Watch the full interview with Jeb Bush on “The Lead” with Jake Tapper at 4 p.m. ET "I don't see how over the long haul that you can insult your way to the nomination," Jeb Bush told CNN's Jake Tapper Earlier Thursday, Trump attempted to defend the remarks he made about Carly Fiorina Related gallery Jeb Bush's life Jeb Bush said Thursday that Donald Trump cannot insult his way to the presidency, a reference to controversial remarks Trump made about Carly Fiorina’s looks that were published in a recent magazine story. “Look, I don’t get it. I don’t see how over the long haul that you can insult your way to the nomination or the president – certainly not the presidency – and not the nomination either,” Bush told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “The Lead.” “This disparaging of women is deeply troubling. It just doesn’t make any sense to me,” Bush continued. “Carly Fiorina has made a good contribution already and will continue to make a contribution in this nomination process. She should be respected as a talented person and a viable candidate.” Related gallery Carly Fiorina's political career Earlier Thursday, Trump attempted to defend the remarks he made about his fellow GOP presidential contender in a Rolling Stone profile published Wednesday. “Look at that face!” Trump told a Rolling Stone reporter as Fiorina appeared on TV. “Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president.” “I mean, she’s a woman, and I’m not s’posedta say bad things, but really, folks, come on. Are we serious?” Trump said, according to the magazine. Trump said Thursday that when he suggested Fiorina’s face would make her unelectable, he wasn’t talking about her looks. “I’m not talking about looks. I’m talking about persona,” Trump told CNN’s Chris Cuomo on “New Day.” Related video Eight candidates in two days on CNN Bush also criticized the Iran nuclear agreement, saying Iran has no incentive to honor it. “I think you need to look at the full relationship we had with Iran by giving them over $100 billion of revenue where they’re going to be able to continue to be the largest sponsor of terrorism around the world,” he said. “There’s no evidence that they will comply with this agreement, because they’ve violated the agreements in the past.” Bush also said the U.S. needs to be more aggressive in its plan to help Syrian refugees. “We’ve had a rich noble tradition of supporting refugees from all across the world,” he said. “They’ve added vitality to our country. That’s undeniable. We have a tradition of doing this and I think we have an obligation to do this in support of the displaced people that are suffering.” Asked about his newly unveiled tax plan, Bush said it would improve life for middle class Americans. “We should have the lowest corporate tax rates in the industrial world, which I’m proposing. Eliminate the deductions and allow for investment to take place in our own country,” he said. “The middle class in my proposal – all of them – will get, on average, a 33% cut in taxes. We need to boost people’s spirits by giving them more money to be able to make decisions for themselves.” Related video Bush: 'I'm pretty confident I'm gonna be the Republican nominee' Despite his current place in the polls – a new CNN/ORC poll has him in third place with 9% support among Republicans – Bush said he is “pretty confident” that he is going to be the Republican nominee. “I think ultimately the three things that matter are you have to have a heart for people, you have to have ideas to lift them up and you have to have the leadership skills to make sure people know it’s actually possible,” he said. “I have those skills and I’m going to share them with passion and conviction.” Bush continued to tweak Trump on the campaign trail in Exeter, New Hampshire, Thursday night, telling reporters Fiorina and Ben Carson, with whom Trump has recently feuded, “have to get in line.” “I’m still the number one beneficiary of the Donald’s insults. Look, he is who he is. He likes to disparage people,” Bush said. CNN’s Cassie Spodak contributed to this report.


Bulgari Resort Dubai has been crowned the best new luxury hotel of 2017. The lavish property, located on man-made island Jumeira Bay, came out on top in members-only travel ratings company Luxury Travel Intelligence’s annual list, beating off stiff competition from the likes of The Ned in London and Paris’ Hotel de Crillon. Described as an “urban oasis,” the 158,000 square-meter complex, designed by renowned Italian architectural firm Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel, was credited for its structural design as well as its “understated” location. While the Bulgari Resort Dubai may have taken the top spot, it certainly wasn’t the only new hotel that made a lasting impression. Here’s the full list of LTI’s top 14 “truly exceptional” new hotels for a memorable stay: “This sensational property impressed us so much it became this year’s last minute LTI top pick,” says LTI founder Michael Crompton. “It is low level (just four floors), private and understated – everything most Dubai hotels are not. We also love its striking architecture.” Covering over 13 hectares, this opulent resort located ten minutes from the city has an imposing low-rise design which sets it apart from typical Dubai hotels. The Bulgari’s other selling points include a private beach club and beach, a 50-berth marina, a spa and an Italian restaurant headed up by chef Niko Romito. “We have advised LTI members to go for a Beach Villa,” says Crompton. Bulgari Resort Dubai, Jumeira Bay Island, Jumeira 2, Dubai, UAE +971 4 7775555 Set in the former headquarters of an international bank, this new London hotel from the Soho House group also won over the team at LTI, narrowly missing out on the number one spot. Related article 10 cozy hotels that redefine luxury The Ned was praised for its 3,000-square-meter lobby, separated by 92 verdite columns and rows of walnut banking counters, and its spacious rooftop, which offers views of St. Paul’s Cathedral. “It’s big, bold and brave – and more New York that anything in New York itself,” says Crompton. The Ned, 27 Poultry, London EC2R 8AJ; +44 20 3828 2000 Villa La Coste, a luxury hotel at the 600-acre Château La Coste organic winery in Provence, has 28 contemporary villa suites which all boast a private terrace and views over the Luberon. “This unique property has the distinct feel of a private home,” explains Crompton. One of the most notable aspects of the property, which was developed by Irish hotelier Paddy McKillen, is the artwork on display. Its walls are decorated with paintings by Sean Scully and Damien Hirst as well as rare photographs of Picasso by David Douglas Duncan. Villa La Coste, 2750 Route de la Cride, Le Puy-Sainte-Réparade, Provence, France; +33 4 42 50 50 00 Hôtel de Crillon was reopened in July 2017 after a four-year $200 million renovation. The Parisian landmark hotel, which dates back to the 18th century, now holds 124 stand-out rooms and suites, a subterranean as well as notable courtyards dreamed up by revered landscape architect Louis Benech. Related article Hôtel de Crillon reopens with 2 designer suites It was recognized for its two Karl Lagerfeld-designed Grand Apartments which are collectively known as “Les Grands Appartements.” Hôtel de Crillon, 10 Place de la Concorde, 75008 Paris, France; +33 1 44 71 15 00 Built in the center of the Mayan forest, Chable Resort offers 38 spacious casita-style rooms and two expansive suites. The five-star establishment, which is stretched across 750 acres of the Yucatán Peninsula, is revered for its structural designs as well as its expansive in house tequila collection. “The stunning design, standout cave-like spa, laid back vibe, contemporary Maya cuisine and 750 acres of private grounds are just a few of the things that wowed us on our recent visit to Chable Resort,” says Crompton. Chablé Resort & Spa, Tablaje 642, San Antonio Chablé, 97816 Chochola, Yucata, Mexico; +52 55 4161 4262 Positioned 2,800 feet above Lake Lucerne, the much anticipated Burgenstock Resort was launched in August, nine years in the making. While there are four hotels located here, LTI has named the Burgenstock Hotel as its “favorite.” The property has 102 rooms and suites with spectacular fireplaces as well as an alpine spa, a lobby bar, wine cellar and a cigar lounge. Bürgenstock Hotel, CH-6363 Obbürgen; +41 41 612 60 00 Situated along Carbon Beach in Malibu, this is the first hotel of the Nobu Ryokan brand, which is owned by billionaire Larry Ellison, chef Nobu Matsuhisa, actor Robert De Niro and film producer Meir Teper. Once a 1950s vintage beach motel, the property now consists of 16 rooms, 11 of which include ocean views and terraces. Related article 10 stunning apartment hotels around the world “We particularly love the minimalist style, teak soaking tubs and beach side location,” says Crompton. Nobu Ryokan is also right night door to the Nobu in Malibu and all guests have access to the restaurant. Nobu Ryoken, 22752 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu CA 90265; +1 310 317 3080 Built in the late 1800s, the luxury hotel reopened in 2017 after undergoing a vast restoration project. Hotel Eden, which was bought by the Dorchester Collection in 2013, has now reduced its number of rooms from 121 to 98, and the remaining lodgings are far spacious and luxurious. Its new 2,174-square-foot Bellavista penthouse suite has been a big hit with guests thanks to its floor-to-ceiling windows, which offer expansive views of Rome. The hotel has also added a spa and redesigned eateries such as rooftop restaurant La Terrazza  and Il Giardino Ristorante & Bar. Hotel Eden Rome, Via Ludovisi 49, Rome 00187, Italy;  +39 06 478121 The private island resort in Fiji is situated on Yaukuve Island, which is south of Viti Levu, Fiji’s main island, and has been dubbed “a world away from the world.” Developed by Australian property billionaire Lang Walker, it holds 21 luxurious Fijian-styled beachside villas with their own private pool and and traditional thatched roofs. Crompton suggests taking a picnic, prepared by chef Anthony Healy, on an island excursion for “pure barefoot luxury.” Kokomo Private Island, Yaukuve Levu Island, Fiji; +679 776 4441 The new Four Seasons Hotel at The Surf Club is a reimagined portrayal of the historic Miami social club’s heyday back in the 1930s, when it was a stomping ground for the likes of Elizabeth Taylor and Winston Churchill. Related article Four Seasons Surf Club evokes Miami's former glamour Designed by Richard Meier, the nine-acre property consists of 77 guest rooms, 30 hotel residences and 121 private residential apartments as well as a private club. “Our new favorite resort style property in Miami, this is classic Four Seasons,” says Crompton. The impressive on site Le Sirenuse restaurant, which is the family-owned hotel’s first project away from its Amalfi home, was also commended. Four Seasons Surf Club, 9101 Collins Ave, Surfside, FL 33154, USA; +1 305 381 3333 The Jackalope brand’s first property opened in Victoria, Australia in May, with others coming up in Melbourne, Shanghai and Los Angeles. Located at the Willow Creek Vineyard, its 46 rooms all have floor-to-ceiling windows and private terraces. LTI has given particular praise to its two restaurants, describing the food as “exceptional.” “This property is everything you could wish for from a relaxing urban escape,” declares Crompton. Jackalope Hotel, 166 Balnarring Rd, Merricks North Victoria 3926, Australia; +61 3 5931 2500 Latin America’s only entry on the list is the highly regarded Palácio Tangará in São Paulo, which is set in the center of  Burle Marx Park, a 27-acre stretch of rainforest. The five-star hotel also houses a Sisley spa, restaurants overseen by acclaimed French ched Jean-Georges Vongerichten and two swimming pools. “Be sure to visit the eye-catching glass walled wine cellar with engaging sommelier Gabriele Frizon,” recommends Crompton. Palácio Tangará, Rua Deputado Laércio Corte, 1.501, Panamby 05706, São Paulo, Brazil; +55 11 4904 4040 The Silo hotel in Cape Town rests six floors over the Zeitz MOCAA (Museum of Contemporary Art Africa) in what was once a concrete grain silo. Related article The Silo: Is this Africa's best new hotel? Now Africa’s most expensive city hotel, The Silo’s most admired feature is its standout 25-feet-high convex windows, which overlook the V&& Waterfront. However its glass framed rooftop pool is also a “big plus”, according to LTI. All 26 of the eclectic rooms here have been individually designed and decorated by South African hotelier Liz Biden. The Silo Hotel, Silo Square, V&A Waterfront 8001, Cape Town, South Africa; +27  21 670 0500 The newest property from hoteliers Tim and Kit Kemp opened in early 2017 and is billed as a “a celebration of contemporary art and design.” It has 86 individually designed bedrooms and suites with floor-to-ceiling windows, as well as a 130 seat state-of-the-art cinema and an Orangery. “A real New York ‘slam dunk’ for the London based Firmdale Hotels, who rarely put a foot wrong,” says Crompton. The Whitby, 18 W 56th Street, New York, NY 10019; +1 212 586 5656


