1. FBI agents have raided the office of Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s personal attorney
— Michael Cohen’s office was raided Monday afternoon. Agents seized emails, tax documents, and records related to his payment to Stormy Daniels which indicates this is a campaign finance issue.
— An important point in all of this is that this involves, “Issues separate from the Russia investigation,” according to USA Today.
2. UN Ambassador Nikki Haley calls out Syria AND the United Nations
— Haley stated that the position of the United States is clear: Russia’s hands “are all covered in the blood of Syrian children.” Russia has warned there will be “grave repercussions” if the U.S. acts alone.
— Trump has multiple options: limited strikes, strikes attempting to take out the Syrian regime, attacks on Syria/Iran/Russian assets, or nothing.
3. Alabama’s football coach handled players concerns before today’s trip to the White House
— Multiple sports teams have balked at visiting the Trump White House, but Nick Saban was not going to let this become an issue for Alabama’s football team.
— An Alabama lineman relayed Saban’s words to AL.com, “Hey, we’re doing this regardless of your political thoughts. We’re going, just to celebrate this team. It’s an honor. And just to be able to say that you’ve gone to the White House is something that you can cherish forever.”
4. Israel has a friend in Auburn’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl
— On college campuses, and newsrooms around the country, Israel is maligned as a bad actor, an aggressive presence in the Middle East, and not an ally of the United States.
— Auburn’s head coach isn’t buying it, he tweeted that America would not tolerate the behavior of Israel’s enemies: “If a foreign country threatened to destroy Boston Massachusetts, where I grew up or Auburn Alabama, where I live now, within the next 25 yrs, how should our country react? Really?”
5. Alabama’s tax burden is the 8th lowest in the country
— WalletHub compared the 50 states based on the three components of state tax burden vs. personal income — property taxes, individual income taxes, and sales and excise taxes.
— Alabama is the place to be for lower taxes: The state is 43rd in overall tax burden at 7.24 percent but its highest category was total sales tax at 3.97 percent.
6. Facebook’s CEO goes to Washington wearing a tie, and he apologized. No one will accept it, and they will crush him
— Zuckerberg’s apology was wide-ranging: “That goes for fake news, foreign interference in elections, and hate speech, as well as developers and data privacy,” according to the Washington Post.
— Zuckerberg’s issues aren’t only coming from D.C. His employees are quitting and asking to be reassigned.
7. London’s mayor is working to ban knives, although it sounds like it, this is not a joke
— Mayor Sadiq Kahn has implemented stop-and-frisk policies with 300 additional officers in high-crime neighborhoods to search for knives.
— The mayor also banned home deliveries of knives and acid because Londoners are using them to attack each other. London also is seeing a higher murder rate than New York for the the first time ever.
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