“What gets me is news breaks that this woman is weighing committing a crime before Congress &it’s getting framed by the NYT as some Lifetime drama called ‘Hope’s Choice'” Ocasio-Cortez wrote in one tweet.
“In the immediate aftermath of shootings, media routinely post menacing photos of people-of-color victims + dredge up any questionable thing they’d ever done,” she wrote in another tweet. “But when Hope Hicks considers not complying w a subpoena, it’s glamour shot time.”
What gets me is news breaks that this woman is weighing committing a crime before Congress &it’s getting framed by the NYT as some Lifetime drama called “Hope’s Choice.”
This is a fmr admin official considering participating in a coverup led by the President.
In the immediate aftermath of shootings, media routinely post menacing photos of people-of-color victims + dredge up any questionable thing they’d ever done.
But when Hope Hicks considers not complying w a subpoena, it’s glamour shot time. https://t.co/ACnvXlKF7Q
Ocasio-Cortez’s criticism added to that of media figures who said failing to comply with a subpoena is a crime and not something “to decide.”
i think the idea of ‘existential’ is not that if she complies she will cease to exist but that if she complies she will cease to be hope hicks https://t.co/XTLMna8Tip
There is nothing for Hope Hicks to “decide.” She got a subpoena from Congress. Were she not white, wealthy, and connected, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. She would appear, or she would face the threat of prison like the rest of us. As she should. https://t.co/giDCcvIxvf
In this Tuesday, May 14, 2019 photo, the historic town hall shines in the evening sun in Bremen, Germany. The city became a battleground for EU’s fragile political center, support for Germany’s Social Democrats has ebbed dramatically in recent years, but nowhere is their fate more closely watched than in the tiny city-state of Bremen. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Social Democrats looking disappointed after the first results of the federal state elections in Bremen, Germany, Sunday, May 26, 2019. (Christophe Gateau/dpa via AP)
BERLIN – The Social Democrats, Germany’s main center-left party, appears headed for its worst-ever result in a state election in Bremen, which it has run for 73 years, as well as a dire showing in the European Parliament election.
Exit polls for ARD and ZDF television put support for the Social Democrats at 24.5% and the center-right Christian Democratic Union, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party, up to 26.5%. The Social Democrats could finish second in the northwestern city-state, Germany’s smallest, for the first time.
The polls put support for the Greens in Bremen up to 18.5%. That party is currently the Social Democrats’ junior coalition partner in Bremen, and could decide whether or not it keeps its hold on the state government.
The exit polls put the far-right Alternative for Germany up at 7% support.
The president focused on agriculture and beef in a tweet sent during his trip to Japan, adding, however, that “much will wait until after” the nation’s elections in July.
Great progress being made in our Trade Negotiations with Japan. Agriculture and beef heavily in play. Much will wait until after their July elections where I anticipate big numbers!
“Numerous Japanese officials told me that the Democrats would rather see the United States fail than see me or the Republican Party succeed – Death Wish!” he added in another post.
Great fun and meeting with Prime Minister @AbeShinzo. Numerous Japanese officials told me that the Democrats would rather see the United States fail than see me or the Republican Party succeed – Death Wish!
Speaking to a reception of Japanese business leaders Saturday evening, Trump said the relationship between the U.S. and Japan “has never been stronger” and called it an “exciting time” for commerce between the two countries.
“You’re doing fantastically well. I was looking very closely on the ride over at some of the numbers being produced in Japan, and you’re doing great,” he said, according to a White House transcript of the president’s remarks.
“I would say that Japan has had a substantial edge for many, many years, but that’s OK. Maybe that’s why you like us so much. But we’ll get it a little bit more fair, I think. I think we’ll do that,” he added, noting that Japan is ordering a “great deal” of U.S. military equipment. Trump also mentioned last week’s reopening of Japanese markets to U.S. beef markets.
“We welcome your support in these efforts, and we hope to have several further announcements soon and some very big ones over the next few months,” he said.
Trump’s visit to Japan also included a number of ceremonial events, including a round of golf Sunday morning with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders defended President Trump’s summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un Sunday, and also said the two leaders are of like minds when it comes to Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.
On NBC’s Meet The Press Sunday morning, Sanders responded to a tweet Trump sent stating he trusts Kim and that praised the North Korean state media’s scathing assessment of Biden as a “fool of low IQ.”
North Korea fired off some small weapons, which disturbed some of my people, and others, but not me. I have confidence that Chairman Kim will keep his promise to me, & also smiled when he called Swampman Joe Biden a low IQ individual, & worse. Perhaps that’s sending me a signal?
“I think they agree in their assessment of former vice president Joe Biden,” Sanders said.
The press secretary clarified the president’s position when host Chuck Todd asked her, “Can you explain why Americans should not be concerned that the President of the United States is essentially siding with a murderous, authoritarian dictator over a former vice president of the United States?”
“The president’s not ‘siding’ with that,” Sanders said. “But I think they agree in their assessment of former vice president Joe Biden. Again, the president’s focus in this process is the relationship he has, and making sure we continue on the path to denuclearization.”
