A former pro football player who serves on the National Rifle Association board was paid $400,000 by the group in recent years for public outreach and firearms training. Another board member, a writer in New Mexico, collected more than $28,000 for articles in NRA publications. Yet another board member sold ammunition from his private company to the NRA for an undisclosed sum. The NRA, which has been rocked by allegations of exorbitant spending by top executives, also directed money in recent years that went to board members   the very people tasked with overseeing the organization's finances. In all, 18 members of the NRA's 76-member board, who are not paid as directors, collected money from the group during the past three years, according to tax filings, state charitable reports and NRA correspondence reviewed by The Washington Post. The payments received by about one-quarter of board members, the extent of which has not previously been reported, deepen questions about the rigor of the board's oversight as it steered the country's largest and most powerful gun rights group, according to tax experts and some longtime members. The NRA, founded in 1871 to promote gun safety and training, relies heavily on its 5 million members for dues. Some supporters are rebelling publicly and questioning its leadership. Subscribe to the Post Most newsletter: Today's most popular stories on The Washington Post "I will be the first person to get in your face about defending the Second Amendment, but I will not defend corruption and cronyism and fearmongering," said Vanessa Ross, a Philadelphia-area bakery owner and lifetime NRA member who previously worked at the Virginia headquarters managing a program for disabled shooters. Among the revelations that have burst into public view: CEO Wayne LaPierre racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in charges at a Beverly Hills clothing boutique and on foreign travel, invoices show. Oliver North, forced out as president after trying to oust LaPierre, was set to collect millions of dollars in a deal with the NRA's now-estranged public relations agency, Ackerman McQueen, according to LaPierre. And the NRA's outside attorney reaped "extraordinary" legal fees that totaled millions of dollars in the past year, according to North. The dueling allegations, coupled with multimillion-dollar shortfalls in recent years and an ongoing investigation by the New York attorney general, threaten the potency of the NRA, long a political juggernaut and a close ally of President Trump. The NRA said its finances are healthy and that the allegations of misspending are unfounded. In a statement last month, a dozen board members said they have "full confidence in the NRA's accounting practices and commitment to good governance." LaPierre declined to comment. The gun rights organization's board includes firearms industry executives, conservative leaders, gun enthusiasts, and a handful of sports and entertainment celebrities. Among its members, whose names are not listed on the NRA website, are former Republican congressman Bob Barr of Georgia, basketball star Karl Malone and Joe Allbaugh, who served as the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the George W. Bush administration. (The three are not among the directors the NRA reported paying.) After learning about the money his fellow board members received, Malone said he was concerned. "If these allegations are correct and 18 board members received pay, you're damn right I am," he said. "If it's correct, the members who pay their dues should be damn concerned, too." The NRA does not require board members to donate or raise funds for the group, as many nonprofit organizations do. They do not have term limits. State and federal laws allow members of nonprofit boards to do business with their organizations under certain guidelines. The Internal Revenue Service can impose penalties if top officials and their families receive economic benefits that exceed fair market value. Tax experts said the numerous payments to certain NRA directors create potential conflicts of interest that could cloud the board's independent monitoring of the organization's finances. "In 25 years of working in this field, I have never seen a pattern like this," said Douglas Varley, a Washington attorney at Caplin & Drysdale who specializes in tax-exempt organizations and reviewed the NRA's federal and state filings from 2016 through 2018 for The Washington Post. "The volume of transactions with insiders and affiliates of insiders is really astonishing." Related video: How the NRA weaponized the Second Amendment (provided by NBC News) Varley said he did not see any apparent violations of the law, and noted that the NRA, for the most part, appeared to have properly disclosed the payments. "But the pattern raises a threshold question of who the organization is serving," he said. "Is it being run for the benefit of the gun owners in the country and the public? Or is it being run as a business generating enterprise for officers and employees of the organization?" NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam said that the number of financial relationships between directors and the NRA is "small," considering the size of the board and the organization. He called the gun rights movement "a close-knit community comprised of partners and vendors who understand the issue and are defenders of the Second Amendment." Because gun-control groups have pressured companies into not doing business with the NRA, Arulanandam said, "the pool becomes smaller. Therefore, connections between employees or board members and partners are not unusual." William Brewer, an outside attorney for the NRA, said business arrangements with directors are approved "where appropriate" by the board's audit committee. "Naturally, there are occasions where the NRA engages vendors who have a connection to NRA executives, employees or board members   but only when such an association works in the best interest of the organization and its members," he said. The NRA provided The Post with a copy of its conflict-of-interest policy, which states that approval by the audit committee is not required for minor transactions, reimbursement of expenses or "transactions and activities undertaken in the ordinary course of business by NRA staff." According to the policy, board members "owe a duty of loyalty to the NRA and must act in good faith and in the NRA's best interests rather than in their own interests or the interests of another entity or person." Board members who spoke to The Post defended their ability to serve as fiscal watchdogs while also collecting fees. Former president David Keene, who has been paid $112,000 by the group for public speaking and consulting since 2017, said he has "never hesitated to exercise the oversight required of a board member and would gladly give up any compensation if I thought for a minute it was compromising my judgment or responsibility." "NRA board members as a group tend to be both forthright and bullheaded, so I cannot imagine any of them would let a few dollars affect their judgment," he added. Financial 'crisis' allegations In late April, the NRA's annual meeting was getting underway in Indianapolis when members of the board received an alarming letter from LaPierre, who has run the gun lobby for decades. In it, he wrote that North had warned that the group's longtime public relations firm, Ackerman McQueen, was going to release information alleging "a devastating account of our financial status." LaPierre said North indicated that the missive would not be sent if LaPierre resigned. The NRA chief hinted that North was compromised   conflicted between his duties to the board and his personal financial interests, noting that the retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel had signed a contract with Ackerman to host an NRA documentary series for "millions of dollars annually." "I believe our Board and devoted members will see this for what it is: a threat meant to intimidate and divide us," LaPierre concluded. The next day, North was forced to resign. But in a parting letter, he warned that the organization's finances were in "clear crisis." The board sided with LaPierre, reelecting him unanimously, according to NRA officials. "We have full confidence in Wayne LaPierre and the work he's doing in support of the NRA and its members," said Carolyn D. Meadows, who replaced North as president. Attorneys for North declined to comment. Since then, the NRA has faced a steady drip of allegations about improper spending. Letters from Ackerman's chief financial officer to LaPierre, first reported by the Wall Street Journal and obtained by The Post, detailed large expenses billed by LaPierre, including nearly $275,000 in personal charges at a Beverly Hills men's store and more than $253,000 in luxury travel to locations such as Italy, Budapest and the Bahamas. Bills also show $13,800 to rent an apartment for a summer intern. In another letter , North warned top officials that huge fees charged by the Brewer law firm   which he said appeared to total $24 million in the previous 13 months   were "draining NRA cash at mind-boggling speed." Brewer is the son-in-law of Angus McQueen, the CEO of the NRA's longtime ad firm. In the wake of the revelations, Retired Army Lt. Col. Allen West, a former Republican congressman from Florida and two-term NRA board member, called for LaPierre to resign, describing "a cabal of cronyism." NRA officials said that LaPierre's wardrobe allowance began 15 years ago and that he was urged by Ackerman to make the purchases for his public appearances, a practice that they said has since been discontinued. They said his travel was necessary for fundraising. The apartment was secured for a three-month summer internship when university housing typically used was unavailable, the NRA said. NRA officials also said that North's memo describing the legal fees paid to the Brewer firm was "inaccurate." "It reflects a misinformed view of the firm, its billings, and its advocacy for the NRA," said Charles L. Cotton, chairman of the NRA's audit committee. "The board supports the work the firm is doing." Brewer did not respond to a request for comment on his fees. The swirl of allegations is being driven by the NRA's increasingly acrimonious split from Ackerman, an Oklahoma-based firm that, with affiliated companies, received about $40 million from the nonprofit group in 2017, according to tax filings. Ackerman has produced provocative ads and television shows that increasingly marked a departure from the NRA's traditional focus on gun rights. The gun lobby and the PR agency have sued each other in recent months, accusing one another of improper billing and deceit. In a statement, Ackerman said it "followed the explicit directions" of NRA officials. The company said the NRA conducted an audit of its payments nearly every year and can justify all of its billings. "They could challenge any invoice, but they did not," the company said. The NRA has accused Ackerman of concealing records, which the firm denies, and breaching confidentiality by leaking information. The feud comes amid an investigation by New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, into the tax-exempt status of the organization, which is chartered in New York. As part of the probe, her office has issued subpoenas to the NRA, as well as orders to NRA entities and vendors to preserve records, according to people familiar with the investigation. Brewer, the NRA's outside attorney, said the group complies with all regulations and is cooperating with the inquiry. "The NRA is prepared for this, and has full confidence in its accounting practices and commitment to good governance," he said. Amid the turmoil, much of the NRA board has remained silent   or defended LaPierre's spending. "This is stale news   being recycled by those with personal agendas. In any event, the entire board is fully aware of these issues," Meadows said in a statement. The organization has not hired an outside firm to conduct an investigation into the allegations of misspending, a measure that legal experts note is often taken by nonprofit boards in such situations. Brewer said NRA practices are already under "constant review" by top officials and the board. Instead, NRA leaders claim gun-control advocates are ginning up the controversies to sabotage the organization. "Our financial house is in order   we aren't going away," read a May 22 letter to members signed by Meadows and 11 other board members, many of them past presidents. But some longtime NRA members are losing faith in the leadership   and considering walking away from the organization. "You have these facts coming to light, what to most NRA members seem very unreasonable amounts spent on luxuries and conveniences," said NRA member and firearms trainer Robert Pincus of Florida. "And at the same time you have the NRA cold-calling and fundraising, claiming they are going to go bankrupt if they don't get money to fight New York state," Pincus said. "Then you have the [new] president saying they are in great financial shape, all the financial problems of the past have been fixed. Those three messages don't all go together." 'Nothing nefarious' Federal and state filings show that the NRA has turned to its board members for a variety of paid services in the past three years   including to bring in new members. Attorneys who specialize in nonprofit organizations said it is unusual for board members to be paid membership commissions for recruitment. "Most groups lean on board members to give money, not for board members to get money," said New York lawyer Daniel Kurtz. "I think the contributing public would look at that with a dim eye." Among those paid such commissions was board member Owen Mills, who runs Gunsite Academy, an Arizona firearms training facility, which received about $11,000 in 2016 and 2017. Mills defended the financial ties between board members and the NRA, saying they should be able to do business with the group as long as their prices are competitive. "There's nothing nefarious about it," Mills said. "The NRA buys a lot of stuff. And so it wouldn't be unusual to do business with your board members, and all of that is open to the public process." Since 2016, large sums have flowed to board members for consulting, public filings show. NRA officials provided additional details about the specifics of some of the work they did. Lance Olson, a former police officer from Iowa, received a total of $255,000 for outreach to gun collectors and fundraising, and Dave Butz, a former NFL player, received $400,000 for public outreach and firearms training, according to the NRA. Olson did not respond to requests for comment. Butz, who was not reelected to the board in April, declined to comment. A firm run by White House communications aide Mercedes Schlapp, who resigned from the board when she joined the administration in 2017, received a total of $85,000 in 2016 and 2017 for media strategy consulting. She did not respond to requests for comment. Schlapp's ability to represent the organization in Spanish-language media "made her firm highly qualified," the NRA said. Longtime director and former NRA president Marion Hammer received at least $610,000 in the past three years for consulting services and legislative lobbying in Florida. Hammer declined to comment. In a statement, the group called her a "tireless supporter of the NRA's fight to protect the Second Amendment." Director Bart Skelton, a writer in New Mexico, received at least $28,750 over three years to produce articles for NRA publications and $6,550 in compensation in 2017. He did not respond to requests for comment. NRA director and rock performer Ted Nugent's company received $50,000 for appearances at the 2016 NRA convention, while director and country music singer Craig Morgan's company got $23,500 for musical performances. Neither responded to requests for comment. In other cases, the NRA paid businesses run by members of its board. The NRA Foundation, the group's charitable arm, bought nearly $3.1 million in ammunition and other supplies in 2017 from Crow Shooting Supply, a business controlled by director and past president Pete Brownell. NRA officials and Brownell say the group began purchasing supplies from Crow before Brownell took over the company in 2011. However, the first time the foundation disclosed the contract in tax filings was in 2017, as the Wall Street Journal first reported . NRA officials said the foundation made the disclosure in 2017 "in an effort to provide greater visibility regarding the Foundation's mission and activities." A spokesman for Brownell, who announced last week that he was stepping down from the board to focus on his business, said the contract was vetted by the audit committee. "Crow is one of the only wholesalers in the country who can meet the programs' volume and shipping needs," spokesman Ryan Repp said. "Pete takes his ethical obligations seriously," adding that Brownell abstained from voting on issues that directly affected his business. The amount of money collected by one board member remains unknown because she was paid by Ackerman, the NRA's marketing agency. Julie Golob, a gun activist in Kansas City, Mo., hosts and consults for NRA video programming produced by the firm, according to internal documents. She declined to comment on how much she is paid or on her dual roles as NRA director and subcontractor. The NRA has said the arrangement was approved by the audit committee and that Golob does not participate in discussions related to Ackerman. In addition to the 18 board members paid in recent years, the NRA also reported paying an undisclosed amount to a son of board member James Porter, a former president of the group. The son, who works for the Bradley law firm, has been involved in extensive litigation involving guns, according to his biograph y. Neither father nor son responded to requests for comment. Another director, Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), received thousands of dollars in donations from the NRA's political arm to his campaign. Young did not respond to a request for comment. Challenges on many fronts Longtime NRA members said they are worried that allegations of insider dealing and big spending at the NRA could create the appearance of impropriety. "The NRA cannot afford to give fodder to the public and to the media that we are anything but above board," said Tiffany Johnson, a firearms instructor in Memphis and lifetime member. "We can't give anybody any reason to even intimate that we have impermissible conflicts of interest, that there is self-dealing." Compounding the situation are signs that the NRA's finances are under strain. Public filings show that the gun rights group   which spent $31 million to help elect Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, more than any other outside group   had a more than $17 million shortfall in 2017, the most recent tax filing available. That year, it collected nearly $312 million in revenue. NRA officials said the organization is "on budget" this year and "meeting all banking and supplier obligations." But it is under intensifying scrutiny in Congress, where Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee have been examining the group's ties to Russia. That inquiry has expanded to include the allegations of self-dealing. Meanwhile, the turmoil at the NRA has benefited some other gun rights organizations, which said they have seen an uptick in memberships and contributions. "In recent months we have seen an over 20 percent increase in support," said Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation and chair of its sister organization, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. He said donors are giving in response to "reports of lavish spending" at the NRA and the support for gun control among Democratic presidential contenders. NRA directors say the current fracas has been overblown and will not inflict long-term damage. "We are the most influential body representing firearms owners in the world," said Mills, the director from Arizona, "and we will survive this little speed bump and come out all the stronger and remain the guardian of civil rights." Alice Crites, Anu Narayanswamy and Julie Tate contributed to this report.


