Horology buffs gather in Hong Kong for the 3rd annual edition of Watches and Wonders Luxury watchmakers face uncertainty in Asia Exhibit spaces range from themes of subtle heritage to more theatrical takes Gallery highlights new products and lines at event This week, Hong Kong plays host to Watches and Wonders, an exhibition organized by the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie (FHH). Described by the event organizer and FHH Managing Director Fabienne Lupo as “a total immersion experience,” the exhibition is less a trade fair and more a platform for education and culture. Held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center, the third annual Watches and Wonders features 12 fine watch maisons, 10 of which are owned by Swiss luxury group, Richemont. Last year, the event recorded 16,000 invite-only guests over four days, despite pro-democracy Umbrella Movement protests deterring mainland Chinese tourists from visiting Hong Kong and disrupting traffic. Without concerns of protests this year, Lupo expects more will visit, though the watch industry now faces new challenges – staying financially sound amid China’s slowing economy, anti-corruption legislation in China, and increasing interest in smartwatches. The Asia market remains an important one for luxury watch makers, with many having long hedged their bets on the Chinese consumer. But, according to Deloitte’s Swiss Watch Industry Study, only 27% of Swiss watch executives who responded to its annual survey, expect growth in China and Hong Kong over the next twelve months, with 34% expecting demand for Swiss watches to decline. “It’s why you will see everyone in the industry here – the presence of all the brands’ CEOs, the designers, even the watchmakers – we want to show support during this uncertain period,” Lupo explains. At the event, there’s an aura of somberness – well-turned out visitors wearing mostly black and white, speaking in hushed tones, sipping conservatively on champagne, and scrutinizing the timepieces on offer through thick plates of glass. New features, like the addition of scannable QR codes that connect to audio tours, dot the exhibition space as a digital and Asia-facing means – to learn more about individual watches and brands’ histories. Lectures, such as “Chinese people’s aesthetic approach to watches” and watchmaking workshops, are on offer. Our first stop is Swiss watch manufacturer, Roger Dubuis. And at 10am, it’s a jarring wake-up call. At only 20-years-old, Dubuis is among the youngest brands in among the industry’s old heritage maisons. As if to hammer this point home, the company has dramatically decked out its exhibition space –  which is transformed to feel like the mechanical insides of one of its skeleton watches. Further enhancing the futuristic theme – visitors can take a virtual reality trip through one of its watches, by strapping on an Oculus Rift headset. Jean-Marc Pontroue, CEO of Roger Dubuis, says the exhibition’s theatrics embody the brand’s values. “We love fantasy. We love to enrich the brand with storytelling, with an emotional environment.” “We’re targeting the young generation that don’t necessarily want a classic watch, or the watch of their fathers,” Pontroue continues. “But rather, the youth who like to wear niche brands.” Pontroue admits that sales have been affected in Hong Kong and Macau this year, due to lower tourism numbers, but has remained stable in mainland China. In fact, the brand is expanding its presence in Beijing – with a second store that opened this summer and another one planned for next year. A polar opposite to the Gotham-esque Roger Dubuis, is German watch manufacturer A. Lange & Sohne – which has chosen to present a more subdued set-up. “We didn’t want to overshadow the watch,” explains Katharina Mack, Head of Marketing at A. Lange & Sohne. “It’s about substance. It’s not the staging that is emotional, it’s the watch that is emotional.” A. Lange & Sohne is celebrating its 200th anniversary – and while the warm colors of the exhibit, along with the matte watch faces, are rather understated, the feeling conveyed is that of rich tradition. That – and literal history. There’s a bust of its founder protruding from the wall, a chunk of the Berlin Wall itself, and an enlarged timeline celebrating its watch evolution. “People are curious to see how a German brand, not a Swiss brand, is working,” says Mack. “It’s a very technical look and feel, it’s maybe not that romantic.” For romance, there is of course, Van Cleef and Arpels, the French maker of all things delicate and very, very pretty. Its watches are marketed as “poetic complications.” At Watches and Wonders, the French jewelry, watch and perfume company is debuting its Extraordinary Dials collection, three limited editions of 22 timepieces. A partnership with a feather artist has produced the exquisite watch faces of a cardinal, hummingbird, and kingfisher. “We really differ from brands that are more technical and masculine,” says CEO Nicolas Bos. “Our message is more about the design and craftsmanship. The Asian market has been very responsive to our feminine designs, but we don’t differentiate the collection according to geography, we’re never opportunistic.” On suggestions of rockier times ahead for the watch industry, Van Cleef and Arpels CEO Nicolas Bos responds, “Yes, we have some years that are more positive than others, but that’s pretty much what we feel in mature markets.” “It feels like the customer and market and operation in Hong Kong and in mainland China, at least in the major cities, are going to look more like operations in New York, London, Geneva or Tokyo.” “There’s probably not that specificity of tremendous and huge volume that the industry had for awhile. It’s going to disappear and stabilize. Then, I think there are opportunities for growth, I have no doubt about that.” The event is a chance to create buzz around newer product lines and developments within the industry. Visitors to Vacheron Constantin’s booth, for instance, can view the “world’s most complicated watch” in a closed section, where no cameras are allowed. Richard Mille had watch buffs in titters with its RM 69 Erotic Tourbillon. The watch, of which only 30 were made, features a series of provocative messages on the watch face, which rotate to show one message after the other. Messages include “I want to caress you madly” and “I long to explore your lips.” These were the more kid-friendly combinations of the 169 messages rotating messages available. At Cartier, the Cle de Cartier collection – which debuted earlier in the year at Salon International de Horlogerie – is showcased front and center. The “cle”, or French word for key, is in reference to a special crown designed for the watch – a new system to rewind, that Cartier recently patented. But something flashier catches our eye, and that’s the one-of-a-kind Inca Watch, part of its High Jewelry collection. “We have our own aesthetic vocabulary,” Cartier director of image and style, Pierre Rainero says. “The Roman numerals, the dials, the crown, and above all, harmonious proportions.” “Everything is looked after, everything is a work of art. In Asia – there’s a tradition in craftsmanship, a taste for precious materials and beauty, and that’s all the values that Cartier is about. That’s why Cartier is successful in Asia, remaining Cartier as it is.”


