was caused by an anti - Islam video was as " true " as the fact it was a terror strike , according to ex - CIA acting director Michael Morell . In an interview Sunday with ABC News ' " This Week , " Morell said " the video did play a role in that attack , and Republicans do n't want people to believe that . "
Trump ’s unpopularity is unprecedented , but even so , the United States is a highly partisan country , and having only 64 percent of your own party ’s voters take a favorable view of you — as Gallup found a week ago — is really low . While Trump ’s performance during the second and third debates was middling as judged by post - debate polls , he at least tossed his base plenty of red meat . And there ’s been less discussion recently of the videotape released on Oct. 8 that showed Trump condoning unwanted sexual contact toward women , or of the many women who came forward to accuse him of sexual assaultconflict.attack.selfdirectedbattle. Another potential issue is partisan nonresponse bias , the possible tendency of voters not to respond to surveys during periods of poor news coverage for their candidate , which can potentially exaggerate swings in the polls . I ’m personally somewhat agnostic about how serious a problem this is and whether there are good ways to adjust for it .
But since 2013 , when violent threats against gay activists in Tbilisi forced them to cancel a gay - pride parade in the Georgian capital , the slogan has appeared as spray - painted graffiti near Heroes Square in the city center alongside Nazi swastikas and racist slogans . Kiwi Cafe said on May 30 that it was continuing to work and was " ready to accept all customers regardless of their nationality , race , appearance , age , gender , sexual orientation , or religious views . " For now , it remains unclear whether the premeditated meat assaultconflict.attack.selfdirectedbattleagainst the vegan cafe was merely a prank against an alternative culture hangout that turned violent . But some Tbilisi residents are concerned that the xenophobic overtones of the violence at Kiwi Cafe , taken together with the march by right - wing nationalists in Tbilisi just three days earlier , could mark the emergence of organized political actions by Georgian ultranationalists . With reporting by RFE / RL 's Georgian Service
The release would , the messaging indicated , prove that Secretary Clinton had , in fact , laid open U.S. secrets to foreign interception by putting highly - classified Government reports onto a private server in violation of U.S. law , and that , as suspected , the server had been targeted and hacked by foreign intelligence services . All of these revelations have the feel of an October Surprise , and should the claims made by Julian Assange and the Russian government prove legitimate , this October Surprise could cause a November Defeat . Obviously aware of this , Clinton ’s Republican challenger , Donald Trump , has ramped up his rhetoric regarding Clinton ’s responsibility for the deadly assaultconflict.attack.selfdirectedbattleon Benghazi and her failure to produce e - mails and to prove they were not sent on unsecure servers in violation of U.S. law . He may need the help , as the latest national poll has Clinton ahead of Trump nationwide by 12 points . Should Assange and Russia come through with their promise to publish evidence of Clinton ’s willful disregard of federal law in the use of private servers to transfer classified data , Hillary Clinton ’s lead in the polls could be very short - lived .
Less than a week after denying at a presidential debate that he had engaged in the sort of sexual assaultconflict.attack.selfdirectedbattleof which he boasted in the now infamous “ Access Hollywood ” tape , Donald Trump was confronted this week with a series of statements from women who said , yes , he had groped or kissed them against their will . The reports exacerbated the problem Trump created by his gross and demeaning language about women , not just in the “ Access Hollywood ” tape but on countless occasions . As First Lady Michelle Obama powerfully put it on Thursday : “ The shameful comments about our bodies , the disrespect of our intelligence , the belief you can do anything to a woman : It is cruel .
Image copyright AFP Image caption Smoke billows after an air strike on Jarablus Syrian rebels , backed by the Turkish military and US air cover , say they have taken the town of Jarablus from jihadists of so - called Islamic State . The assaultconflict.attack.selfdirectedbattlebegan at dawn when Turkish warplanes , tanks and special forces personnel crossed the nearby border . Rebel commanders said most of the IS militants subsequently retreated . Turkey says its intervention is targeting both IS fighters and a Syrian Kurdish - led alliance that is attempting to advance on Jarablus .
" Maybe , maybe not . I think that it 's completely up in the air now , and so the result of the nomination process has no political legitimacy . " Assange remains in exile in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to avoid prosecution on sexual assaultconflict.attack.selfdirectedbattlecharges in Sweden . He denies the charges .
A Kurdish - Arab alliance has announced the launch of a military campaign against IS north of Raqaa . " With the participation of all SDF [ Syrian Democratic Forces ] units , we start this operation to liberate northern Raqaa " province , the SDF said on Twitter , quoting Kurdish commander Rojda Felat . The assaultconflict.attack.selfdirectedbattlewill be supported by air strikes from the US - led coalition bombing IS in Iraq and Syria , it added . The Iranian Al - Alam news website carried reports earlier this month that " Syrian allied forces " had cut off IS supply lines between Raqqa and Homs by taking over four hills overlooking the Shaer gas fields held by IS . But Mr Tack counters that IS supply lines to Raqqa are holding .