Polygraph passed: Stormy waters for Trump as porn star taunts president

LOS ANGELES - Porn star Stormy Daniels teased President Donald Trump Tuesday over their alleged tryst as it emerged she passed a 2011 lie detector test in which she claimed they had unprotected sex.

The polygraph results came to light as pressure mounted on the president, with an ex-Playboy model suing to be released from another non-disclosure agreement while a former reality star alleging sexual assault took him to court for defamation.

Daniels, who alleges the affair took place in 2006, took to Twitter to warn she was "not going anywhere" despite a legal battle to stop her speaking out, and referenced her sexual encounters with Trump.

"Technically I didn't sleep with the POTUS 12 years ago. There was no sleeping (hehe) and he was just a goofy reality TV star," she tweeted, accusing Trump of bullying her and breaking the law to cover up the affair.

Her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, tweeted a picture of his client strapped to a chair taking the exam, with the hashtag #searchfortruth.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the lawyer paid $25,000 for the video of 39-year-old Daniels -- real name Stephanie Clifford -- answering questions as she was strapped to the polygraph.

A report on the test, commissioned as part of a 2011 interview published only recently by gossip magazine "In Touch," says Daniels was being truthful when she said she had unprotected sex with Trump in July 2006.

LEGAL JEOPARDY

The examination did not, however, corroborate the actress's allegations that the real estate mogul promised to include her on his reality show "The Apprentice."

Lie detector tests are generally not admissible in court because their accuracy is regarded as unproven.

The White House and Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen, have repeatedly denied the affair with Daniels, although the attorney admits paying her $130,000 of his own money under a confidentiality agreement.

The Republican president will be vulnerable to accusations that he violated election law if the payment, plus allegations of cash given to silence other alleged mistresses, are considered attempts to sway the November 2016 election.

Ex-playmate Karen McDougal filed a lawsuit alleging a 10-month affair with Trump in 2006 and 2007 and petitioning to be released from a non-disclosure agreement with the National Enquirer, which paid her $150,000 for her story but then shelved it.

McDougal complained in documents filed in Los Angeles Superior Court that American Media Inc (AMI), which owns the Enquirer, misled her about the 2016 deal, rendering it invalid.

"Ms McDougal received $150,000 -- nearly half of which went to the lawyer, who she did not realize was colluding with the other side -- and a false promise to jumpstart her career as a health and fitness model," the complaint alleges.

THREATS OF FINANCIAL RUIN

The suit argues that despite the relationship and the cover-up being "open secrets," AMI has pressured McDougal to ignore queries from prominent journalists about the relationship.

"They threaten her with financial ruin if she does not remain 'loyal,'" court papers say.

"AMI, meanwhile, feeds those same reporters false information about Ms McDougal, her relationship with Mr Trump, and its own machinations to bind her to silence."

In another blow for the White House, a New York judge allowed a lawsuit by Summer Zervos, a former candidate on NBC's "The Apprentice," to go ahead, rejecting a request for dismissal.

Zervos, who accuses Trump of defamation, says he fondled her and tried to forcefully kiss her in 2007.

She is among at least 16 women who have accused the president of varying inappropriate behavior, from harassment to sexual assault, all coming forward before or during his White House bid.

Trump has denied wrongdoing in all cases, and his campaign team published the account of a cousin of Zervos berating her for publicity-seeking.

Zervos responded by hauling Team Trump before the New York State Supreme Court in January 2017, citing "false and defamatory statements."

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source: news.abs-cbn.com

SpaceX lands rocket on ocean platform for first time

MIAMI, United States – After four failed bids SpaceX finally stuck the landing Friday, powering the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket onto an ocean platform where it touched down upright after launching cargo to space.

Images of the tall, narrow rocket gliding down serenely onto a platform that SpaceX calls a droneship sparked applause and screams of joy at SpaceX mission control in Hawthorne, California.

"The first stage of the Falcon 9 just landed on our Of Course I Still Love You droneship," SpaceX wrote on Twitter, after launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida at 4:43 pm (2043 GMT).

Landing from the chase plane pic.twitter.com/2Q5qCaPq9P

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 8, 2016

 NASA spokesman George Diller confirmed that the rocket had successfully landed, just minutes after the Falcon 9 propelled the unmanned Dragon cargo craft to orbit, carrying supplies for astronauts at the International Space Station.

SpaceX has once before managed to set the rocket down on land, but ocean attempts had failed, with the rocket coming close each time but either crashing or tipping over.

Speaking to reporters afterward, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said that being able to return costly rocket parts for repeated use, instead of jettisoning them into the ocean after each launch, will make spaceflight less expensive and less harmful to the environment.

