"The allegations against me are completely false and fabricated. If they had any merit, I would not have been selected, promoted and entrusted to serve in such a sensitive and important role as physician to three presidents over the past 12 years." Ronny Jackson was defiant in his statement, but still opted to withdraw as Trump's nominee to lead Veterans Affairs. Luckily he got out just in time to avoid any damage being done to his reputation...

+ Meanwhile, by a vote of 57-42, the Senate has confirmed Mike Pompeo as the new Secretary of State.

+ Jackson out. Pompeo in. And EPA head Scott Pruitt is on the bubble. His scandals (and policies) took center stage at he got grilled by Congress on Thursday.

"Those inside the courtroom, many of them Cosby accusers who had been attending the trial from the start, emerged outside in tears and embracing each other." Given the long list of accusers and the seriousness of the accusations, it's amazing that Bill Cosby has escaped punishment for this long. But on Thursday, a jury convicted him "of drugging and raping Andrea Constand at his Pennsylvania home in 2004." The verdict could send Cosby to prison for the rest of his life.

+ Cosby lashed out at the prosecutor after the verdict was read. Sadly, Cosby does not go directly to jail.

"After shaking hands — a moment that will be broadcast live around the world — both leaders will jointly inspect a South Korean honor guard, before negotiations officially start at 10:30 a.m. at Peace House, a South Korean facility located south of the border." South Korea is finalizing plans for Friday's much-anticipated summit with Kim Jung Un. As is his custom, Kim Jung Un will pack his own portable toilet for his historic trip. (Reading about the notion of traveling with one's own bathroom and avoiding public restrooms was the first time I've experienced dictator-envy...)

"Trump appeared to contradict earlier denials, saying Michael Cohen had represented him in a matter with Stormy Daniels, who has alleged an affair with the president. He defended Jackson, saying the allegations against him were false. He repeatedly threatened to intervene in the Justice Department, and accused former FBI Director James Comey of crimes. He appeared to endorse the popular vote over the Electoral College. He disclosed new details of talks with North Korea. For good measure, he complained about Hillary Clinton and the Democratic primary debates two years ago." We've heard many reports of him yelling at his TV. Today, we got to listen in. Donald From DC Calls in to Fox & Friends.

+ "Let me tell you, Michael is in business, he is really a businessman, a fairly big business as I understand it. I don't know his business but this doesn't have to do with me." 14 Things Trump Said on Fox & Friends.

+ Trump's Fox & Friends interview is already creating legal problems.

"The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, which opens Thursday on a six-acre site overlooking the Alabama State Capitol, is dedicated to the victims of American white supremacy. And it demands a reckoning with one of the nation's least recognized atrocities: the lynching of thousands of black people in a decades-long campaign of racist terror." NYT: A Lynching Memorial Is Opening. The Country Has Never Seen Anything Like It.

+ Montgomery Advertiser: Path of reconciliation: A walk through the nation's first lynching memorial.

Ahead of Emmanuel Macron's state visit, the big question was whether he could convince President Trump to stick with the Iran nuclear deal. Did he succeed? He doesn't think so. "My view — I don't know what your president will decide — is that he will get rid of this deal on his own for domestic reasons."

+ "Macron, for his part, suffers from a common French ailment, and that is to overestimate one's own cleverness. And what one sees in him, one fears, is a man who's so overestimated his cleverness that he's underestimated the stubborn, resistant residual authoritarianism of the man he is trying to advise." Adam Gopnik with a look at the Macron-Trump Summit and the dandruff factor.

"One day soon, you'll hear a car pull up to your curb, an engine cut out. You'll hear footsteps coming up your front walk. The doorbell rings. No side gates are left open. You're long past leaping over a fence. Take one of your hyper, gulping breaths. Clench your teeth. Inch timidly toward the insistent bell. This is how it ends for you." Michelle McNamara wrote the book on the Golden State Killer, and even predicted his capture. Sadly, she didn't live to see the arrest that took place this week. WaPo: She stalked the Golden State Killer until she died.

"The Balloon Council's primary target? Anti-balloon environmental laws that it worries will cripple the industry, such as the one brought before the New Jersey House and Senate this month, which would prohibit the 'intentional release of balloons inflated with lighter-than-air gases.'" From The Outline: Welcome to one of America's most expensive B-list political fights.

"We're proud to be the first duo hosting the Emmys since Jenna Elfman and David Hyde Pierce, and somehow that's a real fact." Michael Che and Colin Jost have been signed to host this year's Emmy Awards. Should be a good show. Che and Jost are the best SNL news hosts ever. Yeah, I said it.

"There's also a VIP option: For big shots not wishing to expend any energy, a 1963 Volkswagen bus will transport them the length of the course for an extra $25." 0.5K charity road race in Texas starts and ends with a beer.

+ Since my wife first coined, defined, and circulated the word Perennials a couple years ago, the term has really taken off. The latest believer: Madeleine Albright.

+ "Rosen is the son of a Jewish father and a Quaker mother. He had a bar mitzvah but attended a Catholic high school, where he went to weekly mass and gave confession twice a semester." If you've been waiting decades for a Jewish NFL quarterback, that's good enough.

+ Billboard: Pitbull Announces 2019 Tour With Life Coach Tony Robbins. (Editor's note: This is the worst show bill in the history of shows.)