Editor’s Note: Robert Klitzman is a professor of psychiatry and director of the Masters of Bioethics Program at Columbia University. He is author of “Am I My Genes?: Confronting Fate and Family Secrets in the Age of Genetic Testing” and the forthcoming book, “The Ethics Police?: The Struggle to Make Human Research Safe.” The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author. Robert Klitzman: Physicians should consider reporting pilots who have medical problems such as depression Yet stigma can make pilots fear job loss and thus hide diagnoses and not seek treatment The FAA could require that pilots seek treatment in order to fly, but some pilots may still simply cover up problems “A pilot called me last week, concerned he might have Marfan syndome,” a health care provider told me recently at a meeting.  “But if I find he has the disease, do I have to report him to the Federal Aviation Administration?  And if so, should I call him first and tell him that?  Would he lose his job?”  She was totally unsure what to do.  Several other providers were present, and none of them knew, either. “You should definitely call him and tell him,” a health care lawyer, who was present, said. “You have to provide full disclosure.” “But presumably, he knows that you might do so,” I said.  “And if you told him, he might not come in for the check-up.” Marfan syndrome affects connective tissue and can lead to sudden tears in the aortic artery, causing sudden death.  Yet if treated, it poses much less risk, though not necessarily zero. The case raised several specific quandaries about what the responsibilities of medical professionals are and should be – legally or ethically – in evaluating pilots. The FAA requires that pilots self-report any diagnoses.  But health care professionals have no obligation to notify anyone.  They may know that a pilot has a medical problem that is poorly or not treated and may endanger passengers, but these providers have no obligation to do anything about it. These issues are crucial, given that Andreas Lubitz deliberately crashed the Germanwings Flight 9525, killing 150 passengers. We still don’t know why he committed suicide-murder, but the latest reports indicate he was treated for suicidal tendencies before getting his pilot license. The Germanwings disaster has demonstrated that current standards of medical and psychiatric evaluation are inadequate. The FAA requires only that pilots fill out a psychological questionnaire, asking whether they have had psychological symptoms.  But pilots are not assessed in person by a psychiatrist. Such face-to-face assessments can provide crucial information that self-report forms might miss, partly because pilots might answer inaccurately. Moreover, the FAA requires only that 25% of pilots have a single random drug screen per year.  Pilots may pass drug tests in January and realize that the odds of undergoing subsequent tests that year are nil.  They may hence use more alcohol and recreational drugs. We need to consider changing current policies.  Some alterations are relatively easy.  The FAA should consider requiring far more drug testing – for all pilots, perhaps every few days. Other possible reforms pose difficult ethical dilemmas, and thus need broad, careful discussion – e.g., what role providers should play and how much privacy pilots should have. Medical exams and records over time can indicate key problems that a single visit to an FAA doctor may miss.  But requiring more information from pilots diminishes their rights to privacy.  Indeed, such rights impeded investigators from knowing initially the reason Lubitz took a six-month leave and the nature of his medical condition. Physicians have to break patient confidentiality when third parties may be endangered.  The legal precedent for breaking patient confidentiality in this way is the so-called Tarasoff case, in which a young patient told his psychologist at the University of California at Berkeley that he wanted to kill his girlfriend, Tatiana Tarasoff.  The psychologist alerted the campus police, though not the city police or Tarasoff. Unfortunately, the patient then killed Tarasoff.  A court found the psychologist liable. These violations of patient confidentiality make us providers uncomfortable. As a physician, I have had to report patients whom I even suspected might be abusing a child.  I remember one patient who came to the emergency room for psychiatric problems mentioning that she sometimes hit her toddler son with the end of an electrical cord, swinging it until the thick part banged him.  As I asked more, she began to cry. I felt terrible for her and was unsure how dangerous her actions were, but I erred on the side of protecting the child’s safety and contacted social services.  When I told her, she nodded, then whispered thank you.  She knew she needed help. Still, in Germany and several states, providers do not have to break patient confidentiality, even when they think the patient may endanger others. Critical dilemmas arise, though, of what threshold should be used concerning which diagnoses and how much their successful treatment should matter.  Some diagnoses may be treatable and thus permissible if doctors examine the pilot more frequently than once a year. Early in the HIV epidemic, for instance, some critics argued that HIV-infected pilots should be barred from flying, since the virus could cause neurological problems.  Fortunately, the FAA decided that evidence of actual neurological deficits – not infection alone – should ground these employees. Physicians arguably should consider reporting pilots who have, for instance, epilepsy, manic-depression or diabetes that leads to coma if these conditions are not well controlled with medications. Yet stigma can make pilots fear job loss and thus hide diagnoses and not seek treatment.  The FAA could require that pilots seek treatment in order to fly, but some pilots may still simply cover up problems. Ideally, the clinician should be able to talk with the pilot about the need not to fly and arrange a leave for a few months to improve treatment.  Good employee assistance programs and trust are also needed. In addition, we need research to find how much physician reporting would reduce risks or lead pilots to camouflage problems. Questions still arise of whether even the suspicion of a problem that could impede function should warrant reporting. An individual may seem fine weeks or even days before becoming seriously depressed.  Careful, transparent discussion, involving medical experts, pilots, policymakers and others, to establish  policies with clearly established cutoffs are thus vital. Unfortunately, suicides, for instance, are impossible to predict.  But much can be done to improve the current system. Read CNNOpinion’s new Flipboard magazine. Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion. Join us on Facebook.com/CNNOpinion.

FAA medical and psychiatric evaluation policies for pilots


US authorities will remove restrictions on importing African elephant trophies from Zimbabwe and Zambia. That means Americans will be able to hunt the endangered big game and bring trophies home. Big game hunting is an activity that garnered worldwide attention when a Minnesota dentist took Cecil, perhaps the world’s most famous lion, near a wildlife park in Zimbabwe. A US Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman said the move will allow the two African countries to include US sport hunting as part of their management plans for the elephants and allow them to put “much-needed revenue back into conservation.” Related article Study shows elephants vanishing at alarming rate Critics, however, note the restrictions were created by the Obama administration in 2014 because the African elephant population had dropped. The animals are listed in the US Endangered Species Act, which requires the US government to protect endangered species in other countries. “We can’t control what happens in foreign countries, but what we can control is a restriction on imports on parts of the animals,” said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States. The number of elephants in the wild plummeted 30% overall between 2007 and 2014, despite large scale conservation efforts. In some places it has dropped more than 75% due to ivory poaching. In 2016, there were just over 350,000 elephants still alive in the wild, down from millions in the early 20th Century. Pacelle, who opposes the decision, told CNN it means “elephants minding their business are going to be gunned down by rich Americans.” Safari Club International, a worldwide network of hunters, cheered the announcement. “We appreciate the efforts of the Service and the US Department of the Interior to remove barriers to sustainable use conservation for African wildlife,” SCI President Paul Babaz said in a statement. Related video Attenborough: Poaching 'will rest heavily' on humanity But the decision was met with outcry from animal-rights advocates, including Chelsea Clinton, a longtime proponent for elephant conservation. The daughter of former President Bill Clinton and 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton once called elephants her “great passion” in a 2016 Politico profile and, together with her mother, unveiled a $80 million partnership through the Clinton Global Initiative in 2013 to help end the ivory poaching crisis. “Infuriating. Will increase poaching, make communities more vulnerable & hurt conservation efforts,” she tweeted Thursday, linking to a report from the Humane Society of the United States. Infuriating. Will increase poaching, make communities more vulnerable & hurt conservation efforts: https://t.co/w3BT8tZzgw President Donald Trump’s sons Donald Jr. and Eric are themselves big game hunters. Photos posted in 2012 by the website Gothamist show Donald Jr. holding an elephant tail. The website says the photos were from a 2011 hunt in Zimbabwe. When Donald Jr. addressed the photos at the time, he did not deny their authenticity or where they were taken. “I can assure you it was not wasteful,” he posted on Twitter, adding, “The villagers were so happy for the meat which they don’t often get to eat.” Pacelle, of the Humane Society, noted that corruption in the Zimbabwean government was a concern when the US banned trophy imports from the nation in 2014. Zimbabwe is currently in a leadership crisis, after the military seized power this week and placed President Robert Mugabe under house arrest. CNN’s Betsy Klein contributed to this report.Clarification: This story was updated to reflect that the Obama administration’s restrictions on the import of elephant trophies from Zimbabwe and Zambia prevented US hunters from bringing trophies home, but did not prevent them from participating in hunts in those countries.

