Democrats and the media bash Attorney General Bill Barr and President Trump over their ‘political interference’ in the Roger Stone’s sentencing; Rep. Devin Nunes joins ‘Fox & Friends.’
House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Devin Nunes, R-Calif., fired back at Democrats who criticized Attorney General William Barr for his role in former Trump associate Roger Stone‘s sentencing and defended the president’s use of Twitter after he used the platform to comment about the ongoing criminal case.
“What’s happening here with Barr, I think people need to understand that he’s cleaning up the mess from not only the Obama administration, but also the mess that was left with the whole Russia-gate fiasco,” Nunes told “Fox & Friends Weekend,” saying taxpayers paid tens of millions of dollars to fund then-Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team “that went chasing and trying to put us into a status of a permanent coup against the president of the United States.”
Nunes’ comments came days after Barr himself publicly swiped at Trump, declaring Thursday that the president’s tweets about Justice Department prosecutors and open cases “make it impossible for me to do my job.”
Barr made the comment during an interview with ABC News just days after his Justice Department overruled its own prosecutors — who had recommended in a court filing that Stone be sentenced to as many as nine years in prison — and took the extraordinary step of lowering the amount of prison time it would seek. The department didn’t offer an amended number.
Barr himself has been under fire for the reversal. Still, it was a highly unusual move for a member of President Trump’s Cabinet to criticize the president.
“I think what the attorney general said was very clear, that the president should be careful making comments about criminal investigations. One should not see that as anything other than but what it is,” Nunez said, adding that Barr “didn’t say to stop tweeting, because the fact of the matter is, with 90 percent of the media being hard left and really just working for the Democratic Party, the president has to be able to tweet.”
Earlier in the week, Trump applauded Barr on Twitter for the decision to reverse the sentencing recommendation, writing: “Congratulations to Attorney General Bill Barr for taking charge of a case that was totally out of control and perhaps should not have even been brought.”
“He’s built a powerful tool reaching millions of Americans, millions of people around the globe,” Nunes added, “so the president has to tweet. At the same time, the attorney general has to be able to do his job.”
He also said, “It’s understandable that the president can be frustrated,” and called Stone’s dramatic early-morning arrest by federal agents in January 2019 “ridiculous.”
“He’s built a powerful tool reaching millions of Americans, millions of people around the globe… the president has to tweet.”
— Devin Nunes on ‘Fox & Friends Weekend’
Nunes credited Barr for doing all he could with the resources at hand to clean up the DOJ and restore the public’s trust in the institution.
“What the American people have to understand is that this is not going to be cleaned up overnight,” Nunes explained. “There’s a lot of damage that has been done, and the left is very good at seeding people in. Remember, the Mueller team was $40 million. We have people within DOJ, dirty cops in the FBI, all over the government. We know what challenges the White House is dealing with all the Obama holdovers in the National Security Council…”
“This is not going to be cleaned up,” he continued, “and I think what conservatives and the American people have to understand, there’s not some magic ‘Hail Mary’ pass. It’s about being in the trenches, one yard and a cloud of dust every single day to try to root these people out of government. And, Attorney General Barr and us in Congress have a difficult job ahead.”
Fox News’ Andrew O’Reilly contributed to this report.
The number of new coronavirus cases dropped to a three-week low, according to official data released on Monday. Experts said the dip was largely because of the lockdown measures the Chinese government has imposed on several cities to keep the spread of the virus at bay.
On Monday, the government of China reported 2,048 new infections — one-fifth the number of cases from a week ago — and 105 new deaths over the previous 24 hours. The number of new coronavirus cases reported in China had started to level off around Feb. 6, suggesting that the outbreak might be slowing. But last Thursday, officials added more than 14,840 new cases to the tally of the infected in Hubei Province, the center of the outbreak, after it changed the criteria for diagnosing patients.
The trend suggests that the epidemic that once seemed hopelessly out of control a few weeks ago could be contained — at least, for now.
“The measures taken have been extraordinary and we are seeing the effects,” said Raina MacIntyre, the head of biosecurity research at the Kirby Institute at the University of New South Wales.
What do you need to know? Start here.
Updated Feb. 10, 2020
What is a Coronavirus? It is a novel virus named for the crown-like spikes that protrude from its surface. The coronavirus can infect both animals and people, and can cause a range of respiratory illnesses from the common cold to more dangerous conditions like Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS.
How contagious is the virus? According to preliminary research, it seems moderately infectious, similar to SARS, and is possibly transmitted through the air. Scientists have estimated that each infected person could spread it to somewhere between 1.5 and 3.5 people without effective containment measures.
