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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign is cutting ties with some of its own pollsters after leaked internal polling showed the president trailing former Vice President Joe Biden in critical 2020 battleground states, according to a person close to the campaign.

The move comes after NBC News obtained new details from a March internal poll that found Trump trailing Biden in 11 key states.

Portions of the campaign’s expansive March polling trickled out in recent days in other news reports.

But a person familiar with the inner workings of the Trump campaign shared more details of the data with NBC News, showing the president trailing across swing states seen as essential to his path to re-election and in Democratic-leaning states where Republicans have looked to gain traction. The polls also show Trump underperforming in reliably red states that haven’t been competitive for decades in presidential elections.

A separate person close to the Trump re-election team told NBC News Saturday that the campaign will be cutting ties with some of its pollsters in response to the information leaks, although the person did not elaborate as to which pollsters would be let go.

The internal polling paints a picture of an incumbent president with serious ground to gain across the country as his re-election campaign kicks into higher gear.

While the campaign tested other Democratic presidential candidates against Trump, Biden polled the best of the group, according the source.

In Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Florida and Michigan — three states where Trump edged Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton by narrow margins that proved decisive in his victory — Trump trails Biden by double-digits. In three of those states — Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Florida — Biden’s leads sit outside the poll’s margin of error.

Trump is also behind the former vice president in Iowa by 7 points, in North Carolina by 8 points, in Virginia by 17 points, in Ohio by 1 point, in Georgia by 6 points, in Minnesota by 14 points, and in Maine by 15 points.

In Texas, where a Democratic presidential nominee hasn’t won since President Jimmy Carter in 1976, Trump leads by just 2 points.

Portions of the internal Trump polling data were first reported by ABC News and The New York Times. The Times reported earlier this month that the internal polling found Trump trailing across a number of key states, while ABC News obtained data showing Trump trailing Biden in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Florida and holding a small lead in Texas.

The president denied the existence of any negative polling during comments last week in the Oval Office, saying his campaign has “great internal polling” and saying the numbers reported were from “fake polls.”

“We are winning in every single state that we’ve polled. We’re winning in Texas very big. We’re winning in Ohio very big. We’re winning in Florida very big,” he said.

“Those are fake numbers. But do you know when you’re going to see that? You’re going to see that on Election Day.”

His campaign staff downplayed the results as old news in statements to NBC News. The polling was conducted between March 13 and March 28.

Tony Fabrizio, Trump’s campaign pollster, dismissed the data as “incomplete and misleading,” representing a “worst-case scenario in the most unfavorable turnout model possible.”

He added that a “more likely turnout model patterned after 2016” with a defined Democratic candidate shows a “competitive” race with Trump “leading.”

Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale’s criticism focused on the poll’s age.

“These leaked numbers are ancient, in campaign terms, from months-old polling that began in March before two major events had occurred: the release of the summary of the Mueller report exonerating the President, and the beginning of the Democrat candidates defining themselves with their far-left policy message,” he said.

Parscale also claimed the campaign has seen “huge swings in the President’s favor across the 17 states we have polled, based on the policies espoused by the Democrats.” As an example, he said that a “plan to provide free health care to illegal immigrants results in an 18-point swing toward President Trump.”

The Trump campaign subsequently provided another quote from Parscale that echoed the president’s comments from last week.

“All news about the President’s polling is completely false. The President’s new polling is extraordinary and his numbers have never been better,” the statement said.

CORRECTION (June 16, 2019, 10:23 a.m. ET): A previous version of this article misstated the finding of polling data reported by ABC News. The data found that Trump was trailing Biden in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Florida; it did not find that Biden was trailing Trump.

Source Article from https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/meet-the-press/trump-campaign-cutting-ties-pollsters-after-internal-numbers-leaked-n1017991

At least one security guard was killed in Afghanistan Friday after the Taliban attacked the central United Nations compound in the western province of Herat.

U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said the attack was carried out by “Anti-Government Elements” at the compounds entrances.

BLINKEN WARNS AFGHANISTAN COULD BECOME ‘PARIAH STATE’ IF PEACE NOT MADE WITH TALIBAN

Taliban forces reportedly used rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire during their assault on the “clearly marked” U.N. compound.

A statement by the U.N. said it is “urgently seeking to establish a full picture about the attack and for this purpose is in contact with the relevant parties.”

Afghan government forces reportedly engaged with the Taliban during Friday’s attack, resulting in the death of one Afghan police guard and injuring two other officers.

No U.N. personal were injured. 

