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Las Vegas Shooter’s Note Revealed in a New Interview

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60 Minutes reports the Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock took notes and calculated the distance from his window to the victims below and the trajectory of his bullets from the height of his room to “know where to shoot” and kill his victims below. The calculations were on a note found by the police who stormed Paddock’s room and were the first to see his body, the number of weapons, and ammunition in his hotel room.

As part of the 60 Minutes episode that airs on Sunday, October 8th, Bill Whitaker speaks with Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo. Other police officers were interviewed on the report including Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Detectives Casey Clarkson and Matthew Donaldson, and Sergeant Joshua Bitkso and officer David Newton from the K9 unit.

Officer Newton explained that he found a note on the nightstand near his shooting platform. “I could see on it he had written the distance, the elevation he was on, the drop of what his bullet was going to be for the crowd. So he had had that written down and figured out so he would know where to shoot to hit his targets from there.”

Newton added Paddock, “had written we must have done the calculations on line or something to figure out what his altitude was going to be and how high up he was-how far out the crowd was going to be and what at that distance and what the drop of his bullet was going to be. He hadn’t written out the calculations all he had was written out he final numbers that were on the sheet.”

Pence Leaves 49ers NFL Game After Players Protest

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Vice President Mike Pence left an NFL football game between the Indianapolis Colts and the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday after several players knelt during the National Anthem. The VP of the United States said that he did not want to “dignify” the event.

On Twitter, the Vice President of the United States said, “I left today’s Colts game because @POTUS and I will not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our Flag, or our National Anthem.”

Pence later issued a statement opposing the protest on Twitter.

President Trump tweeted that he asked Pence to leave the stadium.

“I asked @VP Pence to leave stadium if any players kneeled, disrespecting our country. I am proud of him and @SecondLady Karen,” Trump tweeted.

Several journalists accompanying the vice president were not allowed into the stadium and was asked to stay behind in their vans, according to CNN. They were told by a staffer to the vice president that “there may be an early departure from the game,” but were not given any more information.

After leaving the game, Pence posted a photo of himself and his wife standing for the anthem at the game on Sunday.

Donald Trump Jr., the President’s eldest son, tweeted his support for Pence’s decision. “Amen. After almost a decade it’s great to have leaders who have pride in our country again,” Donald Trump Jr. said on Twitter

Colin Kaepernick made headlines after kneeling during the anthem last year. Kaepernick argued his form of non-violent protest was a way to bring attention to police brutality and race relations in America. Trump has bashed the form of protest calling it disrespectful to the flag and veterans. Trump has even called for a boycott of the National Football League unless the league takes action against players who protest.

Report: Ivanka, Trump Jr. Were Nearly Charged for Fraud

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Donald Trump Jr. and White House adviser Ivanka Trump, two of President Trump’s children, were nearly indicted in 2012 on accusations they misled potential buyers about units in the Trump SoHo, a hotel and condo development that was seeking buyers.

According to a ProPublica investigation, attorneys in the Manhattan District Attorney’s office spent two years building a case against the two Trump children, which included emails showing the Trumps knew they were using inflated figures to attract buyers to the condo.

“They knew it was wrong,” one source familiar with the emails told ProPublica investigators. Reportedly, there was “no doubt” that they “approved, knew of, agreed to, and intentionally inflated the numbers to make more sales,” the source explained.

The case against the Trump children disappeared after Trump’s attorney, Marc Kasowitz, met with the Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. to reportedly ask him to drop the investigation, according to ProPublica. Kasowitz offered no new arguments and only reiterated what Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr.’s lawyers had said in the past.

trump soho
TRUMP SOHO, NEW YORK CITY, February 2017 (splask / Shutterstock.com)

Three months after the meeting, Vance overruled his prosecutors and dropped the case. ProPublica also reports during the same year, Kasowitz donated $25,000 to Vance’s campaign, which Vance said was returned shortly before their meeting.

“I did not at the time believe beyond a reasonable doubt that a crime had been committed,” Vance told ProPublica. “I had to make a call and I made the call, and I think I made the right call.”

That said, a donation of $50,000 occurred less than six months after Vance dropped the case. After being confronted with this information, Vance pledged to ProPublica to return this contribution as well.

“I don’t want the money to be a millstone around anybody’s neck, including the office’s,” Vance told ProPublica.

In a statement, Trump’s lawyer explained the donations were not “quid pro quo” for anything.

