Recently Added Videos

Officials lift evacuation order but warn that fire is still ‘an active threat’ – Hawaii News Now
Officials lift evacuation order but warn that fire is still ‘an active threat’ – Hawaii News Now

As of late Thursday, no structures had been destroyed, though county officials noted that some farm equipment had burned. No injuries had been reported, either.

Source Article from https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2019/07/11/maui-brush-fire-closes-down-kuihelani-highway-humane-society-evacuates/

32 views no comments
Live updates: Tropical Storm Barry – CNN
Live updates: Tropical Storm Barry – CNN

Flooding concerns are not just limited to Louisiana and have expanded around the Gulf region.

Mississippi, Alabama and the western Florida Panhandle are also at risk for extreme rain, CNN meteorologist Haley Brink said Thursday.

The National Weather Service tweeted early Friday morning that Mobile, Alabama, can expect heavy rain that may lead to flash flooding as well as a high risk of rip currents and a surf up to 8 feet.

The Florida Panhandle has seen double red flags go up in some areas, closing beaches, the National Weather Service said.

In addition to potential heavy rains in Louisiana, the Mississippi Delta Region is also at risk for tornadoes beginning Friday evening.

These are the areas that are currently under storm surge watches and warnings:

Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/tropical-storm-barry-2019/index.html

24 views no comments
Live updates: Labor Secretary Acosta is out – CNN
Live updates: Labor Secretary Acosta is out – CNN

Labor Secretary Alex Acosta’s resignation comes amid renewed fury over his handling of a plea deal with millionaire Jeffrey Epstein.

Here’s what you need to know about the deal: In November, the Miami Herald reported that when Acosta was a US attorney in Florida, he gave Epstein the “deal of a lifetime.” In a sweeping review of the politically connected billionaire’s case, the Herald explained how Acosta had made an agreement with Epstein to avoid major repercussions for the hedge fund manager, even though a federal investigation had identified 36 underage victims.

The report said Acosta had brokered a deal with one of Epstein’s attorneys, where he pleaded in 2008 to two state prostitution charges, ultimately serving only 13 months and avoiding a federal trial. He also registered as a sex offender and paid restitution to the victims identified by the FBI.

The agreement, the Herald said, “essentially shut down an ongoing FBI probe” and further granted immunity to “any potential co-conspirators” in the case.

Why is this coming up now? Epstein has been indicted earlier this week on new charges related to alleged sex crimes involving minors

Initially Acosta defended the deal: On Wednesday, Acosta maintained he secured the best deal he could when he helped prosecute financier Jeffrey Epstein for sex crimes a decade ago, but acknowledged the terms look lenient with the passage of time.

Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/labor-secretary-acosta-out/index.html

22 views no comments
5 things to know for July 12: Barry, politics, R. Kelly, immigrants, secondhand smoke – CNN
5 things to know for July 12: Barry, politics, R. Kelly, immigrants, secondhand smoke – CNN

If your day doesn’t start until you’ve gotten up to speed on the latest headlines, then let us introduce you to your new favorite morning fix. Sign up here for the ‘5 Things’ newsletter.

Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/12/us/five-things-july-12-trnd/index.html

35 views no comments
Future of the Democratic Party: How AOC turned the guns of racism against Nancy Pelosi – Washington Examiner
Future of the Democratic Party: How AOC turned the guns of racism against Nancy Pelosi – Washington Examiner

Poor Nancy Pelosi. The Democratic House speaker worked harder than anyone to win Team Blue its majority in Congress. But she played by an old set of rules, and her party’s unruly young leaders have decided she goes on the ash heap with Joe Biden and all the other Klansmen — er, sorry, Klanspeople.

Of course, it’s absurd even to think of Pelosi as some kind of racist or sexist. But a decade of Democratic progress finally caught up with her on Wednesday. San Francisco’s liberal feminist leader finally fell victim to her party’s much-atrophied capacity for discussion and critical thinking in the twenty-first century.

It all began when Pelosi attempted to enforce some party discipline. Certain House Democrats, particularly Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, were airing the party’s dirty laundry over social media. She demanded some discretion and grown-up behavior. Ocasio-Cortez responded … by calling her a racist and a sexist, of course.

“When these comments first started, I kind of thought that she was keeping the progressive flank at more of an arm’s distance in order to protect more moderate members, which I understood,” the New York Democrat said. “But … it got to a point where it was just outright disrespectful … the explicit singling out of newly elected women of color.”

Later, Ocasio-Cortez restated and amplified this criticism. “It’s really just pointing out the pattern,” she said. “We’re not talking about just progressives, it’s singling out four individuals,” namely, herself, Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, and Aryanna Pressley of Massachusetts; all nonwhite women recently elected to Congress. (And it has to be that they’re “women of color,” it can’t possibly be their failure to work together as a party or their lack of political judgment.)

So how has it come to this, that any bright-eyed, young Rep. Janie-Come-Lately can lob ludicrous accusations of racism and sexism at a battle-hardened liberal feminist leader like Pelosi? For the liberal Left of 2019, this is what comes naturally. The snake has finally gotten around to eating its own tail.

This is what the future of the Democratic Party looks like.

It didn’t happen overnight, of course. During the Obama era, top Democratic influencers discovered a shortcut to political debate with Republicans. You don’t need to make arguments or propound new ideas. Just indiscriminately call them racists. Even if you’re not discussing an explicitly racial issue, then you could at least say they’re racists for disparaging the first black president and his agenda.

You criticized Obama for playing too much golf? Nice try, racist! You want lower taxes or less government? You own a gun? You’re pro-life? Surely, there is some convoluted argument that your position or your lifestyle is based in racism (the details don’t matter too much). And there is no shortage of intellectually vapid left-wingers ready to make the case.

Redistricting, which was great before Democrats lost control of it, is also racist. In fact, elections are racist, at least every time Democrats lose them.

Eventually, the wolf-cry of racism became a shortcut for dealing with almost any disagreement, political or otherwise. Completely nonpolitical people became thought-criminals without realizing it. Milk, the “OK” hand gesture, and the original U.S. 13-star flag have now become racist symbols, too.

That longstanding Democratic icons like Biden and now Pelosi should be devoured by this same irrational beast is just part of the natural order of things.

We’ve learned in the last ten years that name-calling “racist” doesn’t usually settle issues or win elections. It certainly doesn’t make a sound case for ideas or rational arguments. But it does create ample ill will and division in American politics. And most importantly, it always throws opponents off their game, particularly if they are decent people who in truth abhor racial prejudice.

So you really have to admire Ocasio-Cortez’s ruthlessness in mau-mauing Nancy Pelosi. She has been in Congress less than a year, and the freshman has already found a way to wield the Democratic Party’s weapons of mass destruction against its own leaders.

