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After two quakes shake Southern California, residents wonder: Are we getting close to the Big One? – CNN
After two quakes shake Southern California, residents wonder: Are we getting close to the Big One? – CNN

(CNN)Right after a 6.4 magnitude earthquake rocked Southern California on July 4, filmmaker Ava DuVernay, a lifelong Angeleno, tweeted that it was the longest quake she’d ever felt.

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    CNN’s Sarah Jorgensen, Alexandra Fields and Chris Audick contributed to this report.

    Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/07/us/big-one-california-earthquakes/index.html

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    U.S. Wins Record Fourth World Cup Title – The New York Times
    U.S. Wins Record Fourth World Cup Title – The New York Times

    1’

    That’s not unexpected, but the Dutch will need to be on guard. At the moment even O’Hara and Dunn have pushed into the attack. It’s a sign of confidence if anything.

    Via Rory Smith of The Times, inside the Stade de Lyon:

    It is quite hard to underestimate the scale of the American takeover of Lyon: this morning, certainly, there was no street that did not contain at least one person carrying the Stars and Stripes, or draping it over their shoulders, or wearing it on their pants.

    On the trams streaming out of Lyon toward the stadium, American fans outnumbered the Dutch by some considerable order of magnitude: three to one? Four to one? Five? Given that the Netherlands is, famously, quite a lot closer to France than the United States, and given that the Dutch generally travel in vast quantities, that they should be in such a minority is testament to the pulling power of this United States team.

    In the stadium, Jill Ellis’s players will feel they have home advantage, even on this side of the Atlantic. There is one bank of Dutch fans, in that vibrant orange, but most of the rest of the stands are dominated by Americans. The players were roared from the field when their warm-up session ended; each name was cheered when the starting lineup was read out, and none more so than Megan Rapinoe, the captain, and the standard-bearer for this squad. That says a lot, too, about the team and its fans and the bond between them: her unapologetic activism, her outspokenness, makes her more popular, not less.

    Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/07/sports/soccer/usa-vs-netherlands-score.html

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    Julie K. Brown: "Quite A Few Powerful And Important" Names Will Come Up In Jeffrey Epstein Sex Trafficking Case – RealClearPolitics
    Julie K. Brown: "Quite A Few Powerful And Important" Names Will Come Up In Jeffrey Epstein Sex Trafficking Case – RealClearPolitics

    Miami Herald investigative reporter Julie K. Brown, who has done original reporting on details of the alleged sex trafficking crimes of billionaire Jeffrey Epstein for the past several years, joined MSNBC Sunday morning to discuss the evidence against Epstein and the “rogues gallery” of rich, powerful, and famous people who are suspected to have used his services. Epstein was arrested Saturday in New Jersey on sex trafficking charges.


    “I’ve felt a lot of pressure,” Brown said. “Needless to say, these are very powerful people and I think that they’re sweating a little bit, especially today. We don’t know how much, how deep this went, how far-reaching it went in government, but there have been a lot of names that I could see on these message pads [listing clients] on a regular basis as part of the evidence. These message pads where they would call and leave Epstein messages, such as, ‘I’m at this hotel.’ Why do you do that, unless you’re expecting him to send you a girl to visit you at your hotel? So there are probably quite a few important people, powerful people, who are sweating it out right now. We’ll have to wait and see whether Epstein is going to name names.”


    She said Epstein’s relationship with fellow Palm Beach resident Donald Trump was “friendly.” “They went to dinner parties at each other’s houses, Trump was also on his plane. Probably not as much as a lot of other people because, you know, Trump had his own plane. But they had a lot of social relationships. And the other interesting thing is Trump had a modeling agency, and Epstein also had a stake in a modeling agency, which they suspect he used to bring in underage girls from overseas.”


    “There is a comment in one of the court files where Epstein is quoted as saying, ‘I want to set up my modeling agency the same way Trump set up his modeling agency.’ I don’t know what that means, but it is curious he was trying to do something similar to Trump.” Brown said.


    President Trump has commented on the case:


    “I started this story before the #MeToo movement, before the Harvey Weinstein story broke,” she said. “But I think the story and my journalism benefited from the #MeToo movement because we’re at a point in our culture where we’re giving these cases a lot more scrutiny. I also think the reason why this case has touched a lot more nerves than some of the others is that these cases involve vulnerable girls — 13,14,15-year-old girls.”


    “There are a lot of powerful people –men and women, by the way– who take advantage of poor vulnerable women, whether they are underage, or even women who are young and come to this country trying to make a life for themselves, and really it is up to authorities to nail these cases and start to go after them, but it has been spotty,” she also said.


    Full segment via MSNBC:

    Source Article from https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2019/07/07/julie_k_brown_quite_a_few_powerful_and_important_names_will_come_up_in_jeffrey_epstein_sex_trafficking_case.html

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    No, California won’t get tossed into the ocean by an earthquake — and other myths debunked – CNN
    No, California won’t get tossed into the ocean by an earthquake — and other myths debunked – 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/2019/07/07/us/earthquakes-myths-and-facts-trnd/index.html

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    Sources: Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein arrested in NY on sex charges – AOL
    Sources: Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein arrested in NY on sex charges – AOL

     

    NEW YORK (AP) — Wealthy financier and registered sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was arrested Saturday in New York on new sex-trafficking charges involving allegations that date to the early 2000s, according to law enforcement officials.

    Epstein, a wealthy hedge fund manager who once counted as friends former President Bill Clinton, Great Britain’s Prince Andrew, and President Donald Trump, was taken into federal custody and is expected to appear Monday in Manhattan federal court, three law enforcement officials told The Associated Press.

    One of the officials said Epstein is accused of paying underage girls for massages and molesting them at his homes in Florida and New York.

    The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the pending case.

    A message was sent to Epstein’s defense attorney seeking comment.

    Epstein’s arrest, first reported by The Daily Beast, comes amid renewed scrutiny of a once-secret plea deal that ended a federal investigation against him.

    That deal, which is being challenged in Florida federal court, allowed Epstein, who is now 66, to plead guilty to lesser state charges of soliciting and procuring a person under age 18 for prostitution.

    Averting a possible life sentence, Epstein was instead was sentenced to 13 months in jail. The deal also required he reach financial settlements with dozens of his once-teenage victims and register as a sex offender.

    Epstein’s deal was overseen by former Miami U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta, who is now President Donald Trump’s labor secretary. Acosta has defended the plea deal as appropriate under the circumstances, though the White House said in February that it was “looking into” his handling of the deal.

    President Donald Trump signs an executive order on a revised Cuba policy aimed at stopping the flow of U.S. cash to the country’s military and security services while maintaining diplomatic relations, Friday, June 16, 2017, in Miami. From left are, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., Florida Gov. Rick Scott, Cary Roque, Vice President Mike Pence and Labor Secretary Alex Acosta. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

    President Donald Trump, Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta, third from left, Ivanka Trump, the daughter of President Donald Trump, second from right, and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, right, tour the Waukesha County Technical College in Pewaukee, Wis., Tuesday, June 13, 2017. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)




    U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra of Florida ruled earlier this year that Epstein’s victims should have been consulted under federal law about the deal, and he is now weighing whether to invalidate the non-prosecution agreement, or NPA, that protected Epstein from federal charges.

    It was not immediately clear whether the cases involved the same victims since nearly all have remained anonymous.

    Federal prosecutors recently filed court papers in Florida case contending Epstein’s deal must stand.

    “The past cannot be undone; the government committed itself to the NPA, and the parties have not disputed that Epstein complied with its provisions,” prosecutors wrote in the filing.

    They acknowledged, however, that the failure to consult victims “fell short of the government’s dedication to serve victims to the best of its ability” and that prosecutors “should have communicated with the victims in a straightforward and transparent way.”

    The victims in the Florida case have until Monday to respond to the Justice Department’s filing.

    According to court records in Florida, authorities say at least 40 underage girls were brought into Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion for what turned into sexual encounters after female fixers looked for suitable girls locally and in Eastern Europe and other parts of the world.

    Some girls were also allegedly brought to Epstein’s homes in New York City, New Mexico and a private Caribbean island, according to court documents.

    Saturday’s arrest also came just days after a federal appeals court in New York ordered the unsealing of nearly 2,000 pages of records in a since-settled defamation case involving Epstein.

    U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse released a statement Saturday calling for Epstein to be held without bail pending trial.

    “This monster received a pathetically soft sentence last time and his victims deserve nothing less than justice,” Sasse, R-Nebraska, said in the statement. “Justice doesn’t depend on the size of your bank account.”

    ___

    Sisak reported from Port St. Lucie, Florida. Associated Press writers Colleen Long, Curt Anderson and Tom Hays contributed to this report.

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    Source Article from https://www.aol.com/article/news/2019/07/07/sources-jeffrey-epstein-arrested-in-ny-on-sex-charges/23764998/

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    How Britain just inched closer to the US on Iran – Washington Examiner
    How Britain just inched closer to the US on Iran – Washington Examiner

    Deploying Royal Marines from its Gibraltar territory at the Mediterranean Sea gateway, Britain on Thursday seized an Iranian oil tanker it says is breaching European Union sanctions against trade with Bashar Assad’s Syrian regime.

    This is proof of Britain’s increasing alignment with America on Iran.

    Britain insists it supports EU efforts to stabilize the Iran nuclear agreement. But London knew full well the fury its seizure would spark in Tehran.

