Names and faces
■ Hip surgery in May slowed down former President Jimmy Carter — just a bit. But a bum hip has nothing to do with the hand he uses to hammer, and that means — for the 36th consecutive year — the former president and his wife, Rosalynn, are scheduled to build houses for Habitat for Humanity. From Oct. 6-11, the Carters will be in Nashville, Tenn., helping to construct 21 homes. Add that to the more than 4,300 they have helped build in 14 countries since 1984. “There have been many times when people have tried to count President Carter out, and they have never been right,” said Bryan Thomas, a spokesman for Habitat for Humanity International. “We are excited that they will both back.” Carter was not available for comment, but a spokesman for the Carter Center confirmed that the Carters are planning to attend and participate in the build. Carter, 94, broke his hip this spring when he fell at his Plains, Ga., home while he was on his way to go turkey hunting. The first week after his surgery, he was forced to bow out of the Sunday School class he normally teaches. But he’s made a quick recovery and returned to teaching at Maranatha Baptist Church less than a month later.
■ CNN announced Friday that it had hired former FBI acting director Andrew McCabe as a contributor, drawing a swift backlash from conservatives, including President Donald Trump’s eldest son and a representative of Trump’s reelection campaign. McCabe, who authorized an investigation into Trump over allegations of ties to Russia and possible obstruction of justice, was fired in March 2018 after the Justice Department inspector general found he made an unauthorized disclosure to the media and lied to investigators about it. Earlier this month, McCabe filed a lawsuit against the FBI and the Justice Department, alleging he was illegally demoted and fired as part of a plot by Trump to remove those who were not politically loyal to him. Allies of Trump seized on McCabe’s hiring Friday to take aim at CNN, a news organization that the president has repeatedly denigrated as “fake news.” “REMINDER: Andrew McCabe was fired by the FBI for leaking and getting caught lying about it,” Donald Trump Jr. tweeted. “ANOTHER REMINDER: CNN ceased being a ‘news organization; a long time ago. They’re now a fully integrated anti-Trump propaganda network and they don’t even try hiding it anymore.”