“This attack against the United Nations is deplorable and we condemn it in the strongest terms,” Deborah Lyons, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan said. “Our first thoughts are with the family of the officer slain and we wish a speedy recovery to those injured.”

AFGHANISTAN MINISTRY SETS CURFEW IN BID TO CURB TALIBAN ATTACKS

International law prohibits attacks on U.N. personal or its compounds, which means Friday’s attack could amount to a war crime.

“The perpetrators of this attack must be identified and brought to account,” Lyons said.

A Taliban spokesperson said the compound was “not under any threat” and alleged the attack could have been the result of a “crossfire.”

“It is possible that guards could have sustained harm in crossfire due to close proximity of the office to the fighting,” Zabihullah Mujahid, said on Twitter.

The Taliban have made advances across Afghanistan in the weeks following the U.S. troop withdrawal in conclusion to the 20-year long war. 

Despite some continued air support from the U.S., the insurgent group has gained control of roughly half of Afghanistan’s 421 districts. 

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Secretary of State Antony Blinken did not comment on the Friday attack, but in a statement following the arrival of a group of former Afghan allies in the U.S., he said the administration’s work in Afghanistan “endures.”

“The United States will continue to use the full force of our diplomatic, economic, and development toolkit to support the Afghan people in their pursuit of a just and durable peace and to preserve the gains of the past 20 years, particularly those made by women, girls, and minorities,” he said. 

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/world/un-compound-afghanistan-attacked-by-taliban

The gunman who killed two El Monte police officers Tuesday when they responded to a call at a motel was on probation for a gun charge at the time of the shooting, court records show.

The officers were identified Wednesday afternoon as Cpl. Michael Paredes and Officer Joseph Santana.

The man’s mother, Lynn Covarrubias, confirmed Wednesday her son Justin Flores was killed by police in the shooting.

Covarrubias, 54, said her son and his wife were separated and he would often stay at the Siesta Inn motel on Garvey Avenue. The couple had a 7-year-old daughter. She said she didn’t know any details about the shooting or what prompted it.

Two sources with the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office identified the gunman as Flores. Records show he was on probation for a gun possession offense at the time of the shooting. The sources spoke to The Times on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

On Monday, a day before the shooting, Flores’ probation officer filed a request with the Los Angeles County Superior Court for a revocation hearing, listing the reason as “desertion.” Two law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation said Flores’ girlfriend last week reported he had assaulted her, triggering a probation violation, but that Flores was not taken into custody.

The shooting occurred near Central and Garvey avenues in El Monte, authorities said. One suspect was also killed.

Details of what exactly happened during the shooting Tuesday remain unclear.\

Juan Hernandez, who lives near the hotel, said he heard a smattering of gun fire shortly after 4:30 p.m.

“At first it was about six shots that you could hear and then a spraying of at least a dozen. I would guess there were at least 20 shots,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez quickly rushed his two children, both under 10 years old, from the living room to a bedroom. He then rushed outside his gate to see what transpired. The Siesta Inn, where the shooting took place, was about 50 yards from his home. He saw a body lying on the pavement near the intersection of Central and Garvey avenues. Hernandez believed it to be a suspect and not an officer “because I didn’t see a uniform.”

Capt. Andrew Meyer, who leads the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau, said that officers responded to a call for a possible stabbing at a motel, confronted Flores in a motel room and fired their weapons. Flores ran out of the room and into a parking lot, where the officers fired again, Meyer said.

Three officers opened fire during the encounter, a source in the Sheriff’s Department told The Times. The shooting was reported around 4:47 p.m., according to the department.

Two officers and Flores were hit by gunfire, Meyer said. The officers were taken to L.A. County-USC Medical Center, where they died. Flores was pronounced dead at the scene.

Meyer said a gun was recovered next to Flores’ body.

Although El Monte Mayor Jessica Ancona had said the officers were “essentially ambushed,” Meyer would not say whether the officers were attacked immediately upon arriving at the motel. He declined to describe in detail the sequence of events that culminated in the officers’ deaths.

On Wednesday, Ancona fought back tears when she spoke of two city police officers killed. She described them as “great fathers and great men” she had met.

“They grew up here; to us, they’re El Monte homegrown,” she said. “They’re our boys.”

Paredes started as a cadet with the department and was sworn in as a full-time officer in July 2000. He is survived by his wife, daughter and son. Ancona described him as a nearly 22-year veteran “who went through our El Monte schools” and who was “excited to be on the force.”

