When Larry King asked David Paterson tonight if his blindness made it hard for him to read the tabloid headlines about a story he claims doesn't exist, we understood the true meaning of "Kafkaesque".

 David Paterson's appearance on Larry King Live was his most high-profile move yet to stifle the phantasmagorical sex rumors about him that exploded last Sunday—Super Bowl Sunday no less! We were one of a number of outlets speculating about an unpublished New York Times article with sexy revelations crazy enough to force Paterson's resignation. But it contained no such things, said Paterson's camp. And Paterson did not resign.

 But since Sunday, Paterson has been a case study in just how hard it is to take away the chattering class' delicious rumors once they start getting passed around like a lukewarm shrimp cocktail. He's issued a number of denials, but each one seems to glance off the rumor mill and fly crazily back in his face: Fighting back against the Post's claims of extra-marital humping prompted some more unsubstantiated rumors; Chris Smith wrote for Daily Intel that Paterson's appearance on "Imus" only aided in "keeping the larger nuttiness alive by claiming the Times's phantom story had "hypersexualized" him." And still, the question hangs over everything: What the hell is in that article?

 Thus Paterson ended up on Larry King tonight, hoping that saying the same things he'd been saying all week to more people would fix things. And once there, Larry King asked him if he had trouble reading the real headlines about this supposedly non-existent story. It's enough to make a guy want to call a situation "Kafkaesque!" Which he did:

 Someone did the reading in English class! It's an appropriate allusion though, since Paterson is approaching this thing with as much direction as Josef K trying to grasp the charges against him. On Larry King, he claimed that addressing the rumors would only strengthen them, when he has been vehemently denying them all week. Then he went on to deny, in great detail, the Post's best rumor: That a state trooper discovered him and a mystery woman smooching in a utility closet in the governor's mansion:

 And when King asked Paterson "Who's after you?" Paterson's anti-speculation stance got a little muddled with his own *hint* *hint* *nudge* nudge*:

 For me to speculate about it would be as wrong as the speculations made about me. I can't prove it, I don't know who it is. Maybe those in the media could check their sources more. Maybe those in the media might investiagte why their sources are saying what they're saying.

 (Cue twilight zone music!)

 Paterson's flailing is a tacit admission that there really is no way to stop a tabloid machine that revved up to peak RPMs—at least not until the Times finally publishes their big expose and we can all see for ourselves if it is or is not a 3,000 word narrative of his night with two state assemblywomen in the garden shed or whatever. And Paterson once again urged the Times to come out with it, or at least "clear the air".

 Also, he blamed Eliot Spitzer for making the Governor's office so sex-rumorific:

 Probably the most Kafkaesque part about this whole thing is: WHERE THE SHIT IS THAT NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE!? ||||| New York (CNN) -- Those lurid rumors flying around about New York Gov. David Paterson? "None of this is true. It's a flat-out lie," he said in a wide-ranging interview with CNN's Larry King on Thursday night.

 Since word of an imminent New York Times story electrified New York political and media circles last week, Paterson has been on the defensive. But day after day, the putative piece has failed to appear -- allowing gossip and conjecture to flourish.

 Sex? Drugs? Graft? Theories about the article's focus have taken on lives of their own.

 Asked whether the onslaught of rumors means "somebody (is) after you," Paterson was blunt. "Clearly somebody is. ... I won't kid you. I think I have thought about who might be after me."

 He declined to name the suspects, but he encouraged the media to turn its focus from the whispers to the whisperers.

 "Maybe those in the media might investigate why the sources are saying what they're saying."

 During the sit-down, Paterson also knocked the Times for its handling of the frenzy.

 "The human decency, if not journalists' ethics, I think would compel an organization when they see a person being slandered for over two weeks now ... to clear the air and at least say that the charges that are being made are not in the perimeters of our investigation."

 Absent a public clarification, the governor pleaded for the Times to publish its piece at once, "so I could be out of my misery."

 It's not clear whether the governor will get his wish. He said that New York Times Albany Bureau Chief Danny Hakim, whom he identified as the writer of the article, told him he was not sure when it would run.

 Paterson also blamed some of his plight on the fresh memory of former Gov. Eliot Spitzer's prostitution scandal, saying that his predecessor's dalliances conditioned the public to assume sexual misbehavior in the governor's office: "I think people have still a sort of sensitivity to that, to the point that people would tend to believe anything they hear these days." He added, "I think that's victimized me."

 At one point, King teed up an opportunity for Paterson to say that the Times article will vindicate him, but the governor didn't swing.

 King said: "And you're positive that nothing of this is ever going to come forward and prove true?" Paterson replied: "Asked and answered."

 On the question of drug use, Paterson opted not to issue a new denial, telling King he had "denied that just the other day." Similarly, he turned down the host's offer to rebut the charges against him "one by one," saying, "I've already denied these charges in several media outlets."

 He cited the need to deprive the rumors of momentum for his reluctance to engage in specific denials.

 Between the accusations and deflections, the governor squeezed in a few jokes. Echoing a quip he made earlier in the week that "the only way I will be leaving office before (my term ends) is in a box," Paterson told King, if "you hear I've resigned, it means you're invited to my funeral."

 The gallows humor continued later with a timely reference to former President Bill Clinton's heart episode. "I hope he comes on your show tomorrow to dispel the latest rumor, denying that I had anything to do with his heart condition," he told King. |||||

Write a summary.

– Even as he continued to insist that addressing the rumors surrounding him only strengthens them, New York Gov. David Paterson continued to address those rumors last night on Larry King Live. He told King “clearly, somebody is” after him, though he wouldn’t speculate who is behind the gossip; he then blamed this “Kafkaesque scenario” on Eliot Spitzer’s sex scandal. As he has done all week, he also vowed not to resign and called on the Times to set the record straight. Unfortunately, the two segments released on CNN’s website (watch both in the gallery) don’t include the arguably most awkward portion of the interview. “Do you think your eyesight has an effect on the way you can challenge some of this? The fact that you can be, not a pun intended, blind to this? People have to read these headlines to you, right?” King asked. Watch that question, and Paterson’s deflection, on Gawker.


Article:
The chemical chain of events that led to the origin of life on Earth is likely forever lost to the mists of time. But some of our earliest ancestors—including the microbial Eve from which all modern cells descended—left behind traces in the genes they passed to their descendants. To track these shared genes, geneticists have surveyed nearly 2000 genomes of modern microbes. Now, researchers report that they’ve used this sort of genome mining to reveal new insights about the daily life of our last universal common ancestor, or LUCA. The results suggest that LUCA was a heat-loving microbe that fed on hydrogen gas and lived in a world devoid of oxygen, bolstering strong suspicions that life on Earth formed in and around hydrothermal vents such as those found near undersea volcanoes.

 Today, the cells that make up all life on Earth are clustered into three broad groups: bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes. The first two comprise prokaryotes—cells without a nucleus. A distant union between these two formed eukaryotes—cells with a nucleus that make up all the complex multicellular organisms including plants and animals.

 Genetic studies to date have revealed some tantalizing clues about LUCA. Most evidence suggests that, like modern cells, LUCA stored genetic information using DNA. It also built proteins and used adenosine triphosphate as its currency for energy. But it has been harder for geneticists to know other details of LUCA’s lifestyle. One major complication: Microbes not only pass genes to their progeny, but also swap them among their neighbors in a process called horizontal gene transfer. This makes it hard to tell whether genes shared by separate microbes reflect a shared lineage or whether some bugs were just better at spreading their genetic material far and wide. And that makes it harder to pin down LUCA’s lifestyle.

 To get closer to doing just that, researchers led by William Martin, an evolutionary biologist at Heinrich Heine University in Dusseldorf, Germany, took a more stringent approach to identifying genes that were likely inherited. Rather than looking for genes shared by a single species bacteria and archaea, they searched for those shared by at least two species of bacteria and two archaea. This gave them an initial count of some 6 million genes grouped into more than 286,000 related gene families. Further analysis revealed that only 355 of these gene families were broadly distributed across all modern organisms, and thus could be tracked from an ancestral species through all of its descendants. That made the 355 gene families likely LUCA candidates.