Source Article from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/future-of-the-democratic-party-how-aoc-turned-the-guns-of-racism-against-nancy-pelosi

30 views no comments
Mike Pence heads to border to defend migrant facilities as Democrats decry ‘unconscionable’ conditions – USA TODAY
Mike Pence heads to border to defend migrant facilities as Democrats decry ‘unconscionable’ conditions – USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – Two events today more than 1,700 miles apart will put on display the deep divisions over the worsening migrant crisis at the southern U.S. border. 

Battling to shape public perceptions of the worsening migrant crisis at the southern U.S. border, Vice President Mike Pence and a group of Republican senators will head to the border to tour a migrant detention center while Democrats host a high-profile hearing about the centers featuring testimony from government watchdog officials and some of their most outspoken members, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. 

The dueling events will put all eyes — and TV cameras – on conditions at the facilities, which have drawn intense scrutiny due to reports chronicling severe overcrowding and inadequate care for migrant families. All of this comes against the backdrop of the deaths of at least six migrant children who have died in federal custody and nationwide raids expected this weekend by Immigration and Customs Enforcement that would leave even more undocumented migrants in federal custody.  

Pence says TV welcome: VP defends conditions at border centers, says he’ll bring cameras on tour

‘They tore out a piece of my heart’: Migrant mother describes toddler’s illness, death

Pence, senators tour detention center

Democrats have expressed outrage over what they say is inhumane treatment of migrant families. 

But Pence and Republican senators want to push back on those criticisms. They contend that the border facilities have become overwhelmed because Democrats have refused to work with them on policies that would stem the flow of migrants across the border. Pence has criticized lawmakers such as Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who have compared the detention facilities to concentration camps.

“It is really contemptible that some in Congress have referred to U.S. detention facilities as concentration camps,” Pence told reporters Wednesday during a trip to California. “That’s an outrage. The Nazis killed people. Our Customs and Border Protection personnel save lives every day.”

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tex., said he visited a detention facility in McAllen, Texas — the same Pence will tour with a handful of senators today, and said that the crisis along the border “was worse than I’ve ever seen it,” noting that the packed cells he saw were built for 300 people but housing about 1,100. 

Post to Facebook

Posted!

A link has been posted to your Facebook feed.

“The crisis has gotten materially worse in significant part because congressional Democrats keep galloping to the left on immigration so that as a policy matter, they essentially support open borders,” Cruz said. “Until we close the loopholes, a lot more children will be victimized.” 

While Cruz highlighted the worsening conditions in such centers, Pence vowed to bring along TV cameras as he toured the facility in McAllen, Texas and said Thursday the aim of the visit with Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee was to show people a facility and level of care that would “make the American people proud.” 

“What people are going to see is not the situation many Democrats have described but actually a situation where our CBP agents are providing humanitarian care, health care, shelter, food, sustenance in a way that would make the American people proud,” Pence said Thursday. 

More: Mike Pence visiting border to counter ‘absurd’ claims about treatment of migrants, aide says

Pence noted Wednesday that the detention centers are “overwhelmed” because “our system was simply never designed to deal with this” and said, “we’re going to lean into this crisis.” 

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., agreed and criticized planned House testimony from Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, a freshmen Democrat from New York who has become a progressive star on social media. 

“Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez’s opinion counts, just not to me. She can’t be objective on this issue,” he said. “I think her mind is made up and I don’t think any amount of testimony would change her mind. I don’t think she understands the problem and I question her judgment. I think she’s more famous than wise.”

Democrats highlight Ocasio-Cortez in hearing about migrant centers

While Republicans are touring, Democrats on the House Oversight and Reform Committee will put the spotlight on the Trump administration and discuss the treatment of migrants in a 10 a.m. EST hearing.

Despite Republican attacks on Ocasio-Cortez, House Democrats will make her one of the stars of Friday’s hearing on the conditions of the centers.

She, along with Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., and Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, will testify before the committee about their visit to the border earlier this month, where they toured a detention facility in Clint, Texas and met with families who said they had been separated. The congresswomen bashed the facility after the tour, telling a large swath of reporters that the conditions of the center were horrid. 

More: AOC criticizes CBP after report of secret Facebook group as agency opens investigation

CLOSE

A young girl described her treatment while locked in a Texas border station where hundreds of other migrant children have been detained this year. (July 1)
AP, AP

Ocasio-Cortez called it “unconscionable,” saying, “no woman should ever be locked up in a pen when they have done no harm to another human being.”

Detained women who spoke with the lawmakers during the visit “all began sobbing,” Ocasio-Cortez said on Twitter, “out of fear of being punished, out of sickness, out of desperation, lack of sleep, trauma, despair.”

The Border Patrol facility in Clint made headlines after a group of lawyers who had spent time there went public with their findings, detailing children sleeping on floors and being held without access to medical care, clean water or toothbrushes. It has become the epicenter of the migrant crisis in large part because assessing conditions border facilities is difficult due to limited access to sites.

The congressional committee will hear from activists and the Department of Homeland Security’s acting Inspector General, Jennifer Costello, who issued the scathing watchdog reports chronicling unsafe conditions inside detention facilities. 

“The American people are deeply concerned about the inhumane detention centers at the border and the number of children separated from their families,” said Rep. Elijah Cummings, the chairman of the committee. “We look forward to hearing about the steps necessary to correct this crisis manufactured by the Trump Administration.”

Later this month, the committee will hear testimony from Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan about the centers and the separation of families. 

Opinion: Trump plan to incarcerate migrant children at Fort Sill again shows worst of America

Friday’s hearing follows an inspector general’s report released by Costello this month that described the conditions at detention facilities in the Rio Grande Valley as “a ticking time bomb.” The report included photos showing migrants crowded behind chain-link fences, huddling under blankets on the floor and some holding up their hands and signs.

Contributing: Maureen Groppe and Alan Gomez

Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/07/12/mike-pence-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-star-events-migrant-crisis/1704086001/

31 views no comments
Epstein tells judge he wants mysterious finances kept secret – Washington Examiner
Epstein tells judge he wants mysterious finances kept secret – Washington Examiner

The attorneys for Jeffrey Epstein, the alleged child sex trafficker and global jet-setter of unknown wealth, told the court Thursday that they wanted to keep Epstein’s mysterious finances under seal, and the Justice Department declined to take a position on Epstein’s request.

Epstein has been in jail since he was arrested by authorities at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey on his way home from Paris this weekend. His indictment, unsealed Monday, alleges that he “sexually exploited and abused dozens of minor girls at his homes in Manhattan, New York, and Palm Beach, Florida, among other locations” between 2002 and 2005, according to a 14-page federal indictment. Epstein, a registered sex offender, pleaded not guilty to the new charges Monday.