Where has the virus spread? The virus originated in Wuhan, China, and has sickened tens of thousands of people in China and at least two dozen other countries.
How worried should I be? While the virus is a serious public health concern, the risk to most people outside China remains very low, and seasonal flu is a more immediate threat.
Who is working to contain the virus? World Health Organization officials have praised China’s aggressive response to the virus by closing transportation, schools and markets. This week, a team of experts from the W.H.O. arrived in Beijing to offer assistance.
What if I’m traveling? The United States and Australia are temporarily denying entry to noncitizens who recently traveled to China and several airlines have canceled flights.
How do I keep myself and others safe? Washing your hands frequently is the most important thing you can do, along with staying at home when you’re sick.
China has sealed off several cities, threatened quarantine violators with stiff punishments and rounded up sick people in mass quarantine centers in Wuhan.
But public health experts caution that the worstis not over.
Some experts view the figures reported by China with some skepticism. The government has a history of covering up data that makes it look bad and has an incentive to underreport the figures.
Public health experts say the coronavirus is also extremely contagious, more so than the virus that caused the SARS outbreak of 2002-2003, and may be more difficult to curtail.
The bodies of two snowmobilers who died in an avalanche in Colorado over the weekend were found Sunday, authorities said.
The Eagle County Sheriff’s Office identified the victims as Dillon Block, 28, and Cesar Almanza-Hernandez, 30, both of Gypsum, Colorado.
The avalanche occurred Saturday just below 10,000 feet on a mountain in Eagle County, north of Vail, the Colorado Avalanche Information Center said in a statement.
The avalanche — which was 650 feet wide and 120 feet tall — carried the riders into a gully, where they were completely buried, the information center said.
A third rider who was partly buried was able to free himself and alert authorities shortly before 5 p.m., the information center said.
“Let me tell you something: The way Michael Bloomberg treated employees, female employees who were under his wing . . . to have created that kind of culture, that unsafe workplace, to feel that you’re being harassed because of your gender, that is problematic, and I think you’re going to hear more of it,” Conway said on “Fox News Sunday.”
“America’s still not ready to elect a gay guy kissing his husband on the debate stage president,” he asserted. That remark is not supported by polling data, which implies that Buttigieg’s age would be more of a liability for him than his sexuality. In a recent Gallup poll, 78 percent of Americans said that they would vote for a “well-qualified” gay person or lesbian for president, more than those who said they could vote for someone under 40, over 70, Muslim, or atheist.
Hundreds of Americans quarantined on a cruise ship, for more than a week due to a coronavirus outbreak on board will have the chance to evacuate, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention according to a report; Fox News medical contributor Dr. Marc Siegel weighs in.
Hundreds of American passengers who had been quarantined on the coronavirus-infected Diamond Princess cruise ship left Japan Monday on two State Department-chartered planes en route to the United States — with 14 of the passengers infected and isolated in a “specialized containment area.”
“During the evacuation process, after passengers had disembarked the ship and initiated transport to the airport, U.S. officials received notice that 14 passengers, who had been tested 2-3 days earlier, had tested positive for COVID-19. These individuals were moved in the most expeditious and safe manner to a specialized containment area on the evacuation aircraft to isolate them in accordance with standard protocols,” the U.S. Department of State said in a release.
“After consultation with [Health and Human Services] HHS officials, including experts from the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, the State Department made the decision to allow the 14 individuals, who were in isolation, separated from other passengers, and continued to be asymptomatic, to remain on the aircraft to complete the evacuation process,” it added.
Some 46 Americans who tested positive on the cruise ship remain behind in Japan.
The first flight is scheduled to arrive at Travis Air Force Base in California around 2 a.m. ET on Monday, with the second landing at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas sometime between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m.
The 46 Americans who tested positive on the cruise ship were told to remain in Japan to be treated for the virus that has killed an estimated 1,765 people and infected over 70,000 globally, according to Princess Cruise media relations. Buses had transported U.S passengers from the ship to Haneda Airport in Tokyo.
Buses carrying passengers from the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship leaving a port in Yokohama on Monday. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Health officials said they screened all passengers prior to boarding the flights and no symptomatic or infected travelers were allowed onboard.
So far, 355 people have tested positive for the virus on the Diamond Princess after doctors found 67 new cases Saturday.
An airplane chartered by the U.S. government taking off at Haneda Airport in Tokyo with U.S. passengers who were aboard the quarantined cruise ship. (Sadayuki Goto/Kyodo News via AP)
About 380 Americans and family members were on the ship when it was quarantined on Feb. 5. It’s unclear exactly how many U.S. citizens have tested positive for the virus other than the 46 reportedly infected.
