Roseanne Barr Apologizes to Valerie Jarrett

Roseanne Barr tweeted a racist comment at former Obama-era advisor Valerie Jarrett, who happens to be an African-American woman. The now-deleted tweet said, “Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj.”  

ABC on Tuesday announced the cancellation of the hit sitcom "Roseanne" following "abhorrent" comments from the show's star. Just an hour later, Barr's talent agency ICM Partners dropped her as a client, the firm confirmed to CNBC. Barr said she will give her side of the story on comedian Joe Rogan's podcast this Friday. 

On Tuesday night, Roseanne Barr, 65, issued a formal apology statement for her tweet about Valerie Jarrett. She said, “I deeply regret my comments from late last night on Twitter. Above all, I was to apologize to Valerie Jarrett, as well as to ABC and the cast and crew of the Roseanne show. I am sorry for making a thoughtless joke that does not reflect my values- I love all people and am very sorry. Today my words caused hundreds of hardworking people to lose their jobs. I also sincerely apology to the audience that has embraced my work for decades. I apologize from the bottom of my heart and hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive me.”

Early this morning, Roseanne Barr blamed the offensive tweet on Ambien. Barr tweeted, “guys I did something unforgivable so do not defend me. It was 2 in the morning and I was ambien tweeting-it was memorial day too-i went 2 far & do not want it defended-it was egregious Indefensible. I made a mistake I wish I hadn't but...don't defend it please.”

Valerie Jarrett responded to Roseanne Barr’s comments during an MSNBC town hall on Tuesday night. Jarrett said, “First of all, I think we have to turn it into a teaching moment. I’m fine. I’m worried about all the people out there who don’t have a circle of friends and followers who come right to their defense." 

Today, President Trump joined the controversy and accused ABC of a double standard in its decision to cancel the hit sitcom “Roseanne,” whose star Roseanne Barr is a vocal Trump supporter. 

Trump tweeted earlier today, “Bob Iger of ABC called Valerie Jarrett to let her know that ‘ABC does not tolerate comments like those’ made by Roseanne Barr. Gee, he never called President Donald J. Trump to apologize for the HORRIBLE statements made and said about me on ABC. Maybe I just didn’t get the call?” 

Latest on the North Korea/U.S. Summit

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will visit North Korea on May 31 to discuss not only the situation in the Korean peninsula and the wider region, but also the relationship between the two countries, according to the ministry. Lavrov will meet his North Korean counterpart, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho, to discuss bilateral relations and pressing international issues, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.  

Trump confirmed in a tweet that top North Korean official, Kim Yong Chol, a former spy chief and trusted adviser to Kim Jong-un, is headed to New York for talks with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the latest indication that an on-again-off-again summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may go ahead on June 12 in Singapore. 

The North Korean envoy was at Beijing airport on Wednesday for their flight to New York, a day after arriving in the Chinese capital. 

Kim Yong Chol, vice chairman of the ruling Workers’ Party’s Central Committee and formerly head of a top North Korean military intelligence agency, will meet Pompeo later this week, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said. However, the White House has not officially announced that the Summit is back on.

NYT Leak: Trump Asked Sessions to Retain Control of Russia Inquiry After His Recusal

President Donald Trump said on Twitter on Wednesday that he wished he had picked someone other than Jeff Sessions for attorney general, stoking anew the long-running awkwardness between the two men. 

Trump’s tweets come hours after The New York Times reported that the president’s public and private criticisms of Sessions are now under the scope of the investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller. The report details a March 2017 meeting in Mar-a-Lago where Trump reportedly asked Sessions to reverse his decision to recuse himself from the FBI’s investigation into collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Sessions reportedly refused. 

Sessions recused himself from the investigation last year amid revelations that he met twice with the Russian ambassador in 2016, despite telling senators at his confirmation hearing that he had no contacts with Russians during the campaign. Sessions has denied any wrongdoing. 

Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., appeared on "CBS This Morning" today suggesting that he sympathized with the president's frustration with Attorney General Jeff Sessions over his recusal from the Russia investigation. Gowdy was asked to comment on a New York Times report that Trump had "berated" Sessions and had asked him to reverse his recusal from the ongoing probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election. 

"I think what the President is doing is expressing frustration that Attorney General Sessions should have shared these reasons for recusal before he took the job, not afterward. If I were the President and I picked someone to be the country's chief law enforcement officer, and they told me later, 'Oh by the way I'm not going to be able to participate in the most important case in the office, I would be frustrated, too, and that's how I read that, is, 'Senator Sessions, why didn't you tell me before I picked you?' There are lots of really good lawyers in the country -- he could have picked someone else," Gowdy told "CBS This Morning." 

