• Former White House assistant Madeleine Westerhout testified Thursday in Trump's hush-money trial.
•  The "Access Hollywood" tape sent the RNC reeling, she testified of working there at the time.
• Westerhout said RNC officials were so concerned, they began planning how to replace Trump.

The "Access Hollywood" tape was so damaging to Donald Trump's 2016 campaign that the Republican National Committee began planning how to replace him as the GOP's presidential candidate, his ex-executive assistant testified on Thursday.

Madeleine Westerhout, who worked as an assistant to a top RNC official before she served as Trump's assistant in the White House, described the post-tape tumult to the jury in Trump's New York criminal hush-money trial.

"There were conversations about — if it would be — how it would be possible to replace him as a candidate if it came to that," she testified.

The notorious 2005 tape, which circulated ahead of the 2016 presidential election, was highly damaging to the Trump campaign, prosecutors have told jurors. In it, Trump brags about grabbing women. "When you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything…grab 'em by the p—y."

Trump's team has tried, in openings and in their cross-examination of DA witnesses, to brush the payment off as something he did to protect his family from learning of Stormy Daniels' allegations.

But Westerhout's testimony bolsters the DA theory that paying off Daniels was an illegal campaign expense and that records were falsified as part of a conspiracy to influence the election.

The former president's trial is in its third week of testimony. He's been charged with falsifying 34 business records to cover up a $130,000 hush-money payment made to Daniels, a porn star, in the days before the 2016 election.

Prosecutors in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office have alleged that Trump orchestrated an illegal election-influencing scheme to purchase Daniels' silence over a one-time 2006 sexual encounter she says she had with Trump in his Lake Tahoe hotel suite.

Trump has vehemently denied having sex with Daniels.

In a court filing before the historic trial began, prosecutors wrote that the release of the "Access Hollywood" tape "caused a panic within the campaign about defendant's electoral prospects and ultimately served as the catalyst for consummating the Stormy Daniels payoff."

Trump's legal team has tried, in its opening statement and in their cross-examinations of DA witnesses, to brush the hush-money payment off as something Trump did to protect his family from learning of Daniels' allegations.

The former president's lead attorney, Todd Blanche, argued in his opening statement that there was nothing wrong with Trump's then-"fixer" Michael Cohen paying Daniels off to protect Trump's brand and keep Daniels from embarrassing Trump's family.

"I have a spoiler alert for you. It's called democracy," Blanche said at the time.

Prosecutors say Trump falsified business documents throughout 2017, including in his first week in office, when they say he reimbursed Cohen for paying Daniels the hush money.

• Google's CEO said "We got it wrong" in response to Gemini's AI debacle.
• Sundar Pichai said that Google "overapplied" in an attempt to cater to a global user base.
• Google has temporarily disabled Gemini's ability to generate images of people.

Google's CEO reflected in a new interview on the company's Gemini AI image-generation debacle earlier this year, a controversy that drew backlash.

The AI assistant was quickly mocked for its apparent reluctance to generate images of white people and recreating images of historical figures with inaccurate ethnicities and genders, like Asian Nazis and Black founding fathers. Some critics used it as an example of "woke AI."

Google CEO Sundar Pichai told Bloomberg in an interview published Wednesday that "we got it wrong" and it was a case in which good intentions went awry.

Pichai said people from all over the world ask generic inquiries like "show me images of school teachers or doctors" and Google was trying to accommodate a global user base.

"Obviously, the mistake was that we overapplied," Pichai said. "Including cases where it should've never applied so that was the bug."

Following criticism of the issue, Google paused Gemini from generating AI images of people while it corrected the changes.

The issue hasn't been fixed yet, and if you ask Gemini to generate a picture of the founding fathers, it responds, "We are working to improve Gemini's ability to generate images of people" and that it expects the feature to return soon.

In February, Google DeepMind CEO said the image generator would return in a couple of weeks. Google didn't provide an update on when the feature will be readded.

The Gemini chatbot has also faced some criticism in the past. Gemini has said it wouldn't promote meat or fossil fuels. Users on X have also complained that the chatbot inserts the word "diverse" into responses that don't call for it.