South Korea's National Intelligence Service says it will investigate whether the student violated national security law Won-moon Joo has said he crossed into North Korea to make a statement A permanent resident of the U.S., he took a semester off from NYU to travel North Korea has released Won-moon Joo, a South Korean student at New York University whom it detained in April. The student was handed over to South Korean officials at the border Monday afternoon, Seoul said. North Korea said it had deported Joo as a “humanitarian measure.” In an interview with CNN in Pyongyang in May, Joo said he had been arrested by soldiers after crossing into North Korea from China to make a statement. “I thought that by my entrance to the DPRK – illegally, I acknowledge – I thought that some great event could happen and hopefully that event could have a good effect on the relations” between the two Koreas, Joo told CNN’s Will Ripley, using an abbreviation of North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Joo, who is in his early 20s, said at the time that he wasn’t sure what kind of great event could happen as a result of his actions. A permanent resident of the United States, Joo had been living in New Jersey and studying at New York University. He took a semester off to travel across the United States and said he went to North Korea after an unsuccessful attempt to find work in California. North Korea said at the time that the student’s illegal entry was “a serious violation” of its laws. New York University welcomed news of Joo’s release. “He and his family have been in our thoughts. We’re relieved to learn of his release and glad for this good outcome,” spokesman John Beckman said. The South Korean Unification Ministry said in a statement that it was relieved Joo was  released but urged North Korea to free three other South Korean citizens it’s holding. It may not be an entirely happy return for the student. South Korea’s National Intelligence Service said it will investigate whether Joo violated national security law. CNN’s K.J. Kwon reported from Seoul, and Jethro Mullen wrote from Hong Kong. CNN’s David Shortell contributed to this report.


Protesters called it Black Wednesday They demanded an end to violence against women nationwide Thousands of people wearing black clothes braved the torrential rain in Buenos Aires to protest the rape and killing of a 16-year-old girl in Argentina. Protesters called it Black Wednesday, and turned it into a day to demand an end to violence against women nationwide. Lucia Perez was abducted outside her school in Mar del Plata on October 8. She was drugged, repeatedly raped and sodomized with an “unspecified object” so violently that she eventually bled out from her internal injuries. Three suspects have been arrested and are still in custody. The prosecutor on the case, María Isabel Sánchez, told Telam news agency that the assailants washed her body and cleaned her clothing before dropping her off at a local clinic – and running away. “We can all be vulnerable and suffer what happened to this girl – all of us, our entire gender,” said Gergina Elcano, a demonstrator in Buenos Aires. Another protester, Mariela Arri, said these incidents are not a coincidence. “This is gender violence and it’s institutionalized, then it repeats itself in smaller settings, among families,”  Arri said. Demonstrations were held  in 80 cities in Argentina, and 58 others worldwide joined in, according to the state-run news agency. In Madrid, women chanted “We’re not crazy, we’re not afraid – we’re fed up!” "No estamos locas, no tenemos miedo, ¡estamos hartas!". Así suena la marcha de #NiUnaMenos desde Madrid https://t.co/bvGd9b9Xh6 pic.twitter.com/O9c7oMsDvd Perez’s story has brought attention to violence against women in Latin America. Under the hashtag #NiUnaMenos, or “not one less,” and #VivasNosQueremos, or “we want to live,” posts on social media from all over the world show women and men standing in solidarity with the horrors that the teenager and her family went through. Hoy, seguimos pidiendo #NiUnaMenos #MiercolesNegro #Basta pic.twitter.com/OtjAjFySHh Perez’s brother, Matias, published an open letter on his Facebook via magazine La Garganta Poderosa, saying the family is receiving death threats. “I would have liked to publish along with this letter a photo of me laughing with my sister. Or a photo of her, hugging my parents. But no, we can’t … because while we try to process that she was killed the way she was, we have to process the death threats that fall on all of us,” the letter reads. Matias urged action to stop attacks against women. “This time, gender violence touched Lucia, but the next time it could be you, or the person you love most in this world. We have to be strong and get out into the street, scream all together, now more than ever: not one less.” UNICEF Argentina posted a series of tweets on the incident. “All women, including girls and teenagers, have the right to a life free of violence #notoneless,” the UN children’s agency said in one of its tweets. Todas las mujeres, incluidas niñas y adolescentes, tienen derecho a una vida libre de violencias #NiUnaMenos pic.twitter.com/vltEv6BqVr


The bodies of four Italian tourists killed in Tunis are returned to Italy The uncle and cousin of one of the suspected gunmen say they had no idea he had been radicalized The bodies of four Italian tourists slain in a terror attack on Tunisia’s Bardo Museum three days ago arrived back in Italy on Saturday, an official with the Tunis Crisis Center told CNN, but 14 victims’ remains still lie in the morgue. As Tunisia gets back on its feet, the investigation into Wednesday’s shooting at the Tunis landmark continues. Most of the 23 victims were foreigners, making the process of identification more complicated. Nineteen of them were tourists who’d been on two cruise ships that docked in Tunis. French, Spanish, Italian, British, Japanese, Russian and Colombian citizens are among those to have been formally identified so far. Related video Tour guide witnessed Tunisia museum attack The bodies of the Italians were met in Rome by Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who paid his respects to the victims and their families in a brief ceremony. Eleven people who were injured in the attack remained in the hospital in Tunisia on Saturday, the official at the Tunis Crisis Center said. Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid identified two suspects in the attack, Yassine Labidi and Saber Khachnaou, in an interview with French radio station RTL on Thursday, though it wasn’t immediately clear if they were the pair killed at the museum by Tunisian security forces. He said Yassine was “known to the security services, he was flagged and monitored,” but not known or being followed for anything special. Authorities have arrested nine people in connection with the attack, including four directly linked to it, according to a statement from Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi. An uncle of Yassine Labidi, Abeld Malik Labidi, told CNN on Friday that no one he knew had seen any signs of extremism in his 26-year-old nephew. But he said Yassine Labidi was one of the two gunmen killed at the museum. “It’s true that Yassine carried out this terrorist attack, he was killed; his head, his body, we don’t have it back,” he said. But, he said, he believed Yassine and other young Tunisians like him were also victims of terrorism – of the recruiters who paid them money, organized the logistics and took them to places like Syria and Libya to train as fighters. He had known his nephew well, he said. “After the revolution of 2011 he started to pray, before he would drink beers from time to time, like a young Tunisian. He wasn’t extreme in any way.” The only thing that raised questions was that Yassine had disappeared for about a month, he said. Although his nephew said he’d gone to the Tunisian city of Sfax to work, his family now suspected he had been in Libya because of the phone numbers he called from. “When he came back his behavior was the same: he was still himself, calm, serious. Nobody noticed anything, even the neighbors I spoke to,” said Abeld Malik Labidi. “He said hello to everyone, he prayed, he took his coffee, even on the day of the attack he took his coffee with his family and went to work.” Abeld Malik Labidi said Yassine’s father, sister and brother had undergone lengthy interrogations by anti-terror police since the attack. Officers had seized his nephew’s computer and phone, as well as taking samples of his fingerprints, he said. A cousin of Yassine, who asked not to be named, told CNN that the family was shocked by what had happened. “We are all shocked, we lost someone even if what he did was wrong, may God forgive him. Those he killed were innocent, why would you go and harm Australians or Japanese … our Islam doesn’t mention about killing people, Islam has never been this,” he said. He also said he had no idea how his cousin had been radicalized, saying he was “a normal Tunisian guy … but not an extremist.” Security Minister Rafik Chelly said on Friday that the two extremists who attacked the museum got weapons training at camps in Libya. The suspects were activated from sleeper cells in Tunisia, he said. He did not say which group activated them, or with whom they trained. “They left the country illegally last December for Libya, and they were able to train with weapons there,” he told private broadcaster AlHiwar Ettounsi TV. Like Tunisia, Libya saw its longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi ousted during the regional wave of revolutions known as the Arab Spring. But unlike its neighbor to the west, Libya has been fraught with more instability and violence – much of it perpetrated by Islamist militants. In an audio message posted online Thursday, ISIS claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s attack, which it said targeted “crusaders and apostates” with “automatic weapons and hand grenades.” CNN cannot independently verify the legitimacy of the audio statement. That bloodshed is “just the start,” the ISIS message warned – a threat that may or may not be hollow, but nonetheless adds extra urgency for Tunisian investigators. CNN’s Claudia Rebaza reported from Tunis and Laura Smith-Spark wrote from London. CNN’s Radina Gigova and Greg Botelho contributed to this report.