    Upset that its global circumnavigation (transiting the Suez Canal would have been quicker than traveling around the Cape of Good Hope!) to resupply Syria has been busted, Iran is warning that unless the tanker is released, it will seize a British tanker in retaliation. This threat should not be judged idle. Iranian hardliners are desperate to increase pressure on the EU to get it to weaken crippling U.S. sanctions. And they will regard Britain’s action as a pretext to act.

    The British are well aware of this, and their action here cannot be disconnected from its broader strategic environment. With a new prime minister entering office in late July and Iran now overtly breaching the nuclear accord, Britain’s Iran policy is ripe for reconsideration. The fact that Assad has used Iranian oil to enable his massacre of hundreds of thousands of Syrians only consolidates British action under international law.

    But the headline here is that the fragile coalition holding together the Iran nuclear agreement has suffered another blow. Iran is increasingly isolated.

    Source Article from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/how-britain-just-inched-closer-to-the-us-on-iran

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    Biden claims Russian election interference wouldn’t have happened on his and Obama’s watch, but it did – Washington Examiner
    Biden claims Russian election interference wouldn’t have happened on his and Obama’s watch, but it did – Washington Examiner

    Joe Biden is at it again.

    The former vice president took another crack at whitewashing the Obama legacy in a CNN interview this week, claiming he and President Obama would not have allowed Russian election interference to happen on their watch. The insane thing about this is: Russian election interference most absolutely happened during the Obama years. Everyone accepts that at this point, and President Trump was one of the last to accept it.

    Does Biden not know this? Is he lying and hoping no one notices? Is he just having a senior moment?

    CNN’s Chris Cuomo kicked things off by noting that President Trump “says he’s gotten NATO to give in more money for their defense because of his tactics.”

    “Oh, come on, man,” Biden scoffed indignantly. “And by the way, the idea that NATO thinks — let me put it this way: If he wins reelection, I promise you, there’ll be no NATO in four years, or five years.”

    Cuomo asked, “You think there’ll be no more NATO if he’s reelected?”

    “No more NATO,” said Biden.

    The 2020 Democratic front-runner then veered off.

    “Look at what’s happening with Putin,” said Biden. “While he — while Putin is trying to undo our elections, he is undoing elections in Europe. Look what’s happening in Hungary. Look what’s happening in Poland.”

    He added, “Look what’s happening. Do you think that would happen on my watch or Barack’s watch? You can’t answer that, but I promise you, it wouldn’t have, and it didn’t.”

    In what version of reality is Biden living? Russia has been screwing with foreign elections for decades. It is well-documented. It is not new. Political scientists Lucan Ahmad Way and Adam Casey explained last year for the Washington Post’s the Monkey Cage blog:

    Shortly after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Russia began to interfere in elections of the countries that had been part of the U.S.S.R. Many observers have argued that Russia sought to promote authoritarianism. In fact, its goal wasn’t primarily to undermine democracy but to support pro-Russian candidates. Indeed, in some cases, as in Ukraine in 1994, Russia inadvertently bolstered pluralism by trying to undermine anti-Russian autocrats.

    Russian interference also frequently failed. Despite Russia’s power in the region, only four of 11 cases of interference turned out in Russia’s favor. Only once — in Ukraine in 1994 — is there plausible evidence that Russian intervention was decisive. There, Russian television gave the pro-Russian opposition candidate for Ukraine’s presidency significant media exposure that he would have otherwise lacked.

    Then there are Russia’s post-2014 efforts to disrupt national elections, which Way and Casey call the “second wave”:

    Special counsel Robert Mueller and the U.S. intelligence community have concluded also that Russian interference in the 2016 American presidential election specifically dates back to the Obama administration.

    Biden cannot possibly be this ignorant about what went on during the years he served as vice president. Well, then again, let’s think about this. Though it seems unfathomable that the man who served as second-in-command to President Obama would be so uninformed about Russia’s efforts to upset foreign elections, it is worth remembering that Biden is the same person who sneered in 2012 when GOP nominee Mitt Romney warned that Russia is the U.S.’ greatest geopolitical foe: “These debates have exposed that Gov. Romney and Paul Ryan have a foreign policy right out of the ’80s, a social policy out of the ’50s.”

    Maybe Biden is just that ignorant. Then again, he is also a shameless liar.

    Straight ignorance or an outright falsehood? Perhaps the answer here lies somewhere in the middle.

    Source Article from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/biden-claims-russian-election-interference-wouldnt-have-happened-on-his-and-obamas-watch-but-it-did

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    Michelle Obama won’t comment on Biden apology, holds off on any endorsement – ABC News
    Michelle Obama won’t comment on Biden apology, holds off on any endorsement – ABC News

    Six Democratic presidential candidates took the stage at the Essence Festival on Saturday, but it was a former inhabitant of the White House who got a rock star’s welcome — regardless of her tendency to deflect questions on the 2020 election.

    Former first lady Michelle Obama refused to comment on the Kamala Harris-Joe Biden “dust up,” as moderator Gayle King called it, Saturday night, but Obama did reiterate a lot of her opinions surrounding the current political climate with a lot of color and to a lot of applause.

    Biden, President Barack Obama’s vice president, apologized for the first time Saturday for comments he made weeks ago about working with segregationists in Congress during the 1970s.

    Sen. Harris, the only black woman in the Senate, took special exception to Biden’s comments during the first Democratic debate two weeks ago.

    “I’ve been doing this rodeo far too long,” Obama responded to King’s question about the tiff. “And no comment.”

    The former first lady also said her and her husband would not be endorsing any candidate from the crowded field, saying they would support whomever wins the primary.

    “Barack and I are going to support whoever wins the primary, so … our primary focus is letting the primary process play out, because it’s very early,” she said. “I mean, that’s one of the things that we learned in the campaign. It is early; it’s like trying to figure out who’s winning the World Series on the first seven games. I mean that’s where we are right now, it is so early.”

    Barack Obama had previously said he did not intend to endorse his former vice president early. And Biden said he asked the former president not to.

    “I didn’t want it to look like he was putting his thumb on the scale,” the former vice president told “The View” in April.

    While staying mostly out of current politics, Michelle Obama did manage to take a not-so-subtle jab at the man now in the White House.

    “The leader of the free world, with a tweet, can start a war, can crush an economy, can change the future of our children,” she said. “It is a real job which requires deep seriousness and focus.”

    She has criticized President Donald Trump before and said in her recent memoir, “Becoming,” she will never forgive him for the birther controversy he helped to perpetuate in the years prior to his campaign.

    But Michelle Obama spent much of her time on stage at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome discussing voting rates among African Americans and urging those in attendance to get to the polls next year.

    “I fear that sometimes people might have thought that Barack made it look easy, so it must be easy, It’s kind of like, I guess, if the black guy can do it, anybody can do it. And that’s not true,” she said to laughs from the mostly African American crowd.

    She closed with a message of motivation for the crowd.

    “I feel the power in the Superdome right here,” she said. “I feel it. I feel it right now. If each of us does our part and we go out there and we get educated and we register and we get people registered to vote. We can change things.”

    ABC News’ Mark Osborne contributed to this report.

    Source Article from https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/michelle-obama-comment-biden-apology-holds-off-endorsement/story?id=64174424

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    Biden says he was wrong in comments about segregationists – USA TODAY
    Biden says he was wrong in comments about segregationists – USA TODAY

    SUMTER, S.C. – Former Vice President Joe Biden on Saturday apologized for recent comments about working with segregationist senators in his early days in the U.S. Senate, saying he understands now his remarks could have been offensive to some.

    “Was I wrong a few weeks ago?” Biden asked a mostly black audience of several hundred in Sumter during the first day of a weekend visit to South Carolina. “Yes, I was. I regret it, and I’m sorry for any of the pain of misconception that caused anybody.”

    Biden’s comments came as he and rival presidential candidate Kamala Harris were set to circle each other while campaigning Sunday in South Carolina, the first Southern state to vote in next year’s primary and a crucial proving ground for candidates seeking support of black Democrats. Biden defended his record on racial issues and reminded voters of his ties to former President Barack Obama, whose popularity in South Carolina remains high.

    The former vice president and the California senator probably will be pressed on their tense debate exchange over race and federally mandated school busing. Though the issue is not at the forefront of the 2020 primary, it could resonate in a state with a complicated history with race and segregation.

    Without naming Harris, Biden on Saturday referenced what he characterized as expected attacks from other campaigns eager to take him on.

    “I’m going to let my record stand for itself and not be distorted or smeared,” Biden said. He recalled his support of Obama’s criminal justice reforms and pointed out areas in which he disagreed, such as the three-strikes policy that led to longer sentences for repeat offenders.

    “I’m flawed and imperfect like everyone else. I’ve made the best decisions that I could at the moment they had to be made,” Biden said. “If the choice is between doing nothing and acting, I’ve chosen to act.”

    Several Harris supporters in the state said her pointed and personal critique of Biden, who opposed busing mandates in the 1970s, struck a chord in South Carolina. Marguerite Willis, a recent Democratic candidate for governor, said that when Harris spoke in last month’s debate about her own experiences being bused as a child, the entire room where Willis was watching the debate grew quiet.

    “Growing up here in South Carolina, that’s meaningful to us,” said Willis, who is white. Schools were segregated when she was a child, and she recalled not meeting a black girl her age until leaving the state for college. “So when she talked about being bused, it was powerful for me and I’m sure it’s powerful for a lot of people here who have experiences of their own.”

    On the subject of busing, Biden told voters: “I don’t believe a child should have to get on a bus to attend a good school. There should be first-rate schools of quality in every neighborhood of this nation, especially in 2019 America.”

    Biden began a scheduled three-stop swing in South Carolina on Saturday, his third campaign visit to the state. Later Saturday, he addressed more than 250 in Orangeburg and planned to make several stops in Charleston on Sunday.

