On Monday’s episode of “The Megyn Kelly Show,” the host had to air out her grievances with the way the Defense Secretary has been praying at the podium and mentioning Jesus while debriefing the press about the latest with the Iran War. Kelly thought it might be best not to invoke God before talking about Iranian civilians who died in attacks.

“It feels off that Pete Hegseth keeps praying at these briefings that he’s doing as if it’s all in the name of God,” Kelly said. “The bombing of Iran, in which, 170 young girls were killed, that was, that’s not in the name of God. Okay? Definitely not in the name of Jesus. I wish you would just check the Jesus talk, the God talk at the Pentagon briefings. All right?”

She added: “It’s called the Department of War. I understand he has a job to do. It’s not appropriate there. You pray on Sunday, pray every morning on your knees to God, but while you’re updating us on the number you’ve killed, which necessarily has included some civilians, – don’t mention Jesus, don’t talk about God. Don’t act like he’s sanctioning what you’re doing.”

It was an odd weekend when it came to the White House and religion. On Sunday, Trump not only went after Pope Leo XIV for his comments against the war in Iran, but the president also posted a meme late that night of him as Jesus healing the sick. Kelly was unsurprised that Trump targeted the pope because he’s done it with everyone else critical of his war.

“President Trump has picked up a new feud with Pope Leo XIV. Seems like a great time to start a feud with a Catholic Pope,” Kelly continued. “I will be the first to tell you, the Pope has been critical of this war – I’m Catholic, obviously – he’s been critical of this war, and as he’s been critical of it, it occurred to me that it was just a matter of time before President Trump would lash out at him, and he did. So it wasn’t great. It was predictable.”

As for the meme of Trump as Jesus? The president tried to spin it that he thought it was depicting him as a Red Cross working. The image itself showed Trump in robes holding his hands glowing with healing light over a sick man.

“I did post it, and I thought it was me as a doctor and had to do with Red Cross. There’s a Red Cross worker, which we support, and only the fake news could come up with that one,” Trump said. “I just heard about it and I said, ‘How did they come up with that?’ It’s supposed to be me as a doctor making people better and I do make people better. I make people a lot better.”

The post Megyn Kelly Wishes Pete Hegseth Would ‘Cut the Jesus Talk’ During His War Briefings: ‘It Feels Off’ | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

“He’s found the joy of ordering our military to go do things that give him a lot of dopamine, I guess, when he’s in the Situation Room watching them take out Maduro from Venezuela or attack Iran,” Clinton told “Morning Joe” hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough about the president. “I just worry that he’s going to become more reckless.”

“This is a call to Congress, including the Republicans, to step up and do your Constitutional duty,” Clinton continued. “Rein in this president before he causes absolutely irreparable damage to our country, to our military standing, to our authority and leadership. Do not let him continue to be a rogue player in the international arena, because I fear he will get more reckless.”

While Clinton said she supported Trump’s bombing strikes on Iran last year, she slammed his current, “incoherent” war against the Middle East country.

“We’re in a situation now where we are weak, where we essentially have lost the leverage and initiative that we had,” Clinton explained, referencing Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz. “I worry that the United States is now in a very weak position vis-a-vis Iran, which should be the outlier, should be on the back foot and should be the one held to account.”

You can watch the full “Morning Joe” segment yourself below.

During her “Morning Joe” interview this week, Clinton also condemned Trump’s “unhinged” threats against Iran last week, which drew backlash from prominent members of both the Left and the Right. The former Secretary of State said that it is up to Americans and their elected representatives to hold leaders accountable “for what they say as well as what they do.”

“Words, especially from an American president, have real consequences, and when you look at the last week of unhinged rants coming from Trump’s social media account, it’s just disgraceful,” Clinton said. “Accountability is a very broad concept. It’s not just about holding people accountable for the crimes that they’ve committed, maybe the bribes that they’ve taken, the kind of unaccountable power they’ve exercised. It’s also about holding them to a standard.”

“It’s not just about the laws we pass, but the norms that we follow, all of which have been broken by this president,” Clinton continued. “I read those [posts] like, I think, I hope the majority of Americans, both shaking my head and really just feeling sick at heart that we have a president who is such a disgrace.”

The post ‘Morning Joe’: Hillary Clinton Calls on Congress to Rein In Trump Before He Causes ‘Irreparable Damage’ | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

After Swalwell was accused of sexual misconduct and assult by four women last week in interviews cited by the Chronicle and CNN, Reps. Byron Daniels and Pramila Jayapal both called for Swalwell’s resignation on Sunday morning’s “Meet the Press.” On Saturday, Swalwell’s staffers circulated a letter saying they were “horrified” by the allegations.