"We are rightfully held to a high bar and I think we clearly take responsibility for it," Pichai said in the interview. "And we are going to get it right."

Are you a Google employee? We want to hear from you. Email the reporter from a non-work device at aaltchek@insider.com

• Apple is facing backlash for an iPad ad showing analog art tools getting crushed.
• It's not even an original idea — LG used the same concept 15 years ago.
• It didn't make waves at the time, perhaps when tech felt like less of a threat.

Apple's been widely panned for an ad that shows time-tested artistic tools — paint, a piano, camera lenses — getting crushed in a hydraulic press.

Cribbing a viral trend, the commercial was supposed to tout the creative promise of Apple's new iPad Pro.

But many viewers were just plain pissed. On X, for instance, Apple chief Tim Cook's post sharing the ad has been flooded with criticism.

One commenter said the ad ironically served as a representation of how tech giants are squashing human creativity with AI. At the same time, Y Combinator cofounder Paul Graham suggested Steve Jobs never would have okayed the ad on his watch.

But it turns out, the ad wasn't even an original idea.

Fifteen years ago, Korean electronics company LG used almost exactly the same concept in a UK spot for its Renoir camera phone.

In that ad, musical instruments, computer monitors, studio lights, and paints are all crushed in a press — revealing the sleekly intact Renoir in conclusion.

Of course, there's no evidence Apple — known for its unique marketing prowess — copied LG's creative. It's more likely that the concept of crushing a bunch of different devices down into one product is a bit basic.

It's also safe to say that back in 2008 — when technology felt more like a galvanizing opportunity than a looming threat — the ad didn't ignite nearly the same firestorm.

Some YouTube commenters of yesteryear even seemed to really to like it.

"Love this advert for some relly wierd reason," one viewer wrote in 2008.

Another added at the time: "Anyone who has this phone, is really that good or just an excellent ad?

Neither LG nor Apple immediately responded to a request for comment from Business Insider.

• Data analytics firm JD Power released its annual airline customer satisfaction study on Wednesday.
• Delta rated best first/business and premium economy cabins. Southwest won for best economy cabin.
• Overall, the study found traveler satisfaction driven most by desire for a safe and easy experience.

Delta Air Lines has reclaimed its crown as passengers' No. 1 pick for its first/business class, according to JD Power's newest airline rankings.

Delta regained the top spot after coming in second last year to JetBlue Airways. JetBlue fell to second place this year, followed by United Airlines.

JD Power released the annual North American Airline Satisfaction Study on Wednesday. It gauged consumer sentiment toward 11 major airlines in the US and Canada across three categories: first/business class, premium economy class, and economy/basic economy.

Delta's premium economy class claimed the top spot for the second year in a row, with Alaska Airlines in second place and American Airlines in third. Last year's runner's up, JetBlue, dropped to fourth place.

Southwest Airlines took top honors in the economy/basic economy segment for the third consecutive year, followed by Delta for the second year in a row. Allegiant Air finished in third place, up three spots from last year.

Air Canada, on the other hand, ranked last in customer satisfaction in the first/business class and premium economy categories. For the second consecutive year, Frontier Airlines finished last in the economy/basic economy segment with Spirit Airlines ranked one spot ahead.

JD Power also highlighted some other takeaways from the survey — specifically, how staffing and media attention can influence airline rankings.

"The big takeaway from this year's study is the power of people to positively influence the overall flight experience," said JD Power senior managing director Michael Taylor in a statement."Airlines that are investing in staff training and recruitment are finding ways to overcome the negative effects of crowded gates and planes simply by being nice to their customers."

The study also found that trust and ease of travel have superseded price as key driving factors for consumer satisfaction. According to JD Power, what's most important to customers, beyond the cost of a ticket, is simply to have a safe, drama-free flight.

Media coverage can significantly affect consumer trust in airlines, as well, the survey found. JD Power said consumers who reported seeing negative media coverage of an airline rated it much lower than others in terms of trust.

JD Power's 2024 study is based on responses from 9,582 passengers who had flown on a major North American airline within the previous month of completing the survey, which was conducted between March 2023 and March 2024.

Here's a closer look at how the 11 major North American airlines fared in each segment of the study.

