Donald Trump seemed like he doesn't know much about foreign policy during an interview with Hugh Hewitt, a helpful reminder that this is DONALD TRUMP we're talking about. Hillary Clinton said she's sorry if her email scandal is confusing, but it's not her fault if people can't understand that the rich and fabulous have their own rules. And baldness experts are skeptical of Scott Walker's claim that a freak accident caused his hair loss, saying he probably has regular male-pattern baldness and uses the story so people won't make fun of him. At press time it was unclear if Walker's strategy had been successful. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Friday, September 4th, 2015:
JOHN KERRY FEELING PRETTY GOOD ABOUT THE IRAN DEAL - Sam Stein: "Having secured the votes to protect the Iran nuclear deal in Congress, Secretary of State John Kerry now sees the main threat to the long-term viability of the accord coming from abroad. In an interview with The Huffington Post on Thursday, Kerry argued that domestic perceptions of the deal -- and by extension its political well-being -- would dramatically improve over time. And not just incrementally. The secretary of state predicted the country 'will be 90 percent supportive' of the deal once the next president takes office, making it impossible for him or her to rip it up, as virtually every Republican candidate has promised to do. ' cannot see a president willfully taking the United Nations, five other nations who supported us in this negotiation and saying, 'Sorry, we're just going to walk away from this and create a more dangerous situation in the Middle East.' I just don't see that happening,' Kerry said, calling it 'absurd' that a candidate would pull off such a move." [HuffPost]
CARDIN IS A NO: "After Iran has received sanctions relief, it will be difficult to effectively re-impose sanctions to prevent a nuclear breakout. If Iran then rushed to produce a nuclear weapon, using the military option becomes more likely." [WashPost]
BOB CORKER: "The fact that the two Democrats who have spent the most time in understanding the details and impact of this deal do not support it speaks volumes."
Greg Sargent explains some of the political considerations on getting enough Dems to filibuster the disapproval resolution.
IRAN DEAL POLITICAL FALLOUT - Get it??? Simone Pathé: "Republican Robert Blaha is likely to launch a challenge to Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet in the next couple of days, he told CQ Roll Call Friday. When told that Bennet became the 38th Senate Democrat to back the Iran deal Friday morning, Blaha said, 'OK, well then, I will be making an announcement based on his announcement.'" [Roll Call]
PROGRAMMING NOTE: No HuffPost Hill on Monday because we'll be reflecting on the workin' man.
CHILD NUTRITION PROGRAMS NEED SOME LOVE - Congress has until the end of the month to reauthorize the law that gives 30 million free or low-cost lunches to American schoolchildren every day. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack joined The Huffington Post's "So That Happened" podcast as part of a broader effort to publicize the deadline. Listen HERE. Republicans on Capitol Hill are working on a reauthorization, which they plan to reveal this month, though Vilsack worries lawmakers might mess with some of the new nutrition standards Congress added when it last reauthorized child nutrition programs in 2010….One of the new rules calls for all grain items in school meals to be whole-grain-rich, since whole grains are much healthier than refined ones. HuffPost asked Vilsack if he himself eats whole grain pasta, pizza and quesadillas. 'I do, but the point of this is, we were aware of concerns specifically about pasta and we provided flexibility to allow the food processing industry more time," he said, referring to a 2014 memo that allowed school pasta to be less than 100 percent whole grain. Noodles that met the standard tended to 'degrade easily,' according to the memo." [HuffPost]
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HILLARY CLINTON IS SORRY - Sort of. Alex Seitz-Wald: "In an exclusive interview with NBC News' Andrea Mitchell on Friday, Hillary Clinton said she's 'sorry' there's been so much controversy over her private email server, but declined to apologize for the decision to use it. She also suggested that GOP frontrunner Donald Trump is unqualified to be president and weighed in on the surprisingly robust challenge to her candidacy from Democratic primary rival Bernie Sanders. 'At the end of the day, I am sorry that this has been confusing to people and has raised a lot of questions, but there are answers to all these questions,' Clinton said of her email server after being pressed by Mitchell on whether she should apologize for the controversy that has dogged her campaign from the outset. 'And I take responsibility and it wasn't the best choice.'" [NBCNews.com]
MIA LOVE GOT IN TROUBLE - Tsk tsk, Scott Wong reports: "Rep. Mia Love, one of the GOP’s rising stars, said she will repay taxpayers more than $1,000 for weekend flights she took to attend the White House Correspondents’ Association’s annual dinner last spring. Her decision came after The Hill reported Thursday that the Utah Republican billed taxpayers $1,160 for flights and other transportation costs to attend the star-studded event, often referred to as 'Nerd Prom,' and other related parties." Note: HuffPost Hill does not approve of the term "Nerd Prom." [The Hill]
We would be remiss if we didn't tell you political media Twitter was all upset about this upsetting Slate story.