US authorities' decision to remove restrictions on importing African elephant trophies from Zimbabwe and Zambia


Tributes are being paid to Marshal Arjan Singh, India’s last five-star officer and the only member of the Indian Air Force (IAF) to be awarded the accolade. Singh died of a heart attack on Saturday at an Army hospital in the Indian capital Delhi. He was 98. A state funeral was held on Monday in Delhi, with the national flag lowered to half-mast across all government buildings in the city. The Indian Air Force tweeted: “#IAF & the Nation mourns the loss of a Great AirWarrior. The CAS (Chief of Air Staff) pays homage to the Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh.” #IAF  & the Nation mourns the loss of a Great AirWarrior. The CAS pays homage to the Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh. pic.twitter.com/bnaVjBThez Paying tribute to Singh, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the country remembered his “outstanding service to the nation.” India mourns the unfortunate demise of Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh. We remember his outstanding service to the nation. pic.twitter.com/8eUcvoPuH1 The Indian Army gave a 17-gun salute to Singh while Indian Air Force jets performed a fly-past in honor of Singh. #MissingManFormation SU-30: Aerial Salute to the Legendary #Marshal of the IndianAirForce #ArjanSingh.#IAF bids farewell to departed Leader. pic.twitter.com/MhXGU1Egk8 Born on April 15, 1919 in Lyallpur, now known as Faisalabad in Pakistan, Singh was chosen for a pilot training course at the Royal Air Force College Cranwell in Lincolnshire, England, at the age of 19. His training was cut short because of World War I and he returned home before being posted to the North Western Frontier Province, present day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province in Pakistan, as a member of the No. 1 IAF Squadron. In 1944, Singh led his squadron in combat during the Burma Campaign, in which forces from what was then the British Empire, the Republic of China and the United States defeated the Japanese. He received a Distinguished Flying Cross for his role in the fight, and was later promoted to Wing Commander. When India became an independent nation on August 15, 1947, Singh led a fly-past of over 100 aircraft over Delhi’s Red Fort to mark the end of British colonial rule. In the following years, Singh quickly rose up the ranks of independent India’s new air force. In 1964, at the age of 44, he was appointed Chief of Air Staff with the rank of Air Marshal. Over his long career, Singh flew more than 60 types of aircraft, from pre-World War 2 planes to the more modern Gnats and Vampires. In 1965 he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second highest civilian honor, for his leadership and became the first Air Chief Marshal of the IAF that same year. Following his retirement in 1969, Singh was appointed as India’s Ambassador to Switzerland in 1971 and concurrently served as the Ambassador to the Vatican. He became India’s envoy to Kenya in 1974. In 2002, the Indian government gave him the rank of Marshal of the Air Force, making him the first and only ‘Five Star’ rank officer of the IAF. The Indian Armed Forces have had only three Marshal rank officers, the highest honorary rank given. The first, Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, led the military operation that led to creation of Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan, in 1971. He died in 2008 at the age of 94. Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa, the first Commander-in-Chief of the Army, died aged 94 in 1993.


Editor’s Note: Simon Mabon is a lecturer in international relations of the Middle East at Lancaster University. The views expressed here are solely his. Iran attack comes as region faces worst crisis since Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1991 Attack challenges Saudi narrative Iran is behind all regional terrorist violence The specter of terrorism has loomed large over the Arab Gulf states for some years, but the attack in Iran Wednesday, claimed by ISIS, suggests that the Islamic Republic is now a target. Attackers stormed the Iranian Parliament and the mausoleum of Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini Tuesday, killing at least 12 in attacks on two hugely symbolic sites of both the revolution and the Islamic Republic. The Persian Gulf has long endured threats from a number of Islamist terrorist groups, which have attacked a range of targets including the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Shia mosques across the region, and the Khobar Towers complex in Khobar, but Tuesday’s attack is a first for Iran. For Al Qaeda, the enemy was the West and other Muslims could help in this struggle. In contrast, for ISIS, Shia Muslims are a legitimate target and the growth in sectarian violence in Iraq has only served to fuel these differences. For many rank and file ISIS members, the rafida – the derogatory name for the Shia – should have been struck in Iran much earlier, but it was the elders of the jihadi movement who urged leaders to focus upon different targets. Security calculations are increasingly fused with political considerations across the Persian Gulf, shaping domestic politics and international relations. Within these calculations, religion occupies a central role, affecting the two most serious threats to regional security: terrorism, and relations between the powerful six state Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) – which includes Saudi Arabia and the UAE – and Iran. The attack in Iran comes as tensions between members of the GCC have rapidly escalated, resulting in the most serious crisis to hit the Gulf since Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1991. On Tuesday, the Saudi daily, Al-Riyad published an op-ed that argued that “If your friend deceives you, treat him as your enemy,” reflecting the increasingly fractious tensions between Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Following the alleged hacking of Qatar’s national media website – allegedly by Russian hackers – which revealed comments made by Sheikh Tamim about Iran and the need to normalize relations with the Lebanese military group Hezbollah, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahraini, and Egypt all withdrew their ambassadors from Qatar. How members of GCC members engage with Islamist groups and Iran determines the nature of the organization and relations between its members. The diplomatic spat between Qatar and the emerging Saudi-led bloc has developed as a consequence of Doha’s relationships with both Iran and a number of Islamist groups. The Muslim Brotherhood, an 90-year-old religious and political group, has long been vocal opponents of regimes in Egypt and the UAE, and Qatar’s support for – and funding of – the Brotherhood has been viewed with a great deal of suspicion across the region. Prominent Hamas leaders, including Khalid Meshaal, have also sought safe haven in Doha and the Qataris have also attempted to facilitate dialogue between the Taliban and the US. It is this relationship with Islamist groups – and the Muslim Brotherhood in particular – that has shaped Emirati and Egyptian antagonisms towards Qatar. Yet for Saudi Arabia, it is Qatar’s approach towards Iran that is the most serious cause for concern. Since the revolution of 1979, Riyadh and Tehran have become embroiled in a struggle to shape the Persian Gulf in their image, with religion a fig leaf to justify their activity in Iraq and Lebanon. Unraveling the Qatar crisisCrisis threatens to split mom from kidsQatar Airways boss calls on USIran sends planes stuffed with food US suspects Russian hackers World cup a bargaining chipPhilippines stops sending workersGulf crisis: What you need to know Unraveling the Qatar crisisCrisis threatens to split mom from kidsQatar Airways boss calls on USIran sends planes stuffed with food US suspects Russian hackers World cup a bargaining chipPhilippines stops sending workersGulf crisis: What you need to know Since the Arab Uprisings, the two have become increasingly embroiled in proxy conflicts in Bahrain, Syria and Yemen, in addition to hostility in Iraq. The attack in Iran seriously challenges Riyadh’s allegation that Tehran is behind all acts of terrorism in the Middle East. Of course, such a claim is not without substance. One only has to look at Iranian support for a number of groups across the region who have used terrorism as a tactic, including Hezballah, Hamas, the Assad regime – states are complicit in terrorism too – a range of Shia militias in Iraq, and for a long period, Al Qaeda. The two have also drawn upon the support of regional allies, yet Doha’s increasingly autonomous foreign policy agenda has been a cause of serious concern to Riyadh. It was this that caused the previous stand off between Saudi Arabia and Qatar in 2014. In Qatar’s support, Turkish President Recep Erdogan sent troops and food to Doha whilst strongly rejecting claims that the country had supported terrorism. There was also the suggestion that Iran may also provide food, which will fuel the suggestion about a burgeoning rapprochement between the two Gulf neighbors. Of course, any further movement towards Iran will add to Qatar’s isolation from the GCC and also the US, as President Donald Trump has been vocal in support for Saudi Arabia. It appears that almost 40 years after the formation of the GCC, Saudi Arabia is increasingly of the opinion that its friend is deceiving them and that Qatar must be treated like an enemy. Simon Mabon is a lecturer in international relations of the Middle East at the Lancaster University. The views expressed here are solely his.


