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July 19, 2012 | | RELEASE The candidate’s position is becoming untenable as even conservatives in his own party are insisting that he release his tax returns. How did it come to this? By Howard Kurtz. Plus, Peter Schweizer says Mitt should disclose all his blunders. MIA One day after Bashar al-Assad’s two top security chiefs—one of which was his brother-in-law—were killed in a suicide bombing, the Syrian president has yet to make a statement or even a public appearance. Opposition sources say they believe the embattled dictator to be “at his palace in Latakia directing the response to the attack and that he may have been there for days.” Meanwhile, rebels, armed with small guns and rocket-launched grenades, are moving en masse on Damascus. Residents say fighting is the heaviest it’s been since the revolt against Assad began 16 months ago. Pentagon officials are in talks with Israel’s government on contingency plans for the Assad regime’s eventual collapse. IN HIS OWN WORDS George Zimmerman, the man charged with second-degree murder in the death Trayvon Martin, told Fox News’s Sean Hannity that he was “beside myself” after shooting the 17-year-old to death—and insisted “I am not a racist or a murderer.” Zimmerman said Martin had “bashed my head” into the pavement before Zimmerman shot the teen in self-defense. Zimmerman said he would tell Martin’s parents that he is “sorry” about the shooting. “My wife and I don’t have any children,” Zimmerman said. “I am sorry they [the Martins] had to bury their child. I can’t imagine what that must be like. I pray for them daily.” Zimmerman said he doesn't regreat carrying the gun, and said this is "part of God's plan." Hannity’s interview is the first time Zimmerman has given an interview since Martin’s death. INCOGNITO Officials have confirmed that a suicide bomber, equipped with a fake American ID, is responsible for the attack on a bus filled with Israeli tourists outside the airport in Burgas, Bulgaria. While Bulgarian officials declared the total death count to be seven—six of which they said were Israelis—the Israeli officials claim that only five of their own had been killed. The Bulgarian bus driver also died in the explosion. Bulgaria, Israel and the United States have all called the incident a terrorist attack and Israel went a step further to blame both Iran and Lebanese militant group, Hezbollah—though no immediate acknowledgement of responsibility was made. It’s unclear where the bomber was from, but Bulgaria’s interior minister described him as a white male with glasses, long hair and a backpack who looked like a tourist and carried a fake Michigan ID. Security footage shows he blended in with the Israeli tourists. SECRECY Director Paul Thomas Anderson won’t say what inspired his new film. So Marc Headley, a former member of the church’s Sea Org, took a look at the screenplay and gives The Daily Beast his verdict. | | 
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