ENTERTAINMENT
NBC to air Jones interview despite efforts to ‘distract’
NEW YORK » NBC News vowed Friday to go ahead with Megyn Kelly’s report on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones Sunday, despite his “efforts to distract and ultimately prevent” its airing.
The network said that it remains “committed to giving viewers context and insight into a controversial and polarizing figure, how he relates to the president of the United States and influences others, and to getting this serious story right.”
The story, scheduled to air Sunday evening, has NBC being buffeted from both sides. Jonesm of Infowars.com, has said he believed it will be a “fraud,” and said he would release an unedited version of the interview that he recorded. Meanwhile, parents of children killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre have urged NBC not to give him airtime because he’s theorized the shooting could be a hoax.
Connecticut’s NBC affiliate, however, will not be airing the interview, according to an internal memo obtained Friday by The AP to NBC Connecticut staff members.
Meet a really, really fat cat
Weighing in at 35 pounds, this feline is at the Humane Rescue Alliance in D.C. and is need of a home.
Staffers of the humane rescue group posed with the 6-year-old fat cat and posted the pictures on social media.
In their post, they wrote, staff “has seen a lot — but we’ve never seen a 35 pound cat!” The cat is available for adoption at its New York Avenue location in Washington, D.C.
The Humane Rescue Alliance told Symba’s story:
The fat feline came last week to the facility. Officials said his owner moved to an assisted living center and couldn’t bring Symba with him.
The cat’s owner told the staff over the phone that Symba weighed nearly 40 pounds. The staff was surprised to hear that weight and “thought surely he must be overestimating,” they said in a blog that now tracks Symba’s life and new weight loss program.
But when Symba came to the humane rescue site, he hit the scales and weighed in at 35 pounds.
Staff described Symba as a “handsome fellow, with his sweet face and mellow disposition.”
Because of his obesity, Symba was given a detailed checkup, including a blood glucose test. It came back normal. But he’s about 15 pounds overweight so the alliance’s medical team said he is at an “increased risk of health complications.”
The average domestic house cat should ideally weigh between eight and 10 pounds, according to the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention.
Once he got settled at the shelter, the staff at the alliance got Symba on basically the cat version of “The Biggest Loser,” a TV show that tracks people’s weight loss in a contest.
“It’s difficult for him to walk at the moment, so staff are focusing on improving his diet and starting his physical activity slowly,” the staff said in its blog. Symba is starting a “short but consistent exercise routine.”
TODAY’S
Actor Peter Lupus is 85. Movie director Ken Loach is
81. Singer Barry Manilow is
74. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is 74. Comedian Joe Piscopo is 66.