During a lengthy court filing Thursday arguing that Epstein should be allowed to be kept essentially under house arrest at his Manhattan mansion instead of being held behind bars, Epstein’s attorneys requested that the court allow Epstein’s finances be provided as “sealed supplemental disclosure” and be kept secret from the public. Epstein’s attorneys also said that they would provide a “sealed list of his philanthropic donations.”

The DOJ’s attorneys responded that “the government takes no position on the defendant’s application” to keep his finances sealed, but they did complain that they had not yet received financial information from Epstein themselves, despite deadlines for him to do so. The DOJ told the judge that they “still have not yet received any financial disclosure or information from the defense in connection with the defendant’s application for bail” and claimed that “there is no reason that the defendant need have waited until this evening to submit his sealing motion.”

And the DOJ asked for an extra 24 hours to respond to Epstein’s financial information when the defense submits it.

The lawyers for Epstein claimed that “Epstein has, to this point, not provided a complete financial disclosure on advice of counsel, motivated by a desire to ensure the accuracy of the information provided to the Court.”

Epstein’s attorneys provided scant details about his financial dealings and about how much money he has, saying that “through his business and the five residences he maintains in the United States, Mr. Epstein employs people, many of whom have been with him for more than a decade, and feels personally responsible for their livelihoods.” The lawyers said that Epstein is “admittedly wealthy” and claimed that “all of his financial resources (other than his Paris residence)” were held inside the U.S., including the U.S. Virgin Islands.

But Epstein’s lawyers wanted the specific details about Epstein’s wealth kept sealed, and that request was without objection from the DOJ.

It remains to be seen how Judge Richard Berman will rule on that request.

The sources of Epstein’s wealth and how much money he is actually worth have long been shrouded in mystery, although he is worth enough to own a $77 million Manhattan mansion, a Palm Beach estate, a ranch in New Mexico, an apartment in Paris, and a private island in the Caribbean, often dubbed the “Island of Sin” or “Pedophile Island.”

And Epstein is wealthy enough to afford a private jet, nicknamed the “Lolita Express,” and to travel all over the world on a regular basis with a variety of politicos, celebrities, and tycoons.

Former President Bill Clinton, who has praised Epstein in the past, released a statement on Monday evening claiming that he had taken four total trips on Epstein’s jet, but a review of flight records indicates Clinton actually took at least 27 flights totaling at least six trips.

Source Article from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/jeffrey-epstein-tells-judge-he-wants-mysterious-finances-kept-secret

26 views no comments
‘Fake’ charges fly as Trump rips social media for bias, dishonesty – Fox News
‘Fake’ charges fly as Trump rips social media for bias, dishonesty – Fox News
Video

Howard Kurtz: A strange White House summit mainly rips tech giants

‘MediaBuzz’ host Howard Kurtz weighs in on President Trump’s social media summit that was absent Google, Facebook and Twitter.

It was obvious from the outset that the media didn’t think much of Donald Trump’s social media summit.

Before yesterday’s White House event got under way, a New York Times news story declared: “The guest list has alarmed critics who fear it is bringing together people who disseminate threats, hate speech and actual fake news, and who sometimes have their messages elevated with the velocity of a presidential tweet.”

That was mild compared to the Times’ savvy tech columnist, Kevin Roose, who scoffed at the red-carpet treatment for “right-wing trolls,” calling the guests “a motley grab bag of pro-Trump influencers (who) have taken to Twitter to brag about their invitations.”

But the president, in his morning tweets, didn’t exactly convey that this was some fair-and-balanced look at the problems of Big Tech.

He said the purpose is to examine “the tremendous dishonesty, bias, discrimination and suppression practiced by certain companies. We will not let them get away with it much longer.”

He added: “The Fake News Media will also be there, but for a limited period.”

It’s rather odd, to say the least, to hold a summit and not allow reporters in to draw attention to the issue at hand. The White House later decided to grant access to the press pool, but never released a guest list. So the event was shrouded in a bit of mystery.

SUBSCRIBE TO HOWIE’S MEDIA BUZZMETER PODCAST, A RIFF OF THE DAY’S HOTTEST STORIES

So you have the establishment press saying that POTUS is catering to purveyors of fake news, and Trump saying he’s limiting the ability of fake news to cover the summit. The grand fake-off sort of crystallizes the complete lack of trust on both sides.

The president offered what he viewed as high praise, telling his guests that “the crap you think of is unbelievable.”

Trump complained that he was getting less engagement on his tweets, which he found suspicious. “I used to watch it like a rocket ship when I put out a beauty,” he said. “Remember I said somebody was spying on me? That was like a rocket.” (That was his 2017 tweet that Barack Obama had wiretapped him, for which there remains no evidence.)

A prominent attendee was Sebastian Gorka, a White House official until he was pushed out. When Trump moved the show to the Rose Garden, where he talked about the census and citizenship, Gorka walked past the press pool and got into a high-decibel exchange with liberal CNN contributor Brian Karem, with Gorka calling him a “punk.”

Several of the guests began chanting “Gorka!”

The theatrics belie some serious issues. It’s not that Twitter, Facebook and Google—which weren’t invited–don’t deserve a ton of criticism. The companies all lean left. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter’s Jack Dorsey have acknowledged this is a problem. They apply their so-called standards inconsistently, in a number of instances against conservatives, and sometimes have had to apologize for that. And they’ve done a lousy job of policing hate speech, disinformation and Russian propaganda, fueling calls for government regulation.

Still, the White House invited some controversial characters, as the press was all too happy to point out. They include James O’Keefe, whose conservative outfit does surreptitious taping to embarrass liberals, and who once pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in a case involving Mary Landrieu for entering a building under false pretenses.

They include Ali Alexander, who recently tweeted that Kamala Harris had falsely implied that she was descended from “American Black Slaves.” The biracial senator has been quite open about her parents being from Jamaica and India.

And they include a Trump supporter using the screen name Carpe Donktum, who tweeted an obviously doctored video of Joe Biden’s shoulders being massaged by a second Biden at a time the former veep was being accused of inappropriately touching women.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

There’s an important debate raging in the country about the Silicon Valley giants, once among America’s most admired companies, and whether they are biased and allowed their platforms to become a toxic cesspool. The White House session may have scored some points, but mainly from one side.

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fake-charges-fly-as-trump-rips-social-media-for-bias-dishonesty

26 views no comments
4 a.m. Update: Tropical Storm Barry’s center moves west-northwest, top winds 50 mph – WWLTV.com
4 a.m. Update: Tropical Storm Barry’s center moves west-northwest, top winds 50 mph – WWLTV.com

NEW ORLEANS — 4 a.m. Friday update: 

The 4 a.m. Friday advisory has been released from the National Hurricane Center. Very little new information in this advisory:

– Very little change from the 1 a.m. Thursday update 

– Barry’s winds have stayed at 50 mph after increasing late Thursday night 

– Barry’s west-northwest movement has increased to 5 mph 

– The center, which still is organizing and is showing signs of thunderstorms beginning to form around it, has moved more west than north. 