“All travelers on these flights were screened for symptoms prior to departure and will be subject to [the] Centers for Disease Control (CDC) screening, health observation, and monitoring requirements. Only those who were asymptomatic were allowed to board the flights,” a State Department spokesperson said.
A bus carrying U.S. passengers who were aboard the quarantined cruise ship the Diamond Princess arriving at Haneda Airport in Tokyo. (Sadayuki Goto/Kyodo News via AP)
Passengers were quarantined for 14 days on the ship, which is considered the virus’s incubation period. They are expected to be quarantined for 14 additional days upon arrival at either base.
The bases in California and Texas were selected to ensure facilities were available immediately to treat their medical needs, according to the U.S. Embassy in Toyko.
Buses carrying U.S. passengers who were aboard the quarantined cruise ship the Diamond Princess, seen in the background. (Jun Hirata/Kyodo News via AP)
The chartered flights were the only opportunities for passengers to fly to the U.S until March 4, embassy officials said. The remaining passengers are expected to depart the ship this coming Wednesday.
Fox News’ Vicki Choi and Rich Edson contributed to this report.
President Trump has congratulated Attorney General William Barr for “taking charge” of the Roger Stone case.
Susan Walsh/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Susan Walsh/AP
President Trump has congratulated Attorney General William Barr for “taking charge” of the Roger Stone case.
Susan Walsh/AP
More than 1,100 former Department of Justice officials are calling on Attorney General William Barr to resign after his department lowered the prison sentence recommendation for Roger Stone, a longtime ally of President Trump, in a move that’s led to accusations of political interference.
In a letter released Sunday, the former DOJ officials, who have worked across Republican and Democratic administrations, wrote that Barr’s intervention in the Stone case has tarnished the department’s reputation.
“Such behavior is a grave threat to the fair administration of justice,” the former officials wrote. “In this nation, we are all equal before the law. A person should not be given special treatment in a criminal prosecution because they are a close political ally of the President. Governments that use the enormous power of law enforcement to punish their enemies and reward their allies are not constitutional republics; they are autocracies.”
On Monday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington had recommended a prison sentence of up to nine years for Stone’s 2019 conviction on charges including making false statements to Congress and witness tampering.
On Twitter, Trump said the sentencing recommendation amounted to “a horrible and very unfair situation.”
But then on Tuesday, the Justice Department intervened, ordering a new sentencing memo and calling for lighter punishment. A senior DOJ official told NPR that officials were “shocked” at the original recommendation.
Four line prosecutors then quit the case.
The next day, Trump congratulated Barr on Twitter “for taking charge” of the Stone case.
Congratulations to Attorney General Bill Barr for taking charge of a case that was totally out of control and perhaps should not have even been brought. Evidence now clearly shows that the Mueller Scam was improperly brought & tainted. Even Bob Mueller lied to Congress!
To Julie Zebrak, who’s among the former DOJ officials who signed the letter, Barr’s behavior shatters a cardinal norm that has been in place for decades: that the Justice Department’s prosecutorial decisions should not be influenced by the White House.
Zebrak told NPR that Barr’s move “sent shockwaves through the former DOJ alumni.”
She added: “We are all watching in a really rapid and terrifying way the undermining of the department and the diminishment of the rule of law. We have to sort of speak up and speak out when we can.”
A spokeswoman for the Department of Justice declined to comment.
Stone is set to be sentenced on Thursday. It will ultimately be up to U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who presiding over Stone’s trial, to hand down his punishment.
Barr has denied discussing with Trump the decision to intervene in the Stone case. In an interview Thursday with ABC News, Barr took the exceedingly rare step of criticizing Trump as a sitting member of the president’s cabinet. Barr said he would like Trump to “stop tweeting,” since the president’s commentary makes it “impossible” to do his job.
Justice Department officials did inform the White House about the interview before it aired, a person familiar with the matter told NPR.
Yet the hundreds of former DOJ officials admonished Barr for the appearance of carrying out a political favor for Trump.
“Mr. Barr’s actions in doing the President’s personal bidding unfortunately speak louder than his words,” the letter says.
The letter also asks current Justice Department officials to push back against actions seen as violating their oath of office, much like the “heroic” four prosecutors who withdrew from the Stone case.
Current DOJ staff, according to the former department officials, should “be prepared to report future abuses” to the Inspector General, the Office of Professional Responsibility and Congress.
“We likewise call on the other branches of government to protect from retaliation those employees who uphold their oaths in the face of unlawful directives,” the letter says. “The rule of law and the survival of our Republic demand nothing less.”
The letter was organized by the nonprofit legal organization Protect Democracy, which in the past said that Trump’s conduct described in the Mueller report would be sufficient for felony charges for obstruction of justice.