"It is just as fundamental in rocketry as it is in other forms of transport such as cars or planes or bicycles or anything," said Musk, who also runs Tesla Motors.

Musk said it costs around $300,000 to fuel a rocket, but $60 million to build one.

"If you have got a rocket that can be fully and rapidly reused, it is somewhere on the order of a 100-fold cost reduction, in marginal costs," he said, adding that he hoped his competitors would follow suit.

Obama leads praise

President Barack Obama led the praise, tweeting: "Congrats SpaceX on landing a rocket at sea. It's because of innovators like you & NASA that America continues to lead in space exploration."

Also on Twitter, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield said: "Landed! That is amazing! World-leading ability, proven.

"Opens the imagination to what is possible."

    Congrats SpaceX on landing a rocket at sea. It's because of innovators like you & NASA that America continues to lead in space exploration.

 — President Obama (@POTUS) April 8, 2016


Friday's breakthrough came after a closely watched return-to-flight mission, SpaceX's first cargo delivery since June 2015, when the Falcon 9 exploded just over two minutes after liftoff, destroying the rocket and the supply ship.

SpaceX blamed the blast on a faulty strut in the Falcon 9's upper booster, which allowed a helium bottle to snap loose, causing the explosion of the rocket, cargo ship and all its contents.

It has since upgraded its Falcon 9 rocket and changed its protocol to avoid a repeat.

This time, the gumdrop-shaped capsule was packed with nearly 7,000 pounds (3,100 kilos) of supplies for the astronauts living in orbit.

The Dragon's cargo includes an inflatable space room astronauts will test in microgravity.

Known as the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, the chamber will be temporarily attached to the space station.

Lab mice for experiments and lettuce seeds for growing at the orbiting outpost were also included in the spacecraft, which should arrive at the International Space Station early Sunday.

'Proven it can work'

Musk said the rocket was being welded onto the droneship with metal shoes, so as not to tip over as it made its way back to land.

Next, the booster will undergo a series of tests, including 10 static fires on the launchpad, before engineers decide if it is in good enough shape to fly again.

If so, the next launch of the same booster could be in the next two to three months, Musk said.

"In the future, hopefully we will be able to relaunch them in a few weeks."

In the meantime, SpaceX will keep working on perfecting its landing techniques, whether on ocean or solid ground, since both options need to be available to suit different types of missions.

Musk said about half of SpaceX's rockets will need to land at sea, and it might take a few years to work out all the kinks.

"But I think it is proven that it can work," he said.

"We will get it to a point where it is routine to bring it back and the only changes to the rocket are to hose it down, give it a wash, add the propellant and fly it again."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Obama toasts, teases NBA champion Spurs

WASHINGTON -- US President Barack Obama welcomed NBA champions San Antonio to the White House on Monday, and said he'd be glad to offer advice as they pursue a title repeat.

"If you guys need any tips on winning back-to-back, you know where to find me," quipped the second-term president, no doubt aware that the Spurs' five NBA titles don't include any in successive years.

As a passionate fan of the Chicago Bulls, who won all six of their NBA titles to date in the 1990s, Obama admitted it was bittersweet to yet again congratulate another team.

"It's never easy celebrating a non-Bulls team in the White House," he said. "That's all I've been able to do -- so far."

Despite the demands of his Bulls fandom, however, the President admitted the Spurs were "hard to dislike."

"First of all, they're old," he said of the squad led by 38-year-old Tim Duncan.

"For an old guy, it makes me feel good to see -- where's Tim? Tim's got some gray. There's a few others with a little sprinkles around here. There's a reason why the uniform is black and silver."

As a father of two daughters, one of whom plays basketball, Obama praised the Spurs as the first NBA team to hire a woman assistant coach, and welcomed the wealth of international talent the team has brought to the league.

"It's the UN of basketball teams," he said of a squad that features French players Tony Parker and Boris Diaw along with Argentina's Manu Ginobili. Italy, Brazil, Australia and Canada are also represented on their roster.

"They find folks who didn't have a chance someplace else and suddenly they figure out a way to make them shine as part of a team. In that sense, they're a great metaphor for what America should be all about," said Obama, who was presented with a Spurs jersey with "POTUS" written over its number one.

The keen basketball fan also offered some serious analysis of the Spurs' style and its influence on the league, and praise for their bounce back from a crushing NBA finals loss to Miami in 2013, to beat the Heat in 2014.

But he couldn't resist poking some fun at notoriously taciturn coach Gregg Popovich.

"I want the coach to know that he is not contractually obligated to take questions after the first quarter of my remarks," Obama said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com