NEW YORK CITY — If you want an iPad, any iPad, you can buy a new one for $329. But if you plan to run Photoshop, play advanced games, or use Apple's stylus, called Pencil, you'll want the iPad Pro. 

Apple updated its iPad Pro lineup on Tuesday with two new models: one with a 11-inch screen, and one with a 12.9-inch screen. 

It's the biggest update to the iPad lineup in years. Gone is the old home button, which brought you back to the home screen. Instead, you now unlock the iPad Pro with your face — using Apple's Face ID — and use gestures to change or quit apps. 

These changes enabled Apple to make the bezels smaller, packing the same-sized screens as previous models into tablets with a smaller overall size — the 11-inch version is about the size of a piece notebook paper, for example.

There's also been a ton of other changes, too, like a shift from Apple's proprietary Lightning charger to the cross-platform USB-C standard. 

With these changes comes an increase in price: now, the smaller iPad Pro costs at least $799. The bigger model starts at $999. And that price can skyrocket if you get all the bells and whistles, including a new keyboard case, more storage space, and an LTE modem.

We were able to try out Apple's newest tablet for power users on Tuesday. Here's what we thought: 

The first thing you'll notice is that the screen takes up a larger percentage of the front of the device.

It also comes in two sizes.

The corners of the screen are rounded, a lot like the iPhone X. You can also see how large the bezels are in this photo.

• McDonald's is debuting Triple Breakfast Stacks — breakfast sandwiches with three times as much meat — on Thursday. 
• The Triple Breakfast Stacks are McMuffins, McGriddles, or biscuits that contain two sausage patties each, plus bacon slices.
• We taste tested the Triple Breakfast Stacks and discovered a disgustingly delicious new set of breakfast sandwiches.

McDonald's meatiest breakfast sandwiches ever are about to arrive. 

On Thursday, the fast-food giant is debuting the Triple Breakfast Stacks — essentially revamped versions of the biscuit, McMuffin, and McGriddle, with three times as much meat as the typical breakfast sandwich. Each breakfast sandwich contains eggs, two sausage patties, and bacon slices. 

Business Insider first reported on McDonald's plans to debut the Triple Breakfast Stacks after viewing internal documents from the chain. So, we knew how to create these meat-filled masterpieces. 

Read more:Leaked documents reveal McDonald's is expanding its breakfast menu for the first time in years with sandwiches that contain 3 times the meat

With this knowledge, we crafted our own Triple Breakfast Stacks for a taste test ahead of Thursday's launch. 

Here's what the super-meaty breakfast sandwiches are actually like:

SEE ALSO: McDonald's adds new perks for employees as fast-food chains battle for workers

First things first: The stacks are tall.

It's easy to feel like a cartoon character unhinging your jaw as you try and stuff the Biscuit Stack, the largest of the lot, into your mouth.

Despite the decadence, the flavor profile of all three sandwiches was generally embraced by taste testers.

• After the start of World War II in Europe in September 1939, the US, which hadn't declared war, provided some aid to Allied countries.
• That included help escorting convoys across the Atlantic, which put US ships in the line of fire.
• On October 31, 1941, a Nazi U-boat claimed the first US warship sunk by the enemy in World War II.

On October 23, 1941, US Navy destroyer USS Reuben James left Newfoundland to escort a convoy bound for Britain. Two days later, the German U-boat U-552 left the French port of St. Nazaire to prowl the North Atlantic on its sixth patrol.

The US was not a belligerant in the war in Europe at the time, but Washington had set up neutrality zones in the Atlantic in which its ships would guard British and neutral merchant ships. US ships would also notify convoys of U-boats' locations.

The James and the U-552 sailed a few weeks after a U-boat fired on the Navy destroyer USS Greer without hitting it. After that incident, President Franklin Roosevelt told the public that "if German or Italian vessels of war enter the waters, the protection of which is necessary for American defense, they do so at their own peril."

In the early-morning hours of October 31, when the Reuben James and the U-552 crossed paths near Iceland, the de facto state of war between the US and Germany in the Atlantic intensified.

The James and four other US destroyers were escorting the more than 40 ships that made up HX-156, a convoy of merchant ships sailing from Halifax in Canada to Europe. At that time, US warships would escort convoys to Iceland, where British ships took over.

As day broke on October 31, the Reuben James was sailing at about 10 mph on the left rear side of the convoy. Just after 5:30 a.m., the U-552 fired on the James, its torpedoes ripping into the left side of the destroyer.

"One or more explosions" occurred near the forward fire room, "accompanied by a lurid orange flame and a high column of black smoke visible for several minutes at some miles,"according to the Navy's Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

The ship's forward section was blown off, and it sank rapidly. Only two sailors on that part of the ship survived the blast. Others who made it out were sailors "berthed, or on watch, [aft of] the forward fireroom."

No official order came to abandon ship, but crew members launched three rafts and started to leap overboard as the sea swallowed the ship. The captain had issued life jackets to the crew and told them to have them on hand at all times, which meant many sailors were able to get to them as they fled the ship.

While many men made it off, a number of those in the water around the ship were killed or later drowned after at least two depth charges on the ship detonated as it sank.

The escort commander sent two destroyers to investigate. With a smooth sea and little wind, they were able to spot the James' sailors just before 6 a.m. and began rescuing them minutes later. The destroyers' crews used cargo nets, Jacob's Ladders, life rings, and lines to pull survivors, many covered in oil, out of the water.

Rescue operations were over by 8 a.m.; 44 of the crew were recovered, but 93 enlisted men and all the ship's seven officers were killed.

US merchant ships had already been sunk in the Atlantic, and in mid-October, another US destroyer was hit by a torpedo but made it to Iceland. But the James became the first US warship sunk by the enemy in World War II.

"The news of the torpedoing of one of our destroyers off Iceland was the first thing that the President spoke of this morning, and that has cast a shadow over the whole day," Eleanor Roosevelt wrote on November 1. "I cannot help but think of every one of the 120 men and their families, who are anxiously awaiting news."

Germany was unapologetic, saying US ships were escorting British ships in a war zone and had fired on German vessels before. The US didn't declare war, but the sinking drew the US further into the conflict in Europe, which was already more than two years old.

On November 1, Roosevelt signed an executive order reassigning the US Coast Guard from the Treasury Department to the Navy. About two weeks later, under pressure from the president, Congress further amended the Neutrality Acts passed in the 1930s, revising them to allow US merchant ships to be armed and to sail into war zones.

On December 8, the US declared war on Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Three days later, Germany declared war on the US.

The James was stricken from the Navy's official register on March 25, 1942. The U-552 continued the fight. It joined U-boats that preyed on US ships along the East Coast in 1942 but was later transferred to waters closer to Europe.

The U-552's success waned, as did that of the rest of the U-boat force, as the Allies improved their convoy and anti-submarine tactics and invaded Europe, recapturing ports. In early May 1945 — days before the surviving Nazi leadership surrendered in Berlin — the U-552 was scuttled in waters off the North Sea.

SEE ALSO: How Soviet troops taunted the Nazis during their final drive to Berlin in World War II

Join the conversation about this story »

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While how you get your license, as well as how much it costs may vary around the world, one thing remains the same: getting it is a point of pride and a day of celebration.

In Sierra Leone, requirements include playing a traffic-related board game, while in Russia, drivers must take a whopping 150 hours of theory classes. In Brazil, you need to pass a psych evaluation.

Keep scrolling to learn more about how getting a driver's license differs from country to country. 

The United States is one of few countries that allows 14-year-olds to drive.