Also this:
DECENT JOBS REPORT - Lucia Mutikani: "U.S. job growth rose less than expected in August, which could dim prospects of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike later this month, even as the unemployment rate dropped to a near 7-1/2- year low of 5.1 percent and wages accelerated." [Reuters]
Ben Carson has a house in Boring, Md., Olivier Knox reports.
BBC DOES INCREDIBLY THOROUGH REPORT ON SCOTT WALKER'S BALD SPOT Walker has claimed his totally normal bald spot isn't a bald spot, but rather the result of an injury from bumping his head when he was making cabinets for his wife. Vanessa Barford has two words for that story -- FACT CHECK: "Looking at pictures of Walker's scalp, [American Hair Loss Association founder Spencer] Kobren notes that his bald spot is extremely distinct. 'It's almost void of hair completely, so it is possible he did have accident at some point in his life. The only way to definitively determine if that was the case would be to do a biopsy. 'But looking at the density of his hair and his hair line I can see some recession -- especially in the right temple area. That is a common sign of male-pattern baldness which is probably progressing naturally,' he says….So why is he seemingly at such pains to point out his hair loss is the result of an accident? Kobren says there is still a stigma associated with baldness. 'The psychology behind hair loss is something that most people can never really fully comprehend. Some people don't want to admit it -- they might not want to appear genetically weak or are worried about being the brunt of jokes.'" [BBC]
GAYS MARRYING WHILE MEAN LADY IN JAIL - Steve Bittenbender: "The Kentucky clerk's office that had refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples in defiance of orders by a federal judge on Friday morning ended its resistance. While Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis was jailed on Thursday for refusing to follow the orders of U.S. District Judge David Bunning, her deputies processed a license for James Yates and William Smith, who had previously been denied in the quest for a marriage license after the office doors opened on Friday." [Reuters]
The Club for Growth is thinking about going after Trump if some rich people would please give it money.
GEE THANKS, CONGRESS - Andrew Giambrone: "There was a time, not too long ago, when Congress had banned D.C. from using federal and municipal funds to operate syringe-exchange clinics, a bulwark in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Advocates eventually got the ban lifted in 2007, allowing local organizations like Bread for the City, HIPS, and PreventionWorks! (now closed) to provide clean needles and screening to users. Today, researchers at George Washington University have published a study showing that lifting the ban and instituting a District-wide needle-exchange program produced tangible social benefits. The study, which appears in the journal AIDS and Behavior, finds that during the first two years of D.C.’s program (2008 through 2010) 120 people avoided contracting HIV from using needles. In turn, District taxpayers saved an estimated $44 million because they did not have to foot the bill for those individuals’ lifetime HIV treatment costs through publicly funded health plans. The study records a 70 percent decline in newly diagnosed HIV cases over that two year period." [CityPaper]
BECAUSE YOU'VE READ THIS FAR - The IJReview made a nice Vine in honor of Friday.
DONALD TRUMP DOESN'T KNOW THINGS - Erik Wemple has a nice rundown of Trump's trainwreck interview with Hugh Hewitt, the master of gotcha questions: "Transcription can’t possibly do justice to a hilarious exchange yesterday between radio host Hugh Hewitt and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. 'Are you familiar with General Soleimani?' asked Hewitt of Trump. Trump responded by saying 'yes,' though it was the most 'no'-sounding 'yes' that the Erik Wemple Blog remembers hearing.... On the chatter went -- a typical Trump event in that it shed insight not on the world around us but on what a jerk this candidate is. The two clashed over whether Hewitt, by asking him about Soleimani as well as other key names in international terrorism, was conducting the dreaded art of 'gotcha.' 'I don’t believe in gotcha questions. I’m not trying to quiz you on who the worst guy in the world is,' said Hewitt at one point." [WashPost]
COMFORT FOOD
- How to make an ice hockey rink.
- This Star Wars toy is going to be everywhere.
- Gaston from Beauty and the Beast helped more than one HuffPost staffer realize he was gay at a young age.
- Was Rudy offsides?
TWITTERAMA
@cd_hooks: Imagine being a person who thinks "yeah, bobby jindal's the guy"
@mollyesque: The ultimate indignity: Bobby Jindal has been attacking Trump, & Trump can’t even be bothered to hit him back.
@tanehisicoates: If "white Shaft" is the cost of purging racism from casting, we will pay it. Y'all can have a blonde and blue-eyed Jesus too...Oh. Wait.
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