 As Martin and his colleagues report in today’s issue of Nature Microbiology , these genes aren’t randomly scattered throughout modern organisms, but fall into distinct groups that reflect LUCA’s likely metabolism. Most notably, they reveal that LUCA was an anaerobe that grew in an environment devoid of the oxygen that most cells today require. That jibes with what scientists know about Earth 4 billion years ago, a period known as the late heavy bombardment. Not long after the planet’s formation, meteors and comets rained steadily down, the seas periodically boiled away, and the atmosphere lacked oxygen. The gene scans also show that LUCA was almost certainly a heat-loving “thermophile” that fed on hydrogen gas (H 2 ), as others have proposed. Today, many microbes produce H 2 . But because LUCA preceded them, it would have had to belly up to a geological source of hydrogen, such as a hydrothermal vent like those found near an undersea volcano. ||||| The concept of a last universal common ancestor of all cells (LUCA, or the progenote) is central to the study of early evolution and life's origin, yet information about how and where LUCA lived is lacking. We investigated all clusters and phylogenetic trees for 6.1 million protein coding genes from sequenced prokaryotic genomes in order to reconstruct the microbial ecology of LUCA. Among 286,514 protein clusters, we identified 355 protein families (∼0.1%) that trace to LUCA by phylogenetic criteria. Because these proteins are not universally distributed, they can shed light on LUCA's physiology. Their functions, properties and prosthetic groups depict LUCA as anaerobic, CO 2 -fixing, H 2 -dependent with a Wood–Ljungdahl pathway, N 2 -fixing and thermophilic. LUCA's biochemistry was replete with FeS clusters and radical reaction mechanisms. Its cofactors reveal dependence upon transition metals, flavins, S-adenosyl methionine, coenzyme A, ferredoxin, molybdopterin, corrins and selenium. Its genetic code required nucleoside modifications and S-adenosyl methionine-dependent methylations. The 355 phylogenies identify clostridia and methanogens, whose modern lifestyles resemble that of LUCA, as basal among their respective domains. LUCA inhabited a geochemically active environment rich in H 2 , CO 2 and iron. The data support the theory of an autotrophic origin of life involving the Wood–Ljungdahl pathway in a hydrothermal setting. ||||| A surprisingly specific genetic portrait of the ancestor of all living things has been generated by scientists who say that the likeness sheds considerable light on the mystery of how life first emerged on Earth.

 This venerable ancestor was a single-cell, bacterium-like organism. But it has a grand name, or at least an acronym. It is known as Luca, the Last Universal Common Ancestor, and is estimated to have lived some four billion years ago, when Earth was a mere 560 million years old.

 The new finding sharpens the debate between those who believe life began in some extreme environment, such as in deep sea vents or the flanks of volcanoes, and others who favor more normal settings, such as the “warm little pond” proposed by Darwin.

 The nature of the earliest ancestor of all living things has long been uncertain because the three great domains of life seemed to have no common point of origin. The domains are those of the bacteria, the archaea and the eukaryotes. Archaea are bacteria-like organisms but with a different metabolism, and the eukaryotes include all plants and animals. |||||Summary:

– The first name on your family tree—in fact, on the family tree of every living creature—should technically be LUCA. As the New York Times explains, the acronym stands for the Last Universal Common Ancestor, an organism that lived about 4 billion years ago and became the ancestor of all life forms. Now, a new study in Nature Microbiology provides what its authors say is evidence that settles the debate about where this first life began: near hydrothermal vents, like those found near deep-sea volcanoes. Researchers at Germany's Heinrich Heine University say their genetic sleuthing has revealed that LUCA was tailor-made to live in such an environment—it was essentially "a heat-loving microbe that fed on hydrogen gas and lived in a world devoid of oxygen," in the words of Science. To figure out this genetic profile, the scientists examined 6 million genes associated with two simple and ancient forms of life, bacteria and archaea. After identifying genes that were shared between the two groups, they whittled the figure down to 355 gene families that met their criteria for having originated in LUCA, their joint ancestor. “It was flabbergasting to us that we found as many as we did,” says lead researcher William Martin. This smaller group of genes allowed them to create a snapshot of sorts of LUCA, one hailed as "remarkable" by a UCLA evolutionary biologist. But don't expect the debate to end. The study “is all very interesting, but it has nothing to do with the actual origin of life,” Cambridge chemist John Sutherland tells the Times. (In less ancient but still ancient news, the remains of more real-life hobbits have been found.)


(CNN) Hillary Clinton on Saturday questioned FBI Director James Comey's decision to write to congressional leaders about emails uncovered in the bureau's probe into Anthony Weiner, saying the timing of such a move was "unprecedented" and "deeply troubling."

 "It's pretty strange to put something like that out with such little information right before an election," Clinton told supporters in Daytona Beach, Florida, where the crowd booed at the mention of Comey's letter. "In fact, it's not just strange, it's unprecedented and it's deeply troubling because voters deserve to get full and complete facts."

 Clinton called on Comey to swiftly release more information, saying he must "explain everything right away, put it all right on the table."

 Clinton also swiped at Republican rival Donald Trump, saying he's "doing his best to confuse, mislead and discourage the American people" over the issue.

 "Of course, Donald Trump is already making up lies about this," Clinton said.

 The Democratic nominee's comments here marked an escalation in the Clinton campaign's full-out war against Comey in the final 10 days of the election.

 Earlier in the day, just hours after Comey made the stunning announcement on Friday that the FBI is examining newly unveiled emails that appear to be "pertinent" to the now-closed investigation into Clinton's private server, top campaign officials unleashed a blistering attack on the FBI director, accusing him of being irresponsibly "light on facts" and "heavy on innuendo."

 On a conference call with reporters, Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta accused Comey of failing to be "forthcoming with the facts." Podesta blasted both the timing and contents of the letter Comey sent to congressional leaders on Friday, summing the director's actions as "providing selective information."

 Campaign manager Robby Mook echoed Podesta's call for more information from Comey and suggested that the FBI has now waded into political territory.

 "The Justice Department's longstanding practice is: Don't do anything seen as trying to influence an election," Mook said. "It's completely unfair to Secretary Clinton and it's really unfair to the voters."

 'Hillary's not going to be distracted'

 The sharp criticism marked an extraordinary rebuke of the head of an agency historically known for its political independence. And it guarantees that Comey -- already a polarizing presence for his role in probing Clinton's email use as secretary of state -- will be a central political figure in the election's final days.

 As Clinton prepared to fly to Florida for a two-day swing through the battleground state, Podesta was defiant: "We're not going to be distracted and Hillary's not going to be distracted in the final days of this election over nothing."

 Both Podesta and Mook emphasized the possibility that the emails that the FBI is now examining -- uncovered as part of the bureau's investigation into Clinton aide Huma Abedin's estranged husband, Anthony Weiner -- may not reveal new information.

 "Reports indicate that many of these emails are likely to be duplicates," Podesta said. "It's in fact entirely possible all the emails in question are just that -- duplicates."

 Donald Trump continued to trumpet the news at a campaign stop in Golden, Colorado, Saturday afternoon, wondering if Clinton would keep Abedin as an adviser.

 "Huma's been a problem," Trump said. "I wonder if Huma's going to stay there. I hope they haven't given Huma immunity because it seemed that everybody that walked down the sidewalk got immunity. She knows the real story. She knows what's going on."

 Abedin, one of Clinton's closest confidantes, regularly travels with Clinton and was with the candidate on Friday when the FBI news broke. However, Abedin was notably absent on Saturday as Clinton traveled to Florida.

 Comey was sworn in as FBI director in 2013 for a 10-year term. That means if Clinton were to win in November, Comey would serve under her administration unless she chose to remove him.

 A Clinton aide later said Saturday that Clinton took the FBI news "like a champ." The aide added that Clinton and her top aides were well aware that the last two weeks of the campaign would not be entirely smooth and that Clinton's reaction reflected that.

 "She is in a good state of mind," the aide added.

 Sudden turn

 The new attacks on Comey are a sudden turn for Clinton's campaign, which sang the FBI director's praises for his initial findings in the Clinton email case.

 Clinton aides, in conversations with reporters and in statements, highlighted the fact that Comey was a Republican known for his fierce independence, touting him -- and his investigators -- as career professionals. Surrogates were told to highlight Comey's testimony to Congress and note his political affiliation and track record.

 In an interview on CNN's "Situation Room" in July, Clinton press secretary Brian Fallon went after Republicans for criticizing Comey after the FBI concluded it would not press criminal charges against Clinton.

 "It seems they were disappointed with the outcome of the FBI investigation so they decided to put the director in a hot seat and second-guess his decision," Fallon said at the time. "I think it is a bad look for House Republicans to be second-guessing a career prosecutor who is a registered Republican, No. 2 official at the Justice Department under George Bush and was even deputy council on the committee investigating the Clintons in the 1990s."

 On Sunday, Fallon said the issues that the Clinton campaign is now raising are different from attempts by Republicans to smear the bureau as "corrupt" and "engaging in a nonexistent conspiracy."

 "We are taking issue with a decision to publicly surface FBI activities on the eve of an election, which is an undisputed violation of protocol that both the current Attorney General and Republicans like George Terwilliger have acknowledged," Fallon said.

 Nevertheless, the Clinton campaign now finds itself voicing similar concerns as some Republicans when it comes to the FBI's handling of emails uncovered in its Weiner investigation.

 Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, an outspoken Trump supporter, wrote on Twitter Saturday: "If there are really more than 10,000 emails in the weiner-Abedin computer the FBI should release all Monday. Americans have a right to know," he wrote.

