State Department pressing Clinton lawyer over email gap

State Department officials are pressing Hillary Clinton's personal lawyer David Kendall to confirm -- again -- whether the former secretary of state really did turn over all official emails, according to Justice Department documents filed as part of a watchdog group's lawsuit against the State Department. 

State Department official Patrick Kennedy raised this question with Kendall in an Oct. 2 letter -- obtained by Fox News -- demanding to know why there appears to be a gap of at least two months during which Clinton may not have turned over official emails to the department. 

The details emerged in a FOIA lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch. And the question over a gap in the records follows recent reports that Clinton was emailing with Gen. David Petraeus in January and February 2009 from her personal email account about Obama administration personnel matters -- though she has claimed she only started using that personal account for official business in March 2009. 

In the wake of the Petraeus reports, the State Department's Kennedy wrote the letter to Kendall to determine if she really turned over all official documents since "the Department has become aware of emails that were sent to or received from former Secretary Clinton between January and March 2009." 

"As a result, I ask that you confirm that, with regard to her tenure as Secretary of State, former Secretary Clinton has provided the Department with all federal records in her possession, regardless of their format or the domain on which they were stored or created, that may not otherwise be preserved in the Department's recordkeeping system," Kennedy wrote to Kendall. "To the extent her emails might be found on any internet service and email providers, we encourage you to contact them." 

The inquiry stands as an example of the Obama administration pressing Clinton on her federal record transparency, even as Clinton suggests Republicans are playing politics with probes into the 2012 Benghazi attack and her email practices. The campaign has escalated those charges after House GOP Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy was accused by Democrats of linking the Benghazi panel's work to her declining poll numbers. 

Ukraine parallels seen in Russia's Syria push, Obama under pressure to do more

Russia's continuing military buildup and ongoing airstrikes in Syria are raising concerns that President Obama is "flummoxed" by an intervention reminiscent, analysts say, of the incursion into eastern Ukraine. 

“They are almost sibling interventions,” Joerg Forbrig, Transatlantic Fellow for Central and Eastern Europe at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, told FoxNews.com. 

A senior Kremlin defense official told Russian media outlets this week that military veterans that had served in eastern Ukraine were likely to start fighting next in Syria as “volunteer” ground forces, according to The New York Times. 

The announcement comes amid Russia’s escalating presence in the region, with the U.S. and NATO expressing concern over Russia’s fresh incursions into Turkish airspace.

Russia has said that its airstrikes are aimed against Islamic State forces, as well as Al Qaeda’s affiliates in Syria. However, U.S. officials have said that at least some of the strikes have hit Western-backed rebel factions fighting government troops, with the intention of protecting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Speaking to reporters during a stop at Moron Air Base in Spain, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said he couldn't confirm reports there may be Russian volunteer soldiers in Syria, but warned against it.

Hillary hopes to beat the rap on a technicality

Have you ever watched a courtroom drama in which the judge dramatically declares that a whole swath of evidence is inadmissible because its origins were tainted?

That’s what Hillary Clinton is hoping Democrats do for her today with her first television ad.

The new spot no doubt will add further anguish to Republicans contemplating the speakership of Kevin McCarthy. And it will, no doubt, certainly help frame the former secretary of state’s testimony later this month about the deadly raid of 2012 in Benghazi, Libya.

But the point here is primarily about locking up a primary which has proved remarkably difficult for Clinton. She should not be trailing the 74-year-old socialist senator from Vermont anywhere, not even New Hampshire.

And Vice President Joe Biden’s bubble should’ve popped a long time ago. While the two of them have certainly had their disagreements, she and Biden represent essentially the same part of the Democratic Party. Remember: that’s why Barack Obama picked Biden as his running mate in 2008.

Her problems certainly stem from her acknowledged struggle to interact with human beings. A manful effort by her media partners at NBC for the past week notwithstanding, Clinton still struggles with empathy.

But Clinton’s biggest problem is the same one that her establishment counterpart on the Republican side has: electability. Usually the domain of underdogs and outsiders, it is the runners in the inside lanes who have the electability woes in this topsy cycle.

