Octavia Spencer, Pat McCrory, Scientology, Berlin, Jamaica, Michelle Obama: HOT LINKS

PRICELESS. Octavia Spencer had the best possible reaction to President Obama unexpectedly showing up.

CONGRESS. Rep. Elijah Cummings spells it out: “[T]here has been hacking by the Russians. We’re clear on that. It goes up to the highest levels of the Russian government. We’re clear on that. And this is like, as the former CIA director said, this is like a 9/11 for us. And we should be addressing it in a very serious and, it must be, an independent way.”

NORTH CAROLINA. Pat McCrory signs bill handicapping rival Roy Cooper who beat him in the November election: “North Carolina outgoing Governor Pat McCrory has just signed a bill rammed through both the House and the Senate designed to protect the Republican Party’s power. SB4 is “a complex, four-part, 25-page document that was introduced late Wednesday during the General Assembly’s fourth special session of the year,” NC Policy Watch’s Progressive Pulse reports.

HACKING. The FBI and CIA agree now that Russia hacked to help Trump: “Comey’s support for the CIA’s conclusion — and officials say that he never changed his position — suggests that the leaders of the three agencies are in agreement on Russian intentions, contrary to suggestions by some lawmakers that the FBI disagreed with the CIA.”

90s REDUX. Cast of new Duck Tales is announced, sings theme song.

PILLOWTALK. Zayn Malik named world’s sexiest Asian.

SCIENTOLOGY. Shelly Miscavige, wife of Scientology head David Miscavige, reportedly spotted looking “frail” after not being seen for years: “She was a thin, smaller woman, escorted by two men.”

CARIBBEAN. Gay Jamaican refugee helps others escape the anti-gay island nation: “Gay refugee Gareth Henry spends his free time saving the lives of LGBTQ people in Jamaica who need help escaping persecution or even death. The Caribbean nation remains one of 76 countries where consensual same-sex relationships are criminalized.”

ICH BIN EIN BERLINER. Berlin named best city in the world to be gay and single: “A close second was Fort Lauderdale, Florida (21 percent), followed by New Orleans (16 percent), Seattle (12 percent) and Vienna (7 percent). Berlin is renowned for holding a number of LGBT festivals each year, including Christopher Street Day celebrations dating back to 1979, and Berlin Pride. Hundreds of thousands partake in these events each year.”

THE AUDACITY OF HOPE? Michelle Obama to Oprah: “See, now we’re feeling what not having hope feels like,” Obama said. “Hope is necessary. It’s a necessary concept. What else do you have, if you don’t have hope?” she posits. “What do you give your kids if you can’t give them hope?”