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Pelosi says she won’t let GOP ‘antics’ distract from Jan. 6 committee investigation

July 22, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi shot back at House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy on Thursday and said the Jan. 6 select committee is “deadly serious” after McCarthy accused Pelosi of an “egregious abuse of power.”

“It’s my responsibility as speaker of the House, to make sure we get to the truth on this, and we will not let their antics stand in the way of that,” she said at her weekly press conference on Capitol Hill.

The boiling tensions between the two come after Pelosi rejected two of McCarthy’s nominees for the committee — Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan and Indiana Rep. Jim Banks — citing concerns with “statements made and actions taken by these members” that might compromise the integrity of the investigation. Jordan and Banks are vocal allies of former President Donald Trump and supported his efforts to overturn the election.

“It’s bipartisan, and we have a quorum. Staff is being hired to do the job,” Pelosi continued. “We’re there to get the truth, not to get Trump.”

While Pelosi accepted McCarthy’s other three picks — Illinois Rep. Rodney Davis, North Dakota Rep. Kelly Armstrong and Texas Rep. Troy Nehls — McCarthy threatened Wednesday to pull all of his members.

“Unless Speaker Pelosi reverses course and seats all five Republican nominees, Republicans will not be party to their sham process and will instead pursue our own investigation of the facts,” McCarthy said at a press conference on the Hill.

Pelosi acknowledged at her press conference that Nehls had also voted against certifying election results for President Joe Biden, but said the two members she rejected, Jordan and Banks, had taken the big lie to another level.

“The other two made statements and took actions that just made it ridiculous to put them on such a committee seeking the truth,” she said.

She said some counseled her to allow Jordan and Banks on the committee “and then when they act up you can take them off,” she disclosed. “I said, ‘why should we waste time on something so predictable?'”

“I’m not going to spend any more time talking about them,” she added later.

Back in May, Senate Republicans killed a proposal for an independent, bipartisan commission that would have given Republicans equal representation to investigate the Capitol attack. Under the House select committee proposal, which was approved by the House mostly along party lines with GOP Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger or Illinois joining Democrats, Pelosi gets seven appointments and McCarthy has five.

Pelosi also maintained the power to reject McCarthy’s appointments, which she exercised Wednesday.

The House Select Committee was expected to hold its first hearing on Tuesday. Capitol police officers are among the first witnesses.

You can see Maroon 5, Jonas Brothers, Hall & Oates & more for just $20 this summer

July 22, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Live music is back, and concert promoter Live Nation is celebrating by offering $20 tickets to its shows this summer.

The promotion, dubbed Return to Live, will let you see artists including Maroon 5, Jonas Brothers, Daryl Hall & John Oates and Alanis Morissette at various outdoor Live Nation venues across the U.S. for just twenty bucks — taxes and fees included.

Other participating artists include Lindsey Stirling, The Doobie Brothers, New Kids on the Block and Chicago.

The Return to Live tickets go on sale beginning next Wednesday, July 28, at noon ET. For the full list of participating artists and venues, visit LiveNation.com.

Kanye West marks return to social media ahead of ‘Donda’s release

July 22, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Live Nation

Kanye West is letting the world know his children are the center of his world. The rapper made a grand return to Instagram on Tuesday ahead of releasing his hotly anticipated 10th studio album, DONDA, and dedicated his first post to his four children.

Wiping his Instagram clean, Ye shared a slideshow of several chain necklaces that bear the names of his four children — North, Saint, Chicago and Psalm — whom he shares with his estranged wife, Kim Kardashian. It should be noted that Kim is the only person Kanye still follows on Instagram.

The caption-less slideshow features a masked figure, clad in all black, modeling the necklaces that Ye identifies as being designed by luxury jeweler John Hardy.

Since then, the rapper has shared three other posts, which include his latest Beats by Dre ad that stars runner Sha’Carri Richardson. Other snaps depict him kneeling in an empty stadium, while the latest depicts him wearing a DONDA sweater while facing a whiteboard that seemingly reveals the album’s track listing.

DONDA, Ye’s 10th studio effort, is named after his late mother, Donda West, who passed in 2007. The album is due out Friday, July 23.

Ye will hold a listening event tonight at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The event, which will also stream on Apple Music, starts at 8 p.m. ET. It was also announced DONDA will feature Lil Baby, Travis Scott and Pusha T.

