A former staffer from Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign said it was "surreal" trying to get media outlets to care about Russian election meddling when all they wanted to talk about during the presidential race was hacked emails from the DNC and Clinton's use of a private email server during her time as U.S. Secretary of State.
"It was so surreal," Palmieri said. "I felt as if I had been catapulted into another dimension where we would have these surreal conversations about the Russians and Trump and Mike Flynn and Carter Page and Donald Trump Jr. saying, ‘We’re really invested in Russia.'"
She recounted how she and Clinton campaign foreign policy adviser Jake Sullivan "went around to all the networks during the convention to do a briefing for them on Russia, about why they needed to take this more seriously."
Instead, she said, they chose to myopically focus on Wikileaks' slow drip, drip, drip of purloined emails and whether or not Clinton violated confidentiality rules by not using a government server for work correspondence.
President Donald Trump neglected to complete the necessary paperwork to divest himself from multiple businesses in spite of his promises to hand over the running of his private interests to his two sons.
The Intercept reported Wednesday that Trump's January press event in which he posed for the cameras with piles of "documents" -- they were later found to be blank stacks of paper -- and pledged to divest himself from his private businesses as president was a sham.
Trump hired tax attorney Sheri Dillon to manage the purported handover of control to the president's sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, but as the Intercept pointed out, the arrangement was still miles away from the traditional blind trust in which presidents place their assets while in office.
Months later, it appears the president couldn't even be bothered to adhere to the tenets of that modest plan.
"Shortly after his inauguration," wrote the Intercept's Mattathias Schwartz, "he released a letter, dated January 19. It appeared to show him resigning from more than 400 corporate entities connected to the Trump Organization’s businesses. Alex Garten, a Trump Organization lawyer, told CNN that the Trump Organization would update the company’s official state records 'in the ordinary course as and when required by law.'”
However, said Schwartz, research by the Intercept showed Trump "couldn’t even be bothered to promptly follow through on the very small promises made by Dillon to create the appearance of some separation between his presidency and his businesses. True to form, Trump promised the bare minimum and did even less."
The state of New York still has Trump listed as the CEO of four different businesses -- all of which he claims he has stopped running.
"Two of those entities made new filings on June 29 and June 30 that replaced Trump’s leadership with his immediate family and employees," Schwartz said. "The new filings were made after repeated phone calls and emails from The Intercept to the White House and the Trump Organization asking why Trump was still listed on state documents as being in charge of four Trump Organization entities."
“I agreed with President Trump when he said that no one is above the law,” said Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) to The Intercept. “That principle applies to him as well. He must fix this.”
As of mid-June, Trump was still listed as the CEO of Trump Las Vegas Corp., a company called 3126 Corporation, Trump Ferry Point Member Club and Trump Empire State Incorporated.
Former ethics lawyer to the George W. Bush administration Richard Painter -- who said earlier this week that under his administration, Jared Kushner and Donald Trump Jr. would already be "in custody" over their secretive dealings with Russian officials -- explained that this is typical of Trump.
“This shows the sloppiness Trump’s organization has with respect to ethics requirements. They don’t even want to do what they’ve said they’re going to do. They should be correcting the filings. People ought to be able to look and see who has the authority to act on behalf of these companies," he said.
On July 16, viewers around the world will eagerly tune into the premiere of the seventh season of “Game of Thrones.”
That phrase – “viewers around the world” – hasn’t applied to television premieres before. For most of its history, television has been a profoundly national medium. While shows like “Dallas,” “Baywatch” and “The Simpsons” all drew large global audiences, international television trade required delays: A television series could air in different countries, but it often happened months – even years – after it would air in its country of origin.
As I explore in my book “We Now Disrupt This Broadcast: How Cable Transformed Television and the Internet Revolutionized It All,” many of those practices have changed in recent years. It’s now possible for a series to release new episodes for viewers around the world, and the result is a global watercooler – a shared media culture that transcends national boundaries.
While you might think that Netflix or Amazon Video would have an advantage, it’s an HBO show – “Game of Thrones” – that’s at the forefront of this phenomenon.
Building a global fan base
Even in a golden era of television production, “Game of Thrones” stands out. HBO spends lavishly on the series – beyond what most other networks can afford – and the result is a visually breathtaking product.
