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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Viewers of Netflix's "Love is Blind" are making harsh comments about the housing development on the show.</li><li>One viewer called it the "most terrifying" part of the reality dating show.</li></ul>While watching the sixth season of Netflix's hit show "Love is Blind," eagle-eyed viewers spotted something they found distasteful.It wasn't the contestants staying up until 5 a.m. talking or their inability to pull away from their phones to have a proper break-up.It was the suburban Charlotte, North Carolina, townhome community that a handful of the newly engaged couples were made to live in."Why aren't we talking about the most terrifying part of Love is Blind: this Charlotte housing development," one viewer <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/michellelegro/status/1760841224372539595?s=20">posted on X</a> alongside an aerial image of the newly-built cookie-cutter rowhouses.There's nothing particularly remarkable about what's named the Blu South development in the town of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.pinevillenc.gov/living-here/about/">Pineville</a> — it's typical of many car-dependent American suburbs and exurbs, offering rows of attached single-family townhomes with wide streets and driveways and a bit of green space off a highway.But the <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/foxyjewishmama/status/1763363270713368844">sharply-worded</a> <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/FuckCarsReddit/status/1763592771502219432">reactions</a> to the development speak to the growing preference for walkable, self-sufficient communities that operate less like traditional suburbs and more like the city 10 miles away. Like many Sun Belt cities, Charlotte has seen a surge of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/charlotte-posts-nations-fifth-largest-population-increase-2022/S7OBXKLZ3RHSFBC43ULVUTQ6ZE/">new residents over the last several years</a>, becoming one of the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/local/fastest-growing-metros-united-states-charlotte-north-carolina-raleigh-austin-texas/275-e377f83d-bd0b-422e-994c-8a2b679ec04d">fastest-growing metro areas</a> in the country. With additional residents comes higher demand for housing, which has <a target="_blank" href="https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article281635118.html">sharply inflated rents and home prices</a>. New rental homes, like the Blu South townhouses, offer single-family homes at slightly lower prices to many of the young professionals who've flooded the market.Charlotte's leaders recognize the city needs to build more housing to meet this demand. In 2021, the city council approved a new development plan <a target="_blank" href="https://cltfuture2040.com/about/">called Charlotte 2040</a>, designed to build more homes and create more transit-connected, mixed-use communities.While townhome communities are better models of development than even less dense suburbs filled with freestanding houses, critics said there's a lot to improve on."Perhaps Pineville could take some inspiration from the Charlotte 2040 plan and consider the ways in which it might enable development that would allow folks to be able to get to places without just relying on the car," said Stefan Lallinger, the executive director of Next100, a public policy think tank.<h2>'Lightyears away from where we need to be,' but better than the alternative</h2>The fundamental appeal of townhome developments like Blu South is that they offer a somewhat more affordable option than neighborhoods full of detached single-family houses. Townhomes allow developers to build more homes per acre and rent or sell them for less.Yongqiang Chu, a real estate and urban economics professor at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, said townhome developments are better than the alternative. The "greatest benefit" of density, Chu argued, is lower costs."Anything that can help developers to develop cheaper alternatives to single-family houses, I think, is a good thing," he said.An executive at Blu South noted that the development is still under construction and, when it's complete, will feature amenities like dog parks, a pet spa, basketball and pickleball courts, and a pool, among other features. The criticism online does "not accurately reflect our community, nor the opinion of the show and its contestants, nor the overall consensus of our residents and those that have visited us," he said.While suburban townhome developments like Blu South are an incremental improvement on the McMansion-filled suburbs, they're still "lightyears away from where we need to be" in making the suburbs more affordable, liveable, and sustainable, urban planner Brent Toderian said."It's the most modest approach to density you could imagine in a suburb," said Toderian, who previously served as Vancouver's chief city planner. He argued that suburban communities need significantly more density than townhomes allow to support public services like mass transit, schools, parks, and amenities like grocery stores, restaurants, and shops."You're still doing car-dependent suburban sprawl, you're just doing it slightly better. But you're still doing the wrong thing," Toderian said of Blu South.Suburban developments don't need to be car-dependent sprawl if they're well-connected to public transit and have safe and accessible walking and bike infrastructure.Because most Americans live in suburban communities, "it's absolutely required that we do better suburbs," Toderian said.<h2>Charlotte's heading in the right direction, but not fast enough</h2>Charlotte's new housing framework was followed by the passage of a uniform development ordinance, known as a UDO, updating what can be built where.Lallinger said that the UDO updated zoning regulations for residential parts of the city and allowed developers to build duplexes, triplexes — and, in some cases, quadruplexes — in areas previously only zoned for single-family housing."Some folks estimate that before this went into effect, about 84% of the residential land in Charlotte was restricted to only single-family housing," Lallinger said.Charlotte 2040 aims to lessen car dependency, creating "<a target="_blank" href="https://www.cltfuture2040plan.com/content/place-types-neighborhood-center-4">neighborhood centers</a>" that are a mix of residential and commercial developments and are walkable.Stephanie Watkins-Cruz, the director of housing policy at the <a target="_blank" href="https://nchousing.org/2023-policy-agenda/">North Carolina Housing Coalition</a>, a statewide nonprofit, said that as a nation and state "we're really good" at building single-family homes."We have that down pat," Watkins-Cruz said. "We are not great at building a wider variety of housing." That mix of housing should include "middle housing," something between a single-family home and a high-rise apartment building; that can include small apartment buildings, duplexes, and townhouses like those featured on "Love is Blind."As Watkins-Cruz notes, the area the townhouses are in was zoned as urban residential, limiting how much square footage can sit on the lot. That means that developments might try to maximize land opportunities, like by building townhouses next to each other.When it comes to quality of life, "a local economy is really impacted when we are only building one home per acre, which gobbles up a lot of land, which leads to sprawl, which leads to more people driving, which is an environmental concern and can cause a whole other host of issues," Watkins-Cruz said. "I think that the more housing types that we build and the more diverse our portfolio of housing types are within a particular community, then these might be perfect for someone in a particular point of their life."Ultimately, Watkins-Cruz said that at the state level, it's time to reconsider what housing types policies incentivize — and which are more difficult to build right now. With current units in the "Love is Blind" townhomes specifically going for around <a target="_blank" href="https://www.blusouthtownhomes.com/listings/detail/f5b55f93-0392-4880-9a87-03bf9ed2ea7b">$2,800</a>, many North Carolinians — who make a <a target="_blank" href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEHOINUSNCA646N">median household income of $65,070</a> — might need more affordable options."In what way can we design either legislation or a type of authority that allows more affordable, accessible, moderate-priced housing to be built more frequently in addition to — or maybe at the same rate — as this housing that really is only reaching a particular market, and not necessarily your seniors or your young folks or your families or workforce," Watkins-Cruz said, "especially the workforce that really contributes to your local economy."Editor's note: March 7, 2024 — This article was updated after publication to include a comment from Blu South.Correction: March 8, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misstated that the uniform development ordinance did not apply to the Blu South housing development; it does.