Billboard reports that, to celebrate the album’s release, the 44-year-old rapper will take over Rolling Loud Miami on Sunday. Sources claim that the event, held at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, would be the first festival headlined by Ye since he played Coachella in 2019.

Pelosi considering adding former GOP congressman as adviser to January 6 committee

July 22, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats are considering inviting former House Republican Rep. Denver Riggleman to serve as an adviser to the Jan. 6 select committee investigating the Capitol assault, according to sources familiar with the deliberations.

Riggleman, a former intelligence officer who lost his primary last year, has been a forceful critic of other Republicans over election-related disinformation and QAnon conspiracy theories.

Rep. Liz Cheney, picked by Pelosi to serve on the committee, has been pushing the idea even before Pelosi rejected two of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s choices on Wednesday.

Listen to new Glorious Sons song, “I Will Destroy the Void in You”

July 22, 2021 by WDNY Radio

The Glorious Sons have released a new song, “I Will Destroy the Void in You.”

The track, which is available now for digital download, is the third fresh tune from the Canadian rockers in as many months, following “Daylight” and “Young King.”

“This one’s just a few chords and some confessions,” says frontman Brett Emmons. “It’s one of my favorites we’ve ever recorded.”

The Glorious Sons’ most recent album is 2019’s A War on Everything, which includes the single “Panic Attack.” A press release promises “news about more new music coming very soon.”

Meanwhile, you can catch The Glorious Sons on tour this winter, beginning December 10 in Pittsburgh.

10 injured in explosion at Dippin’ Dots factory

July 22, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(PADUCAH, Ky.) — Ten people have been injured in an explosion at a Kentucky Dippin’ Dots factory.

The explosion took place Wednesday at a Dippin’ Dots-owned facility on Industrial Drive in Paducah. The site is not where the ice cream is made, but where ingredients for a third-party company are produced, officials said.

A truck was unloading liquid nitrogen when the eruption took place, but it’s unclear exactly what caused the explosion, Paducah police spokeswoman Robin Newberry said to local ABC Kentucky affiliate WPSD Wednesday.

The 10 injured people were taken to two local hospitals, Newberry said.

Dippin’ Dots, which is headquartered in Paducah, told ABC News: “This is a terrible accident … At this moment, our focus is on the well-being of our fellow employees who were injured.”

The company said they’re working with authorities for a complete investigation into the incident.

Dippin’ Dots CEO Scott Fischer also released a statement to ABC News: “My heart is with our employees, especially those injured in this afternoon’s terrible incident. I care deeply for our employees — they are family to me. Please join me in praying for our employees.”

Billie Eilish concert special, ‘Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles,’ debuting on Disney+

July 22, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Billie Eilish is giving fans a “cinematic concert experience” from the comfort of their own homes.

The singer’s new concert special, Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles, is set to premiere exclusively on Disney+ on September 3.

Shot at the Hollywood Bowl, the show will feature Billie performing every song off her new album, Happier Than Ever, in sequential order for the first and what’s said to be the only time.

“Disney is incredibly iconic, so to collaborate on something like this is a huge honor,” Billie says in a statement. “To be able to present my album in this way and dedicate it to the city that I love and grew up in is so exciting to me. I hope you love it.”

The special, directed by Robert Rodriguez and by Oscar-winner Patrick Osborne, will also include animated elements as Billie pays tribute to her LA hometown. Her brother, FINNEAS, will also take the stage with her, along with the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Happier Than Ever, the album, comes out July 30.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

Courteney Cox explains her “Tiny Dancer/Tony Danza” moment with Elton John & Ed Sheeran

July 22, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Todd Williamson/Getty Images for EB Kids

Last month, around the time of the Friends reunion special, Courteney Cox posted an amazing video on Instagram in which she, Elton John, Ed Sheeran and singer/songwriter Brandi Carlile all sang Elton’s hit “Tiny Dancer,” but changed to lyrics to “Hold me close/young Tony Danza” — in reference to what Lisa Kudrow‘s Friends character Phoebe thought Elton was singing. Now, Cox has revealed how she got the all-star group together.