IG Michael Horowitz is scheduled to testify before congressional committees

Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz is set to testify before congressional committees next month, presumably after the release of the Inspectors General’s Report. Horowitz announced that the draft report was done in a letter to members of Congress earlier this month but did not say when the results of the review will be officially released to the FBI, DOJ and congressional committees. 

Both the Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Oversight Committee are preparing to have Michael Horowitz appear before them in early June. 

On Tuesday, Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) announced that his committee would hold a hearing titled, “Examining the Inspector General’s First Report on Justice Department Decisions Regarding the 2016 Presidential Election” on June 5. 

The joint Judiciary-Oversight review, led by chairs Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) is centered on the bureau’s decision making in both the investigation of Clinton’s use of a private email server while secretary of state and the investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Kim Kardashian to visit White House on Wednesday

Kim Kardashian West will arrive at the White House today with her attorney. The two will first sit down with Jared Kushner and discuss prison reform and then Kushner will bring them to sit down with President Trump to continue the discussion and give Kardashian West the opportunity to ask for a presidential pardon of Alice Johnson. After her meeting with the President, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner are hosting a dinner for her at their home. 

Kardashian West has been advocating to Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner that President Trump grant Alice Johnson clemency. Kardashian West first became interested in Alice Johnson’s case when Mic did a video profile of the woman in 2017 and she came across the story on Twitter. 

“If you think about a decision that you’ve made in your life and you get life without the possibility of parole for your first-time nonviolent offense, there’s just something so wrong with that,” Kim Kardashian West told the outlet.

In an interview earlier this month, Kim Kardashian West said that if given the opportunity, she would “explain to Trump that, just like everybody else, we can make choices in our lives that we’re not proud of and that we don’t think through all of the way.” 

Alice Marie Johnson is a 62-year-old woman who has served for 21 years in federal prison as part of a life sentence for a drug-related crime.

Johnson was arrested and charged with conspiracy to possess cocaine, attempted possession of cocaine and money laundering. In 1997, Johnson was convicted due to her leading role in a multimillion dollar drug ring that dealt thousands of kilos of cocaine over a three-year period. 

Johnson had lost her job and became a telephone mule passing messages between her and coconspirators. In a 2016 CNN op-ed Johnson wrote, “I couldn’t find a job fast enough to take care of my family. I felt like a failure. I went into complete panic and out of desperation I made one of the worst decisions of my life to make some quick money. I became involved in a drug conspiracy.” 

Since being incarcerated she has been a model prisoner who mentors other women and has become an ordained minister. She has been seeking clemency since 2014. President Obama denied Alice Johnson’s clemency petition in 2016.

World faces ‘staggering’ obesity challenge: study

A study done by researchers from Novo Nordisk Research and Development, Novo Nordisk Health Advocacy, Steno Diabetes Centre and University College London, found that in 27 years almost a quarter of the global population will be obese. 

Using a World Health Organization database and dividing each country’s population into age groups, researchers have concluded that if current trends continue then 22% of people in the world will be obese by 2045. This is up from 14% last year. 1 in 8 people, up from 1 in 11 people, will have type 2 diabetes. A form of the disease that generally hits in adulthood as a result of being overweight. 

In the United States, the researchers found obesity will increase from 39% of the population in 2017 to 55% in 2045. Diabetes will increase from 14% in 2017 to 18% in 2045. 

Adult obesity exceeds 30% of the population in 20 U.S. states and surpassed 35% in three states: Arkansas 35.9%, West Virginia 35.7% and Mississippi 35.5%. 22 states have rates above 30%, 45 states are above 25%, every state is above 20%.

Mail Time!

• Bill, I do not approve of what Roseanne said about Ms. Jarrett. It was unkind an unnecessary. Why does ABC let The View do the same thing day after day and never says or does anything about it? 

• Hello Bill, maybe you have said it before, but can you expound on exactly what it means when you say, "Take Your Country Back." This could mean different things to different people. 

• Bill...I think you are wrong...ABC wanted to get rid of Roseanne Barr and they found an avenue. She gave it to them but it WAS political.

• Dear Mr. O., The interview with Mrs. Sarah Verardo from Independence Fund was one of the most emotional interviews I have heard. I had to wipe tears from my eyes throughout, but how can you maintain such composure with such a powerful segment? 

• I've written you many times, but this time is special. Because of the matching of donations to independence fund, I just donated $7500 so that when matched, I will have changed someone's life. I just sold some real estate, and this represents a little more than 1/2 the profit. Thank you for promoting this organization and giving us the opportunity to make a difference.

Word of the Day: Poltroon