 Gingrich added: "We should not be forced to vote with ten thousand or more emails still hidden by the FBI. John Podesta and Hillary Clinton are right." ||||| WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the 2016 presidential race (all times EDT):

 10:10 a.m.

 Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman says FBI Director James Comey should explain the "unprecedented" step of announcing an agency review of new Clinton-related emails just days before a national election.

 John Podesta says on CNN's "State of the Union" that Comey should have reviewed the information more thoroughly before making the decision public. Now, Podesta says, Comey should explain why "he took this unprecedented step, particularly when he said himself in the letter to the Hill that these (emails) may not even be significant."

 The FBI concluded in July its investigation into Clinton's use of a personal email server. But Comey told Congress on Friday that new emails were discovered during a separate investigation of former New York congressman, Anthony Weiner.

 ___

 10:05 a.m.

 Donald Trump's campaign manager says FBI Director James Comey was in an impossible spot when he publicly acknowledged that his agency was looking into a potential new set of messages from Hillary Clinton's private email server.

 In an interview on CNN's "State of the Union," Kellyanne Conway says that Comey could be accused of interfering in the election if he didn't disclose that Clinton-related emails were under FBI investigation for the second time in a year.

 Conway rejects that Trump and the campaign had besmirched the reputation of Comey after the FBI in July recommended that no charges be filed against Clinton.

 She says her comment about "zero accountability" at the FBI was not an attack of Comey, but of the process that led up to Clinton being absolved of charges.

 ___

 10 a.m.

 Hillary Clinton's campaign is standing by top aide Huma Abedin as the FBI investigates emails found on a laptop she shared with estranged husband Anthony Weiner.

 Campaign Manager Robby Mook said on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday that he is "absolutely" confident that Abedin has fully complied with the agency during its previous probe into Clinton's homebrew email server.

 Mook noted that FBI Director James Comey did not say in his letter to Congress Friday whose emails the agency is now investigating. He said the onus of releasing the newly-discovered emails lies with the FBI.

 Also on NBC, Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence asked why Clinton wouldn't release Abedin's emails.

 Abedin told lawyers in June in a deposition that she never deleted old emails on her devices.

 ___

 9:40 a.m.

 Vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine says FBI Director James Comey needs to tell the public if he hasn't yet reviewed any of the emails considered "pertinent" to the investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server.

 Clinton's running mate says in an interview with ABC's "This Week" that as far as the campaign knows, Comey "knows nothing about the content of these emails." The Virginia senator says the Democratic campaign doesn't know if the emails are to or from Clinton.

 Kaine is reiterating that the FBI should release more details on their investigation. He calls it a "distraction" but says the Clinton campaign will "power forward" during the last 10 days.

 ___

 8:40 a.m.

 Mike Pence says Donald Trump has "made it clear we'll have the resources we need." But Pence won't say if his running mate has promised to pump even more of his own money into the Republican presidential campaign.

 Appearing on "Fox News Sunday," Pence is praising "the incredible generosity" of Trump, which has self-funded some of the campaign. Still, Trump badly trails Hillary Clinton in cash-on-hand.

 Pressed on whether Trump will offer more money as the Nov. 8 election looms, Pence says only that Trump has promised the necessary resources "to drive our message."

 Pence also says the FBI's investigation into newly discovered emails by a Clinton aide shows she is "just a risky choice in this election." |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman says FBI Director James Comey should explain the "unprecedented" step of announcing an agency review of new Clinton-related emails just days before a national election, reports the AP. John Podesta told CNN's State of the Union that Comey should have reviewed the information more thoroughly before making the decision public. Now, Podesta says, Comey should explain why "he took this unprecedented step, particularly when he said himself in the letter to the Hill that these (emails) may not even be significant." The candidate herself kept up the attack on Comey, notes CNN, telling a crowd on Saturday that "it's pretty strange to put something like that out with such little information right before an election. In fact, it's not just strange, it's unprecedented and it's deeply troubling because voters deserve to get full and complete facts." Elsewhere: Donald Trump's campaign manager Kellyanne Conway says Comey was between a rock and a hard place, and could have been accused of meddling with the election if he hadn't made the disclosure. Meanwhile, Team Trump is walking back its previous criticism of the FBI's handling of the investigation into Clinton's email. Tim Kaine says Comey needs to tell the public if he hasn't yet reviewed any of the emails considered "pertinent" to the investigation, and says that as far as the campaign knows, Comey "knows nothing about the content of these emails." He calls it a "distraction" but says the Clinton campaign will "power forward" during the last 10 days. Mike Pence says the scandal shows that Clinton is "just a risky choice in this election." He adds that Trump has "made it clear we'll have the resources we need," and praises his "incredible generosity." Clinton's close relationship with top aide Huma Abedin is being put to the test, reports the New York Times. The AP notes that Team Clinton is thus far standing by Abedin, with campaign manager Robby Mook saying he's "absolutely" confident that Abedin fully complied with the FBI.


News article:

Senator Cory Booker today got a lot of attention for testifying against Senate colleague and Trump AG nominee Jeff Sessions in what he called a matter of conscience but what more cynical observers felt was his kickoff to a 2020 presidential run.

 Booker acknowledged at the outset today just how extraordinary his testimony is (more on that here), but said, “In the choice between standing with Senate norms or standing up for what my conscience tells me is best for our country, I will always choose conscience and country.”

 Leading up to his testimony today, there were reports highlighting Booker’s praise of Sessions last year when the two senators came together to award the congressional gold medal to Selma marchers. He said at the time he felt “blessed and honored” working with Sessions on it.

 Booker acknowledged this in his remarks today, but he maintained that he believes his colleague has shown “hostility” towards certain aspects of criminal justice that he believes are important for the U.S. attorney general to hold.

 He said Sessions would not be a leader in tackling racial bias in police departments across the country at a time when America needs more “hope and healing.”

 One of the biggest reactions to Booker’s speech circulating on Twitter was that he was using it to raise his national profile for a presidential run:

 Cory Booker kicks off 2020 moves with testimony against Sessions: https://t.co/DkOoXeak8n pic.twitter.com/4tz391SjCy — The Hill (@thehill) January 11, 2017

 Corrie Booker finishes Sessions testimony by handing out Booker2020 bumper stickers — Jazz Shaw (@JazzShaw) January 11, 2017

 It was courteous of Cory Booker to begin and end his 2020 presidential campaign on the same day. — Ian Tuttle (@iptuttle) January 11, 2017

 The "make America just again" theme Booker laid out in his testimony against Sessions will be a good animating theme for his 2020 campaign. — Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser) January 11, 2017

 Cory Booker begins his Booker for President 2020 campaign today. #SessionsHearing — Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) January 11, 2017

 Sen. Booker just declared he's running in 2020 by smearing Sen. Sessions. Stay classy, liberals. — Brent Bozell (@BrentBozell) January 11, 2017

 And one of Booker and Sessions’ Senate colleagues weighed in with this:

 .@CoryBooker attacks on Jeff Sessions are so far-fetched I half-expected his make-believe friend T-Bone to be next witness. — Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) January 11, 2017

 (Senator Cotton is referring to this controversy Booker got into a few years ago.)

 Watch above, via CNN.

 [image via screengrab]

 — —

 Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

 Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com ||||| Washington (CNN) New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker gave an impassioned and unprecedented plea to the Senate on Wednesday to vote against Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general and his fellow senator, Jeff Sessions.

 Booker, civil rights legend Georgia Rep. John Lewis and Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Rep. Cedric Richmond each delivered emotional testimony that Sessions' record on civil rights disqualifies him from serving atop the Justice Department under President-elect Trump.

 "The arc of the moral universe does not just naturally curve toward justice, we must bend it," Booker said. "America needs an attorney general who is resolute and determined to bend the arc. Sen. Sessions record does not speak to that desire, intention or will."

 Booker became the first sitting senator to testify against a fellow sitting senator at a confirmation hearing for a Cabinet position. His panel with other lawmakers and supporters of Sessions was added to the hearings at the request of the top Democrat on the committee, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, though Democrats criticized Chairman Chuck Grassley for scheduling the members of Congress at the end of all proceedings.

 The testimony from Booker, Lewis and Richmond against Sessions was the emotional finale of two days of hearings that returned repeatedly to the issue of race relations and civil rights in the United States.

 Both Sessions' supporters and detractors were at times passionate in their position. Sessions and his backers defended his record as the victim of character assassination, saying that the events of his unsuccessful 1986 confirmation hearing to be a federal judge were being unfairly misconstrued 30 years later to malign a man with a record of fighting for civil rights.

 The Democrats and civil rights activists who testified, however, said that the record from the '80s not only stood today, but that Sessions has shown a pattern of disregard for the at-risk members of society throughout his time in the Senate.