Santana is a former deputy sheriff with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, where he served for three years. Before that, he served as a maintenance worker with the city of El Monte for six years and graduated from El Monte High School. He’s survived by his wife, daughter and twin boys. Ancona said he had been on the force for less than a year after his transfer from San Bernardino County.

“There are no words to describe our grief and devastation by this senseless act as we learned about the passing of two of our police officers,” the city and Police Department said in a joint statement.

“We’re absolutely devastated; we’re heartbroken,” Ancona told The Times. “There’s words that cannot express what we’re feeling right now.”

“They were good men,” said Capt. Ben Lowry, the El Monte Police Department’s acting chief. “These two heroes paid the ultimate sacrifice today. They were murdered by a coward.”

Ancona said a memorial fund and funeral service details will be released later in the week.

Twenty investigators on Tuesday night were searching for surveillance video and interviewing witnesses, including a woman who was inside the motel room when the officers arrived, Meyer said.

The woman had not been stabbed, he said.

Covarrubias, Flores’ mother, said she did not know who was in the room with her son during the shooting. Her son’s wife called Tuesday and said he was dead, but she didn’t believe it.

“Even the pictures they showed me of my son lying on the ground, I just thought, ‘Take him to the hospital. You can save him,’ ” Covarrubias said.

She said police have been rude to her and detained her for several hours after the shooting, even though she was not at the motel when the shooting took place.

Covarrubias said the officers kept calling her son a “coward.”

“It hurts to hear them say that. He was a person too. He had a daughter,” Covarrubias said. “I want them to know in spite of what happened, he was loving and caring.”

Two law enforcement sources said Flores is a member of the Quiet Village gang.

Flores was arrested by sheriff’s deputies assigned to the department’s Industry station in March 2020 and charged with being a felon in possession of methamphetamine, a handgun and ammunition, court records show.

He pleaded no contest on Feb. 10, 2021, to being a felon in possession of a firearm as part of a plea deal. Prosecutors agreed to dismiss the charges of felon in possession of ammunition and methamphetamine. While the gun conviction alone could have sent him to prison for up to three years, by pleading no contest Flores was instead sentenced to two years’ probation and 20 days in jail, which he’d already served, Deputy Dist. Atty. Larry Holcomb said, according to a transcript of the plea hearing.

He was ordered not to possess any weapons, including guns, ammunition and knives, the transcript shows. Flores was warned that if he breached these terms, he could be sent to prison for up to three years.

Flores had been prohibited from having a gun since he was convicted of first degree burglary in 2011.

He was due in court on June 27 for a hearing over the probation violation, according to records.

El Monte resident Mayra Lomeli, 49, said she heard three shots, causing her to leap under a table at El Perico Market, a block from the Siesta Inn.

Lomeli, a customer of El Perico, said she overcame her fear and ran to close the entrance door, fearing a gunman would try to burst through.

“I didn’t know what was going on, but I know that sometimes desperate people will run into nearby buildings looking to escape,” she said.

Footage reportedly showing part of the incident showed police arriving at the scene amid the sounds of rapid gunfire.

On Wednesday morning, El Monte resident Lupe Morse, 60, walked from the street curb to the front of the El Monte Police Department with a sense of dread. She carried a glass vase with red roses, pink daisies and white lilies to leave in front of a bronze eagle statue dedicated “in memory of those who served.”

The memorial was filled with candles, flowers, U.S. flags and thank you signs honoring the two officers.

“This is the walk you never want to make, but you have to because these two officers had our backs and now it’s time to honor them,” Morse said.

The gesture had extra meaning for Morse, who said she’s often worried about the safety of her husband, Sgt. Ted Morse of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Wilshire Division.

“We’re a police family and we know the dangers and the possibility of what happened yesterday,” Lupe Morse said. “My heart breaks for the families.”

El Monte City School District custodian Jimmy Tessier, 55, stood at a plaque dedicated to fallen El Monte Police officers. It had two names — Anthony “Tony” Arceo, killed in 1974, and Donald Ralph Johnston, in 2002 — and would have two more to come.

Tessier, who grew up in El Monte, said a small prayer there and bowed his head.

“It was shocking to hear the news,” said Tessier. “You just never expect that here in this community. We have our problems of course, but not this.”

Source Article from https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-06-15/gunman-in-killing-of-el-monte-police-officers-was-on-probation-for-gun-charge

Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/news/2021/01/21/biden-executive-order-ends-muslim-travel-ban-donald-trump/4240420001/

GUADALAJARA, JALISCO (17/AGO/2015).- Revisa lo más importante del 17 de agosto en México en este resumen de noticias publicadas a través de los sitios web de los medios que conforman los Periódicos Asociados en Red.