GOP strategist Peter W. Smith was found dead in an apparent suicide Smith claimed connections to Trump campaign aides to recruit cybersecurity experts House and Senate investigators are turning their attention to a Republican operative’s hunt for Hillary Clinton’s private emails from Russian hackers – and his possible connections to senior members of the Trump campaign. The operative, Peter W. Smith, was an Illinois-based Republican activist who during the presidential campaign sought to obtain emails he believed were likely stolen by Russian hackers from Clinton’s private email server. He later was found dead in an apparent suicide weeks after telling a reporter about his efforts. In a private interview earlier this month,  a cybersecurity analyst Smith recruited for the effort reiterated to House investigators a comment that he had publicly made: He believed that Smith had ties to members of President Donald Trump’s inner circle, including former national security adviser Michael Flynn, former chief strategist Steve Bannon and White House aide Kellyanne Conway — and may have been helping build opposition research for the Trump campaign, according to a source familiar with the matter. Smith claimed connections to Flynn and senior Trump campaign aides in his effort to recruit cybersecurity experts to help him obtain and verify Clinton’s emails, and now the House and Senate intelligence committees are probing whether those connections in fact existed. The House panel has interviewed Matt Tait, the British security analyst who was recruited by Smith, and Jonathan Safron, a law student who worked as Smith’s assistant. The Senate committee has reached out to Eric York, another security expert Smith enlisted in his email hunt, according to a source familiar with the matter. The strange case of Smith is one of many layers connected with Russia’s meddling in the 2016 US election and possible collusion with Trump’s associates, which are being scrutinized by both Congress and Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller. Smith spoke to The Wall Street Journal about his effort in May, saying he and the colleagues he enlisted found five groups of hackers claiming to have 33,000 deleted emails from the private server Clinton used during her tenure as secretary of state. Two of the groups he determined were Russian, he said. “We knew the people who had these were probably around the Russian government,” Smith told the Journal. Smith said he was unable to verify the emails, and told all of the groups to give them to WikiLeaks. Flynn’s attorney, Robert Kelner, declined to comment. A person close to Bannon said the President’s former chief strategist had never heard of Smith and was unaware of his efforts. Conway acknowledged knowing about Smith from his work in Republican political circles, but told the Journal in July that she had no interactions with him during the campaign. She declined to respond to CNN’s request for comment for this story. The White House referred questions to the Trump campaign, which did not respond to CNN request for comment. Less than two weeks after he spoke with the Journal, Smith, 81, killed himself in a Minnesota hotel room. He left a suicide note in which he stated there was “no foul play,” adding that his health had taken a turn for the worse and he had an expiring $5 million life insurance policy. The House intelligence committee, which is running the chamber’s Russia investigation, is talking to those who interacted with Smith during his quest for Clinton’s emails, and the Senate panel appears to be taking similar steps. “We’re investigating all rational leads,” said Rep. Mike Conaway, the Texas Republican who is leading the House Russia investigation, declining to comment further on the Smith matter. A source familiar with the testimony told CNN Tait testified in a staff interview that he believed Smith was close to Flynn and his claims of a connection to Flynn and his onetime consulting firm, the Flynn Intel Group, were legitimate. Tait told the committee he believed Smith may have been working as an unofficial opposition research arm for the campaign, the source said. The committee raised questions with Tait about how he knew of connections between Smith and the Trump campaign, the source said, and whether Smith’s claims were credible. Tait did not respond to requests for comment on his testimony. Safron confirmed he testified but declined to comment on the details. York declined to comment. After the Journal story on Smith published, Tait wrote a post on the national security blog Lawfare detailing his interactions with Smith. As part of his effort to recruit the British security analyst, Tait wrote that Smith gave him a document that claimed he had connections to Flynn, Bannon and Conway. The document detailed a company Smith had set up for the endeavor “to avoid campaign reporting,” Tait said. The document listed four groups involved, he wrote, including one entitled “Trump Campaign (in coordination to the extent permitted as an independent expenditure),” which listed Flynn, Bannon, Conway and other campaign officials. “My perception then was that the inclusion of Trump campaign officials on this document was not merely a name-dropping exercise,” Tait wrote. “This document was about establishing a company to conduct opposition research on behalf of the campaign, but operating at a distance so as to avoid campaign reporting. Indeed, the document says as much in black and white.” Tait said that the it wasn’t initially clear how independent Smith was operating, but he said it was “immediately apparent that Smith was both well connected within the top echelons of the campaign and he seemed to know both Lt. Gen. Flynn and his son well.” Smith maintained a political blog that he regularly updated until his death. In several of the posts, he dismissed US government assessments about Russian election-meddling and openly embraced the Kremlin’s favored narratives. Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta’s “emails were released through WikiLeaks, with no evidence of Russian involvement,” Smith wrote shortly after the US intelligence community announced that Russian hackers stole Podesta’s emails and relayed them to WikiLeaks for public release. In addition to York, the Senate intelligence committee has asked for an interview and documents from conservative blogger Chuck Johnson, according to a July letter from the intelligence panel Johnson posted on his website. Johnson told Politico in July that he aided in Smith’s effort to find Clinton’s emails. Johnson told CNN he has not provided any documents or spoken to the committee. He would not participate in a closed-door interview, he said, because he believes it’s unconstitutional to force testimony in a closed setting. A Senate intelligence spokeswoman declined to comment. The intelligence committees aren’t the only ones interested in Smith. Mueller is investigating what role, if any, Flynn had in the effort, the Wall Street Journal reported in August.

Peter W. Smith's effort to obtain Clinton's emails and alleged connections to Trump campaign


1,300-1,500 Yazidis found in mass graves since 2015, official says Authorities expect to uncover more bodies in ISIS-held territory The bodies of between 1,300 and 1,500 members of the Yazidi minority have been discovered near the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar since it was retaken from ISIS in 2015, a Kurdish official told CNN Tuesday. It’s the first time an official has estimated the total number of Yazidis found in grave sites littered around Sinjar since Iraqi forces pushed the terror group out more than two years ago. Thirty-five mass graves along with 100 individual graves have been unearthed, according to Hussein Hassoun, the spokesman of the Higher Committee to Introduce Yazidi Kurds. “The mass graves are about 5 to 10 kilometers apart,” Hassoun told CNN. Between 300 and 500 bodies were found in the past few months. A new mass grave was recently found in the Hardan area of Sinjar, the town’s mayor told Rudaw news agency. Most of the bodies have been left in their graves, so officials can only give an estimate of the total number of dead discovered thus far. Due to limited resources, only 65 bodies have been exhumed, Fouad Othman, the spokesman of the Martyrs Ministry in Kurdistan, told CNN. ISIS swept into the Sinjar area in August 2014, displacing, killing and enslaving thousands of Yazidis – an ancient ethnic and religious minority who are descendants of Kurds and call modern-day Iraq home. A 2016 United Nations report found that ISIS committed “genocide” against Yazidis. ISIS was driven out of Sinjar in 2015, and Kurdish officials believe more mass graves will be found as more territory is seized from the terror group. A US-led coalition has mounted an aggressive campaign to recapture ISIS-held territory in recent months. ISIS currently controls less than 7% of Iraqi territory, Iraq’s military says – down from nearly 40% of the country in 2014. Hassoun said intelligence reports indicate that there could be up to 12 mass graves in the village of Kocho, which remains under ISIS control. The village is among two identified by the UN report as sites of large mass killings, which the report defines as more than 20 men and boys killed at the same time. Hassoun told CNN that his committee lacked the funds to conduct DNA tests needed to match the dead with family members looking for their loved ones’ remains. He said more international support would be needed to determine the true scale of ISIS’ atrocities against Yazidis.