One of the most luxurious trains in the world is getting an upgrade. As of 2020, the iconic Venice Simplon-Orient-Express will boast three swanky new "Grand Suites" that are the epitome of timeless glamour. The new additions, which cost around $7,800 per person a night, are named after three cities the train serves, Vienna, Prague and Budapest. Each has been designed to reflect the destination it's named for. The Vienna suite has a classical feel, with rich hues of gold and emerald green, silk fabric panels and elements of dark wood, while the Prague suite is decorated in maroon and gold colors and features hand-embroidered cushions and mosaic patterns. Art Deco glamour Finally, the Budapest suite is reminiscent of both Gothic and Ottoman architecture, with intricately carved woodwork throughout. Vienna, Prague and Budapest, which join the Venice, Istanbul and Paris suites, also boast private bathrooms with showers, double beds, a private living area and underfloor heating, as well as free-flowing champagne and a personal 24-hour cabin steward. "As with everything on board the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, the design and careful restoration that goes into each suite, whilst respecting the original 1920s Art Deco design, is extraordinary," says Gary Franklin, vice president of trains & cruises at Belmond , the company that operates the train. "Each meticulous suite will draw inspiration from the romance, adventure and style of each great European city we travel to. "They are a real tribute to the romance and glamor of Europe and the golden era of rail travel." Vintage train The award-winning first set of Grand Suites were introduced in 2018, offering the much-lauded service's first en-suite facilities. Prior to this, guests had to make do with the washbasins in the cabins onboard the Belmond British Pullman carriages. Whether staying in one of the grand suites or a cabins, all travelers have access to three dining carriages, a champagne bar, and most importantly, fabulous views along the breathtaking journey across Europe. The iconic Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, which famously provided the inspiration for Agatha Christie's "Murder on the Orient Express", travels throughout Europe from March to November and visits Istanbul once a year.


SACRAMENTO (CBS13)   The Sacramento Kings will hold free auditions for the new, co-ed 916 Crew at the end of June. The team announced last month it would replace the female-only Kings Dancers with the 916 Crew, which will focus on hip-hop performances. The move caught many Kings Dancers off-guard and they will need to audition for the new 916 Crew. Tuesday, the Kings announced three dance studios will choreograph its routines for next season. Dance Elite All Stars, Hype Dance Studio, and Kast Academy of the Arts all have Kings connections: Dance Elite All Stars is owned by former Kings Dancer, Faith Knappenberger; Hype Dance Studio's owner, Sarah Schneeweis, choreographed Kings Dancers routines for 15 years; and Kast Academy of the Arts is co-owned by former Kings Dancer, Summer Turk. The three studios will hold a Master Class at the Kings Natomas Practice Facility on June 18. Interested participants can get more information about the audition process and learn new choreography. Auditions will take place at 6 pm on Friday, June 28 and 6 pm on Saturday, June 29 at the Natomas Practice Facility. Those interested in auditioning must be 18 by October 1, 2019. According to the team, those selected "will be employed by the Kings, perform explosive and high energy routines during Kings games and serve as ambassadors in the Sacramento region at community events and appearances."


(Bloomberg) -- An ideologically divided U.S. Supreme Court gave businesses more power to channel disputes into individual arbitration proceedings, siding with a lighting retailer trying to prevent its employees from pressing group claims stemming from a phishing attack. The 5-4 ruling said courts shouldn't allow class arbitration unless an agreement clearly authorizes that type of proceeding. It's the latest in a line of Supreme Court decisions that have backed arbitration and helped companies avoid the prospect of costly class actions filed by workers and consumers. "Neither silence nor ambiguity provides a sufficient basis for concluding that parties to an arbitration agreement agreed to undermine the central benefits of arbitration itself," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court. President Donald Trump's two appointees, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, joined the majority, along with Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. As with the earlier rulings, Roberts pointed to the 1925 Federal Arbitration Act, which says arbitration agreements must be enforced like any other contract. In dissent, Justice Elena Kagan said the majority had gone well beyond those previous rulings. She said the majority had nullified a "plain-vanilla rule of contract interpretation" that in California and other states requires an ambiguous agreement be read to favor the side that didn't write it. "Today's opinion is rooted instead in the majority's belief that class arbitration 'undermines the central benefits of arbitration itself,'" Kagan wrote. "But that policy view -- of a piece with the majority's ideas about class litigation -- cannot justify displacing generally applicable state law about how to interpret ambiguous contracts." The ruling is a victory for Lamps Plus Inc., reversing an appeals court ruling that interpreted its accord with its workers as allowing class arbitration. The phishing attack took place in 2016, when a Lamps Plus employee received what appeared to be an email from a colleague requesting copies of worker W-2 tax withholding forms. The duped employee responded by sending the forms of 1,300 workers. The company told the workers about the attack and offered a year of credit-monitoring services and identity counseling. But one of the workers, Frank Varela, said a fraudulent 2015 federal income tax return was filed in his name. Varela sued in federal court in California and sought class action status on behalf of his fellow workers. A federal trial judge said Varela had to take his claims to arbitration but could do so on a class basis. A federal appeals court affirmed, saying California state law required reading the contract to include the possibility of class arbitration. The case is Lamps Plus v. Varela, 17-988. (Updates with Kagan comment in fifth and sixth paragraphs.) To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Stohr in Washington at gstohr@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Laurie Asséo, Anna Edgerton For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com ©2019 Bloomberg L.P.