    Biden told Orangeburg voters that President Donald Trump is overtly racist and a divisive president who governs as though “any problem that we have is because of those drug-dealing Mexicans.”

    Harris, who planned appearances Sunday in Florence, Hartsville and Myrtle Beach during her ninth trip to the state, has spent more time in South Carolina than any other state in the early primary landscape.

    The campaign dynamics have shifted and become more personal since the last time Biden and Harris were in South Carolina.

    In the debate, Harris was unrelenting in her criticism of Biden, both his views on busing and his comments about working with segregationist senators.

    Biden told CNN in an interview that aired Friday that he “wasn’t prepared for the person coming at me the way she came at me,” noting that Harris knows him and his son, Beau, who died of brain cancer in 2015.

    State Sen. Dick Harpootlian, who is backing Biden, said he did not believe that the issue would move voters, and that he has heard from some that they felt Harris’ debate attack was “disrespectful.”

    “I think it resonates with younger voters who get all their news off Twitter or Facebook. It’s an echo chamber,” Harpootlian said, adding that he believes the state’s primary voters will be older and heavily African American. “Those are Biden’s guys, his men and women. … They want to know what they’re getting. They don’t want a promise of what’s to come in the future.”

    “She can’t build herself solely on tearing Joe Biden down,” Harpootlian said. “She took that shot. What’s she offering?”

    Harris muddied the debate over busing during a recent campaign swing in Iowa, appearing to tell reporters she now opposes federally mandated busing to address school segregation. Her campaign disputed the notion that she was backtracking from the position she took during the debate, arguing that she supported busing in the 1970s – when Biden opposed it – but believes conditions now make it an issue to be decided by local school districts.

    During an appearance Saturday at Essence Fest in New Orleans, an annual music and cultural conference that is the largest gathering of black women in the country, Harris pledged to fight the segregation that she said lingers today.

    “There’s still mandatory busing that exists today,” Harris said. “Because we had so much flight. … Segregation persists now not necessarily as a function of legislator. … But just because there has been a drawing out of the resources in public schools. That is one of my highest priorities, and we have got to deal with that.”

    The technicalities of those arguments mattered little to J.A. Moore, a South Carolina state representative who is backing Harris and felt a personal connection to her story. Moore said his Aunt Loretta, who called him during the debate, was among an early group of black students to integrate a high school named for Strom Thurmond, a segregationist senator.

    “That resonated with a lot of African Americans,” he said. “African Americans in South Carolina have been marginalized, have dealt with all kinds of discriminatory practices.”

    For Willis, it may just be that Biden’s political time has passed.

    “My view on it is that Joe Biden has had his day,” said Willis. “He’s a good man. I don’t think he’s a racist, personally. But I think that many people can beat Donald Trump and I don’t think we have to have necessarily an old, white guy to do it.”

    State Sen. Marlon Kimpson, a member of South Carolina’s Legislative Black Caucus who will host Biden for a town hall meeting in Charleston on Sunday, said candidates’ past positions matter as voters weigh who is best positioned to defeat Trump.

    Kimpson, who has not endorsed a candidate, said: “It’s one thing for people to get up and talk about what they’re going to do, but one of the barometers for someone espousing what their plans are is to look at what they’ve done in their past.”

    Awaiting Biden’s Sumter speech on Saturday, Sue Catanch – a black woman who has lived in Sumter most of her life – said she supports the former vice president in part because of his proximity to Obama. But Catanch, 73, said she wasn’t concerned about any critique of Biden’s past stances, including on busing, and instead admired what she characterized as Biden’s commitment to stay above the fray.

    “If you tear one another down, it brings the whole Democratic Party down,” Catanch said. “We have got to back whoever the nominee is, and I pray to God that’s Joe.”

    Summers reported from Baltimore. AP National Writer Errin Haines Whack in New Orleans contributed to this report.

    Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/07/07/biden-apologizes-comments-segregationists/1667501001/

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    Trump reaches career-high approval, yet faces a range of re-election risks: Poll – ABC News
    Trump reaches career-high approval, yet faces a range of re-election risks: Poll – ABC News

    Bolstered by a strong economy, Donald Trump reached the highest job approval rating of his career in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll and runs competitively for re-election against four of five possible Democratic contenders. Yet he remains broadly unpopular across personal and professional measures, marking his vulnerabilities in the 2020 election.

    Forty-four percent of Americans approve of Trump’s overall job performance, up a slight 5 percentage points from April and 2 points better than his peak early in his presidency. Still, 53% disapprove, keeping him at majority disapproval continuously for his first two and a half years in office, a record for any president in modern polling.

    See PDF for full results, charts and tables.

    Fifty-one percent approve of Trump’s handling of the economy, more than half for the first time in his presidency. His approval ratings across eight other issues all are substantially lower, ranging from 42% on handling taxes to 29% on global warming.

    Personally, moreover, a broad 65% say that since taking office Trump “has acted in a way that’s unpresidential,” not far from the 70% who said so in mid-2017 and early 2018 alike. Just 28% in this poll, produced for ABC by Langer Research Associates, say his behavior is “fitting and proper” for a president.

    That said, support for Congress initiating impeachment proceedings against Trump remains unchanged since April at 37%, while opposition to this step has grown by 13 points since August to 59%, a new high. Sixty-one percent of Democrats favor impeachment action, but just 37% of independents – and 7% of Republicans – agree.

    Trial Heats

    Even while it’s up, Trump’s historically low approval rating makes him vulnerable in the 2020 elections – but hardly a pushover. Among all adults (there’s plenty of time to register to vote), Joe Biden leads Trump by 14 points. But that narrows among the other four Democrats tested against Trump in this poll – an 8-point lead for Kamala Harris, a slight 7 points for Elizabeth Warren, 6 for Bernie Sanders and 4 for Pete Buttigieg. The latter two don’t reach statistical significance.

    Among registered voters, moreover, Biden still leads, by 10 points, but the other races all tighten to virtual or actual dead heats – Trump a non-significant -2 points against Harris, -1 against Sanders and exactly tied with Warren and Buttigieg.

    Scott Olson/Getty Images, FILE
    PHOTO:Democratic presidential candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden speaks to guests on June 28, 2019, in Chicago.

    Another question tests Trump against “a Democratic candidate who you regard as a socialist” –relevant given the Republicans’ stated aim of applying that label to their eventual opponent. Among the general public the race is tied among Trump vs. a perceived socialist; among registered voters it goes +6 to Trump, 49% to 43%, not a significant difference.

    Results show some notable differences among groups. Moderates favor Biden over Trump by a 29-point margin, compared with 18- to 15-point margins for Warren, Sanders or Buttigieg vs. Trump (and 21 points for Harris). Biden leads among most groups save traditionally GOP-leaning ones, including whites who lack a college degree, conservatives, older adults and rural Americans. Among blacks, Biden’s 83-12 lead is as good as Harris’ 77-16%. And Biden has a 17-point lead among college-educated white women, which is better than Harris’ 9 points and Warren’s 7 points in the same key Democratic group. Indeed neither of those is a statistically significant lead.

    The differences between all adults and registered voters mark a longtime GOP advantage; their support groups are more apt to be signed up to vote. Just 64% of 18- to 29-year-olds, a broadly Democratic group, are registered, vs. 92% of those 50 and older. And only 71% of nonwhites are registered, including 61% of Hispanics (a group with more younger adults and non-citizens alike), vs. 89% of whites.

    These are early days, of course, with time aplenty for preferences to develop. It’s also worth noting that, as the 2016 contest showed, polling ahead in – and winning – the national vote is not necessarily the same as winning the Electoral College.

    Intensity Gap

    Other questions show the extent of political divisions on Trump’s reelection campaign, with an edge to Democratic supporters in intensity of sentiment, specifically the level of importance they place on winning.

    Among current Trump supporters (those who back him against all Democrats tested), 52% call it extremely important to them that he wins a second term. At the same time, among current Democratic supporters (those who back all Democrats tested vs. Trump), 73% call it extremely important to them that Trump does not win – a wide 21-point intensity gap for the opposition. The question is whether that translates into turnout.

    In another measure, 48% of adults say there’s no chance they’d consider Trump against any Democratic candidate. It’s 46% among currently registered voters.

    Issues

    The economy, health care and immigration top the public’s list of most important issues in the 2020 election, each cited by about eight in 10 Americans. Foreign policy, gun violence, issues of special interest to women and taxes make up the next tier, each called a top issue by about seven in 10. Abortion (highly important to 61%) and global warming (54%) follow.

    There are partisan divisions in these views, some quite striking. Democrats are 14 points more likely than Republicans to cite health care – the key winning issue for Democratic candidates in 2018 – as a top voting issue in 2020. It’s the same gap for abortion. The gap grows on gun violence and women’s issues, with Democrats 24 points more apt than Republicans to name either as highly important issues. And it’s a vast 55 points on global warming.

    Republicans, for their part, are 24 points more likely to say taxes are a top issue in their vote. They’re also less keyed up about these issues in general, with an average top importance score of 68% (73% excluding global warming), vs. 79% among Democrats.

    Single Payer

    Views on “Medicare for all” in health care further mark the partisan gap in policy preferences. Fifty-two percent of Americans support a government-run, taxpayer-funded insurance program like Medicare for all people. That includes 77% of Democrats, declining to 48% of independents and then dropping further to 22% of Republicans.

    Support for a single-payer system was 56% in 2006 and is down from 62% in an ABC/Post poll in 2003. Compared with 2003, there’s been essentially no change among Democrats (73% support then, 77% now), but big drops in support among independents, down 17 points, and Republicans, down 23 points.