'Love is Blind' fans are bashing the cookie-cutter Charlotte suburbs featured on the show. Here's how experts say they can be improved.

<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:480px"><div class="image"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wF4x0b3go-k">BarackObamadotcom via YouTube</a><keyword id="1146182" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Stephanie-Cutter">Stephanie Cutter</keyword></div></div><keyword id="82130" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="CNN">CNN</keyword> <a href="http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/06/26/crossfire-coming-back-to-cnn/" target="_blank">announced Wednesday</a> that it is resurrecting "<keyword id="6638699" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="crossfire">Crossfire</keyword>," the political debate show that first aired from 1982-2005. 
The new show will have two conservative and two liberal hosts. On the conservative side will be former House Speaker and Republican presidential candidate <keyword id="170676" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Newt-Gingrich">Newt Gingrich</keyword>, and MSNBC host S.E. Cupp. The two liberals are former Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter and former Obama adviser Van Jones.
"Few programs in the history of CNN have had the kind of impact on political discourse that Crossfire did – it was a terrific program then, and we believe the time is right to bring it back and do it again," CNN President Jeff Zucker said in a statement Wednesday. 
"We look forward to the opportunity to host passionate conversation from all sides of the political spectrum. Crossfire will be the forum where America holds its great debates."
Cupp is leaving MSNBC for CNN. The network said in a statement that it "thanks S.E. for her great work on MSNBC over the past year and wishes her all the best with future opportunities." A spokesman for The Blaze, Glenn Beck's television network, said she would remain a contributor.
Crossfire was originally hosted by Pat Buchanan and Tom Braden. Perhaps its most famous moment in recent history came in 2004, when <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFQFB5YpDZE" target="_blank">"Daily Show" host Jon Stewart skewered</a> hosts Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala.

CNN Is Resurrecting The Political Debate Show 'Crossfire' With Newt Gingrich And Stephanie Cutter