In the US, some states — like Alaska, Arkansas, and Iowa — allow 14-year-olds to drive with a learner's permit. But since driving regulations are controlled by state governments, this varies by state.

For most states, drivers must take a written test to earn a learner's permit and then take a driving test to get a license. Generally speaking, classes and driving lessons are not required.

While requiring a higher minimum age, the UK tests are similar to those in the US.

In the UK, one must be at least 15 to be eligible for a driver's license. At that time, you can apply for a provisional driver's license which is a simple application process. Only then are you able to sign up for driving lessons, but you will need a provisional license to take the theory test. Once you pass the mandatory theory test, then you can take your driving test.

This applies to all citizens except for Queen Elizabeth. She does not need to take any tests and does not need a license to get behind the wheel.

Meanwhile, getting a driver's license in India can be shockingly easy.

In parts of India, one can allegedly buy a license without taking any sort of driving test.

Not surprisingly, the roads can be dangerous. One driver told The Telegraph that "often you’ll come across a truck that's on the wrong side of the road coming towards you and you have to deal with that."

According to India Today, the government has been working to make road tests more accessible in New Delhi so that more people can be properly certified. Generally, this practical test requires parallel parking, reversing, and driving through eight loops. 

• Former Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen is running for US Senate as a centrist Democrat in a race that could determine control of the chamber — and his campaign looks nothing like the "resistance."
• Rep. Marsha Blackburn, an eight-term GOP incumbent, is running for the seat on President Donald Trump's agenda. And the competitive battle in the red state has grown increasingly nasty. 
• Here are the full transcripts of Business Insider's interviews with Bredesen and Blackburn. 

Business Insider recently spoke with Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn in Franklin, Tennessee and Democratic former Gov. Phil Bredesen in Nashville, Tennessee about their competitive race for retiring GOP Sen. Bob Corker's seat.

Below are transcripts of the interviews, lightly edited for clarity. 

Bredesen interview

Business Insider: Healthcare seems to be a big issue for many voters. How do you draw the contrast between yourself and the congressman on this issue? 

Bredesen: Healthcare is a big issue, but when you start parsing it, it's different issues in different places. In rural parts of Tennessee, it tends to be just about access — hospitals closing and you can't get doctors to locate there. It's more about the cost of healthcare when you get into the suburbs and so on. 

I'm trying to run to run the campaign not by just criticizing everything she's ever done. I think one of the big things, though, that I have talked about is that we're all concerned about how you get people with pre-existing conditions some kind of insurance. And in today's world, unless you work for a corporation that has a big comprehensive health plan, the Affordable Care Act is really the only way to do that — that's what it was designed to do. So one criticism I've certainly made — and I did in one of the debates — is that you claim, you brag that you've voted 60-plus times to eliminate the Affordable Care Act without having anything really to replace it. There's 225,000 Tennesseans who are depending on the Affordable Care Act for their insurance, many of whom would not be able to get insurance somewhere else. And you're doing this from a platform of you've got free, lifetime, excellent healthcare from public funds. And I think that's hard to justify — I think it's impossible to justify when the only reason you're doing it is a political reason. It's one thing if you run out of money, but it's all just political posturing. 

Obviously, I've [drawn a contrast] on the opioid issue — you've probably followed some of that, I won't repeat it all.

One area that I just want to emphasize a little bit — there's a lot of issues with the VA, the Veterans' Administration, and that's been my field. That's a place where having been someone who's run large healthcare operations — I think I'd have some understanding of it and I ought to be able to help sort this thing out and getting it more responsive to the needs of veterans. And that's simply a contrast in the sense of that's something I spent a significant part of my life doing as opposed to she has no experience whatsoever in that area. 

BI: A lot of Democrats are signing on to single-payer — Medicare for All. Do you think that's a good long-term goal? Should it be pushed for in the short term? 

Bredesen: I'm not ready to sign on to that at this point. I do think we need to take some first steps to just solidify the Affordable Care Act. I mean, It's the law of the land, as I said there's 225,000 Tennesseans who are depending on it. Lamar Alexander [the senior senator from Tennessee] who heads up the health committee has a bipartisan bill that I think does a lot of good things to help stabilize the markets — and I think that's what we need to do to while we talk about the longer-term solution. This is one thing that I really believe has got to be done on a bipartisan basis. I think one of the flaws of the Affordable Care Act is that it wasn't done on bipartisan basis. We've always done big things in this country on a bipartisan basis — Social Security was that way, Medicare was that way, the Voting Rights Act was that way, and I think we're not going to make progress on a long term solution to healthcare until both parties figure out a way to do it together.

BI: Are you surprised the Republicans have changed their tune recently on the ACA and pre-existing conditions protections? 

Bredesen: Yeah, I think it's one of the things that's confusing to the public. "We're going to get rid of Obamacare, but we're going to protect pre-existing conditions." Well, okay, how are you gonna do that? So I've tried to call that out. I think it's certainly appropriate to contrast yourself, but I have not been trying to correct or fight back on every single crazy thing that comes of out these ads and so on, on the basis that I don't want to run a campaign in which the issues are driven by the opponent. I like to talk about my own issues. And I've talked about healthcare from several aspects — most recently this stuff having to do with the drug prices and our approach to dealing with that.

BI: What do you think Democrats are getting wrong on the national level? 

Bredesen: I think we've gotten too elitest about things, I think we've gotten a little too narrow about the definition of what it is to be a Democrat. I'd like to see us getting back to being a muscular party, whose common theme is about creating opportunity for working and middle class Americans. And picking issues that clearly focus on making that happen. And I do think the tent needs to be bigger. I'm from Nashville now, but I'm originally from a rural upstate New York area, and I know these non-urban folks all over the country, and certainly in this state — it's a different culture, it's a different set of values. They're not better or worse, they're just different. And I think Democrats, we claim to have respect for multiculturalism — well, some of those cultures are American. And I think we need to broaden the tent a little bit and have a little more respect for the needs of people in these different places.

BI: How, specifically, should the message or the policies change? 

Bredesen: I think, first of all, we need to focus the message there and get off of a whole variety of social issues and other issues, which I'm not saying we're wrong on, I'm just saying they're appealing to relatively small parts of the base. I think we should be much more creative about healthcare than we are. When the Affordable Care Act was being debated, I was still governor then, but it struck me that healthcare has changed dramatically since 1965 when Medicare and Medicaid came in, and yet the ACA is kind of doubling down on the system that worked in 1965. So, I'd like us to be looking forward. It's a little bit like when we passed Social Security, we were thinking of the conditions that existed in 1880, not 1935. 

So that's one area where I think we could just be much more creative. There's a lot of smart people in both parties who could get some good ideas out there. 

BI: How well do you think Democrats are handling immigration? What do you think of the "abolish ICE" movement"?

Bredesen: I don't think particularly well. And again, when you say Democrats — there certainly are a few visible, national people who are sort of taken to be the voice of Democrats, which I haven't always accepted, but I think we do have an interest in our country in being able to control and secure our borders. And so when somebody says something like abolish ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement], my reaction is that's a stupid idea. Obviously, we need to control our borders and if they're not doing something right, let's fix what they're not doing right, but I think most Americans want to control the borders. We can debate whether there's 50,000 or 150,000 people who come in from some country or some area or under some set of circumstances, but controlling the borders I think is basic. I think we should recognize that and stop this stuff of trying for more open borders through lack of enforcement. 

BI: Taylor Swift recently endorsed you. Were you surprised by that? 

