South Bend mayor and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg faced his constituents at a tense town hall Sunday afternoon one week after the fatal shooting of Eric Logan, an African American man, by South Bend Police Sgt. Ryan O’Neill, a white police officer.
Attendees shouted their concerns and their disappointment at city officials for not taking swifter action to address the strained relationship between the police department and the black community. Buttigieg noted the complex relationship between minorities and police extends beyond the incident that occurred on June 16.
“There is a lot beneath the surface when it comes to trust and legitimacy around policing and race in our city,” the South Bend mayor said.
Buttigieg told attendees that the city has made progress in regard to the promotion process, raising police discipline standards and increasing public data online. And Buttigieg said that he will send a letter to the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division to look into the city’s police department.
He also said he told the prosecutor handling the case that he thinks an independent investigator should take over the case. The St. Joseph County Metro Homicide Unit is investigating the shooting.
But Buttigieg also acknowledged he has failed to diversify the police department and ensure that officers wear body cameras. O’Neill’s body camera reportedly wasn’t activated during last Sunday’s incident.
“As the mayor of the city, I want to acknowledge that those last two lines of effort, the effort to recruit more minority officers to the police department and the effort to introduce body cameras, have not succeed,” he said. “And I accept responsibility for that.”
In the question-and-answer section, one attendee told Buttigieg to reorganize his department by Friday of next week to “get the racists off the streets,” in reference to law enforcement officers.
Buttigieg responded to shouts from the crowd, “I will say that if anyone who is on patrol is shown to be a racist, or to do something racist in a way that is substantiated, that is their last day on the street.”
Pete Buttigieg seen at a town hall on the night of Sun., June 23, 2019, in South Bend, Indiana.
WSBT-TV
South Bend Common Councilwoman Regina Williams-Preston, who was present at the meeting, called on Buttigieg to expand his outreach among the African American leaders in South Bend.
“There needs to be more meaningful conversations with a more diverse group because what you see tonight is that African Americans are not monolithic,” Williams-Preston said.
In a press gaggle after the town hall, an emotional Buttigieg said it was his job to hear from the community, regardless of what the ramifications may be.
“I just think it is my job,” Buttigieg said. “I don’t know if it is smart or not. I don’t know if it is strategic or not, but it is my city and I have a relationship with everybody in this city…And when somebody loses their life because of a civilian or because of an officer and it is happening all over the country, but it is happening here. Then I feel like it is my job to face it.”
Rev. Michael Patton, who is the president of the South Bend chapter of the NAACP, moderated the discussion with Buttigieg and South Bend Police Chief Scott Ruszkowski.
In an interview Friday afternoon with CNN, Patton supported Buttigieg’s efforts after the shooting, saying he has been doing a “phenomenal job.” Patton has also thrown his support behind Buttigieg in the presidential race.
“I certainly see our mayor as someone who potentially could lead our country as well. He’s led our community, South Bend, well,” Patton said. “I believe that he has — I have full confidence that he could lead our nation as well.”
A resident seen at a town hall hosted by South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg on Sun., June 23, 2019.
WSBT-TV
Lwan Easton, a 37-year-old South Bend resident who attended the town hall, said the city needs to unite, but said he didn’t expect much going into the town hall.
“I just think it’s maybe a ploy to just kind of get us all together to talk, try to calm tensions and try to build confidence in the people that they going to figure everything out,” Easton said.
According to the St. Joseph County Prosecutor’s Office, O’Neill was responding last Sunday to a report of a person breaking into cars. According to a release from the office, O’Neill encountered Logan in an apartment building parking lot and Logan allegedly approached O’Neill with a knife. O’Neill then reportedly discharged his weapon, shooting Logan in the abdomen.
This town hall comes days before Buttigieg is scheduled to participate in the Democratic primary debates. Buttigieg, who has been on and off the campaign trail since the incident, said he is still planning to debate his fellow candidates later this week.
ISTANBUL — Turkey’s main opposition claimed a decisive victory on Sunday in Istanbul’s re-run election, dealing one of the biggest blows to President Tayyip Erdogan during his 16 years in power and promising a new beginning in the country’s largest city.
Ekrem Imamoglu, mayoral candidate of the secularist Republican People’s Party, was leading with 54 percent of votes against 45 percent for Erdogan’s AK Party candidate, with more than 99% of ballots opened, Turkish broadcasters said.
The election was Istanbul’s second in three months after results of an initial March vote were scrapped, setting up the do-over as a test of Turks’ ability to check what many saw as their president’s increasingly authoritarian power.
“Today, 16 million Istanbul residents have renewed our faith in democracy and refreshed our trust in justice,” Imamoglu told supporters.
His AK Party opponent, former Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, congratulated him and wished him “all the luck” in serving Istanbul, Turkey’s commercial hub. Erdogan also tweeted his congratulations to the Republican People’s Party candidate.
Imamoglu had won the original mayoral election on March 31 by a narrow margin, which prompted the Islamist-rooted AK Party to demand a re-run, citing what it said were voting irregularities.
The High Election Board’s decision to grant that request drew sharp criticism from Turkey’s Western allies and from Erdogan’s opponents at home, stirring concerns about the rule of law and raising the stakes for the re-run.
Broadcasters put the Republican People’s Party lead on Sunday at about 800,000 votes, eclipsing the roughly 13,000-vote margin in March.
The election board said it would announce the election results as soon as possible.
“While March 31 was a mayoral election, this re-run was one to put an end to the dictatorship,” said Gulcan Demirkaya, 48, from the city’s AK Party-leaning Kagithane district.
“God willing, I would like to see (Imamoglu) as the president in five years’ time,” she said. “The one-man rule should come to an end. For the first time in a long time, I am very happy and proud for my country.”
Imamoglu, a former businessman and district mayor who waged an inclusive campaign and avoided criticizing Erdogan, said he was ready to work with the AK Party to tackle Istanbul’s problems, including its transport gridlock and the needs of its Syrian refugees.
“In this new page in Istanbul, there will from now on be justice, equality, love, tolerance; while misspending (of public funds), pomp, arrogance and the alienation of the other will end,” he said.
Erdogan himself served as Istanbul’s mayor in the 1990s before he embarked on a national political career, dominating Turkish politics first as prime minister, then as president. He presided over years of strong economic growth. But critics say he has become increasingly autocratic and intolerant of dissent.
The second defeat in Istanbul marked a major embarrassment for the president and could also weaken what until recently seemed to be his iron grip on power. He had campaigned hard and targeted Imamoglu directly with accusations of lying and cheating.
“This is definitely going to have an impact on the future of Turkish politics given the margin of victory. It’s an alarming sign for the AKP establishment,” said Sinan Ulgen, visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe in Brussels and a former Turkish diplomat.
Analysts say the loss could set off a Cabinet reshuffle in Ankara and adjustments to foreign policy. It could even trigger a national election earlier than 2023 as scheduled, although the leader of the AK Party’s nationalist ally played down that prospect.
“Turkey should now return to its real agenda, the election process should close,” Republican People’s Party leader Devlet Bahceli said. “Talking of an early election would be among the worst things that can be done to our country.”
Turkey’s economy is in recession and the United States, its NATO ally, has threatened sanctions if Erdogan goes ahead with plans to install Russian missile defenses.
Florida Republican Rep. Greg Steube weighs in on the growing crisis at the southern border.
Rep. Greg Steube R-Fla., said Sunday that House Democrats are unlikely to work with President Trump on immigration and won’t meet the Trump’s deadline to solve the crisis on the Mexico border.
Trump originally announced Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids would start in several major cities with the goal of apprehending thousands of illegal immigrants, but called off the operation at the last minute at the request of congressional Democrats. He then said Saturday he’d give Congress two weeks to come up with a solution before giving ICE the green light to proceed.
“I was in the Rose Garden with the president when he announced his immigration plan and then hours later Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi said it’s dead on arrival,” Steube said Sunday on “America’s News HQ.”
“We have had a Congress where Democrats have absolutely stalled on doing anything as it relates to the crisis on the border. Even now Democrats and the left are saying that we have a crisis on the border.”
