Southern border at ‘breaking point’ after more than 76000 illegal immigrants tried crossing in February, officials say – Fox News
Southern border at ‘breaking point’ after more than 76000 illegal immigrants tried crossing in February, officials say – Fox News
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100,000 illegal immigrants may be arrested at the border in March: report

More than 76,000 people tried to cross the U.S.-Mexico border in February — a “remarkable” leap that more than doubles the number of border apprehensions during the same period of time last year, and is also the highest number of any February in the past 12 years, according to officials.

The system is “well beyond capacity, and remains at the breaking point,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan told reporters on Tuesday as the agency released the “record numbers” of those trying to enter the U.S. through the southern border.

67 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS FOUND IN DEPLORABLE CONDITIONS INSIDE TINY NEW MEXICO ‘SHED’: ICE

Officials said that 76,103 people — an increase of 31 percent over January — were apprehended. Of those, 7,249 were unaccompanied children, and 40,385 were family units — totaling 60 percent of apprehensions.

Brian Hastings, the chief of law enforcement operations at the agency, told reporters that historically, 70 to 90 percent of apprehensions at the border included Mexican nationals.

As of Tuesday, he said, 70 percent of those arrested for attempting entry without proper documentation are from the “Northern Triangle of Central America,” which includes Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.

“It should be very clear from these numbers that we are facing alarming trends in the rising volumes of people illegally crossing our southwest border, or arriving at our ports of entry without documents,” McAleenan said.

NEARLY 200 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS APPREHENDED CROSSING BORDER IN NEW MEXICO

While fewer people overall are being apprehended crossing the border illegally each year, he said the increased numbers are “currently at our highest levels in over a decade both a border security and humanitarian crisis.”

The commissioner added that border patrol is also noticing a “stark increase” of those seeking asylum. Since October, there’s been a 90 percent increase over the “record levels” of asylum seekers since the last fiscal year, according to the agency, which added that 60 percent of those trying to enter the U.S. without proper documentation are “making claims of fear of return to their home country.”

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Officials on Tuesday announced plans for a new processing center in El Paso, Texas, to manage the record number of people crossing the border. While not a permanent solution, it will be better suited to manage families and children, and handle medical care concerns.

“While our enhanced medical efforts will assist in managing the increased flows, the fact is that these solutions are temporary and this solution is not sustainable,” he said.

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After two illegal immigrant children died while in Border Patrol custody, the agency stepped up medical screenings and announced sweeping changes that include more rigorous interviews as they enter into the system.

The data released on Tuesday comes as the GOP-controlled Senate plans to reject in a vote next week President Trump’s national emergency declaration at the border that would send extra funding there.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/us/more-than-76000-migrants-tried-crossing-southern-border-in-february-officials-say

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Alabama tornadoes: How lessons from deadly 2011 outbreak that killed hundreds help save lives now – NBC News
Alabama tornadoes: How lessons from deadly 2011 outbreak that killed hundreds help save lives now – NBC News

SMITHS STATION, Ala. — As the sirens sounded Sunday afternoon, alerting residents just before deadly tornadoes cut through eastern Alabama, Terryn Smith, 12, and Hannah Mounce, 13, immediately sprung to action.

“When the sirens went off, that’s when we took cover,” Terryn told NBC News.

The girls hid with Terryn’s mother and a friend in a Lee County home, huddled with pillows and blankets on the floor of the kitchen, a windowless room in the center of the house.

Krista Smith, Terryn’s mother, shielded the girls with her body as windows blew out and doors slammed in other parts of the home.

“I was like scared that the house would take off and we weren’t going to make it,” Hannah said.

The tornadoes roared through Lee County on Sunday afternoon, killing at least 23 people, including multiple children, in what a local official called “the worst natural disaster that has ever occurred” in the county.

A tornado watch for Lee County was issued at 11:40 a.m. CST (12:40 p.m. ET), with the first tornado warning issued at 1:58 p.m. CST. That warning was issued just five minutes before the first damage report in the county.

It was one of the deadliest tornado events in the state since 2011, when more than 230 people across Alabama were killed that April.

Granadas Baker retrieves personal items from his home after a tornado caused extensive damage a day earlier in Beauregard, Alabama, on March 4.David Goldman / AP

The 2011 tornado outbreak left about 300 dead throughout the southeastern United States. In response, the National Weather Service improved its operations for helping communities prepare for natural disasters, said Douglas Hilderbrand, a meteorologist who leads the NWS’ Weather-Ready National Ambassador program. The initiative began in response to that tornado season.

“That April 2011 experience was really an eye-opener for the National Weather Service, in the sense that it was a very well forecast event … we were highlighting the magnitude of this event days in advance and yet 300 people lost their lives,” he said.

“It really shined a light on how there’s much more that needs to be done from a National Weather Service perspective, but also a community perspective in terms of working together,” he said.

The NWS invested in its technology and services to not only issue timely and more accurate tornado warnings but also to disseminate information to the community, he said.

The NWS recommends having multiple ways to receive warnings about extreme weather, such as receiving phone alerts, and warnings on television broadcasts and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Weather Radio.

During a news conference Monday, Lee County Emergency Management Director Kathy Carson said she was “pretty sure” the sirens sounded warnings ahead of the tornado, but that both the weather service and the agency were increasingly reliant on sending targeted cellphone alerts to residents about tornadoes.

The 2011 outbreak in Alabama was declared a federal emergency and led to improvements in the state’s tornado shelters in addition to its warning systems, experts said.

“Since then, through funds from FEMA, there has been a lot of work to put in community safe rooms to be used during storms, as well as money that has gone out through individual mitigation funds to put in tornado safe rooms in houses,” said Lisa McCormick, an expert on emergency preparedness and associate dean for public health practice at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

McCormick said the state also worked to upgrade its outdoor warning systems so that they would be able to target county areas being impacted by incoming storms.

Experts recommend having a plan long before a tornado threat occurs, such as going to a basement, storm cellar or interior room away from windows and outside walls. People in mobile homes are encouraged to evacuate to community shelters.

Myles Tatum, a Lee County resident, said he and his two sons, ages 7 and 10, ran and hid inside a closet in their barn after they saw a tornado heading toward them.

He said what was going through his mind as he heard the tornado coming was, the “same thing we’re supposed to do, that’s what they teach us — go find cover in the best place you can find.”

Tatum said they could not get the door of the closet closed and just hoped the roof would not rip off. In the end, he and his boys survived.

“The only reason this part of the barn was here, I’m convinced, is the Lord saved us,” he said.

“We just piled up on top of everything, there’s no time to worry about anything else, right? It’s what we’re supposed to do,” he said.

Sanders reported from Smiths Station, Silva reported from New York.

Daniella Silva is a reporter for NBC News, specializing in immigration and inclusion issues.

Kerry Sanders

Kerry Sanders is a Miami-based correspondent for NBC News, covering national and international breaking news and feature stories.  He contributes regularly to “NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt,” “Today” and MSNBC. His work, including reporting on Hurricane Katrina, Haiti’s 2010 earthquake, the Chilean miners and Kosovo have earned him multiple awards.  

Source Article from https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/alabama-tornadoes-how-lessons-deadly-2011-outbreak-helps-save-lives-n979526

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Why Ty Cobb might be the most important figure in the Mueller probe – CNN
Why Ty Cobb might be the most important figure in the Mueller probe – CNN

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Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large

Updated 3:24 PM ET, Tue March 5, 2019

Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what’s happening in the world as it unfolds.

