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Biden faces political headwinds as US shoots objects out of sky

February 13, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — As the U.S. military shoots unidentified objects out the sky at a surprisingly fast clip, President Joe Biden has remained largely silent about the most recent takedowns, balancing political headwinds with concerns over public safety and America’s relationship with China.

U.S. fighter jets took down three objects flying over Alaska, Canada and the waters off Michigan over three successive days starting Friday. Even just one shootdown would be considered unusual, let alone three.

While the Biden administration insists it is acting out of an abundance of caution — to protect national security, as well as civilian aircraft – the president is also facing criticism from Republicans and some Democrats about why it took so long to take down a Chinese balloon a week before.

“They do appear somewhat trigger-happy,” Rep. Mike Turner, the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said Sunday in an interview with CNN. “Although this is certainly preferable to the permissive environment that they showed when the Chinese spy balloon was coming over some of our most sensitive sites.”

While officials from the White House and Pentagon have briefed reporters about the most recent shootdowns, Biden himself has said just one word publicly.

“Success,” he said Friday, in response to reporters’ shouted questions about the object the U.S. shot down in waters off Alaska.

He had no scheduled public events Monday.

The administration official who’s been the face of the response so far has been White House spokesman John Kirby, who made the dramatic announcement about Friday’s shootdown of an unidentified “high-altitude object” and who will appear at Monday’s press briefing.

In contrast with the shootdown of the Chinese balloon, which the Biden administration said had been spying on the United States, officials said they did not know the owner or purpose of the three other, much smaller objects shot down over the last few days.

Instead, U.S. officials said, the president had been concerned about the risk to civil aviation, considering they were all flying at altitudes where commercial planes fly. The Chinese balloon, officials said, had been spotted much higher.

Even Democrats have pushed for more information from the administration, including about why the U.S. had not known about the Chinese’s balloon surveillance program earlier.

“How did we miss them is a great question,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Monday during an interview on “The View,” adding he was supporting a bipartisan investigation to be led by Sen. Jon Tester, a Montana Democrat. “It’s a good question we need an answer to.”

In interviews last week with PBS Newshour and Noticias Telemundo, Biden defended the fact the U.S. had waited until the balloon was over water to shoot it down, saying he had ordered it taken out but that his military advisers said it was too dangerous to act over land.

Administration officials said that while the U.S. military had spotted the Chinese balloon when it first entered U.S. airspace over Alaska, Biden was only informed of its presence once it had traversed Canada and entered airspace over Montana. At that point, the White House said, he ordered it shot down.

“I just think that the idea that there was a dereliction of duty is I think is a – is a bizarre notion,” he told PBS Newshour. “China knows exactly that– what the deal is with us.”

Part of Biden’s reluctance to express more criticism could be rooted in the fact that the Chinese balloon appeared at an inopportune time for him.

Biden has made lower tensions with China and its leader, President Xi Jinping, a hallmark of his foreign policy.

Biden and Xi met in person for the first time as presidents three months ago, and they pledged to work together to better manage the competitive relationship between their two nations.

But the Chinese balloon saga led Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel an upcoming visit to China, and communication between the U.S. and Chinese militaries has dropped off, too.

“I’m committed to work with China where we can advance American interests and benefit the world,” Biden said last week during his State of the Union address. “But make no mistake about it: As we made clear last week, if China threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country. And we did.”

Books about Black and Hispanic historical figures under review in Florida schools

February 13, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(JACKSONVILLE, Fla.) — Thousands of books in Duval County schools in Florida are subject to review due to three state laws impacting certain subjects in education, including race, gender and sexual orientation, according to county officials.

The books are under review based on several laws that restrict classroom topics, including the Stop WOKE Act and the Parental Rights in Education law, which was called the “Don’t Say Gay” law by LGBTQ activists.

A report by the anti-censorship group PEN America claims specific titles under review include books about historical Black and Hispanic figures like Robert Clemente, a Puerto Rican baseball player who became a Major League Baseball icon despite facing racism and segregation in his career.

A book about Celia Cruz, a Cuban singer known as the “Queen of Salsa,” was also removed from shelves, PEN America found, as well as a book about Hank Aaron, a Black baseball player who holds the second-highest total of home runs in history and was outspoken against racial discrimination, was another removal.

A story about Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic and the third woman to serve on the court, was also reported to be under review by PEN America.