North Korea’s state-run media recently referred to Biden as an “imbecile,” “thoughtless guy,” and “fool of low IQ” after the candidate criticized Kim in a campaign speech. Rüdiger Frank, a North Korea expert at Austria’s University of Vienna who spoke with Vox’s Alex Ward about the insults, said, “I think if Trump reads the commentary, he’ll be happy about it.”
Trump was happy, tweeting he “smiled” while reading the insults, which seem almost to tailor-made to curry favor with the president, who uses similar language when ridiculing his political adversaries.
Sanders also addressed the recent short range missile tests Trump referred to in his tweet. “The president’s focus in all of this process is on continuing the very good relationship that he has with Chairman Kim. And he feels good that the Chairman will stay firm with the commitment that he made with the president, and move toward denuclearization,” she said.
North Korea reiterated this week that it wants the US to make changes to its negotiating strategy before denuclearization talks resume. Previously Kim said he planned to give the US “till the end of this year” to present him with negotiating terms he finds acceptable.
Despite these warnings and recent weapons tests, Sanders called the Trump administration’s North Korea policy successful, arguing that critics need to readjust their focus.
“For a significant period of time, there was no missile testing, we got hostages back home to the United States, and remains of American war heroes,” Sanders said. “To me that is certainly something.”
“We already know that there was an outrageous amount of corruption that took place at the FBI,” Sanders claimed. “They leaked information, they lied. They were specifically working, trying to take down the president, trying to hurt the president. We’ll leave the final call up to the attorney general, and he’ll get to the bottom of it.”
Sanders, Barr, and the president himself have attacked the FBI and the Obama-era Department of Justice in recent weeks, accusing the agencies of “spying” on the Trump campaign. Although no evidence has been offered to suggest this was the case, the president has stated the accusation as fact, and a little over a week ago, took to Twitter to accuse individuals he believes were involved in this “spying” with treason.
My Campaign for President was conclusively spied on. Nothing like this has ever happened in American Politics. A really bad situation. TREASON means long jail sentences, and this was TREASON!
As Vox’s Aaron Rupar has explained, the US Constitution maintains a deliberately narrow definition of the word “treason” itself, in order to prevent the charge from being abused against political opponents:
“So for FBI officials to be guilty of treason, that means they would have been literally acting on behalf of a country or entity (like ISIS) at war with the United States. That clearly did not happen. In short, Trump’s accusation is meritless. For Trump, however, the legal merit of his accusation isn’t what’s important. The most important thing is the narrative he’s pushing about the FBI purportedly being out to get him. But that narrative, like his treason accusation, is baseless.”
Sanders was more cautious than the president when asked if the public should expect Obama-era officials like former FBI director James Comey to be charged with crimes and imprisoned.
“We’re gonna let the attorney general make that determination, as he gets to the conclusion of this investigation,” Sanders said.
Democrats considering whether to impeach Donald Trump “can sing and dance at the same time just like Beyoncé”, a member of party leadership said on Sunday as debate on the issue raged on.
But party leaders have pointed out that Trump’s removal would require a two-thirds majority in the Republican-held Senate, a vastly unlikely outcome in a body firmly in thrall to the president. Democrats also fear boosting Trump at the polls.
On Sunday the New York congressman Hakeem Jeffries, chair of the House Democratic caucus, made the Beyoncé analogy when he told NBC’s Meet the Press the party could check Trump and serve its voters at the same time.
Democrats should “focus primarily on our For the People agenda”, he said, adding: “We don’t work for Donald Trump. We work for the American people.
“We have a constitutional responsibility to serve as a check and balance on a potentially out of control executive branch. But we will not overreach. We will not over-investigate, we will not over-politicise that responsibility.
“We will proceed as Speaker Pelosi has eloquently laid out, methodically yet aggressively to get to the truth.”
From the progressive wing of the party, the Michigan representative Rashida Tlaib – who last November famously told supporters it was time “to impeach the motherfucker” – said oversight was not working and impeachment was “about doing what’s right now for our country”.
“For me,” she told NBC, “to fight back against Big Pharma, for many of my colleagues that came [to Congress] to pass really important reforms that are needed, we can’t do it when the president of the United States continues to lie to the American people, continues to not follow through on subpoenas and give us the information that we need.”
Special counsel Robert Mueller did not find evidence of a conspiracy between Trump and Moscow over Russian election interference. But in the redacted version of his report that has been made public he did lay out extensive evidence of contacts between Trump aides and Russians and explicitly did not clear the president of obstruction of justice.
Nonetheless, and over howls of protest from Congress, Barr said he would not pursue the matter and Trump has claimed exoneration.
Trump seems convinced he is the victim of a vast leftwing conspiracy. Earlier this month, for example, he tweeted that his campaign was “conclusively spied on” and said: “Nothing like this has ever happened in American Politics. A really bad situation. TREASON means long jail sentences, and this was TREASON!”