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CNN’s Cristina Alesci reports.”,”descriptionText”:”After determining there was no clear path to victory, former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced he will not run for president in 2020. CNN’s Cristina Alesci reports.”},{“title”:”Trump: Dem probes ‘a disgrace to our country'”,”duration”:”02:29″,”sourceName”:”CNN”,”sourceLink”:”https://www.cnn.com/”,”videoCMSUrl”:”/video/data/3.0/video/politics/2019/03/05/donald-trump-no-collusion-hoax-disgrace-democrats-expanding-probes-sot-vpx.cnn/index.xml”,”videoId”:”politics/2019/03/05/donald-trump-no-collusion-hoax-disgrace-democrats-expanding-probes-sot-vpx.cnn”,”videoImage”:”http://www.noticiasdodia.onlinenewsbusiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/190305144741-trump-3-5-02-large-169.jpg”,”videoUrl”:”/videos/politics/2019/03/05/donald-trump-no-collusion-hoax-disgrace-democrats-expanding-probes-sot-vpx.cnn/video/playlists/this-week-in-politics/”,”description”:”President Donald Trump slammed Democrats for expanding the probes into his personal, business and political life after document requests were sent out to a list of 81 people, agencies and entities.”,”descriptionText”:”President Donald Trump slammed Democrats for expanding the probes into his personal, business and political life after document requests were sent out to a list of 81 people, agencies and entities.”},{“title”:”WNBA coach: Trump didn’t invite us to White House”,”duration”:”02:31″,”sourceName”:”CNN”,”sourceLink”:”https://www.cnn.com/”,”videoCMSUrl”:”/video/data/3.0/video/politics/2019/03/05/trump-womens-teams-cheryl-reeve-wnba-white-house-intv-nr-vpx.cnn/index.xml”,”videoId”:”politics/2019/03/05/trump-womens-teams-cheryl-reeve-wnba-white-house-intv-nr-vpx.cnn”,”videoImage”:”http://www.noticiasdodia.onlinenewsbusiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/171004183858-wnba-large-169.jpg”,”videoUrl”:”/videos/politics/2019/03/05/trump-womens-teams-cheryl-reeve-wnba-white-house-intv-nr-vpx.cnn/video/playlists/this-week-in-politics/”,”description”:”Cheryl Reeve, general manager and head coach for the WNBA team the Minnesota Lynx, said that unlike past presidents, President Trump did not extend a congratulatory phone call or invitation to the White House following the team’s championship win.”,”descriptionText”:”Cheryl Reeve, general manager and head coach for the WNBA team the Minnesota Lynx, said that unlike past presidents, President Trump did not extend a congratulatory phone call or invitation to the White House following the team’s championship win.”},{“title”:”White House refuses to produce security clearance info”,”duration”:”02:34″,”sourceName”:”CNN”,”sourceLink”:”http://www.cnn.com”,”videoCMSUrl”:”/video/data/3.0/video/politics/2019/03/05/white-house-rejects-demand-security-clearance-documents-house-oversight-nr-vpx.cnn/index.xml”,”videoId”:”politics/2019/03/05/white-house-rejects-demand-security-clearance-documents-house-oversight-nr-vpx.cnn”,”videoImage”:”http://www.noticiasdodia.onlinenewsbusiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/190227181823-elijah-cummings-michael-cohen-house-hearing-0227-large-169.jpg”,”videoUrl”:”/videos/politics/2019/03/05/white-house-rejects-demand-security-clearance-documents-house-oversight-nr-vpx.cnn/video/playlists/this-week-in-politics/”,”description”:”As investigations into President Trump and his administration expand, the White House decided to reject a demand from the House Oversight Committee to have access to documents concerning security clearance.”,”descriptionText”:”As investigations into President Trump and his administration expand, the White House decided to reject a demand from the House Oversight Committee to have access to documents concerning security clearance.”},{“title”:”Rep. Jeffries: Cult of criminality surrounds Trump”,”duration”:”01:45″,”sourceName”:”CNN”,”sourceLink”:”https://www.cnn.com/”,”videoCMSUrl”:”/video/data/3.0/video/politics/2019/03/05/hakeem-jeffries-house-trump-investigation-cpt-vpx.cnn/index.xml”,”videoId”:”politics/2019/03/05/hakeem-jeffries-house-trump-investigation-cpt-vpx.cnn”,”videoImage”:”http://www.noticiasdodia.onlinenewsbusiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/190304210905-hakeem-jeffries-3-4-2019-large-169.jpg”,”videoUrl”:”/videos/politics/2019/03/05/hakeem-jeffries-house-trump-investigation-cpt-vpx.cnn/video/playlists/this-week-in-politics/”,”description”:”House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) talks to CNN’s Chris Cuomo after House Democrats announced a sweeping investigation into President Donald Trump’s campaign, businesses, transition and administration.”,”descriptionText”:”House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) talks to CNN’s Chris Cuomo after House Democrats announced a sweeping investigation into President Donald Trump’s campaign, businesses, transition and administration.”},{“title”:”GOP Rep. to Ocasio-Cortez: This sets dangerous precedent”,”duration”:”02:13″,”sourceName”:”CNN”,”sourceLink”:”https://www.cnn.com/”,”videoCMSUrl”:”/video/data/3.0/video/politics/2019/03/05/kevin-brady-trump-tax-returns-subpoena-erin-burnett-ebof-intv-vpx.cnn/index.xml”,”videoId”:”politics/2019/03/05/kevin-brady-trump-tax-returns-subpoena-erin-burnett-ebof-intv-vpx.cnn”,”videoImage”:”http://www.noticiasdodia.onlinenewsbusiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/190304203639-kevin-brady-intv-ebof-large-169.jpg”,”videoUrl”:”/videos/politics/2019/03/05/kevin-brady-trump-tax-returns-subpoena-erin-burnett-ebof-intv-vpx.cnn/video/playlists/this-week-in-politics/”,”description”:”Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) explains to CNN’s \u003ca href=\”http://www.cnn.com/profiles/erin-burnett-profile\” target=\”_blank\”>Erin Burnett\u003c/a> why he doesn’t support a subpoena of President Donald Trump’s tax returns.”,”descriptionText”:”Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) explains to CNN’s \u003ca href=\”http://www.cnn.com/profiles/erin-burnett-profile\” target=\”_blank\”>Erin Burnett\u003c/a> why he doesn’t support a subpoena of President Donald Trump’s tax returns.”},{“title”:”Rep. Nadler: Congress has been shielding Trump”,”duration”:”01:20″,”sourceName”:”CNN”,”sourceLink”:”https://www.cnn.com/”,”videoCMSUrl”:”/video/data/3.0/video/politics/2019/03/04/congress-shielding-trump-house-judiciary-probe-nadler-sot-ebof-vpx.cnn/index.xml”,”videoId”:”politics/2019/03/04/congress-shielding-trump-house-judiciary-probe-nadler-sot-ebof-vpx.cnn”,”videoImage”:”http://www.noticiasdodia.onlinenewsbusiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/190304191730-rep-jerry-nadler-ebof-intv-030419-1-large-169.jpg”,”videoUrl”:”/videos/politics/2019/03/04/congress-shielding-trump-house-judiciary-probe-nadler-sot-ebof-vpx.cnn/video/playlists/this-week-in-politics/”,”description”:”House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) speaks to CNN’s\u003ca href=\”https://www.cnn.com/profiles/erin-burnett-profile\” target=\”_blank\”> Erin Burnett\u003c/a> about launching a probe into President Trump’s campaign, businesses, transition and administration.”,”descriptionText”:”House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) speaks to CNN’s\u003ca href=\”https://www.cnn.com/profiles/erin-burnett-profile\” target=\”_blank\”> Erin Burnett\u003c/a> about launching a probe into President Trump’s campaign, businesses, transition and administration.”},{“title”:”Trump claims asking Russia for Clinton’s emails was joke”,”duration”:”01:26″,”sourceName”:”CNN”,”sourceLink”:”https://www.cnn.com/”,”videoCMSUrl”:”/video/data/3.0/video/politics/2019/03/04/trump-hillary-clinton-emails-russia-joke-cpac-speech-nr-sot-vpx.cnn/index.xml”,”videoId”:”politics/2019/03/04/trump-hillary-clinton-emails-russia-joke-cpac-speech-nr-sot-vpx.cnn”,”videoImage”:”http://www.noticiasdodia.onlinenewsbusiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/190302145439-05-trump-cpac-0302-large-169.jpg”,”videoUrl”:”/videos/politics/2019/03/04/trump-hillary-clinton-emails-russia-joke-cpac-speech-nr-sot-vpx.cnn/video/playlists/this-week-in-politics/”,”description”:”While speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference, President Donald Trump claimed that he was joking when he previously asked the Russians to hack Hillary Clinton’s emails. “,”descriptionText”:”While speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference, President Donald Trump claimed that he was joking when he previously asked the Russians to hack Hillary Clinton’s emails. “}],’js-video_headline-featured-26ry5ht’,”,”js-video_source-featured-26ry5ht”,true,true,’this-week-in-politics’);if (typeof configObj.context !== ‘string’ || configObj.context.length

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(CNN)Ty Cobb — no, not that Ty Cobb — isn’t a household name outside of Washington legal circles.

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THE POINT — NOW ON YOUTUBE!

In each episode of his weekly YouTube show, Chris Cillizza will delve a little deeper into the surreal world of politics. Click to subscribe!

    Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/05/politics/ty-cobb-donald-trump-robert-mueller-rudy-giuliani/index.html

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    McConnell: Senate may consider measure addressing anti-Semitism – Washington Examiner
    McConnell: Senate may consider measure addressing anti-Semitism – Washington Examiner

    Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, citing a “disturbing” rise in anti-Semitism, on Tuesday said the Senate could vote on a measure addressing the issue.

    His comments come as the House prepares to vote Wednesday on a resolution condemning anti-Semitism, spurred by comments made by Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. — though the House measure doesn’t measure the first-term lawmaker by name.

    McConnell said anti-Semitism is on the rise in part because of recent comments made by Omar and other House Democrats.

    The Senate may vote on a measure related to condemning anti-Semitism, McConnell said.

    “I am concerned about it,” McConnell, R-Ky., said Tuesday following a closed-door meeting with fellow GOP lawmakers.