For most of the 20th century, the word "family" in America evoked a predictable picture of cookie-cutter cleanliness: the happily married husband and wife, their 2.5 kids, and one improbably well-behaved golden retriever, all under the same roof. But the nuclear family has steadily eroded over the last 50 years.The first major death knell came with the 1973 oil crisis and the two-year recession that followed, which signaled the end of the West's postwar prosperity boom. Since then, the nuclear family has crumbled piece by piece. In 1970, more than two-thirds of American adults between 25 and 49 lived with a spouse and at least one kid. By 2021, only 37% of adults fit the bill, Pew Research found.Although it may be premature to declare <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/american-marriage-family-structure-kids-over-2023-9">the nuclear family officially over</a>, the model is beginning to look more like a fringe lifestyle choice than the bedrock of American society.The demise has sparked no shortage of (often <a target="_blank" href="https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/moynihan-report-resurrected-daniel-geary-black-power/">racist</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://time.com/5405100/murphy-brown-cultural-importance-reboot/">sexist</a>, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/104/hr3396">homophobic</a>) political backlash. From <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pronatalism-elon-musk-simone-malcolm-collins-underpopulation-breeding-tech-2022-11?r=musk-peel">Elon Musk</a>, the father of 11 kids, to the failed GOP presidential hopeful <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eRHH8qOl44">Vivek Ramaswamy</a>, defenders of so-called "traditional family values" decry the potential economic hazards of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/great-labor-shortage-looming-population-decline-disaster-global-economy-2022-10">plummeting birth rates</a> and the social disorder caused by unruly <a target="_blank" href="https://www.aei.org/op-eds/what-liberals-dont-understand-about-men-and-marriage/">men without wives to rein them in</a>. Some even argue that the nuclear family is the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cairn.info/revue-francaise-d-etudes-americaines-2003-3-page-7.htm">cornerstone of democracy</a> itself.<div type="image" title="Two young boys in shorts run to greet Dad coming home from work while Mother is standing in the background. Circa 1960" height="5100" width="4113" msid="108848948" hostid="261"></div>Others, meanwhile, have eagerly cheered on the shift away from the stifling gender politics of the four-person norm. Critics include radical family-abolition scholars such as M.E. O'Brien, whose 2023 book "Family Abolition: Capitalism and the Communizing of Care" argues that the contained family structures "cannot carry the immense burden of work placed on them." On the other end of the political spectrum, in an early 2020 cover story for The Atlantic, the conservative columnist David Brooks declared the nuclear family "a mistake." Since the onset of the pandemic, the looming cloud of skepticism hanging over the whole concept of the "<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-changed-typical-american-family-structure-2019-12">nuclear family</a>" has only thickened.Like it or hate it, the future of the family has never appeared so uncertain. For a society structured around the ideal of the nuclear family, its demise has left everyone wondering: What happens now?Like many other social norms, the nuclear family was the product of the economic and cultural conditions of a particular time and place, upheld by policies and institutions for decades. Until the 19th century, marriage was less the union of two souls in love than the pragmatic, obligatory step in a long tradition of social and family organization. Most Americans at that time lived in extended, multigenerational "corporate families" that worked together to run a family farm or a business.As the economy industrialized over the course of the 19th century, more young men and women left their family farms for jobs in factories and offices, usually in cities. Free from the watchful eyes of their parents and relatives, these young people began to go on dates, spending their discretionary income on outings to the local movie house or soda counter. In her 2016 book "Labor of Love: The Invention of Dating," Moira Weigel traced this shift. "By bringing courtship out of the home and into the marketplace, dating became a lucrative business," she wrote. "For the first time in human history, dating made it necessary to buy things in order to get face time with a prospective partner."As <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moving-dating-midwest-pandemic-transplants-california-coastal-attitude-2024-2">dating culture</a> became more entrenched in the economy during the 20th century, a community-based way of life gave way to individuals focusing on their own wants and needs. The middle class expanded and children were no longer expected to work for their family's economic survival; in white, middle-class families, men earned the wages that supported the family and their wives raised the children and ran the home. The nuclear family became a microcosm of capitalist self-sufficiency and the consumerism that came with it.It was also, in some respects, a fluke. As Brooks noted in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/03/the-nuclear-family-was-a-mistake/605536/">The Atlantic</a>, the nuclear family's status as the default household arrangement for American adults peaked during the relatively brief window between 1950 and 1965, when divorce rates plunged, fertility rates boomed, and the postwar economy flourished. It was during these years that "a kind of cult formed around this type of family," Brooks wrote, noting that those who broke the mold by opting out of marriage were <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/21/opinion/brooks-the-talent-society.html">often seen</a> as deviant or "neurotic."<div type="image" title="Tract homes in suburban development, homes, lawns, driveways and roads comprise a typical suburban neighborhood, circa 1967" height="3182" width="3980" msid="108848950" hostid="261"></div>The obsession with the nuclear family masked its underlying instability. By the 1970s, social inequality and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2018/08/07/for-most-us-workers-real-wages-have-barely-budged-for-decades/">wage stagnation</a> following the 1973 oil crisis and recession had made it impossible for many white, middle-income husbands to sustain entire broods on a single salary. More and more women entered the workforce, giving them greater economic autonomy and enabling some to leave unhappy marriages. After California legalized no-fault divorce in 1969, other states quickly followed. In turn, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-celebrities-are-getting-divorced-society-is-changing-2023-12">divorce rates soared</a>. (To this day, women initiate the overwhelming majority of divorces.)The nuclear family began to rapidly disintegrate. But it wasn't exactly the end of a golden era.As more people have formed families that diverged from the nuclear-family norm, the weaknesses of the structure have become glaring. The biggest fallout we see today is in the childcare crisis, where the self-reliance inherent to the nuclear-family model resulted in women bearing the burden of raising children. Although an overwhelming majority of women now work outside the home, they continue to shoulder the bulk of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/care-economy-unpaid-work-minimum-wage-jobs-labor-infrastructure-bofa-2021-5">unpaid caregiving</a> labor for children and aging relatives. They also end up doing more household chores — laundry, cleaning, and cooking are all <a target="_blank" href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/286739/working-moms-little-reprieve-household-demands.aspx">primarily done by women</a>.Without one partner focused on full-time housekeeping, the amount of work required to run a nuclear family isn't really feasible. "All families, without exception, are dependent on extensive outside support — whether that's state welfare programs, paid service people, or extended family members generously helping out," O'Brien, the family-abolition author, told me.The segmentation of families can also "isolate vulnerable individuals, enabling abuse," Stephanie Coontz, the author of "Marriage, a History," told me. And "some such families consciously foster suspicion of those outside the family circle."While this arrangement works nicely for the wealthiest "shareholders" in a capitalist economic system, it isn't a particularly enticing deal for most Americans, Kristen Ghodsee, an ethnographer at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of "Everyday Utopia: In Praise of Radical Alternatives to the Traditional Family Home," told me. "The declining birth rate in industrialized countries reflects the economic reality that children are a bad investment for families, and so many people are deciding not to have them," she said. Adjusting for future inflation, the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Brookings_Cost-to-raise-a-child_inflation-adjusted-2.pdf">Brookings Institution</a> estimated that it would cost $310,605 to raise a child born in 2015 through age 17 — about $43,000 more in today's dollars than what it cost in 1960 after adjusting for inflation. In a 2021 Pew survey of child-free adults under 50, 44% said they are unlikely to ever have children. When asked why, most responded that they simply don't want to. Nearly one in five said it was due to the cost.Ghodsee pointed out that while a smaller global population has its perks (the planet certainly isn't complaining), it poses a serious threat to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-parents-dinks-childfree-boomers-economy-outlook-population-growth-birthrate-2024-2">long-term economic growth</a>. "Shrinking GDPs in the future are a direct result of shrinking populations, and that will challenge the very foundations of American capitalism," she said. "This is one reason why conservatives are so keen to limit women's reproductive freedoms."It doesn't take much of a mental leap to see why capitalism and the nuclear family make for such cozy bedfellows. Atomized family units produce more market labor and buy greater quantities of stuff than sprawling, communal kin groups that can lean on each other to share resources and manpower. The nuclear family's guise of self-sufficiency only barely conceals its toxic codependence with the market economy. But that dynamic also makes the nuclear family particularly vulnerable to economic pressures.Over the years, people who departed from the nuclear norm stopped being seen as aberrations and became examples of the varied paths adulthood could take. Today, nearly <a target="_blank" href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/12/12/u-s-children-more-likely-than-children-in-other-countries-to-live-with-just-one-parent/">a quarter</a> of children in the US live in single-parent households, and a rising share of adults live <a target="_blank" href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2021/10/05/rising-share-of-u-s-adults-are-living-without-a-spouse-or-partner/">without a spouse or romantic partner</a>, either alone or with roommates. Where LGBTQ+ partnership was once <a target="_blank" href="https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/decriminalization-sodomy-united-states/2014-11">criminalized</a> across the country, same-sex unions are now sanctioned under federal law. As of 2020, even polyamorous families have gained legal protections in the <a target="_blank" href="https://19thnews.org/2023/04/somerville-massachusetts-legal-protections-polyamorous-families/">municipality</a> of Somerville, Massachusetts.Despite the growing diversity of household types, the nuclear family of the 1950s continues to shape the economics and institutions of American life. By and large, policies that inform tax systems, housing, healthcare, and social services are designed to provide the greatest benefit to married couples and their children. When my partner and I file our annual income taxes in the coming weeks, we'll enjoy a sizable tax break thanks to our decision to tie the knot last fall. And as a dependent on his employer-provided health-insurance plan, I'm able to make a living as a freelancer without worrying about healthcare coverage. But that narrow policy focus leaves an increasing numbers of Americans behind.Though it's unclear what the family of the future will look like, seeds of change are blowing in the breeze. Recent months have seen a deluge of <a target="_blank" href="https://nymag.com/press/2024/01/on-the-cover-of-new-york-a-practical-guide-to-polyamory.html">magazine trend pieces</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reddit.com/r/polyfamilies/">Reddit threads</a>, and newspaper headline <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/12/realestate/single-mother-households-co-living.html">portmanteaus</a> speculating about polyamorous families, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/platonic-parenting-non-romantic-partners-choose-raise-kids-together-2021-6">platonic coparenting</a>, and "<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/single-moms-mommune-mothers-coliving-together-2024-2">mommunes</a>" becoming the next big thing. Even the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-living-with-parents-save-money-housing-crisis-cost-2024-2">multigenerational household</a> is quietly coming back into vogue, thanks in large part to ongoing cost-of-living increases and families' caregiving needs.The pandemic seemed to accelerate a collective sense of urgency to come up with something better. "In order for families to function at all, they need lots and lots and lots of external supports," O'Brien said. "During COVID, as some of those external supports disappeared, that became dramatically and painfully obvious to huge numbers of people."The lockdowns of the early pandemic also foregrounded the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-america-hates-its-children-parenting-expensive-childcare-schools-kids-2024-1">social and relational pitfalls endemic to the nuclear family</a> — "the hot box of being around the same people all the time, the lack of feedback and broader social relationships, and the despair and depression that can go along with this type of social isolation, particularly for mothers of young children," O'Brien said.Ghodsee agreed that the pandemic invigorated people's desire for collectivism and community. Overwhelmed nuclear families reached out to one another for mutual support and formed "pandemic pods." Communities set up mutual-aid groups to share goods and deliver groceries to elderly and immunocompromised neighbors. In the face of urgent necessity, people began to imagine pathways toward a more expansive definition of family. Suddenly, everyone was talking about how to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/millennial-gen-z-parents-struggle-lonely-childcare-costs-money-friends-2023-11">recreate the "village</a>."<div type="image" title="A couple walks their daughter to class on the first day of kindergarten in West Covina." height="1457" width="2200" msid="108848954" hostid="261"></div>"A lot of people who lived alone and who used to think of having their own place as the ultimate symbol of personal autonomy and success became very lonely," Ghodsee said. "Things like co-living, co-housing, and intentional communities are now making a comeback." Two websites that match single adults for the purpose of platonically co-parenting children reported a 30% to 50% surge in traffic during the COVID lockdown, The Guardian <a target="_blank" href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/oct/31/i-wanted-to-meet-a-mate-and-have-a-baby-without-wasting-time-the-rise-of-platonic-co-parenting#:~:text=In%20a%20world%20where%20biological,remains%20a%20relatively%20new%20phenomenon.">reported</a>.Not everyone agrees that the grass is greener on the other side of the white picket fence. Coontz, a leading historian of the American family, notes that every family structure comes with its own set of distinct weaknesses, strengths, and possibilities. The extended families of yore guaranteed a measure of built-in support and community that was particularly beneficial for raising children. But the extended-family structure also made it "far easier for the older generation to control the younger ones," Coontz said, and tended to undermine the romantic couple relationships in their midst.No family model is perfectly resilient, equitable, or sustainable in a vacuum. "It's the larger social context that counts most for how any institution functions, and any decent social system needs to put protections in place to minimize the chance of abuse and give people options when the institution fails or abuses them," Coontz said.She remains unconvinced that rearranging the family structure will resolve its many ails. She also believes it unlikely that the typical American family will ever stray too far from the basic configuration of a romantic partnership and children. What she hopes for is "a society whose institutions and policies encourage personal security and trust beyond our families and friends — to make our lives better when we are in and when we are out of an intimate romantic relationship." This might include investments in "<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/loneliness-epidemic-decline-in-third-places-friends-parks-community-2023-9">third places</a>," such as public libraries and parks where community members can freely gather, or more radical overhauls such as the provision of a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/universal-basic-income-works-red-state-blue-state-2023-10">universal basic income</a>, which could reduce inequality and boost social cohesion.Rather than changing families to be more like society, this vision of the future imagines a society that's more like a big, supportive family.<a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/kelli-maria-korducki">Kelli María Korducki</a> is a journalist whose work focuses on work, tech, and culture. She's based in New York City.