For Jeb Bush, his electability problems don’t relate to him as much as they relate to his last name (though he certainly is making an effort to be his own man in that regard, too).

For Clinton, the reason she is faring so poorly against her would-be general election rivals is that Americans broadly mistrust her and there is baggage still to unpack. Given her misleading, obfuscatory and facile answers to the persistent scandals that have dogged her candidacy, Democrats have good reason to believe that there is more to come.

Biden reportedly shared details on dying son’s wish he run for president

Vice President Joe Biden reportedly was the one who during an interview shared details about his son Beau's dying wish that he take one more run at the White House, telling his father "that the country would be better off with Biden values." 

Politico, citing "multiple sources," reported Tuesday that the vice president was in fact the source of the intimate details in an Aug. 1 New York Times column by Maureen Dowd that effectively kicked off the now-frenzied speculation about Biden's 2016 plans. 

In the column, Dowd described an emotional scene where a dying Beau Biden spoke to his father for one of the last times. 

"He tried to make his father promise to run, arguing that the White House should not revert to the Clintons and that the country would be better off with Biden values," the article said. 

According to Politico, the scene was relayed by Biden himself. 

The vice president's office, though, pushed back strongly on the report. 

The Bernie boom: Why Sanders is shattering the media’s expectations

Has the Bernie Sanders phenomenon reached the point where the media have to take it more seriously?

It’s not that Bernie-mentum has exactly gone unnoticed. The man has landed on the cover of Time magazine. The huge crowds he is drawing—20,000 in Boston the other day—continue to amaze the political world. And with Hillary Clinton still on the defensive over the email mess (NBC’s Savannah Guthrie told her yesterday, “Do you get how bad it looks?…If you’re blaming the Republicans, some might wonder how genuine is that apology?”), the contrast in coverage could hardly be starker.

But every positive Sanders development is followed by a media qualifier:

“Yes but, he can’t beat Hillary after Iowa and New Hampshire.”

“Yes but, the Democratic Party is not going to nominate an avowed socialist.”

“Yes but, he’d get clobbered in a general election.”

Now two developments are giving the pundits pause. One is Sanders’ fundraising haul--$26 million in the third quarter, just a couple of million behind Clinton. And virtually all of that money from 650,000 small donors, giving his campaign the feel of a grass-roots rebellion, and the fuel to compete in big states once the first two contests are over.

Nothing gets the media’s attention more than money.

The second development came yesterday with some hypothetical general election matchups by NBC and the Wall Street Journal.

13-year-old YouTube star Caleb Logan Bratayley died of undetected medical condition

The Bratayley family, known for their extremely popular YouTube channel, has revealed 13-year-old Caleb Logan died of an undetected medical condition.

The YouTube world was shocked to learn of the young Bratayley family member’s death late last week, and though they revealed at the time Caleb died of natural causes, fans still had many questions.

In an Instagram post shared late Monday, the family wrote: “Caleb's death has raised many questions about how and why this could happen to a seemingly healthy boy. Sadly, tests have confirmed today that Caleb passed away from an undetected medical condition. We'll have more definitive answers in the coming weeks but ask that you help us celebrate his life instead of focus on his death.”

The family went on to explain they will be streaming a memorial service for Caleb so his fan base can mourn him along with the family.

“Due to an outpouring of support and people's hope to be part of his memorial, we have decided to live-stream the ceremony [Tuesday] at 8pm EDT... Thank you for all your kindness during this difficult time.”

White House: US airstrike on Afghan hospital 'profound tragedy'

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Tuesday that the U.S. airstrike on an Afghanistan hospital where aid workers were operating was a "profound tragedy" and President Obama wants a "full accounting of what transpired" -- but clarified that the Justice Department is not involved in any investigation after earlier saying it was. 

"I misspoke," Earnest said. 

Earnest initially said during Tuesday's press briefing that the Justice Department was conducting an investigation. 

Later in the briefing, Earnest corrected himself, saying there are still only the three probes announced in the aftermath of the attack, to be conducted by: the Defense Department, NATO, and a joint U.S.-Afghan group. 

