GQ interview
Salmond discusses the referendum with Campbell for GQ. Asked if he considers himself a historic figure:
I prefer modern studies to history.
He says the Yes campaign is trying to dismiss ‘unreasonable’ fears about the outcome of independence, and that keeping the pound is the most likely scenario for an independent Scotland, drinking culture in Scotland, and whether Spain and other opponents of independence can keep the country out of the EU. His general view on Putin:
Well, I don’t approve of a range of Russian actions, but he is more effective than most and you can see why he carries support in Russia.
On whether he ‘admires’ Putin:
Certain aspects. He’s restored a substantial part of Russian pride and that must be a good thing. There are aspects of Russian constitutionality and the inter-mesh with business and politics that are difficult to admire.
He also discusses whether the Iraq War was illegal and former Prime Minister Blair a war criminal, Kosovo, Syria and Afghanistan. The leader he admires most is German Chancellor Merkel, and he admires Obama’s campaigns but says he should be effective despite running a minority government.
Witness: Haines kidnapped by ‘professionals’
A Syrian translator for the charity that David Haines was working with says he was taken in March 2013 by ‘professional gunmen’ who targeted the vehicle in the hopes of gaining Western victims. Haines was in the final hours of a three-day tour to assess locations for new refugee camps in the north of Syria for the Paris-based Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED) when he was abducted with the organisation’s Italian coordinator, Federico Motka. Details of the abduction have previously been kept secret until ISIS threatened Haines this week in a video containing the execution by beheading of U.S. journalist Steven Sotloff.
‘Send Syrian refugees home’
Lebanese Labor Minister Sejaan Azzi proposes dividing refugees from the Syrian conflict by political alliance and deporting them:
What is at stake now is the proposal that refugees who trust the regime return to the areas under regime control, and those who have faith in Nusra Front and ISIS go to the regions under their control.
Azzi says the option of setting up camps for the refugees similar to the ones existing in Jordan and Turkey is no longer relevant. The remarks come after protests by the families of security personnel kidnapped by ISIS and Al-Nusra Front, the Syrian arm of Al Qaeda.
‘A dozen American fighters’
A Pentagon spokesman says that around 100 American fighters are ‘operating inside Syria,’ and the U.S. government believes that several of them have joined ISIS. Col. Steven Warren:
We believe there are maybe a dozen that are with ISIL
Kerry: Fight may take years
Kerry says that the U.S. needs to combat ISIS without putting boots on the ground:
We need to attack them in ways that prevent them from taking over territory, to bolster the Iraqi security forces and others in the region who are prepared to take them on, without committing troops of our own.
It may take years to defeat the group:
We’re convinced in the days ahead we have the ability to destroy Isis. It may take a year, it may take two years, it may take three years. But we are determined.
‘We will secure international coalition’
Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes says the U.S. is sure of securing international support in the fight against ISIS from European nations concerned that radicalized jihadis who have traveled to the Middle East could return home and create a domestic terror threat. In an interview with CNN:
I absolutely do believe that there will be a coalition of countries from the international community, from here in NATO, also from the region where many of the neighbors have stepped up and said they want to be a part of that type of effort
While the U.S. has yet to commit to airstrikes in Syria there are many other ways partners could contribute:
Intelligence. Law enforcement. Lots of ways for nations to step up to the plate and be a part of this coalition
Tavis Smiley interview
D discusses current rap culture and his newest album, The Black in Man, in this interview for PBS.
And we’ve seen that the words that are spoken through song sometimes can actually give a universal law to people by challenging the things that are unjust and unfair. We didn’t make it up. But it’s also something that we have to learn that, before us, there’s a Curtis Mayfield, there’s a Pete Seeger. You know, people who we’ve lost in human life, but their spirit still lives.
Miami Herald interview
Mendes talks to the Miami Herald about being on the show Total Divas and overall reality television.
It’s a really big deal. You get more opportunity. You get more matches. So getting the call was really a big surprise. I was literally screaming, crying and jumping for joy, when I was told I would be part of the cast.