CHIHUAHUA

Dan de alta a César Duarte tras accidente de helicóptero

Debido a su pronta recuperación, el gobernador César Horario Duarte Jáquez fue dado de alta este lunes en la tarde del hospital Christus Muguersa, dio a conocer el secretario de Salud del estado, Pedro Hernández Flores.

CIUDAD DE MÉXICO

Peña Nieto propone sanciones penales a quienes endeuden a estados

El Presidente Enrique Peña Nieto enviará al Congreso de la Unión una propuesta para establecer sanciones penales en contra de los servidores públicos que endeuden y ocasionen daño a la hacienda pública en las entidades y municipios del país.

Conoce las nuevas reglas de tránsito para la Ciudad de México

El gobierno del Distrito Federal promulgó el nuevo Reglamento de Tránsito de la Ciudad de México que busca reducir en un 35% los incidentes viales y el número de muertes que se registran en dichos percances.

JALISCO

Inician obras de reencarpetamiento en tres carreteras
 
Como parte de las actividades de conservación en carreteras federales de Jalisco, a partir del presente mes la Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes (SCT) realiza obras de reencarpetado en  las carreteras Guadalajara-Tepic, Guadalajara-Zacatecas y Zamora-Guadalajara, donde se invertirán este año aproximadamente 81 millones de pesos de recursos del Gobierno de la República.

SINALOA

Niño cae de sexto piso de hotel en Mazatlán

La tragedia embarga a una familia de Torreón. Un niño de nueve años no pudo disfrutar sus vacaciones pues cayó del sexto piso del hotel Playa Bonita.

Malova, comprometido con atención a estudiantes rechazados

Luego de una reunión con representantes de todas las instituciones públicas de educación media superior y superior en el estado, Mario López Valdez anunció que a partir de hoy hay un total de 25 mil 700 espacios en todas las escuelas de Sinaloa, para que ningún egresado de secundaria y preparatoria se quede sin estudiar en la entidad, y se cubra al 100% la demanda para el ciclo escolar 2015-2016.

Source Article from http://www.informador.com.mx/mexico/2015/609458/6/mexico-en-resumen-las-noticias-del-17-de-agosto.htm

As Christians around the world observe Holy Week and focus their attention on Christ, one mother from Scotland said she could “see Jesus” in the fire that engulfed the Notre Dame Cathedral Monday evening in a post on social media.

“I may be letting my mind play tricks on me here, folks take a close look at this picture and what do you see,” Lesley Rowan, 38, wrote.

MAN CAPTURES IMAGE OF JESUS SHINING THROUGH THE CLOUDS: ‘I WAS ENCHANTED’

In the comments, she revealed she saw Jesus, along with other social media users.

‘I SEE JESUS!’: VIRGINIA WOMAN CAPTURES IMAGE OF CHRIST IN THE ROCKS

“When I looked at this photo last night, I was really astounded by what I saw,” Rowan told Scotland’s Daily Record. “When I look at it I see a silhouette of Jesus. I really see a vivid image.”

Louise Blair commented: “Looks like a figure of Jesus, or am I tripping?”

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Dom Disanto added: “I can see it pretty clear, gown and all.”

Rowan said she hopes it will “bring comfort to people in Paris and all over the world at this sad time.”

The Notre Dame Cathedral caught on fire a little after closing time Monday evening, one day after Palm Sunday during Holy Week. The Catholic church burned for over 13 hours as onlookers posted videos and photos of the fire and smoke billowing from the Gothic cathedral. Dramatic footage showed Notre Dame’s spire collapsing, but many relics were saved and no one was harmed during the catastrophic blaze.

French President Emmanuel Macron has vowed to rebuild what was destroyed within the next five years.

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/faith-values/jesus-notre-dame-fire-photo

A storm-weary Louisiana is bracing for yet another pummeling from wind, rain and waves on Wednesday evening, when Hurricane Zeta is set to break the state record for storm strikes in a single season.

Update: Hurricane Zeta nears Yucatan Peninsula as Cat 1 storm; here’s how it will impact Louisiana

Zeta’s winds intensified to 80 mph, Category 1 strength, as the storm passed Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Monday, and Zeta was expected to make landfall with similar intensity at around 7 p.m. on Wednesday between Cocodrie and Port Fourchon in southeast Louisiana. Zeta would be the fifth named storm to make landfall in Louisiana this season, a state record.