Bredesen: Yes. I wish I could claim that it was something I had organized or orchestrated, but it was not. I had known her very slightly before she became really famous because we went around and did some things in schools, talking to kids about drugs together, but not a lot — a few times. And I've seen her backstage at things over the years once in a while. But I had no reason to believe she would even know I was running, let alone that she would do this. So it came out of the blue and it was surprising. And I think it was helpful. You know, for somebody who's on the other side of 70, relating to millennials is not as easy as if you're [Texas Democrat] Beto O'Rourke or somebody, so I think that really helped me.

BI: How have you reached out to communities of color, to younger voters? 

Bredesen: It's different — I mean, with people of color, I've had a long record there. I've been, I think, respected and in good shape in those communities. When I was governor we really, I think, did a good job of having appointments and members of our cabinet, and judges to be representative of the larger community — and they recognize that. And there were a number of issues I worked on that were important in those communities — in education, we did a lot of work on infant mortality in Memphis, for example — so I've always been in reasonable shape there. Obviously, you need to campaign and pay your respects, but I've always been in reasonable shape there. 

For millennials, it's more like, they just don't know what I did as governor because they were five years old or something and now they're 20. For them, you need to reach out. I've really done that in two ways, one of which is to talk about a couple of issues that seem important to them — obviously, college and student debt is one of them. I've found that net neutrality — they tend to know more about that stuff than other people. I always make a point of trying to talk to them as adults because even if they're 22, someday they're going to get married, some day they're going to have kids, they want to have good jobs, they want to have a strong economy, they want to have education for their kids and so on. I think it's also important to not just segregate people into these little demographic groups and talk about just their issues because these young people are also young Americans who are going to have a lot of the same concerns that anybody else does. 

BI: Do you think Tennessee is becoming more conservative? How do you think the state has changed — in terms of political demographics — since you were governor? 

Bredesen: I'm not sure whether people's opinions have changed, but I think their view of what party is likely to better address their issues has tilted very much in favor of the Republican Party in the last 10 years, 15 years. It was starting to happen when I was elected. I was elected in 2002 and that was two years after [Democrat] Al Gore had lost the state famously and the presidency. And it's continued in that path ever since then. But I think, in a way, something that's good for me is I'm really trying to reach out to voters who have abandoned the national Democratic Party to try to get to see me as acceptable, and okay, and desirable, as opposed to trying to convince people who have a lifetime commitment to the Republican Party as an organization change their views. I will get a fair number of Republican votes from — I call it the economic wing of the Republican Party. But I think their view of what party is being responsive to their issues has definitely shifted. 

BI: You had a long career and didn't need to get back into politics. Why did you do it? 

Bredesen: I hadn't really retired. When [my wife] Andrea and I talked about it I think we just decided this was the highest and best use of me. I was getting discouraged for a long time over what I saw was happening in Washington. When Bob Corker said he wasn't going to run, there was an opening there and I was uniquely positioned for that opening because it had been my background for so long. And I just kind of felt it was my responsibility to step forward and do that. I'd be much more satisfied personally by trying to fix that problem while sitting on a beach somewhere. It was a big decision — I'm 74, it's no secret. So if I'm elected, I'll spend a significant part of the rest of my life — maybe the rest of my life — getting on a plane to Washington on Monday night, coming back on Thursday night, being in Memphis on Friday and Chattanooga on Saturday and all this kind of stuff. So it obviously has to be for something I care about. But just this issue of trying to get the mechanics of government once again working for the benefit of the people in the country is a really important issue and there's nothing I'd rather do. 

BI: Was there a tipping point for you? 

Bredesen: I don't think so. There are several people who have taken credit for convincing me, but it's not right. I started out talking with Andrea about it, talked to a few of my friends and associates from the days as governor, who I trusted, and obviously did a little research — I'm not interested in any windmills or suicide missions or anything like that, I wanted to make sure it was possible. I think what we decided was that it was a very close race, that it was doable and worth the effort. 

BI: What other issues would you try to work across the aisle on in Washington? 

Bredesen: I've often talked about the fact that we've always done things in this country — the big things — in a bipartisan way. Social Security was that way, Medicare was that way, the Voting Rights Act was that way — I think immigration's in that category. It's something that's that's built up over the course of 30 years, of 35 years, and in the same way that I was very critical of the Affordable Care Act and trying to do a big thing by ramming it through as a partisan issue, I don't think we're going to get any significant immigration [reform] through as a partisan issue, we've got to find some ways to do it. I think that DACA [Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals] and solving that problem could be the entree into that, solving it is popular across the board. I think we should just deal with that as an isolated issue. 

BI: Would you tie the president's rhetoric — and attacks on the media and his political opponents — to the actions of a Florida man who recently sent explosive devices to several top Democrats and CNN?

Bredesen: I don't care to second guess how the president is handling it. I do think that — while, obviously, I don't know all of the motivations and the background of this guy — I think the sort of volume right now of rhetoric and stuff that verges on hate speech and the notion that if you're not in my tribe you're the enemy and evil and so on, as opposed to we're all Americans who have different views about how to solve some problems, I think opens the door for people who are on the fringes of society to consider more of this kind of thing, which I think is not healthy. You just make it more acceptable with that kind of rhetoric.

We just had this tragedy with the shooting at the synagogue and again, not knowing all the reasons, I suspect it will turn out to be the same kind of thing — somebody just harboring his hate-filled notions. In a different environment might not have gone anywhere, but in this environment might have seemed more reasonable.

BI: What do you say to those on the left who want you to move to the left on policy issues and campaign more aggressively against Rep. Blackburn? 

Bredesen: I'm going to campaign as who I am. There have been some places where I've tried to draw contrasts with my opponent, and there's been third party ads on both sides, but we certainly haven't done anything in the category of 'let's throw something against the wall and see if it sticks to the wall for some reason.' I'm running a campaign based on who I am, I get the support to talk about issues, I get the support to be civil about things.

The thing which people remarked most about that last debate to me was the final question which was, 'would you support your opponent once they're elected.' She basically said no and I basically said yes, we've got an election which is about making a decision, and when that's done we need to come together and figure out how to help that person be successful — that's a pretty fundamental difference. 

Blackburn interview

Business Insider: What would you say is the biggest policy problem in the state? 

Blackburn: What we hear in the state is that people want to keep growth and jobs. The number one thing that they will bring up is 'let's keep this economy growing because Tennessee's economy is very robust, it's doing very well.' Unemployment is below the national average. And they bring that up with me because when I was in the state senate, I led a four-year fight in opposition to a state income tax and people in this state joined with me, we won that battle, I went to Congress, worked with Kevin Brady, who now chairs the Ways and Means, and we restored sales tax deductibility for those of us in non-state income tax states. It was a driving force and the only promise I made when I ran, and I was able to get that done. And that is worth about a billion in tax savings to Tennesseans every year. So people will talk about that, and they bring the state income tax up because in 2014 the state voted in a referendum to amend the state constitution to forever prohibit a state income tax, so it is a settled issue in our state.

And people will say the Trump tax cuts are working, the regulatory relief is working, let's keep these policies going. They also mention wanting to see more federal judges — the district courts, the appeals courts, they like Gorsuch and Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court, so they mention that. Law enforcement talks a lot about the immigration issue. When Bredesen was governor, he gave driving certificates to 51,000 illegal aliens. And we became kind of a magnet for illegal aliens that were looking to get those driving certificates. And those problems of drug trafficking, sex trafficking, gangs, they end up in local communities and local law enforcement is on the front line with that. 