    Earlier this year, the Senate passed a Middle East security measure that included a provision meant to stifle the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement, which aims to economically isolate Israel.

    “We feel like we already addressed a portion of this through the BDS proposal, and we may well address it again,” McConnell said.

    “This is a good time in America to think again about anti-Semitism,” McConnell said. “It seems to be more fashion in Europe. it seems to be more fashionable in this country regretfully, at least among some members of the new class in the House. We need to stand up to it in any way we possibly can.”

    Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Omar’s comments were “wrong and hurtful.”

    Schumer said all senators would condemn anti-Semitism, but he added that Muslims have also been the target of prejudicial attacks.

    An exhibit at the West Virginia Republican Party day at the state capital depicted Omar below an image of the burning Twin Towers.

    The state GOP has denounced the poster and said it was not responsible for displaying the image.

    “Linking all Muslims to the terrorist attacks was wrong and hurtful and and both can be condemned,” Schumer said.

    Source Article from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/congress/mcconnell-senate-may-consider-measure-addressing-anti-semitism

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    South Korea sees signs North Korea restoring part of launch site it… – Reuters
    South Korea sees signs North Korea restoring part of launch site it… – Reuters

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) – North Korea has restored part of a missile launch site it began to dismantle after pledging to do so in a first summit with U.S. President Donald Trump last year, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency and a U.S. think tank reported on Tuesday.

    Yonhap quoted lawmakers briefed by South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) as saying that the work was taking place at the Tongchang-ri launch site and involved replacing a roof and a door at the facility.

    Satellite images seen by 38 North, a Washington-based North Korea project, showed that structures on the launch pad had been rebuilt sometime between Feb. 16 and March 2, Jenny Town, managing editor at the project and an analyst at the Stimson Center think tank, told Reuters.

    The news comes days after a second summit on denuclearization between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un broke down over differences on how far North Korea was willing to limit its nuclear program and the degree of U.S. willingness to ease sanctions.

    The summit took place in Hanoi on Feb. 27 and 28.

    Trump told a news conference after an unprecedented first summit with Kim on June 12 in Singapore that the North Korean leader had promised that a major missile engine testing site would be destroyed very soon.

    Trump did not identify the site, but a U.S. official subsequently told Reuters it was the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground, which is located at Tongchang-ri.

    Asked to comment, the White House referred to the U.S. State Department, which did not immediately respond. A U.S. government source said the NIS was considered reliable on such issues, but added that the work described did not seem particularly alarming, and certainly not on a scale of resuming missile tests that have been suspended since 2017.

    Kim Jong Un also pledged at a summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in September to close Sohae and allow international experts to observe the dismantling of the missile engine-testing site and a launch pad.

    Signs that North Korea had begun acting on its pledge to Trump were detected in July, when a Washington think tank said satellite images indicated work had begun at Sohae to dismantle a building used to assemble space-launch vehicles and a nearby rocket engine test stand used to develop liquid-fuel engines for ballistic missiles and space-launch vehicles.

    However, subsequent images indicated North Korea had halted work to dismantle the missile engine test site in the first part of August.

    The breakdown of the summit in Hanoi last week has raised questions about the future of U.S.-North Korea dialogue.

    U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday he was hopeful he would send a delegation to North Korea in the coming weeks but that he had had “no commitment yet.”

    While North Korea’s official media said last week Kim and Trump had decided at the summit to continue talks, its Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui told reporters Kim “might lose his willingness to pursue a deal” and questioned the need to continue.

    U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Palladino told a news briefing that the United States remains “in regular contact” with North Korea, but he declined to say whether they had been in contact since the summit.

    Palladino said U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun, who led pre-summit negotiation efforts, planned to meet his South Korea and Japanese counterparts on Wednesday.

    Yonhap also quoted lawmakers briefed by intelligence officials as saying that the five-megawatt reactor at North Korea’s main nuclear site at Yongbyon, which produces weapons-grade plutonium used to build bombs, had not been operational since late last year, concurring with a report from the U.N. atomic watchdog.

    Yonhap quoted the sources as saying there had been no sign of reprocessing of plutonium from the reactor and that tunnels at North Korea’s main nuclear test site in Punggye-ri had remained shut down and unattended since their widely publicized destruction in May, which Pyongyang said was proof of its commitment to ending nuclear testing.

    The fate of the Yongbyon nuclear complex and its possible dismantling was a central issue in the Hanoi summit.

    Reporting by Lisa Lambert and David Brunnstrom; additional reporting by Mark Hosenball; editing by David Gregorio and James Dalgleish

    Source Article from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-usa-nuclear/south-korea-sees-signs-north-korea-restoring-part-of-launch-site-it-promised-to-dismantle-idUSKCN1QM1ZA

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    Michael Bloomberg will not run for president in 2020 – CNBC
    Michael Bloomberg will not run for president in 2020 – CNBC

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    Michael Bloomberg will not run for president in 2020, the billionaire businessman wrote in a statement posted online on Tuesday, ending months of speculation about the political future of one of the Democratic Party’s top donors.

    Bloomberg, a former mayor of New York, had been toying with the idea of a presidential run for months and was floated as a candidate in every presidential cycle going back to 2008. As recently as the past two months, aides to Bloomberg had been interviewing potential staffers in Iowa and New Hampshire, early contests in the Democratic primary.

    But, facing a packed field of Democratic contenders, Bloomberg, 77, wrote he was “clear-eyed” about the obstacles to securing the party’s nomination.

    “I know what it takes to run a winning campaign, and every day when I read the news, I grow more frustrated by the incompetence in the Oval Office. I know we can do better as a country. And I believe I would defeat Donald Trump in a general election,” Bloomberg wrote. “But I am clear-eyed about the difficulty of winning the Democratic nomination in such a crowded field.”

    The longtime figure in American politics, who has identified as a Republican, a Democrat and an independent at different points in his career, acknowledged the skepticism he was facing from members of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, but wrote that he was confident about what his prospects would have been against President Donald Trump should he have been victorious in the primary.

    Read more: Bloomberg says Green New Deal ‘stands no chance,’ offers alternative plan

    His statement appeared as an opinion article with the headline “Our Highest Office, My Deepest Obligation,” that was carried on Bloomberg News, a news outlet that is a part of Bloomberg’s business empire.

    Bloomberg had previously said little in public about a potential run, though he had made clear that, if he did run, it would be as a Democrat. After Howard Schultz, the billionaire former chief of Starbucks, announced that he was considering a bid for president as a centrist independent, Bloomberg wrote in a statement that an independent run would likely “split the anti-Trump vote and end up re-electing the President.”

    Some speculated that Bloomberg’s entrance into the race might have served as a moderating influence in a primary that has seen a host of candidates vying to appeal to the party’s increasingly left-leaning base.

    But his moderate views would also be a liability. Bloomberg has faced scrutiny from progressives over his ties to the financial services industry, his sprawling wealth and his past statements on issues including policing tactics and the Me Too movement, among other areas.

    “Many people have urged me to run. Some have told me that to win the Democratic nomination, I would need to change my views to match the polls,” Bloomberg wrote. “But I’ve been hearing that my whole political career.”

    The philanthropist made his fortune selling informational devices to financial services companies and was an influential force as a Democratic donor during the 2018 midterms, pledging more than $100 million to candidates. He is estimated to have a net worth of more than $55 billion, according to Forbes.

    Though Bloomberg will not run for president, he wrote he would expand his environmental philanthropy, and announced the launch of a new project, Beyond Carbon, that he described as a “grassroots effort to begin moving America as quickly as possible away from oil and gas and toward a 100 percent clean energy economy.”

    Bloomberg wrote that in the coming weeks he will “dive even deeper into the work of turning around our country, through concrete actions and results.”

    “And I will continue supporting candidates who can provide the leadership we need — on climate change, gun violence, education, health, voting rights, and other critical issues — and continue holding their feet to the fire to deliver what they promise,” he wrote.

    Bloomberg is not the first person — or even the first billionaire environmental activist — to take himself out of the running for the Democratic nomination despite telegraphing a potential bid.

    Tom Steyer, who spearheads the environmental advocacy nonprofit NextGen America, and who has pushed Congress to begin impeachment proceedings against the president, surprised observers in January by suddenly announcing his intent not to enter the race despite having engaged top staffers for a possible run.

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    Source Article from https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/05/michael-bloomberg-will-not-run-for-president-in-2020.html

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    California AG Says Officers Who Shot Stephon Clark Will Not Face Criminal Charges – NPR
    California AG Says Officers Who Shot Stephon Clark Will Not Face Criminal Charges – NPR

    California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced Tuesday that the two Sacramento police officers who killed Stephon Clark last year will not face criminal charges. Becerra is seen here during a press conference last year.

    Stephen Lam/Getty Images


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    Stephen Lam/Getty Images

    California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced Tuesday that the two Sacramento police officers who killed Stephon Clark last year will not face criminal charges. Becerra is seen here during a press conference last year.