Storm surges are possible from Intracoastal City to Navarre, Florida. Hurricane conditions are possible from Morgan City to the Mississippi and Alabama border, forecasters said Monday afternoon.

One of the four main turbines that power many of the Sewerage & Water Board’s massive drainage pumps is offline as Hurricane Zeta menaces …

A hurricane watch was issued for New Orleans and a voluntary evacuation was called for areas outside the city’s levee system, where storm surge could be an issue.

Gov. John Bel Edwards issued an emergency declaration on Monday – his eighth of the year – in anticipation of the storm.

He expected Zeta to be mostly be a wind event. Winds of at least 30 mph and gusts of up to 70 mph are predicted for much of southeast Louisiana. Between 2 and 4 inches of rain is expected, and possibly more in some areas.

“The biggest threat as of now is damage from the wind,” he told reporters. “We all need to be weather ready.”



image via NOAA


But in New Orleans, rain may be a bigger concern due to a breakdown of a key power source for the city’s drainage system. Turbine 4 “unexpectedly went offline” on Sunday, according to the Sewerage & Water Board. It was undergoing inspection on Monday but would not be repaired in time for the hurricane, officials said. 

The S&WB’s turbines and generators are needed to power about half the pumps in the system, while the rest draw their power from Entergy. Turbine 4 is one of the largest power sources the utility has, providing up to about 18 megawatts of power.

Without it, the system can still generate enough electricity to run the pumps at full capacity and have some breathing room. But a breakdown in another turbine could mean power would have to be rationed during a severe storm, and areas that normally flood during heavy rain could take longer to drain.

Some neighborhoods flooded under 3 feet of water when Turbine 4 last failed, during a rain storm in June.

In a press briefing Monday evening, New Orleans Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness Director Collin Arnold acknowledged the extreme activity of the season, saying “hopefully this is the last one, but I said that three hurricanes ago.”

Still, he said he saw no signs that residents and emergency workers were letting weariness keep them from being ready.

Hurricane Zeta formed Monday, prompting some parish officials in southeast Louisiana to issue evacuation orders.

“We’ve asked them to do this so many times and surely we’re going to go through this again but people are listening,” Arnold said.

“It’s been a pretty unprecedented hurricane season in the midst of a pandemic so people are hanging tough and we’re asking them to continue to do that through the end of hurricane season,” he added.

New Orleans plans to lift parking restrictions at 6 p.m. on Tuesday to allow residents to park their vehicles on neutral grounds and sidewalks.

Sandbags will be distributed on Tuesday morning at the Dryades YMCA at 2220 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd., the Arthur Monday Center at 1111 Newton St., at the intersection of Desire Street and Law Street and at the Maria Goretti Church at 7300 Crowder Blvd. Sandbags are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis until each location runs out.



image via NOAA


No governmental closures in New Orleans have been announced, and trash collection is expected to continue as usual on Tuesday.

Mandatory evacuations orders along the coast got started with Grand Isle, which on Monday called for all campers, RVs and boats to leave the island as of 11 a.m. An island-wide voluntary evacuation goes into effect Tuesday morning.

Grand Isle’s storm protection levee was damaged by Tropical Storm Cristobal in June. The levee has been patched with large sand sacks but not yet repaired.

Plaquemines Parish, which was at the center of Zeta’s forecasted path on Monday, began urging residents to prepare for storm threats and a possible evacuation.

“We’re looking like we might be close to the bullseye,” Plaquemines Parish President Kirk Lepine said. “Sad to say, but this has almost become routine for us. We’ve had so many storms this season.”

Ahead of Hurricane Zeta affecting Louisiana, local officials are putting out sandbag materials for the public to prepare.

Earlier this season, Hurricane Laura, Hurricane Delta, Tropical Storm Cristobal and Tropical Storm Marco all made landfall in Louisiana.

Zeta is the 27th named storm to form in the Atlantic this season. That ties 2020 with 2005, the record-setting year of storms that included hurricanes Katrina and Rita, for the most storms in a season. But 2020 likely isn’t done yet. Up to three more storms are possible before the hurricane season ends in late November.

Coastal communities are fatigued but well-rehearsed in their hurricane preparations.

“We’re doing what we know how to do so well now, and that’s to be prepared,” said Chett Chaison, executive director of the Greater Lafourche Port Commission. The commission manages Port Fouchon, the service hub for most of the offshore oil and gas production in the northern Gulf of Mexico. For the first time this hurricane season, Fourchon looks like it may take a direct hit. But a Catagory 1 shouldn’t trouble the port too much, Chaison said.

