DonViejo
DonViejo's JournalTrump Says He Will Not Talk to North Korea. Experts Fear He Will.
By MARK LANDLER AUG. 30, 2017
WASHINGTON — President Trump vowed on Wednesday that he would not talk to Kim Jong-un, cooling off what has become his on-again, off-again cultivation of North Korea’s rogue dictator.
But if Mr. Trump’s tweet, in which he said, “talking is not the answer!,” seemed to reignite tensions with North Korea, it also revealed a paradox in how Asia experts view the crisis. Some fear less that Mr. Trump is going to start a war with Mr. Kim than that he is going to stumble into a risky, unpredictable dialogue with him.
The world’s attention has understandably focused on Mr. Trump’s saber-rattling threats against Mr. Kim — most dramatically, his promise to rain “fire and fury” on North Korea if Mr. Kim fired ballistic missiles at United States territory.
But a meeting between Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim, these experts said, could open the door to ratifying North Korea’s nuclear status or scaling back America’s joint military exercises with South Korea. That could sunder American alliances with Japan and South Korea and play to the benefit of China, which has long advocated direct dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang.
“What the North Koreans are angling for is to bring the danger and tension to a crescendo, and then to pivot to a peace proposal,” said Daniel R. Russel, who served until March as the assistant secretary of state for East Asian affairs. “All of this is focused on pressuring the U.S. to enter direct talks with Kim on his terms. That is the big trap.”
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https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/30/us/politics/trump-north-korea-extortion-money.html
Russia's foreign minister warns Tillerson: New North Korea sanctions could be 'dangerous'
Source: Politico
By LOUIS NELSON 08/31/2017 07:54 AM EDT
New sanctions against North Korea could prove “dangerous,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in a phone call Wednesday night.
Details of the call were reported by The Associated Press and based on a readout of the call distributed by the Russian foreign ministry. As of early Thursday morning, the State Department had not released its own readout.
The call followed a declaration earlier Wednesday from President Donald Trump that “the U.S. has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer!”
North Korea has ramped up its aggression in recent months, launching multiple ballistic missile tests, including some that could conceivably strike the continental U.S. Trump, who has sworn never to allow North Korea to obtain a nuclear weapon capable of striking the U.S., threatened the repressive nation earlier this month with “fire and fury like the world has never seen.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/31/sergey-lavrov-rex-tillerson-north-korea-sanctions-242204
Sanders to hold two events in New Hampshire on Labor Day
BY MALLORY SHELBOURNE - 08/31/17 09:07 AM EDT
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will hold two events in New Hampshire on Labor Day, a schedule that only intensifies speculation that he'll make another bid for the White House in 2020.
Sanders will speak first at a breakfast in Manchester for New Hampshire’s AFL-CIO, an event which requires a $30 donation, his campaign arm announced on Thursday.
The senator will then head to a rally in Concord that is hosted by Rights & Democracy New Hampshire and is open to the public. Sanders will end the day with two other events in his home state of Vermont.
An associate of Sanders, who defeated Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire during the 2016 Democratic primary by a double-digit margin, said last month that the senator is leaving the door open to another run. Sanders is not the first possible 2020 hopeful to head to The Granite State this month.
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http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/348674-sanders-to-hold-two-events-in-new-hampshire-on-labor-day
Conway slams CNN anchor climate change questions during Harvey
BY MALLORY SHELBOURNE - 08/31/17 09:24 AM EDT
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway in a prime time interview Wednesday slammed CNN’s Chris Cuomo for asking about climate change as rescue operations continue for the victims of Hurricane Harvey.
“Chris we’re trying to help the people whose lives are literally under water and you want to have a conversation about climate change,” Conway said after Cuomo asked about addressing climate change in the wake of the storm.
“I mean, that is, I’m not going to engage in that right now because I work for a president and a vice president and a country that is very focused on helping the millions of affected Texans, and, god forbid, Louisianans if it ends up.” Cuomo then pressed Conway on finding ways to reduce the number of super storms.
“You’re going to play climatologist tonight?” Conway replied.
“Here’s the deal,” Conway continued. “You play amateur climatologist tonight and I will play professional helper to those in need, and continue in my job here, as counselor to the president, to help listen to the Cabinet members, the president, the vice president, FEMA, DHS and others, General Kelly, who could not be a better chief of staff equipped for a matter like Harvey since he was at DHS and is accustomed to large-scale operations as such.”
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http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/348678-conway-slams-cnn-anchor-for-asking-about-climate-change-during-harvey
Energy Dept. taps into oil reserves after Harvey
Source: The Hill
BY TIMOTHY CAMA - 08/31/17 09:32 AM EDT
The Department of Energy (DOE) is releasing oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in an attempt to mitigate disruptions from Tropical Storm Harvey.
Energy Secretary Rick Perry authorized a release of 500,000 barrels of crude oil, to be transported via pipeline to Phillips 66’s refinery in Lake Charles, La., DOE spokeswoman Jess Szymanski said Thursday morning.
“The department will continue to provide assistance as deemed necessary, and will continue to review incoming requests for SPR crude oil,” Szymanski said.
The release of 200,000 barrels of sweet crude and 300,000 of sour crude is the first emergency release from the SPR since Hurricane Isaac hit Louisiana in 2012.
Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/348679-doe-taps-into-oil-stockpile-for-harvey
N. Korea threatens S. Korean reporters over book review
By Kim Tong-Hyung?|?AP August 31 at 5:37 AM
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea on Thursday vowed to execute reporters from two South Korean newspapers, saying they insulted the country’s dignity while reviewing and interviewing the British authors of a book about life in the isolated country.
Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency carried a state court statement expressing anger over the descriptions of North Korean lives as increasingly capitalist. It also objected to the translated title of the South Korean edition as “Capitalist People’s Republic of Korea” and the book’s cover that replaced the red star in North Korea’s official seal with the U.S. dollar mark.
North Korea’s Central Court also “sentenced to death” the presidents of the newspapers and said the North will “track down to the end and cut off the dirty windpipes” of those responsible for such provocations.
South Korea’s Unification Ministry denounced the North Korean comments as an “absurd threat” and said it “sternly warns” the North to immediately stop threating South Korean citizens. Seoul’s government is ready to take “every measure needed” to protect its citizens, the ministry said in a statement.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/n-korea-threatens-s-korean-reporters-over-book-review/2017/08/31/2701a44a-8e08-11e7-9c53-6a169beb0953_story.html
WH defends Trump's 'first hand' comments on Harvey
Source: The Hill
BY REBECCA SAVRANSKY - 08/31/17 08:46 AM EDT
The White House defended President Trump's comments Wednesday that he saw "first-hand" the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey.
The defense comes after Trump visited Texas on Tuesday amid ongoing recovery efforts from Harvey, which caused devastating flooding in the region.
After his trip, Trump tweeted: "After witnessing first hand the horror & devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey,my heart goes out even more so to the great people of Texas!"
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/902881712010653697
The president faced some push back on those remarks. Some reporters noted that the president only visited Corpus Christi and Austin, avoiding the hardest hit areas in Rockport and in the Houston area.
https://twitter.com/davidmcswane/status/902940627243065344
https://twitter.com/toddgillman/status/902935230230745090
Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/348672-wh-defends-trumps-first-hand-comments-on-harvey
House GOPer Warns Trump Not To 'Bully' Senators: 'This Isn't The Apprentice'
Source: Talking Points Memo
By CAITLIN MACNEAL Published AUGUST 31, 2017 7:35 AM
Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), a high-ranking Republican who sits on the House Budget and Appropriations committees, on Wednesday warned President Donald Trump against publicly attacking Republican senators.
“You’re not going to bully United States senators, this isn’t the Apprentice,” Cole told the Associated Press. “You can’t look at them and say you’re fired, you’re going to need their vote and you oughta remember that they’re going to be at the table in every major deal you need for the next three years. So I just don’t think that’s a productive way to proceed.”
While Republican lawmakers have been away from Washington, D.C. for the August recess, Trump has gone after several Republican senators. His feud with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) spilled into the open, with Trump publishing tweets chastising McConnell for failing to pass Obamacare repeal. Trump has also launched attacks against Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), who recently published a book critical of Trump.
When Congress returns in September, lawmakers must tackle several must-pass bills, including legislation to fund the government and to raise the debt ceiling. They will likely push for an aid package to fund recovery in Texas and other parts of the south following the devastation of Hurricane Harvey. Trump has also pushed for the funding legislation to include money to build a border wall, and he will need all the support he can muster in the Senate, which has a slim majority of just 52 Republican senators.
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Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/tom-cole-trump-should-not-bully-congress
Why Is This Dem Fixture Giving Cover To Trump's Bogus Voter Fraud Panel?
By CAMERON JOSEPH and TIERNEY SNEED Published AUGUST 31, 2017 6:00 AM
For four decades, New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner (D) has earned bipartisan reverence for keeping his state’s primaries first in the nation. So why is he spending that hard-earned capital giving bipartisan cover to President Trump’s controversial voter fraud panel?
Trump created the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity after claiming that millions of people voted illegally in the 2016 — an assertion that’s been knocked down by numerous state elections officials, including Gardner.
The commission’s acting head, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R), is known for making overblown claims of widespread voting fraud and pushing restrictive voting laws. Other members of the commission have similar reputations. Civil rights groups fear its work will be used not only to justify Trump’s baseless allegations but as a pretext to advocate for restrictive laws like nationwide voter ID and state laws purging voter rolls.
Gardner, the nation’s longest-serving secretary of state, is by far the most prominent Democrat on the commission. On Sept. 12 he will host its second meeting, in New Hampshire. Those moves have frustrated Democrats and even some Republicans back home.
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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/whys-the-dem-whos-kept-new-hampshire-first-in-the-nation-helping-trump
Someone's Lying About the Money for Trump Tower Moscow
It could be a key link between Trump world and the Kremlin: Trump’s pal says he lined up a sanctioned Russian bank to finance the project. But VTB says that’s completely false.
ANNA NEMTSOVA
BETSY WOODRUFF
SPENCER ACKERMAN
08.31.17 1:00 AM ET
Someone is lying.
Either it’s Felix Sater, President Trump’s felonious old crony, who claimed that a sanctioned Russian bank was ready to finance a Trump Tower in Moscow.
Or it’s representatives of the bank, Russia’s second-largest, who say they never considered providing cash to the project, contradicting Sater’s emailed assertions to his boyhood friend, Trump attorney Michael Cohen, revealed by congressional investigators this week.
At issue is a question central to Bob Mueller’s special counsel probe: Just how closely did Trump associates work with Russian power brokers in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election?
Reports from earlier this week indicate Sater, a convicted felon and former business associate of Trump, claimed in November 2015 he had lined up funding from VTB—a huge Russian bank, 60 percent of whose shares are owned by the Kremlin—for a Trump Organization construction project in Moscow.
If Sater’s claim is true, it could be a key link between Trump world and the Kremlin. But the bank at issue told The Daily Beast it isn’t. The Daily Beast cannot independently determine which side is telling the truth.
more
http://www.thedailybeast.com/someones-lying-about-the-money-for-trump-tower-moscow
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Name: DonGender: Male
Hometown: Massachusetts
Home country: United States
Member since: Sat Sep 1, 2012, 03:28 PM
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