Steube suggested House Democrats had no interest in attacking the issue head-on.
“I sit on the immigration subcommittee on [the House Judiciary Committee] — they’ve done nothing as it relates to fixing this problem,” he said. “And, we as Republicans are fighting to do it. We have bills filed but they’re not wanting to move anything forward.”
Fox News’ Leland Vittert challenged Steube, saying Republicans had a chance to pass immigration reform after the 2016 elections when they had control of both congressional chambers and the White House.
“I wasn’t in Congress when that happened but I will tell you that people in my district were upset that when the Republicans had the majority, they weren’t able to get that done, and I think — I’m certainly going to be fighting to bring the majority back to Republicans in the House and if we do win the majority in 2020 you will see all of us focus on this immigration issue,” he replied.
Vittert continued to press Steube asking why voters should trust Republicans to follow through when they couldn’t deliver on immigration the first time.
“I think you have a president who is very focused on this issue,” he replied. “I wasn’t there so I can’t speak of what he was telling congressional leaders but… I came into Congress with a very conservative class of leaders from all across the country, and we all feel very strongly about this issue.”
Steube also said Trump’s willingness to compromise with Democrats gave him hope that Congress could stem the tide of illegal immigrants pouring across the border, and finally find a permanent fix to the immigration crisis.
“The president certainly is willing to make a deal. Look at the things that he offered. I mean, he’s willing to go a lot farther than the probably more conservative members of the House are willing to go to get a deal. I think with the president’s leadership on this, hopefully, we can get something done,” he said.
“But, all the Democrats are doing is stalling and doing nothing on this issue right now while hundreds of thousands of people every month are coming illegally into our country.”
Fox News’ Leland Vittert contributed to this report.
CHUCK TODD spoke to PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP on NBC’S “MEET THE PRESS” …
— TRUMP on why Iran shot down the drone: “I think they want to negotiate. And I think they want to make a deal. And my deal is nuclear. Look, they’re not going to have a nuclear weapon. … And I think that they want to negotiate. I don’t think they like the position they’re in. Their economy is, is absolutely broken. …
“According to Prime Minister Abe, they went to him, it’s according to the prime minister, and they said, ‘What do we do with Trump? Can we make a deal? Is there something that can be done?’ That’s what Prime Minister Abe told me. I said, ‘Do you mind if I say that if I have to?’ And he said, ‘Not particularly.’ So they came to Prime Minister Abe. He then called me. I said, ‘Send the following message: you can’t have nuclear weapons. And other than that, we can sit down and make a deal. But you cannot have nuclear.’”
— TRUMP on John Bolton: “I have some hawks. Yeah, John Bolton is absolutely a hawk. If it was up to him he’d take on the whole world at one time, OK?”
— REGRETS: “I would say if I had one do over, it would be, I would not have appointed Jeff Sessions to be attorney general. That would be my one –” TODD: “That’s your, in your mind, that’s your worst mistake?” TRUMP: “Yeah, that was the biggest mistake.”
— TRUMP on Pelosi: TODD: “Let me ask you this, why do you think Nancy Pelosi has held off her impeachment caucus?” TRUMP: “Because I think she feels that I will win much easier. I mean, I’ve been told that by many people.”
— ON ELECTION MEDDLING:TODD: “You’re going to see Vladimir Putin in a week.” TRUMP: “Yes. I’m going to see many people.” TODD: “Are you going to address him directly about interference in 2020?” TRUMP: “I may.” TODD: “Are you going to tell him –” TRUMP: “I may.” TODD: “– not to do it?” TRUMP: “I may if you’d like me to do it, I’ll do that.”
— TODD: “Are you prepared to lose?” TRUMP: “No. Probably not. Probably not.” TODD: “Very hon — I mean, you joke –” TRUMP: “It would be much better, it would be much better if I said, ‘Yeah.’ … It would be much easier for me to say, ‘Oh yes.’ No I’m probably not too prepared to lose. I don’t like losing. I haven’t lost very much in my life.”
Happy Sunday morning.
SNEAK PEEK … THE PRESIDENT’S WEEK: Monday: The president will have lunch with VP Mike Pence and sign an executive order on “improving price and quality transparency in health care.” Tuesday: The president will present the Medal of Honor to David G. Bellavia. Wednesday: The president will speak at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s “Road to Majority” conference before flying to Osaka, Japan.
SPOTTED: Bernie Sanders dining with Danny Glover, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Cornell West and Nina Turner at Motor Supply Co. in Columbia. (hat tip: Bloomberg’s Emma Kinery)
ON IRAN … WSJ’S MIKE BENDER and GORDON LUBOLD: “Trump Bucked National-Security Aides on Proposed Iran Attack”: “President Trump bucked most of his top national-security advisers by abandoning retaliatory strikes in Iran on Thursday. In private conversations Friday, Mr. Trump reveled in his judgment, certain about his decision to call off the attacks while speaking of his administration as if removed from the center of it. ‘These people want to push us into a war, and it’s so disgusting,’ Mr. Trump told one confidant about his own inner circle of advisers. ‘We don’t need any more wars.’” WSJ
— NYT’S ED WONG and MICHAEL CROWLEY: “Pompeo, a Steadfast Hawk, Coaxes a Hesitant Trump on Iran”: “[A]s the debate over the strike showed, the uncompromisingly hawkish views Mr. Pompeo holds on Iran are starting to clash with the perspective of a president deeply skeptical of military entanglements, especially in the Middle East. Mr. Pompeo is unlikely to publicly signal frustration with the president.
“Some officials say he would work through the bureaucracy to push his policy goals while on the surface sticking to the role of loyal soldier, if only because he harbors political ambitions for which Mr. Trump’s support would be invaluable. Despite Mr. Pompeo’s insistence that he has ‘ruled out’ a Senate run next year in Kansas, many Trump administration officials expect him to enter the race.” NYT
VP MIKE PENCE told JAKE TAPPER on CNN’S “STATE OF THE UNION” that the president will announce additional sanctions on Iran tomorrow.
CHRIS WALLACE spoke to SEN. TOM COTTON (R-ARK.) on “FOX NEWS SUNDAY”: COTTON: “I think retaliatory strikes were warranted when we’re talking about foreign vessels on the high seas, I think they were warranted against an American unmanned aircraft. What I see is Iran steadily marching up the escalation chain it started out with threats then went to attack on vessels and ports, went to attack on vessels at sea now it’s an unmanned American aircraft. I fear that if Iran doesn’t have a firm set of boundaries drawn around its behavior were going to see an attack on a U.S. ship or U.S. manned aircraft.”
— WAPO’S SIMON DENYER in Tokyo: “North Korea’s Kim receives ‘excellent letter’ from Trump, state media says”: “North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has received an ‘excellent’ letter from President Trump and is seriously considering what his American counterpart had to say, North Korean state media reported Sunday. Earlier this month, Trump announced he had received a ‘beautiful letter’ from Kim, breaking the silence between the two men since a summit in Hanoi in February ended in failure. Now, Trump appears to have written back and received a similarly warm response. Kim ‘said with satisfaction that the letter is of excellent content,’ the Korean Central News Agency reported.
“‘Appreciating the political judging faculty and extraordinary courage of President Trump, Kim Jong Un said that he would seriously contemplate the interesting content,’ the agency said. The White House has not commented, but there will inevitably be speculation that the letters could pave the way for a third summit between the two leaders.” WaPo
CNN’S JAKE TAPPER: “Nancy Pelosi called Trump Friday night asking him to call off ICE raids”: “Trump and Pelosi spoke at 7:20 p.m. ET Friday night for about 12 minutes, according to the source. White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere confirmed a phone call took place Friday night between Trump and Pelosi. A senior Democratic aide said Trump is ‘trying to create leverage in a situation where he has none,’ adding that ‘it won’t work.’ ‘Democrats aren’t going to compromise their values,’ the aide said. ‘He’s walked away from several deals on immigration. We have no illusions here.’” CNN
— TAPPER got Pence to say toothbrushes, blankets and medicine should be given to children at the border — something DOJ’s attorney did not agree to in court. Clip
BUZZFEED’s HAMED ALEAZIZ and ADOLFO FLORES: “[T]wo senior administration officials told BuzzFeed News that those within the administration believe acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan, or his staff, leaked operational details and that is what ultimately put the ICE operation in jeopardy. ‘Leaking the locations and details to stop the operation from happening not only harmed operational integrity, but it put the safety and well-being of his own officers in jeopardy,’ said one senior administration official.