Farewell &mdash; and good riddance &mdash; to the 'typical American family'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Top female Democratic operatives held a dinner to strategize on defending VP Harris, Axios reports.</li><li>Numerous news stories have detailed chaos and dysfunction in Harris' office. </li><li>Many Harris allies argue she faces undue scrutiny and criticism because she's a powerful woman of color.</li></ul>A powerhouse group of female Democratic strategists and communications professionals recently convened a "crisis dinner" to strategize on how to best defend Vice President <keyword id="180909" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Kamala-Harris">Kamala Harris</keyword> against a barrage of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kamala-harris-staffers-toxic-office-culture-dysfunction-2021-7">negative news coverage</a>, <a href="https://www.axios.com/kamala-harris-press-coverage-crisis-dinner-7139cfc7-754b-42aa-a411-95716273dbb0.html">Axios reports. </a>The dinner, organized by Democratic communications strategist Kiki McLean, included former <keyword id="6356037" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="white-house">White House</keyword> communications director Jennifer Palmieri, top Biden adviser Stephanie Cutter, former 2016 Hillary Clinton campaign spokeswomen Karen Finney and Adrienne Elrod, strategist Minyon Moore, and former top DNC officials Donna Brazile and Leah Daughtry, according to <a href="https://www.axios.com/kamala-harris-press-coverage-crisis-dinner-7139cfc7-754b-42aa-a411-95716273dbb0.html">Axios.</a>The crisis dinner was not focused on changing the workplace culture of the VP's office, but on how the women could use their communications expertise to defend Harris and her chief of staff Tina Flournoy from unflattering stories and "be supportive from the outside." "It was less about how do you sort out the infrastructure [of Harris' operation], and it was more how can this group contribute to make sure that not only is her team making the most of this moment - as the first woman of color in the White House - but how can we help from the outside?," one attendee told Axios. The group of women at the dinner discussed how to flip the script on the criticism Harris has faced for her handling of difficult assignments she's taken on as VP, particularly immigration.Long-simmering discord in Harris' office and tensions between her staff and Biden's <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/30/kamala-harris-office-dissent-497290">boiled over in an explosive June report from Politico</a>. The story, which drew on interviews with 22 sources, including current and former Harris staffers, detailed poor morale, dysfunction, communication breakdowns within the vice president's office."We are not making rainbows and bunnies all day. What I hear is that people have hard jobs and I'm like 'welcome to the club,'" Harris' chief spokeswoman Symone Sanders <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/vp-spox-sanders-we-are-not-making-rainbows-and-bunnies-2021-6">told Politico in response</a>.Axios <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-officials-describe-vps-office-as-s-show-axios-2021-7">previously reported</a> that many officials in Bidenworld, well-known for maintaining an ultra-disciplined and leakproof press operation, privately refer to Harris' office as a "s---show." Insider's Robin Bravender <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kamala-harris-staffers-toxic-office-culture-dysfunction-2021-7"> spoke with 12 former Harris staffers</a> who worked under her in California and Washington who described a toxic workplace, a culture of paranoia, and pervasive burnout accompanied by high staff turnover among those working for a highly demanding and often tough boss. One former Harris staffer, who sought therapy for "on-the-job abuse" after working for Harris, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/former-kamala-harris-staffer-tells-therapist-about-vp-office-dysfunction-2021-7">told Insider that she sent the Politico story to her therapist</a> with a note: "Rarely in life are we publicly vindicated."Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kamala-harris-staffers-toxic-office-culture-dysfunction-2021-7">Ex-Kamala Harris staffers have bad memories of a toxic culture in her past offices and are texting each other about it</a>Top officials from the White House and from Biden's operation have also publicly stepped up to defend Harris, an unusual dynamic so early into an administration. Ron Klain, the White House chief of staff, and Cedric Richmond, a senior advisor, previously <a href="https://www.axios.com/kamala-harris-office-dysfunction-2024-e2f9a9c0-f391-4c1d-8042-aa4f24a292e3.html">defended Harris and her office's operation to Axios</a>, with Richmond charging that Harris was the victim of "a whisper campaign designed to sabotage her." Many Harris supporters and allies have argued that Harris faces disproportionate and unduly harsh criticism rooted in sexism because she is a woman of color in the second most powerful job in the United States. "Many of us lived through the Clinton campaign, and want to help curb some of the gendered dynamics in press coverage that impacted HRC," a source told Axios. "It was like: 'We've seen this before.' It's subtle. But when things aren't going well for a male politician, we ask very different questions, and they're not held to account the way a woman leader is."