Maj. Taj Sareen was part of a unit conducting airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq and Syria He died when his plane went down Wednesday in eastern England A U.S. pilot killed this week when his fighter jet crashed in eastern England was on his way home from a six-month deployment in the Middle East, a U.S. military statement said. Maj. Taj Sareen, 34, died when his F/A-18C Hornet went down Wednesday while en route from Bahrain to California, according to the statement. Before his deployment, Sareen was stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, and was returning after a mission against ISIS militants in the Middle East. Sareen was among a squadron of six aircraft headed home. The remaining five landed safely. The cause of the crash is under investigation. The Hillsborough, California, native joined the Marine Corps a decade ago, and has deployed at various times, including to Afghanistan in 2010. His jet took off from a U.S. base in Suffolk and crashed in Ely, about 130 kilometers (80 miles) northeast of London. The Hornet is a fighter and attack aircraft known for its all-weather capabilities, according to the U.S. military. Sareen was part of Operation Inherent Resolve, which is conducting airstrikes against ISIS militants in Iraq and Syria. CNN’s Carol Jordan and Susannah Cullinane contributed to this report


Editor’s Note: Historian Michael Oren, Israel’s deputy minister for diplomacy, was Israel’s ambassador to the United States from 2009 to 2013. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. Israelis are celebrating. President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, formally named the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, makes America, Israel and the world much safer. The deal threatened the security and the very future of Israel. It legitimized Iranian aggression throughout the Middle East and funded massacres and terror through sanctions relief and business contracts. It also enabled Iran to retain its nuclear infrastructure and the ability to reactivate it in the near future. The announcement that the United States will pull out of the JCPOA follows decades of concerted Israeli efforts to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons. Contrary to the claim that no deal would satisfy us, Israelis, in fact, sought an arrangement that would dismantle Iran’s nuclear facilities, halt its building of ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads and ensure that the jihadist regime in Tehran could never develop nuclear weapons. We sought a treaty that would link Iran’s ability to do business overseas with the cessation of its support for terror, of its campaign to dominate the Middle East and of its declared goal of destroying the Jewish state. Related article Trump is exactly right about Iran's misdeeds The JCPOA, signed in 2015, achieved none of this. Rather than blocking Iran’s path to nuclear weapons, it paved it. All of Iran’s nuclear facilities, including those intended to make atomic bombs, were retained, along with the bulk of their centrifuges. Iranian scientists, led by veterans of the secret nuclear weapons program, developed centrifuges able to enrich uranium at four times the 2015 rate. And international inspectors were denied entry into Iranian military sites. These flaws would alone discredit the JCPOA, but the agreement also had expiration dates. Beginning in a mere seven years, the limitations on Iran’s nuclear program would be gradually lifted. In a short period, Iran would be able to enrich enough uranium for an entire arsenal of bombs. But JCPOA’s failings did not end there. It ignored Iran’s role as the world’s largest sponsor of state terror, its complicity in the killings of a half-million Syrians and its threats to destroy the state of Israel. It even overlooked Iranian aggression against Americans. Iran did not need intercontinental missiles to reach Israel – it needed them to hit the United States. And yet the JCPOA rewarded Iran with many tens of billions of dollars in sanctions relief and international contracts. Iran’s quest for regional hegemony went unchecked. Endangered neighboring states considered launching their own nuclear programs, triggering fears of a Middle East arms race. Sign up for CNN Opinion’s new newsletter.Join us on Twitter and Facebook Justifiably, Israelis opposed the deal and failed to understand why, with Iran’s economy in tatters, a better one was not signed. Now, though, the United States is again poised to apply immense pressure on Iran, greatly reducing its ability to mount aggression in the region and abroad. America, again, stands with its Middle East allies, sending an unequivocal message of strength to the world. The threat of Iran nevertheless persists, especially in Syria, which it is trying to transform into a forward military base against Israel. Iran has also supplied Hezbollah with 130,000 rockets and embedded them in Lebanese villages. Faced with these dangers, Israel will continue to defend itself, confident in America’s support and freed from the specter of a bad deal.

United States withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA)