BOSTON (AP) -- Red Sox slugger J.D. Martinez is out of the starting lineup for the fourth straight game because of back tightness. Boston manager Alex Cora said Sunday the 31-year-old Martinez ''is feeling better, but he's not ready to play.'' Martinez has not started eight of the last 20 games. He missed four games in Toronto from May 21-23. Cora said the first two games were because of illness and the last two because of his back. Martinez hit .330 with 43 homers and a major league-leading 130 RBIs last year after signing a $110 million, five-year contract. He is batting .296 with 12 homers and 33 RBIs this season - down from .318 with 21 homers and 54 RBIs at this point last year. Boston also is without first basemen Mitch Moreland (strained right quadriceps) and Steve Pearce (lower back strain). --- More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports Related slideshow: 2019 MLB season (provided by imagn)


Reigning Dakar bikes champion Toby Price was robbed of a first major crown on four wheels by a rear gear failure on the Finke Desert Race. A six-time winner in the Finke bikes class, Price opted to focus on four wheels at this year's running of the Aussie outback classic to aid the recovery on his injured wrist . Running a Red Bull-backed Trophy Truck, Price and co-driver Jason Duncan made a perfect start to the event by shaving 3s off last year's pole time in the prologue. They then dominated the first 226-kilometre leg from Alice Springs to Finke, holding a 7m44s overnight lead. But the return leg ended in heartbreak for Price, a gearbox issue leaving his truck stranded at Bundooma checkpoint. "At the end of the day there were some positives we can take from this week, we had good fun until it came to a screaming halt," he said. "The only negative was that we didn't finish. "We showed we had the speed and can drive, but some small issues went wrong and we broke a third member. Basically the rear gears and diff housing, we sheared them all off by the sounds of it. "We lost drive to the wheels and that was it. "I'm annoyed, we still had a seven-minute lead, but the main thing is the crew is safe and we'll be back next year." Price's failure opened the way for Jack Rhodes and David Pullino to seal a maiden King of the Desert crown in the cars category, a significant turnaround after rolling their Jimco buggy during the prologue. Alice Springs local David Walsh took out his King of the Desert crown in the bikes class, the KTM rider with a five-minute advantage at the finish. "I'm blown away," said an emotional Walsh. "Words cannot describe how I feel right now. I'm just happy to have my family and friends here to help throughout the whole year… they're just amazing. "The work that goes into this and the backing I get from my wife and family is insane, so I think it is all worth it." Jack Rhodes and David Pullino, Jimco Buggy


"It was a horrible, horrible mistake," said Joanne Espinosa, the wife of "Gary" Gerardo Alberto Espinosa, 46, of Chantilly, who was shot and killed by a homeowner in Woodbine, Maryland early Monday morning. "Gary is the best husband, father. Wonderful person. Not violent," she said. She believes her husband went to the wrong house and thought it was their friend's house he was trying to enter. Charles Dorsey, 56, shot and killed Espinosa as he was trying to get inside Dorsey's home, according to Howard County Police. No charges have been filed at this time, but the incident is under investigation. Joanne Espinosa said she and her husband had gone to visit good friends who had recently moved to Maryland and were having a pool party. They planned to spend the night. She said she went to bed around midnight while her husband stayed up with two of the men. The shooting happened around 1:00 a.m. Joanne said she did not know her husband had been killed until 7:30 when she woke up. She said she went outside and found police officers who showed her a picture of her husband taken from a doorbell video and asked if that was her husband. "Maybe he went off the deck and was getting something from our vehicle or something. And when he was coming back got disoriented and actually went to the neighbor's house that has a pool. It was another house with a pool. So I think he thought the house he was trying to get into was our friend's house," said Joanne. It was the first time they had visited their friend, Mike Sweeney, she said. Howard County police detectives reviewed Dorsey's doorbell camera video. They did not release the video, but sent the following statement: "Gerardo Espinoza is seen banging on the front door of Charles Dorsey's home in the 14000 block of Carriage Mill Road around 1 a.m., July 21. The audio reveals that Espinoza is shouting profanity and threats, including 'I'm going to f--- you up,' and 'You want a piece of this s---.' Dorsey is heard yelling back from inside the house for the man to leave, while his wife is calling 911." Police said the video "shows Espinoza jostling the door handle in an attempt to get into the house. After a moment, the door releases and Espinoza is shot. Dorsey is heard on the video shouting, 'He pushed the door open, he pushed the door open.'" RELATED: Accused child killer claims self-defense, says he confronted Karon Brown, 11, after his stepson was jumped Joanne Espinosa believes her husband must have been joking, "I think that he thought the homeowner was our friend and that he was just playing a joke on him like he had locked the door and was messing with him," and he was just trying to get into the house so that he could go to bed, she said. Detectives are investigating the possibility that Espinoza may have mistakenly gone to the wrong house. Police are consulting with the state's attorney's office about the details of the case. No charges have been filed at this time. The investigation is ongoing. Joanne said she and Gary had been married 23 years and have two boys, aged 20 and 16. She said their boys were the light of her husband's life, and that Gary coached many of their sports teams. Gary Espinosa owned his own company, which was a recruiting firm for IT businesses, according to his sister-in-law. Download the brand new WUSA9 app here . Sign up for the Get Up DC newsletter : Your forecast. Your commute. Your news.