“‘The ICE mission is enforcing the nation’s laws and ensuring those who are unlawfully present in the country are removed if ordered by a judge; this will leave an un-erasable mark on his tenure.’ DHS officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter.” BuzzFeed
— @Haleaziz: “!!! Former ICE dir. Tom Homan accused acting DHS Sec. McAleenan of ‘resisting what ICE is trying to do’ in this operation and heavily implies that McAleenan leaked operation details to the Washington Post. Homan was picked by Trump to be ‘border czar.’” Video
NYT’S JONATHAN MARTIN and ASTEAD W. HERNDON: “‘The Black Vote Is Not Monolithic’: 2020 Democrats Find Split Preferences in South Carolina”: “Recent polls have shown [Biden] with support from about 50 percent of African-American voters in the state. It is what elevates Mr. Biden above his 22 Democratic rivals; though he is often portrayed as a champion of the white working class, he is viewed by many black voters as the play-it-safe choice who could best recreate the multiracial Obama coalition.
“But many young black voters are drawn to Elizabeth Warren and her plan to cancel student debt, while others prefer Bernie Sanders and his calls for systemic change. Some black women like Kamala Harris’s leadership style and her personal story as a graduate of Howard University. And some black men are sizing up Cory Booker, who employs the cadences of the black church in his stump speech.” NYT
— MARTHA RADDATZ spoke to SEN. CORY BOOKER on CBS’ “FACE THE NATION”: RADDATZ: “And Sen. Booker, I want to turn back to politics and to Vice President Biden’s comments. He said he worked along segregationists in congress in order to get things done. You called the comments deeply disappointing, but the two of you spoke privately on Wednesday evening. What was your takeaway from that conversation?”
BOOKER: “Well I’ve said my peace. I have a lot of respect for Joe Biden and a gratitude towards him, and has even more of a responsibility than I have to have — be candid with him, to speak truth to power. He is a presidential nominee and to say something — and again it’s not about working across the aisle, if anything I’ve made that a hallmark of my time in the Senate to get big things done and legislation passed.
“This is about him evoking a terrible power dynamic that he showed a lack of understanding or insensitivity to by invoking this idea that he was called son by white segregationists who — yes, they see him — in him, their son.”
— CBS’S ED O’KEEFE interviewed SEN. KAMALA HARRIS for “FACE THE NATION” (also will run on “CBS This Morning” tomorrow): “2020 Democratic hopeful Sen. Kamala Harris of California reiterated her support for impeachment proceedings against President Trump but admitted there is tension within the Democratic party over moving forward. In an interview with CBS News political correspondent Ed O’Keefe, Harris said that she believes impeachment is ‘the existential question.’
“‘This is the tension which is, do you stand to fight for these principles that were part of the — the spirit behind the design of our democracy, checks and balances, accountability?’ Harris asked. ‘Or do you stand with strategy, which is what is the ultimate goal and if it’s saying that this guy should not be in office and if this could hurt the chances of winning an election, should you hold off?’” CBS
REALITY INTERVENES AGAIN FOR BUTTIGIEG … SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE: “One person dead, up to 10 others injured in shootings early Sunday at South Bend bar”: “One person is dead and as many as 10 others are injured after shootings at an east side bar early today.” South Bend Tribune
BORDER TALES — “‘Stop Repeating History’: Plan to Keep Migrant Children at Former Internment Camp Draws Outrage,” by Ben Fenwick in the NYT in Fort Sill, Okla.: “For Satsuki Ina, who was born in a Japanese-American internment camp during World War II, the news that the United States would detain undocumented migrant children at this Army base in Oklahoma felt like an unwelcome wallop from the past. The base, Fort Sill, Okla., once held 700 Japanese-Americans who lived in tents in desertlike heat, surrounded by barbed wire and guards. They were among the more than 100,000 residents of Japanese ancestry who were rounded up by the government during the war and placed in detention camps around the country.
“Ms. Ina and more than 200 demonstrators arrived at FortSill on Saturday to protest the government’s latest plan for the base: to house 1,400 undocumented children who arrived in the United States without a parent or a legal guardian. The protesters called the plan, which was announced this month, a return to one of the nation’s great shames. ‘We are here to say, “Stop repeating history,”’ Ms. Ina, 75, said at a news conference on Saturday, standing in front of a howitzer display outside the base.” NYT
CNN’S PAM BROWN and MANU RAJU: “Democrats cut deal to hear from White House counsel office insider, source says”: “The House Judiciary Committee appears to have reached a deal with former White House aide Annie Donaldson that would allow her to not appear before the committee by a Monday deadline and answer written questions instead, according to sources familiar with the matter.” CNN
GABE DEBENEDETTI in NY Mag, “‘That’s Hell’: Democrats’ Debate Prep Gets Real”: “Biden debated well during the 2008 cycle and as the vice-president in 2012, but it’s been seven years, and now he knows he’s everyone’s top target. Multiple candidates who are set to debate him next week are expecting both Kirsten Gillibrand and Kamala Harris to go after his flip-flop on the Hyde Amendment, Harris to attack him on his criminal-justice record, Bernie Sanders to criticize his ‘middle-ground’ plans, and Pete Buttigieg to knock him in his signature generational terms. On both nights, they suspect, candidates will bring up Biden’s recent comments about working with segregationist senators. And Biden is preparing for all of it.”NY Mag
— “What the 2020 Democrats Are Like Behind the Scenes,” by NYT’s Alex Burns: “[S]ome of the most telling — and in some cases, jarring or endearing — moments with the candidates happened off camera, or outside the context of the interview. [John] Hickenlooper, for instance, showed up at our office flustered because he had lost his wallet, and confessed sheepishly that it had been a long time since he had dealt with certain indignities of being a private citizen. Learning after the interview that his flight home had been canceled, Mr. Hickenlooper took the development in stride; he lingered in the newsroom, bantering with our colleague Stephanie Saul about Teddy Roosevelt’s relationship with the muckraking reporters of his day.
“Ms. Harris arrived at the newspaper with a complaint and a request. She asked Patrick Healy, our politics editor, if The New York Times could make it easier to read articles offline on the paper’s smartphone app — an important consideration for a West Coast lawmaker who is regularly confined to transcontinental flights with spotty Wi-Fi. Ms. Harris — who was at her most animated in the interview when discussing her passion for cooking — also asked to meet Sam Sifton, the food editor.
“Soon, the two were kibitzing about recipes amid a maze of desks and a gathering crowd of onlookers. (Ms. Harris was less excited when Carolyn Ryan, a masthead editor, approached to ask her about a blossoming late-March crisis for Mr. Biden, involving his physical behavior with women.)” NYT
HMM … THE STAR TRIBUNE — “New documents revisit questions about Rep. Ilhan Omar’s marriage history,” by J. Patrick Coolican and Stephen Montemayor: “New investigative documents released by a state agency have given fresh life to lingering questions about the marital history of Rep. Ilhan Omar and whether she once married a man — possibly her own brother — to skirt immigration laws. Omar has denied the allegations in the past, dismissing them as ‘baseless rumors’ first raised in an online Somali politics forum and championed by conservative bloggers during her 2016 campaign for the Minnesota House. But she said little then or since about Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, the former husband who swept into her life in 2009 before a 2011 separation.