“I donated to Cy Vance’s campaign because I was and remain extremely impressed by him as a person of impeccable integrity, as a brilliant lawyer and as a public servant with creative ideas and tremendous ability,” Kasowitz told ProPublica in an email. “I have never made a contribution to anyone’s campaign, including Cy Vance’s, as a ‘quid-pro-quo’ for anything.”

Yahoo Reveals All 3 Billion Accounts Were Affected By The 2013 Hack

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On Tuesday, Yahoo issued a statement disclosing that upon further investigation of the 2013 breach the company believes all of its three billion accounts were impacted, not 1 billion liked previously thought. The revelation of 3 billion breached accounts means everyone who had a Yahoo account, and all the people who had registered for any Yahoo service such as Flickr or fantasy sports were affected.

The company, now a part of Oath after it was acquired by Verizon for $4.5 billion and merged with AOL, said that it discovered the new evidence while integrating the two companies.

The company explained that when the 2013 breach was discovered and disclosed in 2016, the company “took action to protect all accounts.” Those actions include notifying impacted users, requiring password changes and invalidating unencrypted security questions and answers so that they could not be used to access an account.

3 billion affected users is a significant hit to Verizon, which had received a discount of $350 million on their acquisition price for the company after initial findings of the security breach.

“Verizon is committed to the highest standards of accountability and transparency, and we proactively work to ensure the safety and security of our users and networks in an evolving landscape of online threats,” said Chandra McMahon, Chief Information Security Officer, Verizon. “Our investment in Yahoo is allowing that team to continue to take significant steps to enhance their security, as well as benefit from Verizon’s experience and resources.”

Yahoo Hack
MONTREAL, CANADA – DECEMBER 15, 2016: Yahoo Notice of a newly discovered data breach under a magnifying glass. (dennizn / Shutterstock.com)

Yahoo explains the stolen user account information may have included names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, passwords, and security questions and answers.

“The investigation indicates that the information that was stolen did not include passwords in clear text, payment card data, or bank account information. Payment card data and bank account information are not stored in the system the company believes was affected,” said the company.

This news comes after the Equifax breach, which illustrates how some of the biggest companies can still be vulnerable to hackers.

Also, Yahoo released a set of guidelines to protect your account, which can be found here.

Rex Tillerson Reportedly Called Donald Trump a “Moron”

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NBC News reported on Wednesday that Vice President Mike Pence and other top US officials stepped in to persuade Secretary of State Rex Tillerson not to resign during the summer to ease growing discord between President Donald Trump and the Secretary of State.

According to reports, Pence met with Tillerson in July to ease tensions over policy. Their meeting came only days after Tillerson, in a meeting with Trump’s national security team and Cabinet officials at the Pentagon criticized the president and calling him a “moron,” NBC News reported.

NBC News claims Tillerson’s comment came after a meeting on Afghanistan in which President Trump compared “the decision-making process on troop levels to the renovation of a high-end New York restaurant.”

Donald Trump Twitter
NEW YORK – JUL 16, 2016: Donald Trump speaks during a press conference on July 16, 2016, in New York. (JStone / Shutterstock, Inc.)

Meanwhile, Trump made a political speech to the Boy Scouts of American, an organization Rex Tillerson once led.

Tillerson had reportedly questioned whether or not to return to Washington from a Personal trip in Texas but was reassured after meeting with Gen. John Kelly, who is Trump’s chief of staff, and Defense Secretary James Mattis, NBC News reported citing four people with direct knowledge of the meetings.

Trump tweeted on Wednesday morning after the NBC news report, “Wow, so many Fake News stories today. No matter what I do or say, they will not write or speak truth. The Fake News Media is out of control!”

Over the weekend, Rex Tillerson said the US had direct communications with North Korea to see whether an open dialogue can ease tensions. The following day, Trump noted Tillerson was “wasting his time.”

Las Vegas Shooting: Shooter Sent $100,000 to the Philippines

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On Sunday evening, a gunman opened fire at a country music festival killing at least 58 people, not including the gunman, and injuring over 500 more near the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino.

According to reports, Marilou Danley is the girlfriend of Stephen Paddock, the man who killed nearly 60 people at a music festival in Las Vegas. Danley returned to the United States from the Philippines, according to the recent reports. Danley, who is 62, was met at Los Angeles International Airport by FBI agents on Tuesday night after flying from Manila. Investigators reportedly told Danley she was a “person of interest” in the investigation.