His opponents say his instruction to Barr to investigate the investigation is a nakedly political move that risks compromising US intelligence. Trump’s own director of national intelligence, Dan Coats, has expressed similar concerns.
Speaking to NBC from Tokyo on Sunday, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Trump “has total confidence in the attorney general and his ability to make those decisions”.
“We already know that there was an outrageous amount of corruption that took place at the FBI,” she claimed. “They leaked information. They lied. They were specifically working trying to take down the president, trying to hurt the president. We’ll leave the final call up to the attorney general and he’ll get to the bottom of it.”
South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally, backed the Barr decision.
“I want all the documents around the Fisa warrant application released and [to know] exactly how the counter-intelligence operation began,” he told Fox News Sunday, referring to official surveillance of Carter Page, a Trump adviser with links to Russia.
“I think transparency is good for the American people,” said Graham, who caused controversy himself earlier this month when he advised Donald Trump Jr, the president’s son, to ignore a subpoena from the Senate intelligence committee.
Of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s caution on the impeachment question, Graham said: “70% of the Democratic base wants President Trump impeached. She knows that impeachment would be political suicide, because there’s no reason to impeach the president. So she’s trying to keep the party intact. If she goes down the impeachment road, Republicans take back the House, we keep the Senate, President Trump gets re-elected.”
Hakeem Jeffries speaks in Washington. Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
For his part, Jeffries called again on Barr to release the full Mueller report and the evidence that underpins it.
“We can’t trust the attorney general’s redactions to be presumptively legitimate,” he said. “We want to see the underlying documentation and of course we’d like to hear from Bob Mueller who needs to tell his story to the American people.”
Negotiations continue over how or whether the special counsel will testify to Congress.
In dramatic scenes at the White House this week, Trump said he would not work with Democrats on legislation to improve national infrastructure while they are investigating him. Jeffries said the president had not just walked out on a meeting with Pelosi and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, but had abandoned the American people.
“Donald Trump is functionally a studio gangster,” he said. “He pretends to be a tough guy but he really is just playing that role on TV. Hopefully he will have gotten this temper tantrum out of his system.
“He can come back from Japan. We have crumbling bridges, roads, tunnels, airports, mass transportation systems. We need to get to work to fix it. We have a plan and we’d like to do it in a bipartisan way.”
“We are saddened to note the passing of our husband, father, grandfather and friend, Bart Starr,” family members said in a statement.
Green Bay Packers quarterback Bart Starr died Sunday at the age of 85, according to the team. (Getty Images)
Starr “battled with courage and determination” after a serious stroke in September 2014, but “his most recent illness was too much to overcome,” family members said.
“While he may always be best known for his success as the Packers quarterback for 16 years, his true legacy will always be the respectful manner in which he treated every person he met, his humble demeanor, and his generous spirit,” a statement read.
The Packers selected Starr out of the University of Alabama with the 200th pick in the 1956 draft. He led Green Bay to six division titles, five NFL championships and wins in the first two Super Bowls. Until Brett Favre came along, Starr was known as the best Packer ever. The team retired his No. 15 jersey in 1973, making him just the third player to receive that honor. Four years later, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
After losing the 1960 NFL title game in his first playoff appearance, the Packers never lost another playoff game under Starr, going 9-0, including wins over the Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders in the first two Super Bowls.
Starr’s college career wasn’t very noteworthy and it wasn’t until Lombardi’s arrival in Green Bay in 1959 that Starr, living by his motto “desire and dedication are everything,” began to blossom.
In this Feb. 5, 2006, file photo, former Green Bay Packers’ Bart Starr carries in the Vince Lombardi Trophy following the Super Bowl XL football game between the Seattle Seahawks and Pittsburgh Steelers, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Lombardi liked Starr’s mechanics, his arm strength and especially his decision-making abilities. Under Lombardi’s nurturing, Starr became one of the league’s top quarterbacks.
“If you work harder than somebody else, chances are you’ll beat him though he has more talent than you,” Starr once said. He credited Lombardi for showing him “that by working hard and using my mind, I could overcome my weakness to the point where I could be one of the best.”
The quarterback’s status as a Packers icon was tested by his struggles as the team’s head coach. In nine seasons from 1975-83, he won just 41 percent of his games, going 53-77-3, including 1-1 in the playoffs, part of three decades of futility that followed the glory years.
After football, Starr, became a successful businessman in Birmingham, Alabama, not far from his hometown of Montgomery, where he was born on Jan. 9, 1934.
Starr was a four-time Pro Bowl selection and two-time All-Pro. He won NFL titles in 1961, `62, `65, `67 and `68. He was the 1966 NFL MVP and was named to the 1960s All-Decade team. He also was named MVP of the first two Super Bowls. Starr also has an NFL award named after him, given annually to a player of outstanding
But the play he was most famous for was a run.
In this Sept. 10, 2012, file photo, former Green Bay Packers quarterback Bart Starr waves to fans during the Packers’ NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)
In the NFL championship on Dec. 31, 1967, Starr knifed into the end zone behind guard Jerry Kramer and center Ken Bowman with 16 seconds left to lift the Packers over the Dallas Cowboys 21-17 in what became known as the “Ice Bowl.”