“The questions surfaced again this month in a state probe of campaign finance violations showing that Omar filed federal taxes in 2014 and 2015 with her current husband, Ahmed Hirsi, while she was still legally married to but separated from Elmi. Although she has legally corrected the discrepancy, she has declined to say anything about how or why it happened.” Star Tribune
BONUS GREAT WEEKEND READS, curated by Daniel Lippman, filing from Aspen, Colorado:
— “The Problem With HR,” by Caitlin Flanagan in The Atlantic’s July issue: “For 30 years, we’ve trusted human-resources departments to prevent and address workplace sexual harassment. How’s that working out?” The Atlantic
— “What Abortion Access Looks Like in Mississippi: One Person at a Time,” by Zoë Beery in the N.Y. Times Magazine: “With state legislatures passing new abortion restrictions, the Mississippi Reproductive Freedom Fund follows its own compass on how to best help clients.” NYT
— “What Really Happened to Malaysia’s Missing Airplane,” by William Langewiesche on the cover of July’s Atlantic: “It is easy to imagine Zaharie [Ahmed Shah] toward the end, strapped into an ultra-comfortable seat in the cockpit, inhabiting his cocoon in the glow of familiar instruments, knowing that there could be no return from what he had done, and feeling no need to hurry. Around 7 a.m. the sun rose over the eastern horizon, to the left. A few minutes later it lit the ocean far below.” The Atlantic
— “The Birth and Death of a Bike Company: What Happened to SpeedX,” by Iain Treloar in Cycling Tips – per TheBrowser.com’s description: “Gripping account of the rise and fall of SpeedX, a Chinese start-up which promised to build a better bicycle, raised $15 million, pivoted into bike-sharing, raised and spent another $100 million, then made arguably most catastrophic blunder in the history of marketing. On June 4th 2017, anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre, the bike avatars on SpeedX’s bike-sharing app were replaced by avatars of tiny tanks rolling through the centre of Beijing. Literally overnight, the business was doomed.” Cycling Tips
— “Who Gets to Own the West?” by NYT’s Julie Turkewitz in Idaho City, Idaho: “A new group of billionaires is shaking up the landscape.” NYT
– “Hideous Men,” by E. Jean Carroll on the cover of NY Mag: “Donald Trump assaulted me in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room 23 years ago. But he’s not alone on the list of awful men in my life.” NY Mag
— “Building the Wind Turbines Was Easy. The Hard Part Was Plugging Them In,” by WSJ’s Russell Gold in an adaptation of “Superpower: One Man’s Quest to Transform American Energy”: “In the Oklahoma panhandle, one entrepreneur saw a future fueled by cheap and clean energy. But there was a big snag.” WSJ … $17.70 on Amazon
— “Goodbye, Chrome: Google’s web browser has become spy software,” by WaPo’s Geoffrey A. Fowler: “Our latest privacy experiment found Chrome ushered more than 11,000 tracker cookies into our browser — in a single week. Here’s why Firefox is better.” WaPo
— “Joe Exotic Built a Wild Animal Kingdom. He Was the Most Dangerous Predator of Them All,” by Sean Williams in The Daily Beast: “A cunning and cuddly persona created an empire. A murder plot brought it crashing down.” The Daily Beast
— “The Land Where the Internet Ends,” by Pagan Kennedy in the NYT in Green Bank, W.Va.: “To find real solitude, you have to go out of range. But every year that’s harder to do, as America’s off-the-grid places disappear.” NYT
— “The Unsolved Mystery of the Malibu Creek Murder,” by Zach Baron in GQ: “When a man was killed in Malibu Creek State Park last summer while camping with his two young daughters, it sent the placid Southern California community into hysterics—spawning amateur sleuths, conspiracy theories, and public paranoia. Was it related to a rash of unsolved incidents in the area? But while the tragedy’s aftermath publicly played out like a new season of Serial, there was also a family left picking up the pieces after a seemingly random act of violence. This is a story about what happens when lightning strikes in the most chilling manner imaginable.” GQ (h/t Longform.org)
— “Something Borrowed, Something Blue,” by Dan Nosowitz in BuzzFeed in Sept. 2014: “In 1937, my great-grandfather started a workwear company in New England called Madewell. In 2006, 17 years after the last factory shut down, J.Crew relaunched a women’s clothing company with the same name and logo, based on a 50-year history in which it had no part.” BuzzFeed (h/t Longform.org)
PLAYBOOKERS
SPOTTED: Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) shopping at the Jenkins Row Harris Teeter. … Bill Weld in Portsmouth, N.H., at the town’s pride celebration. Pic … Hungarian Ambassador László Szabó playing guitar and sitar with jazz fusion band Djabe at the Kennedy Center. PicItalian Ambassador Armando Varricchio, Kazakh Ambassador Erzhan Kazykhanov and Portuguese Ambassador Domingos Fezas Vital also attended.
SPOTTED at a joint book party at Juleanna Glover’s house last night for Jim Sciutto’s “The Shadow War: Inside Russia’s and China’s Secret Operations to Defeat America” ($18.98 on Amazon) and Winston Lord’s “Kissinger on Kissinger” ($17.10 on Amazon): Norah O’Donnell and Geoff Tracy, Tom Nides and Virginia Moseley, Tammy Haddad, Suzanne Kianpour, Kaitlan Collins, Melanne Verveer, Mike Abramowitz, Gloria Riviera, Dan Yergin, Indira Lakshmanan, Karin Tanabe, Shayna Estulin, Jeff and Mary Zients, Eric Lipton, Mike Allen, Mike Pillsbury and Paula Dobriansky.
WEEKEND WEDDING — “Bryana Turner, Robert Jackson Jr.” – N.Y. Times: “Mrs. Jackson, 31, is the founder and principal of Turner Divorce Mediation … Mr. Jackson, 42, is a commissioner on the United States Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington. He is currently on public service leave from the faculty of the N.Y.U. School of Law, where he specializes in corporate law and financial regulation. He previously served in the Obama administration as a counselor to senior Treasury Department officials during the financial crisis.” With a pic.NYT
BIRTHDAYS: Sylvia Burwell, president of AU, is 54 … Chasten Buttigieg is 3-0 (h/t Marina McCarthy) … Steven Cheung (h/t Janae Garcia) … Kaelan Dorr of Sinclair Broadcast Group (h/ts Andy Hemming) … Aaron Cutler, partner at Hogan Lovells (h/t Boris Epshteyn) … Paul Tewes … Amber Moon, director of external comms at BAE Systems … POLITICO Europe’s Kate Day, Etienne Bauvir and Ali Walker … State’s Robert Palladino … J.P. Fielder … Josh Lauder … Jeremy Katz, president and COO of D1 Capital Partners and a Trump WH alum (h/t Tevi Troy) … Robert D. Kaplan, CNAS senior fellow and senior adviser at Eurasia Group, is 67 … Pelosi alum Judy Lemons … Ryan Woodbury … POLITICO’s Ryan Kohl …
… Suzanne Clark, president of the U.S. Chamber … former Rep. Baron Hill (D-Ind.) is 66 … former Rep. Robert Dold (R-Ill.) is 5-0 … former Rep. Cresent Hardy (R-Nev.) is 62 … Atanu Chakravarty … Adam Lerner … Louisa Tavlas, director of comms at the Niskanen Center … Bradley Engle … Rick Reynolds … Chris Spanos … Steven Stombres, partner at Harbinger Strategies … political consultant Joe Duffy … Emma Whitestone of Blueprint Interactive (h/t dad Randy) … Sivan Ya’ari is 41 … Jerry Speyer is 79 … Patrick Morris … Brian Pomper is 3-0 … Caitlin Dorman … Mark Leder … Bronagh Finnegan … Tom Frechette … Tina Karalekas … Robin Strongin … Greg Hale is 44 … Andrew Roos (h/ts Teresa Vilmain)
Fox News Flash top headlines for June 23 are here. Check out what’s clicking on Foxnews.com
A tense political situation may be brewing in Turkey after the opposition candidate for mayor of Istanbul won Sunday, breaking the long hold President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party had on leading Turkey’s largest city.
“Thank you, Istanbul,” Ekrem Imamoglu, 49, said to the tens of thousands of people who gathered to mark his victory after unofficial results showed he won a clear majority of the vote in a closely watched repeat election that ended weeks of political tension.