Barr is scheduled to testify in front of the Democratic-controlled House Judiciary Committee on March 31.
Kate Marshall (D) said in a statement that Biden would help break “gridlock” in Washington and bridge partisan divides, a theme the Biden has echoed since the start of his campaign.
“In a moment of such intense partisanship and division, the most radical message we as Democrats can offer is one of unity and moving past the Washington gridlock. Joe embodies that spirit and gives me hope that we as a country can move past our current political climate,” said Marshall.
“Joe Biden stands out for his experience in invoking big, progressive change on challenging issues like health care, domestic violence, and protecting the environment,” she added.
Marshall’s endorsement marks the highest-profile endorsement for a 2020 campaign from a Nevada state official, as the state’s governor, Steve Sisolak (D), has declined to endorse a candidate ahead of this week’s caucuses.
The U.S. “maximum pressure” policy aimed at isolating Iran will not work, but the regime would be willing to negotiate if the Trump administration returns to the Iranian nuclear deal and drops economic sanctions, President Hassan Rouhani said Sunday.
“Of course, sanctions naturally create some problems, but they will not yield any results for the enemies,” Rouhani told state media. “Maximum pressure has failed. We are in a better situation in the region now.”
Rouhani said he doesn’t think President Donald Trump wants a war with Iran because it would “ruin” his reelection chances.
In a rare bipartisan effort to curb Trump’s powers, eight Senate Republicans aligned with Democrats last week to support legislation that would restrict the president’s ability to wage war with Iran. The measure, which goes to the House, reflected lawmakers’ concerns that U.S. tensions with Iran could escalate into a full-fledged war.
“I think the Americans aren’t after war since they know what harm it could do them,” Rouhani said.
Talks could take place if the U.S. drops the crippling sanctions and complies with the commitments of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action negotiated by the Obama administration between Iran and global powers, Rouhani said. Trump repeatedly railed against the deal on the election trail and, as president, pulled the U.S. out.
Trump has, however, repeatedly expressed interest in holding talks with Iran. The State Department did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment on Rouhani’s statements.
Rouhani said Iran was forced to scale back its commitments to the nuclear deal after other parties to the agreement had to curb their involvement following the U.S. withdrawal.
Rouhani expressed little interest in the U.S. elections, saying there is no difference for Iran between the Democrats and Republicans. Tehran, he said, cares only about its national interests.
“We will never sit at the negotiating table with a weak position,” Rouhani said.
One, however, did not make it much farther than the thermal scanners at the airport in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The passenger, an American, was stopped on Saturday, and later tested positive for the coronavirus.
With passengers already headed for destinations on at least three continents, health officials are scrambling to determine how a big a problem they now have — and how to stop it from getting bigger.
With more than a thousand passengers from the Westerdam headed for home, experts said, it may be harder than ever to keep the coronavirus outbreak contained to China.
It is unclear how well the passengers were screened before they were allowed off the ship. But the best approach to containing a broader spread of the virus from the Westerdam would be to track down all of the passengers and quarantine them for two weeks, experts said.
Buses arrive at Yokohama Port, near Tokyo, as the Japan Self-Defense Forces prepare to move American passengers from the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship on Sunday.
Jae C. Hong/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jae C. Hong/AP
Buses arrive at Yokohama Port, near Tokyo, as the Japan Self-Defense Forces prepare to move American passengers from the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship on Sunday.
Jae C. Hong/AP
Another 70 cases of the coronavirus infection have been confirmed aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship, currently quarantined in Japan, according to Japanese health officials.
This brings the total number of cases aboard the vessel as of Sunday to 355, the largest confirmed cluster outside mainland China. People with confirmed infections have been taken to hospitals in Japan.
After the ship’s two weeks of quarantine at sea, officials from various countries, including Canada, Italy, Hong Kong and South Korea, are in the process of extracting their citizens from the vessel. The Diamond Princess is reported to have around 3,700 passengers and crew members.About half the passengers are from Japan, according to Reuters.
Approximately 400 U.S. citizens are aboard the Diamond Princess. According to Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, 44 Americans on the cruise ship have been infected, though not all are sick.
The U.S. State Department has organized a charter flight to evacuate Americans as early as Sunday evening. Only those who are not currently showing symptoms of infection with the virus will be allowed to return to the U.S., where they will face two weeks of quarantine at military bases in California and Texas.
Americans who are sick will stay in Japan to be treated. Those who are not infected are not required to board the U.S. chartered flight, but the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo has recommended that U.S. citizens get off the ship as soon as possible and take the chartered flight home.