USA Today reports Danley was born in the Philippines and moved to Queensland in eastern Australia during the early 1980s. She is said to have left Australia for the United States in 1989, where she worked in casinos. USA Today reports Danley first arrived in the Philippines on September 15th and departed on September then returned three days later on a flight from Hong Kong.

Before Danley moved in with Paddock and became a “person of interest,” she was described as a “Great neighbor” and would host parties and sleepovers for the neighborhood kids.

Danley’s sister said they believe Paddock sent her out of the country so she would not interfere with his plans, Australian media outlets reported on Wednesday. Her two sisters, who currently live in Australia, were interviewed by Australia’s Channel 7 network.

“She was away so that she will be not there to interfere with what he’s planning,” one of the women told Channel 7. “She didn’t even know that she was going to the Philippines until Steve said ‘Marilou I found you a cheap ticket to the Philippines’.” She went on to describe her sister as “a good person and gentle soul,” and said she “seemed madly in love with Steve.”

Paddock reportedly transferred $100,000 to the Philippines days before the shooting. But it is not clear whether or not the money was sent to Danley. At this time, USA Today reports the FBI is trying to trace where the money went.

Police have not revealed the type of weapons that Paddock used in the mass-shooting. That said, in the state of Nevada, gun owners do not need a permit to buy a rifle, shotgun or handgun. Also, Nevadans can purchase machine guns or silences, weapons that are banned in other states, as long as they comply with federal regulations. “He passed every federal background check, every time he bought a gun,’’ owner Janis Sullivan, 67, told USA TODAY. 

Instagram’s New Features Allows You To Poll Your Friends

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Last month, Polly became a hit on Snapchat with over 20 million answerers. The feature allowed for users to add multiple-choice polls onto their Snapchat. Instagram is following in their footsteps with their polling feature within Stories. Now just like adding a sticker, users can add a two-answer poll on top of their stories that friends can answer.

“Whether you’re trying to plan tomorrow’s outfit, choosing which class to take or figuring out where to go for dinner, now it’s easy to share a two-option poll right in your story,” Instagram explains in a  blog posting. “After you’ve taken a photo or video for your story, select the “poll” sticker and place it anywhere you’d like — you can write out your own question and even customize the poll choices.”

Instagram Polls
via Instagram

Instagram Stories currently lets you write your questions and defaults the answers to Yes or No, even though you can edit those answers to whatever you want. Friends will see the results as soon as they answer, and you will find out who voted for what in your Stories view count page.

Instagram explains, “After you’ve shared your poll, your friends and followers can immediately start voting and see real-time results. Once someone has voted on your poll, they’ll see which choice is in the lead at any given moment. And if they watch your story again later, they’ll see the latest results. “

Instagram Polls
via Instagram

Polls are the most recent interactive feature and may spread to multiple-choice answers while also providing something you can engage with instead of swiping.

Instagram’s commitment to follow in Snapchat’s footsteps is abundantly clear, and this is just the latest feature Instagram has essentially replicated. The app’s decision to launch not only Snapchat’s features but those built by smaller startups show how the social network’s commitment to staying relevant by seeing what is popular and adding that feature to their platform, but when you have millions of monthly active users it does not even matter.

Instagram Polls
Via Instagram

Ultimately, it should give any entrepreneur second thoughts about building something in the same business landscape as Instagram.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren To Wells Fargo CEO: “You Tried To Cover It Up”

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Senator Elizabeth Warren said it is time for the Wells Fargo & Co. CEO to get fired.

The Wells Fargo account fraud scandal is an ongoing controversy surrounding the creation of millions of fraudulent accounts on behalf of Wells Fargo clients without their consent. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau fined the company a combined $185 million dollars as a result of the illegal activity. In addition, the company faces several civil and criminal lawsuits.

Wells Fargo customers noticed the fraud after being charged for fees and receiving unexpected credit or debit cards. Initially, Wells Fargo branch managers were blamed for the fraudulent accounts, as well as sales incentives associated with selling financial products. The blame later shifted to higher-level executives who reportedly pushed as many financial products as possible. The result led the resignation of CEO John Stumpf, and an investigation led by U.S. Elizabeth Warren.

Wells Fargo Banking Scandal
(Roman Tiraspolsky / Shutterstock.com)

CEO Timothy Sloan told lawmakers during a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Tuesday that the recent scandal surrounding millions of potentially wronged customers has ended. That said, Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat representative, argued that the senior executive is either dumb or involved with the scandal.