The strongest winds are still displaced from the center of the storm, which would need to happen when the storm intensifies.

The slow speed of the storm is no surprise – that was expected.

The next advisory coming down from the National Hurricane Center at 8 AM CDT.

Can’t see the tweet? Click here 

The Latest

As of 4 a.m. Friday, Tropical Storm Barry had not strengthened further after slightly strengthening overnight with winds of 50 mph Thursday night, although those winds are not at the center of circulation, which remains very broad. 

Pressure has dropped slightly to 1000 mb and motion is nearly stationary; to the west-northwest at 5 mph. 

It’s possible that Barry will remain very lop-sided up to landfall. Models continue to steadily strengthen and organize Barry prior to landfall, that just is not happening at the moment. 

The Euro model seems to be the best at initializing, with the thunderstorms currently in the southern half of the storm. The Euro doesn’t bring the heaviest rain to the eastern side of Barry until just after landfall. At that point, the heaviest rain would be from Baton Rouge, westward. 

The Euro predicts 3-6” of rain over the weekend for our viewing area, with 10+ west of us. All eyes will be on when, if at all, Barry begins a turn toward the north. If soon, we are more under the heaviest rain threat. If later, like the Euro says, the heaviest rain stays farther west. Flooding is still our greatest concern at this time.

Earlier this afternoon, the National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane warning for the Louisiana coast from Intracoastal City to Grand Isle. A tropical storm warning is in effect for other areas including the New Orleans metro area.

Barry itself is showing signs of getting its act together this morning. As of 4 AM dry air is being eroded and wind shear is letting up. All that is needed to see a rapid growth in organization and strength is a period of time without wind shear and dry air for the storm to take full advantage of the warm waters. We believe that will happen today and by later on this afternoon the storm structure will look much different.

TROPICAL STORM BARRY: Path, Spaghetti Models, Live Radar

Can’t see the video? Click here

Sign up for the 4 Things to Know email newsletter to get tropical weather headlines delivered to your inbox. Click here to sign up!

The slow projected movement of the storm should aid in its intensification. A longer time over water will lead to a stronger storm. We need not fixate on the storm category though – water is the headline here.

Regardless of exactly where it hits, it looks like it may move west of New Orleans. That would place the heaviest rain on the eastern side over or very close to our area. 

This is what current model forecasts are leaning toward. If this were to happen we could be dealing with rainfall totals on the order of 10-20 inches – but the European model today showed much lower projections of 3-8 inches for us with 10+ inches to our west near Baton Rouge. These numbers will change with newer data. 

On top of freshwater flooding, a dangerous storm surge threat will also be present as the storm gets ready to make landfall late Friday and Saturday. Areas likely to be affected by this will be southern and southeastern Louisiana.

Download the FREE WWL-TV News app now in the iTunes store or on Google Play for tropical weather updates through hurricane season.

2019 Atlantic Hurricane Season Forecast

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted 9-15 named storms for the 2019 hurricane season. It says four to eight of them will become hurricanes and two to four of those would become major hurricanes with 111 mph winds or higher.

Colorado State University, which pioneered hurricane season predictions, is forecasting 13 named storms, five to become hurricanes and two to hit major status. Hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach predicted that overall the Atlantic season will be about three-quarters strong as a normal season.

The Atlantic basin averages 12 named storms a year, with six becoming hurricanes and three becoming major storms.

—

Stay with Eyewitness News on WWL-TV and WWLTV.com for more on this developing story. 

Source Article from https://www.wwltv.com/article/weather/hurricane/4-am-update-tropical-storm-barrys-center-moves-west-northwest-top-winds-50-mph/289-214931133

23 views no comments
Trump dodges constitutional crisis over census question: But what happens now? – Salon
Trump dodges constitutional crisis over census question: But what happens now? – Salon

When Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts ruled against the Trump administration on the inclusion of a citizenship question in the 2020 census, the Republican-appointed Roberts dropped a big hint. He said that although the question was legitimate, the stated rationale for it was not. After a few angry tweets, President Trump quickly ran with Roberts’ decision and threatened to go around the Supreme Court ruling and straight into a legitimate constitutional crisis. 

So we went into Thursday afternoon with most observers convinced that Trump was poised to defy the Supreme Court’s directive with a move that threatened the legitimacy of the constitutionally-mandated census. Trump clearly contemplated executive action that would have bestowed legal authority onto the Commerce Department to add a citizenship question. That might not have directly violated the Supreme Court’s decision because it entirely abandoned the initial rationale for the question offered by the Commerce Department.

We’ll never know, because in yet another capitulation described as victory, Trump has apparently decided to back away from the census question but order Commerce to gather citizenship information from other sources. That may or may not be a good idea, but it is almost certainly constitutionally acceptable.

Article I, Section 2, of the U.S. Constitution specifically says the decennial census is under the authority of Congress. Trump has repeatedly hinted, even on Thursday, that he would seize that power away from the legislative branch by executive action.

The administration had initially argued it needed citizenship data to help prepare for voting rights cases, even though Trump’s team has yet to engage in that kind of litigation. That was the reason Roberts said “seems to have been contrived.” Roberts, along with four justices appointed by Democrats, remanded the case to lower courts to be reconsidered, but not with enough time before scheduled printing began.

After the court’s decision, the Commerce Department, which oversees the census, announced it would move ahead with printing census forms without the question. Right-wing Republicans erupted in outrage that their years-long battle to get the question added appeared all but lost. It was almost certainly that firestorm that pushed Trump toward a potential confrontation with the Constitution, ending in Thursday’s fiasco.

Rep. Steve King of Iowa, a notoriously racist Republican, called on Trump to “delay the census until you can ask the question.” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, called on the president to “ignore” his own lawyers — and the U.S. Supreme Court — and print the census with a citizenship question anyway.

Eighteen House Republicans, many of them members of the far-right Freedom Caucus, urged the Trump administration to move forward with adding a question about citizenship to the 2020 census in a letter sent to Attorney General William Barr late Wednesday afternoon. After it was reported on Thursday that Trump might issue an executive action to force the question, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said that the House would vote next week to hold Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt of Congress for failing to comply with congressional investigators. 

All of this bickering now looks like pointless trolling or misdirection — certainly a specialty of this administration.