“We all have a capacity to focus and to concentrate to a unique degree when we’re called upon to do it,” Starr said on the 30th anniversary of that game. “That’s exactly what I did that day. And I think the same was true of the Cowboys. Let’s face it, they obviously were not accustomed to something like that and yet they were the team which had surged and come back in the second half and were in a position to win it.”
Joe Namath joined Brian Kilmeade to discuss his new book, “All The Way: My Life In Four Quarters”
When Starr retired following the 1971 season, his career completion percentage of 57.4 was tops in the run-heavy NFL, and his passer rating of 80.5 was second-best ever, behind only Otto Graham. Starr replaced Dan Devine as Packers head coach in 1975 and would be replaced himself by former teammate Forrest Gregg in 1984 after failing to lead the franchise to the kind of success he did as a player.
In 1965, Starr and his wife, Cherry, helped co-found Rawhide Boys Ranch in New London, Wisconsin, a facility designed to help at-risk and troubled boys throughout the state. The couple dealt with tragedy in 1988 when their son Brett died at 24 due to complications from cocaine addiction. They also had another son, Bart Jr.
“His love for all of humanity is well known, and his affection toward the residents of Alabama and of Wisconsin filled him with gratitude,” the family’s statement said. “He had hoped to make one last trip to Green Bay to watch the Packers this fall, but he shall forever be there in spirit.”
WASHINGTON — North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump agree in their criticism of former Vice President Joe Biden, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Sunday during an exclusive interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
And she accused the Obama administration of creating “messes” in places like North Korea that Trump has had to clean up.
“I think they agree in their assessment of former Vice President Joe Biden,” she said of Trump and Kim.
“The president doesn’t need somebody else to give him an assessment of Joe Biden. He’s given his own assessment a number of times. I think you’ve seen it. I’m sure you’ve covered it on your program. The president watched him and his administration with President Obama fail for eight years.”
She said Trump has “cleaned up a lot of the messes that were left behind. We shouldn’t even be in the position that we’re in to have to deal with North Korea at the level we are if they had done their job in the first place.”
“They failed with Iran, they failed with North Korea, they failed on trade,” she said, “And we finally have a president that’s being tough with these countries. We’ve put tougher sanctions on North Korea than the Obama administration ever did. But at the same time the president wants to develop that relationship.”
Biden has come under increasing criticism from the president since he announced his candidacy last month. On Saturday, Trump responded to concerns over recent North Korean missile tests, saying he is confident in his relationship with Kim and seeming to support the foreign leader’s criticism of Biden.
North Korea fired off some small weapons, which disturbed some of my people, and others, but not me. I have confidence that Chairman Kim will keep his promise to me, & also smiled when he called Swampman Joe Biden a low IQ individual, & worse. Perhaps that’s sending me a signal?
The North Korean Central News Agency, which is run by the state, has taken an increasingly hostile tone towards Biden in recent days, with rhetoric scaling more hostile as Trump increases his own criticism of his potential 2020 challenger.
A report from May 21 pans Biden as “reckless and senseless, seized by ambition for power,” as well as a “fool of low IQ.”
Biden campaign spokesperson Andrew Bates responded to both the North Koreans and Trump in a statement from earlier this week, arguing “given Vice President Biden’s record of standing up for American values and interests, it’s no surprise that North Korea would prefer that Donald Trump remain in the White House.”
“As Vice President Biden said in Philadelphia, Donald Trump ’embraces dictators and tyrants like Putin and Kim Jung Un’ while alienating our closest allies. That is antithetical to who we are and it has to change,” Bates said.
During her Sunday interview, Sanders echoed the president’s statements about North Korea’s recent weapons tests that came months after a February summit between the two leaders ended with no deal.
On Saturday, national security adviser John Bolton said that the missile tests were a violation of U.N. resolutions, a statement Trump appeared to downplay in his public tweet.
But despite the lack of an agreement to denuclearize the peninsula, Sanders said that good has still come from the attempt to “develop” the relationship between the two countries.
“There have been steps that have moved us towards. For a significant period of time there was no missile testing. We got hostages back home to the United States and remains of American war heroes. I don’t know how you can say that that’s nothing,” she said.
“To me, that is certainly something. And I know it’s something to the families of those individuals who those people came back home.”
President Donald Trump presents the “President’s Cup” to the Tokyo Grand Sumo Tournament winner Asanoyama, at Ryogoku Kokugikan Stadium on Sunday.
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President Donald Trump presents the “President’s Cup” to the Tokyo Grand Sumo Tournament winner Asanoyama, at Ryogoku Kokugikan Stadium on Sunday.
Evan Vucci/AP
President Trump attended a sumo wrestling competition with Japan’s Prime Abe on Sunday, as the Japanese rolled out the red carpet for Trump during his visit to Tokyo.