Healthcare comes up quite a bit. When you look at the Tennessee work place, you have about 93% of all the jobs are small business jobs or independent contractors and health insurance rates have skyrocketed under the Affordable Care Act, and we have — I think it’s about 15 or 20% of the state — that has either no, or only one, provider of an ACA-compliant plan in the marketplace in their county, so the cost has just become cost-prohibitive. And we have 160,000 Tennessee families that had to pay the penalty because they couldn't afford to buy the insurance. And I just talked to a lady and that was her number one issue. She is a single mom, a teacher, has a couple of kids and one still — she said she can't afford the family plan so she has to go to the marketplace. 

BI: Where do you stand on protecting people with pre-existing conditions? 

Blackburn: Oh, that was a Republican provision and has been. 

BI: I think reporting has shown it was actually a Democratic initiative.

Blackburn: It goes back to '06 — and we supported it then. I support it. When we had it in committee back in 2006 and were trying to push it forward. I support providing pre-existing conditions and older children staying on insurance policies. 

BI: Do you still believe people with pre-existing conditions should be put in high-risk pools?

I think there's a way work on those. The House has done some work on the high-risk pools looking at the Maine model and certainly we were hopeful that we'd be able to do something with that. The object is to get to the point where you have access to affordable health insurance and access to affordable health insurance for all Tennesseans.

BI: You've said you're to the right of Sens. Alexander and Corker. What do you disagree with them on? 

Blackburn: I wouldn't even say it is disagreement. I think that when you look at the Republican Party, what you've got is a big tent and a lot of discussion about how to approach issues and I've had the opportunity to work with Sen. Alexander a good bit on healthcare issues, certainly on 21st century cures, that we did in a bipartisan way coming out of the House and the Senate and the SOFTWARE Act, which I had authored, was included in that, that set up the definition for healthcare technology. Also the Children Count Act, that was clinical trials, allowing children into clinical trials. So we've had a good working agreement on that.

Issues where I'll have a difference of opinion or a different approach many times deal around government funding issues. I prefer to see us lower our spending. Every year I offer one, two, and five percent across-the-board spending cuts and I think that is a fiscally responsible position to take. We've got to get the spending under control. I support a balanced budget amendment that includes no tax increases. 

BI: There was another mass shooting this morning — this one at a synagogue in Pittsburgh. Would you work across the aisle on any gun control measures? 

Blackburn: The shootings are just heart-wrenching and I fully believe that we can protect the Second Amendment and protect our citizens in public places. We in the House have already voted to put the red flag system in for mental health. There is no one that wants a person who is a danger to themselves or others to have a firearm. 

BI: Is Tennessee becoming more conservative, in your view? 

Blackburn: As you walk around and talk to people, what you will hear — and I think much of this is because Tennessee is such an entrepreneurial state — they will say, 'get government off our back, get it out of our pocketbook, lessen the regulation.' I use a little formulary many times speaking to business groups — less regulation plus less taxation plus less litigation equals more innovation and job creation. And that really is where a lot of Tennesseans are.

With so many jobs being small business jobs, sole proprietors, independent contractors, people just want less interference from the federal government. They are very constitutional in their view of the responsibilities of government, they do not want micro-management of the government, they do not want big projects managed by the government. They want freeing up of the private sector. I talk about it in terms of freedom, free people, and free markets. And that is really where Tennesseans are. And they're pretty pragmatic.

BI: Do you think President Trump is a good role model? 

Blackburn: President Trump is and continues to be a good role model for politicians. He made promises and he's kept them and he's good at getting the job done. As we saw through the [Brett] Kavanaugh hearings, he's very loyal, and he stood with him through that process and now he is Justice Kavanaugh. So for elected officials that are in public office, he presents a good role modeling of how to keep those promises and get the job done. 

BI: Some that I've talked to here don't like the president's rhetoric. Do you think he should change his rhetoric? 

Blackburn: There's a couple of times I've said we need to take a kinder approach. This is the South and people have a lot of respect for manners. They also understand that sometimes it is important to draw a proper contrast and to show where someone truly stands on an issue. I had a gentleman today who said I don't appreciate some of the rhetoric, but we elected him to go drain the swamp and if this is what it takes to get elitism out of Washington, DC then that's great. This gentleman said he always knew I'd been a fighter on the outside kind of pushing against the establishment and trying to return us to a government of, by, and for the people. He said, "I'm hanging in here with this and very appreciative for the tax cuts, for the federal bench, for the work that's being done to curb illegal immigration, for the push you all are making trying to get the Affordable Care Act off the books so that we can free up the insurance marketplace and increase access."

BI: I just spoke to one of your supporters who thinks that the mail bombs sent to top Democrats was orchestrated by the left-wing, rather than the right-wing — 

Blackburn: Let me just say this, when it comes to any of these bombings, whomever does these things, makes these death threats, they need to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. There is no place for this in civil society. 

BI: The accused bomber was a big Trump supporter. Do you blame the president at all? 

Blackburn: This happens from both sides. I've had plenty of threats, my staff has had personal harm threats, I've had death threats. There is just no place for this. We had a group that set up a Facebook page that had to be taken down. It was a "Rape Marsha Blackburn" page. There is just no place for this. It's one of the things that will cause individuals to say I don't want to choose to serve. 

BI: Do you agree with Gov. Bredesen that there is too much partisanship in Washington? 

Blackburn: I've got one of the most bipartisan records in the House. You can look at my record at my committee that I have led and I've led that committee — the subcommittee on — in a very bipartisan way. There is a lot of partisan rhetoric. Gov. Bredesen could have run as a Republican, chose not to — didn't have the courage to. Chose not to run as an independent. He has been running as a Democrat since 1970, so he would go to Washington as a Washington Democrat.

BI: You would be the first female state-wide elected official in Tennessee. You talked about...

Blackburn: People that I have had the opportunity to serve and to represent know that I'm going to be the most hard-working elected official they have ever had. They know they can count on that, and that word gets out.

BI: Do you think they ever think about how you being a woman might change the way you legislate, in a good or bad way? 

Blackburn: The more barriers I break, the less of an issue it becomes.

SEE ALSO: 'Ridiculous' attack ads and bitter protests define a divisive Tennessee race that could determine control of the Senate

SEE ALSO: A Democratic campaign that looks nothing like the 'resistance' could be the Democrats' key to flipping the Senate

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NOW WATCH: Here's what caffeine does to your body and brain

• People develop first impressions of you even before you open your mouth.
• Research demonstrates that your appearance changes how trustworthy, promiscuous, and powerful people think you are.
• You can change some people's first impressions of you by changing your behavior and how you present yourself. 

A lot of first impressions come from things we can't control at all — our natural scent, how "baby-like" our faces are, and whether or not we need to wear glasses or are bald.

For instance, men who have feminine facial features, like thinner eyebrows and a pointier chin, are more likely to seem trustworthy.

There's not much folks who want to give off a good first impression can do about their facial structure, but they can change their body language by enacting small changes like smiling more, making more eye contact, and nodding. 

Keep reading below to find out what other judgements people make about you within seconds of meeting you:

SEE ALSO: The 23 best icebreakers to use at a party where you don't know anyone

If you're high-status

A Dutch study found that people wearing name-brand clothes — Lacoste and Tommy Hilfiger, to be precise — were seen as higher status than folks wearing non-designer clothes. 

"Perceptions did not differ on any of the other dimensions that might affect the outcome of social interactions," the authors wrote. "There were no differences in perceived attractiveness, kindness, and trustworthiness." 

Just status.

If you're trustworthy

People decide on your trustworthiness in a tenth of a second. 

Princeton researchers found this out by giving one group of university students 100 milliseconds to rate the attractiveness, competence, likeability, aggressiveness, and trustworthiness of actors' faces.

Members of another group were able to take as long as they wanted. Their judgments were the same for most of the traits as the folks who had only a tenth of a second. 