Popular diets like the keto diet, the Whole30, eating low carb, and eating low fat have some negative side effects you should be aware of. Hidden side effects of the most popular diets Before you take a medication , you probably are warned of the side effects. But when you turn to a diet to treat some aspect of your health, you aren't always awarded the same courtesy. People often see going on a diet as something common and casual. It's just a diet! What's the big deal? But diets come with their consequences, too. You're just not always warned about them. "Overall, dieting for the sake of weight loss or manipulating your body shape or size is not a harmless pursuit," says Cara Harbstreet, MS RD LD, of Street Smart Nutrition . "Yes, we can agree that there are many methods that can potentially result in short-term weight loss. No one is denying that there is efficacy behind some (not all) of these methods. However, what we need to also question is the long-term efficacy of dieting and the potential side effects." So just like you would before taking a new medication, it's important you read up on the side effects of the new diet you're considering. Click through the slideshow above for the hidden side effects of a few of the most popular diets   and of all diets in general. Low-carb Many diets discourage consumption of carbohydrates, including the Atkins diet , low-carb paleo diets and other diet plans . On these diets, there are some carbs consumed, though the majority of food eaten contains mostly protein and fats instead. Low-carb diets have been found to promote weight loss in numerous studies. Do your research on whether low-carb will promise the benefits you are looking for in your eating plan. However, it's also important to do your research on the alternative side; here are some of the side effects of low-carb diets. Low-carb: Low energy levels Carbohydrates are the body's preferred source of energy; if you limit them, you may feel the effect . Sugars and starches are utilized in a number of processes in the body. According to Ginger Hultin, spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and owner of ChampagneNutrition , lethargy is often a side effect of low-carb dieting. Low-carb: Difficulty concentrating Your brain prefers to use glucose in order to function properly, says registered dietitian Cheryl Mussatto . "If carbs are strictly reduced, the brain will be cut off from its main energy source, which can drastically alter brain functioning. One such change can occur with serotonin, a chemical produced by the brain. Serotonin regulates our sleep cycle , mood and appetite, all of which will be noticeably altered along with experiencing brain fog ." Low-carb: Hormonal changes Every person's carbohydrate needs are different, says registered dietitian Jillian Greaves . Certain low-carb diets may restrict carbs to a level that's too low. "If you're overly restricting carbohydrates, this is a form of stress on the body that can disrupt normal endocrine function," Greaves says. Your endocrine system, responsible for your hormones, is related to many other systems in the body. "This disruption may contribute to cravings , an irregular or stopped menstrual cycle, hypoglycemia, mood swings, anxiety , chronic fatigue, suppressed immune function and thyroid disturbances ." Low-carb: Less muscle growth If you aren't eating enough carbs, you might see fewer results after strength training at the gym . "Carbohydrates are important for building lean muscle, which is key for maintaining a healthy metabolism and for bone health," Greaves says. Your body needs carbohydrates to undergo a process called " muscle glycogen resynthesis ," which is an integral part of building muscle. Without an adequate supply, this process is going to occur much more slowly, which could stall your progress. Low-carb: Binge eating Your body prefers to use carbs for a number of basic brain functions; so eating too few of them can cause your brain to fight back. "Cutting out carbs through any low-carb diet (including paleo and keto ) can set a person up for binge eating in part because when we don't eat enough carbohydrates, our body releases a brain chemical called neuropeptide Y," says registered dietitian Julie Dillon . "This chemical's job is to tell our body to eat carbs   and eat them now ." When a person's brain is flooded with this chemical, it can result in an animal-like instinct to go crazy on carbs   attack a plate of brownies or eat an entire pizza , for example. "It can feel like every cell in your body is demanding carbs, which can lead you to feel that you lack willpower," Dillon explains. "But it has nothing to do with discipline. Rather, this neurochemical is trying to save your body from experiencing fainting, dizziness or worse!" Low-carb: Lower alcohol tolerance You might have heard the common advice to load up on carbs before a night of drinking. There's actually some science that supports this theory. Studies show that high-carb meals eaten before drinking can reduce blood alcohol content. If you cut down on carbs, you may find that you feel the effects of drinking more severely . Low-fat Low-fat diets have been popularly recommended for decades. These diets involve limiting foods with both unsaturated and saturated fats. Whether or not these diets are effective or healthy is highly controversial, especially in recent years, as evidence of the health benefits of fats accumulates. However, conclusions have not yet been drawn by the medical community. Regardless of whether or not there are benefits to a low-fat diet, here are some side effects you should know about. Low-fat: Increased hunger "Fat is a bit slower to digest than protein and carbs, so when you cut back on the fat in your diet you could find yourself feeling hungrier faster," explains Hultin. Eating meals with multiple nutrient groups, including fats, helps your body to remain satiated until your next meal. Low-fat: Vitamin deficiencies Certain vitamins, including vitamins A, D, E and K, are fat-soluble, meaning that your body needs fats in order to absorb them. If you do not have enough fats in your body, the vitamins you eat may pass through your system unabsorbed. This can result in nutrient deficiencies, which may cause other negative health effects . Low-fat: May harm cholesterol levels While it's true that too many saturated fats may not be great for your cholesterol, too little fat overall may also have a negative effect. Studies show that low-fat diets were associated with more of the "bad" cholesterol that could damage your arteries. Certain types of fatty foods , including olive oil, nuts and seeds, may actually help keep your cholesterol down and keep your heart healthy . Low-fat: Poor brain health High-fat foods such as avocados, nuts and oils are some of the top foods neurologists recommend eating for brain health . Your brain, which is actually made up of 80 percent fat, relies on dietary fats to function. If you don't eat enough of this nutrient, you may miss out on some of the brain-boosting benefits of dietary fats including better memory, lower risk of dementia and Alzheimer's, and better focus and concentration. Whole30 The Whole30 is a fad diet based on a book by Melissa and Dallas Hartwig that advocates for eliminating major food groups such as grains, legumes, soy and dairy, as well as added sugars and alcohol, for 30 days. It is similar to the paleo diet, but more restrictive. The diet became extremely popular and continues to receive thousands of tags on social media each year. Whole30: Poor relationship with food "This is far and away the top diet that people cite when they seek my support for disordered eating and healing their relationship with food," says Harbstreet of Street Smart Nutrition. "Often, this comes after multiple rounds of the 30-day program where they initially wanted to eat more healthfully but became increasingly disordered with each successive round. It's harmful because it's promoted as a 'lifestyle' not a diet, yet the food rules are rigid and inflexible and lack evidence to back up the sensational claims." The most common effects Harbstreet sees in patients are orthorexic behaviors   meaning an unhealthy obsession with "healthy" eating. Additionally, those who complete the 30 days of dieting often report feeling large amounts of anxiety once the 30 days are over. Transitioning back into eating normally without fearing certain foods can be extremely stressful for the dieter. Whole30: Social isolation Though it may not be the first thing you think of when you think of your health (what with all the restaurant food and alcohol involved), your social life is an integral part of your well-being. Since the Whole30 diet is so restrictive, it can eliminate (or at least complicate) the possibility of participating in many social outings and occasions. This is also true of other restrictive diet plans such as intermittent fasting, which only allows you to eat during certain time windows, and other diets that eliminate large food groups. "Dinner dates, drinks with friends and snacks at ball games or movies all become obsolete if you're keeping a strict schedule," says Hultin. "As a registered dietitian, I want my clients to have flexibility with their food and eating schedules, so it's important for someone to think about their lifestyle when considering a diet." Keto diet The keto diet is a popular diet trend based on the idea that if you eat a small enough number of carbohydrates, your body will be forced to burn fat for energy in a state called ketosis. On the diet, you can eat large amounts of fatty foods and animal proteins, but can only eat very small amounts of foods that are sources of sugar , such as fruit, grains and vegetables with carbohydrates like sweet potatoes or carrots. Whether or not the keto diet is actually safe , many have turned to the diet (which originated as a last-resort treatment for epilepsy in children) in order to lose weight. However, this diet can cause a number of other reactions in the body . Here are some side effects you should know. Keto diet: Risk for heart health The keto diet is built around the idea that by eating mostly protein and fats and an extremely low number of carbs, the body will be forced to burn fat for fuel. However, this level of restriction is difficult to achieve. "Most people are probably not actually getting into ketosis, and are eating a lot of dietary fat without burning fat for fuel," explains registered dietitian Glenys Oyston . "The potential for harm to heart health can be high, especially if people are including a lot of saturated fats." Many keto dieters eat large amounts of foods high in saturated fats such as bacon and butter, while skimping on heart-healthy foods such as fruit and whole grains. Keto diet: Constipation Dietary fiber, which is found in whole grains, fruits and many other carbohydrate-rich foods eschewed by the keto diet, is essential for maintaining proper digestion. Cutting many of these foods from your diet to remain in ketosis may back things up. One study testing the efficacy of the keto diet to manage epilepsy in children showed that a majority of patients on the keto diet complained of constipation. Keto diet: Weaker bones "The keto diet may weaken bones," says Oyston. "Ketone bodies may make the blood too acidic, causing calcium to be leached from the bones to neutralize the acidity." Ketone bodies are released into the bloodstream when the body is in ketosis. This lack of calcium can put the dieter at risk for weak bones that result in bone fractures or, eventually, osteoporosis. Keto diet: Acid reflux "The keto diet may be hard on digestion, as many people find a high-fat diet aggravates acid reflux," says Oyston. Eating large amounts of cheese, red meat and these other common heartburn triggers could become really painful. Keto diet: Bad breath Some people who try the keto diet notice that their breath smells like nail polish remover . This is a side effect of ketosis that can be seriously unpleasant. Besides ketosis, other scenarios that may cause this chemical change include fasting, starvation, prolonged and intense exercise, alcoholism and untreated Type 1 diabetes. Some people also notice an unpleasant vaginal odor that occurs for similar reasons. This is a side effect referred to as "keto crotch." It's thought by some gynecologists and dietitians that the same chemicals that cause "keto breath" cause a pH change in the vagina that causes the smell, though this theory has never been thoroughly studied. Keto diet: Keto flu Many who try the keto diet experience a set of symptoms referred to as the "keto flu." In some studies , the keto flu afflicted over a third of those who attempted the diet. Symptoms vary, but they generally include nausea, vomiting, constipation, diarrhea, headache, irritability, weakness, muscle cramps and soreness, dizziness, poor concentration, stomach pain, difficulty sleeping and sugar cravings . Reportedly, the symptoms subside after a week or two, but some people don't shake them off as quickly. Low-calorie Many people believe that limiting their calorie intake to a certain number will help to prevent overeating and aid in weight loss. Limiting calories imposes a limit of available energy to the body. Some believe that this will then influence the body to burn fat cells instead of calories from food. While this may be true in the short term, there are some aspects to calorie counting and restricting food intake that they may not be taking into account. "The hidden side effects of dieting and energy restriction may not become apparent for months or years afterwards, so this approach is especially worrisome when it's treated in a very cavalier fashion," says Harbstreet. Here are a few of the potential consequences to consider before you try it. Low-calorie: Slower metabolism Many people believe in the philosophy "calories in, calories out," but this theory fails to take metabolism into account. "Calorie restriction triggers our bodies' survival mechanism," explains registered dietitian Alissa Rumsey . "When you eat too few calories, your body thinks you are starving so it decreases your metabolism and increases fat storage." This habit is one of many that could slow down your metabolism over time . Low-calorie: Food preoccupation The Minnesota Starvation Experiment , conducted in the 1940s, revealed groundbreaking information about how calorie deprivation affects the human brain. "It demonstrated that a lower calorie intake provokes the mind to overly think about food," explains Dillon. Even years after the study had ended and participants again began eating a higher number of calories, participants who had been limited to diets of 1500 calories per day found they felt fixated on food. Some participants even changed their careers, eventually becoming chefs. "Dieting provokes the brain to dream about food and consume thoughts. We believe this is a necessary evolutionary response to not eating enough," Dillon says. "This food obsession is designed to keep us alive yet in the modern world keeps us distracted from what we really want to do in life." Low-calorie: Hormonal changes Low-calorie diets may seem like a benign way to prevent overeating, but research shows that they have their consequences. Some studies show that low-calorie diets result in an increase in the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol is released in many scenarios wherein your body is under duress   lack of sleep , eating tons of sugar and drinking excessive amounts of alcohol, for example. Too much cortisol in your body can cause some serious negative health effects over time. Low-calorie: Loss of hunger cues If you're restricting your intake to a certain number of calories, it's likely that you're making your decisions about what and when to eat based on numbers, rather than whether or not you're actually hungry. "This keeps you very externally focused, which means you could lose sight of your body's own hunger and fullness cues," says Rumsey. To keep these signals working properly, it's important to pay attention to and respond to them. Low-calorie: Obsessive behaviors Calorie counting is a form of food tracking, and it involves keeping tabs on what you're eating every day, whether in your head, an app or some form of food diary. "This can trigger obsessive behaviors, guilt and anxiety around food," says Rumsey. These behaviors can have detrimental effects on mental health over time or even lead to disordered eating, she explains. Low-calorie: Feeling cold Even moderately limiting your calorie intake could affect your body temperature. If you feel cold all the time , not eating an adequate number of calories could be the cause. In a study of middle-aged men and women, those who consumed an average of 1,769 calories per day had a significantly lower body temperature than those who consumed over 2,300 calories, regardless of physical activity. Additionally, dietary fats (often found in high-calorie foods limited by low-calorie diets) are used by the body to keep warm. Limiting both calories and fats can result in colder body temperatures. Dieting in general While specific diets have their individual side effects, all diets share a few important side effects. Before you pursue weight loss by limiting your food choices with any diet, here are a few side effects you should be prepared to face. Dieting in general: Depression "Research suggests going on any restricted diet places a person at a higher risk for experiencing depression ," Dillon says. "Mood is regulated by hormones that require enough calories, carbs and fats through food to be adequate." Any diet that limits these things could affect your mood. Dieting in general: Weight cycling Weight cycling occurs when a person repeatedly loses and regains weight, which often results in a net weight gain over time. "Long-term diet research (two years or longer) suggest that most people regain all the weight lost during a diet, whether they stick to the diet or not," Dillon says. "In fact, many regain more weight than was lost in the first place." Weight cycling is not only stressful for the dieter; it's also connected to other health complications such as increased insulin, blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol. It also is connected to a slower metabolism. Dieting in general: Increased inflammation Weight cycling, mentioned above, has also been linked to increased inflammation in studies . "Inflammation is a necessary human function. When our body has to do extra work more inflammation occurs," Dillon explains. "However, inflammation can make you feel drained or foggy and harms health. Short-term research suggests many diets lower inflammation, but research looking six months out or more shows that inflammatory markers increase." Dieting in general: Worsened body image You might think that going on a diet would make you feel better about your body, but research shows quite the opposite. A study of college students showed that for men and women, dieting (even diets described as "normal" in severity) resulted in an increased concern with weight and a lower self-esteem. Another larger study showed that both men and women who reported dieting behaviors were less likely to have a positive body image. Instead of dieting, consider trying one of these simple ways to feel better about your body right now . Dieting in general: Trouble sleeping When your body is feeling hungry or deprived of certain foods, it's less likely to get quality sleep. Studies have connected restricted dieting behaviors with poor sleep quality. In one study , even a short period of dieting (four weeks) resulted in a significant decrease in the amount of time women spent asleep and a greater difficulty falling asleep. Sleep is an important part of health and a lack of sleep can result in inflammation, increased disease risk and other unappealing (and serious) side effects .


