Nixon and Obama: Like brothers from another mother

HERE’S A VIDEO COMPARISON OF OBAMA’S RESPONSE TO SCANDALS AND NIXON’S HANDLING OF WATERGATE

 

Liberals, Democrats turning on Holder?

The Republican criticism of Attorney General Eric Holder and the Justice Department -- first, over the failed Fast and Furious gun-tracking operation and now, the subpoena of reporters’ phone and email records -- is growing to include outcry from liberal media outlets and Democrats.

“It seems to me clear that the actions of the department have in fact impaired the First Amendment,” Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., said earlier this month. “Reporters who might have previously believed that a confidential source would speak to them would no longer have that level of confidence.”
The congresswoman has been joined in her concerns by Democratic commentators and the liberal-leaning Huffington Post, which recently ran a giant headline saying it’s time for Holder to go.

House Republicans have over the past couple of years introduced multiple anti-Holder resolutions, including one now that expresses no confidence in the attorney general. 
Arizona Republican Rep. Paul Gosar, sponsor of the most recent resolution, says he has dozens of cosponsors and that Holder is failing to uphold his constitutional obligations -- and that he continues to be evasive with Congress and the American people.

On Tuesday, the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee also said it was looking into whether Holder misled Congress when he said he had no knowledge about the "potential prosecution" of journalists. No reporter has been charged in any leak probe by the department, but investigators did accuse a Fox News journalist of violating federal law in the course of seeking a search warrant in 2010. 

On the other side of the aisle, liberal pundit Bill Press has joined in the call to remove Holder, tweeting that he should be fired.

Joe Trippi, a Democratic strategist and Fox News contributor, said what makes the recent criticism different from the Republican-led grilling over Fast and Furious, which was linked to the fatal shooting of a U.S. Border Patrol agent, is the bipartisan outcry.

“You're starting to see Democrats join Republicans to call for (Holder's) resignation,” Trippi said. “Whenever you see both sides doing that, it means there's real trouble. It doesn't mean he's in trouble of having to be forced out or resigned yet. It means it's a lot more serious than other events he's had to take on.”

Holder responded to reports Tuesday that he regrets the subpoenas aimed at journalists, saying, “I’m not satisfied.”
He also indicated he’s going to have meetings and discussions with members of the media, possibly as soon as this week.

Security change at Liberty, Ellis islands criticized

(CNN) -- Recent security changes at New York City's Ellis Island and Liberty Island were under scrutiny Monday as summer started and tourists looked forward to the reopening of two of New York's historic landmarks.

Sen. Chuck Schumer and New York City Police Department Commissioner Ray Kelly have asked the National Park Service to re-evaluate a recent change in its security procedures that will allow visitors to board ferries headed to the islands and go through a security screening after they arrive.

"The NYPD and the National Park Service have differences when it comes to ideas on how to protect visitors from a terrorist attack," Kelly told reporters Monday. "Al Qaeda and its surrogates, those who share its jihadist goals, have continually called for attacks against America, in America."

Kelly wrote a letter to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell asking her to revisit the decision and alerted Schumer to the potential security risks.

"It's sort of ridiculous. It's sort of saying we are going to screen people at airports after they get on the plane," Schumer, a New York Democrat, said. "They've made a serious mistake here, and we are asking them to rethink it, to change it and simply go back to the old procedure."
A park service representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Since 9/11, visitors have been screened at a lower Manhattan security checkpoint before boarding the daily ferries to the islands. Liberty Island, home to the Statue of Liberty, and Ellis Island, home to the Ellis Island Immigration Museum, sustained extensive damage in Superstorm Sandy and have been closed since the storm hit in October.

Liberty Island is scheduled to reopen to the public on July 4, but Ellis Island will remain closed as it undergoes extensive repairs.

Man accused of killing elderly couple, sexually assaulting 2-year-old in Alaska

New SARS-like virus is a 'threat to the entire world'

(CNN) -- A new SARS-like virus recently found in humans is "a threat to the entire world," according to the director-general of the United Nations' World Health Organization.
The so-called novel coronavirus "is not a problem that any single affected country can keep to itself or manage all by itself," Margaret Chan said Monday in her closing remarks at the 66th World Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland.

The world needs to pull together its resources to properly tackle the virus which, Chan said, is her "greatest concern" at present.

"We understand too little about this virus when viewed against the magnitude of its potential threat," she said, and more information is needed "quickly" and "urgently."

"We do not know where the virus hides in nature. We do not know how people are getting infected. Until we answer these questions, we are empty-handed when it comes to prevention. These are alarm bells. And we must respond," she said.

 Coronavirus reported in France Health workers infected with coronavirus What is coronavirus?
Novel coronavirus is part of a family called coronaviruses, which cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, as well as a variety of animal diseases. However, the new virus is not SARS.

The virus had infected 44 people worldwide as of last week, most of them in the Middle East, according to the World Health Organization's most recent update Thursday. Half of them have died.
Also in its Thursday update, the WHO appeared to have given the novel coronavirus a name: Middle East respiratory symptom coronavirus, or MERS-CoV.

A 23rd death was reported Tuesday, when a French hospital and the French government reported a man diagnosed with the coronavirus had died of organ failure.

The patient, the first of two people to be diagnosed with novel coronavirus, died at University Hospital of Lille, where he had been treated since May 9.
The man contracted the virus while visiting the Arabian Peninsula, said Marisol Touraine, France's minister of social affairs and health, in a statement.

The second patient, also male, was in stable but very serious condition, the hospital said. One of the patients shared a room with the other and contracted the virus.

Joint WHO missions with Saudi Arabia and Tunisia will take place as soon as possible, with the goal of gathering the facts needed to conduct a risk assessment, Chan said Monday.
5 things to know about dangerous, SARS-like virus
Earlier this month, the WHO said two health care workers in Saudi Arabia became ill while treating patients.

Novel coronavirus acts like a cold virus and attacks the respiratory system, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said. But symptoms, which include fever and a cough, are severe and can lead to pneumonia and kidney failure. Gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea have also been seen, according to the WHO.

It's not yet known how humans contract the virus, experts have said. Most of the cases so far have been seen in older men with other medical conditions; precise numbers are hard to come by, as officials don't know how many people might contract a mild form.

Cases have been identified in eight countries including France and Saudi Arabia, according to the WHO. Other European countries include Germany and the United Kingdom.
No cases have been reported in the United States, but infectious disease experts have said it would not be surprising.

New SARS-like virus poses medical mystery

The touching story behind this viral Memorial Day photo of grieving Iraq vet who marched 13 iles in full combat gear to visit grave

At Riverside National Cemetery, National Guard Sgt. Eric Hille, 33, of Murrieta sits at the grave of his friend Sgt. Eric Holke, who was killed by an improvised explosive device while the two were on a mission together in Iraq in 2007. Now an engineer with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Hille walked 13 miles in full military gear to honor his fallen comrade Sunday. (PHOTOGRAPH BY: Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)