 

Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, ranking member of the House Oversight Committee and a devout Trump loyalist, argued in an interview with Fox News’ Tucker Carlson that perhaps a dissenting opinion from the Supreme Court ought to carry more weight than the court’s actual ruling. to argue that high court is in favor of including the question. “[Justice Samuel] Alito said it best — no one disagrees that it’s important to know how many immigrants are in your country,” Jordan said earlier this week, on a program Trump watches regularly. 

Last week Trump dropped the pretense that the question had anything to do with voting rights, saying that the issue was “redistricting.” That was perhaps an inadvertent admission that the motive behind the citizenship question has obvious all along — to enhance the electoral power of whites (and Republicans) through gerrymandering.

While the administration argued in court that there was not enough evidence that the question would decrease the response rate, research from the Census Bureau itself shows that Latinos in the U.S. were undercounted by 1.5 percent in the 2010 census, and African Americans by nearly 2 percent. That was, of course, without a citizenship question on the “short form” sent to every person in the country. (A question about citizenship status is asked on the “long form,” which goes to about one of every six people.)

“The question should be included,” conservative House Republicans argued in their Wednesday letter to Barr. They argued that “a majority of Americans agree” — which appears to be true, at least for now — “and the President would be correct to include the question with a new rationale in light of the Supreme Court’s decision.” 

Now the legal question has been settled, and the citizenship question has been abandoned. But Team Trump has done its work. This whole fight is best understood as a political ploy meant to fire up the Trump base ahead of the 2020 election and, coupled with recently announced nationwide ICE raids, to discourage wider participation in the census through fear. Mission accomplished, quite likely. But at least this time, the constitutional crisis so many Republicans are itching for was averted. 

Source Article from https://www.salon.com/2019/07/11/trump-dodges-constitutional-crisis-over-census-question-but-what-happens-now/

33 views no comments
Sean Hannity makes Ocasio-Cortez an offer – Fox News
Sean Hannity makes Ocasio-Cortez an offer – Fox News
Video

Sean Hannity invites Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez onto his show

Sean extends an invite to the freshman congresswoman to share her viewpoint on his radio show.

Fox News’ Sean Hannity made an offer Thursday that he hopes U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez can’t refuse.

Hannity said that if the freshman Democratic congresswoman from New York agrees to appear on his program, he’ll devote the entire hour to their conversation.

“I’m going to extend tonight an offer to Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,” Hannity said. “I want to give you an hour invitation to come on this show to have a discussion.”

AOC PUSHES BACK AT PELOSI, SAYS HOUSE SPEAKER’S BELITTLING OF PROGRESSIVES ‘PUZZLING’

The Fox News host also offered up three hours of his radio program to Ocasio-Cortez.

“We get a lot of criticism on this program. We’ll talk, we’ll have a conversation. Hope you’ll join us,” Hannity added.

Ocasio-Cortez has recently been clashing with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and has suggested that Pelosi has been singling out her and three fellow freshman congresswomen because of race.

Video

“But the persistent singling out … It got to a point where it was just outright disrespectful. … The explicit singling out of newly elected women of color,” Ocasio-Cortez told the Washington Post.

Those comments drew reactions Wednesday from Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg on “The View,” as well as from U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-Mo.

“It is so inappropriate. So uncalled for,” Clay told Fox News on Thursday. “It does not do anything to help with unity. It was unfair to Speaker Pelosi.”

AOC HITS BIDEN FOR DEFENDING SEGREGATIONIST REMARKS, DEBATE PERFORMANCE
 
Earlier on “Hannity,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., weighed in on the Democratic conflict, saying ultimately President Trump wins.

“But if you’re one of these 31 Democrats, Sean, you’ve got to pick between the energy of the Fab Four and the practicality of Nancy Pelosi. You’re in a no-win situation,” Graham said.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“Why am I thinking that if I’m Donald Trump, I’m a happy guy tonight?” Hannity asked Graham.

Ocasio-Cortez has emerged as the leader of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party and a strong advocate for addressing climate change, among other issues.

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/hannity-offers-aoc-a-full-hour-of-his-show-to-have-a-discussion

26 views no comments
Donald Trump slams Paul Ryan in late-night Twitter rant: ‘Couldn’t get him out of Congress fast enough!’ – USA TODAY
Donald Trump slams Paul Ryan in late-night Twitter rant: ‘Couldn’t get him out of Congress fast enough!’ – USA TODAY
CLOSE

Former House Speaker Paul Ryan thinks there’s a way for Democrats to defeat President Donald Trump in the 2020 election and it has to do with personality.
Buzz60, Buzz60

President Donald Trump lashed out at Paul Ryan late Thursday night on Twitter following the release of excerpts from an upcoming book in which the former Speaker of the House criticized him for not knowing “anything about government.”

Shortly after CNN covered Ryan’s comments about Trump in Tim Alberta’s “American Carnage,” which details how Republicans have changed with Trump’s rise to the presidency, Trump responded with a series of insults in three tweets.

“Paul Ryan, the failed V.P. candidate & former Speaker of the House, whose record of achievement was atrocious (except during my first two years as President), ultimately became a long running lame duck failure, leaving his Party in the lurch both as a fundraiser & leader,” Trump said in his first tweet.

‘This is as bad as it gets’: Book ‘American Carnage’ details Paul Ryan, Reince Priebus relationship with Trump

Ryan reportedly told Alberta he couldn’t stand another two years with Trump and called retirement an “escape hatch,” according to excerpts obtained by The Washington Post. 

Trump also said Mitt Romney’s bid for president in 2012 was doomed after he chose Ryan as his running mate. Trump further criticized Ryan for failing to secure funding for a U.S.-Mexico border wall. 

“He had the Majority & blew it away with his poor leadership and bad timing,” Trump said in his third tweet. “Never knew how to go after the Dems like they go after us. Couldn’t get him out of Congress fast enough!”

Ryan did not run for reelection in 2018, and Nancy Pelosi succeeded him as Speaker after Democrats won control of the House. 

Paul Ryan on 2020: Some Democrats could defeat Trump

In Alberta’s book, Ryan also characterized Trump as uneducated about the government: “I told myself I gotta have a relationship with this guy to help him get his mind right,” Ryan said, according to The Washington Post. “Because I’m telling you, he didn’t know anything about government. … I wanted to scold him all the time.”

An expert of the book also details how Ryan wanted to excommunicate Trump after the “Access Hollywood” tape was released during the campaign. 

“This is fatal,” he told Reince Priebus, then chairman of the Republican National Committee. “How can you get him out of the race?”

Post to Facebook

Posted!

A link has been posted to your Facebook feed.

Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/07/11/donald-trump-attacks-paul-ryan-american-carnage-excerpts/1711379001/

40 views no comments
Donald Trump stokes fear and conspiracy on path to 2020 – CNN
Donald Trump stokes fear and conspiracy on path to 2020 – CNN

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

Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/12/politics/donald-trump-immigration-social-media-conservatives-2020-election/index.html

20 views no comments
Trump’s Social Media Summit Mortifies White House, Enrages Far-Right Allies – The Daily Beast
Trump’s Social Media Summit Mortifies White House, Enrages Far-Right Allies – The Daily Beast
22 views no comments
The US is right to threaten tariffs over France’s tech tax – Washington Examiner
The US is right to threaten tariffs over France’s tech tax – Washington Examiner

The Trump administration is right to threaten France with new tariffs over the new “technology tax” which passed through the French legislature on Thursday.

I’m a free trader, but the moral cause for action here is clear. France’s digital services tax is specifically designed to affect American technology firms such as Facebook, Google, and YouTube, and to provide comparative advantage to French firms. Although its rate would be only 3%, the tax would fall predominantly on American firms rather than French companies. And seeing as U.S. technology companies are the evolving crown jewels of our economy, we must protect from being bullied in foreign markets.

The French government’s excuses for this measure are weak.

France claims the tax is just because it would raise revenue from digital firms that avoid paying the same average rate of tax as other companies. But this assessment is based on flawed data extrapolation by the European Commission. As Daniel Bunn of the Tax Foundation points out, “The difference between what the studies show and what the Commission claims is in the metric. Dr. Spengel and his coauthors analyzed the tax rate that applies to the marginal investment by a digital firm. This is different from an average tax rate. The marginal tax rate applies to the next dollar of income earned, while the average rate is the amount of tax divided by total income.”

Bunn also notes that French technology firms receive very generous government subsidies. Oh, and French-domiciled firms that fall under the digital tax’s remit can also offset its costs against their corporate tax obligations!

In short, this is standard-fare French protectionism. It is designed to penalize American companies that provide a valued service to French consumers, and the United States has every right to respond in kind.

Source Article from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/the-us-is-right-to-threaten-tariffs-over-frances-tech-tax

27 views no comments
Tropical Storm Barry: Latest Updates, Storm Track, Evacuation Orders Issued in Louisiana – Newsweek
Tropical Storm Barry: Latest Updates, Storm Track, Evacuation Orders Issued in Louisiana – Newsweek

Hurricane warnings have been issued along parts of the Louisiana coastline as Tropical Storm Barry moves toward the state’s shores. The storm is expected to bring heavy rains, high winds and a storm surge to a region already inundated with flood waters.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) has issued a hurricane warning from Intracoastal City to Grand Isle, which is a swath just south of points from Lafayette to New Orleans. The New Orleans metropolitan area has been upgraded to a tropical storm warning Thursday evening, along with other inland areas westward all the way to Lake Charles.

Barry is a slow-moving storm that’s still developing in the Gulf of Mexico. As of 8:30 p.m. local time, Barry’s winds were recorded at 45 mph. Barry is expected to form into a Category 1 hurricane before it makes landfall between Lafayette and Morgan City on Saturday.

The storm is expected to produce rainfall between 10-20 inches across most of Southeast Louisiana and Southwest Mississippi, with some isolated areas getting as much as 25 inches, the NHC noted.

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell has not ordered mandatory evacuations, but did declare a state of emergency and has ordered city hall to close through the weekend.

“Because of intense thunderstorms, and the further potential for tropical or hurricane force winds and further thunderstorms, New Orleans may experience more widespread localized severe flooding and gale force winds that could result in the endangerment and threat of life, injury and possible property damage,” said Cantrel, adding the emergency declaration warrants “all extraordinary measures appropriate to ensure the public health, safety, welfare and convenience.”

The biggest threat inland is the amount of rainfall that can hit low-lying areas, especially along the Mississippi River, which winds through both Baton Rouge and New Orleans. The levees along the river are almost at flood stage, and experts at NHC say TS Barry could bring a storm surge of 3 to 5 feet, which could push water from the Mississippi River over the levees and into areas like the Lower Ninth Ward, Algiers and St. Bernard Parish.

Most models show the cone’s path making its way up the Mississippi River Valley, which means the rainfall upstream would most likely make its way back down the river.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said he expects major flooding, but anticipates the river staying below the flood walls.

“This is going to be a major rain event across a huge portion of Louisiana,” Edwards said in this NBC report. “Look, there are three ways Louisiana floods — storm surge, high rivers and rain. We’re going to have all three.”

The governor also advised residents to take precaution during and after the storm.

Plaquemines Parish President Kirk Lepine said evacuations have begun already in his parish to the south and west of New Orleans.

“We’re erring on the side of caution,” Lepine said. “We want to make sure every resident is prepared and they’re to understand that this government will take care of everybody in his parish.”

South Louisiana has endured large hurricanes over the last 15 years, including twice in 2005 when the western side of Hurricane Katrina hit the southeastern part of the state and Hurricane Rita hit the southwestern part of the state.

Texas, including Houston and the Golden Triangle of Beaumont, Orange and Port Arthur may see some rainfall and light winds, but should escape any wrath from Barry. Texas recently went through Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Harvey dumped more than 50 inches of rain along parts of the southeastern coast of the Lone Star State.

p:last-of-type::after, .node-type-slideshow .article-body > p:last-of-type::after {
content: none
}]]>

Source Article from https://www.newsweek.com/tropical-storm-barry-latest-updates-storm-track-evacuation-orders-issued-louisiana-1448874

21 views no comments
US census 2020: Trump retreats on citizenship question – BBC News
US census 2020: Trump retreats on citizenship question – BBC News
Media captionPresident Trump outlines his executive order, but will it work?

President Donald Trump will no longer pursue adding a question on citizenship to the 2020 US census questionnaire.

Instead, he said he had directed officials to obtain the information through an executive order for government agencies, as court challenges would have delayed a census.

“We will leave no stone unturned,” Mr Trump said.

The retreat follows a long fight over the inclusion of the question, which the Supreme Court had blocked in June.

“We are not backing down on our effort to determine the citizenship status of the United States population,” the US president said.

The order will require government agencies to hand over documents regarding citizenship.

“As a result of today’s executive order we will be able to ensure the 2020 census generates an accurate count of how many citizens, non-citizens and illegal aliens are in the United States of America,” Mr Trump said at the White House.

Kristen Clarke, president of the National Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, told the BBC she had concerns about Mr Trump’s plans.

“This is essentially an attempt to compile data on a mass scale in a way that is unprecedented,” she said. “We don’t know how long it will take for them to pull this data together, we don’t know what they will do with that data.”

What reason did the Trump administration give?

The decision to abandon the citizenship question was a “logistical impediment, not a legal one”, said Attorney General William Barr, standing alongside President Trump.

Media captionBill Barr (L) spoke alongside President Trump

He said there was “ample justification” for the administration to include the citizenship question.