“We’re excited and relieved [to return to the U.S.],” John Montgomery, a passenger on the Diamond Princess, told NPR. “The fact that we’re going back to the United States to have a quarantine, we feel there’s a much better situation.”
Montgomery is accompanied by his wife, Carol, who is also a U.S. citizen. He told NPR that they both “feel fine” and are prepared to remain in quarantine after returning to the United States.
“We understand why through an abundance of caution that an additional testing and evaluation and quarantine would guarantee that we’re not bringing it back to the States,” Montgomery told NPR.
The Diamond Princess, owned by Carnival Corp., went into quarantine on Feb. 3, after a man who disembarked in Hong Kong was diagnosed with the virus two weeks ago.
The ship is currently being held in the Japanese port of Yokohama near Tokyo. Originally, Japan said that the quarantine would be over on Feb. 19, but as more and more cases aboard the ship have been confirmed, local officials now say that only people who test negative for the COVID-19 virus will be released.
On Sunday, Japan reported six new cases of the coronavirus outside the Diamond Princess cluster. This brings Japan’s total number of in-land infections to 59, according to NHK, Japan’s public broadcaster.
In Hong Kong, the resumption of academic classes has been pushed back another month, while municipal workers will work from home for at least another week. Classes were first suspended in January, when officials decided to extend the Lunar New Year holiday. Since then, the return date has been pushed back several times. According to Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung, classes are now scheduled to resume on March 16.
Meanwhile, another cruise ship, the MS Westerdam, reported its first coronavirus case on Sunday — an 83-year-old American woman who had been a passenger. Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Wan Azizah Wan Ismail told reporters on Sunday that the passenger tested positive for the coronavirus twice after landing in Kuala Lumpur, the country’s capital.
The ship was thought to be free of the virus when it docked in the Cambodian port of Sihanoukville on Friday, after being turned away from five other ports in Japan, Taiwan, Guam, the Philippines and Thailand. Passengers were screened by Cambodian health officials before they were allowed to disembark. Now, authorities fear that other released passengers might also be infected, further spreading the virus.
Malaysian officials said the country will not allow any more passengers from the MS Westerdam to enter the country and has barred cruise ships that come from or make contact with any Chinese ports from docking.
According to the Malaysian Health Ministry, 145 passengers aboard the MS Westerdam flew to Malaysia after the ship docked in Cambodia. The 83-year-old American woman and her husband, who is also an American citizen, were the only passengers to arrive in Malaysia who exhibited symptoms.
The woman is currently in stable condition and is being treated in a hospital isolation ward, according to Malaysian health officials. Her husband, who is 85 years old, has tested negative for the virus but is still being monitored for changes in condition.
Figures from China, released on Sunday, showed 68,500 cases of COVID-19 and 1,665 deaths, mostly in Hubei province, according to China’s National Health Commission.
A World Health Organization delegation is currently in China to help investigate the country’s coronavirus epidemic, according to a tweet posted by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Sunday.
According to another tweet by Tedros, an advance team for the delegation left for China on Feb. 9. The team is led by Bruce Aylward, a Canadian epidemiologist and emergencies expert.
The emergence of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders as one of the top 2020 presidential contenders isn’t the only thing that arose from the first Democratic elections of the primary—so did the likelihood for a contested convention.
Although months away with an endless number of twist and turns yet to play out, there is a more than a one-third chance that no candidate wins a majority of the pledged delegates, according to FiveThirtyEight’s forecast, which could result in a contested convention. Democrats fear how such a chaotic scenario would unfold on live T.V.: World War III on the floor of the Democratic National Convention.
“This thing is a mess,” Chris Kofinis, a longtime Democratic strategist, told Newsweek. “The possibility that it could happen could really tear the party apart.”
More importantly, a contested convention—or sometimes referred to as a “brokered” convention—means that although someone wins the plurality of delegates, they won’t necessarily be the nominee. A first round of delegate voting with no majority candidate means the process spills over into round two, yielding the added wildcard of powerful superdelegates.
The scenario where a candidate wins the plurality but loses the nomination is perhaps most likely to occur for Sanders, a self-described Democratic socialist arousing deep fears within the moderate wing of the party about what his name and liberal policies at the top of the ticket could mean for Democrats across the country.
But snubbing Sanders of a victory—something many of his supporters believe took place in 2016 against Hillary Clinton, who was backed by the establishment and most superdelegates—in such a situation would fracture the party and potentially deny Democrats the ability to oust President Donald Trump from office.
What could be even worse for Democrats’ re-election chances and aptitude to defeat the president, strategists warn, is not coalescing around whomever proves victorious by the primary’s conclusion—contested convention or not.
