5 things for August 13: Unite the Right, Omarosa, Richard Russell

CNN/Stylemagazine.com Newswire | 8/13/2018, 10:36 a.m.
What is it like to train to be a Border Patrol agent in the age of Trump? Find out as …

By Doug Criss, CNN

(CNN) -- What is it like to train to be a Border Patrol agent in the age of Trump? Find out as we take you inside Border Patrol Academy. Here's what you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door.

1. White nationalist rally

Unite the Right? It was more like unite the two dozen. That's about how many white nationalists showed up for the rally over the weekend in Washington. They were vastly outnumbered by hundreds of counterprotesters who marched and chanted "Nazis go home!" and "Shame! Shame! Shame!" The rally fell on the one-year anniversary of the violent demonstrations in Charlottesville, Virginia.

2. Turkey

Turkey's currency continues to plummet as it wrestles with a crisis that's reverberating around the globe. The Turkish lira dropped by double digits against the dollar before recovering a bit this morning in the Asian markets. Turkey's locked in a political clash with the US, with President Trump doubling steel and aluminum tariffs against the country and threatening sanctions over an imprisoned pastor. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who's something of a frenemy to America, blasted the US in a speech over the weekend, saying Turkey won't give in to threats.

3. White House

Where there's Omarosa, there's usually drama. There was no exception to that rule this weekend, as Omarosa Manigault Newman -- the former White House aide and reality TV star -- claimed on "Meet the Press" that she recorded White House chief of staff John Kelly firing her. NBC aired portions of her recording. This, of course, is all part of the rollout for her tell-all book on her year inside the Trump White House.

This may all sound like a lot of frivolous palace intrigue, but there could be more going on here. Manigault Newman said the recording of her firing was made in the White House Situation Room. That's supposed to be one of the most secure rooms on the planet. If indeed the recording was made there, that's a huge violation of strict internal procedures and highlights the flouting of safety and security protocols in the Trump White House, says CNN national security analyst Juliette Kayyem.

4. Stolen plane

Human remains have been found in the wreckage of that stolen Horizon Air plane that crashed Friday night near Seattle. Investigators believe the remains are those of Richard Russell, a 29-year-old airport worker who officials say stole the 76-seat plane, flew it for an hour with military jets in hot pursuit before crashing it on a wooded island. Russell, who was the only person on the plane, was reportedly suicidal. The main question everyone wants answered: How was this guy able to steal a plane and then fly it right out of one of the nation's busiest airports? (An ex-airline pilot says it's shockingly easy to do.)

5. Maryland football

Just weeks before the start of the college football season, the University of Maryland's program is in disarray. One of its players is dead, and the team's coach and members of the athletics staff are suspended. The player, 19-year-old Jordan McNair, died of heatstroke back in June, two weeks after participating in a workout at the school's practice fields. Head football coach D.J. Durkin and the others were placed on administrative leave as the university investigates McNair's death as accusations swirl that Durkin and his staff subjected their players to verbal and physical abuse.

NUMBER OF THE DAY

36

The number of people killed in an explosion in Sarmada, Syria, near the border with Turkey. The blast, which killed women and children, occurred in a building that housed ammunition. It's not clear how it happened or who is responsible.

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AND FINALLY ...

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ONE MORE THING

In Sunday's newsletter, we said that when students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High return to school this week there will be metal detectors along with other security enhancements. That's incorrect. The installation of the metal detectors will be delayed until the school learns how to operate them.