“We expect some surge, but nothing catastrophic,” he said.

The port may evacuate, but its nearly 200 vessels will remain staffed in case of mooring breaks and other emergencies.

Edwards said he is grateful Zeta is not headed for southwest Louisiana, especially after powerful hurricanes Laura and Delta struck less than 20 miles apart.

Restoration projects along Louisiana’s coastline were mostly spared by the six different hurricanes that have threatened the state so far this…

Laura upended the lives of thousands of citizens, with widespread power outages and the loss of running water.

The New Orleans area was squarely in the line of Hurricane Sally until it veered east and struck Alabama in mid-September.

Edwards said Louisiana residents should keep a close eye on Zeta’s path in case it, too, takes an unexpected swerve.

“Please don’t let your guard down,” he said.

-Staff writers Jeff Adelson and Will Sentell contributed to this report.

Just as Louisiana begins an ambitious slate of projects to rebuild its crumbling coastline, the essential ingredients — sea sand and river sil…



Source Article from https://www.nola.com/news/environment/article_5daa9bec-17cf-11eb-9e0f-6fe9612a00c0.html

Michael Cohen’s former lawyer, Lanny Davis, said Sunday that the “incessant attacks” President TrumpDonald John TrumpFederal worker with diabetes says she can’t afford to pay for insulin during shutdown Trump’s disapproval rating higher since shutdown began: poll Iran moving toward enriching nuclear fuel, top official says MORE has leveled against his former client are because Trump views Cohen as the “greatest threat to his presidency.”

“This pattern of incessant attacks on my client and his family show what the American people have already witnessed, that Donald Trump sees Michael Cohen, and I would say justifiably, as the greatest threat to his presidency and what could be criminal and impeachable actions,” Davis said on MSNBC’s “Kasie DC.”

The comments from Davis come just days after it was announced that Cohen, who once served as Trump’s personal attorney, would publicly testify before the Oversight and Reform Committee.

Trump, who has repeatedly criticized Cohen since he agreed to cooperate with investigators, said Saturday on Fox News that his ex-lawyer was taking this step in order to “to get his sentence reduced.”

He added that “he should give information maybe on his father-in-law, because that’s the one that people want to look at.”

The comments raised alarms from a trio of top House Democrats, who on Sunday released a statement warning Trump against “any action to obstruct” oversight efforts from lawmakers. 

Davis accused Trump of trying to “intimidate a witness” with his statements about Cohen’s father-in-law. He also said that “I and most Americans have no idea about what Trump is fantasizing about in demonizing the father-in-law of Cohen.”

Cohen pleaded guilty to several federal charges, including one count of lying to Congress, last year. He was sentenced to three years in jail in December.

He has been cooperating with special counsel Robert MuellerRobert Swan MuellerSasse: US should applaud choice of Mueller to lead Russia probe MORE‘s team and provided it with information about the Trump Organization and his contacts at the White House. 

Davis said that there is info that Cohen will likely be unable to testify publicly about. But he predicted that he would discuss “the lying, the immorality” and “the willingness to abuse people who work for him” from Trump.

Source Article from https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/425146-cohens-former-lawyer-trump-views-cohen-as-greatest-threat-to-his

President Trump, seen speaking to reporters at the White House on Monday, has fired his national security adviser. With John Bolton gone, what does that mean for Afghanistan peace talks and other major foreign policy?

Win McNamee/Getty Images


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President Trump, seen speaking to reporters at the White House on Monday, has fired his national security adviser. With John Bolton gone, what does that mean for Afghanistan peace talks and other major foreign policy?

Win McNamee/Getty Images

President Trump spiked the peace negotiations for a war he’s desperate to end and sacked the national security adviser who shaped much of his foreign policy in Asia and the Middle East.

Where does the Trump administration’s foreign policy go from here?

Until Saturday, one path, at least, appeared clear: Washington was inching closer to some kind of agreement with the Taliban to end the 18-year conflict in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, though his administration was taking a tough official line against Iran, Venezuela, North Korea and Russia — it was sometimes accompanied by a soft semiofficial line taken by Trump himself.

Then Trump announced Saturday he was canceling a summit he’d planned to convene secretly at Camp David with Afghan government and Taliban leaders, and he proclaimed Monday that he considered peace talks to be “dead.”

That night, Trump talked with national security adviser John Bolton in an exchange that Bolton said resulted in him offering his resignation. Trump says he asked Bolton to quit.