“People in the party are underestimating the consequences if the person with the most delegates doesn’t become the nominee, despite who that person is,” Kofinis said. “There’s anxiety in the party about this.”
Adrienne Elrod, a former senior adviser to Clinton’s presidential bids, said there should be “no tolerance” for “anything but unity” when it comes to a nominee. That includes Sanders.
“There’s way too much at stake. We’re not running against a Mitt Romney or a moderate, like John McCain,” the Democratic strategist told Newsweek. “We’re running against the most dangerous president to ever occupy the White House.”
With delegates divvied up among so many potential nominees, it becomes more difficult for any one candidate to stand out. And the larger group of moderate, more centrist hopefuls—former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, former Vice President Joe Biden, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg—make it difficult for any one of them to surpass Sanders and win at least 1,991 out of 3,979 pledged delegates.
Sanders’ biggest opponent standing in his way with the party’s most progressive voters is Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. She’s currently in third, trailing Buttigieg and Sanders.
“There is nobody that’s seemingly emerging or could potentially emerge as the standard bearer for all the factions of the party,” Kofinis explained. “The longer that goes, the more these far-fetched scenarios about a contested convention and other candidates that sound implausible are going to start sounding plausible.”
In snubbing Sanders the nomination at a contested convention, there exists the scenario where any moderate candidates still in the race could urge their delegates to coalesce around one of them to obtain a majority, alleviating vulnerable Democrats’ greatest fear that he might cost them the White House, jeopardize their House majority and push them further into the minority in the Senate.
“I respect Senator Sanders; I think he’s injected some important discourse in the democratic discussion. But would he impact House races, and would he perhaps undermine replacing Donald Trump in the White House because of the four, five, six states that really matter? Yes,” Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), who’s endorsed Klobuchar, told Newsweek.
“Many of us have that concern,” he expounded. “If this becomes a race not between Donald Trump and the Democratic nominee but between capitalism and socialism, that’s both unhealthy for the country and certainly unhealthy for Democrats.”
Sanders pushed back against the notion his nomination would endanger the dozens of at-risk congressional members, many of whom flipped House districts in 2018 won by Trump. He argued that his candidacy would increase voter turnout and help down-ballot races.
“When you vote, you grow the voter turnout and you bring working people into the political process and young people into the political process,” Sanders told Newsweek. “A large voter turnout is going to help everybody, from the top of the ticket to the bottom.”
Some of his top surrogates on Capitol Hill, like freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), are also trying to quell any fears from colleagues.
“I think there’s going to be concerns, no matter who the candidate is,” she told Newsweek.
“No one needs to be a clone of him,” added Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), another Democratic backer of Sanders. “If they’re in districts where they disagree, they can take positions that depart from him.”
Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Democratic National Committee chair during the 2016 primary, declined to speak about what a Sanders nomination or a contested convention would mean for the party. She will not be endorsing a candidate until after the primary, she added.
“We are a long way from knowing who are nominee will be,” Wasserman Schultz told reporters. “At this point, I am focused on making sure we can hold on to our House majority.”
The best way to avoid a contested convention? Know when to drop out
There remains yet to be a candidate who’s amassed a wide enough coalition to win the majority, the driving force behind concerns about a contested convention. Though Sanders won in New Hampshire, he underperformed in comparison to his 2016 performance and secured just one-fourth of the total delegates.
After Super Tuesday on March 3, roughly 40 percent of the delegates will be doled out, lending the likelihood more candidates will drop out and offer a more accurate depiction of who the front-runner is.
“I would have one word of caution for all of the Democratic campaigns: look at what happened four years ago on the Republican side,” New Hampshire Democratic strategist Jim Demers told Newsweek. “Candidates should think hard about when it’s time to get out of the race, rather than putting the party in a contested convention situation.”
Despite less than 2 percent of delegates awarded so far, the New Hampshire primary only heightened the credibility of those who say a contested convention is on the horizon. Progressive candidates Sanders and Warren totaled about 35 percent of the vote, while moderates Buttigieg, Klobuchar and Biden amassed roughly 52 percent.
Bloomberg, who will siphon delegates from other moderates, has yet to compete in a primary election, sitting out the early-voting states to instead focus his resources on Super Tuesday and swing states down the road.
“I just don’t want to see a convention where there’s a lot of horse trading going on and the party leaves fractured because somebody isn’t happy with the outcome,” Demers added.
Among the strategists Newsweek interviewed, Elrod had the most confidence a contested convention would be avoided. The chance, she predicted, is “very slim.”
“Voters’ disdain for Trump will be elevated this time around,” Elrod said, “no matter who the nominee is.”