The wrestler who won the competition received a U.S.-made trophy named the President’s Cup, in honor of Trump’s trip.
“That was something to see these great athletes, because they really are athletes,” Trump said after the tournament. “It’s a very ancient sport and I’ve always wanted to see sumo wrestling, so it was really great.”
On Monday, Trump will be the first foreign world leader to officially meet with Japan’s new emperor, Naruhito, who ascended to the throne at the beginning of May.
Politics
World Leaders’ Attempts To Woo Trump Yield Mixed Results
Saudi Arabia hosted Trump for his first trip abroad as president in May 2017. He was greeted with a military flyover and canons when he arrived. He was also presented with a gold medal known as the Collar of Abdulaziz al Saud, which is Saudi Arabia’s highest honor. Here, Trump and first lady Melania Trump are seen with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi (left) and Saudi King Salman.
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Saudi Arabia hosted Trump for his first trip abroad as president in May 2017. He was greeted with a military flyover and canons when he arrived. He was also presented with a gold medal known as the Collar of Abdulaziz al Saud, which is Saudi Arabia’s highest honor. Here, Trump and first lady Melania Trump are seen with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi (left) and Saudi King Salman.
Saudi Press Agency via AP
During a trip to China in 2017, Trump was treated to an opera performance and acrobats during a tour of the Forbidden City, a palace where China’s emperors lived for nearly six centuries. Chinese President Xi Jinping personally escorted Trump on the sightseeing excursion.
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During a trip to China in 2017, Trump was treated to an opera performance and acrobats during a tour of the Forbidden City, a palace where China’s emperors lived for nearly six centuries. Chinese President Xi Jinping personally escorted Trump on the sightseeing excursion.
Andrew Harnik/AP
French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, dined with President Trump and first lady Melania Trump in the Eiffel Tower in July 2017. Trump later called it “one of the most beautiful evenings you’ll ever see. So that was a great honor.”
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French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, dined with President Trump and first lady Melania Trump in the Eiffel Tower in July 2017. Trump later called it “one of the most beautiful evenings you’ll ever see. So that was a great honor.”
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Trump was the guest of honor at France’s Bastille Day parade in 2017, a celebration of the 100th anniversary of U.S. involvement in World War I. Trump was so impressed by the military display that he tried to have a similar parade in the U.S., but plans for the event fell through.
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Trump was the guest of honor at France’s Bastille Day parade in 2017, a celebration of the 100th anniversary of U.S. involvement in World War I. Trump was so impressed by the military display that he tried to have a similar parade in the U.S., but plans for the event fell through.
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The Trumps had tea with Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle during a visit to the United Kingdom last year. Trump said the queen was “fantastic” and that the first couple and the monarch really “got along.”
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The Trumps had tea with Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle during a visit to the United Kingdom last year. Trump said the queen was “fantastic” and that the first couple and the monarch really “got along.”
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Japan is the latest country to attempt to use a visit like this to impress Trump, who loves pageantry and puts a great deal of stock in personal connections. But these grand displays haven’t translated into lasting benefits for these countries. Listen to the story on NPR’s Morning Edition and see photos of past events below.
A large tornado tore through Oklahoma late Saturday, killing at least two people and leaving a lengthy path of rubble and debris, a decimated motel, overturned cars and downed streetlights.
The storm struck the city of El Reno, 25 miles west of Oklahoma City, where a Sunday-morning search for dozens of unaccounted-for individuals was underway.
El Reno Mayor Matt White confirmed two deaths during a news conference on Sunday, and said several people were rushed to hospitals in Oklahoma City, according to the Associated Press.
The tornado ripped through the American Budget Value Inn, causing the second story to collapse, and the Skyview Estates mobile home park, which CBS News reported housed 88 mobile homes.
“We have all hands on deck,” White said. “We have absolutely experienced a traumatic event.”
As of Sunday morning, a survey team for the National Weather Service had found EF-2 damage, though the survey was expected to continue into the afternoon. Tornadoes with an EF-2 rating contain winds of approximately 110 to 135 mph.
In an interview with the AP, Tweety Garrison, 63, described the harrowing five to 10 minutes during which the tornado ripped through the Oklahoma town. She and her family were inside their mobile home when the twister touched down. It flipped her neighbor’s trailer onto her own roof.
“We’re trapped,” Garrison said, recalling a phone call to her 32-year-old son for help. After “clearing a path” and removing “a portion of an outside wall,” Garrison’s son was able to rescue his mother and four others, the AP reported.
El Reno, with a population of more than 19,000, like other towns and cities in other parts of the Southern Plains and Midwest, has endured a week of powerful thunderstorms, tornadoes and flash floods; the AP reported that at least nine deaths have been attributed to the severe weather across multiple states.
Since Monday, the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., has received more than 150 tornado reports.
Richard Stephens, police chief in the nearby town of Union City, warned locals that there was a “very dangerous situation tonight in El Reno. Severe damage with serious injuries and fatalities involved.”
