Chuck Woolery, smooth-talking game show host of 'Love Connection' and 'Scrabble,' dies at 83A prominent Republican US senator pledged on Sunday that Congress would not give blanket approval to Donald Trump’s controversial cabinet picks ahead of the congressional confirmation process, as a leading Democrat challenged the qualifications of some of them to serve. Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma predicted lawmakers in the upper chamber will have tough questions in particular for the former Democratic congresswoman, Tulsi Gabbard , who was chosen by the president-elect as director of national security for his second administration . When asked on CNN on Sunday morning if he will vote for all of Trump’s cabinet nominations, Lankford did not answer directly, pointing to the Senate process of holding public hearings for nominees, beginning on 3 January, ahead of Trump’s confirmation on 20 January. “Everyone is going to get a fair shake,” he said of the president-elect’s list of preferred appointees. Gabbard faces a potentially rough ride during her Senate confirmation over a number of questionable incidents from her career. These include spreading Russian propaganda over the war in Ukraine, prompting critics to ask if she might be a “Russian asset” , as well as her making a clandestine and visit to Syria to meet the country’s president, Bashar al-Assad, who has been accused of war crimes, a trip that drew Republican criticism as a shame and a disgrace . “We’ll have lots of questions,” Lankford, the newly-elected vice-chair of the Senate policy committee, told CNN’s State of the Union show. “She met with Bashar al-Assad, we’ll want to know what the purpose was and what the direction for that was as a member of Congress. We want to get a chance to talk about past comments she’s made, and get them into full context.” He added: “So, sure, there’s comments that are floating out there, but we want to be able to know the rest of the story.” Lankford’s comments came at the end of a week that saw Trump’s first pick for attorney general, Florida former congressman Matt Gaetz, fall amid sexual misconduct allegations that prompted pushback from a number of Republican senators and made it unlikely he would win enough votes for confirmation by the incoming-Republican majority. Other Trump choices under scrutiny include Fox TV host Pete Hegseth, the nominee for defense secretary who was the subject of a sexual assault investigation in 2017 , and Robert F Kennedy Jr, a conspiracy theorist and vaccine skeptic tapped for health secretary. Lankford also suggested that Pam Bondi, Florida’s former attorney general chosen by the president-elect this week in place of Gaetz, should put aside her promise to seek legal retribution on Trump’s political foes , if she is confirmed. Of the role, Lankford said: “It’s America’s lawyer. It’s not the president’s lawyer. It is very important that we get this role right, and that they’re actually focused on diminishing crime in America.” As well as open hearings, Lankford said of Trump’s nominees: “We’ll sit down with them in our offices, we’ll get a chance to be able to talk.” The Democratic Illinois senator and combat veteran Tammy Duckworth, meanwhile, told CNN’s State of the Union that Hegseth and Gabbard were both unqualified or unsuitable for the roles Trump wants them to fill. “He never commanded a unit, he never commanded a company, let alone battalions, brigades or whole armies. He was a platoon leader,” Duckworth said of Hegseth, a retired major in the army national guard. “He served at a very low level in the military, and we’re talking about an organization of 3 million servicemen, servicewomen and civilians, and a budget of over $900bn. He does not have the experience to run an organization of that size.” Duckworth also vehemently disagreed with Hegseth’s opposition to allowing women to stay in combat roles , after a long-fought battle for greater equality in the US military. She added she was “troubled” by claims Gabbard was a Russian asset. “We have a real deep concern whether or not she’s a compromised person. The US intelligence community has identified her as having troubling relationships with America’s foes, and my worry is that she couldn’t pass a background check,” she said. Oklahoma’s other Republican senator, Markwayne Mullin, a vocal Trump ally, also appeared on State of the Union and gave his unqualified backing to all of the president-elect’s picks. “The president has done this job before. He knows exactly what he needs. He knows who he wants to put in those positions,” he said. “That’s why he’s been able to move fast, because he knows he has four years to reach the mandate the American people said they want, the government going in a different direction. These nominations are going to deliver that for him.”