“The reason for that is that the degree of transmissibility on that cruise ship is essentially akin to being in a hot spot,” Fauci added. “A lot of transmissibility on that cruise ship.”
Fauci stated said that if passengers who have not yet shown any sign of the coronavirus start to develop symptoms while in the air, “they’ll be segregated within the plane.”
The flight is due to depart from Japan later on Sunday.
The Diamond Princess has been quarantined in the Japanese port city of Yokohama since Feb. 3. At least 218 passengers, as of Saturday, have reportedly tested positive for the virus.
POLITICO first reported on Thursday that lawmakers, including Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.), pressured the Trump administration for an evacuation after Roe received a firsthand account from his friend, a primary care doctor who was stranded on board.
The coronavirus, officially named COVID-19, has infected nearly 70,000 people worldwide, mostly in China. The death toll stands at more than 1,600.
Pete Buttigieg is “not going to be lectured on family values from the likes of Rush Limbaugh or anybody who supports Donald J Trump as the moral as well as political leader of the United States”, the Democratic presidential contender said on Sunday.
Limbaugh, a conservative talk radio host controversially honoured by Trump, caused controversy this week when he questioned whether Americans were ready to vote for a gay candidate for president.
Speaking on Fox News Sunday, Buttigieg added: “America has moved on and we should have politics of belonging that welcomes everybody. That’s what the American people are for. And I am saddened for what the Republican party has become if they embrace that kind of homophobic rhetoric.”
During his State of the Union address earlier this month, Trump gave Limbaugh the nation’s top civilian honour, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In liberal circles, the decision met with widespread criticism.
Limbaugh, 69, who recently revealed he has advanced lung cancer, subsequently said on his radio show that if Buttigieg made the debates later this year, Americans would see a “37-year-old gay guy kissing his husband on stage, next to Mr Man, Donald Trump”.
Voters, he said, would conclude that “despite all the great wokeness and despite all the great ground that’s been covered, that America’s still not ready to elect a ‘gay guy kissing his husband on the debate stage’ president”.
Some Democratic voters, he added, might decide they should “get a gay guy kissing his husband on stage, ram it down Trump’s throat and beat him in the general election. Really? Having fun envisioning that.”
Former vice-president Joe Biden, competing for the Democratic nomination, called Limbaugh’s comments “part of the depravity of this administration”.
Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican senator and key Trump ally, said Limbaugh had made “a miscalculation as to where the country is at”.
Asked if Limbaugh should retain the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Graham said: “Well, my God. Free speech still exists.”
Trump also distanced himself from the remarks by his supporter and sometime onstage companion, telling a podcast host that though some Americans wouldn’t vote for a gay president, “I wouldn’t be among that group, to be honest with you.”
Buttigieg told Fox News Sunday that when he came out during a mayoral re-election campaign, he received more support than he did in his first race.
He also responded to Limbaugh’s remarks on CNN’s State of the Union.
“I love my husband,” he said, of Chasten Buttigieg, who he married in 2018 and who like any politician’s spouse regularly appears onstage at campaign events.
“I’m faithful to my husband. Onstage we usually just go for the hug. But I love him very much and I’m not going to take lectures on family values from the likes of Rush Limbaugh.”
JACKSON, Miss. – Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves declared a state of emergency Saturday as officials said they will be forced to start letting more water out of a major reservoir, which could increase area flooding.
In Jackson, the Pearl River is expected to crest at 38 feet by 6 p.m. on Sunday, its third highest on record.
Ross Barnett Reservoir officials said they will be forced to start letting more water out at 6 p.m. Saturday, which will likely extend the length of time the Pearl River will be at its maximum crest.
Ricky Moore, the emergency management director for Hinds County, said the additional water flow will likely keep the predicted crest level of the Pearl at about 38 feet for several days.
“That means we’ll probably get to 38 and we’ll be there for a little while,” Moore said.
In a Saturday conference call with the National Weather Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other agencies, it was reported that many sites in the Pearl River basin north of the lake had crested.
“We will reach capacity and have no option but to release the water,” said John Sigman, general manager of the Pearl River Valley Water Supply District that oversees operation of the lake.
“We committed to allow time for the people downstream to evacuate and prepare, and we will hold to that promise as long as we can,” Sigman said.
As much as 7 inches of rain fell in the Pearl River basin this week, and the 33,000-acre reservoir is now nearing capacity.
Parts of Jackson and suburban Ridgeland were under evacuation orders, and some people had already filled trucks with furniture and other belongings to get out. Governor Reeves said more than 2,400 homes and other structures in and near Jackson could either be inundated or isolated by the rising waters.