The Indians placed right-hander Jefry Rodriguez on the 10-day injured list Tuesday, Ryan Lewis of Ohio.com relays. Rodriguez is dealing with a "mild" shoulder strain, according to manager Terry Francona, although he'll still miss "at least a few weeks," per Lewis. The Indians activated outfielder Tyler Naquin from the IL to take Rodriguez's roster spot. Rodriguez, 25, arrived in Cleveland last offseason as part of its return from Washington for catcher Yan Gomes . But Rodriguez wasn't supposed to see this much action with the Tribe right away. Before landing on the IL, he totaled eight starts and 43 2/3 innings of 4.74 ERA/4.47 FIP pitching with 6.6 K/9 and 3.92 BB/9. The Indians have had to rely on Rodriguez because of injuries to two of their best hurlers, Corey Kluber and Mike Clevinger , who have combined for only seven starts and 47 2/3 frames this season. It's not yet clear who will take over for Rodriguez in the Indians' rotation. It's not going to be Clevinger, who has been down since April 8 because of back issues, but he's not far from a return. Lewis reports Clevinger will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Columbus on Thursday. As things stand, the 28-year-old is way ahead of schedule, Lewis suggests. Clevinger came out of the gates in awe-inspiring fashion during his first two starts this season, throwing 12 scoreless innings of two-hit ball and racking up 22 strikeouts against three walks. His comeback will be a welcome morsel of positive news for a .500 Cleveland club that's sitting a distant 10 1/2 games behind first-place Minnesota in the AL Central. The Indians entered the season as back-to-back-to-back division champions, and their two most recent titles came with key contributions from Clevinger.


Twelve-year-old Nylia was walking to buy a pizza for her younger brother and two cousins Sunday evening when all three boys were hit as a dozen shots rang out. The gunfire came from a red Toyota Corolla that had circled the block in East Garfield Park once before stopping in front of the children around 6:10 p.m. The people inside wore masks and had their hoods pulled up. "When I walked past them, then they start shooting," the 12-year-old said. "I was scared and I was crying." Nylia's 10-year-old brother and her cousins, 14 and 15, were shot as they stood on the sidewalk in the 300 block of North Francisco Avenue. The 10-year-old was grazed in the leg and buttocks, the 14-year-old was grazed in the arm and the 15-year-old was grazed in both legs. All the boys were taken to Stroger Hospital in good condition, police said. No one was in custody. Nylia said she and the other children found refuge at her grandmother's house, where she asked her brother whether he was hurt. The 10-year-old looked confused while holding onto his leg. "He came running to me and told me he was hit," said Linda Davis, the grandmother. "He was shaking and scared." Davis said she began sobbing as the boy showed her where the bullet grazed him. After following the ambulances to Stroger and being told the boy would survive, she calmed down. "I'm OK now cause they're OK." The three were among at least 47 people shot over the weekend, eight of them fatally. About three hours after the shooting on Francisco, three men and a woman were wounded in the 3900 block of West Roosevelt Road in Lawndale by someone in a passing car. About two hours later, two women and a man were shot in the 13000 block of South Evans Avenue in the Altgeld Gardens neighborhood when a gunman walked up and opened fire, police said. Nylia's aunt said he was perplexed by the gun violence that spilled out so close to her house, which she has always thought of as a safe place. And she hopes criminal charges are coming against the person who would dare shoot at her grandson and his cousins. "My grandson ain't no gangbanger," Davis said. "He's 10 years old, he stay with me. I keep an eye on them. I really keep an eye on them." At the scene of the shooting, yellow tape closed off the block of Francisco Avenue just north of West Fulton Street. At least a dozen shell casings were on the street and sidewalk on Francisco, where two chairs were set up and children continued playing outside and biking just beyond the crime scene. Over an hour after the shooting, Nylia hung out by her grandmother's stoop after leaving Stroger with the hopeful news of her brother's condition. When asked what she planned to do the rest of the night, she shrugged. An older relative suggested going home and sleeping, causing her to pipe up, "I got to wait for my brother first." ayin@chicagotribune.com


The driver of a retro car lacking the latest safety equipment may have been unlucky to run into the back of another vehicle at high speed, but was fortunate that there was an emergency room doctor onboard. Dash camera footage from the SUV that was rear-ended on the highway near Shrewsbury, U.K, captured the moment that the 2018 Morgan Plus 4 skidded into it with its tires smoking after its driver waited too long to hit the brakes. The hood of the old-fashioned roadster can be seen popping off and the driver appears to hit his head on the steering wheel, which is not equipped with an airbag, as the front of the car is crushed and the vehicle swerves into a roadside embankment. The driver of the SUV, Dr. Syd Hassan, told SWNS that the passenger in his vehicle was also dazed in the incident. Hassan said the tended to the driver alone for about 10-15 minutes until another car pulled over and an off-duty nurse got out to help him as they waited for an ambulance to arrive. All three people involved in the incident were taken to a hospital to be treated for their injuries. The Morgan Plus 4 is an English-made car based on a model first produced in 1950. It is sold in the U.S. for $69,000, but only as a component car (often called a kit car) that needs to have a drivetrain installed by its owner in order to get around American automotive safety regulations. RETURN OF THE SHELBY DAYTONA: Follow MSN Autos on Facebook and Twitter