First/business class

First/business class customer satisfaction ranking (score out of 1,000 points)

1. Delta Air Lines (743)
2. JetBlue Airways (736)
3. United Airlines (698)
4. Alaska Airlines (695)
5. American Airlines (676)
6. Air Canada (629)

Segment average: 701

Premium economy

Premium economy class customer satisfaction ranking (score out of 1,000 points)

1. Delta Air Lines (716)
2. Alaska Airlines (687)
3. American Airlines (684)
4. JetBlue Airways (667)
5. WestJet (664)
6. United Airlines (641)
7. Air Canada (628)

Segment average: 675

Economy/basic economy

Economy/basic economy class customer satisfaction ranking (score out of 1,000 points)

1. Southwest Airlines (685)
2. Delta Air Lines (651)
3. Allegiant Air (633)
4. (Tie) Alaska Airlines (630)

4. (Tie) JetBlue Airways (630)

6. American Airlines (611)
7. WestJet (591)
8. United Airlines (585)
9. Air Canada (542)
10. Spirit Airlines (507)
11. Frontier Airlines (472)

Segment average: 613

• A Black airman was killed by police responding to a disturbance call in his apartment building.
• Senior Airman Roger Fortson, 23, was shot six times by a Florida deputy in his home last week.
• A witness believes the officer was at the wrong apartment, the Fortson family's attorney said.

An attorney for the family of a Florida special operations airman who was shot and killed in his home by local police said Wednesday that officers responding to a reported disturbance may have entered the wrong apartment.

Senior Airman Roger Fortson, 23, who was assigned to the 4th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field, was alone in his apartment May 3 when police burst through the door and fatally shot him six times, according to Ben Crump, an attorney representing Fortson's family.

The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office was responding to a disturbance between a man and woman in the apartment building, and deputies shot Fortson, who was Black, multiple times in the chest, according to police radio communications.

"The circumstances surrounding Roger's death raise serious questions that demand immediate answers from authorities, especially considering the alarming witness statement that the police entered the wrong apartment," Crump said. "The narrative released by law enforcement, which falsely suggests that Roger posed a threat, is deeply troubling and inconsistent with the details provided by that witness: Roger was home alone, causing no disturbance, when his life was tragically cut short by law enforcement."

The sheriff's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the attorney's claims. The sheriff's office recently came under scrutiny after one of its deputies resigned following an internal investigation last year of an incident in which he fired his weapon multiple times at a detained suspect after mistaking the sound of an acorn hitting the roof of his patrol vehicle as a gunshot, GulfLive.com reported.

Fortson lived in an off-base residence, and his special operations squadron at Hurlburt Field in the Florida panhandle flies AC-130J Ghostrider gunships.

Crump said there was no disturbance and that Fortson was home alone on a video call with another person, who reported the airman heard a knock on the door.

Fortson, according to the witness, asked, "Who is it?" But he didn't receive an answer. After a subsequent "aggressive" second knock and seeing no one through the peephole, Fortson grabbed his legally owned gun, Crump detailed.

As Fortson was walking back to his living room, police entered the apartment and shot him. He reportedly said, "I can't breathe" while on the ground after being shot, Crump said, repeating a witness account of the event.

Publicly available police radio audio reviewed by Military.com reported a call for a disturbance at an apartment complex at 319 Racetrack Road around 4:30 p.m. local time.

"Don't have anything further than a male and female; it's all fourth party information from the front desk at the leasing office," a deputy said on the radio.

A few minutes later, another deputy called in to report "shots fired, suspect down," and called for emergency medical services.

"Multiple gunshot wounds to the chest, Black male," another deputy chimes in shortly after. Fortson was shot six times, Crump said in his statement.

No other details, including the circumstances of the disturbance that prompted the local deputies to visit the apartment building, were released. Fortson was taken to an area hospital, where he later died. No officers were harmed in the incident.

Fortson joined the Air Force on November 19, 2019, according to a copy of his service record provided to Military.com. He joined as an AC-130J gunner. Crump added that Roger graduated from high school with honors and had no criminal record.

The deputy involved was not identified in the news release and was "placed on paid administrative leave" pending the outcome of an investigation and administrative review, the sheriff's office said.