 Democrats failed to land any knockout blows on Sessions during the hearing, with the Republicans on the committee unanimously coming to his defense as a fair enforcer of the law. The came closest when Minnesota Democratic Sen. Al Franken questioned Sessions on exaggerating his civil rights record in past statements and his Senate questionnaire.

 But the committee also treated Sessions with respect and warmness as a fellow colleague, a fact noted by his former staffer on the Judiciary Committee, William Smith.

 "Members of this committee know Sen. Sessions ... is fair and honest," Smith said. "After 20 years of knowing Sen. Sessions, I have not seen the slightest evidence of racism because it does not exist. I know a racist when I see one, and I have seen more than one. Sen. Sessions is not one."

 Sessions will likely be confirmed by the GOP majority Senate.

 Booker, Lewis give emotional testimony

 Booker's decision to testify has thrust him -- already a fixture on lists of potential 2020 presidential candidates -- into the limelight.

 Booker said his "conscience" and "country" motivated him to speak out against his fellow senator, even though he acknowledged he has enjoyed "collegiality" with Sessions, working on a bill to give the Congressional Gold Medal to civil rights marchers.

 "Yeah, I've been criticized, but if you're not being criticized in America, you're probably not doing a lot of good things," Booker said after the hearing.

 The panel focused significantly on the issue of "law and order," which Sessions himself touted as part of his tough-on-crime pitch to be attorney general. While his supporters praised Sessions for being a "law and order" candidate, his critics say that "law and order" is more than law enforcement -- and Lewis spoke about how "law and order" was used to justify oppression when he grew up in the Jim Crow South.

 "Law and order without justice is unobtainable," Booker said. "They are inextricably tied together. If there is no justice, there is no peace."

 Booker said Sessions would uphold the responsibility of the Justice Department in pursuing "civil rights, equal rights, and justice for all of our citizens."

 "In many times in his career, he has demonstrated a hostility toward these convictions," Booker said.

 Lewis also testified against Sessions, citing his experience and history of the civil rights movement.

 "It doesn't matter how Sen. Sessions may smile, how friendly he may be, how he may speak to you, but we need someone who's going to stand up, speak up and speak out for the people who need help, for people who have been discriminated against," Lewis said.

 JUST WATCHED Pundit, former Sessions staffer clash on race Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Pundit, former Sessions staffer clash on race 02:10

 "We all live in the same house -- the American house. We need someone as attorney general who is going to look out for all of us and not just for some of us," he added.

 Richmond said the Congressional Black Caucus also opposed the nomination, and added his objection to the fact that he, Lewis and Booker were not given the courtesy of testifying earlier in the proceedings.

 "To have a senator, a House member and a living civil rights legend testify at the end of all of this is the equivalent of being made to go to the back of the bus," Richmond said.

 Defending Sessions

 Sessions allies who have previously worked with him testified on his behalf, saying the media portrayal of Sessions during the hearing doesn't match their experience.

 "One of the things I can say about Jeff is that he's always been the same person that I've known," said Willie Huntley, a former assistant United States attorney in Alabama. "He's always been available for me and always been there when I needed him. At no point in the time that I've known Jeff has he demonstrated any racial insensitivity."

 South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham also asked the president of the NAACP about the racial equality organization's scorecard, reading aloud the rankings each member of the panel had received. Every Republican had 11% to 29%, while every Democrat save one had 100% -- and the exception got a 96% rating.

 "You're picking things that conservative Republicans don't agree with you on and liberal Democrats do. I hope that doesn't make us all racist, and all of them are perfect," Graham said in a display of frustration. "Maybe we're all wrong and maybe we're all right. I doubt if it's that way." ||||| Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., delivered unprecedented testimony today against the nomination of his Senate colleague, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., for attorney general, saying that his "conscience" outweighed Senate tradition.

 “I know that some of my many colleagues aren’t happy that I am breaking with Senate tradition to testify on the nomination of one of my colleagues, but I believe, like perhaps all of my colleagues in the Senate, that in the choice of standing with Senate norms or standing up for what my conscience tells me is best for our country, I will always choose my conscious and country," Booker said.

 Booker said he believed President-elect Trump's pick for attorney general has "not demonstrated a commitment" to a central prerequisite of the job -- to demand equal rights and justice for all citizens.

 "In fact, at numerous times in his career, he has demonstrated a hostility towards these convictions," Booker said of Sessions.

 The New Jersey senator said he was "deeply motivated" by the many issues the next attorney general will influence, especially the crisis of mass incarceration.

 Booker said that while he and Sessions disagreed on the issues, they have always exercised a "collegiality and a mutual respect." In fact, Booker spoke of legislation that he and Sessions co-sponsored to award the Congressional Medal of Honor to the "foot soldiers who marched at Selma."

 Andrew Harnik/AP Photo

 It was an emotional plea in which Booker said that those marchers in Selma inspired him as a young lawyer to seek justice for all in New Jersey, and begin representing black families looking to integrate white neighborhoods who were turned away and denied housing.

 "I am literally sitting here because of people, marchers in Alabama," he said.

 Booker said that his colleague's record "indicates that he won't" pursue justice for women, defend the equal rights of gay and lesbian and transgender Americans, defend voting rights or defend the rights of immigrants as attorney general.

 This was the first time a sitting senator testified against another sitting senator in a cabinet confirmation hearing, according to Booker's office, which contacted the Senate Historian's office for the records.

 Civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis, D-Georgia, who helped lead the 1965 march in Selma, and Cedric Richmond, D-Louisiana, leader of the Congressional Black Caucus, also expressed concern about Sessions' nomination at today's hearing.

 "It doesn’t matter how Senator Sessions may smile, how friendly he may be, how he may speak to you, but we need someone who is going to stand up, speak up and speak out. For the people that need help for people who have been discriminated against," Lewis said.

 ABC News

 He told the senators that after decades of progress, many Americans are concerned that some leaders want to return to the "dark past, and the power of the law will be used to deny freedoms protected by the Constitution."

 "We need someone as attorney general who is going to look out for all of us and not just for some of us," Lewis said.

 However, others on today's panel came to the Alabama senator's defense.

 "A lot has been said about Senator Sessions' character. We have seen people who have never met Senator Sessions claim to know him and know his heart. We have seen members of this body and members of the House of Representatives just now who have worked with Senator Sessions and praise him for his work and now attack him. This should not be," said Sessions' former staffer William Smith.

 Smith, the former Chief Counsel on the Administrative Oversight and the Courts Subcommittee, said that his former boss had fought for civil rights and against the Ku Klux Klan and fought for people regardless of the color of their skin.

 "I'm not testifying to someone who just met him yesterday. I've known his family, I've dined at his house. We've eaten Johnny Rockets burgers together," Smith added. "I've been in every political situation with him. Senator Sessions is unquestionably qualified for the job for which he has been nominated. He is a good Christian man, and a good family man. He is a man who has dedicated his public life to service."

 ABC News' Hayley Walker and Ben Siegel contributed to this report. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Jeff Sessions' two-day confirmation hearing came to a close Wednesday with something that's never happened before: a current senator testifying against another current senator up for a Cabinet position. CNN reports Sen. Cory Booker, despite having worked well with the attorney general nominee in the past, said his "conscience" forced him to take the unprecedented step. "The arc of the moral universe does not just naturally curve toward justice, we must bend it," Booker testified. "America needs an attorney general who is resolute and determined to bend the arc." The senator from New Jersey said Sessions has shown a lack of "commitment"—and has in fact shown "hostility"—toward supporting equal rights for all Americans, according to ABC News. During his five-minute testimony, Booker said he was worried Sessions wouldn't work to reduce mass incarceration, ensure equal rights for LGBT citizens, or protect the voting rights of immigrants. Mediaite reports he said he was also concerned Sessions wouldn't address racial bias in policing. Booker, who admitted his choice to testify wasn't a popular one among fellow senators, was joined by Rep. John Lewis and Rep. Cedric Richmond. Meanwhile, Mediaite states many are seeing Booker's first-of-its-kind testimony as a bid for attention ahead of a run for president in 2020. Supporters continued to deny all accusations of racism against Sessions, who's likely to be confirmed.


Write a summary based on this article:

Donald Kravitz via Getty Images Sam Haskell has helped Miss America regain prominence after the institution struggled for several years. But emails tell a different story about his thoughts on the women competing in his pageants.

 In late August 2014, the CEO of the Miss America Organization, Sam Haskell, sent an email to the lead writer of the Miss America pageant telecast, Lewis Friedman, informing him of a change he wanted to make in the script: “I have decided that when referring to a woman who was once Miss America, we are no longer going to call them Forever Miss Americas....please change all script copy to reflect that they are Former Miss Americas!”

 Friedman replied, “I’d already changed “Forevers” to “Cunts.” Does that work for you?”

 Haskell’s short reply came quickly: “Perfect...bahahaha.”