The governing party’s candidate, former Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, conceded moments after returns showed him trailing well behind Imamoglu, 54 percent to 45 percent.
“Thank you, Istanbul,” Ekrem Imamoglu, 49, said to the tens of thousands of people who gathered to mark his victory after unofficial results showed he won a clear majority of the vote. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
Imamoglu increased his lead from a March mayoral election by hundreds of thousands of votes.
Analysts noted the president, who is grappling with an economic downturn and several international crises, could limit the mayor’s power or undermine Imamoglu’s authority in other ways.
Lisel Hintz, an assistant international relations professor at Johns Hopkins University SAIS, said Imamoglu withstood a divisive campaign and prevailed with a positive message.
The significance of his win “cannot be understated,” Hintz said.
“We now have to wait and see whether Imamoglu’s tenure as mayor will be interfered with in any way, whether by cutting off funding and hampering his office’s ability to provide services or by removing him under some legal pretext,” Hintz said.
Erdogan has previously signaled an unwillingness to work with an opposition mayor, saying his party controlled 25 of Istanbul’s 39 districts and a majority in the municipal assembly. Imamoglu would have to work with those officeholders to govern Istanbul, and he promised to do so Sunday.
Addressing Erdogan in a speech, Imamoglu said, “I’m ready to work with you” to solve Istanbul’s problems.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan casting his ballot Sunday. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, Ankara office director of the German Marshall Fund, argued that the loss of Istanbul likely would fuel speculation of divisions within the ruling party and among its supporters.
“It’s now clear that a sizable portion of the AKP voters is seriously dissatisfied by policies of the AKP,” he said. “The (opposition) was a house that was united. The AKP house looked like one that was already divided.”
He argued Erdogan already was facing an “a perfect storm” this summer. Erdogan has been at odds with Western allies over Turkey’s plans to buy the Russian-made S-400 missile defense system and its challenge of EU-member Cyprus over natural gas drilling rights.
Imamoglu narrowly won an earlier mayoral election on March 31, but Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party, AKP, challenged the vote over alleged irregularities. He spent 18 days in office before Turkey’s electoral board annulled the results after weeks of partial recounts.
The voided vote raised concerns domestically and abroad about the state of Turkish democracy and whether Erdogan’s party would accept any electoral loss. AKP has governed Turkey since 2002.
“You have protected the reputation of democracy in Turkey with the whole world watching,” Imamoglu, his voice hoarse after weeks of campaigning, told supporters.
Jubilant supporters chanted “Mayor again! Mayor again!” Others hung out of cars, blaring horns and waving red-and-white Turkish flags.
Erdogan campaigned hard for Yildirim in Istanbul, Turkey’s commercial and cultural hub, where the president started his political career as mayor in 1994.
Istanbul, a city of more than 15 million, has drawn millions of tourists each year. Straddling Europe and Asia, Istanbul accounted for 31 percent of Turkey’s GDP in 2017.
AKP also lost control of the capital city of Ankara in Turkey’s March local elections, which were held as the country battled high inflation and two credit rating downgrades in the past year.
Despite calling off a military strike against Iran, the U.S. is still poised to hit Iran hard after weeks of mounting tensions between the two countries, President Trump said on Sunday, in what appeared to be a coordinated effort by the administration to keep the pressure on Tehran.
Trump in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” said he is “not looking for war” with Iran, but warned of “obliteration like you’ve never seen before” if Iran resumes its efforts to build nuclear weapons.
Vice President Mike Pence told Jake Tapper on “State of the Union” that “Iran should not mistake restraint for a lack of resolve.
“All options remain on the table,” he added.
And National Security Adviser John Bolton, in Israel for a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, pointedly noted that Trump had “just stopped the strike from going forward… at this time,” and warned that another attack could occur at any time. Trump noted that Bolton was one of the administration’s leading “hawks.”
“If it was up to him he’d take on the whole world at one time,” the president told “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd.
On Friday, Trump said the U.S. military was “cocked & loaded” for a retaliatory strike after Iran shot down a U.S. military drone near its coast. The shootdown came after attacks on two tankers in the Gulf, which the administration has also blamed on Iran. The president said he canceled the authorized strikes at the last minute to avoid Iranian casualties.
“Nothing is greenlighted until the very end because things change,” Trump said when Todd asked if planes were already in the air.
But when they were “about ready to go,” Trump said he asked his generals, “How many people would be killed, in this case Iranians?”
Informed there would be approximately 150 casualties, Trump said, “I thought about it for a second and I said, you know what, they shot down an unmanned drone, plane, whatever you want to call it, and here we are sitting with a 150 dead people that would have taken place probably within a half an hour after I said go ahead. And I didn’t like it…I didn’t think it was proportionate.”
Instead of military strikes, Trump announced plans to further impose “major” sanctions on Iran beginning Monday and asserted to Todd that he believes “they want to make a deal,” but there would be no preconditions for negotiations with Tehran.
WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 9: President Donald Trump, flanked by Vice President Mike Pence, left, and national security advisor John Bolton, right, speaks to the media as he meets with senior military leadership in the Cabinet Room of the White House on April 9, 2018 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Last year, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo outlined 12 non-negotiable conditions for an agreement with Iran, but those are apparently off the table.
Instead, Trump said his bottom-line demand was that Iran give up any efforts to build nuclear weapons. “They cannot have a nuclear weapon. They’d use it. And they’re not going to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said. “And if you want to talk about it, good. Otherwise, you can live in a shattered economy for a long time to come.”
Tensions between the U.S. and Iran have continued to rise after Trump last year pulled out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which limited Iran’s nuclear program in Tehran in exchange for relief from sanctions. Since pulling out of the agreement, the U.S. has re-imposed sanctions on Iran.
Then in April, Trump labeled the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist group and in the following month announced the deployment a bomber task force and carrier strike group to the Middle East to send a “clear and unmistakable message” to Iran after “a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings.”
On Monday, the Trump administration announced the deployment of 1,000 additional troops and extra military resources to the Persian Gulf region.
Iran denied responsibility for the attacks, but American administration and intelligence officials aren’t buying it. As Yahoo News first reported last week, the Pentagon secretly launched a retaliatory digital strike back against Iranian cyberspies who were targeting U.S. commercial ships.
The attack on the U.S. drone Thursday, announced by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and confirmed by the Pentagon, heightened tensions further. Iran said the plane had crossed into its territory while the Pentagon insisted it was flying over international waters in the Strait of Hormuz and was taken down in an “unprovoked attack.”
Trump warned Iran that it made “a very big mistake,” but later said he believed it wasn’t intentional. Then he authorized a retaliatory strike but called it off.
Reuters reported that Trump sent a message to Tehran to warn of the imminent attack, which would have targeted a limited set of Iranian radars and missile batteries, but the president dismissed those reports.
“I did not send that message,” Trump said. “I don’t know who would’ve said that.”
Vice President Mike Pence defended Trump’s decision to call off the strike Sunday, saying they weren’t convinced the drone attack was “authorized at the highest levels” in the Iranian government.
“The President also had doubts as to whether or not the downing of our unmanned aircraft was actually authorized at the highest levels,” Pence told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.” “We’re not convinced that it was authorized at the highest levels.”
But Pence made it clear that “we’re not going to allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon, and we’re not going to stand by while Iran continues to sow malign influence across the region.”
He reiterated that the U.S. is “prepared to talk to Iran without preconditions.” “The one precondition is…. they need to give up the nuclear weapons,” he added.
In light of the tankers and drone attacks, Pence said Iran was “lashing out even more than they usually do” over sanctions since the U.S. walked away from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018.
In his opening remarks, the 37-year-old Buttigieg, a Democrat and candidate for president, said he would send a letter to the Justice Department requesting that its civil rights division look into the June 16 shooting of 54-year-old Eric Logan, who was black. The mayor added that he would notify the local prosecutor that he’d like an independent investigator appointed.
