1. Associated Press: Sean Spicer word vomited about Hitler
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer apologized yesterday after stating in his daily briefing that Adolf Hitler "didn't even sink to using chemical weapons."
Spicer told Fox News, "Today I was trying to describe the attack that [Syrian President Bashar] Assad made on his own people using chemical weapons. Frankly, I mistakenly used an inappropriate and insensitive reference to the Holocaust, to which there is frankly no comparison. Obviously, that is not what I was intending to do. And I — especially during this week [Passover] — regret using that term and apologize and hope that we can focus on the president's decisive action that he took to make sure that we deal with the situation in Syria."
After the briefing, Spicer emailed this statement to reporters: "In no way was I trying to lessen the horrendous nature of the Holocaust. I was trying to draw a distinction of the tactic of using airplanes to drop chemical weapons on population centers. Any attack on innocent people is reprehensible and inexcusable."
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi accused Spicer of "downplaying the horror of the Holocaust."
2. NY POST: Trump says, ‘We’re not going into Syria’
Amid complaints that his aides are saying different things about Syria and his policy is confusing, President Trump emphatically cleared the air. He told the New York Post yesterday, “We’re not going into Syria. Our policy is the same — it hasn’t changed. We’re not going into Syria.”
The president, speaking by phone, called Syrian President Assad a “butcher” and a “barbarian” for using sarin gas on his own people, but said last week’s successful missile strike was not the start of a campaign to oust the dictator.
“Our big mission is getting rid of ISIS,” Trump said. “That’s where it’s always been. But when you see kids choking to death, you watch their lungs burning out, we had to hit him and hit him hard.”
He called the attack, which involved 59 cruise missiles fired from two Navy destroyers, “an act of humanity.”
He also said, “It’s very tough to give that final go-ahead when you know you’re talking about human life. We went back and forth, and also back and forth about severity. We could have gone bigger in terms of targets and more of them, but we thought this would be the appropriate first shot.”
3. Fox News: China's President tells Trump he wants peaceful solution to North Korea
Chinese President told President Trump in a phone call that Beijing is willing to work with Washington on ending North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, but wants to do so through peaceful means.
The Chinese President told Trump that China insists on peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula in the wake of the deployment of the USS Carl Vinson to the area and the conducting of the biggest-ever U.S.-South Korea military drills.
The Chinese President was quoted saying, "China insists on realizing the denuclearization of the peninsula ... and is willing to maintain communication and coordination with the American side over the issue on the peninsula.”
4. Fox News: The United Airlines CEO says 'I deeply apologize' to the customer dragged off a flight
The CEO of United Airlines has issued a stronger apology about a passenger who was dragged off a United Express flight, calling the Sunday afternoon confrontation "truly horrific."
Oscar Munoz said in a statement issued Tuesday that he continues to be disturbed by the events that unfolded at Chicago O'Hare, adding that, "No one should ever be mistreated this way."
Munoz was widely criticized for two statements Monday about the altercation, in which he described the 69-year-old man taken off the plane as "disruptive and belligerent."
On Tuesday afternoon, however, the CEO changed his tune slightly, vowing to "fix what's broken so this never happens again."
5. GLOBAL NEWS.CA: Emergency crews were called to an airport after a man was reportedly stung by a scorpion on a flight to Calgary
Richard and Linda Bell were on United Airlines flight 1418 going home from Houston when a feisty, eight-legged creature showed up. The scorpion fell in Richard’s hair from an overhead bin. Linda said it reminded her of something else entirely.
She said, “I look down and I thought, ‘aw, it kind of looks like a little lobster.'”
The creature was about an inch-and-a-half long, and honey-coloured. A man sitting next to them on the plane pointed it out was a scorpion — and dangerous. Richard dropped it on his plate, then picked it up again. That’s when it stung him. It “felt like a wasp sting,” he said.
The scorpion was likely a stowaway in someone’s luggage. Another passenger on the flight stomped on the creature before it was thrown in a toilet. Richard said that was the “worst thing to do because when we landed everyone wanted to see it.”
Emergency personnel came aboard when the plane landed in Calgary.
“The pilot announced it,” passenger John Rogers said. “Because the passenger was bitten, emergency services, the fire department and police boarded the plane.”
EMS spokesperson Adam Loria said that the individual who encountered the scorpion showed “no signs of distress” and that he declined medical treatment.