The weekend strike in Kunduz killed at least 22 at a medical clinic run by Doctors Without Borders. U.S. officials say Afghan forces called in the strike after taking fire from Taliban fighters. 

Earnest said Tuesday "there still is more that needs to be learned" about how the attack happened.

Shortly beforehand, Gen. John F. Campbell told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill that the attack was a mistake. 

"The hospital was mistakenly struck," he said. "We would never intentionally target a protected medical facility."

Campbell, the top commander of American and coalition forces in Afghanistan, also said the decision to execute the airstrike in Kunduz was made by top U.S. commanders. He said Monday that Afghan forces, not U.S. forces, called in the strike after taking fire. 

Campbell’s characterization that the airstrike was an accident comes after sources told Fox News that Taliban fighters were inside the Doctors Without Borders-run hospital. Campbell said he could not provide more details about what happened, including who may have failed to follow procedures for avoiding attacks on hospitals. He said he must await the outcome of multiple investigations. 

Cate Blanchett: I was ready for marriage after 3 days

Cate Blanchett certainly has an unconventional love story.

The outspoken actress shared on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" that while her husband Andrew Upton waited just 21 days to propose, she knew almost instantly that they would wed.

WATCH: 6 Reasons to Get Excited About Cate Blanchett Playing Lucille Ball in Biopic

"He turned to me, we were in bed, as you are after three days, and he said. 'Cate.' And I thought, 'S--t, he’s gonna ask me to marry him and I’m gonna have to say yes,'" she recalled. "And then he said, 'No, I'm hungry. Do you want to go get something to eat?'"

It wasn't long after their three-day rendezvous that they did, in fact, get engaged.

WATCH: Cate Blanchett Loses Patience With Reporter -- 'That's Your F**king Question?'

"But then he asked me after about 21 days and I said yes. I cooked him the worst meal," she told Ellen. "I somehow decided that to stuff a trout with walnuts and goat cheese would be a good idea. He ate it and then he asked me to marry him. So, clearly he was ...I don’t know, hallucinating. He realized I couldn’t cook."

Cate joked that, in her experience, the way to a man's heart is not through his stomach. "No, you give them food poisoning," she quipped. "They're delirious and then you've got them."

The 46-year-old actress also showed up on Monday's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," and made a surprising revelation about how she came up with her son's name, Roman Upton. Cate said she named her son after infamous director Roman Polanski.

WATCH: Cate Blanchett Denies Having 'Many' Sexual Relationships with Women 

"Roman was, I don't know, Polanski," the Oscar winner told the late-night host, "But it's also the French word for book."

Rose McGowan: Why I am posing nude

Rose McGowan can’t be accused of false modesty.

The “Charmed” actress is planning a nude photo shoot in a graveyard behind her new East Village apartment “because my breasts are really great,” she said at the opening of the Robert Wilson show at the National Arts Club.

Click here to watch Rose McGowan's racy, NSFW video

McGowan pulled open her faux-fur jacket to show how well her bra fit under her sheer black top.

This article originally appeared in the New York Post's Page Six.

Four4Four - Music Videos Getting Naked

Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise's adopted daughter secretly marries, report says

Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise’s daughter Isabella Cruise has reportedly tied the knot.

According to Woman’s Day magazine, the 22-year-old married Max Parker in a secret ceremony at The Dorchester Hotel in Central London on September 18.

The pair, who has been dating since the beginning of the year, said "I do" in front of a small group of their closest friends.

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Kidman is said to have been present at the nuptials, however neither Bella’s dad Tom Cruise, 53, or her brother Connor Cruise, 20, were there.

The magazine reports the notoriously private adopted daughter of the ex-couple didn’t want to risk her wedding becoming public knowledge before the day.

Bella, a practicing Scientologist who recently graduated from a hair and make-up course, asked four fellow graduates from the prestigious Vidal Sassoon Academy to be her bridesmaids.

She wore a sleeved, thigh-length lace dress while her bridesmaids wore pale pink jumpsuits.

Parker, a British IT consultant, had five groomsmen, two of which were Scientologists.

According to one insider, Bella has already changed her name to Isabella Parker.

