Ailes out at Fox News, Defiant Cruz stands by Trump snub, Peter Thiel to tell RNC he's proudly gay

Roger Ailes leaves Fox News. Fox News chief Roger Ailes has resigned from the network following sexual harassment allegations, 21st Century Fox confirmed Thursday. Ailes' departure is effective immediately and Rupert Murdoch himself is now the cable news channel's chairman and acting CEO. Ailes said in a letter to Murdoch, "I am proud of our accomplishments and look forward to continuing to work with you as a consultant in building 21st Century Fox." However, a corporate source said that "consultant" is not an accurate word for what Ailes will be doing. Ailes will simply "be available to advise Rupert during the transition," the source said. Ailes' sudden exit is an ignoble end to a legendary, controversial twenty-year career atop Fox News, which he built essentially from scratch in 1996. Ailes, 76, reshaped American television news and Republican politics simultaneously. By hiring hosts like Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity and enforcing a conservative editorial point of view, Ailes developed a virtual public square for the American right and filled a void on television. It has dominated all other cable news channels for 14 years. Defiant Ted Cruz stands by refusal to endorse Trump after being booed during convention speech. Ted Cruz on Thursday strongly defended his refusal to endorse Donald Trump during his Republican National Convention speech, saying he's not "in the habit" of backing politicians who attack his family. "I am not in the habit of supporting people who attack my wife and attack my father," Cruz said at a morning meeting where he faced sharp questions from the Texas delegation in Cleveland. Cruz stood by his decision in a remarkable 25-minute back-and-forth with his own constituents, defying appeals from his own Texas delegation to put the party above his inhibitions and back Trump. Cruz sensationally withheld an endorsement of Trump in his speech Wednesday, earning a chorus of boos from the floor while getting upstaged in a power play by the GOP nominee himself. In a dramatic development, as Cruz wrapped up his speech, Trump suddenly appeared in the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. He walked to join his family in a VIP area and flashed a thumbs-up -- a gesture that transmitted clear anger at the Texas senator's behavior. Cruz, his party's runner-up, uttered Trump's name just once -- to congratulate him -- and instead pitched the ideological brand of conservatism that endears him to the GOP's base. "I congratulate Donald Trump on winning the nomination last night," Cruz said. "And like each of you, I want to see the principles that our party believes prevail in November." Peter Thiel to tell RNC he's proudly gay. Peter Thiel is set to admonish the GOP for refusing to embrace LGBT rights on stage here tonight. The tech billionaire will declare to the Republican National Convention that he is proud to be gay, a source familiar with Thiel's remarks told CNN. He'll be the first speaker in the party's history to do so at an RNC. He plans to warn the party against fighting unnecessary culture wars, the source said, and tell Republicans to let people use whichever bathroom they want to use. Those remarks will come in the context of a call to focus on the economy and on an anti-war foreign policy, the source said. He'll explain his support for Trump -- making his libertarian leanings clear and arguing that Trump is the best choice on those issues.