“This is an unfortunate example of just how quickly these types of storms can develop from a simple thunderstorm into a deadly supercell tornado,” Stephens said in a statement on Facebook. “Please pray for those effected by these storms as well as the emergency services workers assisting in this ongoing rescue.”
Police stand at the ruins of a hotel in El Reno, Okla., Sunday, May 26, 2019, following a likely tornado touchdown late Saturday night. (Sue Ogrocki)
Emergency workers search through debris from a mobile home park, Sunday, May 26, 2019, in El Reno, Ok., following a likely tornado touchdown late Saturday night. (Sue Ogrocki)
TOKYO—President Trump began his four-day visit to Japan on a provocative note.
Just moments before departing his Tokyo hotel for a round of golf with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the president wrote on Twitter that he is not bothered by North Korea’s recent missile tests.
“North Korea fired off some small weapons, which disturbed some…
One day after President Donald Trump‘s national security adviser, John Bolton, said North Korea‘s missile launches earlier this month violated a U.N. Security Council resolution, the president said Kim Jong Un’s launch of “small weapons” doesn’t bother him.
The president, who spent Sunday morning playing golf with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, went on to say he has confidence that Kim will “keep his promise” to not launch any missiles and thinks Kim’s recent insult against presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden — calling him a “low-IQ individual,” the same language Trump himself has used — is a “signal” to him. He also spelled Biden’s name incorrectly — as “Bidan” — in an initial tweet, before correcting it and resending.
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
President Donald Trump walks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe before playing a round of golf at Mobara Country Club, Sunday, May 26, 2019, in Chiba, Japan.
Trump tweeted, “North Korea fired off some small weapons, which disturbed some of my people, and others, but not me. I have confidence that Chairman Kim will keep his promise to me, & also smiled when he called Swampman Joe Biden a low IQ individual, & worse. Perhaps that’s sending me a signal?”
North Korea fired off some small weapons, which disturbed some of my people, and others, but not me. I have confidence that Chairman Kim will keep his promise to me, & also smiled when he called Swampman Joe Biden a low IQ individual, & worse. Perhaps that’s sending me a signal?
A Biden campaign aide responded after the tweet, saying, ““I would say the tweet speaks for itself, but it’s so unhinged and erratic that I’m not sure anyone could even say that with a straight face.”
The same aide said of the president’s tweet correcting the spelling of Biden’s name: “The spelling error was not the main problem with the first one.”
While Trump has tried to spin North Korea’s recent launch, both Bolton and Japan have accused North Korea of violating U.N. resolutions. Bolton’s comments were the first time a U.S. official said North Korea was in violation.
The Trump administration is trying to keep diplomatic doors open to North Korea, even though Bolton admitted the U.S. has not “heard much” from North Korea since the last summit in Hanoi fell apart. He said U.S. Special Envoy to North Korea Stephen Biegun has not received contact from his counterpart in Pyongyang.
Bolton also said he supports Japan’s efforts to sit down for negotiations with Kim. Abe still has not met with the North Korean leader.
Japanese officials said that during Trump’s four-day state visit, Abe will be introducing Trump to the families of Japanese abducted by North Koreans. Trump had a similar meeting during his last visit to Japan. The release of Japanese abductees is a top priority for Abe.
Despite the defense of Kim, the two foreign leaders appeared to be getting along great on the golf course Sunday. Abe tweeted a photo of the two smiling from the course talking about an “unwavering” alliance between the two countries in Japanese.
After the pair hit the links, Trump stated on Twitter the two world leaders have made “great progress” in the trade negotiations, but indicated he may wait until after July to announce any potential deal.
Great progress being made in our Trade Negotiations with Japan. Agriculture and beef heavily in play. Much will wait until after their July elections where I anticipate big numbers!
Trump himself tweeted about the round of golf — a pastime both leaders have bonded over — and his love for former South African great and nine-time major champion Gary Player.
ABC News’ Rachel Scott contributed to this report.
Hundreds of counter-protesters demonstrated against an estimated nine attendees of a planned rally by a Ku Klu Klan-affiliated group in Dayton, Ohio on Saturday, WHIO reports. Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl told the CBS Dayton affiliate he was “very pleased” with security, noting that no one was arrested or injured.
“This clearly was a safety challenge for our city and our community,” Biehl said.
The nine members of the Honorable Sacred Knights of Indiana did little talking and when they did try to communicate, counter-protesters made sure they couldn’t be heard, WHIO reports. All but one of the members wore masks.
City officials estimated that around 500 to 600 people gathered in the area of Courthouse Square during the rally. News spread nationally earlier this week about the planned rally by the Honorable Sacred Knights of Indiana, which had received a permit last month for the event.
Counter protesters gather en masse to protest against a rally held by the KKK affiliated group Honorable Sacred Knights of Indiana at Courthouse Square on May 25, 2019 in Dayton, Ohio.
Matthew Hatcher / Getty Images
More than 200 people attended an NAACP-sponsored “Love” event in downtown Dayton, city officials told WHIO.