Walk around the streets of Duhok, northern Iraq, and you’ll see the same face staring back at you. Stoic and square-jawed, the inscrutable portrait is a common sight behind shop counters and stalls in this city, a short drive north from Mosul. Everyone in Duhok has heard of the man known as “Crazy Fakhir.” For over a decade he risked his life to ensure others’ safety; a local hero who removed landmines with nothing but a knife, wire cutters and quick wits. Now his story is being told in a new feature-length documentary that has been described as a real life version of Kathryn Bigelow’s Oscar winning film “The Hurt Locker.” Fakhir Berwari first demined as a soldier alongside the American-led coalition, following the invasion of Iraq in 2003. He risked death for years in and around Mosul, surviving near-misses and the loss of his right leg to a mine in 2008. Wearing a prosthetic limb, Berwari returned as a colonel in the Kurdish Peshmerga, neutralizing booby traps left by a retreating ISIS. Related article Fading tradition of female facial tattoos in Middle East and North Africa Exactly how many mines the colonel successfully disarmed is unknown, but it is believed to be in the thousands. However, in November 2014 Berwari paid the ultimate price when he was killed in an explosion while clearing a mine-riddled house. Each chapter of this remarkable story, through to its shattering conclusion, was captured on camera. Unbeknownst to his family, hours of footage were recorded by his colleagues and stashed away by Berwari on DVDs in a battered old briefcase. Three years after his death, the briefcase was discovered by Berwari’s son, Abdulla. This cache from 2003-2008, paired with video shot in 2014, comprises the backbone of “The Deminer,” co-directed by Hogir Hirori – born in Duhok but now living in Sweden – and Kurdish filmmaker Shinwar Kamal. Sustaining unbearable tension and pockmarked with extreme violence, the film joins a roster of recent award-winning documentaries including “The White Helmets” and “Nowhere to Hide,” stemming from Iraq and the ongoing conflict in Syria. Before its UK release, CNN sat down with Hirori to discuss Berwari’s unimaginable courage and the film’s difficult journey to screen. The following conversation took place via an interpreter and has been edited for length and clarity. CNN: Where did this documentary start for you? Hirori: In 2014, ISIS was attacking areas in Iraqi Kurdistan. I was there making another documentary and I happened to see Fakhir. I knew about him; in our area he was portrayed as this local hero. I went up to him and asked about making a film. He said: “No, sorry, you can’t. Take my advice: go home to Sweden where it’s safe and stay there.” But then as we started talking Fakhir said: “Well, there is actually this guy who’s just recently started making a film about me called Shinwar Kamal. If you want to do something go and talk to him, because we can’t have two teams running around making two films. It’s too dangerous.” What do you remember of Colonel Berwari’s death? Fakhir died three months after I met him. I was in Sweden; I opened my phone and my whole newsfeed on Facebook was filled with pictures of Fakhir. I realized that it was not good. I immediately called Shinwar to ask what happened and if they were ok. He and his team were outside the building (they were demining), but the ones filming inside the building – Fakhir and his two assistants – died in the explosion. When he died the whole film-making process became more complicated. There was an ongoing story that was cut short. When was the archive footage discovered? And what condition was it in? The majority was found in 2017, three years after his death. The material is purely shot by amateurs. One of the people responsible for filming was Fakhir’s driver – he’s still a little bit shocked his video is going to appear in a movie. The footage wasn’t dated; there was no logic to it at all. There was a lot of work and time put in to speaking to Fakhir’s colleagues and friends to put together the whole puzzle and make sense of it. The process was not clear cut – that’s why it ended up taking 78 versions of the film before we reached the final edit. What was the colonel’s reason for filming his work? Fakhir and his team wanted to document what they were doing so they could show everybody else their work and what they were accomplishing. There was also another purpose behind filming: to show what the mines consisted of, how they were set up, how they were placed and how they were disarmed, so other teams could learn from that. But after a while it just became part of their everyday lives. They always had a camera rolling. Why didn’t Berwari opt for the protective gear used by other bomb disposal personnel? It was available for the specially trained and educated mine groups, but this always made the process so much more complicated and time-consuming. A specialist mine group could disarm one mine during a day, and then went home to their families. Fakhir could disarm 100 mines a day. In the scene where he disarms his first mine, the Americans are saying: “What is this guy doing?” They had been waiting for a specialist mine team for about two hours and they never showed up, or it took them too long to arrive. Fakhir got frustrated and thought that mine could blow up at any moment. He went over to it, cut the wires and was like: “Ok, it’s done.” Can you put a figure on how many mines Fakhir disarmed in total? During the first year in Mosul they estimate about 600 mines, and then they just lost count. Fakhir just kept going and going and nobody was keeping track. During the ISIS conflict in 2014 the figure circulating is about 3,000-4,000 mines for that three-month period. In one scene when they’re putting mines in a truck, they’re counting them and saying “this is 1,050 mines” – that’s after three weeks of demining. The film doesn’t shy away from showing the devastating impact of these explosions. Was it hard judging what to show and – perhaps more importantly – what not to show? In reality the material is very censored and carefully chosen. If we had shown all the archives then no one would be able to look at it, even for a couple of seconds. There were body parts flying everywhere and people getting hurt all the time. The incident when Fakhir loses his leg is such a big part of Fakhir and his personality – his story – we just had to include it. Even that scene was cut. The worst part, when they entered the van with Fakhir when he’s lost his leg, that’s even more graphic. Can you explain his legacy for people who are new to this story? Related article The enduring influence of Zaha Hadid In his hometown there is nobody who doesn’t know who Fakhir is. But the legacy that Fakhir has left is that he never made a distinction between people according to race or background, if someone was poor or rich, or if they were Kurds or Arabs. They were just people. He was doing this to help other people and he would want that to live on. What do you want audiences to take away from this film? More love and less hate. I wanted to show how dangerous the situation with mines is and just how many mines there actually are. The other thing is to be inspired by the person that Fakhir was… that it is possible to help fellow human beings and to do something about a horrible situation. I also wanted to show the real situations behind why people flee or leave those areas and come to the rest of Europe. It’s not that they want luxury lives, or they want benefits. They’re leaving really, really horrible situations that they have to get out of. “The Deminer” is released in UK cinemas on April 27.