    Stephen Lam/Getty Images

    California Attorney General Xavier Becerra says Terrence Mercadal and Jared Robinet — the police officers who shot and killed Stephon Clark last March — will not face charges. The two officers fired on Clark, who was unarmed, after a foot chase that ended in his grandmother’s backyard.

    Clark was 22 years old. The circumstances around his death made national headlines and added another layer to an ongoing conversation about the police use of deadly force, particularly against unarmed black men. The officers shot Clark seven times, including three times in the back, the official autopsy found.

    Becerra announced the findings of the state’s independent criminal investigation into the police shooting death of Clark days after Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert announced she would not be filing criminal charges against the two police officers who killed Clark.

    Schubert’s decision, which was announced nearly a year after Clark’s death, sparked a new round of protests and demonstrations in Sacramento — including a march in an affluent, mostly white neighborhood that resulted in police arresting at least 84 people Monday night.

    With findings from the county and state inquiries now released, the Sacramento police department plans to use them as part of its internal review of the shooting.

    “Sacramento Police Chief Daniel Hahn said his office and internal affairs will make a decision about the officers’ actions and employment” after Becerra’s agency shares its results, as member station Capital Public Radio reported.

    Critics, including Clark’s family, said it was inappropriate for Schubert to publicize the young man’s text messages, Internet searches and drafts of emails that were pulled from his cellphone. She presented those records as signs that Clark was troubled.

    “She used that as a smear campaign or a fake way to justify and condone,” Clark’s mother, SeQuette Clark, told NPR this weekend. “Her officers weren’t doing — she never once addressed their actions. She presented and painted a picture of my son that was her opinion.”

    Source Article from https://www.npr.org/2019/03/05/700429894/california-ag-says-officers-who-shot-stephon-clark-will-not-face-criminal-charge

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    After Alabama Tornado, Search For Missing Continues As Recovery Begins – NPR
    After Alabama Tornado, Search For Missing Continues As Recovery Begins – NPR

    First responders walk through a neighborhood heavily damaged by a tornado the day before in Beauregard, Ala., on Monday. The death toll from the storm stands at 23, with victims ranging in age from 6 to 93.

    David Goldman/AP


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    First responders walk through a neighborhood heavily damaged by a tornado the day before in Beauregard, Ala., on Monday. The death toll from the storm stands at 23, with victims ranging in age from 6 to 93.

    David Goldman/AP

    Updated at 2:40 p.m. ET

    In Lee County, Ala., teams are searching for seven or eight people still missing in the wake of an extremely powerful tornado that swept through the area on Sunday afternoon.

    The death toll from the storm stands at 23, with victims ranging in age from 6 to 93. They have all been identified and their families informed, according to the coroner. One family, connected by marriage and living in two homes along the same road, lost seven members.

    “Just keep those families in your prayers,” said Lee County Coroner Bill Harris. “It’s a tragic situation.”

    Opelika, Ala., Fire Chief Byron Prather said teams will continue to search as long as necessary to make sure they haven’t missed anyone. “We are still conducting some searches in the area, searching through piles of debris where there may be people or animals … So we haven’t given up hope. We’re still searching.”

    Officials say they hope to be able to shift from search and rescue to recovery status on Tuesday. Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones said they had narrowed down the search areas, and the number of missing people had decreased significantly. Heavy equipment is being used to lift large pieces of debris, he said, and certain areas continue to be restricted to only first responders and search teams.

    President Trump said he pledged his “unwavering support” to the residents of Lee County. He will visit affected areas in Alabama on Friday and meet with Gov. Kay Ivey.

    John De Block, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Birmingham, described the tornado’s nearly mile-wide path to NPR member station WBHM: “The tornado struck shortly after 2 o’clock in the Macon County/Lee County line. … From there it went into the Beauregard community area, progressed across southern portions of Lee County just north of Smiths Station,” before crossing into Georgia. Wind speeds were up to 165 miles per hour, he said.

    When the tornado touched down, Lee County resident Johnny Washington was asleep, he told WBHM. He sought refuge under his bed. “After what I woke up and seen this morning, I’m in shock I’m still here,” he said.

    Chris Darden is a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Birmingham. Surveying the damage on Monday, he said any loss of life is regrettable — but with a tornado this powerful, it was almost inevitable.

    “You know 170 mile an hour centrifuge throwing bricks debris 2 by 8s,” he told NPR’s Russell Lewis. “They’re all spears. … They’re all killing machines.”

    But for the survivors, the effort starts now to pick up the pieces. Residents have been told they can start pushing debris on their properties out to the edge of roadways for eventual pickup.

    Patricia Moore lives in Beauregard, just south of Opelika. “I don’t know I just think God is really trying to get people together, and seeing that that’s what’s going on now just looking around at everybody helping each other,” she told WBHM. “It’s amazing.”

    Sheriff Jones was optimistic about the future, too. “This is a very tight-knit community,” he told reporters. “These people are tough, they’re resilient people. And it’s knocked them down, but they’ll be back.”

    Source Article from https://www.npr.org/2019/03/05/700366526/after-alabama-tornado-search-for-missing-continues-as-recovery-begins

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    Democrats brace for Trump tax return legal fight that could reach Supreme Court – ABC News
    Democrats brace for Trump tax return legal fight that could reach Supreme Court – ABC News

    House Democrats are girding for a fight over President Donald Trump’s tax returns, one that will likely lead all the way to the Supreme Court.

    A team of four attorneys has been guiding the House Ways and Means Committee, which has the authority to request the IRS documents from the Treasury Department. They have been actively crafting what they hope will be an “air-tight” legal strategy to compel the president to hand over 10 years of his personal tax returns, working on the assumption their request will be challenged by the courts, according to a senior Democratic aide.

    “It will be fought out in the courts, and then possibly the Supreme Court,” committee member Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., told ABC News.

    “We knew this would eventually happen. They weren’t going to simply take the letter and agree to it.”

    Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images
    Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., leaves the House Democrats’ caucus meeting in the Capitol, Jan. 4, 2019.

    Trump’s refusal to make his tax returns public -– a move that broke with decades of tradition — was a Democratic rallying cry during the 2016 campaign. Since the 1970s, most presidential candidates have made their tax returns public.

    Trump’s returns have remained a persistent fixation during his presidency, with his critics viewing the filings as a potential road map to possible conflicts of interest and tax evasion.

    During recent testimony, the president’s one-time personal attorney Michael Cohen alleged that Trump regularly bragged that he did not pay taxes. There are also questions over whether the president inflated his personal wealth.

    Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images
    President Donald Trump speaks during the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Md., March 2, 2019.

    Cohen’s bombshell testimony last week also accelerated the timeline for requesting the president’s personal tax returns from the past 10 years, according to three Democratic aides. During Cohen’s testimony before the House Oversight Committee, he suggested that Trump’s tax returns would show if he committed tax evasion or inflated his income for insurance purposes.

    Trump has resisted releasing his returns, saying they are under audit. One of his attorneys, Rudy Giuliani, has said the president will fight any effort by Congress to obtain copies.

    Prior to the midterm elections, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., enjoyed a good personal relationship, according to aides to both men. Shortly after the midterms, the two met for a breakfast where they talked tax policy, but towards the end of the meal, the issue of President Trump’s tax returns came up.

    After Democrats took control of the House during the 2018 midterm elections, there was wide speculation that the party would use its new majority to pursue Trump’s returns, but during the breakfast meeting neither side laid out a clear position, according to the aides. As Neal has moved forward, aides have said the Treasury Department has given no clear indication of how it will respond to a committee request for Trump’s returns.

    “Secretary Mnuchin will review any request with Treasury’s attorneys for legality,” a Treasury Department spokesperson said.

    Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
    Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin speaks during a TV interview at the White House, May 21, 2018.

    The committee has not acted yet but is already anticipating resistance. The senior committee aide suggested to ABC News that Neal will likely have to submit one letter and then a follow-up letter if the Department of Treasury does not respond. Their third request will be a subpoena. This would initiate a court battle in District Court, and then if the ruling is appealed, it could end up in the Supreme Court.

    The upcoming request is likely to be a one-page two-paragraph memo, according to two Democratic committee aides. The committee aims to submit the letter in the coming weeks, with a self-imposed deadline of April 15, according to one aide. But if the Mueller report is made public before the letter is submitted, they will move to immediately make the request.

    “If we’re going to court we need to lay out things that are very specific to indicate that the law is on our side, we want to make sure the facts are,” Pascrell said.

    “This is why it’s going to be very methodical.”

    Through a 1924 provision in the tax code, the Treasury Secretary “shall furnish” any individuals’ tax return information “upon written request” from the chairmen of certain congressional committees. Once provided, the tax information can only be reviewed in a closed session by certain members unless lawmakers vote to make it public.

