Turning to political events in his home state, Dolan addressed the ongoing sexting scandal surrounding New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner. The cardinal admitted he has been watching closely as the controversy unfolds but said, “I ought to take a page from Pope Francis and say … I don’t want to judge anybody.” “I think redemption is always possible and always God’s preference,” he added.

“The people who know the most about chemical weapons in the United States say that what is scary about Syria is not just the presence of chemical stockpiles …it’s the the technical knowledge and training and know-how and the delivery system required to deliver those weapons,” Logan said Tuesday on “CBS This Morning.” “Nobody knows yet who’s going to win the peace in Syria,” she added, “It might very well be al Qaeda.” The threat is “dangerous enough for the Deputy Director of the CIA to say there are more foreign fighters flooding into Syria to fight for al Qaeda today than there ever were at the height of the war with Iraq,” Logan said on “CBS This Morning.” Many of the fighters now based in Syria likely came from Afghanistan, North Africa, Yemen and Iraq, where they learned to fight the U.S., Logan explained August 5, 2019

President Bashar Assad’s government initially asked the U.N. to investigate an alleged chemical weapons attack on March 19 on the village of Khan al Assal outside the embattled city of Aleppo, which was captured by the rebels last month. The government and rebels blame each other for the purported attack which killed at least 30 people. Britain, France and the U.S. followed with allegations of chemical weapons use in Homs, Damascus and elsewhere. U.N. Mideast envoy Robert Serry told the Security Council last month that the U.N. has received 13 reports of alleged chemical weapons use in Syria. On June 13, the United States said it had conclusive evidence that Assad’s regime had used chemical weapons against opposition forces. That crossed what President Barack Obama had called a “red line” and prompted a U.S. decision to send arms and ammunition to the opposition. But agreement on a U.N. investigation was delayed for months because Syria wanted to limit the probe to Khan al-Assal and the secretary-general, backed by the U.S., Britain and France, insisted on a broader investigation. The U.N. gave approval for the probe on July 31 following an “understanding” reached with Syria during a visit to Damascus by U.N. disarmament chief Angela Kane and Swedish expert Ake Sellstrom, the team’s leader, that three sites where chemical weapons were allegedly used would be investigated. One site is Khan al Assal, but the locations of the other two incidents are being kept secret for safety reasons. For the past two weeks, the Syrian government and the U.N. have been trying to agree on arrangements for the investigation. The U.N. team completed preparations for the visit over the weekend in The Hague, Netherlands, but its departure was delayed because of differences over details of the investigation. Following Wednesday’s agreement, U.N. deputy spokesman Eduardo del Buey said “the departure of the team is now imminent,” but he provided no specific date. Under the agreement with Syria, the team will remain in the country for “up to 14 days, extendable upon mutual consent” to “conduct activities, “including on-site visits,” del Buey said. He said U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is pleased that agreement has been reached “to ensure the proper, safe and efficient conduct of the mission.” The secretary-general believes an effective investigation of allegations can serve as “an important deterrent” against the use of chemical weapons, del Buey said. “Our goal remains a fully independent and impartial inquiry,” he said. Del Buey said “the overwhelming support of the international community for this investigation makes clear that the use of chemical weapons by any side under any circumstances would constitute an outrageous crime.” The investigation team includes about 10 experts from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which is based in The Hague, and the World Health Organization, based in Geneva. Del Buey said Ban expressed appreciation to the Syrian government for its cooperation and to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons for its support of the mission. August 4, 2019

Whether it was a world-renowned beauty like Cindy Crawford . . . “What I always say is the way Herb photographed you is the way that you wished you looked when you got up in the morning,” Crawford said . . . . . . or singer-songwriter k.d. lang . . . “I think Herb had a way of understanding how to exude the beauty within,” lang said. “I really do. He knew the balance of the soul and the body, and where the beauty was.” “I presume there got to be a point where people really wanted him to take their picture?” asked Braver. “Oh, absolutely,” said Charles Churchward, a former design director at Conde Nast. “You know, everybody wanted him to take their picture!” Ritts’ friend Churchward thought it was time for a book that celebrated the man as well as the work. “I think people want to know more about who’s behind the camera and something about them,” Churchward said. “And I think that’s what makes them last. And that’s why I wrote the book.” Churchward said that Ritts, who grew up in L.A., introduced a new kind of glamour photography. “Herb had been raised with light, with the beaches, with the sun,” he said. “Everybody before that was in the studio shooting and controlling everything. Suddenly he was able to take the same things outside and make people more natural and yet still have that glamour.” Ritts’ photo of his pal Richard Gere – snapped while the two of them were waiting for a tire to be changed – helped launch both their careers in 1978. Ritts once told CBS News, “Three months later, Vogue, Esquire, Mademoiselle had run all the images from the gas station that I’d taken, which was kind of interesting. And I got paid for it.” Soon, he was getting photographing everyone, from Tom Cruise to Julia Roberts . . . hanging out at Vanity Fair’s Oscar party . . . and hosting his own celebrity-studded birthday bashes. In fact Cindy Crawford and Richard Gere (who were married for 4 years) met at one of Herb’s parties. She said Ritts was just fun to be around: “I mean, he was a mensch,” Crawford said. “I don’t know if you know that word. But he’s just a good guy. He was a total sweetheart. He loved people.” She still remembers the shoot for one of his most famous pictures . . . a bevy of supermodels. “The girls, we were jokingly [calling] it ‘Naked Twister,'” Crawford said. “And I think Herb knew all of us individually, and was friendly with all of us, and that there was a comraderie.” Another Ritts pal talked him into branching out. “Madonna suggested to Herb that he photograph one of her videos,” said Churchward, “and he never did anything like that. But he was game to try anything.” They made her “Cherish” video, and he shot “In the Closet” for Michael Jackson. But it’s his photographs that will be remembered most . . . on display recently at L.A.’s Fahey/Klein Gallery, where an overflow crowd gathered to remember their old friend, and his world. August 6, 2019

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