Buttigieg also admitted that the city’s efforts to recruit more minority police officers and require officers to use body cameras “have not succeeded and I accept responsibility for that.” Prosecutors said the shooting of Logan was not recorded by Sgt. Ryan O’Neill’s body camera.
O’Neill, who is white, was responding to a report of a suspicious person breaking into cars when investigators said he fired one shot that hit Logan and another that missed after Logan threatened him with a knife. The investigators said O’Neill’s body camera wasn’t automatically activated because he was driving slowly without emergency lights while looking through an apartment building parking lot. O’Neill has since been placed on administrative leave.
Logan’s death prompted Buttigieg to cancel much of his out-of-state campaigning this week. Buttigieg returned to campaigning Friday with a trip to Miami but skipped a South Carolina event attended by 21 other presidential candidates to fly home for a Friday evening community march.
The town hall was interrupted frequently by outbursts and heckling. At one point, a man yelled at Buttigieg: “You gotta get back to South Carolina like you was yesterday? Talk about ‘all lives matter’ in South Carolina?” Another man approached the stage to yell at Buttigieg and South Bend Police Chief Scott Ruszkowski, ignoring the moderator’s attempts to restore order.
“I don’t want to seem defensive, but we have taken a lot of steps,” Buttigieg said at one point. “They clearly haven’t been enough. But I can’t accept the suggestion that we haven’t done anything.”
Meanwhile, attorney Brian Coffman has said he was preparing a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of South Bend on behalf of Logan’s family and has accused the police department and other city officials of tolerating bad behavior by officers.
“That’s just being reactive,” Coffman told The Associated Press when asked about Buttigieg’s response to the shooting. “It’s not being proactive and making sure this never happened and having rules in place for South Bend police officers and body cameras.”
About two years ago, US president Donald Trump entrusted his son-in-law and White House advisor, Jared Kushner, with one of the world’s most pernicious problems: achieving peace in the Middle East.
Specifically, Kushner was tasked with formulating a plan to finally end land disputes between Israelis and Palestinians. Most observers assumed any deal would include Palestinian statehood and end Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.
On June 22, Kushner—who previously worked in his family’s New York real estate development company—unveiled his proposal. Entitled “Peace to Prosperity,” it reads somewhat like a glossy brochure for a proposed building development—perhaps unsurprising given the backgrounds of Kushner and Trump.
As developers are wont to do, Kushner paints a rosy future. “Generations of Palestinians have lived under adversity and loss, but the next chapter can be defined by freedom and dignity,” the proposal states.
The plan is premised on three tenets: “Unleashing economic potential, empowering the Palestinian people, and enhancing Palestinian governance.” It’s replete with buzzwords, charts, and tables. It promises investments in private enterprise, education, health care, and government in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. It features images of happy Palestinians, with minimal mention of Israel and no discussion of the state of Palestine.
Shockingly, it contains no political solution to the problem Kushner was tasked with solving. It doesn’t address the famously difficult questions that have doomed other peace proposals, like the status of the city of Jerusalem or Palestinians’ right of return. There’s no talk of what might be done with Israeli settlements in occupied territories, nor any discussion of borders at all. What it offers is a carrot and a warning:
If implemented, Peace to Prosperity will empower the Palestinian people to build the society that they have aspired to establish for generations. With the support of the international community, this vision is within reach. Ultimately, however, the power to unlock it lies in the hands of the Palestinian people. Only through peace can the Palestinians achieve prosperity.
The White House says that a political solution outlining that peace will eventually be proposed. But for now, there is just this colorful and optimistic roadmap to Palestinian prosperity.
It’s no wonder, then, that Arab leaders decried the proposal as a “nonstarter” and see no reason to take it seriously. “Homelands cannot be sold, even for all the money in the world,” Egyptian analyst Gamal Fahmy said in a Reuters report. “This plan is the brainchild of real estate brokers, not politicians. Even Arab states that are described as moderate are not able to openly express support for it.”
The plan is being similarly dismissed in Israel. As diplomatic correspondent Noa Landau notes in the Israeli publication Haaretz (paywall), “The so-called ‘deal of the century’ is jumping a hundred steps ahead some have said [about] the Americans’ colorful printed proposal.” But she argues that this is “precisely the intention” and “there is no point analyzing it from too pragmatic a perspective.” Kushner’s deal is about a “vision” for Palestinians, she writes.
That much is true. The plan provides a picture of a rich and shiny life that might be possible, putting aside all the major obstacles. Like any business proposal, it is meant to intrigue potential investors and get them dreaming big before getting bogged down by pesky facts on the ground.
Florida Republican Rep. Greg Steube weighs in on the growing crisis at the southern border.
Rep. Greg Steube R-Fla., said Sunday that House Democrats are unlikely to work with President Trump on immigration and won’t meet the Trump’s deadline to solve the crisis on the Mexico border.
Trump originally announced Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids would start in several major cities with the goal of apprehending thousands of illegal immigrants, but called off the operation at the last minute at the request of congressional Democrats. He then said Saturday he’d give Congress two weeks to come up with a solution before giving ICE the green light to proceed.
“I was in the Rose Garden with the president when he announced his immigration plan and then hours later Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi said it’s dead on arrival,” Steube said Sunday on “America’s News HQ.”
“We have had a Congress where Democrats have absolutely stalled on doing anything as it relates to the crisis on the border. Even now Democrats and the left are saying that we have a crisis on the border.”
Steube suggested House Democrats had no interest in attacking the issue head-on.
“I sit on the immigration subcommittee on [the House Judiciary Committee] — they’ve done nothing as it relates to fixing this problem,” he said. “And, we as Republicans are fighting to do it. We have bills filed but they’re not wanting to move anything forward.”
Fox News’ Leland Vittert challenged Steube, saying Republicans had a chance to pass immigration reform after the 2016 elections when they had control of both congressional chambers and the White House.
“I wasn’t in Congress when that happened but I will tell you that people in my district were upset that when the Republicans had the majority, they weren’t able to get that done, and I think — I’m certainly going to be fighting to bring the majority back to Republicans in the House and if we do win the majority in 2020 you will see all of us focus on this immigration issue,” he replied.
Vittert continued to press Steube asking why voters should trust Republicans to follow through when they couldn’t deliver on immigration the first time.
“I think you have a president who is very focused on this issue,” he replied. “I wasn’t there so I can’t speak of what he was telling congressional leaders but… I came into Congress with a very conservative class of leaders from all across the country, and we all feel very strongly about this issue.”
Steube also said Trump’s willingness to compromise with Democrats gave him hope that Congress could stem the tide of illegal immigrants pouring across the border, and finally find a permanent fix to the immigration crisis.
“The president certainly is willing to make a deal. Look at the things that he offered. I mean, he’s willing to go a lot farther than the probably more conservative members of the House are willing to go to get a deal. I think with the president’s leadership on this, hopefully, we can get something done,” he said.
“But, all the Democrats are doing is stalling and doing nothing on this issue right now while hundreds of thousands of people every month are coming illegally into our country.”
Fox News’ Leland Vittert contributed to this report.
New Hampshire police said seven people were killed and three injured Friday when a pickup truck collided with several motorcycles on a two-lane road. Wochit
The tight-knit motorcycle community was reeling Sunday after a horrific collisionleft seven people dead and three injured in a remote area of northern New Hampshire.
The group of 10 motorcycles collided with a pickup towing a flatbed trailer on Route 2 around 6:30 p.m. Friday in the small town of Randolph. The pickup caught fire, and witnesses described the scene as “devastating.”
Members of the motorcycle community have already been offering to help victims’ families, said Cat Wilson, who organizes a motorcycle charity event in Massachusetts and is a friend of some of the victims.
“When something like this happens, we all feel it,” Wilson said. “There is no tighter community than our biker community.”
Investigators identified the pickup driver as Volodoymyr Zhukovskyy, 23, an employee of Westfield Transport, a company in Springfield, Massachusetts. Zhukovskyy survived the accident, did not need to be hospitalized and has not been charged, authorities said.
Dartanyan Gasanov, owner of Westfield Transport, told The Boston Globe that he planned to talk to investigators Monday and has been unable to reach Zhukovskyy.