PARIS - Jill Ellis is too cautious. The U.S. Women's coach didn't go to her deep bench early enough in a tense 2-1 World Cup victory over fearless Spain on Monday, ignoring the damage of the stifling heat and the persistent physicality of a team that had nothing to lose against the defending champion Americans. Ellis should have unleashed big-game scorer Carli Lloyd sooner than the 85th minute of a game that would be extended seven minutes by injury time. And can anyone figure out why Ellis didn't take advantage of Lindsey Horan's commanding presence and put Horan in the starting 11, instead of bringing her into the game in the 89th minute? Jill Ellis is too adventurous. She experimented with different formations during the runup to the World Cup and developed a pattern of moving players out of position. Some of those moves involved shifting Julie Ertz from center back - the position Ertz plays for her club team - to midfield, turning Kelley O'Hara from an attacking player into a defender, and deploying speedy Crystal Dunn as a defender instead of as an attacking player. Ellis says moving players around helps prepare them for disruptions of suspensions and injuries. That makes sense. Still, why mess with players' comfort zones and instincts? The truth about Ellis' coaching style lies between those extremes. The key point is that she has endured, reinventing the team's tactics after a shocking 2016 Olympic quarterfinal loss that is a line of demarcation between eras, as well as surviving a player revolt that Sports Illustrated reported arose in 2017 over her tactics and faulty communication skills. Almost forgotten in the social media roasting she endured after the drama of Megan Rapinoe's two penalty-kick goals and the team's narrow escape against Spain on Monday was that Ellis tied April Heinrichs' program record by coaching in her 124th game. Ellis, the only woman to coach the U.S. to a World Cup championship - Anson Dorrance was the coach in 1991 and Tony DiCicco in 1999 - was paid $291,029 in fiscal year 2018, according to information on U.S. Soccer's website. That's about $3 million less than Jurgen Klinsmann was paid to not coach the U.S. men's team, which lost in the round of 16 in the 2014 World Cup. Ellis can become the first person to coach a men's or women's squad to two World Cup titles since Vittorio Pozzo led the Italian men to wins in 1934 and 1938. She will break the program record Friday, when the U.S. women face dangerous France at Parc des Princes in Paris. "This is the game. You want this game," Ellis said Monday. "It's going to be exciting." Ellis has never lost a World Cup game, but Friday's matchup will be her toughest test. Spain was an example of how quickly some opponents are catching up to the U.S. women. France is capable of pulling even or winning if the Americans aren't at their best. To reach this point Ellis prepared carefully and with a long-term view in mind. She insisted the U.S. play Spain and France in friendly matches in Europe early this year so players could become familiar with the opponents, atmosphere and tactics they'd face here. She scheduled games every three days, again to simulate World Cup conditions. That's paying off by establishing a rhythm for a team that has gotten less rest than some other quarterfinalists. As for her tinkering with the lineup, players have said they understand her motivation. "This team is extremely deep. Whoever Jill decides to put on the field, she feels confident that they're going to get the job done and I can tell you that every other player feels confident that whoever she puts on the field is the right combination of players to win the game," O'Hara said last week. "And I think that's what the coaching staff has tried to build us toward, for this tournament, so we can be extremely versatile, extremely dangerous, but also just a solid team defensively." Reserve defender Ali Krieger said the mixing and matching on defense hasn't been a problem. "I think it's just all about communication and understanding each other's roles and relationships on the field," she said. "We've had a lot of time together and I think we're very interchangeable. It takes a lot of connectedness and communication back there and you could see that ... . All the defenders here are very, very willing to get better every day and look at the little details we need to fix and then apply it to the game." Ellis explained she didn't start Horan on Monday because Horan had gotten a yellow card in the second group game, and Ellis didn't want to risk losing the player for a game if she got another yellow card. The timing of bringing Horan off the bench was dictated by the flow. "You can't just live cautiously, I think, when you're in a knockout game. I think you have to coach in the moment and make those decisions," Ellis said. "It felt that we started to gain momentum, and I think as a coach you have to read that moment." Ellis also said she doesn't consider the starting lineup to be fixed or sacred. "I think people get hung up on starters and 11s and that number kind of rings through a lot of media's heads," she said, "but when I look as a coach, I look at 14, 15 starters and that's the beauty of having such a deep roster." It's Ellis' job to bring to Friday's match the right mix of caution, boldness and pure gut instinct to guide this team toward another World Cup championship. Anything less will be considered a failure. Visit the Los Angeles Times at www.latimes.com Related slideshow: Scenes from the Women's World Cup (Provided by imagn)


We've seen them in college; we've seen them at the draft; we've seen them wearing a Washington Redskins hat. Now we get to see them decked out from head to toe in a Redskins' uniform. This past week at the NFLPA Rookie Premiere, the newest additions to Washinton's roster took center stage in the burgundy and gold, giving fans a glimpse at what the future might look like. Not all of Washington's draft picks were featured in the display, but QB Dwayne Haskins, WR Terry McLaurin, and RB Bryce Love strutted their stuff and tossed around a football while the camera put them in the spotlight. One Sunday closer to the real thing (via @NFLPA ) #HTTR | #NFLPARookiePremiere pic.twitter.com/5okQi8Oree - Washington Redskins (@Redskins) May 19, 2019 As a fan, there's nothing worse than the anticipation and grueling wait to see your new weapons out on the field and making plays for your team. Hopefully, this glimpse at an assuredly entertaining future is enough to tide you over until fall camp. MORE: 5 things we learned from the series finale of Game of Thrones Game Of Thrones: Best Twitter Reactions And Memes From The Series Finale NCSA: Five common recruiting myths Patriots will prove Super Bowl LIII shutdown defense was no fluke NBA Free Agency 2019: The top players


http://www.pga.com/events/pgachampionship/embeded-video/5119 Nick Faldo dug in for his first look at Bethpage Black ahead of the 2002 U.S. Open. He managed his way around the brutal layout at 5-over-par for the week, good for a T-5 finish. The course didn't play much easier in its second major, the 2009 U.S. Open, which Lucas Glover won at 4-under. It took a certain amount of restraint to contend those weeks, the ability to recognize when it was time to focus on damage control. Faldo says he was able to do that when the course first hosted a major in 2002, playing what was then the longest layout in U.S. Open history at 7,214 yards. Speaking on a conference call ahead of next week's 2019 PGA Championship at Bethpage Black, Faldo was asked about the key to success at the first public course ever to host a U.S. Open. "I remember if I missed a fairway on the (par-4s), I would then intentionally play for a five," Faldo said. "Get it back in play, because it would always be a championship hole location, tucked in some corner, no point in forcing that and making a mess … I thought, hit it safe, 20-25 feet, in the right place, and if I lucked out I made a big putt for a four." Thing is, this isn't a U.S. Open. Brooks Koepka shot 16-under to win the 2018 PGA Championship at Bellerive, and seven of the last nine winners have been 10 under or lower. CBS broadcaster Jim Nantz said that's by design and it's the reason he doesn't expect conditions at Bethpage Black to be nearly as tough as we've seen in recent years. "If we're gonna get everybody to think this is gonna be knee-high rough for a PGA Championship, I promise you, it's not going to look anything like it did for those two (U.S. Opens)," Nantz said. It's been a cool spring in New York, but the course is reportedly in good shape and it sounds like the move to May won't have a drastic impact for this year. Still, Nantz said he doesn't buy the idea that Bethpage Black will show its teeth like it has in the past. "I just wanted to issue one word of warning here," Nantz said. "We're all conditioned to think about Bethpage Black and how it was set up for the 2002 and 2009 U.S. Opens. It was never gonna be set up like (that), because it's a PGA Championship. (Chief Championships Officer) Kerry Haigh and the PGA, they like birdies. It's never gonna look like what it looked like back in 02 and 09." Haigh, who will be responsible for setting up the course, talked about his vision for Bethpage at last year's PGA Championship in August. "I don't think it's our job to try and manipulate something," Haigh said. "We'll set up a good, strong, fair test of golf and see how the best players do. So much depends on the wind and the weather. If we have soft greens and no wind, I would expect and hope that everyone will score well. If we have 25 mile-an-hour wind and very firm greens, scoring won't be so good. It is what it is." Rory McIlroy said last week that he expects a usual PGA Championship setup and wasn't planning to make an advance trip. If he and Nantz are correct, viewers might not recognize the course that gave players fits in the past. "I would assume Bethpage is going to feel like a normal PGA Tour setup," McIlroy said. "You're not really going to have to do anything differently. I don't know if guys are going to go up early and look at the course or not. I'm not planning to. I've never done that for a PGA before and I've done pretty well at them. Just treating it like any other event." View embedded content MORE: Two members of the Sharks almost fought during their morning skate before Game 6 Lions OTA notebook: First impressions from the first open day Magic Johnson confirms rumor that Lakers want to sign Kyrie Irving Ranking the 5 best wide receivers in the AFC West VIDEO: Louisiana coach goes viral with 'Daddy Ball' speech on toughness