Queen Elizabeth II makes no mention of state visit to UK by US President Donald Trump Controversial parts of Conservatives' manifesto dropped from monarch's speech A somber Queen’s Speech laid out a Brexit-heavy policy agenda and dropped key pledges made by embattled Prime Minister Theresa May, who on Wednesday officially began the challenge of leading a minority government. Queen Elizabeth II read out a list of the government’s intentions – as is tradition before parliament begins a new session – at a tumultuous time for Britain and as May’s leadership comes into question. Related article It's not a great time to visit, President Trump The speech included eight bills centered on the UK leaving the European Union, and measures to address recent terror attacks in Manchester and London, as well as last week’s deadly apartment block fire. The agenda is essentially a watered down version of the Conservative Party’s election campaign manifesto, a document widely blamed for the party’s loss of command in Parliament. The speech did not make reference to pledges in the manifesto to tax the elderly more heavily for their own care and cut back on free lunches for schoolchildren, policies slammed by opposition parties and the public. Take a 360 tour of the Houses of Parliament While the Queen said she planned to welcome the Spanish King and Queen in July, she made no mention of a visit by US President Donald Trump. The Queen invited Trump to Britain, but a date has never been set and UK media has speculated that the trip may be scrapped due to a lack of public support. May had hoped to officially secure support from the Democratic Union Party (DUP) of Northern Ireland, whose 10 seats in Parliament would give her enough votes to push her legislative agenda through. But as of Wednesday morning, no deal had been made. The agenda appears to be deliberately modest in ambition and there were no real surprises, reflecting the Conservative party’s weakened position in Parliament. Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the main opposition Labour Party, shot the agenda down as “threadbare” and sign of a government “in chaos.” “This is a government without a majority, without a mandate, without a serious legislative program led by a prime minister who’s lost her political authority, and is struggling even today to stitch together a deal to stay in office,” he said in Parliament after the MPs were sworn in. The Queen announced that the Great Repeal Bill would be introduced to convert all EU laws into UK law, allowing the country to decide at a later date which to keep and which to scrap. Bills on trade and customs will be introduced – Brexit means Britain will try to strike new deals with the EU but also with other nations that it was unable to negotiate with while a an EU member. “My government’s priority is to secure the best possible deal as the country leaves the European Union,” the Queen said. Parliament will also introduce a new bill on immigration. Immigration was the centerpiece issue in the campaign to leave the EU, and the government has promised to deliver a policy that controls the inflow. The Queen confirmed that there would be a full public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire and that an independent public advocate, who will act for bereaved families after public disasters, would be introduced. At least 79 people are presumed dead in one of the country’s worst disasters in a generation. In light of recent terror attacks in Manchester and London, existing laws would be revised, but no new bills were announced. “My government’s counter-terrorism strategy will be reviewed to ensure that the police and security services have all the powers they need and that the length of custodial sentences for terrorism-related offenses are sufficient to keep the population safe,” the Queen said. While powers will be revised, there was no mention of police resources. After the recent terror attacks, May came under criticism for cutting 20,000 officers from police forces in her time as Home Secretary, and senior politicians, including London Mayor Sadiq Khan, have openly called on her government to boost police numbers. Corbyn repeated his call in parliament Wednesday for May to boost police resources and blamed the government’s cuts to councils for the disaster. Corbyn had already said that his party could vote against the Queen’s Speech and even offer up some amendments. The Queen’s Speech lacked the usual level of pomp and pageantry, with the Queen ditching her traditional red velvet Robe of State and crown for a blue day dress and hat, and swapping her horse-drawn carriage for a car. She was accompanied by her eldest son, Prince Charles, after Buckingham Palace confirmed that her husband, Prince Philip, had been hospitalized with an infection. The Queen’s Speech comes at a time when May’s premiership has become vulnerable and the country’s future uncertain, with negotiations over Britain’s departure from the European Union having only just begun. May’s own position has been called into question ever since her decision to call a snap election. Her attempt to secure a larger mandate ahead of the Brexit negotiations backfired with her losing her commanding majority. Related article Survey shows youth vote surge in UK election In written remarks prepared for the first day of Parliament, the troubled Prime Minister began trying to undo some of the key messages from the Conservatives’ election campaign, saying that social care would be addressed and that every school should be fairly funded. Parliament must pass the Queen’s Speech in a vote, but with May yet to secure a deal with the DUP, she is aware that failure to get the speech through could be seen as a vote of no confidence. The Queen’s Speech usually sets out the government’s legislative plan for the 12 months ahead, but this year’s is different. May’s government intends to run a two-year parliamentary period to complete the country’s exit from the European Union. CNN’s David Wilkinson, Carol Jordan and Stephanie Halasz contributed to this report.


Editor’s Note: CNN National Security Analyst John Kirby is a retired rear admiral in the US Navy who served as a spokesman for both the state and defense departments in the Obama administration. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. John Kirby: We don't need a parade to remind the world of the US military's might There are more important things to spend our resources on to help our military, such as addressing the high rate of suicide among veterans Inspired by his attendance at this year’s Bastille Day parade in Paris, President Trump has apparently decided we need a similar military parade here in Washington of the Fourth of July. “I think we’re going to have to start looking at that ourselves,” he said yesterday while meeting French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. “So we’re actually thinking about Fourth of July, Pennsylvania Avenue, having a really great parade to show our military strength.” Bad idea, Mr. President. Please don’t. First of all, the United States doesn’t need a parade down Pennsylvania or any other avenue to show our military strength. We do that every day in virtually every clime all over the world. Which nation leads the international coalition against ISIS? We do. Who has four aircraft carriers at sea right now? We do. What country contributes more than any other to the mission in Afghanistan and is about to increase that commitment? Yep, we do. How many other nations have seven treaty alliances, five of them in the Asia-Pacific region? None. And exactly what other military, anywhere, can boast more than two million volunteers in its ranks? That’s right, volunteers all. By pretty much any measure – size, capability, reach, lethality, leadership and professionalism – there isn’t another military in human history that has ever come close. Ever. In human history. We know it. Our allies and partners know it. And our foes, declared or not, certainly have no doubt. Kim Jong Un doesn’t cast the struggle over his nuclear weapons program as “North Korea vs. the World.”  He casts it as a conflict between North Korea and the United States. I think he does that because he knows, by dint of our military presence on the peninsula and in the region, we are the most consequential thing standing in his way. The United States is the biggest thing he has to fear. And that’s why he likes to throw parades: to convince himself and his followers that they aren’t impotent against the threat they see from the United States, to make themselves feel good. It’s great propaganda. Now, don’t get me wrong. The Bastille Day parade is fantastic. I had the chance to attend last year, while in Paris with then-Secretary of State John Kerry. It is a heart-thumping, pulse-quickening patriotic display at its most ardent, no question. Related article Trump suggests US will have military parade on July 4 But the Bastille Day parade isn’t designed only to commemorate the storming of the famous fortress on July 14th, 1789; it also commemorates the Fete de la Federation, a celebration of French national unity that was originally marked one year after that battle. And the French have on many occasions invited foreign troops and dignitaries to participate in the parade, recognizing allied and coalition contributions to their security. This year saw more than 150 US military personnel in the parade, with American military planes flying overhead. In other words, it’s not just about showing off French military wares. It’s about that country’s struggle for freedom and democracy, even against itself, throughout history. In any event, I’m not French. And neither are my fellow veterans. We don’t need a parade down Pennsylvania Avenue to recognize allied and coalition contributions to our own security. As I said, our colleagues in active service right now are living it every day. Nor do we need a parade to make us feel appreciated by the American people. I suspect most veterans want the same things every other American wants: meaningful work, an education, a home, and a chance to give their children a better life. Just last Friday, at the end of the day, the Veterans Administration released a stark report about veteran suicide. According to their analysis, risk for suicide was 21% higher among veterans than non-veterans. Incredibly, the suicide rate for female vets was about 2.5 times greater than for American women who have not served in the military. To your credit, Mr. President, you have advanced some important reforms for the VA. You should try tackling the suicide problem as well before spending resources on a parade. Sign up for CNN Opinion’s new newsletter.Join us on Twitter and Facebook You should also work harder with Congress to achieve something akin to budget certainty for the armed services. The Senate yesterday passed a roughly $700 million defense authorization bill for next fiscal year, but the bill failed to eliminate automatic spending cuts under the sequester mechanism that could still force unnecessarily tough choices on Pentagon leaders. And, as you well know, the military had been funded throughout most of 2017 by continuing resolutions that capped most spending at 2016 levels. This uncertainty and fiscal instability makes it difficult for your military leaders to plan for the procurement of new weapons or the maintenance of old ones. It also makes it harder for them to ensure our troops get the necessary training they need before deployment. Don’t throw them a parade, Mr. President. Give them a budget. Unless, of course, the parade is really for you. The showman. The entertainer. The winner. You did tell President Macron you’d have to “try and top it,” didn’t you? But that can’t possibly be. A parade for an audience of one. Who’s the Rocket Man now?


Australian lawyer receives barrage of abuse at the urgings of a U.S. website The Daily Stormer instructed followers to be as " nasty, hurtful, hateful, offensive" as possible Counter campaign sees thousands tweet #IStandWithMariam The Internet is a dangerous place for Mariam Veiszadeh right now. It’s where death threats lurk and vile messages appear faster than they can be deleted. But it’s also a place where support is growing in a Twitter counter-campaign – #IStandWithMariam – to the urgings of a U.S.-based white supremacist website, the Daily Stormer, to “be as nasty, hurtful, hateful, offensive, insulting and ‘vilifying’ as you possibly can.” And they have been. “Leave now before we behead your mother and bury you all with pigs…” said one tweet from an account, which has since been suspended. Many of the messages include extremely offensive hashtags. Veiszadeh, an Australian lawyer and founder of the Islamophobia Register, which tracks instances of abuse against Muslims, knows exactly why she’s being targeted. “The reality is people don’t abuse me just because I’m a woman or because my name is Mariam or because I’m Middle-Eastern. They abuse me because I have a scarf on my head and because I’m a Muslim,” Veiszadeh told CNN. Last October, Veiszadeh posted an image of a T-shirt for sale in Woolworths, one of Australia’s biggest retailers, which showed the Australian flag with the words “If you don’t love it, leave.” She called the shirt “bigoted,” a flood of complaints followed and the shirt was withdrawn from sale. Woolworths apologized and blamed an ordering error, saying it “should never have been on our shelves.” Pls RT@woolworthsI'm outraged that #WOOLWORTHS are allegedly selling these bigoted singlets at their Cairns stores pic.twitter.com/0GVwscbpuK That could have been the end of it. However, three months later, the Australian Defence League (ADL) – a right-wing group that’s calling for Islam to be banned in Australia – posted Veiszadeh’s tweet on its Facebook site, along with another one she posted saying “Everyone  is entitled to dress as they please,” with the title “Hypocrisy Much?” The post attracted dozens of offensive comments. Abusive tweets followed but the campaign took a more sinister – and organized – twist when the Daily Stormer implored its “troll army” to attack her. The post, in part, justifies the attack as revenge for the prosecution of a 22-year-old woman from Ipswich, in the Australian state of Queensland. The woman allegedly sent a stream of invective to Veiszadeh, calling her a tramp, whore, “rag head” and other offensive names. She’s been charged with “using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offense” and is due to appear on court on March 11. On the blog post calling for the tirade of abuse, the Daily Stormer publisher justifies the attack by saying attempts to ban freedom of speech “should be responded to with the most ridiculous conceivable hateful speech.” It recalls a similar “successful” campaign against Luciana Berger, a British MP who was targeted with a barrage of abusive messages after a man was jailed for sending her an anti-Semitic tweet. “The goal of these operations is to purposefully enrage the target, so as to escalate the situation to the level of media attention, and the method for doing that is through the most extreme speech possible,” writes Daily Stormer publisher Andrew Anglin on one blogpost. He said attention would force a discussion about whether people should be jailed for hate speech, concluding that “the vast majority of White (sic) people do not think name-calling should be an imprisonable offense.” Veiszadeh is adamant the campaign of intimidation will not be successful. “If their stated objective is to silence me, then my stated objective is to do the exact opposite,” she said. Earlier this week, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott foreshadowed tougher penalties for hate speech, as part of a move to strengthen the country’s counter-terrorism laws. “No one should make excuses for Islamist fanatics or their imitators here in Australia,” Abbott said. Australia’s Race Discrimination Commissioner Tim Soutphommasane – who himself has been the target of a Daily Stormer hate campaign – says the country’s current laws under the Racial Discrimination Act “send an important message to bigots and racists.” “Those who peddle messages of hatred should be made to answer for their extremism. And they should know that the rest of Australian society rejects their promotion of fear and division,” he said. However, the Racial Discrimination Act does not cover attacks on a person based on their religious beliefs. That’s covered by state laws, which vary from state to state. Veiszadeh said in New South Wales, where most of Australia’s Muslims live, there’s no law to cover Muslims who are abused on the basis of their religion. Of the Queensland woman due to face court, Veiszadeh said, “Had this woman not referred to my ethnicity, I would have absolutely no grounds to take action against her.” But even a change in Australian law wouldn’t solve the issue of attacks emanating from outside the country by trolls who create multiple fake accounts to attack then vanish. The Daily Stormer has issued instructions to its followers on exactly how to do it, reminding them not to threaten violence (though some have), presumably in an attempt to avoid legal action. Right now, Veiszadeh is concentrating on naming the trolls and urging her 15,000 followers to block their accounts. “I’m still getting horrifying images and abusive tweets but, as bad as that sounds, I’ve become accustomed to it. I’ve developed a thick skin and for me it’s about exposing bigotry and raising awareness about Islamophobia.” Thank you to all those who have sent me lovely messages of support. You've helped drown out the bigots & empowered me to keep fighting.