Editor’s Note: Mark Preston is CNN’s executive director of political programming and senior political analyst. He hosts “Full Stop with Mark Preston” on SiriusXM POTUS 124. His full interview with DNC Chairman Tom Perez can be heard on Saturday at 12 p.m. ET, Sunday at 1 a.m. ET, and Sunday at 5 p.m. ET. Follow him at @prestonCNN. Mark Preston: Even with Trump's historically low approval ratings, Tom Perez still has a lot of work to do to restore faith in the Democratic Party The limelight on the administration is taking away from the attention that the Democrats need to gather support for their agenda Defeated, yet defiant, Democratic activists and demonstrators flooded streets across the country and around the world in late January to protest Donald Trump, who just 24 hours earlier was sworn-in as the 45th President of the United States. In Washington, it was a startling sight to see: where Trump supporters had watched his inauguration one day before, now political opponents stood in their place. The official name of the protest was the Women’s March, but it became something bigger, much bigger, and expanded to include many traditional Democratic Party constituencies including environmental groups and unions. For Democratic operatives and organizers, January 21, 2017, was akin to Christmas and your birthday falling on the same day: the party’s political base was frustrated, but not depressed. Political organizers could skip months of therapy sessions designed to excite Democrats and move straight onto crafting plans for the November 2017 elections and the 2018 midterm elections. Donald Trump had unified the Democratic Party. Or had he? Related article Cupp: Wow, does Trump have an awful opinion of his own voters A month after the Women’s March, Tom Perez was elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee – a high profile position tasked with the boiler room responsibilities of raising money, motivating voters and building infrastructure from the ground up. Hardly a plum assignment for the former Barack Obama Cabinet secretary following the surprising loss of the White House. To make matters more complicated, Perez took over a fractured party still reeling from the controversial Democratic presidential primary. Perez, a former Secretary of Labor and Justice Department official, is now charged with trying to unite the party’s liberal and establishment factions, while restoring credibility to the national party organization, whose email system was hacked by Russia in 2016. Perez said he sees an opportunity in this age of Trump for Democrats to rally around the party’s “values” on issues ranging from health care and income inequality to public education. “We all succeed when we all succeed, and we are all better when we are united,” Perez said in a recent interview on SiriusXM’s “Full Stop with Mark Preston.” Except it will not be that easy. Many liberals are still smarting over the 2016 presidential primary – a system they argued was rigged against Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, in favor of the establishment favorite, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Related article The word that once existed in Washington: compromise More than a year after Clinton won the presidential primary and seven months into Trump’s presidency, the phrase “time heals all wounds” does not seem to apply to all Democrats, certainly not at last week’s Netroots Nation conference. The annual gathering of liberal activists was part strategy session, part political rally and speakers such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, urged attendees to demand that party leaders embrace and advocate for liberal policies. “We don’t have to tiptoe anymore,” Warren said.  “We don’t have to hedge our bets.” Nina Turner, president of Our Revolution – the organization founded by former Sanders campaign staff and supporters – wasn’t tiptoeing when she accused the DNC of disrespecting the progressive movement. She recounted a standoff outside the DNC headquarters in late July when she was refused access to the building. Turner, a DNC member, and the activists she led were attempting to deliver petitions to party leaders. The group was not allowed to enter the building because of security concerns, which infuriated Turner. “Unity requires give and take,” said Turner, who was named president of Our Revolution in June. “But it seems that it’s just take, take, take from the Berniecrats.” Related video DNC chair: I'm elated for Obama to return So, even though Trump is being roundly criticized for his Charlottesville remarks, has a 38% approval rating and is losing support from Republicans, Democrats must contend with their own internal problems. Perez said one of the first strategic acts he put in motion was a program called Resistance Summer. “Resistance Summer is a down payment on what the new DNC is about,” said Perez, who sat for this interview prior to the Netroots Nation conference. “It was an investment that we made, and it’s in place in over 40 states, and we are paying organizers out there so that we can talk to people again. One of the things we have to do, our new mantra at the DNC, is that every zip code counts.” This all-inclusive approach is similar to the 50-state strategy implemented by former DNC Chair Howard Dean in 2005 and a concept advocated by Sanders in the 2016 campaign. Perez notes that Resistance Summer has paid off by helping New Hampshire Democrats pick up a state House seat and electing two Democrats to state legislative seats in traditionally ruby red Oklahoma. Related article Mitch McConnell should have seen this coming “So that’s the new DNC,” Perez said. “And one more observation, which is 2017 for me is feeling a lot like 2005. In 2005, we had a very unpopular president pursuing a very unpopular far-right agenda in cahoots with a far-right Congress, and what we were able to do in 2005, which we haven’t been able to accomplish since, we won the governorships in both New Jersey and Virginia. Then the following year we flipped the House, and I’m seeing a similar trend here. But the past is never prologue and what we have to do is build that infrastructure, recruit great candidates, and then organize, organize, organize with our message of a better deal and a brighter future for everybody.” (Worth noting that in the first half of 2017, Democrats went 0-3 in three special Congressional elections). Last month, Democrats unveiled their policy goals called “A Better Deal,”  but it was not embraced by many liberal Democrats, and a Quinnipiac University poll  showed that 54% of Americans hadn’t heard about it. Part of the problem for Democrats is that the spotlight is fixed solely on Trump these days, making it difficult for other political news to break through. “He sucks up the oxygen, but it’s one thing to suck up the oxygen with affirmative things to help people. He’s been sucking up the oxygen in the room by firing all of his people, by ensnarling his administration in scandal,” Perez said. “I mean the culture of chaos and corruption in this administration is off the charts, and I don’t think the American people want to normalize chaos; they don’t want to normalize ethical lapses; they want people fighting for a better future for them – that’s what Democrats are doing.” Listen here Related video DNC Chair Tom Perez: Trump is a 'fraud' But for all of the controversy swirling around Trump, the Republican National Committee is outpacing the DNC in the critical measurement of fundraising. The latest Federal Election Commission reports show that the RNC has nearly $44 million cash-on-hand, while the DNC has $7.5 million in the bank but is also burdened by $3.3 million of debt. “Well we’re making progress; we have more work to do,” said Perez. “When I walked into the DNC, we had to rebuild our systems, and our fundraising department was a very good group of people, but we needed to quadruple their size and we’re in the process of doing just that.” Perez said he emphasizes to donors that helping to pay for rebuilding the party infrastructure “ain’t sexy,” but noted it is critical to success. “You know when your plumbing goes out in your house or the water pipes in Flint (Michigan) corrode, it has life threatening consequences,” Perez said. “And similarly when the political infrastructure corrodes, we lose elections.” As Perez tries to keep the party focused on the November elections in New Jersey and Virginia, the DNC remains ground zero for Russia’s hacking in the 2016 election. Perez did not go into detail when asked about the investigation other than to note that “from the onset of this investigation we’ve cooperated with the FBI. We continue to cooperate with people on Capitol Hill, and we’ll do so throughout.” Related article Charlottesville spotlights Trump's toxic failure to lead Rebuilding, reforming, uniting and winning elections in 2017 and 2018 are some pretty difficult challenges for a person to shoulder. But that is not the only responsibility Perez is saddled with in his role as DNC chair. The wide open 2020 Democratic presidential primary is just around the corner. “Well the most important thing we’re going to do is to build a fair, level playing field for everybody,” Perez said. “I welcome the debate. I think there is going to be a bumper crop of candidates and that the American people are going to see a very robust Democratic Party. What will unite all of them is that they are all fighting for a better deal and a brighter future and better tomorrows for everyone, not just a few at the top. And what we’re doing at the DNC is making sure we build the infrastructure, the organizing infrastructure, the technology infrastructure so that whoever … becomes the nominee that they can walk into a DNC that enables them to sprint across the finish line. Listen here While Perez said he hopes ideas and ideals are what helps to unite his party, it may just be mutual disgust for Trump that will act as the super glue for Democrats. Below are some of excerpts of my interview with DNC Chairman Tom Perez. This Q&A has been edited for brevity, clarity and flow. Mark Preston: As you look at the current state of play right now, what is the Democratic plan to address Donald Trump in this off year? Tom Perez: Step one is that we have to take on Donald Trump in all of these areas that he’s trying to take America back, and make America weak, not make America great. Equally important though, we can’t simply be against Donald Trump. We’ve got to articulate what we are for, and we have always been fighting for a fair shake for everyone. Listen here Sign up for CNN Opinion’s new newsletter.Join us on Twitter and Facebook Preston: (W)hen you were running for chairman, … it was a bit of a contentious fight. There was a lot of criticism from the grassroots about the battle between establishment Democrats and grassroots Democrats. … What is being done behind the scenes to try to bridge the divide between those two (factions)? Perez: Every single day we are leading with our values. … If we want to address income inequality in this country, one of the most important things we can do is support efforts for people to unionize and form a union. When unions succeed, the middle class succeeds. When unions succeed, income inequality goes down, and what we have to do as a party is be out there on the issues that matter the most to people: health care, good jobs, the efforts to cut support for public education, we have to articulate what we stand for.” Listen here Preston: Is the focus right now for the DNC, when you’re looking at priorities, to get back the House of Representatives? Perez: Well, that’s a very big part of what we’re trying to do. We have a more immediate focus, which is 2017 because you know what, you win Virginia, you win New Jersey, you lay the foundation for future success. What we try to do is to make sure we’re not only winning elections today but we’re building the infrastructure for sustained success.