Duval County school officials have not yet responded to ABC News’ request for comment and have not confirmed which titles are under review.

House Bill 1467, which has also prompted book reviews, prohibits books that contain “pornographic” content or are “inappropriate.”

The “Stop WOKE” Act restricts lessons and training on race and diversity in schools and in the workplace, particularly anything that discusses privilege or oppression based on race. WOKE in the bill stands for “Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees.”

The Parental Rights in Education law states instruction on “sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards,” according to the bill’s language.

According to Duval County officials, the Florida Department of Education is training “all Florida schools districts to ‘err on the side of caution’ in determining if a book is developmentally appropriate for student use.” The county joins at least one other in heavily scrutinizing its book collection based on state laws.

Manatee County schools are also set to “remove or cover all materials that have not been vetted” in classrooms, according to a copy of the guidance previously obtained by ABC News.

Across the country, schools and libraries are facing challenges to books, predominantly affecting titles written by or about people of color and LGBTQ people.

Florida’s comes amid a growing movement against certain lessons or discussions concerning marginalized groups in Florida classrooms.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his administration have also recently rejected an AP African American studies course because it is “inexplicably contrary to Florida law and significantly lacks educational value,” according to state officials. His administration has also vowed to remove funding from diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in higher education, as well as certain lessons on race.

Richie Sambora unmasked as “Jacket Potato” on The Masked Singer UK; shares info on new album

February 13, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Richie Sambora got all dressed up for his latest gig. The former Bon Jovi guitarist has just been revealed as the “Jacket Potato” (aka baked potato in the U.S.) on The Masked Singer UK.

According to NME, during his appearance on the show he performed songs like “Viva Las Vegas,” Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” and Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way,” and even got a chance to play guitar in costume.

“My hiatus from Bon Jovi and the Covid impact on my solo touring meant I could only do one thing which is make a new record, until I saw The Masked Singer,” he said after being unmasked. “I loved it and it was a lot of fun to watch it at a time where due to lockdowns and being forced to be at home the world was a little quieter than it had been since Bon Jovi kicked off 37 years ago.”

And it sounds like we’ll be hearing a lot more from Sambora soon. He revealed on Good Morning Britain, “There’s new music coming in about a month. We’re looking towards the end of March, beginning of April.” He also revealed that Dolly Parton just called him and he’ll be playing on her new rock album.

Turkish officials arrest building developers following earthquake

February 13, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(GAZIANTEP, Turkey) — The political fallout from last week’s massive earthquake in the Turkish-Syrian border has already begun, according to experts.

Over the weekend, Turkish officials announced arrests against building developers following an outcry from residents about poor building construction that led to more than 30,000 deaths in the country.

ABC News’ Ibtissem Guenfoud, who has been on location in Turkey since the hours after this quake, spoke with “Start Here” Monday about these developments.

START HERE: Ibtissem, what types of charges are we seeing here?

IBTISSEM GUENFOUD: Yes. So, Brad, at least two property developers have already been arrested at airports. Prosecutors are accusing them of trying to flee the country. Yavuz Karakus is a contractor of many of the collapsed buildings in Adiyaman, and that’s one of the cities near the epicenter of that earthquake that has seen some of the biggest, most shocking damage that our team has seen here on the ground. And he’s been arrested while he was trying, allegedly, to escape to Georgia. Another contractor was a contractor over a 14-story luxury apartment building in Hatay, another hard-hit area here in Turkey.

Many local outlets reported here that this contractor was also arrested while trying to flee the country.

You’re seeing here a lot of anger and frustration over building standards, although the quakes were powerful. Some experts have already come out saying that properly constructed buildings should have been able to stay standing. And we have spoken here to disaster responders, volunteers from AFAD, it’s a government disaster response organization, and they’re used to dealing with this type of event. They told us that the problem is in part with the lack of structural components. Indeed, we’ve seen ourselves the debris in Adiyaman, mainly. We’ve seen collapsed buildings. And you can clearly tell that it’s just bricks. They were just made of bricks. There was clearly no or very little structural fixative, no steel to reinforce the concrete. And these disaster responders also told us that when there is iron or steel to reinforce it, the diameter of that iron used is often too small to be effective.

So there is an issue here on the quality of the building components used, a quality that is below what is required by the law and by these codes that were supposed to ensure that in earthquake-prone regions those buildings could stand that type of event. And of course, these volunteers also pointed to the corruption, saying that some of these buildings simply shouldn’t be built so high, according to regulations. But bribes are often used to counter these restrictions.

