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Major explosion rocks downtown Nashville in apparent 'intentional act'



According to the Metro Nashville Police Department, an explosion that shook the downtown area of Nashville, Tennessee appears to have been an "intentional act," although authorities still have not named any suspects. As of press time of this article, no deaths or critical injuries have been reported.

Although details of the incident are still hazy, police say that they received a call about a suspicious RV parked near the tourist district on 2nd Avenue downtown and hazmat teams were en route to the area when the explosion occurred around 6:30 am Christmas morning.

The explosion appears to have devastated sections of Second Avenue and caused fires. Three people have been reportedly been transported to the hospital, but none with critical injuries.

The blast shook the entire downtown area and was reported on Twitter by numerous Nashville residents.

Nashville police department spokesman Don Aaron told CNN that the incident is being investigated by multiple agencies, including the FBI and BATF.

Numerous Nashville residents took to Twitter to document the Christmas morning scene of destruction.


#BREAKING: We are still working to gather more information this morning from a large explosion on 2nd & Commerce in… https://t.co/VanZSSCPXE
— brooke reese (@brooke reese)1608904916.0


Here's what drivers saw coming into Nashville just moments after a vehicle exploded downtown.@MNPDNashville believ… https://t.co/Y4mGFogK7r
— Levi Ismail (@Levi Ismail)1608910616.0


Hang in there Nashville. 🙏#nashvilleexplosion https://t.co/JNDlbcqaV2
— Lisa Best (@Lisa Best)1608909640.0

This is a developing story and will be updated.

VIDEO: Man arrested for climbing onto wing of airplane preparing for takeoff at Las Vegas airport



There are some people who can handle a trip to Las Vegas and there are some people who can't handle a trip to Las Vegas and end up trespassing onto an airport runway and climbing onto the wing of a commercial airliner that is preparing to depart. The gentleman in this viral video appears to be the latter.

An Alaska Airlines airplane was preparing to depart on Saturday from the McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada. Just before Flight 1367 took off for Portland, a man climbed onto the left wing of the Boeing 737. The pilot notified the control tower, which then alerted security.

Video taken by Brooke Knight shows the man on the wing, and has been watched nearly 2 million times on Twitter. So much for "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas."

At one point, he attempts to climb the winglet, but he can't ascend up the tip of the elevated wing. The man believes that his shoes do not have enough traction to climb the winglet, so he takes off one of his shoes and socks. Unfortunately for him, being barefoot did not improve his climbing abilities. He mounts the winglet, but doesn't get very far.

Police officers walk onto the wing to apprehend the man, but he gets nervous and falls to the ground. He is immediately taken into custody by Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officers who were waiting on the tarmac. The man was reportedly transported to a medical facility.

@AlaskaAir crew has been exceptional as The Original Wingman graces us with his presence. #StayHot2020 https://t.co/79PHcHhJ0q
— Brooke Knight (@Brooke Knight)1607814172.0

The unidentified suspect climbed over a perimeter fence of the airport and was observed by airport staff around 1:40 p.m. PST, McCarran International Airport spokesman Joe Rajchel told CNN.

The airplane returned to the gate for a full inspection following the incident, Alaska Airlines said in a statement.

"Law enforcement was dispatched and able to apprehend the individual," the airline said. "Our guests and employees are safe and we are working with law enforcement. The plane returned to the gate for a full inspection."

The plane eventually took off for Portland, but after a three-hour delay.

The airline executives are going to see this viral video and think to themselves, "Maybe we can make a lower class than "Economy Class" and charge people to fly on the wings?"

DNI declassifies Brennan notes, CIA memo on allegation that Hillary Clinton approved plot to tie Trump to Russia



Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe has declassified notes taken by former CIA Director John Brennan along with a CIA memo from 2016, citing intelligence claiming Hillary Clinton approved of an alleged plot by her campaign to accuse then-candidate Donald Trump of collusion with Russia in order to distract from her email scandal ahead of the election.

What are the details?

Last week, Ratcliffe wrote a letter informing Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), "In late July 2016, U.S. intelligence agencies obtained insight into Russian intelligence analysis alleging that U.S. Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton had approved a campaign plan to stir up a scandal against U.S. Presidential candidate Donald Trump by tying him to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and the Russians' hacking of the Democratic National Committee."

Ratcliffe noted, "The IC does not know the accuracy of this allegation or the extent to which the Russian intelligence analysis may reflect exaggeration or fabrication."

As TheBlaze previously reported:

Ratcliffe went on to say that former Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan briefed former President Barack Obama on the claims garnered from Russian intelligence. Those claims were also forwarded to then-FBI Director James Comey and then-Deputy Assistant Director of Counterintelligence Peter Strzok.

On Tuesday, Ratcliffe provided documentation to back up his letter, releasing a heavily redacted CIA memo from September 2016 addressed to Strzok, which describes "an exchange ... discussing U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's approval of a plan concerning U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump and Russian hackers hampering U.S. elections as a means of distracting the public from her use of a private email server."

The DNI also released notes taken by Brennan, who was CIA director at the time, showing he jotted, "Cite alleged approval by Hillary Clinton (on 28 July) on proposal from one of her foreign policy advisors to villify (sic) Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by the Russian security service."

Brennan also wrote "any evidence of collaboration between Trump campaign & Russia," in a bullet point next to where he had written "POTUS" in the margin.

According to an exclusive report from Fox News, "A source familiar with the documents explained that Brennan's handwritten notes were taken after briefing Obama on the matter."

NEW: declassified @JohnBrennan notes from briefing @BarackObama per @DNI_Ratcliffe “Alleged approved by… https://t.co/QRpFD0dmjK
— Brooke Singman (@Brooke Singman)1602011451.0

The outlet pointed out that much of "the notes are redacted, except in the margins, which reads: 'JC,' 'Denis,' and 'Susan,'" adding, "The notes don't spell out the full names but 'JC' could be referring to then-FBI Director James Comey, 'Susan' could refer to National Security Adviser Susan Rice, and 'Denis' could refer to Obama chief of staff Denis McDonough."

Following Ratcliffe's letter to Graham last week, a Clinton spokesperson called the Russian intelligence claims "baseless bulls**t."

But Racliffe told Fox on Tuesday, "To be clear, this is not Russian disinformation and has not been assessed as such by the Intelligence Community. I'll be briefing Congress on the sensitive sources and methods by which it was obtained in the coming days."