, his allies and MAGA viewers into seeing CNN as equally theirs — was responsible for the town hall debacle, it was never publicly doubted by Licht or Zaslav," said Jay Rosen, a New York University journalism professor.
"Enjoy the news of Chris Licht's departure at CNN today, but know that Warner Bros. Discovery will almost certainly replace him with someone worse," wrote former Obama administration official Brandon Friedman.
"Now that Chris Licht is out at CNN, he's free to pursue his true passion: roaming the countryside in search of various Republicans he can interview," tweeted journalist Aaron Rupar.
"Over the weekend, Chris Licht still claimed there was a path forward for him at CNN," said former CNN host Brian Stelter, who lost his job under Licht. "Some people politely tried to tell him that there was no coming back. No recovering. He did not, or could not, believe it."
"From a friend who says what many alums think: "As a former CNNer, there is no joy in this. What an embarrassing end to a shameful chapter in this network's history. I and so many others lost our jobs for his non-existent vision, and there seems to be no clear end to this chaos,'" Stelter added.
"We were all told that Chris Licht was a news wunderkind a year ago — but his bio would tell you that he was unqualified to run a huge team of professional journalists covering stories around the world," said journalist Bill Grueskin.
"Licht isn’t out at CNN because employees bristled over his lame comments," wrote author Jared Yates Sexton. "If his Trump Town Hall gambit had worked and the network hasn’t sunk behind NewsMax and possibly even the Soap Opera Network he’d still be gainfully employed Simply put, his 'anti-woke' garbage failed."
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