LOS ANGELES   It was an inning unlike any Chris Paddack had endured. At the start of it, the Padres rookie had not allowed the Dodgers a hit. When it was over, he had allowed more runs than he had in any previous game and half as many as he had all season. The kid with "Relentless" stitched in cursive on his glove faced a collection of hitters that are very much that. The Dodgers defeated the Padres 6-3, pouncing on a rare Manny Machado error and a rare night in which Paddack was not entirely sharp. The National League's most potent and most patient lineup scored in three straight innings against a rookie pitcher who had given up runs in multiple innings just once in his first seven starts and had never done so in successive innings. Tuesday was the first time in six starts Paddack did not at least reach the sixth inning, as he gave way to Robbie Erlin with two outs in the fifth having allowed six runs and thrown a season-high 92 pitches. "I got beat tonight," Paddack said. "That's pretty much it." It wasn't an awful night, as Paddack for the eighth time in eight starts did not allow more than three earned runs. But after the Padres had won six of his first seven starts, he felt like it had been. "It's more frustrating," he said, "Because you feel like you let your team down when you take the ball and you don't have your best night, especially with the success I've had." Even as he posted the major leagues' second-lowest ERA (1.55) and lowest batting average against (.130) and allowed the fewest walks and hits per inning pitched (0.69) through his first seven starts, this kind of night loomed at some point. And that his first real rough outing came against the Dodgers   who often hit right-handers as if the pitches were placed on a tee and whose best hitters crush Paddack's best pitch (the change-up)   could not be considered entirely shocking. "They're a good team," Padres manager Andy Green said. "You have to give them credit. He wasn't nearly as sharp as he has been. There was a lot more leak to middle   fastball wise, change-up wise. It wasn't quite the life he had the last time out. Those things happen. He wasn't going to go through the year unscathed." Paddack knew that. "This game," he said a few days ago, "it humbles you." Late Tuesday night, he stated plainly: "It will be fun to watch my next start. That's all I have to say. I have some homework to do. … I'm going to learn a lot more over this start than my last few starts." A pair of two-run homers did the damage against Paddack in the third inning after a high throw from Machado that pulled first baseman Eric Hosmer off the bag allowed the inning's first batter, Austin Barnes, to reach base and resulted in three of the inning's runs being unearned. Following Kershaw's sacrifice bunt that moved Barnes to second, Joc Pederson crushed one of the worst pitches Paddack had thrown all season, a fastball virtually dead-center in the zone, 410 feet to right-center field. "Errors happen," Paddack said. "You can't blame it on one person. You can't blame it on anything. I made a mistake on the home. As a result of that, that leads to more mistakes if you don't stay on the pedal. You can't let up, especially with that team. It's a good lineup. Credit goes to their lineup. They straight up beat me tonight." Paddack proceeded to walk Max Muncy at the end of an eight-pitch encounter, just the second time in 111 batters that Paddack threw more than seven pitches. Justin Turner lined out before the final blow of the four-run third inning came when Cody Bellinger hit the seventh pitch of his at-bat Paddack's out pitch, the change-up, on the outside corner but too high 409 feet to left-center. "I just could have done a better job with my fastball command early," Paddack said. "And I felt like my change-up command wasn't my best." Paddack also threw just eight curveballs, one for a strike. He was able to get away with just six curves in shutting out the Mets over 7 2/3 innings last week. This opponent generally requires more than a two-pitch mix. "The curveball helps," Green said. "This was one of those days where he wasn't landing the curveball really. He wasn't able to drop it in for strikes as he has a ton throughout the course of the season." Both Muncy and Bellinger had fouled off two two-strike pitches. Not since the Cardinals had forced him from his second start after 3 2/3 innings by fouling off 22 pitches (17 with two strikes) had Paddack struggled to put batters away as he did Tuesday. The Dodgers fouled off 12 two-strike pitches against him, including the six Pederson fouled off in a 12-pitch at-bat that culminated in him grounding out to end the fourth. "It's frustrating, especially when I'm on a pitch count," Paddack said. "That Pederson at-bat … I wasn't going to let him beat me. It's cool to have that competitiveness. At the same time, it can be frustrating, especially with them having the lead and they're battling you up there." Said Pederson: "He is a competitor. He doesn't really walk people. You try to scare him out of the zone. He's had a lot of success. We thought if we put some good, healthy contact on him, we'd get him to throw some more balls because he definitely throws a lot of strikes." Paddack threw 62 strikes, good for 67 percent. That was four percent below his season average. The Dodgers entered the game as the most-disciplined team in the National League   chasing a league-low 26.5 percent of pitches outside the zone and seeing a league-high 4.05 pitches per plate appearance. They put that approach to good use in leading the NL with an .800 OPS. The Dodgers also perplexed Paddack with another aspect of their at-bats. "It was the first time I've seen hitters crowd the plate that much," he said. "That kind of threw me off a little bit." He did go up and in to Turner twice in the third inning after hitting him in the first. "It didn't scare me," Paddack said. Paddack had turned in four straight quality starts   allowing 12 hits and five runs in 26 2/3 innings in that stretch   due in large part to his efficiency. His 11-pitch first inning Tuesday was the 10th straight full frame in which he threw no more than 11 pitches. He took 13 to get through the second. (The major league average through Monday's games was 16.8, a total Paddack had surpassed just 11 times in his 42 full or partial innings before Tuesday.) He would need 30 to get through the third, 24 to get through the fourth and another 13 to get two outs in the fifth. He left having allowed five hits, a walk and a hit batter. The Dodgers extended their lead to 5-3 on Corey Seager's double and Chris Taylor's single before Paddack got an out in the fourth. Max Muncy led off the fifth with a double, moved to third on a fly ball and scored on a grounder by Bellinger on the final pitch Paddack would throw. He had taken just 91 pitches to get two outs into the eighth inning in his last start, and not since that St. Louis start had he had to throw as many pitches in as many innings as he did Tuesday. "It was part of the plan," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "That's the challenge a lot of times against guys with good stuff, where the tendency is to get out of the at-bat pretty quickly because you don't want to get deep into a count because for fear of the stuff. For us to not panic and run counts and to get that pitch count up, says a lot about our guys." In contrast to the Dodgers and in contrast to the battles they put up against the NL West leaders in the three one-run games they played against them a week-and-a-half ago in San Diego the Padres' offense didn't offer much resistance outside of a couple players. Franmil Reyes' first-inning home run gave the Padres a 1-0 lead against Clayton Kershaw, and Machado homered for the fourth time in four games this season against his former team to get the Padres to within 4-3 in the fourth. The pair would have five of the Padres' seven hits and score all their runs. Kershaw (3-0) allowed just two more hits after Machado's homer in working through the seventh. Greg Garcia's pinch-hit bunt single in the eighth off Pedro Baez and Machado's ninth-inning double against Kenley Jansen were the Padres' only hits in the final two innings. "It's baseball," Green said. "You run into tough times. You don't always square the ball up consistently." The loss assured the Padres would have their first losing road trip of the season after they went 7-3 nd 4-3 in their first two. Matt Strahm, who has been the Padres' second-most effective starter, will start against Kenta Maeda on Wednesday, as the Padres try to salvage the finale of this five-game trip through Colorado and L.A. The Padres are spacing out Paddack's starts and limiting his pitches, and they will continue to do so in his second season following Tommy John surgery in August 2016. Paddack is now a third of an inning past halfway to his total of 90 inning last season in the minor leagues. In terms of pitches, he had thrown 637 through eight starts last season and is at 699 this season. As they have every time an off day has not provided extra rest for Paddack and Strahm, the Padres are virtually certain to call up a starter (likely Cal Quantrill) for Sunday's game against the Pirates. Paddack's next start is scheduled for Monday's series opener against the Diamondbacks. "This game is about a long season," he said. "I've got many more starts ahead of me. I'm going to eliminate it tomorrow   go over some stuff with Hedgy, watch some film, put it in the back of my mind and get ready for Arizona."     ©2019 The San Diego Union-Tribune Visit The San Diego Union-Tribune at www.sandiegouniontribune.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.


Pramac Ducati rider Jack Miller says his Mugello MotoGP practice crash was caused by "f***ing idiots waiting on the racing line". Miller came up on the LCR Honda of Takaaki Nakagami at the sweeping Correntaio right-hander during a late flyer in FP2, and went straight on under braking instead of turning in. He rode through the gravel and was forced to hop off his Ducati Desmosedici GP19, with the barriers approaching fast. "People are f***ing idiots waiting on the racing line," an incensed Miller observed after practice. "Caught traffic already at the end of the Arrabbiatas [corners], [then] the chicane, I caught a bunch of traffic there. "I came out of that corner, passed somebody already on that next straight, and then Nakagami and [Avintia rider Tito] Rabat were waiting in the hairpin on the outside." Miller said he "would've T-boned" Nakagami if he hadn't decided to bail out of making the corner. "It was just unfortunate, but that's what happens here, everyone's trying to look for a slipstream or a tow, that's how it is. They [race direction] need to do something about it, because it's not only Moto3 that has this problem. "It's kind of daunting when you have so many bikes waiting around, you're on your hot lap, 200-plus [kilometres] an hour. It's not the nicest feeling, that's for sure, definitely puts your heart in your mouth a few times." Miller, who sits ninth in the combined practice classification, described his Friday as "a great day" despite the crash. "We've got a lot more up our sleeves," he said. "Just worked mainly on race pace today, this morning especially was all race pace, and then this afternoon, the first 35 minutes was race pace, the last nine minutes we were trying to do a laptime but unfortunately that got cut short." His rookie teammate Francesco Bagnaia starred on the timing screens instead, his effort in the dying minutes of FP2 leaving him as a surprise Friday pacesetter. "The nice thing is that I'm not pushing a lot," the local rider said. "The time has been easier to make compared to other races. I'm very happy about that. "I think that the key has been the good work we make in Le Mans. Now I have the strong feeling that I want with the front, and I think for the next weekend will be for sure more easier, to start in every circuit. "I don't have a target [for this weekend], but my objective will be to continue in this direction, to continue having this feeling with my bike and trying to finish the race, this is a thing that I really have to do." Additional reporting by Jamie Klein