    In the opening days of the new congressional term, the committee sought tax returns directly from the Trump organization and Trump Foundation in addition to Trump’s personal tax returns, according to two committee aides. But now, they are considering a direct request to Treasury for his personal returns from the past 10 years. If the committee wins that legal battle, they assume it will pave the way for Trump Organization and Trump Foundation returns.

    House Democrats are aware that the president’s personal tax returns won’t likely provide a roadmap to Russian relationships, if any exist, since the origin of the money is not stated. There’s also a concern that the Trump Organization records could be overwhelming for the committee to analyze since it’s entities are split into numerous limited liability corporations.

    Neal has been cautious about how aggressively to pursue the tax returns. He initially told reporters that he planned to wait for the special counsel’s report to be made public before submitting the request. But there’s been new pressure since Cohen’s testimony from within the panel and from outside committees to make the request.

    Source Article from https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/dems-brace-trump-tax-return-legal-fight-reach/story?id=61479669

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    The solution for Trump’s impending Senate showdown: End the national emergency – Washington Examiner
    The solution for Trump’s impending Senate showdown: End the national emergency – Washington Examiner

    By declaring a national emergency to build his promised wall at the southern border, President Trump has pitted his presidency against the Constitution’s principles of separation of powers, legislative control of funds, and limited government among others. And, as congressional Republicans have increasingly made clear, they’re not so willing to throw those principles out the window. That leaves the Senate poised to rebuke the president and, in the process, highlight divisions within the party. That’s a spectacle that Trump should avoid.

    And there’s a way to do it.

    Already, four Republican senators — enough for the bill to pass with a slim 51-49 majority — have joined Democrats in rejecting Trump’s national emergency. On Saturday, Sen. Rand Paul R-Ky. joined Sens. Thom Tills R-N.C., Lisa Murkowski R-Alaska, and Susan Collins R-Maine, all but ensuring that the bill will pass the Senate.

    With Paul taking a decisive stand against the president, more senators are likely to come out against the national emergency declaration as well. That leaves Trump in need of an escape route from an embarrassing floor vote and the prospect of using his first veto to further the untoward and saga of getting money for his wall by circumventing Congress.

    Luckily, there’s another option. In 2005, former President George W. Bush faced a somewhat similar situation. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina he had issued a proclamation suspending Davis-Bacon, allowing government contractors to pay workers at lower wages because the devastation constituted “national emergency.” Lawmakers from both parties in the House and Senate saw things differently. And so, facing criticism and the prospect that a vote on the joint resolution introduced against the proclamation might result in a rebuke, Bush revoked his own proclamation entirely, avoiding a fight within his own party.

    Trump needs a similar solution to avoid conflict within his party. And for Trump, the consequences are coming from opposition within his own party upping the stakes. Although likely to stir significant anger among his base, Trump should, like Bush, recognize that danger of congressional rebuke and opt to avoid it by pulling his controversial declaration.

    Indeed, GOP lawmakers have already floated this as a possibility. On Thursday, Sen. Lamar Alexander R-Tenn. implied that rethinking the declaration was the preferable solution, explaining, “There is time for the president’s lawyers to take another look and determine whether we can both build the 234 miles of border wall that the president has requested and avoid this dangerous precedent.”

    Alexander is right. A fight among Republicans forcing a choice between the president and the Constitution does not end well for either Republican control of the Oval Office or the future of the party. If Trump wins, the party loses its credibility. If the Constitution wins, as it ought to, the White House faces a clear challenge from allies it desperately needs on the Hill as Democrats embark on ambition investigations.

    That’s not a fight that Trump should be looking to pick within his own party, especially as Republicans have made clear that he does not have their backing. His best option is to revoke his own emergency declaration.

    Source Article from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/the-solution-for-trumps-impending-senate-showdown-end-the-national-emergency

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    Moderate Dems fume over Ocasio-Cortez ‘list’ threat – Fox News
    Moderate Dems fume over Ocasio-Cortez ‘list’ threat – Fox News
    Video

    Ocasio-Cortez is making a ‘list’ after moderate Dems side with Republicans

    Moderate Democrats are fuming over New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s closed-door warning last week that Democrats who vote with Republicans are “putting themselves on a list” – a comment interpreted as a primary challenge threat.

    Ocasio-Cortez has since downplayed her comments, made in the wake of 26 Democrats joining Republicans to vote for a provision requiring Immigration and Customs Enforcement to be notified if illegal immigrants attempt to purchase guns.

    OCASIO-CORTEZ WARNS OF ‘LIST’ FOR MODERATE DEMS WHO VOTE WITH REPUBLICANS

    Still, some House Democrats aren’t happy with her talk of a “list.”

    “I don’t think it’s productive,” Michigan Rep. Dan Kildee said Saturday on Fox News’ “Cavuto Live.”

    He added, “I don’t think we should be interfering with one another’s politics. The people who elected us get to make those choices.”

    New Jersey Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a co-chairman of the Problem Solvers Caucus, said Ocasio-Cortez’s use of the word “list” was “Nixonian.”

    Video

    “Being unified means ensuring that Democrats aren’t primary-ing other sitting Democrats,” Gottheimer told The Washington Post. “Since when is it okay to put you on a Nixonian list? We need to have a big tent in our party or we won’t keep the House or win the White House.”

    The brouhaha began last week when two-dozen moderate Democrats broke from their party’s progressive wing and sided with Republicans on a legislative amendment having to do with illegal immigrants and guns.

    In a closed-door meeting afterward, according to The Washington Post, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi scolded her wayward center-leaning colleagues, telling them: “We are either a team or we’re not.”

    Ocasio-Cortez then told fellow Democrats that those who voted with Republicans were “putting themselves on a list.” Ocasio-Cortez later claimed she wasn’t talking about a list for primary challenges.

    “I didn’t say that they were putting themselves on a list for primaries,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. “I said that by Dems distinguishing themselves by breaking off on procedural…votes, they were inadvertently making a list of targets for the GOP and for progressive advocates on their pro-ICE vote.”

    Reacting to Ocasio-Cortez’s comments, one party strategist who works for moderate Democrats argued Ocasio-Cortez doesn’t “respect” the views of other Democrats who don’t embrace her progressive politics.

    “My main gripe about AOC is that while I respect her voice in the party, I don’t think she respects mine or anyone else’s who differs with her on policy or comes from a different political electoral reality,” said John Anzalone, a Democratic pollster in Alabama.

    There’s been speculation since she was elected to Congress that Ocasio-Cortez could get involved in Democratic primary fights in 2020, especially with the group Justice Democrats signaling plans to primary incumbent Democrats they see as insufficiently progressive. Ocasio-Cortez has been aligned with that group.

    It’s a tactic that has been embraced by some conservative groups and politicians on the right, especially during the 2010 and 2012 elections, when incumbent lawmakers in the House and Senate were ousted in primaries by conservative challengers.

    Fox News’ Bradford Betz contributed to this report.

    Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dem-moderates-fume-over-ocasio-cortez-list-threat

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    Tapper presses Ocasio-Cortez on Afghan War, AUMF stance: ‘What would you have supported?’ | TheHill – The Hill
    Tapper presses Ocasio-Cortez on Afghan War, AUMF stance: ‘What would you have supported?’ | TheHill – The Hill

    CNN anchor Jake Tapper on Tuesday asked Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-CortezAlexandria Ocasio-CortezPelosi seeks to tamp down anti-Semitism controversy Ocasio-Cortez says she ‘breaks fourth wall’ and responds to attacks to ‘squash’ them early Press: Donald Trump channels Fidel Castro MORE (D-N.Y.) what she thinks “the U.S. should have done post-9/11 regarding Afghanistan” after the freshman congresswoman said that both the GOP and Democrats led her generation “into a disastrous” and “wrong war” and called for an end to the Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF).

    Tapper, who interviewed Ocasio-Cortez in September on CNN’s “The Lead,” asked Ocasio-Cortez what she would have supported following the 9/11 attacks.

    “Congresswoman, could you please explain more about what you think the US should have done post-9/11 regarding Afghanistan? Should there not have been any NATO/US action versus AQ/Taliban in your view? A limited one? What would you have supported?” he asked. 

     

    The news anchor was responding to a series of tweets from Ocasio-Cortez in which the lawmaker said she remembers a time when it was “unacceptable” to question war, specifying that she meant Afghanistan. 

    “I remember a time when it was ‘unacceptable’ to question the Iraq War,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote before correcting herself that she meant the war in Afghanistan that began in October 2001.

    “All of Congress was wrong, including both GOP & Dem Party, and led my generation into a disastrous [and] wrong war that virtually all would come to regret, except for the one member who stood up: Rep. Barbara LeeBarbara Jean LeeCory Booker introduces bill to legalize marijuana nationwide Dems offer resolution calling for end to Korean War Betting against Bernie? Dems assess the risk MORE,” she wrote of the Democrat from California.

    Ocasio-Cortez responded to Tapper’s tweet later on Tuesday, saying that she thinks that the decision to “enter unlimited engagement in Afghanistan … was a mistake.”