Otto Warmbier's parents objected to an autopsy Autopsies can determine cause and manner of death Expert: Warmbier autopsy would've likely been inconclusive What happened to Otto Warmbier while he was in North Korean custody is a mystery. And it’s likely to remain that way. Following his death on Monday, Warmbier’s parents Cindy and Fred asked the coroner not to perform an autopsy on their son. “The family’s objection to an autopsy was honored, and only an external examination was performed,” the Hamilton County (Ohio) Coroner’s Office said in a statement Tuesday. “No conclusions about the cause and manner of Mr. Warmbier’s death have been drawn at this time, as there are additional medical records and imaging to review and people to interview,” the statement said. Forensic experts say autopsies can reveal important information about how or why a person died; in this case, determining what events may have led up to Warmbier’s arrival in the United States in a persistent vegetative state. Related video What happens during an autopsy? “I think it’s a terrible mistake” not to perform an autopsy, said Dr. Cyril Wecht, a prominent forensic pathologist who was not involved in Warmbier’s case. “If you have something that could be anything other than a natural death, you’re obligated to do an autopsy.” As far as what put Warmbier in a coma in the first place, Wecht said it would be difficult to determine in someone who had been comatose for such a long time “because the brain continues to undergo decomposition.” The possibilities could have been any number of things, Wecht said, including strangulation, suffocation, medication or a botched suicide attempt. But “the basic cause, no matter what the mechanism, would have been … hypoxia,” the medical term for insufficient oxygen reaching the brain. Up until last week, one of the last times the world saw Warmbier, an American college student, was at a news conference in North Korea on February 29, 2016. Warmbier stood accused of a “hostile act”: taking down a political poster in a hotel in Pyongyang. Through tears, the then-21-year-old begged for forgiveness but was ultimately sentenced to 15 years of hard labor during his one-hour trial on March 16, 2016. Then, on June 13, 2017: North Korea released Warmbier in a state of “unresponsive wakefulness,” according to doctors at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, who examined him upon his return to the US. In a news conference last week, they disputed the North Korean regime’s claims that Warmbier had contracted botulism and slipped into a vegetative state after taking a sleeping pill. Related article How the US secured Otto Warmbier's release from North Korea Dr. Daniel Kanter, director of UC Health’s Neurocritical Care Program, said Warmbier’s MRI scan showed “extensive loss of brain tissue in all regions of the brain” but no evidence of a skull fracture. “We have no certain or verifiable knowledge of the cause or circumstances of his neurological injury,” Kanter said. “This pattern of injury, however, is usually seen as the result of cardiopulmonary arrest, where the blood supply to the brain is inadequate for a period of time, resulting in the death of brain tissue. “He has spontaneous eye-opening and blinking,” Kanter continued. “However, he shows no signs of understanding language, responding to verbal commands or awareness of his surroundings. He has not spoken. He has not engaged in any purposeful movements or behaviors.” According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, just two states – Arkansas and Nevada – have no conditions under which an autopsy is required by law. The remaining 48 states and the District of Columbia have different criteria as to when an autopsy is mandatory. In Warmbier’s home state of Ohio, an autopsy is required in five circumstances, including when a death is ruled a homicide, in cases where it is related to a public health threat, and when a “child death appears natural and occurs suddenly when in good health.” Related article Who was Otto Warmbier? The Warmbier family has not said why they objected to an autopsy, but Wecht said some families cite religious reasons, overwhelming grief or a desire to more quickly move on. “It’s not that I’m insensitive or indifferent to family objections,” Wecht said. “When I was coroner, for 20 years, of Allegheny County (Pennsylvania), if I could bend, I bent. Other times, you cannot bend. This is a case of unknown etiology, and the only way to ascertain what may have gone wrong would be to do an autopsy.” Despite the tragic circumstances, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta said the case was very interesting from a medical perspective. “For 15 months or so, (Warmbier) had a devastating neurological injury but was kept alive,” said Gupta, who is also a member of the American College of Forensic Examiners and a practicing neurosurgeon. “One of a few things likely happened here – and we may never know, especially if there’s no autopsy. Related article Otto Warmbier's graduation speech: A fond memory “One thing to keep in mind is that he did just have a long flight from North Korea to the US,” he said. “Even healthy people can develop deep-vein thrombosis, or DVT. With someone who is not moving, the risk is even greater. The risk of a blood clot in the lungs is also a possibility, especially given how sudden this was.” Gupta, who has not reviewed Warmbier’s medical records, said Warmbier could have been given a new medication or have had an old medication withheld. For example, “he could have been treated for a body-wide infection such as sepsis, which is not uncommon in someone who is bedridden,” Gupta said. “The family could have decided to stop giving him antibiotics, then sepsis may have led to his death.” Given Warmbier’s prognosis last week, “this would not have been unreasonable,” Gupta said. See the latest news and share your comments with CNN Health on Facebook and Twitter. Warmbier also may have been given new medications for comfort care in the US that he didn’t receive while in North Korea, which could have led to his death, Gupta said. Wecht said he was surprised the family didn’t want to make one last attempt at determining what happened to their son while he was a prisoner of what President Donald Trump has called a “brutal regime.” For their part, Cindy and Fred Warmbier said their son had “completed his journey home.” Otto Warmbier will be laid to rest Thursday after a funeral service at his high school in Wyoming, Ohio.


The President used a vulgar term to refer to certain countries He's made racially charged remarks in the past President Donald Trump’s stunning remarks decrying the migration of citizens from “shithole countries” weren’t the first time he’s made comments widely considered disparaging to ethnic and racial groups. Here are other instances when Trump seemed to belittle people’s backgrounds: During a June 2015 speech announcing his candidacy, Trump referred to some Mexican immigrants as “rapists.” “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best,” Trump said. “They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” Two days after becoming the presumptive Republican nominee in 2016, Trump tweeted a picture of himself enjoying a taco bowl on Cinco De Mayo, a Mexican holiday. The tweet read: “Happy #CincoDeMayo! The best taco bowls are made in Trump Tower Grill. I love Hispanics!” Happy #CincoDeMayo! The best taco bowls are made in Trump Tower Grill. I love Hispanics! https://t.co/ufoTeQd8yA pic.twitter.com/k01Mc6CuDI Trump on the campaign trail in December 2015 called for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States,” positing that immigration from Muslim-majority nations threatens security in the United States, as well as in Europe. That notion has underpinned the series of travel bans his administration has implemented. Trump also made widely discredited claims that American Muslims celebrated the attacks on September 11, 2001, in New Jersey. As a candidate, he said he would consider surveillance of mosques and shutting some down, and suggested establishing a national database to register Muslims. Late last year, Trump retweeted three inflammatory videos from a British far-right account rife with anti-Muslim content. In an attempt to tout his support among African-Americans, then-candidate Trump pointed to a black man in a crowd at June 2016 rally in California and called him “my African-American.” “Oh, look at my African-American over here. Look at him,” Trump said. “Are you the greatest?” Gregory Cheadle, then a GOP California congressional candidate, said he was the supporter to whom Trump pointed. Cheadle said the comment didn’t offend him. The President’s remark came as he recalled an incident earlier that year when a black supporter of his assaulted a white protester who was being escorted out of an Arizona rally by police. During an August 2016 campaign stop, Trump argued that African-Americans have been struggling and taken for granted by the Democratic Party, and should consider voting for him in the November general election. “You’re living in poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs, 58% of your youth is unemployed – what the hell do you have to lose?” Trump told a crowd in Michigan. During a November 2017 event at the White House honoring World War II Navajo Code Talkers, Trump referred to Massachusetts Sen.  Elizabeth Warren by his nickname for her, Pocahontas. “I just want to thank you because you are very, very special people. You were here long before any of us were here,” Trump said. “Although, we have a representative in Congress who has been here a long time … longer than you – they call her Pocahontas!” The President then turned to the Code Talkers behind him and said to one man: “But you know what, I like you. You are special people.” The President didn’t name Warren in his remarks. Conservatives have previously criticized Warren for claiming she is part Native American, and Warren’s heritage became an issue during her Senate campaigns. Pocahontas was a 17th-century historical figure, and using her name in an intentionally disparaging way insults native peoples and degrades their cultures. Trump long has boasted about his ability to negotiate, and he’s said he’d use his deal-making skills to rewrite trade deals with China and East Asia. During a campaign event in 2015, he used broken English to impersonate Asian negotiators. “When these people walk into the room, they don’t say, ‘Oh hello, how’s the weather? It’s so beautiful outside. How are the Yankees doing? They’re doing wonderful, that’s great,’” Trump said at an event in Iowa. “They say, ‘We want deal!’” This story has been updated to reflect additional reporting. CNN’s Tal Kopan, Dan Merica, Tom LoBianco, Ashley Killough and Jeremy Diamond contributed to this report.