“I cannot stress to you how important the next 24 to 48 hours is for the people who are going to be affected,” he said. “Today’s projections are showing the potential of this being the third worst flood in our history, therefore, today, I did declare a state of emergency.”
In Jackson, the state capital, residents were preparing for the worst. A line of cars stretched out of the city’s distribution center for sandbags Saturday afternoon. Sisters Erika and Clarissa Stevenson, 40 and 44, waited in line to fill up a pickup truck.
Police officers came to their house Friday and told them to evacuate, Clarissa said.
“When police knock on your door and tell you, ‘You need to go,’ that’s scary,” she said.
They live near Hico Lake and said they expect water to reach their house when the Pearl River crests. When asked what her plan was, Erika laughed and apologized for sounding cliche: “We’re just gonna rebuild and stay there.”
Contributing: The Associated Press. Follow Justin Vicory on Twitter @justinvicory
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the 15th case of coronavirus in the U.S., adding Texas’ first case and bringing California’s total up to eight; Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases weighs in.
The U.S. State Department is sending chartered planes to Japan Sunday night to evacuate the nearly 400 Americans who remain quarantined aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship amid an outbreak of the coronavirus aboard.
About 380 Americans are aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which has docked at Yokohama, a port city southwest of Tokyo. Passengers and crew have been subjected to a 14-day quarantine aboard the ship that’s expected to end Wednesday. So far, 285 people from the ship have tested positive for the new virus that began in China, after 67 new cases were found Saturday.
It was unclear how many people in total are aboard the ship and how many American citizens aboard have tested positive for the coronavirus.
On Saturday, the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo sent a letter to American citizens aboard the ship informing them the State Department was sending chartered flights that will depart Yokohama to the United States on Sunday. The embassy required a response by 10:00 a.m. Tokyo time.
“The U.S. government’s top priority is the welfare and safety of U.S. citizens,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement. “The U.S. Embassy has been in continual contact with American passengers on the Diamond Princess since the quarantine began in Japan, and U.S. health experts have been working closely with Carnival Cruise Lines and the government of Japan to assess the unique circumstances on the Diamond Princess.”
A bus leaves a port where the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship is docked Saturday, Feb. 15, 2020, in Yokohama, near Tokyo. A viral outbreak that began in China has infected more than 67,000 people globally. The World Health Organization has named the illness COVID-19, referring to its origin late last year and the coronavirus that causes it. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
“To fulfill our government’s responsibilities to U.S. citizens under our rules and practices, as well as to reduce the burden on the Japanese health care system, the U.S. government recommends, out of an abundance of caution, that U.S. citizens disembark and return to the United States for further monitoring.”
Passengers who opt to take the chartered aircraft will be subjected to a second 14-day quarantine in the United States at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, Calif., or Lackland Air Force Base near San Antonio, Texas. Health authorities will screen all passengers from the ship prior to allowing them to board the chartered flights. No symptomatic or infected passengers will be allowed to board.
“We are working with our Japanese partners to ensure that any symptomatic passengers receive the required care in Japan if they cannot board the flight,” the State Department spokesperson said. “Should passengers choose not to return on this charter flight, they will be unable to return to the United States for a period of time. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will make a final determination on this matter.”
“These charter flights are the only opportunity for eligible passengers to fly to the United States until March 4, 2020, at the earliest,” the letter said. “This date is 14 days after the remaining passengers are expected to depart the ship on February 19.”
One of the American passengers, Matthew Smith, who has been tweeting aboard the ship, including photos of the food passengers have been given, expressed disappointment at what he called “a monkey wrench” the American government was throwing into the quarantine aboard the ship.
Smith complained about having to begin a new 14-day quarantine even though he was due to get off the ship next week.
“OK, so here’s the thing: As long as the official plan by Japanese health officials is to release those of us who are still healthy from quarantine in just under four days, why would I want to interfere with that by taking up an offer from U.S. officials to fly us back to Travis?” he said on Twitter.
A woman from Utah was one of the American citizens aboard the Diamond Princess who tested positive for the coronavirus.
Jerri Jorgensen and her husband Mark were tested last week aboard the ship. Jerri was forced to disembark when she tested positive and was placed in isolation at a Japanese hospital, Fox 13 Salt Lake City reported. Mark meanwhile will be leaving Jerri behind and will be boarding the State Department plane back to U.S., where he’s to be placed under the second 14-day quarantine in either California or Texas.
A second American from Utah, John Haering, also tested positive for coronavirus aboard the Diamond Princess last week and was evacuated to a Japanese hospital for additional monitoring.
This is a widget area - If you go to "Appearance" in your WP-Admin you can change the content of this box in "Widgets", or you can remove this box completely under "Theme Options"