Mayor Nan Whaley praised those who attended the counter-event “to celebrate what Dayton is all about.”
“We are united against hate,” Whaley said. “We are a community that no matter who you love, where you come from or what you believe, you are welcome in Dayton.”
Rod Bramblett, the radio voice of the Auburn Tigers, and his wife, Paula, died from injuries suffered in a car accident Saturday night in Alabama, the Lee County Coroner’s Office confirmed early Sunday morning.
Paramedics responded to a two-car crash in Auburn shortly after 6 p.m. local time Saturday. Rod Bramblett, 53, was airlifted to UAB Hospital in Birmingham, where he died of a severe closed head injury, the coroner’s office said. Paula Bramblet, 52, died of multiple internal injuries in the emergency room of East Alabama Medical Center.
The name of the 16-year-old driver of the other vehicle has not been released, and an investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing.
“Our hearts are full of grief,” Auburn president Steven Leath wrote in a tweet. “Janet and I offer our sympathy and support to the family of Rod and Paula Bramblett. The Auburn family loves you!”
The Auburn Family is devastated by the tragic passing of Rod and Paula Bramblett. 🙏🙏 pic.twitter.com/BiynTWHcIx
Bramblett served as the lead announcer for Auburn football, men’s basketball and baseball.
According to the school’s athletic website, he had been the voice of the baseball team since 1993, and he took over play-by-play duties for football and basketball in 2003.
Earlier this month, the Tigers baseball team honored Bramblett and his longtime radio partner, Andy Burcham, for their 25 years with the team.
“It left me speechless, to be sure,” Bramblett said then of the surprise ceremony.
Bramblett is a three-time winner (2006, ’10, ’13) of the Alabama State Broadcaster of the Year award. He was honored as the National Broadcaster of the Year by Sports Illustrated in 2013, in part for his call on Chris Davis’ miracle, game-winning, 109-yard return of a missed field goal as time expired to beat Alabama in the Iron Bowl.
An Alabama native, Bramblett and his wife are survived by two children, Shelby and Joshua.
LONDON — Boris Johnson is one of the most divisive political figures in the United Kingdom.
He is also favorite among bookmakers and pollsters to become the next leader of the Conservative Party — and therefore the next prime minister — after Theresa May announced Friday that she would be stepping down June 7.
But who is this mop-haired eccentric, viewed by many as an inspiring political entertainer and by others as a dangerous populist?
Consensus candidate?
May leaves a Conservative Party in open revolt. Johnson, a celebrity lawmaker who spearheaded the Brexit vote, is hoping to win over the rebels, finally make Brexit happen and be the leader to put the party back together.
But he’s far from a consensus candidate. Thirty two percent of people have a positive opinion about him, according to the pollster YouGov, the highest of any politician in the country. But far more, 46 percent, hold a negative view.
“He has a polarizing effect,” said Scott Lucas, a professor of politics and American studies at England’s University of Birmingham. “He’s probably the most liked politician but also one of the most disliked as well.”
Former London Mayor Boris Johnson dangles from a zipwire in London’s Victoria Park on Aug. 1, 2012 in London, England.Rebecca Denton / Getty Images file
Critics accuse Johnson of being an arch opportunist. In the past, he has argued for tax cuts and against rises in welfare spending, and in the House of Commons he has voted generally in favor of equal gay rights, according to They Work For You, a website that tracks lawmakers’ decisions.
However, there are still big questions about what his government would actually look like, including its relationship with the United States.
In 2015, when President Donald Trump said parts of London had been “radicalized,” American-born Johnson, who was the city’s mayor at the time, replied that the president’s “ill-informed comments are complete and utter nonsense.”
He added, “Crime has been falling steadily in both London and New York. And the only reason I wouldn’t go to some parts of New York is the real risk of meeting Donald Trump.”
Fast forward to last year, and the two were exchanging pleasantries, with Johnson saying there were many reasons for “admiring Trump” and the president declaring Johnson is “a friend of mine” and backing him to be the next prime minister.
There were also reports he had been talking privately with Trump’s former senior adviser, Steve Bannon.
Leadership race
Johnson will face competition for leader. Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, and Esther McVey, the former work and pensions secretary, are among those to have confirmed they will run.
In the United Kingdom, choosing a new prime minister does not necessarily require a general election. If the leader of the largest party changes between elections, that person usually becomes the new prime minister automatically.
This happened when Cameron resigned in 2016 and May succeeded him unopposed.
London Mayor Boris Johnson laughs in action during the Rally Against Cancer charity match on day seven of the AEGON Championships at Queens Club on June 16, 2013 in London, England.Clive Brunskill / Getty Images file
Johnson would likely face a sterner test, with perhaps more than a dozen potential hopefuls lining up against him. Conservative lawmakers would winnow down this long list to a runoff of two, and the winner would be chosen by the 124,000-odd party members.
In any potential matchup, Johnson is the members’ favorite “by huge margins,” according to a YouGov poll earlier this month. But whoever wins will inherit a Conservative Party in disarray.