Much of that judgement is based on things you can't really change. For instance, research suggests that more feminine, baby-like, and happy faces are perceived to be more trustworthy.

You can alter your body language to boost others' trust in you. As Business Insider previously reported, try smiling more, leaning forward, looking people in the eye, and mimicking the other person's body language. 

Your sexual orientation

People can read a man's sexual orientation in a twentieth of a second — the minimum amount of time it takes to consciously recognize a face. 

"The rapid and accurate perception of male sexual orientation may be just another symptom of a fast and efficient cognitive mechanism for perceiving the characteristics of others," wrote study authors Nicholas O. Rule and Nalini Ambady.

• The Vatican said on Tuesday that human bones were found during a renovation on its embassy to Italy, and that they are bringing in experts to determine the age and gender of the bones, and date of death.
• While the Vatican didn't say who they suspect the bones to belong to, Italian media connected the case to the 1983 disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi, the 15-year-old daughter of a Vatican worker.
• Orlandi disappeared after leaving her family’s Vatican City apartment to go to a music lesson in Rome.

The Vatican said Tuesday that human bones were found during renovation work near its embassy to Italy, reviving talk about one of the Holy See’s most enduring mysteries — the fate of the 15-year-old daughter of a Vatican employee who disappeared in 1983.

In the latest twist in a case that has bedeviled investigators for 35 years, the Vatican said Rome’s chief prosecutor had been called in and forensic investigators are working to determine the age and gender of the bones as well as the date of death.

The Vatican statement didn’t mention the girl, Emanuela Orlandi, but Italian media immediately linked her unsolved disappearance to the discovery of the bones.

The news agency ANSA reported that prosecutors were focusing on whether the remains could be linked either to Orlandi, who disappeared on June 22 1983, or another 15-year-old girl, Mirella Gregori, who went missing a month earlier in Rome, on May 7, 1983.

The Orlandi and Gregori disappearances have never been formally linked.

The Vatican said merely that the bones were found during work near its Rome embassy in the upscale residential neighborhood of Parioli.

Orlandi disappeared after leaving her family’s Vatican City apartment to go to a music lesson in Rome. Her father was a lay employee of the Holy See.

Over the years, her case has been linked to everything from the plot to kill St. John Paul II to the financial scandal of the Vatican bank and Rome’s criminal underworld.

The last major twist in the case came in 2012, when forensic police exhumed the body of a reputed mobster from the crypt of a Roman basilica in hopes of finding Orlandi’s remains as well. The search turned up no link.

Read More:Catholic Priest Says A Schoolgirl Who Went Missing In 1983 Was Kidnapped For Vatican Sex Parties

More recently, a leading Italian investigative journalist caused a sensation when he published a five-page document last year that had been stolen from a locked Vatican cabinet that suggested the Holy See had been involved in Orlandi’s disappearance.

The Vatican immediately branded the document a fake, though it never explained what it was doing in the Vatican cabinet.

The document was purportedly written by a cardinal and listed supposed expenses used for Orlandi’s upkeep after she disappeared.

On Wednesday, lawyers for the Orlandi family pressed Italian prosecutors and the Vatican for more details on the bone fragments.

"We are asking Rome prosecutors and the Holy See by what means the bones were found and how their discovery was placed in relation to the disappearances of Emanuela Orlandi and Mirella Gregori," lawyer Laura Scro said, adding that the Vatican statement "provides little information."

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• The Kepler space telescope was launched in 2009 and has stared down more than 500,000 stars.
• However, NASA said on Tuesday that Kepler has run out of fuel and will be retired.
• Kepler discovered roughly 4,000 planets beyond the solar system, a handful of which might be Earth-size and even habitable.
• Kepler's more powerful follow-on mission, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, is already in operation.

For 9 years, a car-size telescope in space called Kepler has dutifully stared down more than half a million stars.

In doing so, Kepler discovered thousands of planets beyond the solar system — a handful of which might be Earth-size and possibly habitable to alien life.

But as NASA revealed on Tuesday, Kepler's mission has come to an end: The spacecraft ran out of fuel, the space agency said on Tuesday, which means it is effectively dead.

"While this may be a sad event, we are by no means unhappy with the performance of this marvelous machine," Charlie Sobeck, project system engineer at NASA's Ames Research Center in California, told reporters on a conference call. "Kepler's nine-and-a-half year flight was more than twice the original target."

Kepler is currently orbiting the sun at a distance of about 94 million miles from Earth. Its positioning system broke down in 2013, about four years after its launch, though scientists found a way to keep it operational.

Now that it has no fuel, the telescope can't correct its very specific orbit, so it is drifting farther and farther from our planet. Mission engineers will eventually turn off its radio transmitters, NASA said.

Legacy of an exoplanet hunter

NASA launched the Kepler telescope on March 6, 2009, to learn if Earth-like planets that might harbor life are common or rare in other star systems.

During its mission, Kepler found 2,681 confirmed planets and another 2,899 candidates, bringing its tally to 5,580. That number includes about 50 worlds that may be about the same size and temperature as Earth.

The Kepler telescope laid bare the diversity of planets that reside in our Milky Way galaxy.

Its findings indicate that billions of distant star systems are teeming with planets — perhaps trillions in the Milky Way galaxy alone. Kepler even helped pinpoint the first moon known outside our solar system.

"Basically, Kepler opened the gate for mankind's exploration of the cosmos," William Borucki, Kepler's now-retired chief investigator, told reporters.

Borucki described his favorite exoplanet, named Kepler 22B,which is located more than 600 light years from Earth and was first spotted by the telescope in 2009. It is a possible "water world" the size of Earth, perhaps covered with oceans and with a water-based atmosphere. Water is considered a key ingredient for life.

Kepler's data also provided a new way to assess whether a planet had a solid surface, like Earth and Mars, or is gaseous, like Jupiter and Saturn. The distinction helped scientists zero in on potential Earth-like planets and better the odds for finding life.

Kepler used a detection method called transit photometry, which looked for periodic, repetitive dips in the visible light of stars caused by planets passing, or transiting, in front of them.

Kepler's next-generation replacement

Kepler was succeeded by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), which NASA launched in April. TESS is on a two-year, $337 million mission.

The telescope is currently scanning 85% of the night sky, staring down distant solar systems and hunting for small, rocky, Earth-like planets in the process.

A handful of small planets have already been found, but the mission could potentially reveal thousands of new worlds within about 200 light-years of Earth — a cosmic stone's throw away from our world.

TESS will use a technique to find planets that's similar to Kepler's approach, yet it will be an eminently more powerful mission. If Kepler's search area was like a shotgun blast, then that of TESS is an exploding grenade or bomb.

"[W]e know there are more planets than stars in our universe," Paul Hertz, NASA's director of astrophysics, said in a press release about TESS. "I look forward to the strange, fantastic worlds we're bound to discover."

Researchers working on TESS expect to find at least 50 rocky, Earth-size worlds for scientists to scrutinize — perhaps double what Kepler has found. However, TESS is likely find many more than that, as it is viewing more stars (and Kepler defied its creators' projections).

Once TESS' discoveries are confirmed, they could prove vital to the work of NASA's upcoming and powerful James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which is scheduled to launch sometime in 2021.

That next-generation observatory will rival the abilities of the Hubble Space Telescope and will be the largest observatory ever launched into space. JWST will take pictures in infrared light, which is invisible to human eyes yet perfect for studying planets through the clouds of gas and dust in space that typically obscure distant worlds.

Giant new ground-based telescopes are also being built, and those might even be able to study the atmospheres of distant worlds and seek out chemical signatures for life.