 Supplied

 At that point, Haskell had been the leader of Miss America for nine years, after rising through the ranks at a top Hollywood talent agency. Many prior winners, or as they’re called, “formers,” consider the pageant a wonderful, wholesome activity for young women. But Haskell’s behavior behind closed doors shows he regularly maligned, fat-shamed and slut-shamed the former Miss Americas, calling them shocking names and in one case laughing at the suggestion that one of the women should die.

 When it came to one particular former, Haskell took his efforts so far that she lost her pageant coaching business.

 Getty Images Miss America Organization board members Tammy Haddad, left, and Lynn Weidner.

 Two Miss America board members served as a virtual rubber stamp for Haskell’s behavior: Tammy Haddad, a media consultant and D.C. power connector; and Lynn Weidner, a Las Vegas socialite. And though Friedman was never a board member, he regularly sent offensive and sexist messages to Haskell, which Haskell often responded to by indicating he thought Friedman was funny or endorsed what Friedman was saying.

 For this story, HuffPost reviewed nearly three years of internal emails provided by two sources. They reveal a CEO who regularly wrote and responded to unprofessional, offensive emails about the women who poured their hearts into the pageants and the organization he was leading.

 (Update: The board suspended Haskell on Friday, hours after an open letter from 49 former Miss Americas called for top-level resignations, adding, “The Board will be conducting an in-depth investigation into alleged inappropriate communications and the nature in which they were obtained. In addition, the Board wishes to reaffirm our commitment to the education and empowerment of young women, supporting them in every way possible.”)

 Improving A Struggling American Institution

 Sam Haskell joined Miss America’s board in 2005 after retiring from the William Morris Agency (now called WME), where he was the worldwide head of television.

 Most everyone agrees that to a certain extent, Haskell helped the organization get back on its feet. Miss America has returned to broadcast television, airing on ABC after being relegated to basic cable. It has also come back to its original home of Atlantic City, New Jersey, from Las Vegas, where the pageant took place in a smaller venue. In 2014, the Miss America Organization and Dick Clark Productions announced a one-year deal (later extended to three years) for the storied entertainment company to produce and cover the cost of the annual pageant telecast, in addition to paying a fee to the Miss America Organization for the rights to produce the telecast. As part of the deal, Dick Clark Productions received two seats on the Miss America Organization board.

 Over the past 12 years, Haskell has gone from a board member to a well-compensated CEO. He makes $500,000 a year, which has been a source of internal and external controversy.

 But despite his success at growing the pageant, internal emails show a different story.

 Michael Loccisano via Getty Images Sam Haskell applauds at the 2018 Miss America event in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

 In some cases, Haskell was professional. In an August 2013 email exchange, one month before Mallory Hagan, 2013’s winner, would crown the new Miss America in Atlantic City, Haskell exchanged emails with his daughter and one of his top employees, Brent Adams, about Hagan.

 His daughter, Mary Lane, said, “Here’s hoping you get another good one!”

 Haskell replied to Mary Lane, “It’s going to be hard to replace Mallory, but I’m hopeful!”

 But in other cases, Haskell and Haddad routinely maligned the former Miss Americas, calling them “malcontents” and treating them as embarrassing inconveniences rather than honored alumnae.

 In May 2014, Haskell forwarded one of Haddad’s emails to a Miss America executive. In it, Haddad had referred to some former Miss Americas as a “pile of malcontents and has beens who blame the program for not getting them where they think they can go.”

 She added, “80% of the winners do not have the class, smarts and model for success.”

 She then encouraged Haskell to try to avoid getting riled up by the “formers,” saying, “YOU have to let them go. You don’t need them. They need you. We also have to punish them when they don’t appreciate what we do for them.”

 In his forward, Haskell called the advice wise.

 In response to email questions sent to Haskell and Haddad, HuffPost received a response from a Miss America Organization spokesman. He said Friedman had been let go from the organization after an investigation.

 “The Miss America Organization Board of Directors was notified about the concern of inappropriate language in email communications several months ago. Consequently, the organization’s Board of Directors took the allegations of inappropriate comments very seriously and formed an investigative committee,” he wrote. “As a result of the investigation, the Board directed the organization terminate the relationship with most egregious author of inappropriate comments. In addition, the Board has started the process of instituting additional policies and procedures for communication.”

 “The Board has full confidence in the Miss America Organization leadership team,” he added.

 In a reply to an email with questions about his statements, Friedman said, “Before commenting to correct your information and provide context, I’ll speak to my attorney as this matter is the subject of pending litigation.” It is not clear what litigation he was referencing.

 ‘It Should Have Been Kate Shindle’

 Donna Connor via Getty Images Kate Shindle winning in 1998.

 Haskell sometimes focused on Kate Shindle, who was crowned in 1998. The former Miss Illinois is now a successful actor and singer, and serves as president of the Actors’ Equity Association, the union representing more than 51,000 American stage actors and stage managers.

 In 2014, Shindle released a book in which she questioned the Miss America board’s decision to pay Haskell a $500,000 consulting fee, during a year the organization was over $400,000 in the red. (The board said the money was back-pay for Haskell.)

 Shindle was not revealing new information; press accounts had already exposed the payment. In her book, she also alleged Haskell blacklisted those who dissented against his leadership, with the national organization calling state-level pageants and giving those groups names of people they could not associate with.

 In December 2014, Friedman emailed Haskell to offer his condolences on the death of former Miss America Mary Ann Mobley, writing, “So sorry to hear about Mary Ann Mobley”

 The subject line of Friedman’s email read: “It should have been Kate Shindle.”

 Haskell replied, “Thanks so much Coach...even in my sadness you can make me laugh...how was the Kennedy Center Honors? Love you and appreciate you! Sam.”

 Shindle declined to comment for this article.

 ‘Drive Gretchen Insane’

 Astrid Stawiarz via Getty Images Gretchen Carlson was involved with Miss America for years.

 Haskell and Haddad also appeared to dislike Gretchen Carlson, who won the Miss America title in 1989 and was on the organization’s board of directors for many years. The root cause of their disdain, according to three sources, was Carlson’s push to modernize the organization and her refusal to attack former Miss Americas.

 Haskell told Carlson not to have Hagan on her program, according to three sources familiar with the conversation. Carlson refused.

 On Aug. 15, 2014, Weidner sent an email to a group of former Miss Americas, including Carlson, about Shindle’s book, saying, “Is it possible for each of you to speak out in defense of Sam and the organization?”

 Carlson replied, “It’s one thing to talk about your own personal experience as Miss America … but totally different to attack people individually.”

 Haskell forwarded Carlson’s response to Haddad, who replied to Haskell, “Snake but now u have not doubts as to her loyalty. Makes it easy not to respond. Right?”

 Just before Shindle’s book came out, Haddad emailed Haskell and said, “Why don’t u read susan POWELL’s [former Miss America] email on the board call and say it’s a shame that only one miss america who has come forward to offer help in any way.” Haddad was referring to an email Powell had written that was supportive of Haskell.

 Haskell replied, “Brilliant…..fucking Brilliant!!!! That will drive Gretchen INFUCKINGSANE.”

 After the email exchange, Haskell did not feature Carlson in the next Miss America broadcast ― an unusual decision given her prominence.

 In a statement sent by email, Haddad said, “I have the highest regard and gratitude for Gretchen and her extraordinary leadership in fighting for women.”

 Carlson later resigned from the Miss America board. Haskell and other board members were telling people Carlson couldn’t be trusted, which she felt was maligning her integrity, according to a source familiar with her thinking at the time.

 Carlson responded to HuffPost on Thursday, “As a proud former Miss America and former member of the Board of the Miss America Organization, I am shocked and deeply saddened by the disgusting statements about women attributed to the leadership of the MAO. No woman should be demeaned with such vulgar slurs. As I’ve learned, harassment and shaming of women is never acceptable and should never be tolerated. Every MAO executive and board member who engaged in such crude behavior and signed off on it like it was no big deal should resign immediately. The Miss America Organization, which is tasked to uphold an almost 100 year old tradition of female empowerment and scholarship, deserves better. I hope all former Miss Americas, state and local titleholders and volunteers will join me in a collective effort to fight for the dignity of this great institution.”

 In 2016, Carlson rocked the media world when she sued former Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes for sexual harassment. Carlson’s suit led to Ailes being pushed out, and she later received a settlement. She has since focused on bringing attention to the epidemic of sexual harassment in the workplace and is working with members of Congress to approve legislation to protect women’s rights in the workplace.

 Focused Attacks

 Steve Marcus / Reuters Mallory Hagan wins the crown in 2013.

 Haskell also appeared to have special disdain for Hagan. In January 2013, she was crowned Miss America at the pageant in Las Vegas.

 But just three months later, she was publicly fat-shamed for a bikini photo that surfaced. Haskell said nothing publicly about the images at the time. Later, though, he did internally.

 Splash News/Getty Images Hagan was publicly fat-shamed for the photo on the left. The right shows her while competing for Miss America.