START HERE: I’m trying to get a sense of is this the government, you know, saying these people are trying to flee the country, “We need to issue charges sooner than later?” Or is it the government realizing, “Hey, we’re politically vulnerable right now and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan saying people are angry right now, they’re going to start being angry at us if we don’t do something, let’s really focus on the contractors?”

GUENFOUD: Yes, absolutely. They are realizing that this is turning quickly into a situation that they have to manage. People are desperate, but they are getting angry now.

Many locals…told us that for the first few days, they were on their own trying to save their neighbors or their relatives on their own, digging through the rubble. And that frustration over the rescue efforts was for the first few days, very strong. And then now there’s another layer of frustration on top of that, because there’s this feeling that so many lives didn’t have to be lost or endangered. And in fact, there could have been help and now the authorities are cracking down on those developers.

In fact, this is a critical issue now, because we are only three months from presidential elections. President Erdogan visited some of those hard-hit areas and pledged to rebuild. These cities are, in fact, usually firmly in his party stronghold, but [with] this earthquake happening now, these calls against corruption are concerns for this government that might try to prove itself now. In fact, there are concerns now that Erdogan might even try to move the elections, blaming it on the need to focus on the recovery after this earthquake.

The Farmer’s Dog Super Bowl ad ranked as this year’s best

February 13, 2023 by WDNY Radio

With Super Bowl LVII in the record books, USA Today has posted its annual post-game analysis of this year’s Super Bowl commercials.

The dog food company The Farmer’s Dog’s ad ranked as tops based on the votes of Ad Meter analysts, who pored through all 51 commercials that ran during this year’s big game.

The spot, dubbed “Forever,” followed a little girl’s journey with her beloved dog, from his puppy days when she was a kid, through the pooch’s senior years, when the little girl is now a mother.

In second place was the NFL’s “Run with it” commercial, which saw sideline analyst Erin Andrews literally going the extra mile for an interview with Mexico’s nation flag football team captain Diana Flores, who dips and dodges with Andrews in tow.

Speaking of head-fakes, ranking third was another sentimental pet spot, Amazon’s “Saving Sawyer” offering. The ad showed a family bonding with their dog during lockdown, and how the dog doesn’t adjust well at all to life getting back to “normal.” When the family is shown ordering a crate, and later driving with it in the car, dog lovers think the worst for the pooch — that is, until they introduce their dog to a furry friend to keep her company.

Real-life husband and wife Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez helped Dunkin’ nab the fourth spot: “Drive Thru” has the real-life Dunkin’ fan Affleck working there, to J.Lo’s shock.

Rounding out the top five, according to the Ad Meter poll, was PopCorner’s Breaking Good ad, which reunited Breaking Bad Emmy winners Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul in character, pushing chips instead of meth.

Leslie Grace reacts to the shelving of ‘Batgirl’ movie

February 13, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Actress Leslie Grace is opening up about when she found out about Warner Bros.’ decision last year to shelve Batgirl, the film that would have had her starring as the titular hero and her alter ego, Barbara Gordon.

“I found out like the rest of you,” she tells Variety in her first at-length discussion of the situation. “And then my phone just started blowing up,” she adds.

Previously, her co-star Brendan Fraser, who played the villain Firefly, explained he was similarly shocked. “I thought I was getting punked, but it checked out,” he said, explaining he had to read the news for himself. “Then came hysterical laughter like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me?’…”

Warner Bros. Discovery said at the time that the film, which was initially bound for HBO Max, would be written off for tax reasons.

“That part really stung,” Fraser expressed.

Recently, DC Films co-chair Peter Safran — whose tenure with James Gunn hadn’t started when Batgirl was shelved — defended the “bold and courageous” decision. He commented to the trade, “I saw the movie, and there are a lot of incredibly talented people in front of and behind the camera on that film. But that film was not releasable … That film was not releasable.”

Grace said she took meetings with Warner Bros. execs after the decision, explaining, “They weren’t really specific on anything creative in terms of what they felt about the film and how it would’ve hurt DC creatively. But I’m a human being, and people have perceptions and people read things. And when words are expressed very lightly about work that people really dedicated a lot of time to — not just myself but the whole crew — I can understand how it could be frustrating.”