Authorities have asked for the public’s help by providing any videos, photos or other information about the accident or the parties involved. One of the agencies investigating the crash is the National Transportation Safety Board.
“This is one of the worst tragic incidents that we have investigated here in the state,” New Hampshire State Police Col. Chris Wagner said. “It’s going to be a very lengthy investigation.”
Trump sends mixed messages on how he would respond to Iran downing a US drone before deciding to call off a retaliatory air strike; Karl Rove, Mo Elleithee, Emily Jashinsky and Howard Kurtz weigh in on the topic.
President Trump has faced criticism from his own party for not being tough enough on Iran, and now two of his potential 2020 opponents who have opposed escalation refused to credit him for exercising restraint.
After U.S. military officials said Iran shot down an unmanned U.S. drone in international airspace, Trump was evaluating plans for a counterstrike. Soon before it was set to take place, the president halted the operation, saying that the expected 150 deaths in Iran would have been too much.
“I don’t believe that anyone should receive credit for a crisis of their own making,” Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., said Sunday on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.” “There is no question in my mind that the current occupant of the White House, President Trump, put in place a series of events that led to that event.”
A recent wave of Iranian hostilities was believed to be a response to the president’s increased sanctions. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., warned that by not taking strong action against Iran, Trump may be sending the wrong message.
Also on “Face the Nation,” Harris’ fellow candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said that he would do “everything I can” to prevent war with Iran, but also criticized Trump. When asked if Trump deserved credit for not attacking, Sanders – like Harris — blamed Trump for the current state of affairs.
“See, it’s like somebody setting a fire to a basket full of paper and then putting it out,” Sanders said. “He helped create the crisis and then he stopped the attacks.”
When asked what she would do if she were in the White House, Harris said she would rejoin the Iran nuclear agreement, after Trump had pulled the U.S. out of it.
“I would strengthen it. I would include ballistic- ballistic missile testing,” Harris added. She also said, “I think that we can strengthen what we do in terms of monitoring and verification, of progress.”
Trump himself mentioned the need to cover ballistic missiles during a conversation with NBC News’ Chuck Todd that aired Sunday morning. The White House has said it aimed to force Iran back to the negotiating table with a “maximum-pressure campaign” of sanctions.
The pickup truck was towing a flatbed trailer of the kind used to haul cars when it collided with the bikers on Friday (yesterday, NZT) on US 2, a two-lane highway in Randolph, police said.
In his victory speech, Mr Imamoglu said the result marked a “new beginning” for both the city and the country.
“We are opening up a new page in Istanbul,” he said. “On this new page, there will be justice, equality, love.”
Image copyright EPA
Image caption
Opposition supporters celebrated after the results were announced
He added that he was willing to work with Mr Erdogan, saying: “Mr President, I am ready to work in harmony with you.”
Mr Imamoglu’s lead of more than 775,000 votes marks a huge increase on his victory in March, when he won by a margin of just 13,000.
President Erdogan – the most powerful leader Turkey has seen in modern times – has just been dealt the biggest blow of his career.
This result shows that he made an incredible miscalculation by calling for the election to be re-run.
It will likely hasten splits in his ruling AK party and amplify talk of the post-Erdogan era. He will stress that he’s in power for the foreseeable future – elections are not scheduled until 2023 – but many will expect them earlier.
The result in Istanbul feels like it could be a precursor to them.
So how did the opposition win? Ekrem Imamoglu gave people the profoundly positive message they craved and rebuffed smears with smiles.
It was hugely effective, and showed the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has finally worked out how to counter the president.
They have waited 25 years to control this city and have long felt incapable of success. They are savouring this moment – after all, it could be a watershed one.
Who were the candidates?
Mr Imamoglu, 49, is from the secular Republican People’s Party and is mayor of Istanbul’s Beylikduzu district.
But his name was barely known before he ran for mayor in the March election.
Image copyright EPA
Image caption
Binali Yildirim is an Erdogan loyalist
Mr Yildirim was a founding member of Mr Erdogan’s AKP and was prime minister from 2016 until 2018, when Turkey became a presidential democracy and the role ceased to exist.
He was elected Speaker of the new parliament in February and before that served as minister of transportation and communication.
Why was the previous result annulled?
Mr Imamoglu’s narrow victory of 13,000 votes in March was not enough for Mr Yildirim to accept defeat.
The ruling party alleged that votes were stolen and many ballot box observers did not have official approval, leading the election board to demand a re-run of the vote.
Critics argue that pressure from President Erdogan was behind the decision.
Image copyright AFP
Jubilation on the streets
By Cagil Kasapoglu, BBC Turkish, Istanbul
Hundreds of supporters of Mr Imamoglu have gathered here in his stronghold, Besiktas.
The cautious optimism that was prevalent during the early stages of vote counting has given way to a mood of total jubilation.
Hopeful youngsters are celebrating and proudly waving Turkish flags. Others are holding banners with pictures of Atatürk – the founder of the modern Turkish republic – on them. Some people are even wearing masks of Mr Imamoglu.
Many of these young people have only ever known President Erdogan’s AK party in government.
For them, this is an opportunity to push for change across the country.
“Many young people desperately want to leave Turkey,” Ayca Yilmaz, a 22-year-old university student tells me. “But now, we might consider staying here. We are hopeful once again.”
Why is this election so important?
Mr Erdogan, who is from Istanbul, was elected mayor in 1994.
He founded the AKP in 2001 and served as prime minister between 2003 and 2014, before becoming president.
Image copyright AFP
Image caption
Mr Erdogan, seen voting, is a native of Istanbul and a former mayor of the city
But cracks in the party are now beginning to show and analysts suggest these could be exacerbated by this loss.
“Erdogan is extremely worried,” Murat Yetkin, a journalist and writer, said ahead of the vote.
“He is playing every card he has. If he loses, by whatever margin, it’s the end of his steady political rise over the past quarter of a century,” he added.
“In reality, he’ll still be president, his coalition will still control parliament – although many will perceive his defeat as the beginning of the end for him.”
In a Sunday interview on “Meet the Press,” Trump revealed that he recently had “a great conversation” with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in which he did not raise the issue of the U.N. report or Khashoggi’s killing in October.
“I think it’s been heavily investigated,” Trump said, when host Chuck Todd asked whether he would order the FBI to investigate, as the United Nations has recommended. “I’ve seen so many different reports.”
It was the latest instance of Trump prioritizing strategic and financial interest in the kingdom over the intelligence community’s assessment and concerns from his own party, which hold Mohammed primarily responsible for the killing of the dissident, who was a Virginia resident.
Although U.N. investigator Agnes Callamard did not find a “smoking gun” incriminating the crown prince, her report says that “every expert consulted finds it inconceivable that an operation of this scale could be implemented without the Crown Prince being aware, at a minimum, that some sort of mission of a criminal nature, directed at Mr. Khashoggi, was being launched.”
“Mr. Khashoggi’s killing constituted an extrajudicial killing for which the State of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is responsible,” the report states.
Soon after the CIA revealed those findings, Trump issued a statement that his administration was “standing by Saudi Arabia” for strategic reasons having to do with Iran and because it had agreed to invest “a record amount of money” in the United States. As for Mohammed’s involvement in the death, the statement reads: “It could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event — maybe he did and maybe he didn’t!”
There were echoes of that justification on Sunday as the president said he remained focused on the business and strategic relationship with Saudi Arabia, which the administration considers a key ally in the Middle East and says “serves as a bulwark against Iran and its proxies’ malign activities in the region.”
Trump’s interview comes as tensions with Iran have escalated following explosions on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman and the downing of a U.S. drone, both of which the administration has blamed on Iran.
“I’m not like a fool that says, ‘We don’t want to do business with them,’ ” he said when pressed about the humanitarian concerns raised against Saudi Arabia’s leadership. “Take their money. Take their money, Chuck.”
“We’re going to protect Saudi Arabia,” he said. “Look, Saudi Arabia is buying $400 billion worth of things for us. That’s a very good thing.”