    If such a system did away with private health insurance, support declines to 43% overall – 64% among Democrats, vs. 40% among independents and 14% among Republicans. That makes it a potential wedge issue for the GOP.

    At the same time, underlying concerns are extensive. Seventy-one percent of Americans are very or somewhat worried about being able to afford the cost of their health care (including 45% very worried). On this, Democrats and independents are aligned, at 79% and 73%, respectively. It’s lower but still a majority among Republicans, 58%. As such, while the GOP appeals to concerns about the potential demise of private insurance, the Democrats may push back with arguments about the high cost of care in the current system.

    Referendum

    At the end of the day, a second-term election is a referendum on the incumbent. Reaching a career high is a good result for Trump – though he has far to go. His rating has been both extraordinarily stable (36% to 44%) and low since he took office. He’s averaged 39% approval in his first two and a half years, the lowest on record in the same period for any president in polling data back to the Truman administration – and a broad 21 points below the pre-Trump average, 60%.

    Partisan differences in views of Trump are vast; 87% of Republicans approve while just 10% of Democrats agree. But there are some issues on which he’s less well rated in his own party, slipping under 70% approval on gun violence, issues of special importance to women, abortion and, especially – at just 58% in-party approval – global warming.

    Susan Walsh/AP
    President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference, June 29, 2019.

    In terms of the election, it helps to focus on independents, as they’re likeliest to serve as swing voters. Trump has a 43% overall job approval rating among independents; 54% disapprove, with more disapproving strongly (46%) than strongly approving (30%).
    Across the eight individual issues tested in this poll, Trump’s approval among independents goes lower, averaging 39%.

    Independents are in the middle generally, and almost precisely at the midpoint between Democrats and Republicans on the top three issues of importance to voters in the election, the economy, immigration and health care. That further marks these issues as the field on which the campaign ahead is likely to be fought most intensely.

    Methodology

    This ABC News/Washington Post poll was conducted by landline and cellular telephone June 28-July 1, 2019, in English and Spanish, among a random national sample of 1,008 adults. Results have a margin of sampling error of 3.5 points, including the design effect. Partisan divisions are 29-23-37%, Democrats-Republicans-independents.

    The survey was produced for ABC News by Langer Research Associates of New York, N.Y., with sampling and data collection by Abt Associates of Rockville, Md. See details on the survey’s methodology here.

    Source Article from https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-reaches-career-high-approval-faces-range-reelection/story?id=64117018

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    The Latest: Gov. Newsom says Trump wants to help California – KTSM News Channel 9
    The Latest: Gov. Newsom says Trump wants to help California – KTSM News Channel 9

    RIDGECREST, Calif. (AP) — The Latest on Southern California’s strongest earthquake in 20 years (all times local):

    4 p.m.

    Gov. Gavin Newsom says President Donald Trump has called him and expressed commitment to helping California recover from two earthquakes that hit the state in as many days.

    Speaking to reporters after touring the damage zone, Newsom said Saturday that he and Trump talked about the struggles California has been through, including two devastating wildfires that happened just six months ago.

    The Democratic governor said “there’s no question we don’t agree on everything, but one area where there’s no politics, where we work extremely well together, is our response to emergencies.”

    “He’s committed in the long haul, the long run, to help support the rebuilding efforts,” Newsom said of Trump.

    ___

    2 p.m.

    Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake says it authorized evacuations for non-essential employees and their dependents while officials continue to assess earthquake damage to the huge military installation in Southern California.

    The epicenters of the 7.1 magnitude quake on Friday and the magnitude 6.4 quake on Thursday were on the base, which is the size of Rhode Island. No injuries were reported.

    Access to the base was restricted to mission-essential personnel until Monday morning.

    Officials said most employees live off the base, but they authorized the evacuation so those who live on base can be eligible for reimbursements.

    The installation in the Mojave Desert is the Navy’s largest single landholding

    ____

    1 p.m.

    Fire officials say as many as 50 structures in the small town of Trona were damaged by the magnitude 7.1 earthquake Friday night in Southern California.

    In addition, San Bernardino County Supervisor Robert Lovingood said Saturday that damaged water lines prompted FEMA to deliver a tractor-trailer full of bottled water to the town, and firefighters were checking numerous reports of gas leaks.

    The town was temporarily cut off after the earthquake, when officials shut down a highway connecting Trona to Ridgecrest because of rockslides and cracks in the roadway.

    Julia Doss, who maintains the Trona Neighborhood Watch page on Facebook, said residents reported that chimneys and entire walls collapsed during the quake.

    She said the only food store in town has been shuttered.

    The hardscrabble town with 1,500 residents on the edge of a dry lake bed is considered the gateway to Death Valley.

    ___

    12:30 p.m.

    A seismologist in California says scientists believe the sequence of earthquakes striking the Mojave Desert will produce more than 30,000 quakes of magnitude 1 or greater over six months.

    Dr. Egill Hauksson also said Saturday at Caltech that the probability of a magnitude 7 over the next week has declined to 3 percent.

    He says the probability for a magnitude 6 is 27 percent so he would expect one or two of those in the next week.

    The epicenter of Friday night’s 7.1 magnitude earthquake was 11 miles (18 kilometers) from Ridgecrest in the same area where a 6.4 magnitude temblor hit just a day earlier.

    Hauksson says Ridgecrest used to be known as the earthquake capital of the world because it had so many small quakes.

    ___

    11:45 a.m.

    Eugene Johnson is cleaning up his home after the 7.1 magnitude earthquake brought down his brick chimney and fireplace.

    The 61-year-old Trona resident said Saturday that he and his wife were in bed watching TV Friday night when the quake started.

    They rushed into their living room to hold onto their fish tank and big-screen TV and watched the fireplace collapse.

    Dishes crashed out of cabinets, boxes of macaroni fell to the floor and spilled everywhere, and the refrigerator careened halfway across the kitchen.

    Johnson says his wife is ready to move back East but he doesn’t want to return to snow and cold weather.

    ___

    11:20 a.m.

    Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake says it is not fully operational after back-to-back major earthquakes hit Southern California.

    The station said Saturday in a Facebook post that its non-essential personnel were evacuated.

    The installation in the Mojave Desert covers an area larger than Rhode Island and is the Navy’s largest single landholding.

    The Facebook post says normal operations were halted until further notice and it was not clear when they would resume.

    Friday’s 7.1 magnitudes quake occurred a day after a magnitude 6.4 quake hit in the same area about 150 miles from Los Angeles.

    ___

    11:05 a.m.

    The mayor of Ridgecrest says there were two reports of burglaries in the Southern California city following the 7.1 earthquake Friday night.

    Mayor Peggy Breeden said Saturday that some “bad people” came into the community and tried to steal items from businesses.

    Police Chief Jed McLaughlin said one business was burglarized, with an expensive piece of equipment stolen.

    A home was also broken into and police are waiting to see what was taken.

    Friday’s quake occurred a day after a magnitude 6.4 quake hit in the same area of the Mojave Desert about 150 miles from Los Angeles.

    Officials say there were some power outages.

    ___

    10:50 a.m.

    A state official says damage from the 7.1 magnitude earthquake in Southern California was not as bad as authorities expected.

    Mark S. Ghilarducci, director of the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, said Saturday that Ridgecrest and Trona suffered structure fires, gas leaks, power outages, road damage and rock slides.

    He says the damage was not as extensive as expected despite back-to-back quakes on Thursday and Friday.

    He says nearly 200 people were in shelters.

    Ghilarducci says cleanup work is underway in San Bernardino and Kern counties, and Caltrans has worked to patch and fix roads, as well as clear rock slides.

    ___

    9:30 a.m.

    A fire official says there were no fatalities or major injuries in Ridgecrest after the 7.1 magnitudes earthquake on Friday night.

    Kern County Fire Chief David Witt also said Saturday there were no major building collapses but some structures could be weakened from the back-to-back quakes.

    Friday’s quake occurred a day after a magnitude 6.4 quake hit in the same area of the Mojave Desert about 150 miles from Los Angeles.

    Witt says there were some power outages and minor gas and water leaks in Ridgecrest, but no known damage outside the area.

    He urged residents to get supplies ready in case another quake hits.

    ___

    9 a.m.

    Gov. Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency for a section of Southern California that saw significant damage after Friday night’s magnitude 7.1 earthquake.

    The declaration provides immediate state assistance to San Bernardino County, citing conditions of “extreme peril to the safety of persons and property” in the county due to the earthquake.

    State highway officials shut a 30-mile section of State Route 178 between Ridgecrest — the area hit by two major temblors as many days — and the town of Trona southwest of Death Valley.

    Photos posted on Twitter by the state highway department shows numerous cracks in the road.

    A spokesman for the governor’s Office of Emergency Services says crews were still assessing damages to water lines, gas lines and other infrastructure Saturday.

    ___

    12:15 a.m.

    Small communities in the Mojave Desert are reeling from a magnitude 7.1 earthquake — the second major temblor in as many days to rock Southern California.

    Authorities say Friday night’s shaker was centered near the town of Ridgecrest — the same area where a 6.4-magnitude quake hit on Independence Day.

    Mark Ghillarducci, director of the California Office of Emergency Services, says there are “significant reports of structure fires, mostly as a result of gas leaks or gas line breaks throughout the city.”

    He also says there’s a report of a building collapse in tiny Trona. He says there could be even more serious damage to the region that won’t be known until first light on Saturday.

