Page 397 - Observer News Today

Giulianis strengths may be, that would not be a good position for him. james clapper, the current director of national intelligence has finally made that position work. hes shown that the person who can do it effectively needs to be an intelligence pro who understands how to work with these 17 agencies, many of them very technical. jim clapper isnt in the news a lot. he knows how -- hes a skilled bureaucratic fighter. he gives honest and direct, completely nonpartisan advice to the president. ru...

President. when he was talking about that he said "the law is totally on my side." meaning the president cant have a conflict of interest and some people took that as saying hang on, are you saying youre above the law? but there is a law he may be referring to. it was introduced by bush 41 that its complicated, it gives protection to presidents against this as conflict of interest. if maintaining, ari, his business involvement is okay, is legal, can he do this? >> to me its not whether its legal...

They met sunday and hes rumored to be in the mix to head the department of homeland security. and an eagle-eyed observer noticed this. check out the subtle headline on the paper in his hand. "department of homeland security." cobachs strategic plan for the first 365 days. meanwhile the stream of meetings continued with former texas governor rick perry said to be considered for energy vary or the va. former massachusetts senator scott brown let it be known he was interested in the va job as well....

Father-in-law? >> no, it has nothing to do with that. it has to do the fact that weve multiplied our digital readership by seven times at the same time our print and everyone elses is cratering. its totally related to how people consume news. >> what about the ownership of the paper? if kushner is to join the administration in some form will he give up his ownership of the organization? do we have any sense of that? >> jared will behave ethically and appropriately as he always does. he has a law...

Mild-mannered, very nice, well-bred. i think the assumption about him is hes not the sharpest tool in the box. >> thats not the assumption, frankly, thats what youre finding out? >> thats what im finding out. i think there are reports that his father gave a large donation to get him into harvard, his grades were not stellar before then, he took over his fathers business when his father was behind bars, he married ivanka, and now he somehow wound up as one -- >> what do we know about -- theres a ...

Then jared kushner responded. he wrote an editorial in the new york observer on july 6th and ill read a portion of it. in my opinion, accusations like racist and anti-semite are being thrown around with carelessness. i have personally seen my father-in-law embrace people of all racial and religious backgrounds in his company and his personal life. were you satisfied then that jared kushners response to your open letter? >> i wasnt. i was hopeful that mr. kushner and his role in the administratio...

Grown up around the real estate industry. they both understand how to pivot. they both feel the same way about the media. one of the things i reported was that jarrett was not well liked by his new room and he didnt care particularly. >> and hes a member of the media. >> he -- hes an owner and i think he sees that very clearly. he was in it -- he owned new york observer because he was sort of interested to see if he could modernize it, and interestingly in the last few days, the observer has jus...

To be doing. >> reporter: a trump spokeswoman says thats never been discussed. one source close to the trump transition team tells cnn jared kushner had nothing to do with pushing out chris christies allies. kushner himself did not comment for our story. brian todd, cnn, washington. >> so what role will jared kushner play in trumps administration? lets discuss. entertainment writer for the new york observer, new york observer is owned by jared kushner. nice to see you again. >> thank you so much...

Got him into harvard. hes had a couple of unsuccessful big splashes in the real estate business, unsuccessful. the observer has not been successful, but by anybodys measure, hes been a very effective member of this campaign. hes supposed to be a very decent guy who only spends time with his family and his work, has very few friends his own age, a very serious guy. my question is still, is what are his credibility there. and i think the more he stays as kind of the emperor behind oz and very, ver...

Serve the country so well? >> first, i see jared as like the alexander hamilton of the new administration. im not saying hes going in or not going in, but this is a 35-year-old guy. remember how young alexander hamilton was when he was advising george washington. >> thee was an academic. >> so is jared. hes one of the smart stz guys i have met. >> why would you call him an academic. he runs the new york observer? >> why would i call him an academic? he went to harvard. hes a well studied guy. he...