 As the reigning champion, Hagan spent time in Oxford, Mississippi, at Haskell and his wife’s home. It was there Hagan got to know Adams, whose official title was director of development at Haskell’s production company, which had a television deal with Warner Brothers. Adams essentially acted as a chief of staff, overseeing the various elements of Haskell’s business and personal life, including Miss America.

 Adams and Hagan realized they had a connection after spending time together, but, fearful that professional entanglements could complicate a romantic relationship, the two decided if they were going to date it would be best to wait until Hagan’s reign was over.

 Shortly after Hagan crowned the new Miss America in September 2013, she and Adams started dating. According to Adams, Haskell wanted Adams to date his daughter, not Hagan, and was open about this request.

 Adams recalled an encounter with Haskell at his home in which Haskell attempted to convince Adams to break up with Hagan and instead date his daughter. Haskell stretched out his arms and told Adams, “All of this can be yours,” ostensibly referring to his Oxford mansion and the family’s money.

 “You don’t need a piece of trash like Mallory. You need someone with class and money like my daughter,” he said, according to Adams.

 When Adams was in New York with the Haskell family, Haskell accidentally sent a text message to a group chat that suggested his daughter try to hold Adams’ hand. Adams described the text in a phone interview.

 Once, when Hagan made a payment for dinner to Adams via the peer-to-peer payment app Venmo (which shows payments between friends), Haskell confronted Adams about it, asking why he was still in touch with Hagan.

 ‘Are We Four The Only Ones Not To Have Fucked Mallory?’

 In August 2014, Haskell received an email from someone he knew, who said Hagan’s hairdresser in New York had been commenting on Hagan’s sex life while Hagan was living in Los Angeles, as well as her recent weight gain.

 Haskell forwarded the email to Friedman saying, “Not a single day passes that I am not told some horrible story about Mallory.”

 Friedman replied, “Mallory’s preparing for her new career … as a blimp in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade As she continues to destroy her own credibility, her voice will attract less and less notice while she continues her descent to an unhappy pathetic footnote.”

 Friedman ended the email with, “Ps. Are we four the only ones not to have fucked Mallory?”

 Haskell replied and said, “It appears we are the only ones!”

 He then wrote Hagan had slept with someone he knew, and he told the man’s mother “he needs to have a blood test because we lost count of the number of men she slept with at 25.”

 A source close to Hagan says the accusations about her hairdresser and having sex with the man in question are not true.

 Supplied

 ′Why Does He Want That?′

 On Jan. 25, 2015, Weidner sent Haskell a photo of Hagan with three other former Miss Americas. Weidner did not comment on the photo in her email.

 Haskell replied, saying, “OMG she is huge...and gross...why does he want that?????” Haskell did not name Adams specifically, but it appears he was discussing his employee, who was still dating Hagan at the time.

 Haskell then forwarded the email to Josh Randle, who now serves as president of the Miss America Organization, and added, “Look at MH in this photo...OMG...Why does he want that?”

 Randle said, “She’s a healthy one!! Hahaha.”

 Haskill said, “Look at this photo from the Former Retreat!!! Shindle was there too and I was told she made everyone sign an NDA as she rolled out her plan of attack...evil lurks.”

 Haddad said, “Mallory is barely recognizable”

 Haskell said, “It is unreal.”

 Haddad replied, and said, in part, “U think he left u for that? Don’t believe it. It makes NO sense.”

 Haskell also forwarded the email to Friedman, who said, “My screen just cracked! What happened?”

 Hagan declined to comment for this article. A Miss America Organization spokesman replied to questions sent to Randle with the same statement he gave for Haskell and Haddad. That statement said Friedman had been let go and the board was instituting new guidelines for internal communication.

 Consequences For Hagan

 Christian Science Monitor via Getty Images Hagan meets children at a school in 2015.

 At the end of December 2015, emails suggest Haskell felt Hagan was personally maligning him. In an email to Haddad, Weidner and Randle, among others, Haskell asked for help, saying Hagan was “viciously and cruelly” attacking him and his family “every day.”

 It’s unclear what Hagan was doing or saying at the time, but a comb of her social media posts doesn’t reveal anything egregious. She continued to be critical of Haskell’s leadership and the direction of the organization, but not in a way that would warrant what was suggested next by Haddad in response to Haskell’s urgent plea.

 Haddad said, “Hi. I am so sorry. It is ridiculous but she is not going to stop. She has no control. I think u should hire an investigator to get something on her.”

 (A source close to Haddad said she was not suggesting in the email that Haskell hire an investigator to dig up something of a personal nature on Hagan. Rather, her intention was to suggest Haskell hire an investigator to see if Hagan had been posting messages anonymously on internal Miss America message boards.)

 Haskell said, “Thoughts on Tammy’s note below? Threatening her won’t work and we already have ‘enough info on her’ to shut down Ft. Knox.....ugh. I really think the best way is to shut down her social media, and convince the Formers to ostracize her”

 Weidner said, “I wish I had an easy answer to this dilemma. If we can prove a direct connection between MH and specific instances of cyber bullying, we could at least threaten her with a lawsuit right? I do believe that our anti coaching initiatives are already impacting her business. And that our policy of ignoring her is driving her crazy!”

 I do believe that our anti coaching initiatives are already impacting her business. an email from Lynn Weidner about Mallory Hagan's pageant coaching business

 “I pray none of you ever experience anything like this....It is finally clear that I am on my own,” Haskell replied.

 In response to list of questions sent via email, specifically if it was appropriate for nonprofit resources to be used to investigate former Miss Americas, Haddad said in an email, “This was a terrible, highly divisive time in the Miss America Organization, fueled by inflammatory character attacks. I along with the Board worked to stop the damage that was being inflicted on the organization and members of its community.”

 In a statement, Weidner called Haskell “one of the most outstanding individuals I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.”

 “Sam had led us to becoming a nationally recognized and positive force for the education and the empowerment of young women,” she wrote. “The fact that he would be so ruthlessly attacked by a handful of disgruntled malcontents is disgraceful. I am very proud of the way he has kept above the fray and always conducted himself in a way that does honor to this program.”

 Opportunities Lost

 Ethan Miller via Getty Images Women compete during the swimsuit portion of the 2007 Miss America pageant.

 After winning the pageant, Hagan signed with a WME agent in Los Angeles, Lee White, whom Haskell introduced her to.

 But within months, a source close to Hagan says White started to withdraw and decline requests to meet with her.

 In one email from White to Haskell described verbally by a source, White suggests he shouldn’t have drinks with Hagan based on something Haskell told him. Haskell replies, saying White made the right judgment.

 A few months later, Hagan dropped White as her agent. She moved back to New York and joined a friend training contestants for the all-important interview portion of the pageant.

 But within months, the national Miss America Organization told contestants they couldn’t have coaches ― specifically, interview coaches. The national organization also said that anyone wanting to use a coach would have to seek approval from the executive director of their local organization.

 The national organization had an informal list of coaches contestants couldn’t use, which contestants found out about through their local and state pageant directors. Hagan was on the list.

 Soon after, Hagan’s lucrative coaching business fell apart.

 In August 2016, Hagan moved back home to Alabama, where she had to rebuild her career. Today, she is the evening anchor of a small NBC affiliate in Columbus, Georgia.

 Cease And Desist

 In August 2017, Adams and a former Miss America board member, Regina Hopper, flew to Los Angeles to talk to Dick Clark Productions about Haskell’s behavior. They had copies of egregious emails from Haskell, some of which are included in this article.

 The duo expected that Dick Clark Productions, a large entertainment company, would be horrified by the messages. In the meeting, Amy Thurlow and Mark Bracco, both executives at Dick Clark Productions who held the two Miss America board seats, thanked Hopper and Adams for providing the emails and told them Dick Clark Productions would conduct its own investigation.

 A month later, Adams received a cease-and-desist letter from a law firm representing the Miss America Organization. It read, “Your deliberate actions constitute a clear violation of the Non-disclosure Agreement you knowingly and willfully entered into….the letter directed to the Chairman of the Board from Dick Clark Productions, dated September 13, 2017, noticed us of your illegal disclosure of information, which includes several internal email communications.”

 The two Dick Clark executives presented the emails to the board, hoping it would lead to a change in leadership, according to two well-placed sources who are familiar with the executives’ thinking at the time.

 But, the sources said, no change took place. In fact, last September, knowing full well the kind of language Friedman used in his emails about former Miss Americas, the board allowed him to continue to write for the Miss America pageant telecast.

 Based on the board’s refusal to take action in response to the disturbing emails, Dick Clark Productions decided to end its agreement with the Miss America Organization, the sources said. Several prominent Miss America supporters were stunned at the news. The agreement was a lifeline to Miss America ― the production company covered the costs of producing the telecast; paid the Miss America Organization a fee as part of the agreement; and featured, among other things, the current Miss America on the various awards telecasts it produces, like the Billboard Awards.