Reuters reporting by Joey Roulette in Orlando, Florida; Writing by Ben Klayman in Detroit; Editing by Will Dunham

SEE ALSO: 27 of the most iconic, jaw-dropping photos of the Earth and the moon from space

DON'T MISS: Earth is a desert planet compared to these ocean worlds

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NOW WATCH: NASA just dashed our dreams of ever moving to this Earth-sized exoplanet

From large crowds to frequent flight delays, traveling during the holiday season is no easy feat — especially when you're flying. 

In fact, last year TODAY reported that a record 28.5 million travelers were expected to fly over Thanksgiving.

While it may seem like a good idea to rush through the airport to your gate like it's any other time of the year, you may be doing things that are slowing you down and even affecting your fellow travelers.

Here are a few things you should avoid doing at the airport to make your holiday travel go that much smoother. 

Do not arrive to the airport late.

Seems like a no-brainer, but there's always that one person or family begging security to skip the line because they are about to miss their flight. Don't be that person. The security line is bound to be significantly longer because of the holiday season — anticipate that. 

Don't drive yourself to the airport.

Airport traffic is especially busy around the holiday season, so the parking lots at airports will be especially full. There will be people fighting over the few remaining spots, and it will get costly. Instead, leave your car at home. Consider asking someone to drive you to the airport or use a car service. 

Don't travel with your holiday gifts.

While traveling with gifts is allowed, there aresome restrictions— some airports or items will require gift bags instead of wrapping paper. If your gifts are flagged, security will have to inspect your gifts and even unwrap them. In the process, you will slow down the security line.

Some gifts are also better checked than taken as carry on. Although it may be the more expensive option, it may be easier to just ship your presents to your destination. 

• On November 5 every year, Brits celebrate Bonfire Night.
• People gather together outside to burn an effigy on a huge bonfire, set off fireworks, and eat seasonal treats.
• The annual celebration commemorates the events of November 5, 1605, when Roman Catholic activist Guy Fawkes attempted to assassinate the king.

"Remember, remember the 5th of November. Gunpowder, treason, and plot."

It's a saying that will be familiar to most Brits, but one that is likely to raise eyebrows outside of the UK.

The rhyme refers to Bonfire Night — an annual celebration which takes place on, you guessed it, November 5, and sees Brits wrap up warm and venture to parks and fields to gather around a large bonfire, burn an effigy, set off fireworks, and eat seasonal treats.

And just what are we celebrating? An assassination attempt on the king over 400 years ago, of course.

It's a particularly British tradition, but for many, Bonfire Night is one of the highlights of the season. Here's what it's all about.

The history behind Bonfire Night

Bonfire Night is a celebration of the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605 — an assassination attempt on the then new Protestant King James I.

The plot was the work of a gang of Roman Catholic activists, led by Robert Catesby, who were angry about not being allowed to practice their religion in the UK, and hopeful that the end of Queen Elizabeth I's reign would result in more favourable conditions for them.

But this was not to be the case.

Disappointed by the new king's lack of support of British Catholics, Catesby and his gang hatched a plot to assassinate the monarch and his ministers by blowing up the Houses of Parliament, according to the BBC.

Read more:How Autumn is celebrated around the world

It was explosive expert Guy (Guido) Fawkes who was tasked with smuggling 36 barrels of gunpowder into the cellar of the House of Lords, with the aim of destroying the whole building. 

However, the plot unravelled just a few hours before the gunpowder was set to be lit when a Catholic Lord received a letter warning him to avoid Parliament. 

The letter sent to William Parker, the 4th Baron Monteagle, was made public and Fawkes was arrested and tried for treason, according to The Telegraph.

In the aftermath of the event, Parliament declared November 5 a day of thanksgiving, and the first celebration to mark the failed plot was held in 1606.

How is Bonfire Night celebrated?

On November 5 (or the nearest weekend if the date falls on a weekday), Brits come together to celebrate. Some gather in their gardens, and others join large public displays in parks and fields, which usually have a small entry fee.

Every celebration centres on a large bonfire featuring an effigy which is known as the Guy (after Guy Fawkes).

However, the Guy is often created in the image of someone in the public eye — last year both Harvey Weinstein and Donald Trump were incarnated as effigies for Bonfire Night.

Traditionally, the Guy is carried through the streets of a village or town as part of a parade in the days leading up to the big night. 

The other main part of the celebration is the firework display — they represent the explosives that were never let off in the assassination attempt.

During the first week of November, it's difficult to walk through UK towns and cities without spotting fireworks sparkling down from the sky somewhere around you.

While watching the show, children and adults alike add to the dazzling display by holding sparklers and creating glittering, swirly shapes in the air in front of them.

Of course, it's usually very chilly so as well as wrapping up in coats, scarfs, hats, and gloves, sustenance is of the utmost importance. 

Traditional Bonfire Night treats include toffee apples, baked potatoes, and Parkin, which is a sticky, spiced cake made from treacle, oats, syrup and ginger.

There's only one place in the UK where Bonfire Night isn't celebrated, and that's St Peter's School in York, where Fawkes was a pupil — as a sign of respect, the day goes unmarked.

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NOW WATCH: Here's what's in the 'American food' section of a British grocery store

• Cotton has many uses, but it has never been considered a food because its seeds are poisonous to humans.
• Researchers have found a way to silence the gene that makes cottonseed toxic.
• The US Department of Agriculture recently approved these genetically engineered seeds.
• Farmers could begin growing the new variety of cotton if the FDA approves it.

Cotton is used in a variety of ways, but the protein-heavy plant has never been safe to eat. That's because it contains the chemical gossypol, which protects cotton from insects but is toxic to humans. According to Scientific World Journal, gossypol lowers people's blood potassium and can cause weakness, respiratory issues, and paralysis. 

After more than 20 years of research, though, scientists at Texas A&M University have figured out how to make cottonseed edible.

NPR reported that the new variety of cotton still contains gossypol, just not in the seeds. Scientists have previously tried growing cotton that does not contain any gossypol, but it was never commercially viable because some gossypol is necessary to protect cotton from insects. 

In mid-October, the US Department of Agriculture approved this genetic alteration, which has very low levels of gossypol. It still needs to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration before it can be sold, so farmers likely won't be able to grow it for several years. 

Texas A&M professor Keerti Rathore, the lead researcher, told Bloomberg that the cottonseed is "not at all unpleasant," comparing it to the taste of hummus. 

Genetically engineered cotton could provide a new food source for millions of people around the world, particularly in countries with high rates of malnutrition, Rathore told NPR. India, for example, produces more cotton than any other country, and it has the highest number of malnourished people in the world.

Read more:India suffers serious level of hunger, ranks 103 on global hunger index 2018

Farmers still view cottonseeds as useless because they can't sell them, and only 5% of cottonseed gets planted, according to the National Cotton Council of America. The new variety of cotton, however, would broaden the plant's use in the livestock and aquaculture feed industries. Altered cottonseeds could be used as food for trout and salmon, serving as a cheap alternative for as much as 50% of all fish food, Bloomberg reported.

If all the cotton in the world was safe for eating, it would be enough to feed 600 million people a day, according to Bloomberg. 

The researchers are waiting for a decision from the FDA, but they have already reached out to seed companies that can help get the cotton seeds on the market. 

SEE ALSO: Genetically Modified Crops Are Good For Poor Farmers In India

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• Logan Paul discussed his infamous "suicide forest" video in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
• Paul said that actor Aaron Paul's response to the video — a tweet that called the YouTuber "pure trash"— was a "stab in the back."
• "He came up to me at whatever event we were at, shook my hand, patted me on the back, 'Dude, love what you're doing,'" Paul said. "Then this s--- happens, and Aaron Paul is telling me to go to hell?"