Harris allies convened a 'crisis dinner' to strategize defending the VP against negative stories about her office, report says

<ul class="summary-list"><li>President-elect <keyword id="99719" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Joe-Biden">Joe Biden</keyword>'s incoming deputy chief of staff, <keyword id="10451956" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="jen-omalley-dillon">Jen O'Malley Dillon</keyword>, on Thursday walked back her comments referring to Republicans as "a bunch of f---ers," Politico reported.</li><li>"I used some words that I probably could have chosen better," O'Malley Dillon said about the comments she made earlier this week during a Glamour Magazine interview. </li><li>O'Malley Dillon spoke to Glamour about the criticism hurled at President-elect Joe Biden on the campaign trail as he highlighted a need to restore civility in <keyword id="6358883" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="politics">politics</keyword> and to end partisan fighting. </li><li>"In the primary, people would mock him, like, 'You think you can work with Republicans?'" O'Malley Dillon told Glamour. "I'm not saying they're not a bunch of f---ers. Mitch McConnell is terrible. But this sense that you couldn't wish for that, you couldn't wish for this bipartisan ideal? He rejected that."</li></ul>President-elect Joe Biden's incoming deputy chief of staff, Jen O'Malley Dillon, expressed regret on Thursday for referring to Republicans as "a bunch of f---ers," according to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/17/biden-aide-republicans-description-447703">Politico</a>."I used some words that I probably could have chosen better," O'Malley Dillon said about comments she made earlier this week to <a href="https://www.glamour.com/story/glennon-doyle-and-jen-omalley-dillon-interview">Glamour Magazine</a>. The apology came during a <a href="https://twitter.com/precisionstrat/status/1339299971766620164">virtual event</a> with Democratic consultants Stephanie Cutter and Teddy Goff, Politico reported.O'Malley Dillon spoke to Glamour about criticism Biden had faced on the campaign trail for his vows to heal the country's divisive political landscape. The then-Democratic presidential candidate often touted his reputation as a moderate, and emphasized plans to reach across the aisle and end partisan fighting. "The president-elect was able to connect with people over this sense of unity. In the primary, people would mock him, like, 'You think you can work with Republicans?'" O'Malley Dillon told Glamour. "I'm not saying they're not a bunch of f---ers. Mitch McConnell is terrible. But this sense that you couldn't wish for that, you couldn't wish for this bipartisan ideal? He rejected that."She added: "From start to finish, he set out with this idea that unity was possible, that together we are stronger, that we, as a country, need healing, and our politics needs that too."O'Malley Dillon's comments sparked intense backlash from Republicans who immediately poked at Biden's campaign promises. Axios also <a href="https://www.axios.com/jen-omalley-dillon-glamour-biden-republicans-6f28d328-30a9-4b50-b56d-ab91a682f11f.html">reported</a> on Wednesday that some Biden advisers, who spoke anonymously, took issue with O'Malley Dillon's conduct. "Biden talks about unity and healing, but you want to know what they really think?" GOP Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida <a href="https://twitter.com/marcorubio/status/1339375759677411328">tweeted</a> on Wednesday. "Read how the person he wants as the next WH deputy chief of staff called Republicans in Congress a bunch of f***ers."However, many <a href="https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/1339600151590051843">Democrats </a>disregarded O'Malley Dillon's comments and some Biden aides also came to her defense."So @jomalleydillon would be the first to tell you her mom doesn't approve of the spicy language," Biden's incoming communications director Kate Bedingfield wrote in a <a href="https://twitter.com/KBeds/status/1339312213279055872">tweet</a> on Wednesday. But her point is "spot on: unity and healing are possible - and we can get things done."Hillary Clinton also tweeted about O'Malley Dillon's rhetoric on Thursday.O'Malley Dillon became Biden's campaign manager in April and has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/joe-biden-cabinet-white-house-staff-transition-president-elect-administration-2020-11">since been selected</a> to serve as the next White House deputy chief of staff.

Biden's incoming deputy chief of staff apologizes for calling Republicans 'a bunch of f---ers'

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Good morning! Here are the plays everybody will be talking about on Wednesday:Josh Donaldson keeps the Blue Jays alive.&#xa0;The Blue Jays avoided elimination in the American League Championship Series with a 5-1 win in Game 5. Donaldson got the scoring started with a solo home run in the third inning. It was the first time Cleveland had trailed in the playoffs. Then, in the fifth inning with the Jays up 2-1, Donaldson saved a run with a diving stop to end the inning.<div></div>&#xa0;Kenley Jansen's cutter was working in Game 3.&#xa0;The Los Angeles Dodgers took a 2-1 lead in the National League Championship Series with a 6-0 win thanks to Rich Hill's six shutout inning and Jansen's four-out save. Jansen&#xa0;had his devastating cutter working as evidenced by the utter destruction of Anthony Rizzo's bat. This is a text-book cutter. It misses the sweet spot by about a foot.<div></div>&#xa0;Steven Stamkos sends game to overtime from an impossible angle. It is amazing to think that Stamkos is still just 26 years old, but the nine-year veteran who has twice led the NHL in goals, may just be entering his peak. The Lightning improved to 3-0 on the young season with a shutout win over the Florida Panthers, but the Bolts don't even get to OT without this gorgeous goal from Stamkos with just five seconds left and from an angle that just makes you shake your head.<div></div>&#xa0; <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/48-year-old-karl-meltzer-just-broke-speed-record-appalachian-trail-beer-energy-drinks-2016-10">A 48-year-old just broke the speed record for the Appalachian Trail</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="VoaHNtNjE6YYcvdD0LtluuwCa238Xvfd" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