But referring to court injunctions, he said there was no way to “implement any new decision without jeopardizing our ability to carry out the census”.

Census questionnaires without the citizenship question are already being printed.

Mr Barr repeatedly congratulated Mr Trump on the executive order.

How did the battle unfold?

At the end of last month, the Supreme Court returned the case to the Census Bureau in a 5-4 ruling that noted the reason for including the question seemed “contrived”.

Government lawyers indicated they had dropped the question and officials began printing the 2020 census without it.

Image copyright
Getty Images

Image caption

Protesters rallied against the citizenship question in April

But Mr Trump then announced that he might consider an executive order to include the question or find other ways to move forward.

Legal experts noted that an executive order could not override a Supreme Court ruling.

Never one to admit defeat

By Peter Bowes, BBC North America correspondent

In election year, a question about citizenship on the 2020 census form would have been hugely polarising.

For Donald Trump, whose stance on illegal immigration has defined his presidency, it would have been a major success.

But it is not to be. The hurdles proved too cumbersome and the administration acknowledged that outstanding lawsuits could delay the completion of the census.

But never one to admit defeat, Mr Trump framed his plan B as a “far more accurate” way to count the non-citizen population. Officials, he said, would “leave no stone unturned”, in their quest to dig out citizenship information from existing data held by government departments.

That could be seen as an implied threat, but it means the census is likely to result in a more accurate count, with those living in the US illegally less afraid to make their presence known.

Census counts are used to determine the allocation of seats in the House of Representatives and the distribution of billions of dollars of funds in federal spending.

There had been concern that impoverished areas would lose out if a significant number of residents chose not to complete the form.

The citizenship question has not appeared on a US census for all Americans since 1950, though it has been put to some subsets of the population between 1970 and 2000.

Source Article from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48959538

39 views no comments
‘Circus show’ summit: Trump delivers meandering speech to his digital army of supporters at the White House – CNN
‘Circus show’ summit: Trump delivers meandering speech to his digital army of supporters at the White House – CNN

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

Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/11/tech/trump-speech-social-media-summit/index.html

17 views no comments
Why those ICE raids are being announced in advance – Fox News
Why those ICE raids are being announced in advance – Fox News
Video

ICE reportedly ready to begin operation to arrest, deport 2,000 illegal immigrants

The New York Times reports that raids are set to begin; Mark Meredith reports alongside border officials in Hidalgo, Texas.

Starting Sunday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is expected to resume its previously announced plan to apprehend thousands of illegal immigrants across the country.

The reinvigorated effort comes just weeks after President Trump tweeted that ICE was preparing to kick off days of raids in at least 10 major cities. The operation was halted, however, the day before it was set to start, to give Congress time to arrive at a legislative solution on immigration. Trump said his administration would relaunch the raids after a two-week window – after the Independence Day observance – and that time now seems to have arrived.

So why are the raids being publicized days in advance?

“It’s unprecedented. But there is a political purpose behind it,” Thomas Kilbride, a retired Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agent and ICE policy adviser, told Fox News. He said the president has tried to get Democrats to come to the table because asylum laws need to change, and this is a way to bargain.

WAR CRIMINALS AMONG US: INSIDE THE QUIET EFFORT TO PROSECUTE AND DEPORT VIOLATORS DISGUISED AS REFUGEES

ICE agents are expected to target a minimum of 2,000 immigrants who have already been listed for deportation, but Kilbride said there will be “collateral” fallout.

What does that mean, though? While there are roughly a million people in the United States with removal orders, according to officials, those with criminal histories are the ones being sought. If other illegals are located along with a person of interest, they, too, will be arrested as part of that fallout.

But whether any political ambitions connected to the operation will prove successful remains to be seen.

“At a minimum, the asylum laws need to change, for people to have to remain outside the country when applying for asylum or applying at a foreign embassy,” Kilbride said. “What we are seeing at the border now is unprecedented.”

Other experts have underscored that Trump’s announcements are something of a gesture – and not something that the administration was under any legal obligation to do.

“The main point here is that the Trump administration is trying to circumvent some of the blowback from the other side of the aisle. It sends the message that these people have been notified to self-deport and if they fail to do that, this might happen,” said Steve Bucci, homeland security expert at the Heritage Foundation. “It is saying that we aren’t monsters, what we are doing is in accordance with the law and in a reasonable fashion.

“Past administrations didn’t announce raids because they didn’t have to, they just did them.”

Yet the heads-up also means that many may have left the addresses known to DHS in the weeks since the raids were first trumpeted, further hindering their effectiveness.

“Some may go into hiding or to a church providing a sanctuary,” Bucci continued.

Erin Corcoran, an immigration expert and executive director of Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, affirmed that in the past, raids were not announced beforehand by immigration enforcement, just as they are not announced when law enforcement is involved; when the information is exposed, it can more often than not prove detrimental to an operation.

“Sometimes there have been leaks by individuals, but it has never been a policy choice to pre-emptively announce raids. It compromises the effectiveness of the raids. Those being targeted may relocate or refuse to answer the door when immigration officials knock because they are anticipating the raids,” she said. “Raids have been conducted by other administrations, oftentimes targeting certain types of immigration violations, including those with criminal convictions. However, there has not been an immigration raid by previous administrations targeting families or children.

“It is unclear why this administration is preemptively announcing these raids. I also think there is some disagreement within the administration officials about these raids.”

VENEZUELA’S WAR ON CHILDREN AT ‘BREAKING POINT’ OVER LACK OF MEDICAL CARE

The public announcement of the forthcoming raids has inspired a number of hashtag campaigns, from #protecteachother to #knowyourights, aimed at giving undocumented migrants information about civil liberties that include the rights to silence and an attorney.

Acting Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Ken Cuccinelli said this week that the raids were “absolutely going to happen,” though he did not give an exact date for when “operational elements will roll out.”

Central American migrants sit together inside a room at the Latino hotel during a raid by Mexican immigration agents in Veracruz, Mexico last month. Under increasing U.S. pressure to reduce the flow of hundreds of thousands of Central Americans through Mexican territory, Mexico’s government has stepped up enforcement. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez)

Matthew Bourke, a spokesperson for ICE, told reporters Wednesday that his agency “prioritizes the arrest and removal of unlawfully present aliens who pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security” but he also declined to comment on specific details, citing “law enforcement sensitivities and the safety and security” of ICE personnel.

In fact, some officials have expressed concern that declaring the missions publicly is a serious concern where officer safety is involved.

GET THE FOX NEWS APP

At the same time, however, some lawmakers and legal experts speculate that the leak of information from within could also be designed to have the raids halted once again.