(A previous version of this story erroneously attributed some of Brendan Fraser’s comments to Leslie Grace. The text above has been updated to correct the error.)

Little Steven sends Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin a signature bandana as he battles cancer

February 13, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Steven Van Zandt is known for wearing his signature bandana on his head, and now he’s helping Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, who is battling cancer, master the look. Raskin recently took to social media to thank the E Street Band member for sending along one of his signature bandanas to cover his head as he loses hair due to his treatment.

“Look what I received from one of the greatest musicians on earth, a gift I will treasure almost as much as his song ‘I am a patriot,’” Raskin tweeted. “You are about to see a step up in my chemo head-cover fashions for the next few months. Rock on Stevie, keep spreading the light.”

Little Steven soon responded to Raskin’s post, writing, “That gift is from all of us who want to thank you every day for giving us hope that there is a politician that cares about justice! Here’s to a rapid complete recovery.”

Raskin announced in December that he had been diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. It is his second bout with cancer, following a 2010 colon cancer diagnosis.

Report: Machine Gun Kelly & Megan Fox “haven’t officially called off the engagement”

February 13, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox are reportedly still technically together amid rumors of a breakup.

People cites a source claiming that the “Bloody Valentine” rocker and the Jennifer’s Body actor “haven’t officially called off the engagement,” but added that Fox “took her ring off.”

“They have had issues in the past, but things seem pretty serious this time,” the source reports, adding that the couple “had a fight over the weekend,” which left Fox “very upset.” The source also claims that Fox “won’t speak” to Kelly.

Kelly and Fox’s reps did not respond to People‘s request for comment.

Kelly and Fox began dating after working on the movie Midnight in the Switchgrass together. They confirmed their relationship after Fox starred in the 2020 video for Kelly’s song “Bloody Valentine” and got engaged in January 2022. Reports that the pair had called it quits began last weekend when Fox removed photos of her and Kelly from her Instagram account, which she later deactivated.

Amid their relationship, Kelly and Fox have made unusual headlines, including for claiming to drink each other’s blood and that Fox’s engagement ring — presumably the one she’s reportedly now taken off — had a band of thorns that makes it painful to remove.

Kelly and Fox celebrated the one-year anniversary of their engagement in January and attended the Grammys together earlier this month.

DJ Khaled offers full scholarship to Long Island University’s Roc Nation school

February 13, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Fresh off his new deal with Def Jam, DJ Khaled is offering a full ride to a prospective student of Long Island University’s Roc Nation School of Music, Sports, and Entertainment.

The recently announced scholarship will cover full tuition for a lucky freshman, graduate or transfer, who must plan to enroll in the fall 2023 semester. The deadline for applications is April 15 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

“Me and my queen ever since we been together, even before we met each other, we both had a love for giving back,” Khaled said in a statement. “Giving back has always been a priority in my life and her life. We’re raising our kids to see that you have to work hard but also always give back and show love. We have a team that works year-round nonstop on how can we give back, do more, uplift, inspire, motivate and hug all the kids in need. Inspire them to keep going and not just the kids, but also the families, the mothers and fathers and give out scholarships.”

Significant portion of Chinese balloon payload recovered, US official says

February 13, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — A crane ship on the scene where a Chinese surveillance balloon went down in waters off South Carolina has picked up a significant portion of the balloon’s payload that measured as much as 30-feet-long and had all of craft’s tech gear and antennas, a U.S. official said Monday.

Search and recovery efforts had to be halted at the end of last week because of bad weather and rough seas.

The U.S. military shot down the surveillance balloon on Feb. 4 after it flew across the country for several days.

With regard to other object shots down Friday and over the weekend, the official said the U.S. military continues to look for the remnants from the take out of the sky off the coast of Alaska

While the pilots who shot down that object saw pieces land on ice waters, the official said, the search continues for the debris field amid bad weather. The U.S. wants to pinpoint the exact location before it places personnel in dangerous icy conditions, the official said. A Navy P-8 search plane was in the sky looking for debris.

Concerning the object shot down over Canada, the official said, that country’s government is taking the lead but has not yet located the object’s debris.

And about the object shot down Sunday over Lake Huron in Michigan, the official said, the U.S. Coast Guard and Canadian authorities are still looking for the debris that landed on water.

Because there was a good visual of where it may have landed, there is confidence the remnants will be recovered.

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