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☆ CBS News rebuffs Trump’s legal threat over ‘60 Minutes’ interview
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-23 | by ( Brian Stelter | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New York CNN —Lawyers for CBS News are rebuffing a legal threat from Donald Trump over the network’s “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris, telling the former president his demands are based on a “faulty premise.”In a blunt letter to Trump’s legal counsel, the network on Wednesday said the First Amendment “fiercely protects” the editorial judgments made by “60 Minutes,” the network’s flagship newsmagazine. “For that reason,” CBS said, Trump has no legal basis to sue, “and I note that you do not identify one,” the letter from CBS News senior Vice President for legal affairs Gayle C. Sproul stated. When Trump backed out of a planned interview with “60 Minutes,” CBS went ahead with its plans to interview Harris and produced a Trump-less prime time special on October 7. “Editing is a necessity for all broadcasters to enable them to present the news in the time available, and that is what ’60 Minutes’ did here, as it does with its other reports,” she wrote. Trump has brought up “60 Minutes” on the campaign trail at least a dozen times in the past two weeks and has repeatedly asserted that CBS should lose its broadcast license.

Persons: Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, “, ”, Trump, Gayle C, Sproul, Bill Whitaker’s, Harris, Benjamin Netanyahu “, ” Harris, ” Trump, Edward Andrew Paltzik, Paltzik, CBS “, Kamala Harris’s, Whitaker, Harris “, ” Sproul Organizations: New, New York CNN, CBS News, ” CBS, Trump, Observers, CBS, Israeli, ”, CNN, Republican, FCC, WCBS Locations: New York, United States

☆ SpaceX gets green light for fifth Starship test flight
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-12 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —Federal regulators granted SpaceX its long-awaited license to move forward with a fifth uncrewed test launch of Starship, the most powerful rocket system ever constructed. The FAA had been expected to hand down a license for this test launch weeks ago. SpaceX has also publicly denied reports that the company violated wastewater regulations with the deluge system, which SpaceX says uses potable water. Notably, the company launched a 2020 test flight of a prototype rocket, called Starship SN8, without obtaining prior approval from the FAA for a public safety waiver. At one point in 2023, for example, he said that he did not blame the FAA for holding up Starship launches.

Persons: “, Artemis, Elon Musk, ”, Mike Whitaker, Whitaker, SpaceX’s, ” Whitaker, Patrick T, Fallon, SpaceX, didn’t, Biden, Donald Trump —, Whitaker “, ” Musk, Jose Luis Magana, Kevin Kiley, they’re Organizations: CNN, SpaceX, US Federal Aviation Administration, NASA, FAA, ”, Super, Getty, Texas Commission, Environmental, Environmental Protection Agency, Committee, Transportation, Aviation, US, Infrastructure, Republican Locations: Boca Chica , Texas, Texas, AFP, California

☆ FAA boss: Boeing still must make ‘significant changes’ to improve quality and safety
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-24 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Boeing still has to make “significant changes” to improve the quality and safety of its airplanes, according to the head of the Federal Aviation Administration. “There must be a shift in the company’s safety culture to holistically address its systemic quality assurance and production issues,” he will say, according to his remarks. The incident sparked numerous federal investigations into Boeing, and numerous congressional hearings that raised questions about its quality and safety of its planes. Whitaker is set to say that Boeing must make “significant changes” to address “systemic production quality issues.” And his remarks also promise that the FAA will be more active in oversight of both Boeing and its primary supplier, Spirit AeroSystems, which Boeing is in the process of purchasing. “We have added more safety inspectors in the Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems facilities, and we will maintain our increased on-site presence for the foreseeable future,” he will say, according to his remarks.

Persons: Michael Whitaker, Max, ”, “, Whitaker’s, Whitaker, Joe Buccino Organizations: New, New York CNN, Boeing, Federal Aviation Administration, Alaska Airlines, FAA, Reuters, CNN Locations: New York, Alaska

☆ From hunter to guardian: How the ‘Snakeman of India’ found his way into wildlife conservation
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Michelle Cohan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Whitaker would go on to earn the nickname “Snakeman of India,” and spend more than six decades dedicated to reptile research and conservation. His field work with snakes and crocodiles ultimately led his conservation efforts to help save India’s rainforests. We tell people when they’re working in the field, when they’re doing agriculture, use a stick. Romulus Whitaker teaches the next generation about reptiles at his conservation organization, Agumbe Rainforest Research Station, in southern India. And it’s wonderful to realize that dozens, if not hundreds, of young people have continued to do wonderful work with reptiles.

Persons: Romulus Whitaker, ”, Whitaker, Doris Norden Whitaker, Rama Chattopadhyay, Bill Haast, Heyward Clamp Whitaker, I’ve, cobras, we’ve, Arun Sankar, there’s, Cedric Bregnard, You’re Organizations: CNN, Miami Serpentarium, Miami, cobras, Cooperative, Getty Images CNN, Global Health Research, University of Toronto, Research, Cedric Bregnard CNN Locations: America, India, cobras, Mysore, Hoosick , New York, New York, Bombay, Western Ghats, Madras, South India, An, Chennai

☆ Colorado’s First Michelin Restaurant Guide Serves Up Few Stars
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Julia Moskin | More About Julia Moskin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Five restaurants in Colorado — four in Denver and one in Aspen — each won a Michelin star on Tuesday night, and no two- or three-star restaurants were anointed by the influential culinary guide in its first round of awards in the state. (A signature dish at the Wolf’s Tailor is called Venison and Its Diet: roast venison loin with matsutake mushrooms, huckleberries and bitter greens.) At a ceremony in Denver, 30 restaurants joined the ranks of “Michelin recommended,” one of several categories and awards the company has recently introduced to pull more restaurants into its brand orbit. (She was the only woman to win a star of her own.) A group of Colorado state and local tourism authorities and resort companies paid Michelin a total of about $600,000 to help create the guide, so only restaurants in Boulder, Denver, Aspen, Vail, Snowmass and Beaver Creek were eligible for stars, a decision that rankled chefs in municipalities that did not pitch in money.

Persons: Kelly Whitaker, Kiddo, Kelly Kawachi Organizations: Colorado —, Michelin, “ Michelin Locations: Colorado, Denver, Aspen —, Boulder, Boulder , Denver, Aspen, Vail, Snowmass, Beaver

President Joe Biden will nominate a former Obama administration official to lead the Federal Aviation Administration after his first choice withdrew March after running into opposition from Republican senators. Whitaker's nomination had been expected for months, and Biden's announcement was praised by several industry and labor groups. The FAA, which regulates airline safety and manages the nation's airspace, has been run by back-to-back acting administrators since March 2022. The first, Billy Nolen, who left FAA in June to join another air taxi company, Archer Aviation, praised Whitaker's nomination in a recent interview. Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, urged the Senate to confirm Biden’s pick quickly.

Persons: Joe Biden, Obama, Biden, Michael G, Whitaker, Phillip Washington, Kyrsten Sinema, Sen, Ted Cruz, Biden's, Mike, ” Cruz, Stephen Dickson, Donald Trump, Billy Nolen, “, ”, ” Nicholas Calio, Sara Nelson, “ Whitaker Organizations: Federal Aviation Administration, Republican, FAA, Hyundai, TWA, American Airlines, United Airlines, Denver International Airport, Senate, Washington, GOP, Archer Aviation, Airlines for, Association of Flight Locations: InterGlobe, India, United States, Denver, Ted Cruz of Texas, Airlines for America

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