By Sunday, activist Charlotte Clymer wrote that it’s “been a pretty open secret in D.C. for years that Eric Swalwell is a serial womanizer.”

“It’s sociopathic that Eric Swalwell hasn’t dropped out of the race yet – which I guess fits with the behavior he’s been accused of, for which there’s ample evidence to support,” wrote “Pod Save America” Jon Favreau on X.

Clymer also accused Swalwell of having potentially hit on hundreds, if not thousands, of women in the city.

“This is all to say that Swalwell was pretty widely known as a serial womanizer years ago, and if you’re using a bit of common sense here, you can make a reasonable distinction between a grown man who’s an inelegant horndog but still acting ethically and a grown man who treats women like disposable collectibles and leverages his position of power to ‘collect’ them,” she added.

Democratic strategist Adam Parkhomenko, whose wife Ally Sammarco is one of Swalwell’s accusers, has shared several messages in recent days about the Congressman.

“I wish the best for his family, and I hope he gets the help he needs. But if Eric Swalwell or his attorney makes a single statement that disparages my wife, I will be filing a lawsuit against him,” he wrote in one shared on X. “I’ve already made clear that if he believes anything I’ve said is untrue, he should sue me immediately. As he considers his next steps in the coming days, he should be very careful about what he chooses to say. He should also resign immediately.”

Sammarco later added, “I just want to make one final point tonight. A number of women received cease-and-desist letters from Eric Swalwell. My wife did not. Every woman involved, except my wife who went on the record, has remained anonymous. So here’s the question no one can ignore: how did he know who to send those letters to if they were anonymous?”

Journalist and activist Nomiki Konst said she was once approached by Swalwell.

“I showed disinterest & like many others, heard stories,” she shared on X. “Which makes me wonder why House leadership (who most certainly knew), continued to protect a member w/out looking into it. And how pathological of him to pressure and allegedly SA subordinates & think he was protected?”

Shawn VanDiver, who founded #AfghanEvac, admitted, “I owe an apology to every person I introduced to Eric Swalwell over the years. The rumors about him weren’t new. They had been circulating for a long time, and many people were aware of them.”

“I should have listened more carefully to the people who warned me,” VanDiver also wrote. “I regret not taking those concerns more seriously, and I regret the role I played in lending him credibility.”

“I am going to say this very slowly, it’s coming out that Eric Swalwell would discuss his conquests to fellow House members and former house members that he considered ‘good friends, best friends’, now here is why me saying this slowly matters, think long and hard before you deny it,” Democratic strategist Michael Trujillo wrote on X.

When asked why he didn’t report the accusations, Trujillo insisted he’s “called electeds, chief of staffs, union presidents, Dem party leaders, like literally I’ve done so much to get this out, but until a victim tells their story folks just assume I’m pushing some intense rumor.”

Retired Navy intelligence officer Travis Akers said he’s met Swalwell several times — and insisted the alleged victims should be believed. “For the sake of those women, for a nation already in turmoil, and for basic integrity in public service, Eric must immediately withdraw from the California governor’s race and resign from Congress,” Akers wrote on X. “Accountability matters to me no matter who you are, even those I have supported and stood by for years.”

The post D.C. Insiders Begin to Pile on ‘Open Secret’ of Eric Swalwell Allegations: ‘Serial Womanizer,’ ‘Sociopathic’ appeared first on TheWrap.

“While Vice President JD Vance and his delegation were engaged in 21 hours of high-stakes negotiations with Iran, President Trump flew to Miami to enjoy the UFC’s light heavyweight championship fight,” said “The Weekend” co-host Jaqueline Alemany at the beginning of the segment.

“It was unclear whether the president knew that negotiations had failed by the time he entered the arena, with Kid Rock’s ‘American Badass’ as his entry song,” Alemany said. “For the most part, Trump ‘impassively’ — that’s a word used by the New York Times — ‘watched as blood and saliva sprayed out from the fighters in front of him.'”

“It’s ridiculous!” agreed co-host Jonathan Capeheart.

“He should be in the Situation Room! If he’s serious at all about a deal, although he said before going to Florida …” Capeheart continued before Daniels interjected, “He don’t care! He’s proving that he doesn’t care!”

Capeheart agreed, and Daniels continued, “He’s obviously proving to the American people, to the world, that he really doesn’t really care because otherwise he would at least pretend to be — if not in the Situation Room, at least at the White House.”