Kidman and Cruise adopted Bella in 1993 and Connor in 1995, but after they divorced in 2001, both children decided to live with their father.

“They are generous, kind and hardworking,” the "Moulin Rouge" star told Australian Woman’s Weekly of her eldest two children in 2014. “And these are traits that I love to see in my children.”

Kidman also has two daughters, Sunday Rose and Faith Margaret, with husband Keith Urban.

Emily Blunt says she became U.S. citizen 'mainly for tax reasons'

Emily Blunt is talking about becoming a U.S. citizen again, and this time she says she did it for purely practical considerations.

"It's mainly for tax reasons," Blunt told the Sunday Times in England. "I didn't want to renounce my Queen." 

She also talked about the process of naturalization.

"You have to learn all about the Constitution.You can't be a habitual drunk, you can't be on a guerrilla squad and you can't be a prostitute, which is a shame," she said.

The British-born actress Emily Blunt became a naturalized U.S. citizen in August, and took heat when she said watching the first Republican Presidential debate had made her question her decision.

"I became an American citizen recently, and that night, we watched the Republican debate, and I thought, 'This was a terrible mistake. What have I done?'" she told the Hollywood Reporter while promoting the movie "Sicario" at the Toronto Film Festival.

Blunt expressed additional reservations on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 

"I'm not sure I'm entirely thrilled about it," she said. "People ask me about the whole day. They were like, 'Oh, it must have been so emotional.' I was like, 'It wasn't! It was sad!' I like being British."

The reaction on Twitter was overwhelmingly anti-Blunt.

Lovelorn fan proposes to Keira Knightely during Broadway debut

Keira Knightley’s Broadway debut nearly derailed on her first night of previews when a lovelorn loon shouted from the audience that he wanted to marry her — and flung a bouquet of roses at her feet.

“Christ was born a virgin!” Landon Rust, 29, of Texas, hollered about 15 minutes into Thursday night’s performance, ¬according to witness accounts.

“Keira, none of this is real!” he shouted as he leaned over a mezzanine railing at the Studio 54 theater on West 54th Street.

“I love you! Keira, marry me!”

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The British beauty gamely carried on with the opening scene of the play, “Thérèse Raquin,” based on a novel by Emile Zola, as Rust waited in vain for her response.|

“Five seconds is too long to wait for a response!” Rust then ranted. “Five seconds is a slow burn!”

Knightley and her co-stars kept on going while theater security converged on Rust and led him out. But not before he broke free, rushed to the mezzanine railing and hurled a huge bouquet of flowers over the orchestra seats.

Rust was taken from the theater in handcuffs, and driven to St. Luke’s Hospital after complaining of stomach pains, law-enforcement sources said. He was given a summons for misdemeanor harassment.

Jim Carrey's ex reportedly committed suicide using pills prescribed to the comedian

Jim Carrey’s ex-girlfriend, Cathriona White, committed suicide last week using drugs prescribed to the troubled comedian, TMZ reported.

The 28-year-old Irish makeup artist, who split from Carrey, 53, shortly before her death, overdosed on three medications — the empty bottles of which were found at her bedside in her LA home.

The painkiller Percocet, sleep aid Ambien and blood-pressure medication Propranolol were all prescribed by one doctor to a fictitious male.

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Authorities confirmed that the name is an alias of Carrey. It is unknown which alias was used.

On Thursday, journalist Tony Ortega wrote on his blog The Underground Bunkerthat White had been studying Scientology.

He claimed White had stalled in a course called the Survival Rundown that can take “hundreds of hours to complete,” and that it may have played a role in her death. A rep for the controversial church denied these claims.

5 ways an Apple Ring could enhance your life

Move over, smartwatches: the ring's the thing.

A newly revealed Apple patent suggests that the company may be in the process of expanding its smart wearables category beyond the Apple Watch by developing a piece of smart jewelry.

We’ve likely got a long wait for an Apple ring to find its way from the drawing board to your finger.  Even if some of these concepts one day surface in a future Apple device, whether that’s a ring, a phone or a watch, it’s worth remembering that many of the ideas that show up in patents -- Apple’s included -- never see the light of day. We'd also be remiss for not noting the date of this particular patent filing: April 1, 2015.