Bill Apter interview
RVD speaks to Bill Apter about Paul Heyman and his spot in WWE today.
Paul reached a level he deserves in this business. It’s nice to see the respect given back and to see Paul where he’s at right now. He’s no longer in a place where people are trying to bury him and trying to put him out of business. Now they look at him with appreciation like he is of wrestling royalty because he is. I see him pulling some of the younger guys aside backstage, giving his advice to them.
Heidi Klum interview
Klum and Meyers discuss the Emmys as well as wardrobe for her fashion show on Late Night with Seth Meyers.
People don’t know what goes on in these cars.
Kim Kardashian West interview
Kardashian West discusses her vacation to Ibiza as well as her grandma smoking marijuana on Watch What Happens Live.
When people are so drunk or so high, I don’t have fun.
Larry David interview
Fallon talks to David about his Broadway debut play, Fish in the Dark, and why dogs don’t like him on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
Dogs don’t care for me, I got bit twice. Leaped up took a chunk out of my ribs.
I had a dog once, he behaved like my kids and my wife did, no reaction.
Kim Kardashian interview
Kardashian explains why she isn’t in a hurry to fix her phone after dropping it in the toilet on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
I don’t really care though, I haven’t fixed it. I think that when you have a baby it changes things.
Taraji P. Henson interview
Henson on winning and Oscar on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
Sarah Silverman interview
Silverman talks about her boyfriend, actor Michael Sheen, and she reveals how her family feels about him.
Calvin Harris interview
Seacrest interviews Calvin Harris during On Air With Ryan Seacrest and asks him questions about how his music stays current.
You just need to listen to everything basically. I think people in the dance world can get insulated and just listen to dance music. The way that I was brought up is to just like listen to everything, embrace everything. I listen to every form of music, since you know, the 1960s. I get my influences from a lot of different places.
Keith Urban interview
Seacrest interviews Keith Urban during On Air With Ryan Seacrest and questions him about how he found out he was nominated for four Country Music Awards.
I was dropping both of my kids at two separate schools and my phone started blowing up crazy early in the morning, I must have got 15 texts in the space of about a minute. It’s crazy, it was just a beautiful morning. In our world, that’s a big thing. My wife, she was ecstatic, but she was in London. She’s over there for the premiere of this film, Before I Go to Sleep. I always chuckle because Colin Firth is in this film and I made the mistake one time of telling people, ‘Yeah, she’s in this film Before I Go to Sleep With Colin Firth.’ Punctuation is everything. Everybody wanted to see that film.
‘Not as dangerous as Al Qaeda’
The top U.S. counterterror official says ISIS presents a threat to U.S. security but is not as grave a threat as Al Qaeda. National Counterterrorism Center Director Matthew Olsen says at a Brookings Institute event that the group could inspire a lone wolf attack by a sympathizer in the U.S.:
[ISIS] poses a direct and significant threat to us [and] has the potential to use its safe haven to plan and coordinate attacks in Europe and the United States
But it is not as capable of carrying out a large-scale attack as al Qaeda was before 9/11:
ISIL is not al Qaeda pre 9/11. We are not what we were pre 9/11. We are so much better postured, in so many ways, to see, detect, stop any attack like what we saw on 9/11.
The major threat is to U.S. troops in Iraq:
We have no credible information that ISIL is planning to attack the United States … in the near term, we’re focused on protecting our personnel on the ground in Iraq.
Interview
Rolling Stone releases the full text of an interview with Rivers from 2012. The magazine had only used some snippets of the text before.
Part of my act is meant to shake you up. It looks like I’m being funny, but I’m reminding you of other things. Life is tough, darling. Life is hard. And we better laugh at everything, otherwise we’re going down the tube.
Where Are They Now? interview
Danza talks with Australian TV’s Where Are They Now? about the media offers he was given in addition to Who’s the Boss?
I looked at my agent and said, I think the housekeeper’s the best show.
