But we've obtained what the White House didn't want the public to see. The document reveals that child separation began nine months earlier than the administration acknowledged. There was a pilot program in the busy "El Paso sector" from "July to November 2017". We don't know how many children were taken in those five months. The censored part of the memo explains a reason for the policy -- deterrence -- as it "will have the greatest impact on current flows" [of immigrants.] 

...

No senior official would speak to us for this story but President Trump ended his separation policy after 11 weeks. The White House says more than 2,600 children were detained. But reports from various agencies show at least 5,000 children have been held since Mr. Trump's inauguration. The White House says only 25 remain to be reunited with their families, but given the bungled recordkeeping, and no public accounting of the mysterious El Paso pilot program, there may never be an accurate count of how many children were taken from their parents.

https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/chaos-behind-donald-trump-immigration-family-separation-policy-at-southern-border-60-minutes/?__twitter_impression=true

Source: The Daily Beast

Major League Baseball is asking Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) to return its $5,000 donation to her campaign, amid a public outcry over her racially insensitive remarks that were caught on camera earlier this month.

“The contribution was made in connection with an event that MLB lobbyists were asked to attend,” the league said in a statement issued Sunday. “MLB has requested that the contribution be returned.”

The donation, the legal maximum, was made just two days ago, a few weeks after Hyde-Smith was forced to apologize for comments about “public hangings” and voter suppression, which she later said were simply jokes. Other companies, including Walmart, have similarly asked that the Hyde-Smith return their donations in light of her comments, which were criticized as racist.

The controversy has sprung Tuesday’s upcoming U.S. Senate election runoff into the national spotlight. Hyde-Smith, who was appointed to the Senate earlier this year when Thad Cochran retired, is defending her seat in a runoff against Mike Espy, who served in Congress for three terms and as Bill Clinton’s agriculture secretary. Espy is African-American.

Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/major-league-baseball-asks-cindy-hyde-smith-to-return-dollar5000-donation

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I will continue to watch baseball games.

Source: Omaha World-Herald

Nebraska Democrats will decide next month whether to hold caucuses again or to return to a primary for the 2020 presidential election.

Feedback from party members has been roughly three-to-one in favor of getting rid of caucuses, said Chairwoman Jane Kleeb.

“You’re starting to see the clear will of the party grassroots is to move to a primary,” she said.

A rule designed to keep the caucus on track required that organizers cut off the registration line 10 minutes after the caucus was set to start. That led to angry voters being turned away after arriving just minutes after the cutoff. Parking at many of the caucus sites spilled over into neighborhoods, so voters had to walk farther to get to the site.


Read more: Nebraska Democrats to vote on whether to get rid of caucuses

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Every state should hold primaries.
Caucuses disenfranchise many.

Source: CNN

Mississippi Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith once promoted a measure that praised a Confederate soldier's effort to "defend his homeland" and pushed a revisionist view of the Civil War.
Hyde-Smith, a Republican, faces Mike Espy, a Democratic former congressman and agriculture secretary, in Tuesday's runoff in Mississippi -- the final Senate race to be decided in 2018. The measure, which was unearthed by CNN's KFile during a review of Hyde-Smith's legislative history, is the latest in a series of issues that have surfaced during her campaign, many of which have evoked Mississippi's dark history of racism and slavery.

As a state senator in 2007, Hyde-Smith cosponsored a resolution that honored then-92-year-old Effie Lucille Nicholson Pharr, calling her "the last known living 'Real Daughter' of the Confederacy living in Mississippi." Pharr's father had been a Confederate soldier in Robert E. Lee's army in the Civil War.

The resolution refers to the Civil War as "The War Between the States." It says her father "fought to defend his homeland and contributed to the rebuilding of the country." It says that with "great pride," Mississippi lawmakers "join the Sons of Confederate Veterans" to honor Pharr.


Read more: https://www-m.cnn.com/2018/11/24/politics/cindy-hyde-smith-confederacy-mississippi-senate-race/

Chuck Grassley yesterday joined Donald Trump in his attack on John Roberts, SCOTUS judge.
The response by Michael Avenatti was priceless:
https://twitter.com/michaelavenatti/status/1065420137724026880?s=21

Trump recently thanked Saudi Arabia, which he sees as being key in lowering oil prices.
But as Ian Shepherdson (Chief economist in Pantheon Macroeconomics) noted, this is actually not a good thing:

https://twitter.com/ianshepherdson/status/1062315586364063744?s=21

Trump's comment seemed aimed at justifying not punishing the Saudi Prince for disbembering a journalist.

This nd other statements can be read in a letter obtained by the Hill Reporter website, from Michael Avenatti to the LAPD. The findings are from private investigators.
The alleged victim is said to have no injuries other
than a small red mark on the leg.
https://cdn.hillreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Michael-Avenatti-Court-Document-in-Alleged-Domestic-Violence-Case.pdf

The following is a snapshot from a video on Instagram.
Hillreporter.com

The string of posts, shared hours after Avenatti was taken into custody do not seem to paint the violent picture that was first reported by TMZ. The publication originally said their law enforcement source claimed Miniutti’s face was “swollen and bruised” from the incident that took place on Tuesday.

https://hillreporter.com/exclusive-avenatti-accuser-post-this-on-instgram-hours-after-his-arrest-14897

Marieli Miniutti, born in the former Soviet republic of Estonia, is the person who accused Michael Avenatti of physically assaulting her.

https://www.newsweek.com/who-mareli-miniutti-actor-files-restraining-order-against-michael-avenatti-1223846

Her lead is large across the political spectrum.
For instance, 53-27 among the very liberal.
https://poll.qu.edu/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=2587