“Hell, he could even be at his winter White House, hanging out! Pretending that, at the end of the day, he is paying attention to what’s happening out of there,” Daniels also said. “What if something happened? I just think that it is shocking — not surprising — that he chose to hang out there.”

Trump was joined by UFC head Dana White as well as daughters Ivanka Trump and Tiffany Trump on Saturday. He was warmly greeted by podcast host Joe Rogan after entering the arena.

The post Trump’s ‘Ridiculous’ UFC Championship Appearance Proves He ‘Don’t Care’ About Ending Iran War, Eugene Daniels Says | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

Welker asked the congressmen about Swalwell and Gonzales during their separate interviews. Both men have been accused of sexual misconduct, and Swalwell has also been accused of sexual assault by former staff members.

Should the vote be introduced, “I will be voting yes on both measures,” Daniels said. “These allegations are despicable and they demean the integrity of Congress. These things are just completely unacceptable. And as far as I’m concerned, both gentlemen need to go home.”

When asked if Swalwell, who announced his candidacy for Governor of California in November, should drop out of the state’s gubernatorial race, Jayapal answerd in the affirmative.

“I’ve been very vocal on behalf of survivors of the Epstein scandal. And I think that what we are seeing now is an emergence of women across the country who have been dismissed, told to shut up, told to move on, who have been abused by men in powerful positions,” she said. “This is not a partisan issue. This cuts across party line, and it is a depravity of the way that women have been treated. And I’m just inspired by the courage and the bravery of the women who came forward. This is clearly a pattern. I’ve already called for Congressman Swalwell to drop out of the gubernatorial race. And I think we have to hold everybody accountable.”

Jayapal also affirmed she believes both of her colleagues should be voted out of the House.

“I’ve already said that I think that these charges and allegations, and the pattern of abuse — in Congressman Gonzalez’s case he actually admitted to the harassment with his staffer. This is also important for staffers across the Capitol to see that their bosses don’t get to do this to them,” she answered.

“So I do think that both of them need to step down from Congress, let these investigations happen. You know, but I think that this is very important that we believe women, and that we show people across the Capitol and across the country that we will not accept this kind of behavior.”

CNN previously reported four women have accused Swalwell of sexual misconduct. One of the women has claimed the Congressman raped her in 2019 and in 2024. The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office announced last week it has opened an investigation into the women’s claims.

Gonzales has been accused of texting one former staff member and asked for nude photos; he also exchanged sexually-charged messages with congressional aide Regina Santos-Aviles, who died by suicide last year.

The post House Reps Say They’ll Vote to Expel Swalwell and Gonzales: ‘Both Gentlemen Need to go Home’ | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

“Images have power, I hope. Normally we try to be pretty private, but in this case I am sharing a photo in the hopes that it might dissuade the next person from throwing a Molotov cocktail at our house, no matter what they think about me,” Altman wrote alongside a family photo posted to his blog Friday afternoon. “The first person did it last night, at 3:45 am in the morning. Thankfully it bounced off the house and no one got hurt.”

He continued: “Words have power too. There was an incendiary article about me a few days ago. Someone said to me yesterday they thought it was coming at a time of great anxiety about AI and that it made things more dangerous for me. I brushed it aside.”

Yet, as Altman noted, not long after brushing aside the profile by Ronan Farrow, titled “Sam Altman May Control Our Future — Can He Be Trusted?,” he found himself “awake in the middle of the night and pissed, and thinking that I have underestimated the power of words and narratives.”

“This seems like as good of a time as any to address a few things,” he continued. “First, what I believe: Working towards prosperity for everyone, empowering all people, and advancing science and technology are moral obligations for me. AI will be the most powerful tool for expanding human capability and potential that anyone has ever seen. Demand for this tool will be essentially uncapped, and people will do incredible things with it. The world deserves huge amounts of AI and we must figure out how to make it happen.”

Altman then acknowledged that the “fear and anxiety about AI is justified,” stating that the industry has to get “safety right.”

Later on in his statement, he described himself as “being conflict-averse,” citing his upcoming trial with Elon Musk, in which the tech giant has asked for his removal as CEO.

“I was thinking about our upcoming trial with Elon and remembering how much I held the line on not being willing to agree to the unilateral control he wanted over OpenAI,” he added. “I’m proud of that, and the narrow path we navigated then to allow the continued existence of OpenAI, and all the achievements that followed.”

Altman went on: “I am not proud of being conflict-averse, which has caused great pain for me and OpenAI. I am not proud of handling myself badly in a conflict with our previous board that led to a huge mess for the company. I have made many other mistakes throughout the insane trajectory of OpenAI; I am a flawed person in the center of an exceptionally complex situation, trying to get a little better each year, always working for the mission. We knew going into this how huge the stakes of AI were, and that the personal disagreements between well-meaning people I cared about would be amplified greatly.”