    The quake at 8:19 p.m. was felt as far north as Sacramento and even in Las Vegas. It’s been followed by a series of sizeable aftershocks.

    ___

    10:30 p.m.

    Authorities say a magnitude 7.1 earthquake that jolted California has caused injuries, sparked fires, shut roads and shaken ball games and theme parks.

    However, authorities say there are no deaths or major building damage reported from the quake, which struck at 8:19 p.m. Friday.

    It was centered about 150 miles from Los Angeles in the Mojave Desert near the town of Ridgecrest, which was still recovering from a 6.4-magnitude preshock that hit the region on Thursday.

    There were reports of trailers burning at a mobile home, and State Route 178 in Kern County was closed by a rockslide and roadway damage.

    But Kern County Fire Chief David Witt says it appears no buildings collapsed. He also says there have been a lot of ambulance calls but no reported fatalities.

    ___

    9:50 p.m.

    An earthquake rattled Dodger Stadium in the fourth inning of the team’s game against the San Diego Padres.

    The quake on Friday night happened when Dodgers second baseman Enriquè Hernàndez was batting. It didn’t appear to affect him or Padres pitcher Eric Lauer.

    However, it was obvious to viewers of the SportsNet LA broadcast when the TV picture bounced up and down.

    The quake registered an initial magnitude of 6.9 to 7.1, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

    There was no announcement by the stadium’s public address announcer.

    Some fans in the upper deck appeared to leave their seats and move to a concourse at the top of the stadium.

    The press box lurched for about 20 seconds.

    The quake occurred a day after a magnitude 6.4 quake hit in the Mojave Desert about 150 miles from Los Angeles.

    ___

    9:40 p.m.

    Authorities are now reporting injuries and damage from a big earthquake that was felt throughout Southern California and into Las Vegas and even Mexico.

    The quake that hit at 8:19 p.m. was given a preliminary magnitude of 6.9 to 7.1, but the measurements were being calculated.

    It followed Thursday’s 6.4-mangitude quake that at the time was the largest Southern California quake in 20 years. Both were centered near Ridgecrest in the Mojave Desert.

    Kern County fire officials reported “multiple injuries and multiple fires” without providing details. San Bernardino County firefighters reported cracked buildings and a minor injury.

    ___

    8:30 p.m.

    An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.9 has jolted Southern California, but there are no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

    The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake hit at 8:19 p.m. Friday and was centered 11 miles from Ridgecrest, where a magnitude 6.4 quake struck on Thursday. The agency initially said the earthquake had a magnitude of 7.1.

    The quake was felt downtown as a rolling motion that seemed to last at least a half-minute. It was felt as far away as Las Vegas, and the USGS says it also was felt in Mexico.

    If the preliminary magnitude is correct, it would be the largest Southern California quake in 20 years.

    ___

    4 p.m.

    Seismologists say there have been 1,700 aftershocks in the wake of the strongest earthquake to hit Southern California in 20 years but the chances of another large temblor are diminishing.

    A magnitude 5.4 quake at 4:07 a.m. Friday is so far the strongest aftershock of Thursday’s 6.4 quake, which struck in the Mojave Desert near the town of Ridgecrest.

    Zachary Ross of the California Institute of Technology says the number of aftershocks might be slightly higher than average. He also says a quake of that size could continue producing aftershocks for years.

    The quake caused some damage to buildings and roads in and around Ridgecrest.

    However, seismologists say it’s unlikely the quake will affect any fault lines away from the immediate area, such as the mighty San Andreas.

    ___

    1:20 p.m.

    The city of Los Angeles is planning to reduce the threshold for public notifications by its earthquake early warning app, but officials say it was in the works before Southern California’s big earthquake Thursday.

    The ShakeAlert LA app was designed to notify users of magnitudes of 5.0 or greater and when a separate intensity scale predicts potentially damaging shaking.

    Robert de Groot of the U.S. Geological Survey says lowering the magnitude to 4.5 was already being worked on and had been discussed with LA as recently as a day before Thursday’s magnitude 6.4 quake centered in the Mojave Desert.

    The shaking intensity levels predicted for LA were below damaging levels, so an alert was not triggered.

    Mayor’s office spokeswoman Andrea Garcia also says the lower magnitude threshold has been in the planning stages and an update to the system is expected this month.

    ___

    7:05 a.m.

    A vigorous aftershock sequence is following the strongest earthquake to hit Southern California in 20 years.

    A magnitude 5.4 quake at 4:07 a.m. Friday is so far the strongest aftershock of Thursday’s magnitude 6.4 jolt, and was felt widely.

    Seismologists had said there was an 80% probability of an aftershock of that strength.

    Thursday’s big quake struck in the Mojave Desert, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) northeast of Los Angeles, near the town of Ridgecrest, which suffered damage to buildings and roads.

    ___

    9 p.m.

    The strongest earthquake in 20 years shook a large swath of Southern California and parts of Nevada on the July 4th holiday, rattling nerves and causing injuries and damage in a town near the epicenter, followed by a swarm of ongoing aftershocks.

    The 6.4 magnitude quake struck at 10:33 a.m. Thursday in the Mojave Desert, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) northeast of Los Angeles, near the town of Ridgecrest, California.

    Kern County Fire Chief David Witt says multiple injuries and two house fires were reported in the town of 28,000. Emergency crews were also dealing with small vegetation fires, gas leaks and reports of cracked roads.

    Witt says 15 patients were evacuated from the Ridgecrest Regional Hospital as a precaution and out of concern for aftershocks.

    Source Article from https://www.ktsm.com/news/national/the-latest-6-9-earthquake-felt-in-southern-california/

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    Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein arrested and charged with sex trafficking – Fox News
    Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein arrested and charged with sex trafficking – Fox News
    Video

    New accuser says she was sexually assaulted as a teenager by Jeffrey Epstein

    The Miami Herald report includes serious accusations against one of Epstein’s attorneys, Harvard law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz; Phil Keating reports from Miami.

    Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein has been charged with sex trafficking underage girls in New York and Florida, Fox News has learned.

    Epstein, who a decade ago received a lenient plea deal after being accused of paying girls for sexual massages in Florida, is expected to appear in a New York court Monday.

    DOJ TO INVESTIGATE PLEA BARGAIN AWARDED TO CLINTON-LINKED SEX OFFENDER JEFFREY EPSTEIN, BUT WATCHDOGS SAY PROBE IS TAINTED

    The 66-year-old financier has long been plagued by allegations of sexual abuse against minors.

    In 2008, Epstein was sentenced to 13 months in prison, required to settle with his then-teenage victims and register as a sex offender; He could have faced life in prison.

    Jeffrey Epstein is shown in an arrest file photo, July 27, 2006. (Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office via Associated Press)

    The new charges accused him of sex trafficking minors between 2002 and 2005 by paying them cash for massages and sexually abusing them in his New York apartment and his Palm Beach residence. Several of his associates allegedly recruited the girls and some victims became recruiters themselves, according to the Daily Beast.

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    Epstein — who is friends with President Trump and former President Bill Clinton — avoided federal criminal charges in 2007 and 2008 after agreeing to a plea deal in which he pleaded guilty to states charges of soliciting prostitution and served 13 months in a Florida county and registered as a sex offender.

    The much-criticized deal allowed him to leave jail custody six days a week to work from his office.

    ​​​​​​​The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/us/billionaire-jeffrey-epstein-arrested-and-charged-with-sex-trafficking

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    California desert city takes stock, cleans up after back-to-back earthquakes – NBC News
    California desert city takes stock, cleans up after back-to-back earthquakes – NBC News

    RIDGECREST, Calif. — Three-year-old River Webb calls them “boom-booms.”

    That’s one way to describe a pair of powerful earthquakes that rocked Southern California over the holiday weekend, centered in this Mojave Desert city of 28,000 situated between Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

    A magnitude 6.4 hit on the Fourth of July followed by a 7.1 the next day, making for the strongest earthquakes to hit Southern California in at least two decades. They were followed by a string of aftershocks that rumbled throughout the region.

    Bottles scattered on the floor at Eastridge Market following a 7.1 magnitude earthquake that struck the area Friday in Ridgecrest, California.Mario Tama / Getty Images

    “She was freaked out,” her mother, Jessica Webb, who was putting River and her 1-year-old brother, Julian, to bed when Friday’s quake shook. “We just kind of scooped them up and ran.”

    The family spent Friday night outside in a tent that Webb and her husband, Nathan Webb, set up in the front yard as far away as possible from anything that could fall, and they ran an extension cord from their house to power electronics.

    Because they were sleeping on the ground, they felt every aftershock.

    “She said, Let’s wait for the boom-booms to go down'” before going back inside the house, Nathan Webb said of River.

    He said when Friday’s earthquake hit, he struggled to reach the front door of their home.

    “It’s like trying to run across a trampoline,” he said.

    An employee works at the cash register at Eastridge Market, near broken bottles scattered on the floor, following a 7.1 magnitude earthquake that struck the area July 6 in Ridgecrest, California.Mario Tama / Getty Images

    Nothing was obviously amiss Saturday in Ridgecrest, which is flanked by shrub-covered hills. But many businesses were closed that would usually be open, like Starbucks, Burger King and Taco Bell. The doors of a Rite Aid pharmacy were cordoned off by yellow caution tape, although the drive-through was open for prescriptions.

    Ridgecrest officials said only minor injuries were reported, and there were no collapsed buildings or known deaths. One resident staying at a Red Cross shelter described Ridgecrest as a “ghost town,” and others wondered and worried whether another strong earthquake was coming.

    Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency and said Saturday he had spoken with President Donald Trump, who promised to help with rebuilding efforts.

