Trump AG Pick Jeff Sessions Accused of Retaliating Against Black Officials
Jeff Sessions, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for U.S. Attorney General, once lost a shot at a federal judgeship when allegations of racism came up in his confirmation hearing. Now two Alabama officials who testified about what they described as racist comments by Sessions are accusing him of retaliating with federal corruption probes when he was the top federal prosecutor in the state. [The Guardian]
Trump Blasts Media Executives and Anchors During Off-the-Record Meeting
Trump summoned TV executives and anchors from several networks to an off-the-record meeting Monday and vented about their coverage which he considered “unfair,” according to published reports. During the meeting which lasted about an hour, Trump also told reporters they “got it all wrong” and accused one of the networks of using photographs showing him with multiple chins. [NPR and Daily News]
Obama Reckons With a Trump Presidency
The New Yorker’s editor, David Remnick, spoke to President Barack Obama immediately before and after the shocking election of Trump, who will likely dismantle of many of the Obama's policies. During the in-depth interview, though, Obama was careful to set an optimistic tone about the future, saying he told his daughters: ”You don’t get into a fetal position about it. You don’t start worrying about apocalypse. You say, O.K., where are the places where I can push to keep it moving forward.” [New Yorker]
U.S. Men's National Team Coach Klinsmann Is Fired, Replaced by Arena
Jurgen Klinsmann was fired from his position as head coach of the U.S. men’s national soccer team on Monday after about five years and six months in the position. He will be replaced by Los Angeles Galaxy coach Bruce Arena, who has won five Major League Soccer cups and led the U.S. to the quarterfinals at the 2002 World Cup in South Korea. [Washington Post]
Kanye West Hospitalized for Exhaustion
The rapper was hospitalized for exhaustion and sleep deprivation on Monday, after canceling the remaining performances of his 2016 “Saint Pablo” tour including two at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. West, who last performed Saturday night in Sacramento, was taken willingly to U.C.L.A Medical Center for evaluation, representatives said. [New York Times]
Billionaires vs. the Press
Over the course of the last decade or so, a small group of billionaires have brought suits against media companies, often succeeding in crippling them. More recently, the venture capitalist Peter Thiel funding a suit that led to the shuttering of Gawker. Others include Trump. [New York Times]
Georgia Man Still Doesn’t Know Who Won the Election
No, that isn’t a headline from The Onion. Artist Joe Chandler of Brunswick, GA, has purposely avoided the results of the presidential election — ignoring the news, the internet, and even wearing headphones when he leaves the house, along with a sign asking strangers not to tell him. “It is very peaceful in my bubble of ignorance,” he told the Huffington Post. [Huffington Post]
'SNL' Invites You to Move to the Bubble
This is a different kind fo bubble of ignorance. "Saturday Night Live" took a jab at Brooklyn, inviting like-minded liberals to move to the bubble at the beginning of 2017 where there’s plenty of used bookstores, hybrid cars and endless supply of raw milk. It’s Brooklyn...with a bubble over it. [SNL]
New Yorkers Stand in Line for the New Rage: Snapchat Spectacles
Snapchat this week debuted its new Spectacles — sunglasses with a built-in camera for Snapchat videos — and on Monday hundreds were lined up at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street to buy them from a vending machine. The glasses go for $130, but for much, much more on Ebay. [New York Times]
This column was compiled by DNAinfo reporters Jeanmarie Evelly, Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska, Carolina Pichardo, Gwynne Hogan, Eddie Small, Irene Plagianos, Noah Hurowitz, Shaye Weaver and Dartunorro Clark.