Editor's note: The opinions in this article are the author's, as published by our content partner, and do not necessarily represent the views of MSN or Microsoft. Elizabeth Warren came into Wednesday night's debate as the candidate to watch most closely, the only one of the 10 onstage who had double-digit support in polls, with an apparent momentum that none of those rivals could claim. Her performance over two hours in Miami probably strengthened that position. Sign up for the Morning Briefing Newsletter. During the first hour, Warren was crisper than most of her peers. She was clearer. I didn't always like what she said. But she said it well, leaving no doubt about the direction in which she'd pull the country and giving voters a fair amount of detail, within the crushing constraints of time, about the map that she'd use to travel there. Warren left no doubt, too, about the great villains in American life, at least in her view: "giant corporations." She said the phrase repeatedly, with force and derision, and she never strayed far from it, framing just about every ill in American life as something caused or exacerbated by greed. She has bet her entire bid for the presidency on that argument's resonance with American voters, and on Wednesday night she doubled, tripled and quadrupled down. Elizabeth Warren was unswervingly true to Elizabeth Warren, which is precisely why she has caught fire and why she'll continue to burn relatively bright. Her passion and confidence should petrify Bernie Sanders, whose song she sings better than he does. [Get a more personal, less conventional take on political developments, newsmakers, cultural milestones and more with Frank Bruni's exclusive commentary every week. Sign up for his newsletter.] The two hours were alternately sizzling, sleepy, noisy and weirdly polite. They were frustrating: By dint of a draw that randomly scattered 20 Democrats across two consecutive nights, Warren was the only one onstage on the first night whose poll numbers place her among the top five overall. (She's second or third, depending on the survey.) Both of the candidates with numbers as good or better than hers   Joe Biden and Sanders   will be onstage Thursday night, along with Kamala Harris and Pete Buttigieg, who round out the top five. My guess is that Wednesday night's event will have limited political consequence and that most of its participants won't see a remarkable rise or dip in their fortunes. They simply couldn't claim enough space in this thicket. They were trees that couldn't be seen for the forest. While many of them had moments   Tulsi Gabbard trumpeting her isolationism, John Delaney explaining and selling his centrism, Jay Inslee naming President Trump as the greatest threat to our national security   they were just that: moments. They flared suddenly and faded quickly, so that someone luminous in one 15-minute stretch went utterly dark in the next. Warren almost blinked out after the hour mark, but her strong opening lingered nonetheless, and she closed flawlessly. Only a few candidates besides her probably did themselves real harm or good. Beto O'Rourke had an unequivocally bad night, all the more so because it played to existing concerns that he's a lightweight. In an exchange with Julian Castro over a section of text in immigration law, Castro came across as the one who felt the issue more deeply and had thought about it more exhaustively. Throughout the night, O'Rourke seemed less concerned with answering the questions put to him than with striking the poses he'd committed to beforehand. He used his first minute to speak in Spanish, at surprising and showy length: Warren and Cory Booker looked visibly stunned and even a little disdainful. Much of what he said obviously came from memory instead of impulse, as if he didn't want to let all his dutiful homework go to waste. But then just about all of the candidates took moderators' questions as mere suggestions, pivoting blithely to whatever topic they preferred to address. Each had decided on his or her brand and worked assiduously to burnish it. Booker repeatedly reminded voters that he lives in Newark, with an awareness of African-Americans' struggles that others on the stage might not have. Inslee, whose platform centers on climate change, managed to mention "wind turbines" in his first minute, though the question, about income inequality, most definitely didn't tee up that reference. But the annoying nature of that was redeemed somewhat by the inspirational diversity on the stage. There was a black man (Booker), a Latino man (Castro) and three women, one of whom, Amy Klobuchar, deftly drew attention to their presence with what was probably the night's best line. After Inslee trumpeted that he had "advanced the ball" on reproductive freedom more than any of the others onstage, she interjected: "There are three women up here who have fought pretty hard for a woman's right to choose." If O'Rourke was the candidate who most likely lost ground, Booker was the one who most likely gained it, in part because he was given more time than lower-polling candidates   Gabbard, Delaney and Bill de Blasio, for example   who were positioned at lecterns farther from the center of the stage. Booker also projected an ardor for the job of president that many of the others somehow didn't. Not that de Blasio wasn't ardent. He was theatrically so, and he framed the discussion as "a battle for the heart and soul of this party," positioning himself proudly in the progressive wing that Warren and Sanders inhabit. On Wednesday night that battle was waged most conspicuously in regard to health insurance and whether private plans should continue to exist, a question that split the field. I said that Warren sings Sanders's song, but that's inaccurate: There are different notes, different keys. But she's vying for voters who four years ago took a shine to him. And like Sanders, she's rolling out plans that serve more as windows into her values, or even utopian fantasies, than realistic possibilities in the near future. Even if a blue wave led not just to a Democratic president but also to Democratic control of both chambers of Congress, many Democrats in the House and Senate would be representing purple or even reddish states and districts that would most likely punish them if they drifted significantly to the left. So they won't. And that's an enormous obstacle to Warren's agenda. Like Sanders, she has welded herself to progressive ideals, such as an end to private insurance, that could be grave general-election liabilities. Like him, Warren divides the country neatly into villains and victims. Like him, she has sharp edges that she doesn't worry about smoothing. And she clings to no word more tightly than "fight." Warren got the last word on Wednesday night, and finished her remarks with this promise to struggling Americans: "I will fight for you as hard as I fight for my own family." But is there ample hope for healing in her message? Is it too potentially divisive, too morally stark? And is the best adversary for Trump a livid warrior or a happy one? Even as Warren impressed me, she left me with these questions. They're big ones, because nothing matters more than limiting this president to one term by presenting him with the toughest foe. The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We'd like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here's our email: letters@nytimes.com . I invite you to sign up for my free weekly email newsletter . You can follow me on Twitter ( @FrankBruni ).


John Walker Lindh's eyes, dark and wild, were ubiquitous across magazine covers and cable news channels, alongside militants in Afghanistan, after he was captured in November 2001. He was a long-haired guerrilla with a California address   a traitor to some, a misguided kid sucked into Islamic jihad to others. Dubbed the ''American Taliban,'' Lindh was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to supporting militants who harbored Al Qaeda as it planned the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. But in a surprise move to some, Lindh will be released from federal prison on Thursday, three years early, federal officials said. Lindh and other incarcerated American supporters of Islamic militants present a quandary with growing urgency: Is the United States prepared to try to rehabilitate extremists and foreign fighters, and welcome them back into society? ''There is very close to nothing in terms of deradicalizing programs at the federal level,'' said Bennett Clifford, a research fellow at George Washington University's Program on Extremism. ''The current model is hoping long prison sentences for material support of terrorism will be a deterrent.'' The Federal Bureau of Prisons is stymied by budget constraints, a sprawling corrections bureaucracy and a top-down approach that focuses on traditional rehabilitation, such as turning away prisoners from gang activity or drugs, Clifford said. About 500 federal prisoners been sentenced for terrorism-related crimes, and about a fifth will be released within five years, 62 of them US citizens, researcher Kevin D. Lowry wrote in the Journal for Deradicalization in 2018. With Lindh's release, and with inmates who have Islamic State ties nearing the end of their sentences, there may be a new focus on culling extremist beliefs before prisoners head back into civil society. But time is nearly up for many. ''The offenders about to be released would receive resources at the end of their sentence,'' Clifford said. Federal officials have signaled interest in expanding recidivism-prevention and reintegration efforts, although it amounted to one paragraph in the White House's 2018 counterterrorism strategy and focused on radicalization in prison. There are some breakthroughs. The US District Court for Minnesota, which has had an influx of Islamist terrorism suspects, has pioneered efforts to focus on deradicalization from extremist beliefs, efforts that include civic education, family involvement and mental health counseling for inmates, Lowry wrote. Those models were adapted from European programs and include efforts to combat white-supremacist beliefs. But there is no similar national program within federal prisons, Lowry noted. Lindh will be monitored for three years by federal probation officials, the Bureau of Prisons said. His early release is opposed by Senators Richard Shelby, Republican of Alabama, and Maggie Hassan, Democrat of New Hampshire, who wrote a letter Friday to the Federal Bureau of Prisons requesting details about agency efforts to prevent recidivism from militants released from its facilities. ''We must consider the security and safety implications for our citizens and communities who will receive individuals like John Walker Lindh, who continue to openly call for extremist violence,'' the letter reads. Bill Cummings, an attorney for Lindh, did not respond to a request for comment. The lawmakers asked for information about other convicted ''terrorist offenders'' who may be released from federal prison in coming years, and they inquired about the steps prisons take to determine whether someone is an ''ongoing public threat.'' The Bureau of Prisons said in a statement that it ''participates in national and international efforts to identify new programs and approaches tailored to reduce the risk terrorist offenders pose inside and outside of prisons.'' Lindh, who was raised in California and Maryland, converted to Islam, met Osama bin Laden and joined the Taliban in Afghanistan before the Sept. 11 attacks, although his attorneys maintained that the attacks soured his outlook. They point to the dropping of terrorism charges as the government's acknowledgment that he did not want to kill Americans. Lindh avoided a life sentence with that plea deal. Last month, Shelby invoked the death of CIA officer Johnny Micheal ''Mike'' Spann, who interrogated Lindh at a prison near Mazar-e Sharif in northern Afghanistan after his capture. Spann was shot and killed in a revolt by prisoners later that day, and Spann's father has repeatedly accused Lindh of playing a role in his son's death by not alerting Spann and others of the revolt. ''He's as much responsible for Mike's death as the people who beat him and shot him,'' Johnny Spann told AL.com. Lindh has maintained he was surprised by the revolt. US District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III, who ordered Lindh's sentence, said there was no evidence that linked Lindh to Spann's death. Hundreds of prisoners died in the days-long fight, and Lindh was one of the survivors. In April, Shelby said President Trump agreed that Lindh should serve the remainder of his sentence, though it is unclear if the president could wield any influence in the process. The White House did not reply to a request for comment Friday about the reported conversation and Trump's thoughts about Lindh's imminent release. Lindh remains in custody at the Terre Haute Federal Correctional Institution in Indiana. Inmates can earn early release through good conduct and previous time served in custody, the Bureau of Prisons said. Credits for good behavior can reduce an inmate's sentence by up to 15 percent, which in Lindh's case, would amount to three years. Federal officials requested numerous conditions for Lindh's release, according to court filings. He will need permission to acquire Internet-capable devices, which would be monitored ''continuously.'' Lindh was ordered to undergo mental health counseling and will not be allowed to communicate online in any language other than English without approval. He is also barred from having a passport, communicating with known extremists or accessing material that reflects ''extremist or terroristic views,'' according to the documents. Lindh initially objected to those conditions but agreed to comply in late March after consulting with an attorney. Most of those conditions are routine, Clifford said, although the language restriction appeared unusual for felons such as Lindh. Lindh has expressed remorse for his crimes. He tearfully told the judge during his 2002 sentencing: ''I have never supported terrorism in any form, and I never will. . . . I made a mistake by joining the Taliban,'' he said at the time. ''Had I realized then what I know now, I would never have joined them.'' In 2017, an investigation by Foreign Policy magazine painted a different picture. It cited documents obtained that year from the National Counterterrorism Center, which said that as of May 2016, Lindh ''continued to advocate for global jihad and to write and translate violent extremist texts.'' The center also wrote that Lindh ''told a television news producer that he would continue to spread violent extremist Islam upon his release.'' The report, which Shelby and Hassan cited in their letter, notes that there is no record of Lindh participating in media interviews. In the documents, the National Counterterrorism Center said ''homegrown violent extremists'' like Lindh were likely to ''reengage in terrorist activity'' after being released from prison, an assertion that Clifford doubts. ''There is not much data of recidivism [of terrorism suspects] in the United States because it's a new problem,'' he said. Joshua Dratel, a lawyer who has defended suspected and convicted terrorists, said that Shelby and Hassan were overreacting to Lindh's early release. He called their letter ''a solution in search of a problem'' and likened it to fearmongering. ''Beyond John Walker Lindh, anyone whose offense involved actual violence is not getting out soon,'' Dratel said. ''In a certain sense, saying, 'Dangerous terrorists are going to be out there' is not true. These people were sentenced accordingly by judges.''