Immigration lawyer Saman Nasseri, who’s based in San Diego, contended that releasing information about the raids in advance is problematic not only for security reasons, but because of how often people move on, complicating the tracking of targets. He anticipates that the “operation will most likely be delayed again.”

The notion of immigration reform is set to be at the forefront of Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign and has long been a staple of his presidential agenda. While the migrant flow has shown signs of slowing over the past month, the Trump team has long grappled with the issue of large numbers of immigrants – mostly from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador – crossing the southern border with Mexico. More than 330,000 families have entered the U.S. illegally since the beginning of October, government records show.

DHS did not respond to a request for further comment.

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/us/why-those-ice-raids-are-being-announced-in-advance

20 views no comments
House Dem blasts ‘juvenile’ Ocasio-Cortez, chief of staff: ‘Ignorance is beyond belief’ – Fox News
House Dem blasts ‘juvenile’ Ocasio-Cortez, chief of staff: ‘Ignorance is beyond belief’ – Fox News
Video

Feud between Speaker Pelosi and Rep. Ocasio-Cortez heats up in the House

Capri Cafaro and Terry Holt weigh in on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s recent comments insinuating that Speaker Nancy Pelosi doesn’t respect her as a ‘woman of color.’

Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-Mo., added to the mounting Democratic criticism of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., slamming her “inappropriate” suggestion that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is singling out the New Yorker and her “squad” of fellow freshman because of their race.

Speaking to Fox News on Thursday night, Clay hammered Ocasio-Cortez’s suggestion.

“It was such a weak argument to say she was being picked on and that four women of color were being picked on by the speaker,” he said.

“It tells you the level of ignorance to American history on their part as to what we are as the Democratic Caucus.

PELOSI RESPONDS TO AOC SLAM, SAYS CAUCUS HAS HER BACK FOR CONDEMNING CHIEF OF STAFF’S ‘OFFENSIVE’ TWEET

Video

“It is so inappropriate. So uncalled for. It does not do anything to help with unity. It was unfair to Speaker Pelosi.”

Clay continued his broadside, saying the comment exposed how much Ocasio-Cortez and Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., have to learn when it comes to being “effective legislators”.

“It’s going to take a process of maturing for those freshman members. They will have to learn to be effective legislators,” he said.

“It shows their lack of sensitivity to racism. To fall back on that (trope) is a weak argument. It has no place in a civil discussion.”

‘VIEW’ TELLS AOC, OTHER DEMS TO RESPECT PELOSI AFTER RACISM ACCUSATION: ‘BS’

The lawmaker closed his remarks by suggesting the four freshmen could hurt Democratic chances in upcoming elections.

“It shows they have no sensibility to different members from our caucus. Some come from red districts and those are the ones who gave us the majority. We need them all,” he said.

His comments followed a feud between Pelosi and freshman congresswomen, like Ocasio-Cortez, that involved racially-charged criticism.

Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff, Saikat Chakrabarti, previously compared moderate Democrats to racists — prompting Pelosi, at the request of some of her members, warn House Democrats not to attack each other on Twitter.

GINGRICH ON DEMS’ INFIGHTING: AOC, OTHER FRESHMEN QUESTIONING WHY THEY NEED TO LISTEN TO PELOS

Video

“You got a complaint?  You come and talk to me about it.  But do not tweet about our members and expect us to think that that is just ok,” she reportedly said. On the same day of that caucus meeting, Ocasio-Cortez called out Pelosi for what she sees as the speaker continually targeting her and other freshmen lawmakers of color.

“Their ignorance is beyond belief,” Clay also said while in the Speaker’s Lobby, according to The Hill.

Clay wasn’t the only one to attack Ocasio-Cortez on Thursday. “The View” hosts Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg criticized her’s and others’ decision to attack Democrats like Pelosi. “I think this is more BS,” Goldberg said of Ocasio-Cortez’s comments on race.

BERNIE SANDERS SEEMINGLY DIPS TOE INTO DEMOCRATS’ FEUD, TELLS YOUNG PEOPLE TO EMBRACE PROGRESSIVE ‘POWER’

Pelosi, meanwhile, refused to provide further comment on the feud while discussing it during her weekly press briefing.

“I’ve said what I’m going to say…What I said in the caucus yesterday had an overwhelming response from my members,” she said.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“Because they know what the facts are and what we are responding to. We respect the value of every member of our caucus. The diversity of it all is a wonderful thing. Diversity is our strength. Unity is our power.”

Fox News’ Alex Pappas contributed to this report.

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/democrat-blasts-ocasio-cortez-pelosi

20 views no comments
Dramatic video shows Coast Guard leaping onto submarine carrying 17,000 pounds of cocaine – NBC News
Dramatic video shows Coast Guard leaping onto submarine carrying 17,000 pounds of cocaine – NBC News

The U.S. Coast Guard released video Thursday of service members leaping onto a submarine carrying 17,000 pounds of cocaine as part of a monthslong, $569 million cocaine bust.

A member of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Munro can be seen in the video yelling at an unidentified aquatic vehicle to stop as it moved alongside the cutter at the surface of the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Crew members then jump onto the top of the mostly submerged vessel as it’s moving and bust open the hatch.

A person inside the vessel can be seen briefly just as the hatch opens at the end of the minutelong video.

About 17,000 pounds of cocaine were found inside along with five suspected smugglers, the U.S. Coast Guard told NBC News on Thursday. The estimated street value of the drugs is $232 million.

Self-propelled submersible vessels, often called “narco-subs,” are sometimes used by cartels and traffickers to smuggle drugs across borders.

The operation, which occurred June 18, was one of 14 drug-smuggling vessels intercepted off the coasts of Mexico, Central and South America by three Coast Guard cutters between May and July of this year. A total of 39,000 pounds of cocaine and 933 pounds of marijuana, were seized in that time, for an estimated worth of $569 million, according to a press release Thursday.

Vice President Mike Pence was there as Coast Guard members unloaded the seized drugs in San Diego on Thursday. The operations will lead to the prosecution of 55 alleged smugglers, according to Pence.

“Make no mistake about it, Coasties, your courageous service is saving American lives,” Pence told service members Thursday.

Some of the 55 suspected drug smugglers will be transferred to federal authorities while others will be given to international authorities to be prosecuted in their home countries, the Coast Guard said.

The June seizure was part of the Coast Guard Cutter Munro’s first drug patrol since it was commissioned two years ago. The new vessel is one of six state-of-the-art cutters added to the Coast Guard fleet in recent years and another two have been commissioned in Hawaii, the military branch told NBC News.

About 70 percent of the Coast Guard’s fleet is made up of medium endurance cutters, which are about 50 years old and require costly maintenance.

Source Article from https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/dramatic-video-shows-coast-guard-leaping-submarine-carrying-17-000-n1028986

22 views no comments