Its fantasy setting takes place in a world that isn’t geographically or culturally distinctive to the U.S., which also broadens audience appeal. Television shows that aren’t country-specific – miniseries such as “The Odyssey” and “Gulliver’s Travels” – tend to be among the most successful in international trade. There was also a built-in global fan base from the popular series of novels that inspired the show.
“Game of Thrones,” however, didn’t start out as a global blockbuster.
HBO debuted the show in 2011 for its U.S. cable channel. Following standard practice, the network sold the series to channels around the world that would air the series with the typical delay. For example, Canal+ airs it in France, Sky Atlantic airs it in Italy and Foxtel airs it in Australia. There are also several HBO branded channels around the globe such as HBO Canada, HBO Central Europe, and HBO Asia. Some are owned fully or in part by HBO’s parent company; others just license the name.
By 2014 “Game of Thrones” had become the network’s biggest hit. But as the show’s popularity grew, so did its rates of piracy. While unauthorized access of video is difficult to measure with certainty, many called the series the most pirated show in the world.
How HBO pulled it off
We’d expect changes wrought by the internet to have played a key role. They did, but not in the way you’d expect. HBO didn’t use the internet to distribute “Game of Thrones” to subscribers around the world like Netflix and Amazon Video have done with their series. Instead, the internet was important to the series’ global growth because of the opportunities it gave fans to interact with one another.
The intricate, surprising storylines on “Game of Thrones” inspired instant dissection and analysis on social media feeds. This encouraged fans in TV markets outside of the U.S. to seek out unauthorized video sources: It was the only way they could avoid spoilers. While news stories about the high rates of piracy highlighted the popularity of the series – a form of free promotion – HBO certainly would prefer viewers to watch through authorized channels. Eliminating the delay in access was one solution.
In 2015, just before the start of its fifth season, HBO announced that it had deals in 170 markets around the world to air new episodes simultaneously with its U.S. broadcast. This was not unprecedented. “Dr. Who” did the same in 2013 with a 94-country simulcast in honor of its 50th anniversary – a one-time event.
Arguably no network other than HBO could have pulled it off.
Because HBO is both the producer and distributor of the series, it can adjust the timing of its international availability. Making shows (the job of studios) and presenting them to audiences (the job of channels) are two different businesses, and their interests don’t perfectly align. If a different studio produced “Game of Thrones” for HBO, the studio might be too concerned that the simulcast would diminish its ability to sell the series to other distributors. Moreover, HBO had significant international reach and relationships that provided it with a direct pipeline to viewers outside the U.S.
Not the new normal – for now
While HBO has shown that global TV blockbusters are now possible, they aren’t likely to become common practice. Internet-distributed services that are building a global subscriber base – such as Netflix and Amazon Video – have a clear advantage in this regard. They have customers around the world and can act as the producer and distributor of their series or negotiate for worldwide rights. It’s notable, however, that neither has succeeded in creating a true blockbuster hit. For example, Netflix’s “Marco Polo” had a huge budget and a premise that appealed to audiences around the world. But it never caught on.
While blockbusters can be incredibly lucrative, there’s no magic formula for making one. The odds of success are far greater when making series that speak specifically to the cultural experiences of people in individual countries or with particular tastes.
Once Netflix and Amazon Video have firmed up a strong subscriber base outside of the U.S. with local programming, look for them to also wade into the risky – but rewarding – business of global blockbusters.
A prominent former Republican politician and cable news host has announced he is leaving the GOP.
MSNBC host Joe Scarborough was a three-and-a-half term member of Congress from Florida, but is leaving his party despite his prominent media perch as a conservative.
The Executive Producer of the "Late Show" with Stephen Colbert announced the bombshell would come on tonight's show.
On Sunday morning, President Donald Trump tweeted that he was instituting a cyber-security commission with Russia, an idea the world greeted with the unmitigated disdain and horror that it so richly deserved.
Then on Sunday night, Trump abruptly announced that no, the cyber security commission isn't actually happening. "It can't happen," he tweeted. "It can't."
This left observers perhaps even more gobsmacked than the original proposal, which, mere hours ago, most people would not have thought possible.
A former U.S. attorney told MSNBC on Sunday that President Donald Trump's son, Donald Jr. is still lying when it comes to the meeting in June with Russian attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya, who reportedly told Trump Jr. that she had damaging intelligence on Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
Ex-U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance said, "So, it looks like Trump Jr. is now engaging in what prosecutors call incremental truth telling -- when you have a problem that you're sitting on top of, you tell just as much as you think you have to tell to put yourself into the clear. And then you tell a little bit more, and a little bit more."