    In nearby Trona, a community of some 1,600 northeast of Ridgecrest in the Searles Valley, the water supply was shut down by the earthquakes. On Saturday, workers loaded cases of bottled water at a distribution center at Trona High School, and the Red Cross was delivering water to neighborhoods.

    Brian Tuttle, 65, who lives in the Trona area, said the 6.4-magnitude quake and a strong aftershock did not bother him much. But Friday night’s 7.1 was “the most intense experience I’ve ever had.”

    He and his wife held on to each other in their front yard during the shaking , the refrigerator door in their kitchen opened and his heavy Harley-Davidson motorcycle was knocked down. His dog also ran away but was found about an hour later.

    “Man, did I have a mess to clean,” he said. “I have one plate, one dinner plate left.”

    His newly renovated home was not damaged, but other residents were not so lucky. “Everybody that had a chimney lost their chimney,” Tuttle said.

    Highway workers repair a hole that opened in the road near Ridgecrest, California, on Saturday after two powerful earthquakes.Robyn Beck / AFP – Getty Images

    He said he was looking forward to having the water back on and taking a shower.

    “We have electricity and everybody’s healthy and happy,” Tuttle said. “So I’m thankful.”

    As Tuttle was speaking, he paused. The ground was shaking again.

    Back in Ridgecrest, Christopher Thomas, 51, was cleaning up broken tiles that had fallen from the facade of a business plaza his father-in-law owns and inspecting cracks in the building.

    “Aftershocks, I’m like I can roll with those,” Thomas said. “But when it goes a few hours” without a major aftershock “that’s when I get nervous.”

    The 7.1-magnitude earthquake came after Thomas and his wife, Adriana Thomas, thought the worst was over after Thursday’s temblor.

    “Nerve-wracking,” Adriana Thomas said. “You think it’s going to just be an aftershock, and you’re experiencing another big one.”

    April Hamlin, 47, who was born and raised in Ridgecrest, was at the Red Cross shelter at the Kerr McGee Community Center on Saturday with her two daughters, Zarah, 15, Safiya, 14, and son Zak, 15, as well as their St. Bernard, Duchess, who was stretched out on a blanket and pillow.

    They went to the shelter because their power went out after the first quake, and Zarah has a rare medical condition that prevents her from tolerating heat well, Hamlin said. Temperatures soared to over 100 degrees Saturday. They returned home because their power was restored, but then the second earthquake hit.

    “It got trashed,” Hamlin said of their house. “Are we being prepared for the big one? That’s what I’m wondering.”

    Hamlin and her family spent Friday night at the shelter and planned to stay until at least Monday, when building inspectors will check out their home.

    “We’ll be all right. We’re going to be fine. We’re not in this alone,” she said, adding that her church and community are supporting them and others affected by the earthquakes.

    Steven Morgan, past district governor of the Lions Club of Ridgecrest, told Red Cross officials Saturday that they had collected $10,000 to help those in need.

    “We’re just a piece of everyone trying to do their part,” Morgan said. “Us desert folks, this is what we do.”

    Source Article from https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/california-desert-city-takes-stock-cleans-after-back-back-earthquakes-n1027131

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    Biden, Under Fire on Race, Apologizes for Remarks on Segregationists – The New York Times
    Biden, Under Fire on Race, Apologizes for Remarks on Segregationists – The New York Times

    “I know that many want this campaign to be about my past,” he said. “I get it. That’s the game. But this isn’t a game. Every one of you know, no matter who you’re for, know in your bones, this election is different.”

    Some in the friendly audience made clear they were not interested in relitigating Mr. Biden’s record on race, even though the issue remains of significant importance to many in the party, including to some younger people of color.

    “I thought her comments were unnecessary and out of place,” said Irvin Williams, 81, of Ms. Harris’s comments about Mr. Biden’s record on busing. He and his wife, who are African-American, said they were deciding between Mr. Biden and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. “If he said it, it’s how many years ago? If that was his position, then so be it. He’s done a lot of good things for people in this country.”

    Eloise Conyers, who turns 64 on Sunday, said she was leaning toward Mr. Biden “for now,” but also likes Ms. Harris.

    “I support her point of view,” Ms. Conyers said, adding that Mr. Biden did not “address it effectively” in the debate. But, she said, “I know from his record and what he has done, he really supports equal rights for others.”

    [We tracked down the 2020 Democrats and asked them the same set of questions. Watch them answer.]

    Mr. Biden also made clear that in contrast to some of his more liberal opponents, who support eliminating private health insurance in favor of more expansive government-supported health care coverage, he is not calling for revolutionary change on issues like the Affordable Care Act, noting his support for a public option. It was an implicit contrast with those who would support bolder change as part of proposals like “Medicare for all,” and a sign of his increased willingness to engage with his opponents rather than keeping his focus on President Trump.

    “We don’t have time,” he said of those who want to “start over.”

    At least one rival campaign is already signaling that it does not plan to let Mr. Biden move on from his past so easily.

    “Every candidate’s record will (and should) be scrutinized in this race,” tweeted Ian Sams, the national press secretary for Ms. Harris. “It’s a competition to become President of the United States. There are no free passes.”

    Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/06/us/politics/joe-biden-barack-obama-south-carolina.html

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    Aided by a strong economy, Trump approval rises, but a majority also see him as ‘unpresidential’ – The Washington Post
    Aided by a strong economy, Trump approval rises, but a majority also see him as ‘unpresidential’ – The Washington Post

    President Trump responds to questions from members of the news media before departing the South Lawn of the White House by Marine One on Friday. (Erik S Lesser/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

    Dan Balz

    Emily Guskin

    July 7 at 12:01 AM

    Aided by a strong economy and perceptions that he has dealt with it effectively, President Trump’s approval rating has risen to the highest point of his presidency, though a slight majority of Americans continue to say they disapprove of his performance in office, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.

    The survey highlights the degree to which Trump has a narrow but real path to reelection. His approval rating on most issues is net negative, and more than 6 in 10 Americans say he has acted in ways that are unpresidential since he was sworn into office. Still, roughly one-fifth of those who say he is not presidential say they approve of the job he is doing, and he runs even against four possible Democratic nominees in hypothetical ­general-election matchups. He trails decisively only to former vice president Joe Biden.

    [Read full Post-ABC poll results ]

    Trump’s approval rating among voting-age Americans stands at 44 percent, edging up from 39 percent in April, with 53 percent saying they disapprove of him. Among registered voters, 47 percent say they approve of Trump while 50 percent disapprove. In April, 42 percent of registered voters said they approved while 54 percent said they disapproved.

    More than a year before the general election and long before the Democrats will select their nominee, the 2020 contest is playing out against the backdrop of an electorate deeply divided over the president, with a small percentage of registered voters up for grabs. Both Democrats and the president enjoy solid bases of support, but more Americans say it is extremely important that Trump not win reelection than those who say it is extremely important that he is reelected.

    The survey highlights significant differences between women and men in their candidate preference, a continuation of a trend that has been evident throughout Trump’s presidency. Those gender differences shaped the outcome of the 2018 midterm elections, when Democrats captured the House with strong support among women. In the new survey, men clearly favor Trump against four of five potential Democratic challengers (they are evenly divided over a Biden-Trump contest) while women back all five by strong margins.

    The economy is the lone issue in the survey where Trump enjoys positive numbers, with 51 percent saying they approve of the way he has dealt with issues. A smaller 42 percent disapprove of his handling of it, down slightly from 46 percent last October. Asked how much credit Trump deserves for the state of the economy, 47 percent say a “great deal” or a “good amount,” while 48 percent say he deserves “only some” or “hardly any.”

    When asked the same question in a January 2018 survey, a smaller 38 percent of Americans gave him credit for the economy while 56 percent said he deserved little or none. In that 2018 poll, 19 percent said he deserved a great deal of credit for the economy; today that number is 30 percent.

    On the eight other issues measured, Trump gets negative ratings, ranging from a net negative of seven points on taxes to a net negative of 33 points on climate change. More than half of all Americans disapprove of his handling of immigration, health care, abortion, gun violence and “issues of special concern to women.”

    The survey was conducted while Trump was attending a meeting of world leaders in Japan, where trade tensions with China were eased. He later met with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un — taking steps into that nation and coming to an agreement to restart nuclear negotiations. But by 55 percent to 40 percent, Americans disapprove of his handling of foreign policy.

    The survey matched Trump against five possible Democratic nominees: Biden, Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

    Among registered voters, only Biden emerges with a clear advantage, leading Trump by 53 percent to 43 percent. Trump runs very close against Harris (46 percent Trump, 48 percent Harris) and Sanders (48 percent Trump, 49 percent Sanders), and he runs even against Warren (both at 48 percent) and Buttigieg (both at 47 percent).

    Among the broader pool of voting-age adults, all five Democrats hold at least a slight advantage over Trump.

    Trump and Republicans are trying to attach the label of “socialist” to all the Democrats. Asked a generic question about a matchup between Trump and a candidate regarded as a socialist, the president holds a slight edge of 49 percent to 43 percent among registered voters.

    Across the five matchups against named possible Democratic nominees, 41 percent of registered voters always choose the Democrat, and 40 percent always choose the president. Meanwhile, 54 percent of voters either support Trump against at least one named Democrat or say they would consider backing him.

    Trump’s hardcore base includes 21 percent of registered voters who support him against any of the five possible Democratic challengers tested and who say it is “extremely important” that he be reelected. That rises to 31 percent when those who say it is “very important” that he win a second term are added to those solid Trump supporters.