On Monday evening, Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden released a statement saying the department was "saddened" by the incident and calling for further investigation into the shooting.

"I immediately placed the deputy on administrative leave and have asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to conduct the investigation that is required in such incidents," Aden said. "The State Attorney's Office will also conduct an independent review. At this time, we humbly ask for our community's patience as we work to understand the facts that resulted in this tragic event."

The sheriff's office declined to provide Military.com the original 911 call and the police report into the incident, citing "the ongoing active investigation" in an emailed response.

"We are calling for transparency in the investigation into Roger's death and the immediate release of bodycam video to the family," Crump said. "His family and the public deserve to know what occurred in the moments leading up to this tragedy. We urge authorities to immediately stop demonizing Roger in their statements to the media. It's imperative to correct the record and acknowledge the wrongful entry into Roger's home."

Related: Special Operations Airman Shot and Killed by Florida Police During Disturbance in Apartment Building

The offers and details on this page may have updated or changed since the time of publication. See our article on Business Insider for current information.

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• Apple announced new iPad products and accessories during an event on Tuesday.
• Apple CEO Tim Cook donned Nike Air Max 1 '86s created, in part, using Apple products.
• The exclusive sneakers will not be available to the public for purchase.

Tim Cook flexed his sneaker game while unveiling new iPad products and accessories during a recent Apple event.

Cook kicked off Apple's livestream event on Tuesday while wearing one-of-a-kind Nike Air Max 1 '86 sneakers. A Nike representative told Business Insider that the sneakers were inspired by Apple's new products: the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil Pro.

"Starting with our iconic Nike Air innovation, the one-of-one Air Max 1 '86 was designed entirely on the all-new iPad Pro with the first-ever Apple Pencil Pro. We're so excited to have had a sneak peek at what this groundbreaking device is capable of," a statement from Nike read.

The white shoes also feature rainbow stitching around the iconic Nike swoosh and the heel in a nod to the Apple Pencil Pro. On the front, the shoe's tongue is adorned with the Nike swoosh and includes the phrase "Made on iPad."

The shoes will not be available for purchase to the public, according to Hypebeast.

An Apple press release said the company's new iPad Pro advancements were made possible with the M4 chip, which it described as "the next generation of Apple silicon."

"M4 features an entirely new display engine to enable the precision, color, and brightness of the Ultra Retina XDR display," the press release said.

Apple fans can also expect to see a thinner, lighter version of the Magic Keyboard and redesigned iPad Air.

Online orders for these products began May 7. They'll be available in stores on May 15.

• Silicon Valley tech workers are migrating to New York City for the social scene.
• Even with high rents, New York attracted the most tech talent from the Bay Area in 2022-2023.
• Some tech workers have said they want a life after working late, making New York appealing.

Young tech workers fed up with Silicon Valley are heading east for the ambiance and the dating scene, and they don't mind paying more for it.

New York City attracted more tech talent from the Bay Area than any other city between 2022 and 2023 despite having the highest rents in the country, according to a report from SignalFire, a venture capital firm.

The Big Apple is attracting tech investment as well. In 2022, Silicon Valley companies took in almost $75 billion from VC investors, according to The San Francisco Chronicle. Meanwhile, companies in New York secured nearly $30 billion, making it the country's second most lucrative tech hub.

Millennials and Gen Z workers told the Chronicle that they saw more potential in New York's social scene, which became a factor in their decision to move east. San Mateo County, which includes part of Silicon Valley, declared loneliness a public health emergency earlier this year.

"I always thought New York could be a much more fun city than San Francisco," Sanchit Gupta told the Chronicle. "I also thought dating there would be a lot better."

A self-described "night-owl," Gupta told the Chronicle he was looking for something to do with his extra income. Kai Koerber echoed those thoughts, describing why he chose the city that never sleeps.

"Living in the Bay Area, things kind of shut down around 10 p.m.," Koerber told the Chronicle. "So, if you're in tech and want to kind of live a fun life in your 20s, while also building life-changing technology during the day, New York is kind of the place to be."

For Gupta, at least, it worked out. Later this year, he plans on marrying someone he reconnected with in New York, he told the Chronicle. Even so, he still thinks he'll head back west in the future.