Logan Paul discussed the public backlash to his infamous "suicide forest" video in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter— including the responses from celebrities, like "Breaking Bad" actor Aaron Paul.

"You disgust me. I can't believe that so many young people look up to you. So sad. Hopefully this latest video woke them up," Aaron wrote on Twitter, tagging Logan. "You are pure trash. Plain and simple. Suicide is not a joke. Go rot in hell."

Logan said that Aaron was his "boy" beforehand and called the tweet a "stab in the back."

"He came up to me at whatever event we were at, shook my hand, patted me on the back, 'Dude, love what you're doing,'" Logan told THR. "Then this s--- happens, and Aaron Paul is telling me to go to hell? I'm like, 'You told me you were my boy when we met! It was all good! We have the same publicist!'"

Read more: Sophie Turner calls Logan Paul 'a gargantuan a--hole' and tells his supporters to educate themselves on suicide prevention

Logan also admitted that he "really f---ed up, to a degree that this may be the only thing people remember me by."

"I should have felt empathy. I should have been like, 'Hey, this is wrong. Let's not do what we're doing,'" he said of his reaction to the dead body he and his friends found in the sacred Japanese forest, which he subsequently filmed and posted on YouTube.

Logan removed the video from his YouTube channel and took a three-week hiatus from vlogging. He then uploaded a video titled "Logan Paul Is Back" and bragged about gaining one million subscribers during his social media blackout.

"Good luck trying to cancel me," the 23-year-old told THR. "It's so easy for anyone to be like, 'Logan Paul just ended his career, he's done.' But the only person who will ever decide whether that's true is me."

A representative for Aaron Paul didn't immediately respond to INSIDER's request for comment.

Visit INSIDER's homepage for more.

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• During a visit to the Whakarewarewa Forest in Rotorua, New Zealand, on Wednesday, Meghan Markle wore a black puffer jacket from Scandinavian brand, Norrona.
• The duchess' Norrona coat looks identical to the one Prince Harry wore when the couple walked through Abel Tasman National Park in Wellington, New Zealand, on Monday.
• Both Harry and Markle have sported several comfortable outfits since they kicked off their royal tour through the South Pacific on October 16.
• The duke and duchess wrapped up the final leg of their tour on Wednesday.

One of the latest pieces in Meghan Markle's royal tour wardrobe may have come from Prince Harry's closet.

During a visit to the Whakarewarewa Forest in Rotorua, New Zealand, on Wednesday, the duchess wore a black puffer jacket from Scandinavian brand, Norrona.

Markle completed the comfortable ensemble with black Mother Denim skinny jeans, black Birdies flats, and a royal blue top.

The duchess' Norrona coat looks identical to the one her husband wore when the couple walked through Abel Tasman National Park in Wellington, New Zealand, on Monday.

Read more: Candid photos from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's royal tour

Both Harry and Markle, who wrapped up the final leg of their tour through the South Pacific on Wednesday, have sported several comfortable outfits since they kicked off their trip in Sydney, Australia, on October 16.

During their visit to Abel Tasman National Park, Markle wore a gray-blue windbreaker from Seasalt Cornwall over a Jac + Jack sweater and black skinny jeans by Outland Denim — a pair of pants she's recycled several times throughout the royal tour.

She accessorized with $325 Adidas Stan Smith sneakers made of vegan leather, designed in collaboration with British designer Stella McCartney, who is known for promoting ethical and sustainable fashion practices.

The duchess also wore sneakers from eco-friendly French brand, Veja, to watch the Invictus Games sailing final on October 21.

Visit INSIDER's homepage for more.

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• Kohl's is one of the few department stores to avoid store closures and report strong sales during the retail apocalypse. 
• In a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, CEO Michelle Gass attributed its success to its distancing itself from rivals. "We don't think of ourselves as a department store," she said.
• Kohl's has managed to avoid the store-closure trend because it's somewhat immune to the drop-off in mall traffic. 95% of its 1,158 stores are located outside of malls.

While department-store chains across the United States have been plagued by the retail apocalypse, Kohl's has been considered somewhat of an industry anomaly, reporting strong sales growth and avoiding store closures. It's now one of the more successful stocks in the retail sector, outperforming rival chains such as Macy's and JCPenney.

According to its CEO, there's a simple reason for its success: it has distanced itself from its rivals.

"We don't think of ourselves as a department store," CEO Michelle Gass said in a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal. 

She continued: "We aren't in malls. Our stores have a racetrack design, which makes them easy to navigate. The cash registers are at the front of the store, rather than dispersed in departments, which makes checkout easy to locate. From the early days, we created a model that is easier and more convenient for shoppers than a typical department store."

By not being located in malls — 95% of its 1,158 stores are located off-mall and other areas away from enclosed shopping centers — Kohl's has stayed somewhat immune to the drop-off in mall traffic. 

Gass attributes this to innovation that happened at the company years ago.

"While everybody was moving into the mall, we took the other path and we moved and built off-mall," she said to an audience at the WWD Apparel & CEO Summit on Tuesday.

Read more:Sears has filed for bankruptcy and is closing stores. Here are the retail rivals that could benefit the most from its downward spiral.

Now, Kohl's is continuing to buck major retail trends. Rather than close stores, it's shrinking them in size. It has opened smaller locations that are about 35,000 square feet (about one-sixth the size of a typical Macy's store) and has reduced its footprint in existing stores to make space for partnerships with other retailers, such as Aldi. 

In March, Kohl's announced it would bring the grocer to 10 locations to share space and help drive foot traffic. If successful, the test could be expanded to the roughly 300 stores that Kohl's has shrunk over the last several years.

While other department stores have shifted their focus to digital, stores have stayed at the forefront of Kohl's strategy. 

"We are leaning into stores," Gass said on Tuesday. "We are making a lot of investments to make sure our stores can stay relevant and vibrant for many years to come."

This includes a new partnership with Amazon to sell its devices in stores and offer a free returns service for products bought on Amazon at certain locations.

Gass said that the partnership is mutually beneficial: Kohl's has access to new customers, and Amazon gets access to physical locations.  

"85% of the US population lives within 15 miles from a Kohl's. We have the destination, they have the returns," she said.

SEE ALSO: The retail apocalypse has claimed a new victim — and it could be great news for Kohl's

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• Megyn Kelly's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, blames NBC for rumors that Kelly asked the company for more than her $69 million compensation.
• He suggested, without evidence, that NBC executives lost control of the company.
• Kelly herself lashed out at The Daily Mail for taking what she said were invasive pictures of her family.

Megyn Kelly's attorney, Bryan Freedman, signaled he's escalating her fight with NBC over their fallout this month, saying he holds the company responsible for unfounded rumors about Kelly's compensation

Freedman denied that Kelly had asked for more money than the $69 million compensation over three years that NBC agreed to.

"Despite my efforts to handle this confidentially, NBC News is allowing the media to run with completely false and irresponsible reports that disparage Megyn by erroneously claiming she has ever asked for more money than her contract requires,"Freedman wrote in a statement.

Freedman speculated, without evidence, that NBC executives may have lost control over their company, and that the dispute with Kelly has an influence on the company's news coverage.

"If NBC News is not the source then they have a responsibility as a news division to correct these false claims. Or are they somehow attempting to use these fabrications for some fictitious advantage in the discussions we're having?" Freedman wrote. "If [NBC News chairman] Andy Lack has lost control, my hope would be that [NBCUniversal CEO] Steven Burke can step in and not permit blatant lies about our discussions to remain uncorrected."