    Arrayed against Trump are 36 percent of registered voters who never support Trump in the matchups and say it is “extremely important” that the president not win a second term. That rises to 43 percent when those who say it is “very important” that Trump not be reelected are added to those consistent anti-Trump voters.

    Biden’s lead over Trump is built in part on stronger support among independent voters and among self-identified moderates. He enjoys a seven-point edge among independents, while the other Democrats are even or trailing Trump with those voters. Among moderates, Biden has a 28-point advantage over the president, significantly more than any of the other Democrats tested.

    Gender and education are clear fault lines in the electorate as voters think about 2020 choices. Trump receives between 38 percent and 42 percent support from women when matched against the five potential Democratic challengers. Even tested against a hypothetical candidate regarded as a socialist, he gets only 42 percent of support from women. Among men, Trump’s support ranges from 49 percent against Biden, to 54 percent against the other Democrats, and to 57 percent against a hypothetical socialist.

    Trump wins majority support among white voters, but he does far better with those who do not have college degrees than those who do, a pattern that emerged strongly in the 2016 election and continues to define the political divisions today. Nonwhite voters favor all Democrats by a wide margin over Trump; 76 percent of all nonwhite voters say they would support Biden if the election were held today, as would 85 percent of African American voters.

    There is also a strong urban-rural split, with potential Democratic challengers enjoying big margins among urban voters and Trump holding sizable margins among those who live in rural and small-town areas.

    As what happened in 2016, the geographic battle in 2020 will center on the suburbs: In the head-to-head comparisons, Biden leads slightly among suburban voters. Trump is competitive with the other Democrats tested in suburban areas.

    Overall, the top issues for Americans as the 2020 election nears are the economy, health care and immigration. Foreign policy, gun violence, taxes, issues of special concern to women and abortion follow behind. Climate change trails the others — but still over half say it’s at least “very important.”

    Republicans and Democrats diverge on which issues they would list as one of the single most important in influencing their vote. For example, 31 percent of Democrats cite health care as one of the single most important issues, compared with 9 percent of Republicans. Climate change is another example, with 27 percent of Democrats and 6 percent of Republicans calling it one of the single most important issues for 2020. On the economy, there is more agreement about its significance.

    In the area of health care, the cost of coverage and treatment ranks as a serious concern, with 71 percent of Americans saying they are worried about this, including 45 percent who say they are very worried.

    A slight majority (52 percent) of Americans say they would favor a universal health-care system run by the government and funded by taxes over the current system. But when asked whether they would prefer such a system if it meant an end to private insurance, support falls to 43 percent.

    As Congress prepares for testimony by former special counsel Robert S. Mueller III about his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and related matters, the survey shows a clear majority of Americans continue to oppose impeachment proceedings.

    The new poll finds 59 percent of Americans saying the House should not begin such proceedings, including 46 percent who strongly oppose such a move. That is a slight increase since April. The percentage favoring impeachment proceedings, 37 percent, is the same as it was in April and 12 points lower than in August 2018.

    A 61 percent majority of Democrats support impeaching Trump, including 49 percent who support doing so “strongly,” reflecting the cross pressures hitting both the presidential candidates and members of Congress.

    This Washington Post-ABC News poll was conducted by telephone from June 28 through July 1 among a random national sample of 1,008 adults, with 65 percent reached on cellphones and 35 percent on landlines. Results from the full sample have a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points; the error margin is four points among the sample of 875 registered voters.

    Scott Clement contributed to this report.

    Source Article from https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/aided-by-a-strong-economy-trump-approval-rises-but-a-majority-also-see-him-as-unpresidential/2019/07/04/c9c42c54-9d9f-11e9-b27f-ed2942f73d70_story.html

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    Cables from UK’s ambassador to the US blast Trump as ‘inept,’ ‘incompetent’ – CNN
    Cables from UK’s ambassador to the US blast Trump as ‘inept,’ ‘incompetent’ – 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/2019/07/06/politics/uk-ambassador-cables-donald-trump/index.html

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    Kamala Harris Essence Festival: 2020 Democrat proposes $100 billion plan to increase minority homeownership – CBS News
    Kamala Harris Essence Festival: 2020 Democrat proposes $100 billion plan to increase minority homeownership – CBS News

    2020 Democratic hopeful Sen. Kamala Harris of California introduced an ambitious $100 billion plan to increase minority homeownership. She was one of five presidential candidates — and the only black woman — on Saturday to pitch herself at Essence Festival, a three-day event geared toward black women. 

    “So we must right that wrong and after generations of discrimination give black families a real shot at homeownership — historically one of the most powerful drivers of wealth in our country,” Harris told the crowd at the Essence festival.

    Harris’ plan calls for $100 billion Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grant to provide homeowners or homebuyers who rent or live in historically red-lining communities, where minority home and business owners were largely blocked from accessing capital for investment, up to a $25,000 down payment in assistance and closing costs.

    Harris was one of five 2020 Democratic candidates to speak at the festival, hosted by Essence Magazine. The three-day event is a celebration of black culture, music, style – it includes panels, workshops and this year will include “CBS This Morning” co-host Gayle King interviewing former first lady Michelle Obama. 

    Kamala Harris speaks on stage at 2019 ESSENCE Festival Presented By Coca-Cola at Ernest N. Morial Convention Center on July 06, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. 

    Paras Griffin/Getty Images for ESSENCE


    Harris says her plan would address the racial wealth gap by financially assisting four million minority families and individual homebuyers who meet certain requirements.

    The proposal would require a “guarantee,” or applicant, to have lived in a historically red-lined community that remains low-to-moderate income, for at least 10 years before they can qualify. The applicant must purchase a principal residence. Families applying cannot have an annual income of over $100,000 or $125,000 in high cost areas, according to the campaign – individuals cannot make over $50,000 or $75,000. The max grant is capped at either $25,000 or 20% of the loan value plus closing costs. There’s also a $300,000 cap on the home price.

    Harris’ plan also proposes an amendment to the Fair Credit Reporting Act so that payments of rent, phone bills and utilities would also be included in credit scores. Current credit scores are mostly calculated by student loans, auto loans and mortgages. But Harris pointed to a 2010 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau study that says as of 2010, 26 million consumers in the U.S. were “credit indivisible.”

    Her plan calls for a recalculation of debt and strengthening anti-discrimination lending laws.

    Separately, she had previously proposed a tax cut called the LIFT Act that would provide a $500 tax cut 

    Source Article from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kamala-harris-essence-festival-2020-democrat-proposes-100-billion-plan-to-increase-minority-homeownership/

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    After 2 major earthquakes in 2 days in California, more shaking is expected – NBC News
    After 2 major earthquakes in 2 days in California, more shaking is expected – NBC News

    So many earthquakes have rocked the high desert of Southern California since Friday’s 7.1-magnitude temblor that the U.S. Geological Survey said Saturday it is unable to “count all events.”

    The quakes — there have been more than 3,000 associated with the two major shakers —are part of a sequence that is sure to continue rumbling in Searles Valley and Ridgecrest, California, seismologists say.

    Late Friday,Lucy Jones, a seismologist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, initially said there was about a 1 in 10 chance that yet another earthquake could top the last one, in this case the 7.1 of Friday night.

    Ron Mikulaco, left, lowers his head to get a look at a crack caused by an earthquake next to his nephew Brad Fernandez on Highway 178 on July 6, 2019, outside of Ridgecrest, California.Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP

    If that sounds like a long shot, consider that just 34 hours before that 7.1 the region was rocked by a 6.4 which at that point was the largest quake to strike Southern California in 20 years. The Thursday quake was only 6.8 miles northwest of Friday’s epicenter near Ridgecrest.

    The chances of such an occurrence were one in 20, Jones said on Twitter, adding after Friday’s earthquake, “This is that 1 in 20 time.”

    In fact, Jones said at a news conference late Friday, the 7.1 was “triggered” by Thursday’s quake.

    Robert W. Graves, a USGS seismologist, said at the same press conference that the night’s quake was “about a factor of 8 more powerful” than Thursday’s.

    Jones, the doyenne of California seismology, said the odds were favorable for stronger temblors in the area, including a 50 percent chance that the region could see a shaker measuring 6.0 or greater.

    And, she said, the “chance for 5s is approaching certainty.”

    In an updated forecast Saturday, the Geological Survey reduced those odds: There was a 3 percent chance of a 7 or greater over the next week and a 27 percent chance of a 6 or greater.

    “It is likely that there will be smaller earthquakes over the next 1 Week,” the forecast reads. “The number of aftershocks will drop off over time, but a large aftershock can increase the numbers again, temporarily.”

    The fierce activity Friday and Saturday shook Southern Californians who hadn’t experienced such a major temblor since a 7.1 struck near Joshua Tree in October 1999. (A 7.2 magnitude quake shook Southern California in 2010, but its epicenter was in the desert hinterlands just south of the U.S.-Mexico border).

    On Friday night, Jones said there had been a cluster of Ridgecrest-area temblors, including 17 earthquakes since the 7.1 that measured greater than 4.0, and 70 that measured greater than 3.0.

    A shaker in the same region triggered a warning alarm during the news conference.

    “I just felt that,” Jones said. “This is an active sequence.”

    Source Article from https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/after-2-major-earthquakes-2-days-california-more-shaking-expected-n1027031

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    Pelosi on AOC, Omar, others: ‘These people have their public whatever and their Twitter world’ – Fox News
    Pelosi on AOC, Omar, others: ‘These people have their public whatever and their Twitter world’ – Fox News
    Video

    Pelosi reportedly facing revolt from progressive Democrats over border funding bill

    House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reportedly had a tense meeting with Democrats who feel the emergency border funding bill does not do enough to address the humanitarian crisis.