The 3 plays in sports everybody will be talking about today

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">US Coast Guard/Petty Officer 3rd Class Steve StrohmaierUS Coast Guard cutter Eagle sailed into foggy weather in Casco Bay during its arrival into Portland, Maine, August 4, 2017.</div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>The Coast Guard was able to secure enough money for payroll on December 31, despite the government shutdown.</li><li>But officials say they won't be able to repeat that maneuver for the next payday, January 15, potentially making them the only uniformed military service to go without pay during the shutdown.</li><li>There's a bill in the Senate to pay the Coast Guard, but their salaries are still at the mercy of political wrangling.</li></ul>A surprise maneuver at the end of December ensured Coast Guardsmen got their final paychecks of 2018, despite the government shutdown that began on December 22.But the shutdown has dragged on, and the income for some 50,000 personnel, including 42,000 deemed essential personnel and required to work during the shutdown, remains in doubt as the first payday of 2019 approaches.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coast-guard-arctic-freedom-of-navigation-exercise-polar-star-russia-2018-12" data-analytics-position="13">The Coast Guard turned down a request for an Arctic exercise out of concern the US's only heavy icebreaker would break down and Russia would have to rescue it</a>Salaries for the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps are covered by the <keyword id="6354810" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="defense">Defense</keyword> Department, which got its full funding the for the fiscal year in the fall. But while the Coast Guard is a military branch, it is part of the Department of Homeland Security, funding for which had not been approved by the time the shutdown began.Coast Guard operations have continued, however.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">US Coast Guard/Petty Officer 3rd Class Andrew BarresiCoast Guard personnel prepare a sling that will hoist a 12,000-pound beached buoy, near Chatham, Massachusetts, May 9, 2017.</div></div></div>On December 23, Coast Guard crews on training exercises in Hawaii were <a href="https://www.dvidshub.net/news/305008/coast-guard-assists-4-waterway-users-2-rescues-sunday" target="_blank" rel="noopener">diverted twice</a>, first to medevac a snorkeler who was having a medical emergency and then to rescue passengers from a capsized vessel. This month, Coast Guard crews in the Pacific have been involved in <a href="https://www.dvidshub.net/news/306274/responders-rescue-crew-ou-ya-leng-no-6-marshall-islands" target="_blank" rel="noopener">searches</a> for crew members from two different <a href="https://www.dvidshub.net/news/306118/update-coast-guard-suspends-search-remaining-sincerity-ace-crewmember" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vessels</a>.Officials <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coast-guard-to-get-paid-december-31-next-paycheck-depends-on-shutdown-2018-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said on December 28</a> that the Homeland Security Department had found a way to supply about $75 million needed to cover pay for the December 31 pay period, but they said they would be unable to repeat it for the January 15 payday.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coast-guard-operations-around-miami-and-in-the-caribbean-2018-12" data-analytics-position="15">We got aboard a Coast Guard chopper to see how they bust smugglers and save boaters in the crowded waters around Miami</a>There is some money within the Homeland Security Department that has moved around to keep things going, but some activities, like issuing licenses, has been curtailed. Funding for other services, like child-care subsidies, is also <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SonsOfTheAmericanLegionRadio/videos/2265500047072693/?__xts__[0]=68.ARBmRtkopHS8tMhN8lwg-VpGSWQuxTZDXjAG4D2LZsuR-308Hxd2OmnxvVl86bjbENGtKr0oLXs4ebV7gHqgD4qyHPqs1Gl2juKUtkDVl-1JTOULZUJ9IvZ6zCtmd2xAf-5BxhkLAsPuWtqIgWsphUF7-pV_JF6A6YsJX_Ij_Xb-tbSegMnWdAb7cV2Z2gFwknaYeBweyJs8IgM2YvBiD55KNZl_mCK5dEkvQeGbmwbsm-XssUqkDSvDnFv3plEn14GGW1jMOdzz5mS5O2UsscyOhfAKAfTPanwtIZt6qF08TQ54fCj7O-iBesbtnMH-m-TJ-Ma3kJeKeuuwnHT4WBzlBayerDONfL8&amp;__tn__=-R" target="_blank" rel="noopener">running out</a>, further complicating life for service members and their families.During the first week of January, the Pay Our Coast Guard Act <a href="https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2019/01/04/as-shutdown-continues-lawmakers-look-for-fix-on-coast-guard-pay/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was introduced</a> to the Senate by Republican Sen. John Thune, cosponsored by Republican Sens. Roger Wicker, Susan Collins, Cindy Hyde Smith, and Democratic Sens. Marla Cantwell, Richard Blumenthal, Doug Jones, and Brian Schatz.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">US Coast Guard/Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael HimesA family poses with Jane Coastie at the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum in New York City, May 29, 2017.</div></div></div>The bill would pay active, retired, and civilian Coast Guard personnel despite the shutdown. It would also fund benefits for retired members, death gratuities, and other payouts.Thune's measure was first introduced in 2015 but died after being referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee. After <a href="https://www.hstoday.us/federal-pages/dhs/uscg/shutdown-lifeline-coast-guard-groups-praise-bipartisan-senate-introduction-of-pay-our-coast-guard-act/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a grassroots effort</a> generated 141,015 letters to congressmembers asking for its reintroduced, the bill was resubmitted on January 3, the first day of the 116th Congress.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/an-isis-inspired-tactic-is-raising-concerns-in-us-ports-2018-10" data-analytics-position="17">An ISIS-inspired tactic is raising concerns in US ports</a>"All we know so far, is that if this isn't resolved by the 10th they will not get paid on the 15th," Coast Guard spouse Stephanie Lisle <a href="https://connectingvets.radio.com/articles/pay-our-coast-guard-bill-senate-introduced-senator-john-then" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told ConnectingVets.com</a>. "Hopefully the bill gets passed."<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">APPresident Donald Trump addresses members of the Coast Guard.</div></div></div>The bill garnered support from <a href="https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2019/01/04/as-shutdown-continues-lawmakers-look-for-fix-on-coast-guard-pay/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">more than a dozen</a> veterans groups, but it would also have to pass the House of Representatives, which is now controlled by Democrats, and be signed by President Donald Trump.Last week, Trump said he was prepared to keep the government shut down for "<a href="https://www.apnews.com/a6934230e189490080c50a732c1a85d6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">months or even years</a>" after he and Democratic leaders again failed to resolve his demand for billions in funding for a border wall."We won't be opening until it's solved," Trump <a href="https://www.apnews.com/a6934230e189490080c50a732c1a85d6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on January 4. "I don't call it a shutdown. I call it doing what you have to do for the benefit and the safety of our country."<ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-coast-guard-crews-take-down-drug-smugglers-on-the-high-seas-2018-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">Coast Guard crews are capturing record amounts of cocaine - here's how they chase down high-seas smugglers</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cocaine-drug-smuggling-increasing-around-galapagos-islands-in-pacific-2018-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">The Coast Guard is catching record amounts of cocaine, and activity is growing around a smuggling hotspot</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coast-guard-cant-stop-most-of-the-cocaine-it-sees-headed-for-the-us-2018-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">Billions of dollars of cocaine are smuggled into the US by sea every year, and the Coast Guard says it can only stop one-quarter of it</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coast-guard-capturing-more-drug-smuggling-narco-subs-2018-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">The Coast Guard is catching more drug-running subs, but most 'very stealthy' narco subs are probably going undetected</a></li></ul> <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coast-guard-boot-camp-military-basic-training-cape-may-new-jersey-2018-12">Inside the Coast Guard's 8-week boot camp where recruits go through extreme physical tests and brutal 'smoke sessions'</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