Trump Jr. has given conflicting stories about what Veselnitskaya said in their meeting. At first, he said the conversation was about adoption. Then, on Sunday he admitted that Veselnitskaya had offered to reveal compromising information to him about Clinton, but says that the claims didn't make sense and that he dismissed them.
Vance said that whatever Trump Jr.'s intentions were, he should have contacted law enforcement when approached by a foreign agent offering access to stolen information.
"If they were in fact hearing allegations that the Clinton campaign was in bed with the Russians, your intuitive response just as an American citizen is to reach out to law enforcement," she said. "Even if it's not true. You do that out of an abundance of caution. So if in fact they were not stunned by this, did not think it deserved comment to law enforcement, I would be surprised. I think it would be an indication that perhaps this isn't quite the truth yet and there are a few more steps in truth-telling before we get to the bottom of this story."
An expert on Russian spycraft and diplomatic tricks told CNN on Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has executed a slam dunk in gaining the upper hand with regards to his country's effort to meddle in U.S. elections.
"Putin is taking a deep bow," said investigative reporter Michael Weiss. "One of the smartest Russia specialists in Congress has said that this is Putin's metier: create a problem, pretend to solve it, then take a deep bow."
By agreeing to "work together" with the Russians on the cyber assault issue, Weiss explained, the U.S. has essentially agreed to carry out a meaningless bureaucratic maneuver engineered by the Russians to distract and immobilize U.S. efforts to stop the meddling.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) mocked the proposal as "not the dumbest idea" he'd ever heard, "but close."
"It's insane," said Weiss. "It's like putting an arsonist in charge of the fire brigade."
A former White House communications director and spokeswoman for the State Department under President Barack Obama blasted President Donald Trump on Saturday for naïvely walking right into Russian President Putin's "trap" at the G-20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany.
"The Russians just played the President. It was predictable. And he let it happen," wrote Jen Psaki in an op-ed piece at CNN.com.
Putin's incursions into Crimea and the Russian effort to meddle in the 2016 election should have served, Psaki said, as bulwarks against Putin coming into the meeting with the upper hand.
Psaki said that Putin and his foreign minister Sergei Lavrov are seasoned political and diplomatic operators who are adept at media manipulation. Putin may not be as charming to Russian media as Lavrov, but he is skilled at setting "traps" for unwary foreign officials.
"And set a trap is what he did," she wrote. "The Russians telegraphed in advance of the meeting that their agenda was to 1) publicly mend the relationship, 2) gain a better understanding of US policy, and 3) discuss joint concerns over terrorism. They scored on all three."
The U.S. on the other hand, she said, telegraphed its ineptness when National Security Adviser H. R. McMaster said the meeting will have "no specific agenda -- it's really going to be whatever the President wants to talk about."
This was the worst thing the administration could have said, Psaki wrote. Announcing a meeting agenda ahead of time "sends the message about what the United States expects to accomplish, how prepared we are for the engagement and also puts the difficult topics on the table that are the core purpose of these meetings."
The Trump administration, she said, failed on all counts.
Trump's acceptance of Putin's denial about election interference and the overall warm and fuzzy feeling of the meeting blew the administration's chance to exert diplomatic pressure on Russia.
"You don't get a lot of shots at pressure in diplomacy. And after you've let your adversary off the hook, you certainly don't get to apply that pressure again. As far as the Russians are concerned, the public case is closed," she said.
Instead of drawing a line in the sand about election hacking, she said, "Trump accepted the assurances of Putin all while smiling in front of the cameras. And the Russians have photos -- that they are already expertly spreading around the Internet -- to prove it."
In an off-camera briefing on Air Force One on Saturday, the Trump administration's Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster were forced to admit that Russian media reports are correct: President Donald Trump took Russian President Vladimir Putin at his word on Friday when Putin denied that Russia meddled in the 2016 election.
CNNWhite House correspondent Athena Jones told anchor Ana Cabrera on Saturday, "Secretary Mnuchin was one of those three administration officials who did not take an opportunity after given multiple opportunities to correct the record about these competing and contradictory readouts coming out of the U.S. and the Russian side after that two hour-plus meeting -- the first meeting that President Trump had with Russian President Vladimir Putin."