    “I think that our decision to enter unlimited engagement in Afghanistan, particularly through the AUMF + Congress’ abdication of power + decision-making w/ passage of the AUMF, was a mistake. Other options: targeting the network itself, limited engagement, non-intervention,” Ocasio-Cortez responded.

    The AUMF was passed three days after the Sept. 11 attacks. It gives the president the authority “to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on Sept. 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons.”

    It passed the Senate unanimously by a 98-0 and by a 420-1 vote in the House on Sept. 14, 2001. Lee was the only member of Congress to cast a dissenting vote.

    The AUMF has since been used 37 times by Presidents Bush, Obama and Trump in 14 different countries combined.

    Source Article from https://thehill.com/homenews/media/432637-tapper-presses-ocasio-cortez-on-afghan-war-aumf-stance-what-would-you-have

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    Border at ‘Breaking Point’ as More than 76,000 Migrants Cross in a Month – The New York Times
    Border at ‘Breaking Point’ as More than 76,000 Migrants Cross in a Month – The New York Times

    The throngs of new families are also affecting communities on the American side of the border. In El Paso, for example, where most of the families are being processed after submitting their asylum applications, a volunteer network that temporarily houses the migrants after they are released from custody has had to expand to 20 facilities, compared with only three during the same period last year. Migrants are now being housed in churches, a converted nursing home and about 125 hotel rooms that are being paid for with donations.

    “We had never seen these kinds of numbers,” said Ruben Garcia, the director of the organization, called Annunciation House. He said that during one week in February, immigration authorities had released more than 3,600 migrants to his organization, the highest number in any single week since the group’s founding in 1978.

    For the most part, Mr. Garcia said that his staff and volunteer workers had been able to keep up with the surge, often making frantic calls to churches to request access to more space for housing families on short notice. But sometimes their best efforts were upended, he said, including on one day last week, when the authorities dropped off 150 more migrants than originally planned.

    “We just didn’t have the space,” Mr. Garcia said.

    Border Patrol officials said that the biggest “pull factors” encouraging migrant families to make their way to the United States were federal laws and court settlements that prohibit the authorities from deporting Central Americans without lengthy processing, and from detaining migrant families for more than 20 days, after which they must be released into the country while they await immigration court proceedings. Others at the agency pointed to severe poverty and food insecurity in the Western highlands of Guatemala, where many of the families are from, as a primary motivation.

    As of March 3, 237,327 migrants had been apprehended along the southwest border since the fiscal year began in October, a 97 percent increase from the previous year, according to government figures.

    The larger numbers and the surge into more remote areas of the border have drawn new attention to longstanding problems with medical services provided by Customs and Border Protection. Migrant families, in particular, tend to arrive in urgent need of medical attention, the agency said, which has strained resources and drawn agents away from their law enforcement duties.

    Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/05/us/border-migrant-apprehensions.html

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    What North Korea’s persistent cyberattacks mean for a potential future deal with Trump – Washington Examiner
    What North Korea’s persistent cyberattacks mean for a potential future deal with Trump – Washington Examiner

    Amid the many autopsies of of the failed summit in Hanoi, there’s been plenty of speculation about what’s next for U.S. efforts to pursue denuclearization on the Korean peninsula. Almost all of those reports focus exclusively on limiting nuclear arms. There’s good reason for that. Nuclear arms are by far the most dangerous threat Kim Jong Un’s regime poses. But looking at North Korea’s other capacities, specifically cyberattacks, yields important lessons for the future of U.S.-North Korea relations.

    Since U.S. negotiations with North Korea began after the June 2018 Summit between President Trump and Kim in Singapore, North Korea has relentlessly kept up its cyberattacks against U.S. companies and those of our allies, even as it limited nuclear testing. Indeed, even as Trump met with Kim in Hanoi, North Korea continued to bombard U.S. firms with attacks.

    So what can we learn from this?

    First, North Korea may be interested in denuclearization and the economic benefits of sanctions relief because it has other weapons — including cyber and chemical weapons — that serve the regime’s interests, including raising funds, domestic propaganda, and limiting the influence of other states over its domestic affairs.

    That reality also means any deal that Washington might eventually reach with Pyongyang is likely not going to eliminate all of North Korea’s capacity to launch attacks or threaten the U.S. and its allies. Although that forecloses the idea of a grand bargain of the sort that Trump and his advisers might be holding out for, it doesn’t mean the U.S. cannot make real progress on limiting North Korea’s capacity to launch a nuclear attack.

    Second, the continued cyberattacks mean that for all of the good optics of handshakes and smiles, North Korea is still clearly an enemy. Washington must be careful not to promise close diplomatic ties as a reward in talks with Kim’s negotiators or in its presentation of talks to voters in the U.S.

    Finally, the persistent use of cyberattacks, despite pursuit of a nuclear deal, means any deal on nuclear arms control must be seen as a stepping stone to future deals. That means Trump must not build a deal with Kim on personal agreements alone. The work he begins as president will necessarily extend well beyond his years in office.

    Moving forward after a failed summit that hopefully served as a reset of expectations and a reality check, the Trump administration must not be blinded by an attempt to reach a deal on nuclear arms such that it overlooks the threats from North Korea’s other weapons, such as cyberwarfare or even conventional attacks. Unfortunately, it seems this is already the case, as Trump canceled planned military exercises with South Korea over the weekend.

    A nuclear deal with North Korea would be great, and it ought to remain a priority for Trump, but it must be clear that it would be no panacea to U.S. difficulties with the country and should not be talked about as such. After all, a deal on denuclearization was never meant to bring wholesale change to North Korea. It was simply meant to eliminate the most serious threat posed by the country.

    Source Article from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/what-north-koreas-persistent-cyberattaks-mean-for-a-potential-future-deal-with-trump

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    Alabama tornado devastation seen in drone video, as search ongoing for victims in rubble – Fox News
    Alabama tornado devastation seen in drone video, as search ongoing for victims in rubble – Fox News
    Video

    Drone footage shows aftermath of Alabama storms

    Raw video: The storms have left 23 dead, three of which were reported to be children.

    Search and rescue teams in Alabama are using dogs and heat-detecting drones to search for victims of the deadly tornado that tore through the southeastern part of the state, as new drone video and photos show the scale of the devastation.

    Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones said Monday at least 23 people were killed and 90 were injured when the giant EF4 twister with 170 mph winds hit the rural community of Beauregard, and dozens are still missing.

    The tornado impacted what the sheriff described as a rural area that had a lot of mobile homes and manufactured-type housing. The twister created a debris field that spread over hundreds of yards, according to Jones, with some debris being thrown a half-mile away.

    ALABAMA TORNADO SENDS BILLBOARD 20 MILES AWAY INTO GEORGIA YARD

    Authorities were expected to give an update on search and rescue efforts at 11 a.m. ET, but said earlier that crews were  “basically using everything we can get our hands on” to comb through what was left of homes.

    Debris litters a yard the day after a deadly tornado damaged a home in Beauregard, Ala., Monday, March 4, 2019.
    (AP Photo/David Goldman)

    Jones said dogs were being brought in from across the state, in addition to dogs equipped with “infrared capability to detect heat signatures.”

    Debris from a home litters a yard the day after a tornado blew it off its foundation, lower right, in Beauregard, Ala., Monday, March 4, 2019.
    (AP Photo/David Goldman)

    Photos taken in the area on Monday show what was previously mobile homes tucked among tall pine trees now smashed into unrecognizable piles of rubble.

    Friends in eastern Alabama are helping tornado survivors retrieve the scattered pieces of their lives after devastating winds destroyed their homes and killed at least 23 people.
    (Mickey Welsh/Montgomery Advertiser via AP)

    Toys, clothes, insulation, water heaters and pieces of metal were scattered across the hillsides where once towering pines were snapped in half.

    Tornado damage near Beauregard, Ala., on Monday March 4, 2019.
    (Mickey Welsh/Montgomery Advertiser via AP)

    ALABAMA TORNADO DAMAGE LOOKS LIKE ‘SOMEONE TOOK A GIANT KNIFE AND JUST SCRAPED THE GROUND,’ SHERIFF SAYS

    As residents began picking through the debris on Monday, some made gruesome discoveries.

    Beauregard resident Carol Dean told the Associated Press that the body of her husband, 53-year-old David Wayne Dean, was discovered on the side of an embankment in the neighbor’s yard.

    Carol Dean, right, cries while embraced by Megan Anderson and her 18-month-old daughter Madilyn, as Dean sifts through the debris of the home she shared with her husband, David Wayne Dean, who died when a tornado destroyed the house in Beauregard, Ala., Monday, March 4, 2019.
    (AP Photo/David Goldman)

    “Our son found him. He was done and gone before we got to him,” an emotional Dean told the AP. “My life is gone. He was the reason I lived, the reason that I got up.”

    CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

    Lee County Coroner Bill Harris said at an afternoon news conference that three children, ages 6, 9 and 10 were among the dead in Sunday’s tornado.

    Debris from a home litters a yard the day after a tornado blew it off its foundation, at right, in Beauregard, Ala., Monday, March 4, 2019.
    (AP Photo/David Goldman)

    Harris said all but six of the people killed in the storm have been identified, and his office soon will begin contacting families about funeral homes and arrangements. He also warned that the overall death toll could still increase as searches continue.

    Chris Darden, meteorologist-in-charge at the NWS’ Birmingham office said at a news conference it was the deadliest tornado in the United States since the twister that hit Moore, Oklahoma in 2013. The storm had a track of at least 24 miles.

    Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said the tornado ravaged a “tight-knit” community of people.

    “We lost children, mothers, fathers, neighbors, and friends,” she said.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/us/alabama-tornado-devastation-seen-in-drone-video-as-search-ongoing-for-victims-in-rubble

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    Hillary Clinton says she’s ‘not running’ for president in 2020 – AOL
    Hillary Clinton says she’s ‘not running’ for president in 2020 – AOL

    Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, said she is not running for president in the 2020 election.

    “I’m not running, but I’m going to keep working, and speaking, and standing up for what I believe,” Clinton said in an interview with News 12, last week in New York.

    “I want to be sure that people understand: I’m going to keep speaking out,” Clinton said to News 12 reporter Tara Rosenblum. “I’m not going anywhere. What’s at stake in our country, the kinds of things that are happening right now are deeply troubling to me.”

    REUTERS/Mike Blake

    So far, five women who are Democratic lawmakers have decided to run or have shown interest in the presidency, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, and Kamala Harris of California, along with Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii.

    Clinton scheduled meetings with presidential hopefuls, according to an Axios report earlier in January. She reportedly met with Harris, Warren, and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, in addition to Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (who announced he was not running).

    Clinton said she advised all of the candidates not to let their guard down during the campaign.




    “I’ve told every one of them, don’t take anything for granted, even though we have a long list of real problems and broken promises from this administration,” Clinton said in the interview.

    Asked if she considered the possibility of running in another election, Clinton said “I don’t think so.”

    “I’m so grateful that I had the chance to be a senator for eight years, and to work with people across our state,” Clinton said of her term in New York.

    Despite winning the popular vote in the 2016 presidential race, Clinton — the first woman to receive a major political party’s nomination — lost to then-candidate Donald Trump. Her campaign dealt with scandals stemming from her use of a personal email server while secretary of state and the hacking of a campaign official and the DNC, in addition to attacks from Trump.

    In October 2018, Philippe Reines, Clinton’s former senior adviser and deputy secretary of state for strategic communications, told Politico that Clinton shouldn’t be counted out of 2020 just because she lost in 2016. However, earlier this year, former 2016 campaign chairman John Podesta signaled she would not run.

    Clinton, 71, served as a senator for New York, secretary of state, and first lady during President Bill Clinton’s two terms in office from 1993 to 2001.

    More from Business Insider:

    Brexit is a major national ‘crisis’ which may trigger a public inquiry, says former UK ambassador

    The last Blockbuster in Australia is closing down — and now there’s only one store left on earth

    10 things in tech you need to know today

    Source Article from https://www.aol.com/article/news/2019/03/05/hillary-clinton-says-shes-not-running-for-president-in-2020-but-shes-not-going-anywhere/23684487/

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    China Drops a Policy the U.S. Dislikes, at Least in Name – The Wall Street Journal
    China Drops a Policy the U.S. Dislikes, at Least in Name – The Wall Street Journal

    BEIJING—“Made in China 2025,” a government-led industrial program at the center of the contentious U.S.-China trade dispute, is officially gone—but in name only.

    During a nearly 100-minute speech to China’s legislature Tuesday, Premier Li Keqiang dropped any reference to the plan that the Trump administration has criticized as a subsidy-stuffed program to make China a global technology leader at the expense of the U.S. The policy had been a highlight of Mr. Li’s State-of-the-Nation-like address for three years running.

    …

    Source Article from https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-drops-a-policy-the-u-s-dislikes-at-least-in-name-11551795370

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    The solution for Trump’s impending Senate showdown: End the national emergency – Washington Examiner
    The solution for Trump’s impending Senate showdown: End the national emergency – Washington Examiner

    By declaring a national emergency to build his promised wall at the southern border, President Trump has pitted his presidency against the Constitution’s principles of separation of powers, legislative control of funds, and limited government among others. And, as congressional Republicans have increasingly made clear, they’re not so willing to throw those principles out the window. That leaves the Senate poised to rebuke the president and, in the process, highlight divisions within the party. That’s a spectacle that Trump should avoid.

    And there’s a way to do it.

    Already, four Republican senators — enough for the bill to pass with a slim 51-49 majority — have joined Democrats in rejecting Trump’s national emergency. On Saturday, Sen. Rand Paul R-Ky. joined Sens. Thom Tills R-N.C., Lisa Murkowski R-Alaska, and Susan Collins R-Maine, all but ensuring that the bill will pass the Senate.

    With Paul taking a decisive stand against the president, more senators are likely to come out against the national emergency declaration as well. That leaves Trump in need of an escape route from an embarrassing floor vote and the prospect of using his first veto to further the untoward and saga of getting money for his wall by circumventing Congress.

    Luckily, there’s another option. In 2005, former President George W. Bush faced a somewhat similar situation. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina he had issued a proclamation suspending Davis-Bacon, allowing government contractors to pay workers at lower wages because the devastation constituted “national emergency.” Lawmakers from both parties in the House and Senate saw things differently. And so, facing criticism and the prospect that a vote on the joint resolution introduced against the proclamation might result in a rebuke, Bush revoked his own proclamation entirely, avoiding a fight within his own party.

    Trump needs a similar solution to avoid conflict within his party. And for Trump, the consequences are coming from opposition within his own party upping the stakes. Although likely to stir significant anger among his base, Trump should, like Bush, recognize that danger of congressional rebuke and opt to avoid it by pulling his controversial declaration.

    Indeed, GOP lawmakers have already floated this as a possibility. On Thursday, Sen. Lamar Alexander R-Tenn. implied that rethinking the declaration was the preferable solution, explaining, “There is time for the president’s lawyers to take another look and determine whether we can both build the 234 miles of border wall that the president has requested and avoid this dangerous precedent.”

    Alexander is right. A fight among Republicans forcing a choice between the president and the Constitution does not end well for either Republican control of the Oval Office or the future of the party. If Trump wins, the party loses its credibility. If the Constitution wins, as it ought to, the White House faces a clear challenge from allies it desperately needs on the Hill as Democrats embark on ambition investigations.

    That’s not a fight that Trump should be looking to pick within his own party, especially as Republicans have made clear that he does not have their backing. His best option is to revoke his own emergency declaration.

    Source Article from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/the-solution-for-trumps-impending-senate-showdown-end-the-national-emergency

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    The solution for Trump’s impending Senate showdown: End the national emergency – Washington Examiner
    The solution for Trump’s impending Senate showdown: End the national emergency – Washington Examiner

    By declaring a national emergency to build his promised wall at the southern border, President Trump has pitted his presidency against the Constitution’s principles of separation of powers, legislative control of funds, and limited government among others. And, as congressional Republicans have increasingly made clear, they’re not so willing to throw those principles out the window. That leaves the Senate poised to rebuke the president and, in the process, highlight divisions within the party. That’s a spectacle that Trump should avoid.

    And there’s a way to do it.

    Already, four Republican senators — enough for the bill to pass with a slim 51-49 majority — have joined Democrats in rejecting Trump’s national emergency. On Saturday, Sen. Rand Paul R-Ky. joined Sens. Thom Tills R-N.C., Lisa Murkowski R-Alaska, and Susan Collins R-Maine, all but ensuring that the bill will pass the Senate.

    With Paul taking a decisive stand against the president, more senators are likely to come out against the national emergency declaration as well. That leaves Trump in need of an escape route from an embarrassing floor vote and the prospect of using his first veto to further the untoward and saga of getting money for his wall by circumventing Congress.

    Luckily, there’s another option. In 2005, former President George W. Bush faced a somewhat similar situation. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina he had issued a proclamation suspending Davis-Bacon, allowing government contractors to pay workers at lower wages because the devastation constituted “national emergency.” Lawmakers from both parties in the House and Senate saw things differently. And so, facing criticism and the prospect that a vote on the joint resolution introduced against the proclamation might result in a rebuke, Bush revoked his own proclamation entirely, avoiding a fight within his own party.

    Trump needs a similar solution to avoid conflict within his party. And for Trump, the consequences are coming from opposition within his own party upping the stakes. Although likely to stir significant anger among his base, Trump should, like Bush, recognize that danger of congressional rebuke and opt to avoid it by pulling his controversial declaration.