We told how the LibDem leader said his party will vote against the Budget if it includes even a “penny” promoting Scottish independence . Speaking on the BBC Scotland’s Sunday Show, Cole-Hamilton (below), said: “I don’t see a circumstance where any Liberal Democrat could vote for a Budget that is clearly spending money on the constitution. “I think that would be a massive misuse of public funds no matter how small. We need every penny available spent on our schools, on our GP surgeries, on the mental health crisis.” He added: "The SNP will have to go a long way to persuade us, that whilst they might delete things like any independence spending from their budget that they won’t just go back to their old ways of spending any political oxygen on the constitution.” READ MORE: Labour’s plans to slash benefits will leave disabled Scots ‘financially worse off’ The SNP’s deputy leader, Keith Brown MSP, told The National that Cole-Hamilton's comments were “anti-democratic”. “People in Scotland voted for a majority pro-independence Parliament in 2021, and that vote must be respected by all parties,” Brown (below) said. “For Alex Cole-Hamilton to state that any spending on independence would be a misuse of public funds, when the public voted for a pro-independence Parliament in 2021, is anti-democratic.” He continued: “Regardless of what the other parties choose to do, the SNP will always make the case for Scotland to become an independent country.” READ MORE: Labour pledge to cut 'bulging benefits bill' to 'get Britain working' It comes as the SNP is in discussions with other parties in an attempt to gain support for the Budget, which will be delivered in Holyrood on December 3. Because the SNP is now a minority government following the end of the Bute House Agreement, the Scottish Government needs the support of at least one opposition party in order to successfully pass the Budget. While the LibDems have said they will not support a Budget that includes spending on independence, the Scottish Greens have said they will only support it if there are no cuts to independence spending. The Scottish Government has previously said they are engaging in negotiations with all parties.
Playoff game at Ohio State has sold 34% more tickets than Notre Dame game on StubHub
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — John Elway says any remorse over bypassing Josh Allen in the 2018 NFL draft is quickly dissipating with rookie Bo Nix's rapid rise, suggesting the Denver Broncos have finally found their next franchise quarterback. Elway said Nix, the sixth passer selected in April's draft, is an ideal fit in Denver with coach Sean Payton navigating his transition to the pros and Vance Joseph's defense serving as a pressure release valve for the former Oregon QB. “We’ve seen the progression of Bo in continuing to get better and better each week and Sean giving him more each week and trusting him more and more to where last week we saw his best game of the year,” Elway said in a nod to Nix's first game with 300 yards and four touchdown throws in a rout of Atlanta. For that performance, Nix earned his second straight NFL Rookie of the Week honor along with the AFC Offensive Player of the Week award. “I think the sky’s the limit," Elway said, “and that’s just going to continue to get better and better.” In a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press, Elway also touted former coach Mike Shanahan's Hall of Fame credentials, spoke about the future of University of Colorado star and Heisman favorite Travis Hunter and discussed his ongoing bout with a chronic hand condition. Elway spent the last half of his decade as the Broncos’ GM in a futile search for a worthy successor to Peyton Manning, a pursuit that continued as he transitioned into a two-year consultant role that ended after the 2022 season. “You have all these young quarterbacks and you look at the ones that make it and the ones that don’t and it’s so important to have the right system and a coach that really knows how to tutelage quarterbacks, and Sean’s really good at that,” Elway said. “I think the combination of Bo’s maturity, having started 61 games in college, his athletic ability and his knowledge of the game has been such a tremendous help for him,'" Elway added. “But also Vance Joseph’s done a heck of a job on the defensive side to where all that pressure’s not being put on Bo and the offense to score all the time.” Payton and his staff have methodically expanded Nix’s repertoire and incorporated his speed into their blueprints. Elway lauded them for “what they’re doing offensively and how they’re breaking Bo into the NFL because it’s a huge jump and I think patience is something that goes a long way in the NFL when it comes down to quarterbacks.” Elway said he hopes to sit down with Nix at some point when things slow down for the rookie. Nix, whose six wins are one more than Elway had as a rookie, said he looks forward to meeting the man who won two Super Bowls during his Hall of Fame playing career and another from the front office. “He’s a legend not only here for this organization, but for the entire NFL," Nix said, adding, "most guys, they would love to have a chat with John Elway, just pick his brain. It’s just awesome that I’m even in that situation.” Orange Crush linebacker Randy Gradishar joined Elway in the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year, something Elway called “way, way overdue.” Elway suggested it's also long past time for the Hall to honor Shanahan, who won back-to-back Super Bowls in Denver with Elway at QB and whose footprint you see every weekend in the NFL because of his expansive coaching tree. Elway called University of Colorado stars Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders “both great athletes." He said he really hopes Sanders gets drafted by a team that will bring him along like the Broncos have done with Nix and he sees Hunter being able to play both ways in the pros but not full time. Elway said he thinks Hunter will be primarily a corner in the NFL but with significant contributions on offense: “He's great at both. He's got great instincts, and that's what you need at corner." It's been five years since Elway announced he was dealing with Dupuytren’s contracture, a chronic condition that typically appears after age 40 and causes one or more fingers to permanently bend toward the palm. Elway's ring fingers on both hands were originally affected and he said now the middle finger on his right hand is starting to pull forward. So, he’ll get another injection of a drug called Xiaflex, which is the only FDA-approved non-surgical treatment, one that he's endorsing in an awareness campaign for the chronic condition that affects 17 million Americans. The condition can make it difficult to do everyday tasks such as shaking hands or picking up a coffee mug. Elway said what bothered him most was “I couldn't pick up a football and I could not imagine not being able to put my hand around a football." AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nflBills’ letdowns on defense, special teams and clock management in loss to Rams are all too familiar
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