The Coast Guard is about to go without pay because of the government shutdown, but its members are still out doing missions

<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:400px"><div class="image"></div>AP Photo / John Carucci</div><keyword id="2370" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="hollywood">Hollywood</keyword> producer <keyword id="176675" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Harvey-Weinstein">Harvey Weinstein</keyword> showed off his political connections at the 2013 Oscars — even if his "Silver Linings Playbook" did not win Best Picture.
<div class="image-container float_right click-to-enlarge" style="width:400px"><div class="image"><a title_source="Getty" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/512bd6a069bedd213b000002-960/michelle-obama-oscars-2013.png"></a></div>Getty</div>
The producer, who engineered past victories for "Shakespeare In Love," "The Artist," "The King's Speech," and more, led an <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-buy-an-oscar-2013-2">impressive campaign this year to generate buzz "Silver Linings Playbook," a low-budget romantic-comedy-drama</a>.
For a final push, however, Weinstein reached out to former Obama for America 2012 campaign manager Stephanie Cutter, <a href="http://www.vulture.com/2013/02/silver-linings-playbook-oscar-campaign-stephanie-cutter.html?mid=twitter_vulture" target="_blank">Vulture</a> reported on Monday.
According to Vulture, Cutter was hired to promote the film "not just as a well-made movie, but a culturally relevant and especially politically significant film that was shaping the national conversation about mental health triggered in part by the shootings in <keyword id="241888" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Newtown">Newtown</keyword>, Connecticut."
In the weeks leading up to the Oscars, Cutter tweeted a link to the making of "Silver Linings Playbook" and a <a href="http://www.salon.com/2013/02/21/could_silver_linings_playbook_grab_the_top_oscar/singleton/" target="_blank">Salon article</a> asking whether "Silver Linings Playbook" could steal the top spot from "Argo."
Weinstein also "sought the advice" of other major Democrats, a Weinstein Company spokeswoman told Vulture:
“When it was clear that Silver Linings Playbook's treatment of mental health issues was becoming a topic in the advocacy community and political circle, Harvey Weinstein sought the advice of a number of friends with experience in those areas, including former Senator Chris Dodd, Senators Chuck Schumer and Kristen Gillibrand, and Stephanie Cutter, who he knows from his work as a supporter of President Obama.”
Earlier last year, "Silver Linings Playbook" director David O. Russell and actor Bradley Cooper <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/biden-russell-cooper-meeting-mental-419217" target="_blank">met with Vice President Joe Biden</a> to discuss mental health care in light of the tragic Newtown shootings. 
Weinstein called in another favor on Oscar night <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/michelle-obama-oscars-appearance-argo-wins-best-picture-2013-2">when he got Michelle Obama</a> to hand out the Best Picture Oscar. In fact<a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/michelle-obama-at-oscars-harvey-424146"> Weinstein's daughter came up with this idea</a>, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Hollywood celebrities including Weinstein <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/celebrities-who-have-contributed-the-most-to-the-presidential-campaign-2012-9?op=1">donated millions to Obama's re-election campaign</a>. In August, the producer hosted a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/celebrities-who-have-contributed-the-most-to-the-presidential-campaign-2012-9?#obama--anne-hathaway--harvey-weinstein-2-million-10" target="_blank">$35,800 per-person fundraiser</a> in his Connecticut home which raised $2 million for the Obama campaign.