Nonetheless, Altman said it was “another thing to live through these bitter conflicts and often to have to arbitrate them, and the costs have been serious. I am sorry to people I’ve hurt and wish I had learned more faster.”

Read his full statement here.

The post Sam Altman Responds to ‘Incendiary’ New Yorker Article and Molotov Cocktail Attack appeared first on TheWrap.

Sources familiar with the matter at the Athletic said the outlet immediately began an investigation into Russini after the New York Post’s Page Six reached out for comment regarding photos of the two spending time together at a luxury hotel in Sedona, Arizona. The two, who are both married to other people, reportedly ate breakfast together at the Ambiente, spent time at the hotel’s pool and hot tub and were pictured on the roof of a private bungalow, according to Page Six.

Sources for Russini and Vrabel, who were both in Arizona for a meeting of the NFL Competition Committee, told Page Six the two were with other people during the weekend.

The Times declined to comment.

The investigation, which is ongoing and was first reported by Front Office Sports, represents an abrupt change from the outlet’s public defense of Russini over the photos. In Page Six’s Tuesday story, executive editor Steven Ginsberg initially said the images were “misleading and lack essential context.”

“These were public interactions in front of many people,” he told Page Six. “Dianna is a premier journalist covering the NFL and we’re proud to have her at the Athletic.”

While his statement stemmed from an initial review of the images, the apparent conduct did raise questions for Ginsberg and Athletic leadership, according to sources familiar with the matter. The Page Six report and information gleaned from the ongoing investigation have since spurred additional concerns for the Athletic, according to the sources, and Russini will not be reporting for the outlet as it probes the issue.

Russini also said the photos “don’t represent the group of six people who were hanging out during the day” and that “reporters interact with sources away from stadiums and other venues.” Photos have not emerged to support Russini’s claim. She did not respond to an immediate request for comment.

Vrabel told Page Six the photos showed “a completely innocent interaction, and any suggestion otherwise is laughable.”

Russini joined the Times-owned Athletic in 2023 after eight years at ESPN, where she worked as an NFL analyst and a “SportsCenter” anchor. She covered Vrabel’s tenure as the head coach of the Tennessee Titans in 2018.

Russini’s most recent story for the Athletic was published Tuesday.

The post The Athletic Investigating Reporter Dianna Russini’s Relations With NFL Coach After Private Photos Surface appeared first on TheWrap.

Carlson floated his theory after Trump torched him, Megyn Kelly, Alex Jones and Candace Owens on Truth Social for speaking out against the Iran war. Despite being described as “Low IQ,” a “nut job” and a “troublemaker,” Carlson expressed empathy for the president while suggesting he might be in a tough spot.

“Establishment media never reports this, but the Israeli government has a storied history of blackmailing U.S. presidents,” Tucker said in a note published to his website Friday. “Perhaps the most jarring example occurred in the ’90s, when Israel used recordings of a Bill Clinton–Monica Lewinsky phone sex session as leverage to pressure Clinton into releasing convicted spy Jonathan Pollard from prison. We’re not joking. That really happened.”

He added: “The phone sex story is worth remembering as President Trump attempts to end the Iran war. Like many other things Israel has done, it shows that America’s ‘special ally’ is willing to play very dirty to achieve its goals. Dark-money campaign contributions, extortion, physical threats and even assassination. In their anti-Christian worldview, the ends always justify the means. They have no issue destroying lives.”

Days after his announced two-week ceasefire with Iran, Trump went after some of his biggest MAGA supporters for being against his war from the beginning – saying they were “stupid people, they know it, their families know it, and everyone else knows it, too.”

“Now they think they get some ‘clicks’ because they have Third Rate Podcasts, but nobody’s talking about them, and their views are the opposite of MAGA — Or I wouldn’t have won the Presidential Election in a LANDSLIDE,” Trump said at the time. “MAGA agrees with me, and just gave CNN a 100% Approval Rating of ‘TRUMP,’ not Hand Flailing Fools like Tucker Carlson, who couldn’t even finish College, he was a broken man when he got fired from Fox, and he’s never been the same — Perhaps he should see a good psychiatrist! Or Megyn Kelly, who nastily asked me the now famous, ‘Only Rosie O’Donnell,’ question, or ‘Crazy’ Candace Owens, who accuses the Highly Respected First Lady of France of being a man, when she is not, and will hopefully win lots of money in the ongoing lawsuit.”