    House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., again dismissed freshman like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., downplaying the amount of power they had amid a flurry of attention the media gave them.

    “All these people have their public whatever and their Twitter world,” Pelosi said of Reps.Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass.

    Her comments came during a New York Times interview, published on Saturday after those four voted against a Republican measure funding humanitarian assistance at the border — something Pelosi eventually backed amid reports of poor conditions at migrant holding facilities.

    Pelosi followed her Twitter comments, saying “But they didn’t have any following. They’re four people and that’s how many votes they got.”

    AOC ACCUSES GOP OF TRYING TO ‘MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN’ BY HURTING CHILDREN, MIGRANTS

    Members in that group have been pushing the party to the left on a number of major issues, including immigration. As Congress was weighing whether to pass that multi-billion dollar spending package, each of the four signed onto a statement accusing immigration enforcement of “killing” children.

    “These radicalized, criminal agencies are destroying families and killing innocent children,” the statement read. The freshman lawmakers argued that it was “unconsionable” to provide additional funding for both Immigration and Customs Enforcement as well as Customs and Border Protection.

    After the bill passed both chambers, Ocasio-Cortez lamented the fact that politicians rejected amendments she said would provide accountability for how immigration enforcement spent federal funds.

    Her comments appeared to highlight a growing divide between more moderate members and progressive newcomers in the party. Pelosi, according to the Times, seemed unphased by internal criticism, “breezily” telling the Times: “If the left doesn’t think I’m left enough, so be it.”

    “As I say to these people, come to my basement. I have these signs about single-payer from 30 years ago. I understand what they’re saying. But we have a responsibility to get something done, which is different from advocacy. We have to have a solution, not just a Twitter fight,” she reportedly said.

    PELOSI WON’T SAY IF SHE AGREES WITH AOC’S ‘CONCENTRATION CAMP’ REMARK

    This wasn’t the first time Pelosi has knocked Ocasio-Cortez either. Back in April, she similarly seemed to remark that Ocasio-Cortez’s massive Twitter following didn’t necessarily translate into political power.

    “While there are people who have a large number of Twitter followers, what’s important is that we have large numbers of votes on the floor of the House,” she said.

    She’s also derided Ocasio-Cortez’s group as “like five people” and downplayed the New York congresswoman’s general election victory in 2018. “This glass of water would win with a ‘D’ next to its name in those districts,” she said, noting that Ocasio-Cortez was a “wonderful member of Congress.”

    Ocasio-Cortez and others have also strongly urged the House to take up impeachment proceedings, although that seemed unlikely given Pelosi’s repeated, public resistance to the idea.

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    Press reports indicated she was conflicted over Trump, apparently acknowledging impeachment’s pitfalls while reportedly saying that she wanted to see him in prison. When the Times asked her about the prison comment, she didn’t completely deny it.

    “I didn’t exactly say that,” she told Times writer Maureen Dowd. “You can’t impeach everybody. People wanted Reagan impeached but that didn’t happen. O.K., they impeached Clinton for something so ridiculous — getting impeached for doing a dumb thing as a guy. Then they wanted to impeach Obama.” According to Dowd, Pelosi thought Trump had “given real cause for impeachment.”

    Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pelosi-on-aoc-omar-others-these-people-have-their-public-whatever-and-their-twitter-world

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    Jeffrey Epstein arrested for sex trafficking of minors in Florida and New York – Washington Examiner
    Jeffrey Epstein arrested for sex trafficking of minors in Florida and New York – Washington Examiner

    Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein has been arrested for allegedly sex trafficking minors in Florida and New York from 2002 to 2005.

    The 66-year-old registered sex offender faces federal sex trafficking charges and is due to appear in court in New York on Monday. He was taken into custody by the FBI on Saturday after landing in New York following an overseas flight.

    Epstein’s arrest comes after a New York federal appeals court ordered last week the release of 2,000 pages of judicial documents related to Epstein and his partner Ghislaine Maxwell, who are suspected of taking part in an international sex trafficking operation.

    His attorney, Martin Weinberg, has so far declined to comment.

    Epstein is a politically well-connected billionaire who for more than a decade has faced allegations of luring underage girls by hiring them to provide massages and then sexually abusing them. His alleged victims, some as young as 14, have accused the hedge-funder of using his private jet to transport girls across to such places as his mansion in Palm Beach, Florida, a residence in New York City, and his private 72-acre Virgin Islands home, sometimes referred to as “Orgy Island.”

    A little more than a decade ago, Epstein reached an agreement with federal prosecutors, including now-Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta, in which he pleaded guilty to the charges, served 13 months in prison, became a registered sex offender, and paid restitution to the victims identified in the investigation. By doing this, Epstein avoided a prison sentence of a decade if he had been found guilty at trial.

    Acosta has been criticized for his handling of the prosecution of Epstein. Critics argue the penalty was far too light given the allegations that Epstein was involved in sex trafficking and had abused dozens of women, many underage. He initially faced a 53-page federal indictment for related crimes. The Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility announced it had launched an investigation into whether Acosta’s actions as U.S. attorney amounted to professional misconduct.

    In February, a federal judge found that the negotiation struck by Acosta infringed upon the rights of the victims in the Epstein case and thus ordered for the records to be unsealed. The deal provided gave federal immunity for the alleged crimes to Epstein and co-conspirators. “Particularly problematic was the Government’s decision to conceal the existence of the [agreement] and mislead the victims to believe that federal prosecution was still a possibility,’’ U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra in Palm Beach said at the time.

    Acosta defended himself by arguing he did not violate the Crime Victim’s Rights Act and that the Justice Department backed his actions.

    Epstein was closely connected to former President Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew, the second son of Queen Elizabeth II, who is the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom. Both flew frequently on Epstein’s private jet, dubbed the “Lolita Express.” President Trump was Epstein’s neighbor in Palm Beach and a former friend. He also flew on Epstein’s plane.

    This story is breaking and will be updated.

    Source Article from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/jeffrey-epstein-arrested-for-sex-trafficking-of-minors-in-florida-and-new-york-report

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    Secret cables to London from UK ambassador in Washington describe Trump as ‘inept’ and ‘incompetent’ – Washington Examiner
    Secret cables to London from UK ambassador in Washington describe Trump as ‘inept’ and ‘incompetent’ – Washington Examiner
    Kim Darroch, the British ambassador to the U.S., speaks during an interview.

    Leaked secret cables reveal messages from the United Kingdom’s ambassador to the United States making disparaging comments about President Trump.

    Sir Kim Darroch, considered to be one of the U.K.’s top diplomats, referred to the president with several unflattering adjectives, including “inept” and “incompetent,” according to the Daily Mail. “For a man who has risen to the highest office on the planet, President Trump radiates insecurity,” Darroch also said.

    In other messages from the ambassador meant to be seen by the British Foreign Commonwealth Office, Darroch was deeply critical of Trump’s administration and legacy. In one missive, Darroch said, “We don’t really believe this Administration is going to become substantially more normal; less dysfunctional; less unpredictable; less faction riven; less diplomatically clumsy and inept.”

    Many of the messages, which span the entirety of Trump’s presidency thus far, suggest trouble in the White House and specifically related to infighting between members of the administration. Darroch said Trump’s entire life had been “mired in scandal.” He also suggested to those who might deal with the president “you need to make your points simple, even blunt.”

    Although Darroch expressed great displeasure in Trump’s behavior and diplomacy, he suggested to senior politicians to “not write him off” and “that it was still possible that Trump would “emerge from the flames, battered but intact, like [Arnold] Schwarzenegger in the final scenes of The Terminator.” Darroch also suggested that Trump had a “credible path” to being reelected in 2020.

    In regards to Trump’s recent visit to the U.K., Darroch cautioned London that they might be “flavour of the month” for the president and “This is still the land of America First.”

    The ambassador additionally criticized Trump’s ability to follow through on promises made during his presidential campaign. “Of the main campaign promises, not an inch of the Wall has been built; the executive orders on travel bans from Muslim countries have been blocked by the state courts; tax reform and the infrastructure package have been pushed into the middle distance; and the repeal and replacement of Obamacare is on a knife edge,” he said.

    Darroch skewered Trump’s response to the attacks against two oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz and the shooting-down of a U.S. Navy drone, for which the U.S. has blamed Iran. “Its unlikely that US policy on Iran is going to become more coherent any time soon. This is a divided Administration,” the diplomat said. He also said of Trump’s 11th-hour decision not to carry out a retaliatory strike against Iran, “It’s more likely that he was never fully on board and that he was worried about how this apparent reversal of his 2016 campaign promises would look come 2020.”

    Of the allegations that Trump could have colluded with the Russian government to get elected Darroch said, “The worst cannot be ruled out” and that Trump’s White House has been “dogged from day one by stories of vicious infighting and chaos inside the White House, and swamped by scandals — all, one way or another, linked to Russia.”

    The British Foreign Office distanced itself from Darroch’s comments. “The British public would expect our Ambassadors to provide Ministers with an honest, unvarnished assessment of the politics in their country,” a statement said. “Their views are not necessarily the views of Ministers or indeed the government. But we pay them to be candid. Just as the US Ambassador here will send back his reading of Westminster politics and personalities. Of course we would expect such advice to be handled by Ministers and civil servants in the right way and it’s important that our Ambassadors can offer their advice and for it remain confidential. Our team in Washington have strong relations with the White House and no doubt that these will withstand such mischievous behaviour.”

    Source Article from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/leaked-messages-from-uk-ambassador-call-trump-inept-insecure-and-incompetent

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