Effect on policy

Bolton became the latest top official to be terminated in a presidential tweet over a disagreement with the principal, with uncertain consequences for the conduct of a major American policy.

In the past, these kinds of resignations have resulted in pyrrhic victories for those involved.

When then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and then-envoy Brett McGurk resigned at the end of 2018 rather than go along with Trump’s planned withdrawal from Syria, they appeared to stay the administration’s hand from the full military pullout Trump had contemplated.

One question now is how long Bolton’s policy, without Bolton himself, will endure within the administration.

Trump has desired for years to cut bait on the war in Afghanistan and he seems unlikely to leave peace talks dormant for long. The special envoy who’s been carrying on the negotiations with the Taliban, Zalmay Khalilzad, appears to be staying on in his administration job.

Factors beyond Bolton

But the timing of when talks could resume and when they might show results is important, and all that has been cast into doubt.

One reason is Afghanistan’s presidential election scheduled for this month.

President Ashraf Ghani is considered a favorite to secure another term, but the Taliban accuse his government of being stooges for the Americans. The closer that election comes, the likelier there could be violence that further delays the resumption of negotiations.

A Taliban attack that resulted in the death of an American service member was the reason Trump gave for abrogating negotiations, although they may have begun to founder before his surprise announcement on Saturday.

Another factor is the American presidential election next year.

Trump supports withdrawing thousands of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. He has long been dubious of the establishment consensus on how to preserve stability there, and the objections of hawks who say Washington must persevere until a final victory.

Trump went down that route with Mattis — for a time.

He agreed to an increase in the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan, curtailed much of the public reporting about the conflict and kiboshed any talk about timetables for the end of the war.

Then the president apparently ran out of patience, and he has made clear he doesn’t care for American deployments to continue in their current form any longer than he can manage.

Bolton’s ouster removes an internal skeptic about that approach, and whoever Trump names as his replacement will need to be on board the current program.

But with the diplomatic track toward an endgame in Afghanistan derailed, there’s also no telling what the next phase could look like.

Also unresolved: Iran, North Korea

Bolton’s defenestration also scrambles the outlook for other tough areas of foreign and national security policy.

Bolton helped write the playbook that Trump and his advisers used to abrogate America’s participation in the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by then-President Barack Obama.

What followed was the campaign of “maximum pressure” on Tehran that brought it to the brink of a flashpoint with the U.S. and other world powers over oil and other sanctions.

Now Trump is airing his willingness to talk with Iran.

He gave his assent to some initial forays by France’s President Emmanuel Macron, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo repeated on Tuesday that Trump is prepared to meet with Iran’s president “with no preconditions.”

With Bolton gone, is that now more likely?

Another unresolved line of effort is that toward North Korea. Trump loves kvelling about the warm relationship he says he’s developed with strongman Kim Jong Un, including through the “beautiful letters” that arrive at the White House from Pyongyang.

That relationship so far hasn’t yielded a lasting agreement in which North Korea would dismantle its nuclear weapons program in exchange for sanctions relief or other normalization of its relationship with the world.

One reason it hasn’t was Bolton, who held out for more concessions from the North. Kim’s regime criticized both him and Trump’s most enduring foreign policy lieutenant, Pompeo, at one point asking for the secretary of state to be replaced as their interlocutor on the American side in order to continue talks.

Trump has said, in so many words, that everything is fine with North Korea — the regime’s periodic regional missile tests don’t bother him so long as it doesn’t fire weapons that can threaten the United States or test another nuclear weapon.

With Bolton gone, is Trump that much likelier to agree to another summit with Kim, and then to some kind of new agreement with North Korea?

U.S. intelligence officials have said they don’t believe Kim would ever give up his strategic weapons program because he views it as essential to his regime’s survival.

“Excellent news”

Some arms control advocates, however, hailed Bolton’s departure because they said it means improved odds for new treaties with Russia.

The United States has let one major nuclear agreement lapse with Russia — the Intermediate Nuclear Forces treaty — and the New START agreement is up for negotiation in 2021.

If Bolton’s departure makes it likelier that Trump would agree to extend it, that’s “excellent news,” the Union of Concerned Scientists said on Tuesday.

For every issue, a take — but the bottom line was expressed by Pompeo on Tuesday at a White House briefing that originally was to have included Bolton. The secretary of state told reporters that the only person who determines who works for Trump, and what that means for the policy of the United States, is Trump.

