Disney CEO Speaks on Deadly Alligator Attack

By now, you’ve no doubt heard about the deadly alligator attack that claimed the life of two-year-old Lane Graves. 

The young boy boy was dragged into the Seven Seas Lagoon around 9:16 p.m on Tuesday night. 

A huge search mission was underway in order to retrieve the child’s body, with the corpse being tragically found last night.

The body was intact, making it appear as if the toddler died from drowning. But not all pieces of information are available at this time.

The search mission involved cutting open five alligators in order to check if there were any human remains inside them. 

Walt Disney Company Chairman and CEO Bog Iger released a statement following the horrific attack.

“As a parent and a grandparent, my heart goes out to the Graves family during this time of devastating loss.”

“My thoughts and prayers are with them, and I know everyone at Disney joins me in offering our deepest sympathies,” Iger said in a statement. 

The news obviously came as a huge shock to everyone.

It was the first in the resort’s 45-year history. 

The president of Walt Disney World Resort, told ABC News in a statement: “There are no words to convey the profound sorrow we feel for the family and their unimaginable loss.

“We are devastated and heartbroken by this tragic accident and are doing what we can to help the family during this difficult time. On behalf of everyone at Disney, we offer our deepest sympathies.”

When the attack occurred, Lane’s father and mother frantically tried to get their son back, but the alligator was too fast. 

Word came out that the whole thing happened in the space of 30 seconds. 

It’s such a horrible thing to happen and there will no doubt be new security measures in place to ensure that things like this don’t happen again. 

The family from Nebraska thought they were going on a fun family vacation, but their vacation was cut short by this tragic event. 

Florida has had a horrible week in the news.

We send our thoughts and prayers to the child’s family members and loved ones.

View Slideshow: Celebrities Who Passed Away in 2016: Gone, But Not Forgotten

Disney CEO Speaks on Deadly Alligator Attack

By now, you’ve no doubt heard about the deadly alligator attack that claimed the life of two-year-old Lane Graves. 

The young boy boy was dragged into the Seven Seas Lagoon around 9:16 p.m on Tuesday night. 

A huge search mission was underway in order to retrieve the child’s body, with the corpse being tragically found last night.

The body was intact, making it appear as if the toddler died from drowning. But not all pieces of information are available at this time.

The search mission involved cutting open five alligators in order to check if there were any human remains inside them. 

Walt Disney Company Chairman and CEO Bog Iger released a statement following the horrific attack.

“As a parent and a grandparent, my heart goes out to the Graves family during this time of devastating loss.”

“My thoughts and prayers are with them, and I know everyone at Disney joins me in offering our deepest sympathies,” Iger said in a statement. 

The news obviously came as a huge shock to everyone.

It was the first in the resort’s 45-year history. 

The president of Walt Disney World Resort, told ABC News in a statement: “There are no words to convey the profound sorrow we feel for the family and their unimaginable loss.

“We are devastated and heartbroken by this tragic accident and are doing what we can to help the family during this difficult time. On behalf of everyone at Disney, we offer our deepest sympathies.”

When the attack occurred, Lane’s father and mother frantically tried to get their son back, but the alligator was too fast. 

Word came out that the whole thing happened in the space of 30 seconds. 

It’s such a horrible thing to happen and there will no doubt be new security measures in place to ensure that things like this don’t happen again. 

The family from Nebraska thought they were going on a fun family vacation, but their vacation was cut short by this tragic event. 

Florida has had a horrible week in the news.

We send our thoughts and prayers to the child’s family members and loved ones.

View Slideshow: Celebrities Who Passed Away in 2016: Gone, But Not Forgotten

Anderson Cooper Defends Pam Bondi Interview

Shortly after the deadliest shooting massacre in U.S. history, Anderson Cooper conducted an interview with Florida attorney general Pam Bondi.

The Q&A went viral because Cooper challenged Bondi to reconcile her reaction to the tragedy that took the lives of over 50 men and women inside a gay nightclub… with her previous stance on the LGBT community. 