    Indeed, GOP lawmakers have already floated this as a possibility. On Thursday, Sen. Lamar Alexander R-Tenn. implied that rethinking the declaration was the preferable solution, explaining, “There is time for the president’s lawyers to take another look and determine whether we can both build the 234 miles of border wall that the president has requested and avoid this dangerous precedent.”

    Alexander is right. A fight among Republicans forcing a choice between the president and the Constitution does not end well for either Republican control of the Oval Office or the future of the party. If Trump wins, the party loses its credibility. If the Constitution wins, as it ought to, the White House faces a clear challenge from allies it desperately needs on the Hill as Democrats embark on ambition investigations.

    That’s not a fight that Trump should be looking to pick within his own party, especially as Republicans have made clear that he does not have their backing. His best option is to revoke his own emergency declaration.

    Source Article from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/the-solution-for-trumps-impending-senate-showdown-end-the-national-emergency

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    Alabama tornado damage looks like ‘someone took a giant knife and just scraped the ground,’ sheriff says – Fox News
    Alabama tornado damage looks like ‘someone took a giant knife and just scraped the ground,’ sheriff says – Fox News
    Video

    At least 23 dead after tornado tears through Alabama

    Cyclone leaves a path of destruction a half a mile wide and a mile long; Jonathan Serrie reports from the scene.

    Rescuers are scouring through what remains of destroyed homes as part of an intense ground search in southeast Alabama on Monday after a deadly tornado tore through the region, killing least 23 and leaving a number in the “double digits” of people who are missing.

    Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones said at a morning news conference that most of the destruction was focused in an area along Alabama Highway 51 in Beauregard that is about a half-mile wide.

    “It looks almost as like someone took a giant knife and just scraped the ground. There are slabs where homes formerly stood,” he told reporters. “Whole forested areas, trees are just snapped and lying on the ground.”

    Jones said the death toll remained at 23 people as of 2 p.m. but may rise as the day goes on. Lee County Coroner Bill Harris said at an afternoon news conference that three children, ages 6, 9, and 10 were among the dead in Sunday’s tornado.

    People walk amid debris in Lee County, Ala., after a tornado struck in the area Sunday, March 3, 2019.
    (WKRG-TV via AP)

    PULPIT LEFT STANDING AFTER STORM DEVASTATES RURAL GEORGIA TOWN

    “I have not seen this level of destruction ever in my experience here in Lee County,” the sheriff said. “We have not had anything of this nature before.”

    A vehicle is caught under downed trees along Lee Road 11 in Beauregard, Ala., Sunday, March 3, 2019, after a powerful storm system passed through the area.
    (Kara Coleman Fields/Opelika-Auburn News via AP)

    The tornado impacted what the sheriff described as a rural area that had a lot of mobile homes and manufactured-type housing. The twister created a debris field that spread over hundreds of yards, according to Jones, with some debris being thrown a half-mile away.

    “In some locations, complete residences are gone,” he said.

    National forecast for Monday, March 4

    Janice Dean has your FoxCast.

    At least 23 people killed from Alabama tornado

    Aishah Hasnie reports from New York.

    A group of “well over” 100 rescuers were out Monday morning searching through the storm’s path, and Jones expected nearly 200 people will fully be involved as the day goes on. Also assisting are canine teams that are coming from all over Alabama.

    “We’re just going to focus with all our teams on the ground, specific assigned sectors that these teams are going to,” Jones told “America’s Newsroom.” “A lot of volunteers have come forward. We have the assets in place. It’s all about being able to cover the affected area.”

    An untold number of people were also transported to area hospitals with “very serious injuries,” according to Jones, who did not have an exact number but told reporters they were being treated for a “range of injuries.”

    AT LEAST 23 DEAD, MANY INJURED, IN APPARENT LARGE TORNADO IN ALABAMA

    The National Weather Service said that preliminary damage shows a tornado with at least an EF-4 rating caused the destruction in Alabama with winds estimated at 170 mph.

    Chris Darden, meteorologist-in-charge at the NWS’ Birmingham office said at a news conference it was the deadliest tornado in the United States since the twister that hit Moore, Oklahoma in 2013. The storm had a track of at least 24 miles.

    Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said the tornado ravaged a “tight-knit” community of people.

    “We lost children, mothers, fathers, neighbors, and friends,” she said.

    Scott Fillmer told the Associated Press was at home in the rural community of Beauregard when the storm hit in Lee County.

    “I looked out the window and it was nothing but black, but you could hear that freight train noise,” Fillmer said.

    SEE THE PHOTOS: TORNADOES, SEVERE WEATHER HIT DEEP SOUTH

    Another woman told Fox News how she escaped injured.

    “So I grabbed my dog and went and got in the closet and I’m sitting there holding the door just in case because it didn’t close all the way. And a few minutes later, that’s when I could hear all the wind and the house moving,” she said.

    Emergency responders work in the scene amid debris in Lee County, Ala., after a tornado struck in the area Sunday, March 3, 2019.
    (WKRG-TV via AP)

    Describing rescue efforts Sunday night, a local mayor told Fox News: “We had to cut our way in with chainsaws and tractors to get to these people and make sure everyone was okay. We had some elderly people that were trapped in their houses.

    “Words cannot describe it. Trailer homes turned upside down, the damage is unbelievable,” he added.

    In a tweet late Sunday, President Trump said: “To the great people of Alabama and surrounding areas: Please be careful and safe. Tornadoes and storms were truly violent and more could be coming. To the families and friends of the victims, and to the injured, God bless you all!”

    The president said Monday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been told to give the “A Plus treatment to the Great State of Alabama” in the wake of the deadly storms.

    CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

    No deaths had been reported Sunday evening from storm-damaged Alabama counties other than Lee County, said Gregory Robinson, spokesman for the Alabama Emergency Management Agency. But he said crews were still surveying damage in several counties in the southwestern part of the state.

    Numerous tornado warnings were posted across parts of Alabama, Georgia, Florida and South Carolina on Sunday afternoon as the storm system raced across the region. Weather officials said they confirmed other tornadoes around the region by radar alone and would send teams out Monday to assess those and other storms.

    Fox News’ Frank Miles and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/us/at-least-23-dead-in-alabama-tornado

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    The solution for Trump’s impending Senate showdown: End the national emergency – Washington Examiner
    The solution for Trump’s impending Senate showdown: End the national emergency – Washington Examiner

    By declaring a national emergency to build his promised wall at the southern border, President Trump has pitted his presidency against the Constitution’s principles of separation of powers, legislative control of funds, and limited government among others. And, as congressional Republicans have increasingly made clear, they’re not so willing to throw those principles out the window. That leaves the Senate poised to rebuke the president and, in the process, highlight divisions within the party. That’s a spectacle that Trump should avoid.

    And there’s a way to do it.

    Already, four Republican senators — enough for the bill to pass with a slim 51-49 majority — have joined Democrats in rejecting Trump’s national emergency. On Saturday, Sen. Rand Paul R-Ky. joined Sens. Thom Tills R-N.C., Lisa Murkowski R-Alaska, and Susan Collins R-Maine, all but ensuring that the bill will pass the Senate.

    With Paul taking a decisive stand against the president, more senators are likely to come out against the national emergency declaration as well. That leaves Trump in need of an escape route from an embarrassing floor vote and the prospect of using his first veto to further the untoward and saga of getting money for his wall by circumventing Congress.

    Luckily, there’s another option. In 2005, former President George W. Bush faced a somewhat similar situation. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina he had issued a proclamation suspending Davis-Bacon, allowing government contractors to pay workers at lower wages because the devastation constituted “national emergency.” Lawmakers from both parties in the House and Senate saw things differently. And so, facing criticism and the prospect that a vote on the joint resolution introduced against the proclamation might result in a rebuke, Bush revoked his own proclamation entirely, avoiding a fight within his own party.

    Trump needs a similar solution to avoid conflict within his party. And for Trump, the consequences are coming from opposition within his own party upping the stakes. Although likely to stir significant anger among his base, Trump should, like Bush, recognize that danger of congressional rebuke and opt to avoid it by pulling his controversial declaration.

    Indeed, GOP lawmakers have already floated this as a possibility. On Thursday, Sen. Lamar Alexander R-Tenn. implied that rethinking the declaration was the preferable solution, explaining, “There is time for the president’s lawyers to take another look and determine whether we can both build the 234 miles of border wall that the president has requested and avoid this dangerous precedent.”

    Alexander is right. A fight among Republicans forcing a choice between the president and the Constitution does not end well for either Republican control of the Oval Office or the future of the party. If Trump wins, the party loses its credibility. If the Constitution wins, as it ought to, the White House faces a clear challenge from allies it desperately needs on the Hill as Democrats embark on ambition investigations.

    That’s not a fight that Trump should be looking to pick within his own party, especially as Republicans have made clear that he does not have their backing. His best option is to revoke his own emergency declaration.

    Source Article from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/the-solution-for-trumps-impending-senate-showdown-end-the-national-emergency

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