Harvey Weinstein Called In A Few Favors From His Friends In The White House 

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">REUTERS/Stephen LamHillary Clinton speaks during a meeting with community leaders in Oakland, California, U.S. May 27, 2016.</div></div></div>Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are now looking toward the general election, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/hillary-clinton-trump-university-2016-6" target="_blank">criticizing each other with more vigor</a> than ever now that they have all but dispatched of their primary challengers.But while Trump has benefited from his tough-talking mudslinging, his opponents have had a hard time matching his bombastic style without getting dragged down into the mud themselves."It's important that Clinton lays out a contrast that shows why you shouldn't vote for her opponent," Ben LaBolt, a veteran Democratic strategist who worked on President Barack Obama's two presidential campaigns, told Business Insider."The trap is to jump at the tabloid headlines that Donald Trump is trying to drive every day," he added.To that end, Clinton on Thursday delivered a blistering national-security speech in California, attacking Trump's competency to serve as the nation's commander in chief and blasting his foreign-policy positions. It was the latest in a line of policy-focused critiques of the Republican presidential nominee."It's very challenging for Hillary to make a good foreign-policy argument against Trump," Ian Bremmer, a geopolitical expert and president of the Eurasia Group, told Business Insider in an email after Clinton's Thursday address."Most of what he's arguing for is completely implausible (nukes for Japan; a trade war with China); some is unconstitutional (a Muslim ban, sending back immigrants). But he's not in any way being punished for his policy agenda."Clinton tried to rectify that on Thursday - she went after Trump harder than ever before with zingers like this one: "He says he has foreign-policy experience because he ran the Miss Universe pageant in Russia." But it remains to be seen whether she can command the kind of attention that Trump gets with his no-holds-barred attacks on his opponents.Trump packed rallies during primary season and locked down the Republican nomination while mounting vicious attacks on other candidates. He came up with simplistic nicknames for those running against him, like Sens. Ted Cruz ("Lyin' Ted") and Marco Rubio ("Little Marco"). And he dominated news coverage with at-times outrageous pronouncements.When one of his targets, Rubio, tried to beat Trump at his own game, he damaged his candidacy beyond repair. After weathering repeated personal attacks from Trump, Rubio went on the offensive, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/marco-rubio-donald-trump-small-hands-2016-2">insulting Trump's "spray tan" and "small hands"</a> during a rally in February. But it didn't help him at the polls - he lost even his home state of Florida weeks later - and he has since <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/marco-rubio-trump-small-hands-2016-5" target="_blank">admitted that he regrets the attacks</a>.Stephanie Cutter, a political consultant who was Obama's deputy campaign manager in 2012, advised hitting back at Trump, but carefully."I don't think it's possible to stay out of the fray," Cutter said at a panel discussion at The Common Good Forum in New York recently. "... I don't think you have to bite back in the same way, but I think that there's a lot of ground that hasn't been covered on Donald Trump."Clinton has acknowledged that while she's looking forward to running against Trump in the general election, she can't sink to his level."See, I don't think it's as fraught with complexity as some people are suggesting," she told New York Magazine <a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/05/hillary-clinton-candidacy.html">in a recent interview</a>. "I think the trap is not to get drawn in on his terms. We saw what happened to those Republicans who tried."<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Thomson ReutersU.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to a member of the media following a news conference at Trump Tower in the Manhattan borough of New York</div></div></div>Cutter said the differences between Trump and Clinton will become apparent during the general election."We're in a general election," Cutter said. "We're talking about a different set of voters" compared to the primary contests that help decide the party nominees."Now you're talking about roughly 6% of the vote you're going after, what we call 'persuadables.' Do they want to be hearing about Vince Foster?" she continued, referring to the former White House counsel in then-President Bill Clinton's administration.Trump has recently mounted attacks centered on Foster, who committed suicide in 1993 and whose death has been the subject of numerous <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-conspiracy-theories-2016-5" target="_blank">internet conspiracy theories</a>.Clinton's strategy to tear down Trump will likely be centered largely on economic issues, considering that the real-estate mogul emphasizes his business background as proof he'd be a tough negotiator for the US. And economic issues are likely to be especially relevant this election cycle -<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/polls-trump-hillary-clinton-general-election-2016-5"> a recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll showed</a> that economic growth is the top issue voters think the federal government should address."Donald Trump is running on his record as what he says is a successful businessman, so the Clinton campaign is actually taking a look at that record and the findings are surprising," LaBolt said. "I think one thing they found is rampant fraud."<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">Screenshot/YouTubeAn advertisement for Trump University</div></div></div>"This is somebody who ran what he called a 'university' that handed out nothing more than PowerPoint presentations and a participation certificate that didn't look anything like a degree after a couple of days in a conference room," LaBolt said of the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/01/us/politics/donald-trump-university.html">controversial, for-profit school known as Trump University</a>.Clinton <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/hillary-clinton-trump-university-2016-6">took aim at Trump University on Wednesday</a>, accusing Trump of " trying to scam America the way he scammed all those people at Trump U."And her campaign press secretary, Brian Fallon, <a href="https://twitter.com/brianefallon">said on Twitter</a> that Trump University was "devastating" because it's a "metaphor for his whole campaign: promising hardworking Americans [a] way to get ahead, but all based on lies."Cutter detailed other issues surrounding Trump's business background that she thinks should be investigated:Republicans were abysmal during the primary season for raising really important issues about Donald Trump. And not, you know, the size of his hands. I'm talking about … what are the consequences of shutting down all trade to the United States? What exactly is his business background? Why won't he release his tax returns? Is he really as rich as he says? Or how really did he make his money? … Those are very important issues because it goes to an overarching trust, who can actually deliver the change.Democrats seem to be rallying behind Clinton in her attacks on Trump's business record.Obama on Wednesday delivered a speech in Indiana that served <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-donald-trump-indiana-speech-2016-6" target="_blank">as his first foray into the 2016 presidential race</a>. Obama excoriated Trump's proposals and focused on the economic recovery in Indiana, making the case that a Democrat in the White House will keep the country on a path to prosperity.And the Democratic National Committee <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-tax-returns-democrats-2016-6">just launched a new micro website</a> called "taxesbytrump.com," which plays on the fact that Trump hasn't yet released his tax returns. Whenever users attempt to click on a large red "see returns" box, it zips away from the cursor."This is somebody who multiple times <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-income-tax-returns-once-became-public-they-showed-he-didnt-pay-a-cent/2016/05/20/ffa2f63c-1b7c-11e6-b6e0-c53b7ef63b45_story.html">paid a 0% tax rate</a> and still won't release his returns," LaBolt said of Trump. "... So obviously that suggests he'd set up an economic system that would be rigged for him."Trump's campaign manager Corey Lewandowski <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/corey-lewandowski-donald-trump-tax-returns-2016-5">has argued</a> that Trump seeks to "pay the smallest amount of taxes possible," arguing that "that's the mindset you want to bring to the government." And for his part, Trump has <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/27/politics/trump-60-minutes-tax-plan/">suggested a 0% tax rate</a> for low-income people.Clinton is also likely to continue to hit Trump on national security and foreign policy, with her speech Thursday serving as the latest salvo in her argument that she's more suited to the job of commander in chief.Trump, in contrast, spent much of a Thursday-night rally raising the bar of his attacks on Clinton. The former secretary of state, he suggested, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-attacks-hillary-clinton-2016-6" target="_blank">has to "go to jail"</a> because of the scandal involving her use of a private email server."All right, I said it," he said. "She has to go to jail." <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-slams-trump-during-rutgers-speech-2016-5">'It's not cool to not know what you're talking about': Obama slams Trump during Rutgers speech</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="82ZThqMzE6bgUvxbaU2coIZZ8Hi7KHuG" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

Hillary Clinton is hinting at her strategy to beat Trump - but she has to avoid falling into his 'trap'

<div class="image-container float_right"><div class="image"><keyword id="82130" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="CNN">CNN</keyword></div></div>CNN's reboot of "<keyword id="6638699" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="crossfire">Crossfire</keyword>," the long-running political debate program that first aired from 1982-2005, posted modestly disappointing ratings in its debut on Monday. 
Hosted by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Obama campaign spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter on Monday, "Crossfire" placed third in total viewers and second in the key 25-54 age demographic. Its ratings were up about 45% from the previous four Mondays at 6:30 p.m., but it was aided by the end of summer and a big lead-in - a presidential interview.
Fox News' Special Report with Bret Baier quadrupled "Crossfire" in total viewers, and more than doubled it in the key demo. Fox was also coming off a presidential interview at the top of the hour. 
Here are the numbers for the 6:30-7 p.m. slot:
<ul>
<li>Fox News "Special Report" - 2,402,000 total viewers; 384,000 in the 25-54 demo</li>
<li>MSNBC's "<keyword id="6358883" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Politics">Politics</keyword> Nation" with Al Sharpton - 617,000 total viewers; 116,000 in the 25-54 demo</li>
<li>CNN's "Crossfire" - 581,000 total viewers; 171,000 in the 25-54 demo</li>
</ul>
As always, it's hard to make broad judgments about a show's ratings after one episode. CNN moved up "Crossfire's" premiere, though, which was scheduled to come Sept. 16. But even amid the buzz and the furious news cycle, it premiered to a rather soft landing.

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