With true crime TV, the devil is in the details – specifically, the ones that we didn’t remember, or even with high-profile cases, perhaps never knew. Television is in the midst of a true crime explosion, motivated by both unscripted (“Making a Murderer,” “The Jinx”) and scripted (“The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”) explorations of notorious cases. While the genre was once largely the province of TV movies – think back to the trio of films devoted to the “Long Island Lolita” trial in the 1990s – it’s now receiving series treatment, devoting from six to 12 hours to such projects. At first blush, one might think multi-part retellings of stories where everyone knows the outcome would amount to, pardon the expression, overkill. But thus far, many of these programs have proved compelling, not merely rehashing the tabloid-style titillation but fleshing out peripheral players, and even placing the timing in broader historical and sociological context. The latest entry, “The Murder of Laci Peterson,” premieres August 15 on A&E. It’s a six-part docu-series, recounting the Christmastime disappearance of a pregnant woman in 2002 and eventual conviction of her husband, Scott, after a protracted media circus. Not surprisingly, it was previously turned into a movie (Dean Cain played Scott), as was the Menendez brothers murders, which will become a series under NBC’s “Law & Order” banner. Discovery Channel, meanwhile, is currently airing the eight-part “Manhunt: Unabomber,” while next month brings new seasons of Netflix’s “Narcos” and Univision’s “El Chapo.” And the next “American Crime Story,” “The Assassination of Gianni Versace,” is due in January. Unlike some of these programs, “The Murder of Laci Peterson” seeks to re-litigate aspects of the case, including interviews with Scott’s family members, among others, who continue to argue for his innocence. The more sobering component, though, takes viewers back to when these events unfolded, and examines how the salacious elements – such as Scott’s affair with Amber Frey, weaving in their audiotaped conversations – wowed the media and consumed plenty of time and oxygen. In perhaps the most surreal moment, then-CNN anchor Aaron Brown kills time waiting for a Modesto police press conference to start by discussing whether the U.S. might be heading toward war in Iraq, a juxtaposition made several times in the hours previewed. News organizations decided “the audience is going to be riveted by this” and “went all in,” recalls journalist Ken Auletta in the documentary, citing a complicity between the media and investigators that were both playing to the public. The producers also highlight Nancy Grace’s histrionics during the story, which included using her TV soapbox – then with Court TV – to serve as a de facto prosecutor, judge and jury – a role she played in a number of similar situations. (Grace is among those interviewed, in the process retelling the story about her fiance’s murder, a source of justification for her on-air demeanor.) In part, the expansion of true-crime series represents a response to the shifting nature of the TV business: A proliferation of channels, with ample time to fill, eager to knife through the clutter with recognizable titles. For an audience overwhelmed by abundance, names like “Menendez,” “Unabomber” and “O.J.” provide a kind of marketing shorthand. Nevertheless, the appeal of these extended programs has been something of a revelation, demonstrating that knowing the outcome doesn’t mean there isn’t more to learn – both in the particulars and filtered through a wider lens – about these sensational stories. “The Murder of Laci Peterson” premieres Aug. 15 at 10 p.m. on A&E.


This page includes the show Transcript Use the Transcript to help students with reading comprehension and vocabulary At the bottom of the page, comment for a chance to be mentioned on CNN Student News.  You must be a teacher or a student age 13 or older to request a mention on the CNN Student News Roll Call. The Weekly Newsquiz tests students' knowledge of events in the news February 20, 2015 Welcome to Friday’s edition of CNN Student News! Today, our coverage begins with a report on an international meeting in the U.S. capital. That’s followed by an explanation of “cryptocurrencies,” defining the term, its uses and its limitations. And we tell you about a new application that’s brought about a network of people helping others. On this page you will find today’s show Transcript and a place for you to request to be on the CNN Student News Roll Call. TRANSCRIPT Click here to access the transcript of today’s CNN Student News program. Please note that there may be a delay between the time when the video is available and when the transcript is published. WEEKLY NEWSQUIZ Click here for a printable version of the Weekly Newsquiz (PDF). 1. In what North African nation, a border country of Egypt, did Egyptian fighter planes launch strikes against the ISIS terrorist group this week? 2. What U.S. capital landmark is associated with the myth that only men were allowed to ride its elevator to prevent any risk to women and children? 3. Warner Bros.’ secret movie prop archive is located on the outskirts of what European city? 4. About what percentage of the U.S. population is composed by people of Hispanic or Latino descent, the largest ethnic or race minority in the country? 5. Bertha, a massive digging machine, was named after the first female mayor of what U.S. city? 6. Ash Wednesday marks the first day of what Christian religious season? 7. What event triggers the world’s largest annual human migration? 8. During what international economic crisis did the U.S. government institute the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)? 9. In the 7th Century, the first-ever banknotes were traded in what Asian country? 10. Dating back to the 9th Century, Castilian is a dialect of what world language? CNN Student News is created by a team of journalists who consider the Common Core State Standards, national standards in different subject areas, and state standards when producing the show. ROLL CALL For a chance to be mentioned on the next CNN Student News, comment on the bottom of this page with your school name, mascot, city and state. We will be selecting schools from the comments of the previous show. You must be a teacher or a student age 13 or older to request a mention on the CNN Student News Roll Call! Thank you for using CNN Student News!