On the heels of Freedman's statement, Kelly also attacked media coverage of her exit from NBC's "Today" show. On Twitter, she said The Daily Mail took photos of her husband in her home and took photos and videos of her children.

Kelly left NBC News after she defended wearing blackface. She's since apologized for her comments, but her hour on "Today" has been cancelled and she's reportedly in negotiations to leave NBC altogether.

SEE ALSO: Megyn Kelly defended blackface on the 'Today' show, but here's the racist history behind it

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NOW WATCH: Scorpion venom is the most expensive liquid in the world — here's why it costs $39 million per gallon

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• Target, Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy are all offering free shipping this holiday season, but shoppers should read the fine print.
• Retailers are unleashing perks to get customers to choose them over competitors.
• Much of this year's holiday sales growth is predicted to come from online shopping.

The holidays are almost here, and so is peak shopping season.

Retailers often take the gloves off around the holidays, supercharging their online offerings with perks like free shipping and hot deals to get customers to shop with them over a competitor.

We compared the shipping offerings from four of the most popular online shopping destinations to see which one is offering the best options, all else being equal.

Some stores, like Amazon and Walmart, have not announced any changes to their shipping policies for the holidays.

Walmart will still offer free two-day shipping with any order of $35 or more, a policy it enacted in early 2017. That's the highest order requirement among the major players.

Amazon will offer its standard-speed shipping for any order over $25 and is the slowest guaranteed time, in four to five days from the time of shipment.

Amazon Prime members will still get their two-day shipping guarantee, but as usual, the membership requires customers first spend $119 for an annual subscription or $12.99 for a monthly one.

Read more: Best Buy is making a bold move to capture a piece of over $10 billion in sales up for grabs

Both Best Buy and Target are offering special promotions this holiday season.

Best Buy is offering free shipping all season long, but it is not guaranteeing that customers will receive their packages in a set number of days. Customers will get a delivery date based on what they're ordering and where they're located. The promotion is valid through December 25.

Target has stepped it up this year, however, offering by far the best free shipping perk through the holidays. Not only is shipping completely free from November 1 until December 22 for all orders, with no minimum requirement, but the store is also guaranteeing that packages will arrive two days after shipment.

It makes sense that Target is pulling out all the stops to own the holiday season online.

Most of this year's sales growth is likely to come from online purchases. Forrester Research is predicting 14% sales growth online but only 1.7% growth in stores. Analysts estimated that Amazon took nearly half of all online retail sales in 2017, and that it will account for even more this year.

Forrester estimates that online holiday sales will account for more than 32% of all online sales for the year.

SEE ALSO: Data reveals Amazon has banned more than 5,700 of its top reviewers in the last 2 years as it increasingly cracks down on review abuse

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NOW WATCH: Why this Bovet watch costs over $450,000

• Netflix released a video of actor Henry Cavill as his character on the upcoming fantasy series "The Witcher."
• The wig is definitely a focal point.
• The series is expected to make its debut on Netflix in 2019. 

Actor Henry Cavill recently abandoned the Superman cape along with his "Mission: Impossible — Fallout"mustache for Netflix's upcoming fantasy series "The Witcher."

The epic original series is based on Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski's novels and short stories. The fantasy series tells the story of Geralt of Rivia, a monster hunter or "witcher" whose adventures make him realize that man can often be worse than beasts. 

Read more: Henry Cavill will reportedly no longer play Superman as DC focuses on Supergirl instead

On Wednesday, Netflix shared a video with a first look at Cavill as Geralt of Rivia. While the long, silver wig certainly captures the monster hunter's look, altogether Cavill's Geralt is reminiscent of Orlando Bloom as the elf Legolas from "The Lord of the Rings" movies. 

Here's the video:

Netflix's original series "The Witcher" doesn't have an exact release date yet, but it is expected to make its debut in 2019. 

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• In this hilarious US Marine Corps video, the Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps teaches a young girl dressed as Wonder Woman how a warrior celebrates Halloween.
• When the Sgt. Major. realizes the girl is supposed to be a "warrior," he turns to get her a special treat — not candy, but rather a self-contained food ration known as a MRE (Meal, Ready-to-Eat).
• "Protect what you've earned," he says to the confused girl, using a Marine catchphrase for staying out of trouble.
• Check out the video below:

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• Republican Rep. Steve King of Iowa has a long history of making racially insensitive remarks and associating with white nationalists.
• Several donors have in recent days dropped support for King, including the National Republican Congressional Committee.
• A recent poll shows King is nearly tied with his Democratic challenger, just one week before Election Day.

WASHINGTON — Republican Rep. Steve King has come under fire many times for making racist statements or racially insensitive gestures.

But the most recent case is unlike the countless others from years' past. King's party leaders are publicly rebuking his words and actions, and several high-profile donors have dropped their support for him.

In the past year, King has endorsed a white nationalist running for mayor of Toronto in Canada, repeatedly retweeted white supremacist accounts on Twitter, and parroted Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban's remarks that "mixing cultures will not lead to a higher quality of life but a lower one."

This is not a newfound habit for King. In the past he has found himself in hot water for displaying the Confederate battle flag on his congressional office desk, despite representing Iowa, which fought for the Union during the Civil War. King later removed the flag from his desk after an Iowa who had man murdered two police officers had been shown to frequently display the flag.

Republican leaders, like House Speaker Paul Ryan, have had to condemn King's remarks and actions "many times," but they have continued to happen with little to no consequences.

But after a gunman killed 11 individuals at a synagogue in Pittsburgh on Saturday, King's activities resurfaced.

Jewish leaders in Iowa wrote a letter to the Des Moines Register newspaper condemning King and asking for his donors to withdraw their support for him.

"We are writing from the depths of our grief, in horror at the news of the Tree of Life synagogue massacre in Pittsburgh," wrote Alan Steckman and John Pleasants, two leaders of Jewish congregations in King's district. "We feel we must speak out because our congressional representative, Steve King, is an enthusiastic crusader for the same types of abhorrent beliefs held by the Pittsburgh shooter."

King's reelection campaign is suddenly in jeopardy

And more followed: National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman and Ohio Rep. Steve Stivers condemned King.

The condemnations could not come at a worse time for King, who is in the midst of a reelection campaign with recent polling showing him neck and neck with Democratic challenger J.D. Scholten. A Change Research poll released Tuesday showed King leading with 45% to Scholten's 44%, with a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

King issued a statement in response, calling the condemnations of him a plot by individuals opposed to President Donald Trump's political agenda.

"Americans, all created equal by God, with all our races, ethnicities, and national origins — legal immigrants & natural born citizens, together make up the Shining City on the Hill," King said. "These attacks are orchestrated by nasty, desperate, and dishonest fake news. Their ultimate goal is to flip the House and impeach Donald Trump. Establishment Never Trumpers are complicit."

Few have come to King's defense. Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert, a hardline conservative in the House, backed up King in a statement Wednesday morning.

"It's happening again. Some of the same Establishment Republicans who thought this country would be better off if Hillary Clinton won the election in 2016 are now joining with what calls itself the media in this country to slander conservatives," he said. "They're slinging around terms like racist and white supremacist at people who haven't supported amnesty, like Steve King."

"As a Christian, Steve has a love of people of all races. I've seen him show a deep compassion and concern for people from all over the world," Gohmert added. "Unlike his detractors, Steve is devoted to keeping his oath to defend our Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic--and that doesn't always line up wit the interests of some people in political life who would sell out this nation in exchange for their own power."

SEE ALSO: Nancy Pelosi guarantees Democrats will win the House majority

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