“Either way, you should be fired,” Warren told him. “You enabled this fake account scam, you got rich off it, and you tried to cover it up.”

Warren, who argued for the termination for his predecessor, John Stumpf, pointed out statements Sloan made to investors that defended the bank’s methods after he and other company executives were made aware of problems with their company’s sales practices. Sloan argued that those words were “taken out of context.” Sloan continued by arguing that he has not been “perfect” but, he continues to be the right person for the job.

Warren also asked how he could tell employees that they are the priority while also telling investors that the bank will cut billions in costs that would involve laying employees off.  “I couldn’t disagree more with almost everything Senator Warren said.”

Wells Fargo
(Peppinuzzo / Shutterstock.com)

He went on to claim she was scaring people by claiming his remarks would mean thousands of people would lose their jobs.

“We care about our team members,” he said. “But at the same time, I have an obligation as the CEO of this company that we keep other stakeholders happy.”

Wells Fargo customers noticed the fraud after being charged for fees and receiving unexpected credit or debit cards. Initially, Wells Fargo branch managers were blamed for the fraudulent accounts, as well as sales incentives associated withs selling financial products. The blame later shifted to higher-level executives who reportedly pushed as many financial products as possible. The result led the resignation of CEO John Stumpf, and an investigation led by U.S. Elizabeth Warren.

Facebook Gives Up Russian-Linked Ads to Congress

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On Monday, Facebook announced it had given Congress thousands of advertisements linked to Russian influence operations in the United States. Facebook also announced their tightening of ad policies to make sure election impact is harder to achieve on the social network.

Facebook confirmed that it discovered the ad sales earlier this year and gave copies of the ads to the Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller, who is currently investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Facebook had reportedly shown the ads to congressional investigators but had not turned the ads over to them. Following complaints by the leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee, the company decided to give up the ads to the government.

Facebook Live Arrest
Kaspars Grinvalds / Shutterstock.com

“We are sharing these ads with Congress because we want to do our part to help investigators gain a deeper understanding of Russian interference in the US political system and explain those activities to the public,” said a statement by Joel Kaplan, Facebook’s vice president for global public policy.

The House Intelligence Committee’s ranking member Adam Schiff confirmed the ads on Monday but said there are still important questions that need to be answered about the social media campaigns.

“As we fully examine these ads in the coming days, we will be particularly interested in understanding their full reach, in particular to determine what groups and individuals were most heavily targeted and why,” Schiff said.

Schiff added he hopes to release a sampling of the ads Facebook has turned over as soon as possible, NPR reports.

Last week, Twitter representatives visited Capital hill briefed investigators on their findings, but the Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner called the session “inadequate.”

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained that his company would make changes to the social network that will make it difficult for people to influence elections.

On Wednesday, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman and Warner are scheduled to hold a joint news conference on the issue in Washington, D.C.

Facebook is Now Testing a Facial Recognition

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Facebook is reportedly testing facial recognition as a way of securing accounts more efficiently.

Facebook confirmed the testing to TechCrunch saying, “We are testing a new feature for people who want to quickly and easily verify account ownership during the account recovery process. This optional feature is available only on devices you’ve already used to log in. It is another step, alongside two-factor authentication via SMS, that we’re taking to make sure account owners can confirm their identity.”

That said, Facebook is limiting the use of facial recognition to account recovery as opposed to Apple’s various applications of the technology towards unlocking iPhone X devices, among other purposes. The feature is optional.

Facebook - social media
Man using a Facebook application on his smartphone, the background is an image from the projector – photography from social media meeting in the city of Lodz, Poland 07.11. 2014 (Michal Ludwiczak / Shutterstock.com)

It is important to note that while biometric identification is a convenient way of securing a device without having to remember a password if the biometric data is compromised, it can not be changed the same way passwords can.

Overall, Facebook explains if the feature is helpful to users and hackers are unable to crack their codes, Facebook could potentially expand the program.

Facebook has tried different ways to help you unlock an account. Previously, the company would ask you to identify photos of your friends, or allowing you to designated several “trusted friends” who receive a code that you can ask them for to unlock. But, facial recognition puts Facebook into unknown waters as a major privacy concern. It begs the question about how many people are likely to be comfortable to use their face to Facebook.