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1. Charles Manson
Charles Manson, the infamous 1960s cult leader whose followers committed heinous murders that terrorized Los Angeles and shocked the nation, died Sunday of natural causes. He was 83.
The diminutive and charismatic criminal orchestrated a wave of violence in August 1969 that took the lives of seven people, spawned headlines worldwide and landed him and his “Manson Family” of followers in prison for most of the rest of their lives. He was serving nine life terms in a California prison.
2. President Mugabe
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has still not resigned, even after a week of political turmoil that ended with his own party calling for him to step down over the weekend and giving a deadline to resign. But that deadline has come and gone, and on Sunday night, Mugabe made a rambling TV address that did not end in his resignation.
Mugabe has been in power for 37 years, and several groups seem content – if not overjoyed – that the controversial 93-year-old leader may soon be forced to step down. His own military is currently in control of the government, citizens are marching in the streets calling for him to resign and prominent foreign powers have withheld any significant criticism of the apparent coup.
3. Mueller investigation
Investigators working for special counsel Robert Mueller are scheduled to interview more senior White House officials in the coming weeks. These are high-profile people, like White House communications director Hope Hicks, White House counsel Don McGahn and Josh Raffel, a communications aide to White House senior adviser Jared Kushner.
While these interviews continue to swirl into the inner circles of the Trump administration, another interesting figure in the Russian meddling web is also stepping forward. Rob Goldstone, the British publicist who set up a 2016 meeting at Trump Tower between a Russian lawyer and several members of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign team, has said he is ready to talk, and that he was not part of Moscow’s election-year meddling.
4. President Trump
Trump’s Twitter drama with three college basketball players and one of their dads heated up over the weekend. The three UCLA students were arrested last week on suspicion of shoplifting while their team was in China. While Trump was in China on his diplomatic trip, he says he spoke with Chinese officials and got them released. He then essentially asked the players them to thank him personally for their release.
They did, in a news conference. But when one of their fathers, the outspoken Lavar Ball, did not show the same gratitude, Trump got angry and tweeted: “Now that the three basketball players are out of China and saved from years in jail, LaVar Ball, the father of LiAngelo, is unaccepting of what I did for his son and that shoplifting is no big deal. I should have left them in jail!”
5. Jeffrey Tambor
Actor Jeffrey Tambor is the latest powerful man to have to answer to sexual harassment claims. Tambor, 73, reportedly has been accused by at least two people of inappropriate sexual conduct, including on the set of his Amazon show, “Transparent.” In response to the allegations, Tambor has signaled he may step away from the show. He claimed in a statement through his publicist that the allegations are “simply and utterly untrue,” and that while he loves the show, “this is no longer the job I signed up for four years ago.”
NUMBER OF THE DAY
7
The number of times the crew of the missing Argentine submarine may have tried to contact naval bases this weekend. The search effort has ramped up, with planes and ships from at least seven countries scouring the southern Atlantic.
BREAKFAST BROWSE
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Country music legend Mel Tillis died this weekend.
‘The Cosby Show’ actor Earle Hyman also passed away
Hyman played Bill Cosby’s father. He was 91.
‘Justice League’ is not lighting up the box office
If you liked the superhero movie, you were one of the only ones.
Owning a dog may help you live longer, study says
And you’ll spend 80% of that longer life prying inedible objects out of said dog’s mouth.
The Georgia Dome in Atlanta is going to be imploded today
It’s actually right next door to the CNN Center, so we CNN folks are getting ready for an earth-shaking watch party. RIP Dome!
Georgia Dome flashback: Revisiting 25 years of sports history
AND FINALLY …
Pink flies, a band makes history
Missed the American Music Awards last night? Here’s our recap.