 In a statement Thursday to HuffPost, Dick Clark Productions explained its decision: “Several months ago, dick clark productions was made aware of a portion of the emails that were referenced in the December 21 Huffington Post article. We were appalled by their unacceptable content and insisted, in the strongest possible terms, that the Miss America Organization (MAO) board of directors conduct a comprehensive investigation and take appropriate action to address the situation. Shortly thereafter, we resigned our board positions and notified MAO that we were terminating our relationship with them.”

 The same prominent Miss America supporters said they found it unfathomable that the board would side with Haskell and Friedman over Dick Clark Productions.

 ‘These Young Women Put Their Heart And Soul Into Being the Best They Can Be’

 Steve Marcus / Reuters Audience members cheer contestants during the 2010 Miss America pageant.

 Unsurprisingly, the email that angered the people who spoke to HuffPost for this article the most was the one referring to former Miss Americas as “cunts.” In particular, sources found it offensive that Haskell appeared to think that was funny.

 Hopper recounted how she reacted to the email by sharing what she experienced at the last Miss Arkansas pageant, when the reigning Miss America Savvy Shields, who is from the state, made an appearance.

 “I sat in the audience and watched her [Miss America] walk out on stage, and the young women and those in the audience all wanted to see and hear her. And that email floated into my head, and tears started running down my face,” she said. “Across this country, there are parents who are sitting in audiences who put their young daughters into this system with the trust that they’re going to walk away from participating with something good. These young women put their heart and soul into being the best they can be. That the CEO of this organization would agree that word is the perfect characterization of Miss Americas and then laugh ― it’s heartbreaking.”

 This article has been updated with Haskell’s suspension Friday. ||||| CLOSE CEO Sam Haskell, president and COO Josh Randle and board chairwoman Lynn Weidner have all stepped down after internal emails were published showing Miss America contestants described with vulgar and offensive language. Wochit

 Miss America chief executive officer Sam Haskell is shown with Miss America 2018 Cara Mund, on Sept. 10, 2017, after the pageant held in Atlantic City. (Photo: Thomas P. Costello, Asbury Park Press-USA TODAY NETWORK)

 Three Miss America Organization leaders have resigned following an email scandal in which vulgar, offensive language was used to describe former Miss America contestants, USA TODAY confirmed Saturday.

 The resignation of its Executive Chairman and Chief Executive, Sam Haskell, who was suspended from the organization Friday as he was put under investigation, will be effective immediately, according to a statement from interim chairman Dan Meyers.

 The board further accepted the resignation of chairman Lynn Weidner along with President and Chief Operating Officer Josh Randle. The two will remain in their current positions for several more weeks to "facilitate a smooth transition," according to Meyers' statement.

 The organization said its board of directors accepted Randle's resignation Saturday "in light of recent events and new developments."

 ► Friday: Miss America CEO Sam Haskell suspended over offensive emails

 ► Friday: 131 so far accused of sexual misconduct in 'Harvey Weinstein effect'

 The Miss America Organization was rocked following the release of internal emails published Thursday on Huffington Post. The published messages showed offensive language Haskell used to describe 2013 Miss America Mallory Hagan — describing her as "fat and gross" in one note.

 In another exchange from August 2014, Haskell received an email that said Hagan’s hairdresser had been commenting on Hagan’s sex life as well as her recent weight gain.

 Miss New York Mallory Hagan reacts as she is crowned Miss America 2013 in Las Vegas. (Photo: Isaac Brekken, AP)

 Haskell forwarded the email to Miss America telecast lead writer Lewis Friedman and noted, “Not a single day passes that I am not told some horrible story about Mallory.”

 Friedman replied, “Mallory’s preparing for her new career … as a blimp in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. As she continues to destroy her own credibility, her voice will attract less and less notice while she continues her descent to an unhappy pathetic footnote.”

 Friedman ended the email with this: “P.S. Are we four the only ones not to have (slept with) Mallory?”

 ► Thursday: Miss America chief exec accused of slut-shaming, fat-shaming winners

 ► Sept. 12: Miss America 2018 on wanting to run for office, winning crown

 Haskell replied, “It appears we are the only ones!”

 Haskell had been suspended pending the investigation.

 "Much of what was reported is dishonest, deceptive, and despicable," he said in a statement released Friday. "The material is based on private emails that were stolen three years ago by ex-employees. The story is so unkind and untrue, and hurts me, my family, and the stewardship of this non-profit."

 Miss America CEO Sam Haskell is shown with Miss America 2017 Savvy Shields. (Photo: Thomas P. Costello)

 Hagan was among dozens of former Miss Americas who signed a petition, which Miss North Carolina 1991 Jennifer Vaden Barth started Friday, calling on the group's leadership to step down. The petition called the emails from Haskell and others “despicable” and faulted officials who “sat by without objection while such derisive comments were passed around.”

 On Jan. 25, 2015, Haskell forwarded a photo of Hagan with three other former Miss Americas to Randle and said, “Look at MH in this photo...OMG," the Huffington Post reported.

 Randle reportedly replied, “She’s a healthy one!! Hahaha.”

 ► Sept. 11: Miss Texas slams Trump's Charlottesville comments

 ► Sept. 10: Miss North Dakota Cara Mund takes Miss America crown

 On Saturday, Randle told The Associated Press that his comment responding to an email to his private account about Hagan's physical appearance came months before he started working for the Miss America Organization in 2015. But he said it was wrong.

 “I apologize to Mallory for my lapse in judgment,” Randle said. “It does not reflect my values or the values I worked to promote at the Miss America Organization. Although this terrible situation was not caused or driven by me, in light of recent events and new developments, I am no longer willing to continue in my capacity as president and earlier today offered my resignation to the MAO Board of Directors.

 “I feel terrible, but this is the right thing to do,” he said.

 ► Sept. 9: Road for Miss Missouri, first openly gay contestant, to pageant

 ► Sept. 8: Miss Louisiana wins swimsuit competition on Night 2

 Randle said his resignation was voluntary and the board of Miss America, based in Atlantic City, N.J., had not requested it. In May at age 29, Randle became the youngest president of the Miss America organization in its history.

 Haskell joined Miss America’s board in 2005 after retiring from the William Morris Agency, now called WME, where he was the worldwide head of television.

 Gretchen Carlson, 1989 Miss America, tweeted a statement from herself and Kate Shindle, 1998 Miss America, Saturday calling the resignations "reassuring" but adding "this by no means fulfills the need for a thorough housecleaning of the Board."

 "We will continue to demand the resignations of every individual who either participated in the abuse of women or stood by and was complicit," the statement said.

 Follow Sara M. Moniuszko and Bryan Alexander on Twitter: @SaraMoniuszko and @BryAlexand

 Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2BrXeLr ||||| "Those who know my heart know that this is not indicative of my character, nor is it indicative of my business acumen," Haskell said. "I was under stress from a full year of attacks by two Miss Americas, and while I don't ever want to offer an excuse, I do want to offer context." ||||| President and COO Josh Randle has also submitted his resignation, according to the Huffington Post.

 Sam Haskell, CEO of the Miss America Organization, has submitted his resignation amid an unfolding scandal involving unearthed vulgar emails he sent about contestants. Chairman Lynn Weidner, who sent some of the emails included in the initial report, has also resigned.

 The developments come one day after the Miss America Organization board of directors voted to suspend Haskell pending an investigation into disparaging internal emails about contestants. The Huffington Post first published the emails Thursday, showing Haskell commenting crudely on the appearances of women who had competed in the pageant to other members of the organization.

 Josh Randle, president and COO, has also resigned, along with fellow member Tammy Haddad, HuffPost's Yashar Ali first reported on Saturday.

 The board had announced it would be conducting an investigation into the alleged inappropriate communications, telling The Hollywood Reporter on Friday: "The Board wishes to reaffirm our commitment to the education and empowerment of young women, supporting them in every way possible."

 Dan Meyers, who has stepped in as interim chairman, confirmed Haskell's resignation is effective immediately.

 “This afternoon, the Board of Directors of the Miss America Organization accepted the resignation of Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sam Haskell, effective immediately," he said in a statement. "The Board of Directors also accepted the resignation of Chairman Lynn Weidner. At the Board’s request, Ms. Weidner has agreed to remain on the Board for up to ninety days to facilitate a smooth transition for the MAO to new leadership."

 Adding, "The Board thanks Lynn and Sam for many years of tireless work for, and significant financial support to, both the Miss America Organization and thousands of young women who received millions of dollars of educational scholarships from the Organization as a direct result of their efforts.”

 Randle will also stay on for a few weeks to hep the transition. "Earlier today, in light of recent events and new developments, the Miss America Organization’s Board of Directors received and accepted the resignation of President & COO Josh Randle," said a spokesperson in a statement to THR. "At the Board’s request, Josh has agreed to remain in his current current capacity for several weeks to facilitate a smooth transition."

