Trending 4-30-2018

T-Mobile and Sprint Make it Official

It’s been a long time coming but the deal is done. T-Mobile has agreed to buy Sprint for $26 billion. T-Mobile chief John Legere would lead the combined company, which would bring together more than 127 million customers. The deal, if the government approved, will create an entity large enough to challenge industry giants Verizon and AT&T. Stay tuned for what’s ahead as the FCC could have to weigh in on the deal, although FCC head Ajit Pai has said he’s not against wireless consolidation. There could also be a few antitrust challenges ahead. The FCC blocked a proposed merger between AT&T and T-Mobile in 2011. And will those two low priced carriers now up to those creative low monthly fees they have been known for? Time will tell.

ONE HANDED LINEBACKER MAKES IT TO THE NFL

Shaquem Griffin is heading to Seattle to play with the Seattle Seahawks and his twin brother Shaquill in the NFL. The Seahawks selected Griffin in the fifth round of the NFL draft with the 141st overall pick on Saturday. He told ESPN that he was speechless when he was called by the Seahawks. "I couldn't breathe," said Griffin, who played outside linebacker at UCF. "I didn't know what to say. I was trying to get the words out, but I couldn't talk."

Griffin had his left hand amputated at age 4 because of amniotic band syndrome, a congenital condition. A two-year starter at UCF and a first-team All-American Athletic Conference selection both seasons, he was the AAC's Defensive Player of the Year in 2016 and was named the defensive MVP of the Peach Bowl, which completed UCF's 13-0 2017 season according to ESPN.
Both Griffin brothers were visibly emotional upon learning that Shaquem had been drafted by the Seahawks. "I don't think I cried on my draft day," said Shaquill, a cornerback who also played at UCF and was drafted by the Seahawks in the third round (90th overall) last year. "I couldn't hold it. I just couldn't hold it. I'm excited, and I'm glad we made that choice and we're bringing my brother back home. "Shaquem Griffin, excited to be drafted by the Seahawks in the fifth round, says that playing with his brother will "only mean greatness." Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said having Shaquill on the team was a factor in drafting Shaquem, only insofar as they knew what they'd be getting because of their familiarity with Shaquill.
"They own this extraordinary connection that I think also is a demonstration of love and heart and all of the cool things about what they represent," Carroll said, noting that Shaquill didn't campaign much for Seattle to draft his brother. "[Shaquem] overcame a tremendous amount by just believing in himself, and I think the belief of his brother in him, as well, which is obvious, was also part of all of that. It's a great story."
Shaquem told ESPN it was worth it to be reunited with Shaquill. "I would wait all over again for the opportunity to be back with my brother," he said. "This is not the end of my road ... it's only just the beginning. And I'm going to keep proving people wrong because I have a lot of people to prove wrong, a lot of doubters."

ARE THE WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS DINNER DAYS NUMBERED

Michell Wolf is getting a lot of flak over her hosting roasting at this year’s White House Correspondents Dinner. The roast took direct aim at some of the notables in the room — and quickly opened a divide, largely but not entirely along partisan lines, over the limits of comedy and comity under a president who rarely hesitates to attack the press.
Ms. Wolf described Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, as “an Uncle Tom but for white women who disappoint other white women” and took a shot at her “smokey eye” makeup, saying that it was made from the ashes of “burnt facts.” She called Ivanka Trump “as helpful to women as an empty box of tampons.” She labeled Kellyanne Conway, the president’s counselor, an inveterate liar, and asked: “If a tree falls in the woods, how do we get Kellyanne under that tree?” “I’m not suggesting she get hurt, just stuck,” Ms. Wolf added, puckishly, as an icy silence — and a few scattered chortles — fell over the black-tie crowd here. Ms. Conway sat expressionlessly. Ms. Sanders granted a seat of honor on the dais, limited her reaction to an arched eyebrow and pursed lips.
Always controversial retorts to the hosts over the years, but this one drew responses from the left and right that went to the extremes. “It was personally offensive,” Brian Kilmeade, a co-host of “Fox & Friends,” said in the ballroom, minutes after Ms. Wolf ended her set. “To me, that was an attack to impress Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert,” Mr. Kilmeade added, previewing a line of criticism that would be dominant on Fox News by Sunday morning. “Congratulations, when the three of you go out to dinner, I’m sure you’ll be laughing a lot. But in terms of the people here and the people at home — totally offensive, horrible choice. In fact, it’s the reason why the president didn’t want to go.”
Critics of President Trump — who is no stranger to lobbying insult-comic punch lines at his opponents and is the first president to outright skip the Correspondents’ gala since Jimmy Carter — wondered what the fuss was about.
“Before we criticize Michelle Wolf, let’s remember that Donald Trump has done and said some of the crudest things that any president in history has ever done,” said Howard Fineman, a left-leaning analyst at NBC News and MSNBC. “Just have a little perspective.”
Prominent Washington journalists did go the defense of Sarah Sanders to the surprise of some, who asked why reporters were sticking up for an administration that routinely impugns their work. Andrea Mitchell, the NBC News correspondent, tweeted that an “apology is owed” to the press secretary. Her network colleague Mika Brzezinski wrote that “watching a wife and mother be humiliated on national television for her looks is deplorable.”
Several reporters who cover the White House approached Ms. Sanders in the Hilton ballroom to express sympathy in the immediate aftermath of Ms. Wolf’s monologue. Later, at a windswept after party hosted by NBC News, Ms. Sanders appeared in good spirits as reporters swarmed her. (She even took time to chastise one journalist for asking a question at a news conference that she disliked.)
Margaret Talev, president of the Correspondents’ Association, issued a statement acknowledging “dismay” from members about Ms. Wolf’s performance. Saying on Sunday “Last night’s program was meant to offer a unifying message about our common commitment to a vigorous and free press,” Ms. Talev wrote. “Unfortunately, the entertainer’s monologue was not in the spirit of that mission,” Talev said her organization would consider new ideas about the future format of the dinner. Some comedians praised Ms. Wolf for discomfiting the audience of elite journalists and administration officials.
Mike Allen, a prime voice of the city’s establishment, declared in his newsletter on Sunday: “Media hands Trump embarrassing win.” There were even whispers about a revolt against the Correspondents’ Association by news organizations displeased by the night’s events. (The New York Times stopped attending the dinner in 2008.) Everything has a shelf life, WHCD could be reaching its soon.