An Ignoble Experiment: Documents show Chris Cuomo scheming for big brother

By Liza Hearon

Tuesday, Nov. 30

DOCUMENTS SHOW BIGGER ROLE FOR CHRIS CUOMO IN BROTHER'S DEFENSE CNN host Chris Cuomo was more deeply involved than previously thought in crafting a defense strategy as his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, responded to allegations of sexual harassment, according to detailed records released by the New York Attorney General's office. A CNN spokesperson said the documents "deserve a thorough review and consideration." [HuffPost]

WHO: GLOBAL RISK FROM OMICRON IS 'VERY HIGH' The World Health Organization issued its strongest, most explicit warning yet about the risk from the omicron coronavirus variant. While there are "considerable uncertainties" about the variant, preliminary evidence raises the possibility that omicron has mutations that could help it evade an immune-system response, according to the WHO. [AP]

CIA REPORT: TRUMP 'MOST DIFFICULT' PRESIDENT TO BRIEF ON INTEL U.S. intelligence officials "struggled" to brief a suspicious, insecure and often distracted Donald Trump when he was in the White House, according to a new account published by the CIA's academic center.
Trump "doubted the competence of intelligence professionals and felt no need for regular intelligence support." [HuffPost]

JACK DORSEY STEPS DOWN AS TWITTER CEO Jack Dorsey has stepped down as CEO from the company he co-founded in 2006. Parag Agrawal, who has been the company's chief technology officer, is Dorsey's replacement. "There's a lot of talk about the importance of a company being 'founder-led.' Ultimately I believe that's severely limiting and a single point of failure," Dorsey wrote in an email to Twitter employees. [HuffPost]

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Get the latest coronavirus updates on our dedicated page.

PROSECUTOR: GHISLAINE MAXWELL, JEFFREY EPSTEIN WERE 'PARTNERS IN CRIME' A prosecutor made opening statements at Ghislaine Maxwell's sex trafficking trial in New York, seeking to convince the jury that Maxwell was central to Jeffrey Epstein's schemes to abuse teenage girls. The defense countered that Maxwell was being made a scapegoat for a man's bad behavior. [AP]

ILHAN OMAR HANGS UP ON LAUREN BOEBERT OVER NON-APOLOGY Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) hung up on Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) after the Colorado Republican refused to apologize to Omar for insinuating she's a terrorist. "Instead of apologizing for her Islamophobic comments and fabricated lies, Rep. Boebert refused to publicly acknowledge her hurtful and dangerous comments," Omar said in a statement. "She instead doubled down on her rhetoric and I decided to end the unproductive call." [HuffPost]

LAWYER: JUSSIE SMOLLETT 'IS A REAL VICTIM' OF A 'REAL CRIME' In opening statements at Jussie Smollett's trial in Chicago, the defense rejected prosecutors' allegation that the actor staged a homophobic and racist attack after the television studio where he worked didn't take hate mail he had received seriously. The defense attorney said two brothers attacked Smollett in January 2019 because they didn't like him, and that a $3,500 check the actor paid the men was for training so he could prepare for an upcoming music video, not as payment for staging a hate crime. [HuffPost ]

ARE WE AT THE DAWN OF A NUCLEAR ENERGY RENAISSANCE? There has been a flurry of new policies and announcements about nuclear power around the world, with the mounting scale of the climate and energy conundrum fueling more money into atomic power. Alexander C. Kaufman notes that we've heard this tune before — is it for real this time? [HuffPost]

FROM HIDING DURING 'DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL,' TO NO. 2 AT THE AIR FORCE When Gina Ortiz Jones joined the Air Force in 2003, she had to hide that she was gay. Nearly 20 years later, "don't ask, don't tell" is gone and Jones is the under secretary of the Air Force, the department's second-highest-ranking civilian leader. Read Jen Bendery's interview with Jones, in which she reflects on her full-circle moment. [HuffPost]