Its lawmakers are engaged in a civil war over Brexit and the party was polling as low as 7 percent ahead of European Parliament elections which took place in the U.K. on Thursday.
Even those who dislike Johnson’s disheveled style may see him as their best chance of defeating populists on both the left and right, such as Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage.
Controversial jokes
Johnson — full name Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson — is among that rare club of politicians instantly recognizable by one name only — “Boris.”
Born in New York’s Upper East Side, he held U.S. citizenship until 2006. He was educated at Eton — Britain’s most prestigious private school — and Oxford University, before starting a career in journalism in the 1980s.
But he was soon fired by The Times of London for making up a quote. He later joined the Daily Telegraph as a Brussels correspondent, which still pays him £275,000 per year on top of his lawmaker’s salary for a weekly opinion column.
Johnson is known for causing outrage with quips and turns of phrase that have been described as racist. In 2016, he called President Barack Obama “part-Kenyan” and suggested he had an “ancestral dislike of the British empire.”
In 2002, he said that Queen Elizabeth II probably enjoyed touring the Commonwealth because of the “cheering crowds of flag-waving piccaninnies.” He wrote that Tony Blair, then prime minister, would be met with “watermelon smiles” when he toured the Congo. He has also described Muslim women wearing the burqa as “letter boxes.”
In 2008, he was elected mayor of London and he served for eight years. He announced himself to the world in August that year, waving a giant flag at the Beijing Olympics to promote London’s hosting of the Games four years later.
Never shy of a photo opportunity, during the London 2012 Olympics, Johnson was pictured dangling helplessly from a zipwire waving a Union Jack flag. “This is great fun but it needs to go faster,” he told the assembled reporters.
British Conservative Party politician Boris Johnson gives a speech during a fringe event on the sidelines of the third day of the Conservative Party Conference 2018 at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham, on Oct. 2, 2018.Paul Ellis / AFP – Getty Images
In 2016 he lent that star power to the Brexit campaign, electrifying the referendum with his crowd-drawing speeches and barnstorming rhetoric about Brexit being “our independence day.”
“He isn’t a typical British politician,” Lucas at the University of Birmingham said. “He has always played up the idea that he is this really smart guy, but also a bit of a bumbler.”
Brexit has left Johnson particularly reviled by pro-E.U. “Remainers,” not least because of his campaign’s discredited mantra that Britain sends £350 million to the E.U. each week.
His Brexit victory forced the resignation of his old friend, the then Prime Minister David Cameron, who backed the opposing, pro-E.U. side in 2016.
Johnson launched a leadership bid then — but withdrew after his ally Michael Gove unexpectedly announced he would run against him.
But last week, even before May had announced her departure, Johnson confirmed he would be running to replace her.
“I’m going to go for it,” he said. “Of course I’m going to go for it.”
Alexander Smith
Alexander Smith is a London-based senior reporter for NBC News Digital.
Hillary Clinton has called President Trump’s sharing of an edited Nancy Pelosi video “sexist trash.”
While speaking at a Harris County Democratic Party event in Houston Friday, she said: “The president and his cronies have been running around spreading a doctored video of Nancy Pelosi.”
“Now, it is sexist trash, but it is also a sign that Trump is running scared,” she continued. “So if you believe in the rule of law and the responsibility we all have to hold our leaders accountable, then we cannot relent on this front either.”
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Clinton’s fiery comments were made the day after Trump tweeted a segment from Fox Business along with the quote, “PELOSI STAMMERS THROUGH NEWS CONFERENCE.”
The clip shows House Speaker Pelosi appearing to slur her words while speaking, at least in part, about immigration.
The release of this video and another one of Pelosi that appears to have been manipulated come as Trump and the House Speaker battle over calls for impeachment and continuing investigations.
If the president’s soft stance on Mr. Kim rattled Mr. Abe, it did not show when the two leaders met on Sunday. Just before they headed into their round of golf at a country club in Chiba Prefecture, Mr. Abe greeted the president with a smile and a handshake before driving Mr. Trump away in a golf cart.
A Japanese television news station caught aerial footage of Mr. Trump, clad in a red jacket, and Mr. Abe, clad in blue, swinging their golf clubs and putting, surrounded by aides and security officials.
The local news media has covered the visit breathlessly, reserving special interest for a trophy that Mr. Trump planned to present at a sumo tournament on Sunday evening.
The object, four feet tall and weighing 60 pounds, is being called the President’s Cup. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, said the trophy would be displayed to the public at the president’s hotel in Tokyo before the sumo event.
With the trip underway, at least one part of Mr. Abe’s charm offensive seemed to be paying off. In a phone interview with John Roberts, a Fox News White House correspondent, Mr. Trump said he would wait until after the July election in the upper house of the Japanese Parliament before pushing for a bilateral trade deal with Japan.
“I would say that Japan has had a substantial edge for many, many years, but that’s O.K.,” Mr. Trump said on Saturday night during a reception in Tokyo with Japanese business leaders. “Maybe that’s why you like me so much.”
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