As many fans know, Ed and Cox are longtime pals, and Ed even introduced the actress to her boyfriend, Johnny McDaid. Cox tells Entertainment Weekly that both Ed and Brandi were staying over her house for Brandi’s birthday when Ed asked her, “Do you mind if I have Elton John over for dinner?'”

Once Elton confirmed he was coming, Cox says, it was Ed’s idea to film the number. “He said, ‘Maybe it’d be really funny if we do a thing, the Lisa Kudrow ‘hold me closer,'” Cox recalls.

So Cox, who plays piano, asked a friend to teach her how to play “Tiny Dancer” 20 minutes before Elton was set to arrive. She says, “After dinner, Elton was like, ‘Of course I’ll do it,’ and then I was playing with Ed, Brandi, and Elton. And Elton had his arm around me, and I was like, ‘I love this moment, but I’m panicking.'”

She got through it, but once they sang the chorus, Cox says Elton asked her, “What are you doing? Why are you stopping?”

“And I’m like, ‘Dude, I only know that part of the song!'” she laughs. “It was amazing.”

What’s more, Cox says after filming the clip, Elton entertained them by playing two deep cuts from his 1970 self-titled album: “The Greatest Discovery” and “I Need You to Turn To.”

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A post shared by Courteney Cox (@courteneycoxofficial)

New book by Bruce Springsteen and President Obama, based on their recent ‘Renegades’ podcast, due in October

July 22, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Bruce Springsteen has joined forces with Barack Obama to create a book titled Renegades: Born in the USA, featuring a series of candid conversations between the rock legend and the former president, which will be published October 26.

The book focuses on the conversations between Springsteen and President Obama that were featured on the eight-part podcast of the same name, which premiered on Spotify earlier this year. The podcast captured the two men reflecting on various topics involving their lives, music, and their love of the U.S.

The Renegades book will feature rare and exclusive photos and previously unseen material from the two authors’ archives, including handwritten lyrics by Springsteen and Obama’s annotated speeches.

The conversations featured in the podcast and the book took place last year, and included segments contemplating the volatile and conflict-filled climate in the U.S.

Bruce writes in the Renegades introduction, “There were serious conversations about the fate of the country, the fortune of its citizens, and the destructive, ugly, corrupt forces at play that would like to take it all down…Will we let slip through our hands the best of us or will we turn united to face the fire? Within this book you won’t find the answers to those questions, but you will find a couple of seekers doing their best to get us to ask better questions.”

Adds President Obama, “[T]he conversations Bruce and I had in 2020 feel as urgent today as they did back then. They represent our ongoing effort to figure out how it is that we got here, and how we can tell a more unifying story that starts to close the gap between America’s ideals and its reality.”

For more details about the book, and to order a copy, visit RenegadesBook.com.

O-T Fagbenle says he’s “happy to fit in” Rick Mason wherever the MCU will have him

July 22, 2021 by WDNY Radio

O-T Fagbenle says he had to brush up on his Marvel Cinematic Universe knowledge when he first landed the role of Rick Mason, an ally and close friend of Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow in the Marvel action-film Black Widow.

“I was in the conversation once with [screenwriter] Eric Pearson and a couple of the producers and it was revealed that I had a certain ignorance gap in my MCU knowledge,” Fagbenle tells ABC Audio. And they all went, ‘N[ope]. That’s not what happened, because of da da da dah, da da da dah.'”

Embarrassed, O-T says producers then mandated him to “watch” a certain Marvel film “before… speaking to fans.’ And I was like, ‘I’m going to do that.'”

While it was a bit of a learning curve for O-T to fully understand the intricacies of the MCU, the bigger challenge was keeping mum on potential spoilers — especially when it came to the future of Rick Mason in other MCU properties.

“I got off an interview… and the Marvel guy came up… with the dark glasses and I was like, ‘Did I say something wrong?’ And he was like, ‘You cannot talk about those things.’ And I was like, ‘I won’t talk about those things then.’ And he was like, ‘Good.’ And so I’ve been told specifically I can’t talk about what happens in other spaces.”

“What I would say,” Fagbenle continues, “Is that like with streaming services and that, the possibility of expanding this universe and people getting to explore different characters is… immense. And I’m happy to fit in wherever they want me.”

Marvel Studios’ Black Widow is in theaters and available to stream with Premier Access on Disney+.

Marvel Studios is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC Audio.

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