As Hillary Clinton attempts to make history as the first female US president, how might her experience compare to women politicians around the world? We looked at how people in other countries talked about their female leaders – both in the 90 days before they were elected, and the 90 days after. Age, weight, married, earlobes – these were some of the most popular words people typed into Google as they hurried to find out about the women in charge of their countries. From Australia to Argentina, the questions give us an insight into local attitudes towards women at the top. Julia Gillard became Australia’s first female prime minister in dramatic style after successfully challenging then-Prime Minister Kevin Rudd for the Labour Party leadership in June of 2010. Overnight, Gillard went from Deputy Prime Minister to leader of the nation – and online, people scrambled to find out more about the red-haired, unmarried, British-born woman who had swiftly disposed of Rudd. A few months later, Gillard narrowly won the federal election. But in 2013 she was ousted by the very same person she initially wrested power from –  Rudd. Why were people asking about Gillard’s sexuality? Gillard was one of Australia’s few unmarried leaders, and her relationship with hairdresser boyfriend Tim Mathieson drew plenty of media attention. In 2013 radio shock jock Howard Sattler was fired after repeatedly asking the prime minister if her partner was gay because of his profession. “There was this sense in the media that Julia should explain why she was a woman in her 50s who didn’t have kids and wasn’t married,” said David Denemark, professor of political science and international relations at the University of Western Australia. “So much attention was paid to her as a female, and not as the nation’s leader.” What do her earlobes have to do with it? When Gillard faced Liberal Party leader Tony Abbott in a televised debate ahead of the 2010 election, it appeared one of the biggest talking points wasn’t her policies – but her “pendulous earlobes.” Following the debate, thousands of people liked Facebook pages dedicated to Gillard’s “epic pouches of skin.” “Television is famous for being an image-based medium,” said Denemark. “And to play on the personality and not the subtleties of policies is easy to do.” “Most people don’t know much about politics, and they rely on the media as their point of access – and if the media plays to these images then it seems to really emphasize all of that.” The expert view: “The pre-election Google searches appeared more substantive,” said Denemark. “It’s a worry that post-election it was all ‘earlobes’ and ‘jokes’ and ‘partner.’” Erna Solberg was elected Norway’s prime minister in September 2013, the second woman ever to hold the position after Gro Harlem Brundtland in 1981. Solberg has been a member of parliament since 1989, and will face her next election in September 2017. She earned the nickname “Iron Erna” after tightening immigration rules as a minister in the early 2000s, though in recent years has apparently adopted a more “caring” public persona. Norwegians want a leader who stands for them: Politicians flaunting their wealth and superiority probably aren’t going to get very far in social democratic Norway – and Solberg was no different. “Norway is a country were equality is highly praised,” said Hilde Danielsen, research professor in cultural studies at the Uni Research Rokkan Centre in Bergen. “Solberg was representing the Conservative Party, but also had an image as being quite common, definitely not posh,” said Danielsen, pointing to a popular newspaper feature in the run-up to the election that  showed pictures inside the politician’s untidy and unfashionable home. But what’s the obsession with Solberg’s weight? Solberg has never been shy about discussing her weight, and during a TV2 interview in December last year even read out some of the online abuse she had received – including messages calling her a “fat bastard.” “Solberg seems comfortable in her body and makes jokes about her weight even in parliamentary debates,” said Danielsen, adding that while Solberg’s size was in the public eye, it didn’t dominate headlines. “Female politicians in Norway are generally respected, and we have had a history of many public female politicians since the 1980s,” she continued. “However we still see a greater interest in their family life compared to male politicians, and the focus on looks and appearance is probably bigger now than it used to be in the 1990s.” The expert view: “Since her election, Solberg has been seen more and more as a mother of the nation, parallel to Angela Merkel’s position in Germany,” said Danielsen. Cristina Fernández de Kirchner became Argentina’s first elected female president in October 2007, and was reelected for a second term in October 2011. Her predecessor and husband Nestor Kirchner loomed large in her political career until his death from a heart attack in 2010. Since leaving office in 2015, Cristina has been the focus of various corruption investigations – which she denies. Why don’t people know Mrs Kirchner’s name? Cristina’s husband Nestor was president of Argentina from 2003 to 2007, and some political analysts say his wife rose to power on the back of his name. “It was very difficult to avoid the derogatory construction of Cristina Fernandez as the ‘wife of Kirchner,’” explained Jane L. Christie, author of “Negotiating Gendered Discourses: Michelle Bachelet and Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.” “Many positioned Nestor Kirchner as her authoritative patron, and constructed him as an almost paternal figure who had delegated power to his wife.” That said, Argentina also has a history of women leaders (Isabel Peron served as president in 1974, though was not elected by the people), and the country has gender quotas to increase female representation in parliament. Why did a “fotoblog” get people talking? Those wanting an insight into Argentina’s first family were granted behind-the-scenes access thanks to their teenage daughter’s blog. Florencia Kirchner, who also went by the online name “Florkey,” posted images messing about with her friends, interviewed herself, and included backstage photographs of her mom’s presidential inauguration. While the site raised eyebrows in the local press for its perceived vulgarity, it also drew many fans who described Florkey as “just an ordinary teenager trying to enjoy herself.” The expert view: “There was a mixed perception of continuation and change surrounding Cristina,” explained Christie. “Some anticipated the continuation of her husband’s politics,” she said. “At the same time, she was constructed as the face of newness, a break from a long history of male political leaders.” In Australia, the focus on Gillard’s appearance dramatically increased once she became prime minister. While in Norway, Solberg’s policies were scrutinized as fiercely as her weight. And in Argentina, Kirchner struggled to step out of the shadow of first her political heavyweight husband, and then social media sensation daughter. “Some of these questions are just natural curiosity – ‘who is she?’ and ‘what do we know about her?’” said Denemark on the Google searches around the world. “But maybe people do it with a sharper edge for women,” he added. “Things such as earlobes and dress styles – I’d really like to see the media not play to the lowest common denominator and comment so heavily on these.”


Propaganda blitz under way in Russia, to secure support for airstrikes on rebel-held areas of Syria Live reports, analysis, official briefings and even weather forecasts delivering message that strikes are crucial Some 72% of Russians now support the attacks, compared to 14% before the offensive began It is Russia’s version of shock and awe: a slick, 21st century media campaign in which briefings, high-tech graphics – even weather reports – tout Vladimir Putin’s Syria attack plan and its claims of success. The publicity blitz is on a scale never before witnessed in a Russian conflict; from edited clips of airstrikes to live news from the Syrian runways – the sheer number of camera angles is a revelation for Russia’s normally secretive military. Across state media – the only news outlets that really matter here – millions of Russians are treated to a succession of live reports, analysis, and official defence briefings (closed to the foreign press) delivering a seemingly coordinated message: that airstrikes in Syria are crucial in the fight against ISIS. And regardless of just how successful the strikes themselves have been so far, the campaign at home appears to be winning. Just a few days before the offensive began, the Levada Center, an independent pollster, found the Russian public was deeply sceptical about the possibility of strikes, with support for military intervention in Syria as low as 14%. Related video Russians see parallels between Syria and Afghanistan The idea of Russia being sucked into its first war outside the former Soviet Union since the invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 filled many Russians with apprehension. But a dramatic week of airstrikes – backed by a propaganda campaign – appears to have turned opinions around, and the public is now squarely behind the military move; according to the latest Levada opinion poll, 72% of Russians are now in favour of it, with only 14% opposing the incursion. According to Dmitry Nekrasov, a media analyst and frequent chat show guest in Moscow, the state propaganda has worked brilliantly. “Not a lot of people actually really support sending our troops to Syria, because everyone understands there could be victims,” he told me this week. “But everyone, or the majority, like this demonstration of force – these planes and so on – of Russian power,” he added. It’s a message of power backed up by daily Defence Ministry videos of the conflict zone, and briefings designed to talk up Russia’s military prowess. According to the Kremlin’s spin doctors, even the elements are on Russia’s side when it comes to its campaign against what the government insists is “ISIS, and other terrorist groups.” “From the point of view of weather conditions, October in Syria is a generally advantageous time for airstrikes,” one meteorologist informed viewers this week, in a clip that has since gone viral on social media. In another new departure, defence officials have taken to Facebook and Twitter to post updates and videos, utilizing social media to push the Kremlin line. But what’s most interesting are the insights this new media strategy offers into what is really driving the Kremlin. Certainly, attention is being drawn to Russia’s military muscle. The country’s most advanced weaponry looks great in action. Related video Russia escalates military involvement in Syria And Vladimir Putin can be portrayed, once again, as a hero who stands up to the West. But critics say this blanket coverage of Syria may also be a useful distraction. Already, enthusiasm for Russia’s other war, in Ukraine, appears to have dimmed. Euphoria over the annexation of Crimea last year is now hardly mentioned in the media. And with the country’s economy withering under the impact of sanctions and low oil prices, the Kremlin may be gambling that Syria can provide a spectacular boost to Russia’s national pride.


Former FBI Director James Comey said he believes “it’s possible” that Russia has compromising information on President Donald Trump. “I think it’s possible. I don’t know. These are more words I never thought I’d utter about a President of the United States, but it’s possible,” Comey told ABC News during a wide-ranging, five-hour long interview, a portion of which aired on Sunday evening, promoting his tell-all book “A Higher Loyalty,” due out this week. “I (would have) been able to say with high confidence about any other President I dealt with, but I can’t. It’s possible,” Comey said. Related article Trump now faces Comey's moral assault Comey was fired by the President last year in the midst of the FBI’s investigation into whether Trump’s campaign associates colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 election. When he was still FBI chief, Comey briefed Trump on the details of a dossier – portions of which remain unconfirmed – that was commissioned as opposition research during the 2016 election and compiled by a former British intelligence agent, Christopher Steele. The dossier contained salacious allegations about the President during a trip he took to Moscow in 2013. “There’s a non-zero possibility that the Russians have some, some sway over him that is rooted in his personal experience, and I don’t know whether that’s the business about the activity in a Moscow hotel room or finances or something else,” Comey told USA Today in an interview that posted early Monday morning.


"So, yeah, this is just wildly overblown and fortunately most of us are not paying any attention," Toomey said. The Pennsylvania senator also called the Comey hearing a "sideshow." Republican Sen. Pat Toomey said Tuesday called the investigation into possible collusion between members of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia “overblown” and said he isn’t paying much attention to it. “I have seen that (Sen.) Dianne Feinstein has stated to her credit – liberal Democrat who has been on the intelligence committee for I don’t know, for decades I think – she has acknowledged that there is absolutely no evidence of any collusion anywhere,” Toomey said on the Chris Stigall Show on WPHT radio. “(Sen.) Mark Warner has said, the Democrat from Virginia, has said the exact same thing. (Former FBI Director) James Comey told us at the hearing that the President himself is not the subject of investigation. “That’s because nobody has found any evidence that suggests that he should be the subject of an investigation. So, yeah, this is just wildly overblown and fortunately most of us are not paying any attention.” The Pennsylvania senator said he thought the Senate intelligence committee should stick to its initial mission of investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election and called the Comey hearing a “sideshow.” “My time is probably 70% dedicated towards trying to reach an agreement that works on Obamacare repeal and replace, maybe 20% on the tax reform that I want to do immediately after we get Obamacare, and maybe 10% on all the other miscellaneous that come across my desk, and very, very close to zero on Trump and Russia,” Toomey added. He continued, “Now I understand if you’re on the intelligence committee, you don’t have any choice but to deal with it because you have people like Comey coming in and you have to deal with that testimony. I’m not on that committee. I’m all about doing the big things that we promised the American people.”