Back in 2014, Bondi was a strong opponent of gay marriage.

She actually said in court at the time that LGBT individuals who were fighting for marriage equality were trying to do “harm” to the people of Florida.

Now, in the wake of this horrible tragedy, Bondi has been championing her efforts to set up a hotline that allows spouses to learn information about their husbands and wives, who may have died or been injured in Omar Mateen’s terrorist attack.

That’s a great thing to do.

But if Bondi had her way, gay and lesbian people would not be permitted to marry… which means their significant others would not have the legal right to learn private, medical information such as this.

“Do you really think you’re a champion of the gay community?” Cooper asked Bondi on Tuesday.

Watch the full interview here:

Pam Bondi Gets Grilled by Anderson Cooper

In reaction to what she felt were cheap shots, Bondi claimed in a radio interview with WOR 710 in New York on Wednesday that she was led to believe her chat with Cooper would focus on donation scams for the victims and their families.

Instead, “when he posted the clip, he cut out the entire first portion that discussed people donating to legitimate funds,” she said, arguing that all the interview did was “encourage anger and hate.”

(CNN has since put the entire conversation on its website.)

On air yesterday, Cooper responded to Bondi’s objections.

“For the record, my interview was not filled with any anger,” he said.

“My job is to hold people accountable, and if on Sunday a politician is talking about love and about embracing ‘our LGBT community,’ I don’t think it’s unfair to look at their record and see if they have ever actually spoken that way publicly before, which I’ve never heard her say.”

It may be rare for the public to see a reporter actually hold a politician accountable for his or her words and actions, but that is clearly what happened here.

“The fact is attorney general Bondi signed off on a 2014 federal court brief that claimed married gay people would ‘impose significant public harm.’ Harm,” Cooper continued.

“She spent hundreds of thousands in taxpayer money, gay and straight taxpayers’ money, trying to keep gays and lesbians from getting the right to marry.”

Cooper also made headlines on Monday when he had to fight off tears while reading the names of those who died in the weekend’s Orlando shooting.

Anderson Cooper Fights Off Tears While Honoring Orlando Shooting Victims

In this case, he concluded explaining his side of the Bondi interview as follows:

“Good people can and do disagree on [gay marriage] – everyone has the right to their own opinion, thank goodness – but Miss Bondi is championing right now her efforts to help survivors.

“With the very right which allows gay spouses to bury their dead loved ones – that’s a right that would not exist if Miss Bondi had her way. I think it’s fair to ask her about that.

“There is an irony in that.”

View Slideshow: Orlando Shooting Victims: In Memoriam…

Ann Morgan Guilbert Dies; Veteran Actress Was 87

Ann Morgan Guilbert, an actress whose impressive television career spanned The Dick Van Dyke Show all the way up through Life in Pieces, died on Tuesday after a long battle with cancer.

She was 87 years old.

The veteran star’s daughter has confirmed this sad news.

Guilbert rose to fame as Millie Helper on The Dick Van Dyke Show, portraying the wife of the Petries’ dentist neighbor, Jerry, on this beloved sitcom.

It ran from 1961 through 1966.

Following her run on that series, Guilbert made memorable appearances on The New Andy Griffith Show, The Fanelli Boys, Pickett Fences and The Nanny (as the titular Fran’s Grandma Yetta).

More recently, she stopped by HBO’s Getting On and ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, along with sitcoms Modern Family and the aforementioned Life in Pieces.

Guilbert also enjoyed an extensive theater career, including roles in the 2005 Broadway play, A Naked Girl on the Appian Way, and productions of The Matchmaker, Arsenic and Old Lace, ‘Waiting for Godot, To Kill a Mockingbird and Harvey.

The actress was a native of Minnesota who graduated from Stanford University’s Department of Speech and Drama.

She was married twice and is survived by two daughters.

We send our condolences to her friends, family members and loved ones.

View Slideshow: Celebrities Who Passed Away in 2016: Gone, But Not Forgotten