 1989 Miss America Gretchen Carlson, who reportedly clashed with Haskell and was one of many targets in the ousted CEO's emails, released a statement on Twitter following the news.

 "While it is reassuring that some of the perpetrators of the abuses within the Miss America Organization have resigned, this by no means fulfills the need for a thorough housecleaning of the Board," she said, calling for more board members who were involved with the unfolding scandal to step forward and resign. "We will continue to demand the resignations of every individual who either participated in the abuse of women or stood by and was complicit by failing to conduct proper due diligence."

 She added, "This Board has lost the trust of the country. For the good of the organization, they must step away."

 In the emails Haskell, who was formerly executive vp and head of TV at the William Morris Agency, jokes about renaming former Miss America winners "C—s" and calls the past winners a "pile of malcontent," among other misogynistic and fat-shaming claims.

 Haskell called the claims "unkind and untrue," though he did not specify which belonged in the latter category. “Much of what was reported is dishonest, deceptive, and despicable. The material is based on private emails that were stolen three years ago by ex-employees," he said in his statement.

 Dick Clark Productions, which has a three-year deal with the Miss America Organization to produce the TV pageants, said the company was "appalled" by the content of the emails and that after being made aware of allegations of sexual misconduct in August 2017, terminated its relationship with the Miss America Organization. "Shortly thereafter, we resigned our board positions and notified MAO that we were terminating our relationship with them," said the statement in part.

 ABC airs the annual pageant, which takes place in Atlantic City and is hosted by Chris Harrison.

 Dec. 23, 12 p.m.: Updated with Haskell's resignation; MAO statement.

 Dec. 23, 3:27 p.m.: Updated with Carlson's statement. |||||

– Miss America chairman and CEO Sam Haskell resigned Saturday—just a day after saying he wouldn't, the New York Daily News reports. He was joined by chairman Lynn Weidner, president and COO Josh Randle, and board member Tammy Haddad. The resignations of Miss America leadership come after HuffPo published internal emails Thursday that feature Haskell calling a former Miss America winner "fat and gross" and joking that he's one of very few people who haven't had sex with her, according to USA Today. He also mused about renaming Miss America winners "c--ts," as per the Hollywood Reporter. On Friday, Haskell was suspended pending an investigation as 49 former Miss America winners signed a petition calling on pageant leadership to resign. Haskell remained adamant that he wouldn't resign over what he said were false accusations and a "mistake of words." In a statement, the Miss America Organization says Haskell's resignation will take effect immediately. Randle and Weidner will stay on for the coming weeks to "facilitate a smooth transition." "The board thanks Lynn and Sam for many years of tireless work for, and significant financial support to, both the Miss America Organization and thousands of young women," the statement reads. In addition, the board says it "will be conducting an in-depth investigation" into the emails.


Article:

Story highlights France's lower house of parliament approves the bill 329 to 229

 The legislation must be passed by the Senate before it can become law

 The Roman Catholic Church and other religious groups in France are opposed

 Supporters say same-sex couples should have equal rights to marry and adopt children

 Same-sex marriage in France came one step closer to legality Tuesday, as lawmakers in the lower house of parliament approved a controversial bill that would extend the right to marry and adopt to same-sex couples.

 The measure was voted through in the National Assembly by 329 in favor to 229 against, with 10 deputies abstaining.

 The bill must still go before the senate before it becomes law. If passed, it would mark the biggest step forward for French gay rights advocates in more than a decade.

 France is not the only nation currently wrestling with the polarizing issue of same-sex marriage.

 UK lawmakers took a big step last week toward legalizing same-sex marriage when they approved the second reading of a bill in the House of Commons.

 But while a significant number of MPs back the legislation, which is supported by Prime Minister David Cameron, the move has prompted widespread rebellion within Cameron's Conservative Party. The bill must go through several more stages before it can become law.

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 The Church of England is among the religious bodies opposed to the UK legislation.

 In the United States, where President Barack Obama has voiced his personal support for same-sex marriage, it has been legalized in nine states and the District of Columbia -- but many people remain vehemently opposed.

 Extending the right to marry and adopt to same-sex couples in France was one of President Francois Hollande's electoral pledges in campaigning last year.

 The National Assembly, which is dominated by Hollande's Socialist Party, was expected to pass the bill Tuesday, having approved the most important article of the law with a wide majority earlier this month. The left also controls the Senate.

 But the plan faces stiff opposition from the Roman Catholic Church and social conservatives, with huge numbers turning out for protest marches in Paris in recent weeks.

 Another big rally against the law is planned for next month.

 Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois, the archbishop of Paris, voiced his opposition at a meeting of French bishops in Lourdes last year.

 Opening up marriage to same-sex couples "would be a transformation of marriage that would affect everyone," he said. At the same time, failing to recognize gender difference within marriage and the family would be a "deceit" that would rock the foundations of society and lead to discrimination between children, he said.

 Other religious groups, including Muslims, Jews and Buddhists, have also expressed their concern over the draft bill, and many lawmakers and hundreds of mayors are against the legislation.

 The legislation has won wide backing from gay rights advocates, however.

 The French gay, lesbian and transgender rights group Inter-LGBT has said the law, if passed, "would be a major advance for our country in terms of equality of rights."

 Lawmakers have a "unique opportunity" to put an end to outdated discrimination, the group said in a statement. "The law must allow all couples to unite themselves as they wish and must protect all families, without discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity," it said.

 A law legalizing civil unions was introduced in 1999 in France under a previous Socialist government.

 Known in France as the PACS (pacte civil de solidarite), the civil union agreement can be entered into by gay or straight couples and confers many but not all of the rights of marriage.

 Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Spain, South Africa and Norway are among nearly a dozen countries that allow same-sex marriages.

 Polls show the U.S. public has gradually become more accepting of the idea, with more Americans in favor in 2013 than opposed, according to Pew.

 Nonetheless, 30 states have passed constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage, according to the Pew Research Center.

 The issue has also divided Australia, where lawmakers voted against a bill to legalize same-sex marriage last September. A poll for the advocacy group Australian Marriage Equality indicated that 64% of those surveyed "support marriage equality."

 According to a report released in May 2011 by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, same-sex relations are still criminalized in 76 countries, and in five of those countries, the death penalty can be applied to those who violate the laws. ||||| France's National Assembly approved the government’s controversial ‘marriage for all’ bill in a final vote on Tuesday after months of fierce debate. The law is President François Hollande’s first major social reform.

 France’s lower house voted by a clear majority on Tuesday to approve the government’s marriage reform, which will allow same-sex couples the same spousal and adoption rights as their heterosexual counterparts.

 The legislation, which is President François Hollande’s first major social reform and a key election pledge, was backed by 329 deputies and opposed by 229.

 The bill redefines marriage as a contract between two people rather than between a man and a woman. It will now go to the left-wing-controlled Senate, or upper house, on April 2, which is expected to approve it.

 Once passed, the reform will see France join 11 other gay-marriage friendly countries including Spain, Sweden, South Africa and the Netherlands. Nine US states and Washington DC have also legalised same-sex marriage and British lawmakers have recently voted for marriage equality in the UK.

 The move is France’s biggest social reform since the abolition of the death penalty in 1981. Speaking after the vote, Justice Minister Christiane Taubira told journalists “We've waged a great and noble battle”.

 Catholic opposition

 The vote follows a lengthy and acrimonious parliamentary debate and the laborious processing of more than 5,000 amendments put forward by the conservative opposition. The amendments, filed in order to delay proceedings, saw some 100 hours of parliamentary debate, often continuing into the early hours of the morning.

 The issue has proved to be hugely divisive in a country steeped in conservative Catholic values, despite its global reputation as a progressive nation. While some 51% of people support same-sex marriage, less than half agree with equal rights involving children.

 Legislators were forced to postpone plans to allow lesbians access to medically assisted procreation – something which is already available to heterosexual couples unable to conceive. A separate law on the issue will be debated later in the year.

 The debate sparked some of the country’s largest protests in decades, with around 340,000 turning out in Paris on January 14 to protest the reform. The anti-gay marriage camp, largely driven by the Catholic Church, has accused President Hollande of pushing through legislation without proper consultation. It has promised to stage a new rally on March 24. |||||
What is a summary?

– Same-sex marriage is now just one step away from being legal in France. The country's lower house of parliament today voted 329 to 229 to approve a controversial bill that would redefine a marriage as a contract between two people, without reference to gender, allowing gay and lesbian couples to both get married and adopt children, France 24 reports. The bill faced fierce opposition from France's Catholics, and from conservative lawmakers, who introduced more than 5,000 amendments to delay its passage. But now the bill needs only to clear the senate to become law, according to CNN. The vote comes as a similar bill is working its way through the UK parliament.