The Justice Department and both chambers of Congress are all now investigating alleged Russian attempts to meddle in the 2016 elections and whether President Donald Trump’s associates colluded with Moscow – an ever-evolving saga that is showing no signs of slowing down despite the firing of the man who long found himself spearheading the probe, now-former FBI director James Comey. CNN has compiled a list of the growing and diverse cast of characters amid news that a former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser has pleaded guilty to making a false statement to the FBI after he lied about his interactions with Russians who had close ties to the Kremlin, the campaign’s clearest connection so far to Russia’s efforts to meddle in the 2016 election. Several US lawmakers and agency heads have emerged as visible, and at times controversial, figures in the investigations into connections between individuals in Trump’s orbit and Russian hacking of Democratic Party groups including the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign adviser John Podesta. Robert Mueller – The Justice Department named Robert Mueller as special counsel to oversee the department’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election after the firing of Comey on May 9. The former FBI director has a long history with investigations and prosecutions. Mueller was former Comey’s predecessor. The longtime litigator was the second-longest FBI director in history, only behind iconic and controversial director J. Edgar Hoover. Congress passed legislation in 2011 to extend Mueller’s term from the usual 10 years, giving him a 12-year tenure. Mueller, 72, oversaw the FBI from September 4, 2001, just days before the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, until September 4, 2013. He is widely seen as a nonpolitical, dogged investigator, respected on both sides of the aisle. The extension of his term passed the Senate 100-0, and he was also initially confirmed in 2001 unanimously, 98-0. James Comey – The now-former FBI director was fired abruptly by Trump, but seemed to have a knack for finding himself in the middle of high-profile political controversies while serving as the nation’s top law enforcement officer. Months after weathering criticism from both parties over his handling of the investigation into Hilary Clinton’s use of a private email server while secretary of state, Comey once again is front and center in another political storm. Most recently, he dropped a bombshell before the House Intelligence Committee when he told lawmakers that the bureau was investigating not only Russian hacking and other alleged interference in the 2016 vote, but whether there was any coordination between Trump figures and Moscow as part of its intrusions. Mike Rogers – Late last year, Rogers was simultaneously a candidate to be promoted to Director of National Intelligence under President-elect Trump and on the hot seat to be fired as director of the National Security Agency by then-President Barack Obama. Eventually, Rogers remained in his role as the director of the NSA under Trump and now finds himself among those agency heads testifying before Congress as an authority on cybersecurity as it relates to hacks by suspect Russian-relate groups. Rogers played a key role in last week’s House hearing with Comey when he joined the FBI director in refuting Trump’s claim that Obama had had his phones tapped during the campaign. He in particular batted down the notion that the Obama administration requested that the British eavesdrop on Trump, an unfounded assertion made on Fox News cited by the Trump White House. Sally Yates – A holdover from the Obama administration, the most memorable moment of Yates’ short tenure as acting Attorney General may have been her firing in the early days of the Trump administration after she refused to implement the President’s orders barring travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries. Yates also briefed Trump’s White House counsel on former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s meeting with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, communications that ultimately led to Flynn’s resignation. Her scheduled testimony before the House Intelligence Committee on ties between Russian agents and Trump campaign officials was abruptly cancelled by committee Chairman Devin Nunes. The White House rejected allegations that it had sought to prevent Yates from testifying. James Clapper – The director of national intelligence under Obama has never been shy in offering criticism of Trump, clashing with him over the latter’s public disparagement of intelligence officers, wiretapping allegations and views on Russian hacking. Clapper, along with Comey and then-CIA Director John Brennan, briefed Trump on Russian hacking during the election campaign just hours after the President-elect doubled down on his dismissal of the threat as an artificial and politically driven controversy, calling it a “witch hunt.” He has also had been invited to testify by Congress. John Brennan – Nearly three years ago, John Brennan, acting CIA director at the time, found himself apologizing to the Senate intelligence committee and acknowledging that the CIA had spied on senators’ computers after previously vehemently denying the claims. Now, Brennan, who has been out of the role since January, is testifying about his own concerns about espionage from Russia via possible contacts with the Trump campaign. Dan Coats – Less than two months into his tenure as Director of National Intelligence, Dan Coats is being thrust into the public spotlight – asked to testify before Congress amid an investigation into Russian meddling during the 2016 election. It is a potentially precarious situation for the former US lawmaker and diplomat who is now serving as Trump’s principal adviser on intelligence matters and head of US intelligence efforts. Confirmed to his new post in March, Coats now finds himself involved in an investigation looking into possible collusion between a foreign power and members of the campaign that helped elect the man who picked him for the post. Mike Conaway – Rep. Mike Conaway has been given the reins to the House intelligence committee’s fractured Russia investigation following chairman Rep. Devin Nunes’ announcement that he is temporarily stepping aside — but who is the man now tasked with getting things back on track after weeks of partisan conflict? A seven-term Republican representing Texas’ 11th Congressional District, Conaway is the chairman of the agriculture committee in addition to serving as a member of the intelligence committee and Armed Services Committee. He has also chaired the House ethics committee during his time in Washington. A member of the House intelligence subcommittee that oversees the National Security Agency and CIA, Conaway has expressed skepticism over the intent of Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Devin Nunes – The man once charged with leading the House’s investigation into possible connections between Trump associates and Russia’s hacking of the 2016 election stepped asied after becoming the focus of controversy. Nunes worked on Trump’s transition team, publicly supported Flynn just hours before his resignation as national security adviser and downplaying Trump’s wiretapping allegations against Obama by suggesting they shouldn’t be taken literally. Nunes particularly provoked Democrats after he disclosed evidence to the press and White House – before informing Democrats on his committee – that the Trump team’s communications may have been picked up in “incidental” collections by US surveillance of conversations with foreign nationals who were being lawfully monitored. Adam Schiff – The Democratic “yin” to Nunes’ Republican “yang,” Schiff is his party’s most senior member on the House Intelligence Committee and has been one of the most visible lawmakers on the Russia investigation. Though the committee has historically been one of the more discreet on Capitol Hill, Schiff hasn’t held back his criticism of Trump or, increasingly, the committee chairman. On Monday, Schiff called on Nunes to recuse himself from the investigation in a stunning split between the two top investigators of a committee with a reputation for bipartisanship. Schiff has repeatedly maintained he’s seen additional evidence that is more than circumstantial proof of collusion between Trump aides and Russian entities. Elijah Cummings – The representative from Maryland is the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee. Cummings was one of the first lawmakers to call for an investigation into Russian meddling in the US election. Cummings wrote a letter to committee chairman Rep. Jason Chaffetz in November 2016 calling for a bipartisan commission, similar to the one that investigated the 9/11 attacks, and the Democratic effort to have an independent investigation is only gathering steam as the acrimony on Capitol Hill rises. Cummings has also gone beyond calls for Nunes to recuse himself, suggesting he be investigated after his comments disclosing the surveillance that may have picked up conversation of Trump associates. And he has also sharply denounced Flynn, brandishing emails that show the former national security adviser was paid by Russian entities for a trip there during the campaign, raising legal and regulatory questions. Richard Burr – The North Carolina Republican and chairman of the Senate Intelligence committee is leading a separate investigation into Russian efforts to tamper with the US election.  So far it has been a low-key process, as he’s stayed out of the limelight while interviewing witnesses in private. Some of that will change Thursday, when the Senate Intelligence Committee hosts its first public hearing for its Russia investigation. Investigations by the FBI and congressional committees have included several aides to the Trump campaign and their communication with key foreign entities and, in some cases, Russian operatives. Others have cropped up in headlines because of their dealings with the longtime US adversary. Several of these individuals have volunteered to testify before House and Senate Intelligence Committees to clear up questions about their actions and associations. Paul Manafort – A Republican strategist and longtime Washington operator, Manafort joined Trump’s campaign team last spring and was elevated after campaign manager Corey Lewandowski was fired in June. But with just under three months to go until the presidential election, Manafort resigned amid questions over his campaign role and extensive lobbying history overseas, particularly in Ukraine, where he represented pro-Russian interests. Manafort’s connections to Russia faced fresh scrutiny earlier this year after current and former US officials told CNN that high-level Trump campaign advisers, including Manafort, regularly communicated with Russians known to US intelligence. Manafort called the allegation “100% not true” and said he didn’t “remember talking to any Russian officials, ever.” Manafort has turned over hundreds of pages of documents to the Senate intelligence committee. Manafort and Rick Gates, long-time business associates who served together on the Trump campaign, were indicted in connection with Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation on 12 counts that included conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money and acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign principal. The charges do not cover any activities related to the campaign, though it’s possible Mueller could add additional charges. Manafort and Gates entered not guilty pleas before a federal magistrate judge. Rick Gates – Gates’ fate has long been tied to the fortunes of Paul Manafort. Manafort served as Trump’s campaign chairman, and he ran the Trump campaign for several months with Gates serving as his deputy. Gates stayed on the campaign after Manafort was ousted amid questions about his work in Ukraine. But Gates was ousted from a pro-Trump advocacy group earlier this year amid mounting questions about Manafort. The pair’s relationship goes back years. Gates joined Manafort’s lobbying firm in the mid-2000s when he handled projects in Eastern Europe, including in Ukraine. Gates has denied any wrongdoing. “Everything was done legally and with the approval of our lawyers,” Gates said in a June