Per Carlson, he hoped Trump would soon find his strength amid the pressures of war. Despite being against the entire thing, he offered the president goodwill after the online attack.

“We decided to write about this after Trump published a Truth Social post attacking our company, Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens and Alex Jones, each of whom supported him for years,” Carlson added. “Rather than engaging in petty name-calling, we want to give the president some grace. He is facing a level of pressure that is dark enough to make him abandon his campaign promises and morph into the precise kind of politician he once vowed to destroy. He would not have let that happen unless his personal stakes were really high. We hope he overcomes.”

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Trump went on a lengthy Truth Social tirade against Kelly, Carlson, Jones and Owens Thursday, calling them “losers” and “nut jobs,” after they all outright condemned his threats against Iran this week. Owens, for her part, went so far as to demand that the 25th Amendment be invoked to remove Trump from power. 

In his Truth Social post, Trump wrote of the four, “They’re not ‘MAGA,’ they’re losers, just trying to latch on to MAGA.” Speaking on Friday’s edition of “Morning Joe,” The Dispatch Senior Writer David Drucker took issue with Trump’s selective outrage against his more divisive, on-again, off-again supporters.

“It’s all personal, right? He didn’t criticize Owens or Tucker Carlson or Megyn Kelly for stoking antisemitism, for being antisemitic in Owens’ case for sure,” Drucker observed. “It’s all because they’re angry at him. It’s all because they’re criticizing him.”

“He’s brought figures like this along with him and he’s accommodated their sometimes very outlandish, wacky views and never said that it wasn’t welcome within the party,” Drucker added. “But when they turn on him, now they’re idiots who are not welcome in the party.”

You can watch the full “Morning Joe” segment yourself below.

Drucker argued that the divide between Trump and some of the Right’s biggest online podcasters and media figures has revealed that the president’s original, self-identifying MAGA supporters have never been podcast listeners.

“I don’t think that things have really changed politically vis-a-vis support for the war among Republican voters,” Drucker said. “I still think the president has the broad support of Republican voters and particularly voters who self-identify as MAGA. But I think one of the things we’re learning is that voters that self-identify as MAGA aren’t necessarily a podcast listener [like the ones] that were so crucial to the president’s reelection in 2024.”

Politico Senior Political Columnist Jonathan Martin, meanwhile, told “Morning Joe” viewers Friday that Trump is at risk of losing both extreme sides of the Republican Party in the coming months.

“The factions on the either extreme of the party, so the Alex Jones on one front, the real ‘winger,’ as they would say — conspiratorial types — are dissatisfied with Trump because of the Iran decision,” Martin explained. “Then you’ve got the other extreme of the party, which is the pre-Trump party. Never liked him in the first place. Finds his conduct really embarrassing, but basically has sort of grinned and beared it.”

“I think he’s at risk of losing those two factions this fall,” Martin concluded. “In part because they will stay home on one hand, and also some of them will just vote for a Democrat to send a message this fall, and that’s a big challenge for the Republican Party.”

The post ‘Morning Joe’ Calls Out Trump for Condemning Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens Only After They’ve Turned On Him: ‘All Personal’ | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

MacCallum, who previously served as CNN‘s executive vice president of Digital Products and Services, “is already playing a crucial role in turning our vision of the future CNN into a reality,” Thompson told staffers in a memo on Wednesday. Her new role will have her oversee the network’s consumer strategy, implement a new business model, introduce mission-driven project work and build out strategic partnerships, Thompson noted.

“In a remarkable two-year run back at CNN, Alex has already achieved an impressive set of critical accomplishments in record time,” he further wrote. “On top of building a world-class digital operation and transforming our core products, she’s led and launched a direct-to-consumer sub business, assembled a set of outstanding leaders in audience, data, product and tech, engagement and monetization, and has built excellent collaborative working relationships with all of CNN’s other top leaders.”

MacCallum returned to CNN in 2024 as Thompson sought to revitalize the cable news network’s digital efforts. Since her arrival, the network has paywalled much of its website and introduced a streaming tier to its app dubbed “All Access.” Thompson said the streaming tier “continues to outperform our expectations,” but added that the network still has “plenty more to do.”

“Alex will also accelerate the process of uniting our objectives and organization around our shared ambition for the future, and will help make collaboration and mutual support the norm across CNN,” Thompson concluded.

Before her current CNN stint, MacCallum was chief revenue officer at the Washington Post and CNN‘s global head of product, where she oversaw the rise and fall of its short-lived CNN+ streaming service in 2022. She also oversaw the development of the New York Times’ cooking and games services.

MacCallum’s promotion was first reported by Status.

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