Still, it’s nice to dream about a ring that could make even Hal Jordan jealous. Here are the many ways a connected ring out of Cupertino could equip you with your own set of superpowers.

Gesture Control

Ever wanted to control your TV, iPhone, or personal computer with a mere wave of your hand? That's one potential application for a smart ring. Using motion sensors embedded in the ring, you might be able to turn your TV on with a flick, or even adjust the volume by making a knob-turning motion. Further fine controls could be accomplished via the ring's built-in touchscreen — yes, the patent suggests it would have a tiny touchscreen — using combinations of gestures and taps or swipes to trigger certain functions.

Facebook's first satellite will beam Internet to rural Africa starting in 2016

With the exception of a select few locations, most of Africa is is beyond the range of traditional fixed and mobile terrestrial network connections. As result, only about 20 percent of the population is able to connect to the Internet. Facebook hopes to change those statistics with a new project in its Internet.org initiative. As part of this program, Facebook is partnering with French satellite communications provider Eutelsat to beam an Internet connection to remote parts of Africa. "I'm excited to announce our first project to deliver Internet from space," wrote Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in a Facebook posting.

Facebook is working with Eutelsat to provide Internet access to sub-Saharan portions of Africa via Eutelsat's new AMOS-6 geostationary satellite, which will cover West, East and Southern Africa. Amazingly, the satellite will deliver affordable broadband Internet using off-the-shelf consumer equipment for connectivity -- so it'll be easy and cheap to build more of these satellites in the future. Eutelsat is setting up a new company in London to oversee its African broadband business, while Facebook will work locally in Africa to deliver Internet service to rural communities. The satellite-based service is expected to go online in mid-2016.

Related: Some guy managed to call the International Space Station from his back yard

The African satellite project is part of Facebook's broader Internet.org initiative which debuted in 2013. Through Internet.org, Facebook wants to connect the world by providing internet access to developing countries worldwide. When it launched, Internet.org was highly criticized for providing access only to Facebook and a handful of other web sites and services instead of the full, open internet. Available in countries such as India, Indonesia and Bolivia, Internet.org responded to critics by recently expanding its service to include any sites that meet Facebook's development criteria.

Microsoft launches Surface Book, its first laptop, debuts Surface Pro 4, Lumia 950 phone

Microsoft didn’t disappoint on Tuesday at its highly-anticipated hardware event, announcing its first ever laptop and also unveiled its next Surface tablet and new flagship phones.

Surface Book

The biggest surprise was the debut of Microsoft’s first laptop, the 13.5-inchSurface Book.  In keeping with Microsoft’s hybrid device strategy, the display can disconnect from the keyboard base to become a tablet.  But this is definitely a laptop first, tablet second (unlike the Surface tablets) – and probably realizes Microsoft’s ultimate vision of a hybrid device that you can actually use on your lap.  To date, Surface products have had a built-in kickstand to prop up the device, which is not an elegant solution when typing on your lap. The Surface Book solves this problem because it has been designed as a lap-friendly laptop and eschews the kickstand.

At only 1.6 pounds, it’s easily one of the lightest laptops on the planet, even handily beating Apple’s 2-pound 12-inch Retina MacBook.  But the machined magnesium alloy laptop is also built to be fast and comes with a powerful graphics processing unit (GPU) from Nvidia (which is located separately in the keyboard base) and processors ranging up to Core i7 (located in the tablet) based on Intel’s just-released 6th Generation Core design.  

“Ounce for ounce, the fastest laptop every made,” said Panos Panay, Microsoft's corporate vice president for Surface Computing, during an event in New York City Tuesday.

Other Surface Book goodies include a high-resolution 3,000x2,000 display, 8GB of RAM, two full-size USB 3.0 ports, up to 12 hours of battery life, and a Surface Pen.   All of this technology packed into a very thin, light package is not cheap, however.  Pricing for the Surface Book starts at a whopping $1,499 with a 128GB solid-state drive. The device will begin shipping on Oct. 26.