Source Article from https://www.npr.org/2019/09/11/759515631/afghan-peace-process-dead-bolton-fired-as-dust-settles-in-d-c-what-now

WASHINGTON – Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin sounded a positive note Friday morning, saying a deal on a coronavirus response package with Congress was imminent.

“We’re very close to getting this done,” he told CNBC.

Mnuchin has been the lead negotiator for the White House on the deal, speaking frequently with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., over the past 24 hours.

Pelosi said the deal, which is expected to provide free coronavirus testing, paid emergency leave and increased unemployment coverage, is expected to come to the House floor for a vote Friday.

Despite Mnuchin’s optimism about a sweeping deal, he also echoed health officials’ warnings of a worsening situation.

“People should understand the numbers (of infections) are going to go up before they go down,” he said

Mnuchin said after this deal is reached, he expects the administration will come back to Congress in the coming weeks for a package of economic stimulus measures (Trump has been pushing for a payroll tax cut) which he predicted would lift the country.

“We will get through this and the economy will be stronger than ever when we get through this,” he said. “By the end of the year, we’re going to have a big rebound in economic activity.”

– Ledyard King

Trump knocks fed, repeats call for payroll tax cuts

President Donald Trump lashed out at Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell to lower rates after repeating his call for Congress to include a payroll tax cut in a sweeping, multibillion-dollar package in response to the growing coronavirus pandemic.

Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/03/13/coronavirus-bill-house-nears-approval-free-tests-paid-sick-leave/5039259002/

Las Vegas Raiders receiver Henry Ruggs III was involved in a fiery car crash early Tuesday morning that killed one person and will lead to Ruggs being charged with DUI resulting in death.

According to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, officers “responded to a traffic collision near the intersection of South Rainbow Boulevard and South Spring Valley Parkway, involving a Chevrolet Corvette and a Toyota Rav4. Responding officers located the Toyota on fire. Fire department personnel responded and located a deceased woman inside the Toyota. The preliminary investigation indicates the front of the Chevrolet collided with the rear of the Toyota.

“The driver of the Chevrolet, identified as 22-year-old Henry Rugs (sic) III, remained on scene and showed signs of impairment. He was transported to UMC hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Ruggs will be charged with DUI resulting in death. This is an on-going investigation,” the Las Vegas Metro PD said in its statement.

There was a female passenger in Ruggs’ car who was also transported to a hospital. She was not immediately identified.

If convicted, Ruggs would face two to 20 years in prison.

Charges were not yet filed. Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said he was aware of the crash and would await results of the police investigation.

Ruggs’ attorneys, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, said that on behalf of their client they also were investigating the crash “and ask everyone to reserve judgment until all the facts are gathered.”

“The Raiders are aware of an accident involving Henry Ruggs III that occurred this morning in Las Vegas. We are devastated by the loss of life and our thoughts and prayers go out to the victim’s family. We are in the process of gathering information and will have no further comment at this time,” the team said in a statement.

An NFL spokesman said: “Our hearts go out to the family and friends of the victim of this horrific tragedy. We will continue to gather facts and monitor the matter under our policies, but our thoughts at this time are with those impacted by this devastating incident.”

The Raiders (5-2) were on their bye week but reported back to team headquarters on Monday before having an off day on Tuesday. They were scheduled to begin practicing Wednesday before Sunday’s game at the New York Giants (2-6).

Ruggs lost a childhood friend, Rod Scott, in a car accident in 2016, and Ruggs pays tribute to him by putting up three fingers — Scott wore No. 3 — to the sky after big plays.

Ruggs was the Raiders’ first-round draft pick in 2020 out of Alabama, No. 12 overall, and at the time, Raiders owner Mark Davis said of the speedy wideout, “He was the only person I wanted in this draft.”

With 24 catches for 469 yards and two touchdowns, Ruggs’ 19.5 yards per catch average is second in the NFL among pass-catchers with at least 20 receptions. Ruggs was drafted for his speed — he ran a 4.27-second 40-yard dash at the combine — and ability to stretch the field, and all four of his career touchdowns have been at least 46 yards.

On Jan. 4, Raiders Pro Bowl running back Josh Jacobs was involved in a single-car accident and arrested for DUI after a crash near the McCarran Airport Connector and East Sunset Road at 4:42 a.m., hours after the Raiders’ season-finale victory at Denver. But an ensuing investigation found Jacobs’ blood alcohol level was below the legal limit and DUI charges were not filed.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source Article from https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/32534609/las-vegas-raiders-wr-henry-ruggs-charged-dui-resulting-death

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Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/30/us/schools-reopening-district-plans/index.html