interview with The New York Times. “Nothing to my knowledge was ever done inappropriately.” George Papadopoulos – A former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser who pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI after he lied about his interactions with Russians who had close ties to the Kremlin. In recently unsealed court records, the FBI said Papadopoulos “falsely described his interactions with a certain foreign contact who discussed ‘dirt’ related to emails” concerning Hillary Clinton. Papadopoulos lied to FBI agents “about the timing, extent and nature of his relationships and interactions with certain foreign nationals whom he understood to have close connections with senior Russian government officials,” according to the complaint. Mueller signed a 14-page statement regarding Papadopoulos’ offense, which lays out of the facts of the case. Papadopoulos’ guilty plea brings the Mueller probe into actions that occurred during the 2016 campaign. Papadopoulos graduated from college in 2009, before moving to London to get a master’s degree in security studies. He worked for the Hudson Institute from 2011 through 2015 in Washington, and was also briefly a foreign policy adviser to then-GOP candidate Ben Carson – now Trump’s secretary of Housing and Urban Development – before he joined the Trump campaign. He lists his current profession as an oil, gas and policy consultant on his LinkedIn page. Papadopoulos’ name first was raised in connection with the Trump campaign when Trump listed him as one of his foreign policy advisers during a Washington Post editorial board interview. A former Trump campaign official said Papadopoulos interacted with the campaign “a significant amount” during the 2016 election cycle. “He was a foreign policy adviser,” the official said. But the official described Papadopoulos as an adviser who was in contact with the campaign staff via email and not a familiar face around Trump Tower. This official said Papadopoulos exchanged emails “constantly” on foreign policy matters with the Trump team during the campaign. Still, this official placed Papadopoulos in the same category as Carter Page who felt more like a “hanger-on” to the campaign staff. When asked about Papadopoulos’ role in the campaign, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters his role was “extremely limited” and called it a “volunteer position.” Michael Flynn – Flynn has courted controversy since before he became an early supporter of Trump’s campaign. In 2014, he was pushed out as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency in Obama’s Pentagon. Flynn said it was because he raised alarm bells on Islamic terrorism, but four US officials serving at time told CNN it was because of his contentious management style. His reputation for outspokenness and criticizing Washington figures led to raised eyebrows inside the Beltway when Trump tapped him as national security adviser. His tenure in any case didn’t last long, as he resigned after acknowledging that he misled Vice President Mike Pence about the nature of his communications with the Russian ambassador in Washington, Sergey Kislyak. He had initially denied that they had discussed sanctions recently imposed by the Obama administration. It is illegal for unauthorized private citizens to negotiate with foreign governments on behalf of the US, though the FBI has said that it has no intention of bringing charges against Flynn. At the time, Flynn did not hold a public office in the US government which technically qualifies him as a private citizen His financial ties with Russia and other foreign countries have also attracted attention, including the emails obtained by Cummings showing that he was paid by a state-run Russian TV outlet from which he had originally denied receiving funds. Jared Kushner – The 36-year-old businessman-turned-political operative played a crucial role in his father-in-law’s presidential campaign and has carved out a role for himself as one of Trump’s key White House aides. After amassing billions of dollars in properties over his decade in the New York real estate market, he now finds himself frequently assisting the President in matters of foreign policy. That has led to questions in certain arenas, including a recently disclosed meeting he held in December with a Russian banker appointed by President Vladimir Putin. The White House maintains that Kushner met with the banker in his role as a Trump adviser while the bank said it met with Kushner as a private developer. Kushner volunteered to testify before senators because of his role in arranging meetings between top campaign advisers and Kislyak, the Russian ambassador. Carter Page – Page worked for seven years as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch, which his biography said took him to London, New York and Moscow for three years in the mid-2000s, before Trump last year listed him as a foreign policy adviser in response to a question from The Washington Post. Page has regularly espoused views at odds with much of the foreign policy community in Washington, in particular questioning the US approach toward Russia and called for warmer relations between the two countries. His reported meeting with Kislyak during the Republican convention in Cleveland is one of his interactions with Russian officials that has caught the attention of the FBI. Page has denied any wrongdoing and volunteered to speak to the House Intelligence Committee about his role in Trump’s campaign. Page, who the White House has said was only loosely connected to the Trump campaign, emphasized last week that he was not a campaign insider. J.D. Gordon – A former Pentagon spokesman under Defense Secretaries Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates, Gordon contributed to a variety of media outlets before working as a national security adviser to the Trump campaign. Gordon disclosed earlier this month that he was among the Trump advisers who had met with Kislyak during the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in July. Gordon told CNN that he told Kislyak that he would like to improve relations with Russia. Gordon added that at no time did any inappropriate chatter come up about colluding with the Russians to aid the Trump campaign. Roger Stone – The eccentric former Trump adviser and self-described, master of political dark arts has been labeled as the “dirty trickster” of delegate fights. He has worked with the campaigns of Richard Nixon, George H. W. Bush and Ronald Reagan. Stone repeatedly claimed throughout the final months of the 2016 campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew of the group’s forthcoming document dumps, which disseminated the materials hacked from the Democrats. Later, Stone walked back those tweets. His attorney maintains he has done nothing wrong. Wikileaks also denies any connection with Stone. Roger Stone also has been forced to defend contacts with hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter. While Stone said his messages to the hacker alias are of no consequence, he is the first person in Trump’s orbit to have acknowledged any contact with a hacker – not to mention one that claimed responsibility for hacking the DNC. Stone’s attorney said the longtime Trump confidant has complied with the House Russia investigators’ request for him to provide the identity of his intermediary to Assange. But Stone’s attorney, Grant Smith, would not say whether that meant Stone had in fact revealed the identity of his WikiLeaks go-between to the House intelligence committee. Michael Cohen – Trump’s personal lawyer has been a staunch defender of his client, often serving as a media surrogate during the campaign. During a CNN interview in February, Ukrainian lawmaker Andrii Artemenko said he had discussed a pro-Russian peace plan for Ukraine with Cohen over dinner in January. Ukraine would vehemently oppose the idea that the White House would consider formalizing Russian control of Crimea. Cohen told CNN that they never discussed a peace plan and the White House has flatly denied any knowledge of the proposal. Connections between Trump campaign aides and notable foreigners have fueled suspicions of possible coordination with Russia. Specifically, the US officials told CNN last week that it has information that indicates Trump associates communicated with suspected Russian operatives to possibly coordinate the release of information damaging to Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Sergey Kislyak – The Russian ambassador to the US is seemingly ubiquitous around town, having gained extensive experience during a career spanning both the Soviet and Russian Federation eras. Not only did the veteran diplomat meet multiple times with Flynn, drawing scrutiny, but his meetings with then-Sen. Jeff Sessions led to the attorney general recusing himself from any potential investigations. Kislyak has also held several meetings – or at least photo-ops – with Democrats. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (who has joined the calls for Nunes to recuse himself) claimed to have never met with Kislyak, but a photo surfaced showing the two individuals in the same room. Current and former US intelligence officials TELL CNN that Kislyak is a top spy and recruiter of spies, an accusation that Russian officials have dismissed. Julian Assange – The founder of Wikileaks, the self-styled “radical transparency” organization with the stated goal of exposing the secrets of the powerful, Assange has cast a wide, blurry shadow over the center of US politics from his seclusion in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he remains holed up to avoid facing sexual assault charges in Sweden and a potential extradition to the United States. Assange spearheaded the release of nearly 20,000 internal DNC emails last July, which US intelligence bodies unanimously concluded were hacked by the Russians. WikiLeaks also began to serially release emails from Podesta, the Clinton campaign chairman, in October. WikiLeaks has denied that Russia was the source for its disclosures, and the Russian government has emphatically denied any connection with the theft as well. The Daily Beast revealed, and CNN confirmed, that the head of a data firm employed by the Trump campaign emailed WikiLeaks head Assange hoping to gain access to 33,000 emails that had been on Clinton’s server. US intelligence officials believe many of the hacked emails Assange released were obtained as part of a Russian hacking campaign. Guccifer 2.0 – The hacker otherwise known as “Guccifer 2.0” burst into the national conversation after claiming responsibility for a hack of the Democratic National Committee last year. US officials believe with “high confidence” that “Guccifer 2.0” was actually a front for Russian military intelligence and was part of the effort to influence America’s elections. Roger Stone has been forced to defend contacts with the online persona via Twitter. While Stone said his messages to the hacker alias are of no consequence, he is the first person in Trump’s orbit to have acknowledged any contact with a hacker – not to mention one that claimed responsibility for hacking the DNC. Christopher Steele – A former officer with MI6, the UK’s foreign intelligence service, Steele compiled a dossier of unsubstantiated allegations related to Trump’s personal and business ties to Russia before he became president. Steele initially had been hired by a Washington research firm working on behalf of Trump’s political opponents – initially in the Republican primary and then later Democrats. The FBI obtained a version of Steele’s dossier last summer and investigators compared it to some of their own work related to Russia’s attempts to influence the US election. His file contained claims that Russian operatives had compromising personal and financial information about Trump. Trump has consistently denied the claims, dismissing them as “phony” in January, though Schiff and others drew on some of them in the Comey-Rogers hearing earlier this year. US investigators said they have corroborated some of the communications in the dossier, but CNN has not been able to verify many of the specific allegations in the documents. CNN’s Dylan Byers, Marshall Cohen, Thomas Frank, Jeremy Diamond, Barbara Starr, Pamela Brown, Evan Perez, Jim Sciutto, Gloria Borger, Jeremy Herb and Manu Raju contributed to this report.