Trump added: “They buy massive amounts, $150 billion worth of military equipment that, by the way, we use. We use that military equipment. And unlike other countries that don’t have money and we have to subsidize everything. So Saudi Arabia is a big buyer of American product. That means something to me. It’s a big producer of jobs.”
And on Thursday, it voted to block planned arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, a move the White House has said the president will veto.
Unlike members of Congress, who can spend long stretches away from the job without being missed, mayors and governors are on point and get held accountable for all of the many things that can go wrong in their absence, be it natural disaster, a police shooting, municipal strike or other calamity.
Remnants of an aircraft lies on the ground near a fence that surrounds Dillingham Airfield in Mokuleia , Hawaii on Friday, June 21, 2019.
HONOLULU (AP) – – Casey Williamson’s love of adventure led him to winter snowboarding in Vail, Colorado, and summer skydiving in Moab, Utah. A year-and-a-half ago, he found his way to Hawaii where he could skydive year-round.
On Friday, the 29-year-old was among 11 killed when their skydiving plane crashed and burned at a coastal airfield on the island of Oahu. No one on board survived.
It was the worst civilian aviation accident in the U.S. since 2011.
Williamson’s cousin Natacha Mendenhall says Williamson was his mother Carla Ajaga’s only child.
She says the family is very upset. She says his mother wants everyone to know how full of life and how loving her son was.
President Donald Trump has warned Iran that a war with the U.S. would be “obliteration like you’ve never seen before” after calling off a planned strike on the Persian Gulf nation late last week.
In an interview with NBC News’ Meet the Pressaired on Sunday morning, Trump was asked by host Chuck Todd to send a message directly to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei. The president responded by saying he doesn’t want war, but stated confidently that Iran would not stand a chance in any military confrontation.
“I’m not looking for war and if there is, it’ll be obliteration like you’ve never seen before,” Trump said. “But I’m not looking to do that, but you can’t have a nuclear weapon. You want to talk, good. Otherwise you’re gonna have a bad economy for the next three years.”
Todd interjected: “No preconditions?”
“Not as far as I’m concerned,” the president replied. “No preconditions.” He then reiterated that he was ready to talk with Iranian leaders, otherwise they would be forced to live in a “shattered economy for a long time to come.”
The president also told Todd that he has “doves and hawks” in his administration, saying that “[National Security Adviser] John Bolton is absolutely a hawk. If it was up to him he’d take on the whole world at one time.”
Trump said on Friday that he was “cocked and loaded” to carry out a series of military strikes on Iran after the Persian Gulf nation shot down a U.S. drone it alleged had entered its airspace (Washington has maintained that the drone was over international waters).
The strikes were set to be carried out on in against targets in Iran during the early morning hours, local time, Friday. However, the president said he called off the attack with 10 minutes to spare when he was informed an estimated 150 people would be killed.
Vice President Mike Pence said Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union that the Trump administration was also not convinced that the strike against the drone had been authorized by Irani leaders in Tehran.
While Trump insisted in his interview with Meet the Press that his red line was Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon, many experts have argued that the president’s policies have actually made that more likely. Consistent reports from the United Nations nuclear watchdog had confirmed until recently that Iran remained in compliance with the terms of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal.
Under that international treaty – which was signed by the administration of former President Barack Obama, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the European Union, Russia and China – Iran agreed to curb its nuclear capabilities in exchange for sanctions relief and international investment. Even Trump’s own intelligence leaders said earlier this year that the deal had effectively halted Iran’s nuclear capabilities, despite Trump withdrawing from the international treaty last May.
Washington has since moved to implement harsh sanctions targeting Iran’s economy, leading to significant problems for the Persian Gulf nation. Close U.S. allies in Europe have been critical of Trump’s decision to walk away from the JCPOA and have worked with Russia, China and Iran to avoid the repercussions of sanctions. But as sanctions have taken their toll, Iranian leaders announced last month that they would begin stepping back from their commitments under the JCPOA. They also said last week that they would disregard all restrictions on uranium enrichment, meaning they would surpass limits set by the nuclear deal by the end of the month.
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has repeatedly accused the U.S. of committing “economic terrorism” against his country. Ayatollah Khamenei has also previously said that any discussions with the Trump administration are off the table, with other leaders saying that Tehran would only be willing to talk if the White House returned to the 2015 agreement.
In his victory speech, Mr Imamoglu said the result marked a “new beginning” for both the city and the country.
“We are opening up a new page in Istanbul,” he said. “On this new page, there will be justice, equality, love.”
He added that he was willing to work with Mr Erdogan, saying: “Mr President, I am ready to work in harmony with you.”
Mr Imamoglu’s lead of more than 775,000 votes marks a huge increase on his victory in March, when he won by just 13,000.
Who were the candidates?
Mr Imamoglu, 49, is from the secular Republican People’s Party and is mayor of Istanbul’s Beylikduzu district.
But his name was barely known before he ran for mayor in the March election.
Image copyright EPA
Image caption
Binali Yildirim is an Erdogan loyalist
Mr Yildirim was a founding member of Mr Erdogan’s AKP and was prime minister from 2016 until 2018, when Turkey became a presidential democracy and the role ceased to exist.
He was elected Speaker of the new parliament in February and before that served as minister of transportation and communication.
Why was the previous result annulled?
Mr Imamoglu’s narrow victory of 13,000 votes in March was not enough for Mr Yildirim to accept defeat.
The ruling party alleged that votes were stolen and many ballot box observers did not have official approval, leading the election board to demand a re-run of he vote.
Critics argue that pressure from President Erdogan was behind the decision.
Why is this election so important?
Mr Erdogan, who is from Istanbul, was elected mayor in 1994.
He founded the AKP in 2001 and served as prime minister between 2003 and 2014, before becoming president.
Image copyright AFP
Image caption
Mr Erdogan, seen voting, is a native of Istanbul and a former mayor of the city
But cracks in the party are now beginning to show and analysts suggest these could be exacerbated by this loss.
“Erdogan is extremely worried,” Murat Yetkin, a journalist and writer, said ahead of the vote.
“He is playing every card he has. If he loses, by whatever margin, it’s the end of his steady political rise over the past quarter of a century,” he added.
“In reality, he’ll still be president, his coalition will still control parliament – although many will perceive his defeat as the beginning of the end for him.”
New Hampshire police said seven people were killed and three injured Friday when a pickup truck collided with several motorcycles on a two-lane road. Wochit
The tight-knit motorcycle community was reeling Sunday after a horrific collisionleft seven people dead and three injured in a remote area of northern New Hampshire.
The group of 10 motorcycles collided with a pickup towing a flatbed trailer on Route 2 around 6:30 p.m. Friday in the small town of Randolph. The pickup caught fire, and witnesses described the scene as “devastating.”
“It was just all fire,” Brindley told WMUR. “I just looked around. Somebody helped me up. I was just hysterical.”
Authorities searched for clues to the accident Sunday and were working to identify the dead. Two of the three people injured and taken to hospitals were released Saturday.
The crash involved members of Marine Jarheads MC, a motorcycle club in New England that includes Marines and their spouses.
Members of the motorcycle community have already been offering to help victims’ families, said Cat Wilson, who organizes a motorcycle charity event in Massachusetts and is a friend of some of the victims.
“When something like this happens, we all feel it,” Wilson said. “There is no tighter community than our biker community.”
Investigators identified the pickup driver as Volodoymyr Zhukovskyy, 23, an employee of Westfield Transport, a company in Springfield, Massachusetts. Zhukovskyy survived the accident, did not need to be hospitalized and has not been charged, authorities said.
Dartanyan Gasanov, owner of Westfield Transport, told The Boston Globe that he planned to talk to investigators Monday and has been unable to reach Zhukovskyy.
Authorities have asked for the public’s help by providing any videos, photos or other information about the accident or the parties involved. One of the agencies investigating the crash is the National Transportation Safety Board.
“This is one of the worst tragic incidents that we have investigated here in the state,” New Hampshire State Police Col. Chris Wagner said. “It’s going to be a very lengthy investigation.”
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