According to The Hill, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Reuters, "U.S. President Trump said that he heard firm assertions from Russian President Putin that it is not true and that Russian authorities have not meddled in the elections. [Trump] said that he accepts these assertions. That's it.”
Mediaite.com said NBC's Peter Alexander said that he was told by a White House official that Trump pushed back against Putin's denial, tweeting, "Admin official disputes FM Lavrov's assertion that Trump accepted Putin's assurances that Russia didn't meddle in US election."
CNN's Jim Acosta was told the same, writing, "Senior admin official tells me POTUS did not accept Putin claim of non-interference in last year's election."
However, as Jones noted, when pressed, the administration officials on Air Force One had to admit that they could not contradict Lavrov's account.
"I'm not going to make comments about what other people say," Mnuchin said during Saturday's audio-only gaggle. "President Trump will be happy to make statements himself about that, but the president handled himself brilliantly. He made his position felt and after substantive dialogue, they agreed to move on to other discussions."
President Donald Trump's elder son Donald Jr. had a busy day on Twitter Saturday. After he got his ears boxed by CNN's Ana Navarro, he retweeted a meme video showing a mockup of his father as a fighter pilot shooting down another plane marked "CNN," said TheHill.com.
Trump Jr. tweeted the meme just as the controversy about last week's wrestling video had begun to die down. Pundits and Trump critics said that for the president to retweet a meme showing himself beating a figure labeled "CNN" encourages violence against journalists.
On Saturday, many in the U.S. and abroad were startled to see President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka sitting in his seat at the table at the G-20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany.
CNN Republican political commentator Ana Navarro opined on Twitter, "Given choice b/w Pres. Donald or Pres. Ivanka, I'd take her. After all, she's smart and eloquent and knows how to make champagne popsicles."
Donald Trump Jr. got irate, feeling his sister was being insulted.
"She is VERY smart & eloquent. You can belittle her all you want w your snark, but we all know 1 on 1 she way out of your league," he tweeted.
Navarro clapped back with alacrity, writing, "Oh, no! I got under Little Boy Trump's thin skin. Not his fault. It's a hereditary condition."
Actor Nelsan Ellis -- most famous for his portrayal of gay, brawling short order cook Lafayette Reynolds on HBO's "True Blood" -- has died at the age of 39, according to Variety.
The actor reportedly died of complications from heart failure.
“We were extremely saddened to hear of the passing of Nelsan Ellis,” said a statement from HBO. “Nelsan was a long-time member of the HBO family whose groundbreaking portrayal of Lafayette will be remembered fondly within the overall legacy of ‘True Blood.’ Nelsan will be dearly missed by his fans and all of us at HBO.”
“Nelsan was a singular talent whose creativity never ceased to amaze me,” said "True Blood" producer Alan Ball. “Working with him was a privilege.”
Ellis leaves behind one son, Variety said, named Breon, and seven siblings.
Actress Octavia Spencer broke the news on Instagram on Saturday morning.
Speaking on Glenn Beck's radio show, former Fox star Bill O'Reilly claimed that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was pleased that he outraged most of the country by turning a state-owned beach into his private sandbox while it was closed to the public during the July 4th weekend.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, O'Reilly said Christie is looking for a life outside of politics and might feel that he can turn the outrage into a career in media as a "controversial" character that would drive ratings.
"So he’s the only one on the beach, and then he allows himself to be photographed in a lounge chair with his grin on his face," O'Reilly explained to Beck on Friday miring. "He knows what he’s doing. He’s engendering controversy to get his name out there so he’ll get some kind of media play."
"What better way to get his name out there as a controversial guy," O'Reilly continued. "That's what he’s angling for, and I think he’s going to get some kind of media contract too."
Christie has already made a name for himseff outside of politics, with high profile appearances in the private owner's box of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, and has been rumored to be interested in sport talk radio with its more "in your face" commentary.
According to NJ.com, Christie has been under consideration as a replacement host, taking over for Mike Francesca on WFAN.
"I would certainly at least want to consider him," WFAN program director Mark Chernoff stated. "If he's interested and we're interested, it's worth pursuing."
As for the continuing fallout over Christie's holiday stunt, a New Jersey Democratic lawmaker has proposed a bill that would allow the general public to rent out the house on Island Beach State Park currently reserved for the use of the governor.
Once Netflix and Amazon Video have firmed up a strong subscriber base outside of the U.S. with local programming, look for them to also wade into the risky – but rewarding – business of global blockbusters.