The lawyer representing adult film star Stormy Daniels sought to ratchet up the pressure on Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen Tuesday, claiming that he has learned of numerous banking transactions that could call into question Cohen’s business practices. “Michael Cohen should not be selling access to the President of the United States,” attorney Michael Avenatti said on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” Tuesday night. In a memo posted online Tuesday afternoon, Avenatti alleged that Cohen received the following payments after the 2016 election: approximately half-a-million dollars from a company linked to Viktor Vekselberg, a Russian oligarch with close ties to the Kremlin; nearly $400,000 from pharmaceutical giant Novartis; $150,000 from Korea Aerospace Industries and $200,000 from telecommunications conglomerate AT&T. AT&T is trying to acquire CNN’s parent company, Time Warner. The Justice Department sued to prevent the merger in November of last year. Avenatti’s documents stated the payments by AT&T were made in four amounts of $50,000 each, with two of those payments made before the Justice Department sued to block the merger. Related article Exclusive: Mueller's team questions Russian oligarch about payments to Cohen AT&T confirmed the payments in a statement to CNN. “Essential Consulting was one of several firms we engaged in early 2017 to provide insights into understanding the new administration,” the company said. “They did no legal or lobbying work for us, and the contract ended in December 2017.” Adding to the intrigue: The payments were made to the same bank account that Cohen had created in 2016 to execute the now infamous hush payment to Daniels, Avenatti said. CNN has reviewed documents that appear to show these payments. CNN has not independently authenticated the documents. Cohen established the firm Essential Consultants in the weeks leading up to Election Day to make a $130,000 payment to Daniels, as a part of an agreement to prevent the porn star from discussing her alleged affair with Trump. The White House has repeatedly denied that Trump and Daniels had an affair. Related article Trump suggests legal action coming against Mueller's team Cohen has insisted that he used his personal funds to cover those costs and that the Trump campaign and Trump Organization were never a party to the agreement and that neither entity reimbursed him for the $130,000 payment. Last week, Trump’s new lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, made the stunning revelation in a Fox News interview that Trump personally reimbursed Cohen for the payment. The former New York City mayor said the payments were made in multiple installments. Avenatti’s allegation that Cohen received a significant sum of money from a firm tied to Vekselberg soon after the 2016 election raises questions about Cohen’s potential connections to Russian interests, as special counsel Robert Mueller has cast a wide net to investigate potential collusion in the 2016 presidential election. CNN reported Tuesday evening that Mueller’s investigators have questioned Vekselberg about payments his company’s US affiliate made to Cohen. Vekselberg is the chairman of Renova, a Russian investment company. His cousin Andrew Intrater runs Columbus Nova, which a document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission describes as Renova’s US affiliate. “Columbus Nova is a management company solely owned and controlled by Americans,” Columbus Nova’s attorney Richard Owens said in a statement Tuesday night. “After the inauguration, the firm hired Michael Cohen as a business consultant regarding potential sources of capital and potential investments in real estate and other ventures. Reports today that Viktor Vekselberg used Columbus Nova as a conduit for payments to Michael Cohen are false. The claim that Viktor Vekselberg was involved or provided any funding for Columbus Nova’s engagement of Michael Cohen is patently untrue. Neither Viktor Vekselberg nor anyone else other than Columbus Nova’s owners, were involved in the decision to hire Cohen or provided funding for his engagement.” Later Tuesday, Eric Kosta, general counsel of Columbus Nova, sent this statement: “As the General Counsel of Columbus Nova, I can confirm that the company is 100% owned and controlled by Americans. Any suggestion that at any point in time Viktor Vekselberg or any of his companies owned or exercised any control over Columbus Nova is patently untrue.” Vekselberg was one of two oligarchs stopped by FBI agents working for the special counsel when his private plane landed in a New York-area airport earlier this year, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. During the stop, Vekselberg was questioned about the payment to Cohen, one source familiar with the meeting told CNN. Related article Roger Stone says he hasn't been contacted by special counsel He was also asked about roughly $300,000 in political donations Intrater made to Trump’s inauguration and victory funds and the Republican National Committee in 2017, sources told CNN. The donations were unusual for Intrater, who previously donated a combined $3,800 to two candidates, one Republican and one Democrat. Intrater was also interviewed by the special counsel’s team, according to sources. According to Avenatti’s memo, pharmaceutical company Novartis made four separate payments of $99,980 to the Essential Consultants bank account in late 2017 to early 2018; Korea Aerospace Industries made a single payment of $150,000 in November 2017; and AT&T made four payments of $50,000 from late 2017 to early 2018. In a statement, Novartis spokesman Eric Althoff said, “Any agreements with Essential Consultants were entered before our current CEO taking office in February of this year and have expired.” Korea Aerospace Industries did not immediately respond for comment. Related article Rudy Giuliani: Cohen might have paid other women for Trump 'if necessary' The memo suggests that federal prosecutors “could be looking to see if Cohen was involved in a multinational crime syndicate,” CNN legal analyst Michael Zeldn said. “What was Michael Cohen’s business?” Why was he engaged in these transactions?” The stakes are sky-high for Cohen, who is currently under a federal criminal investigation by the US attorney’s office in Manhattan and had his home, hotel room and office raided last month. Sources have told CNN that investigators sought and seized documents and records related to a number of issues, including Cohen’s various businesses. One source said the warrant also referenced an investigation into wire fraud and bank fraud. CNN previously reported FBI agents removed Cohen’s computer, cell phone, business files and financial documents, according to the source. The FBI also collected recordings Cohen made of his conversations with lawyer Keith Davidson, who previously represented two women – Daniels and ex-Playboy model Karen McDougal. Both Daniels and McDougal alleged they had affairs with Trump. “This is probably why Cohen’s offices were raided,” Zeldin, the legal analyst, said about the payments detailed in Avenatti’s memo. Giuliani’s claims last week appeared to directly contradict Trump’s recent statement that he did not know about Cohen’s payment to Daniels. “The agreement was used to stop the false and extortionist accusations made by her about an affair despite already having signed a detailed letter admitting that there was no affair,” Trump wrote on Twitter. The payment was entirely unrelated to his campaign, Trump added. Update: This story has been updated to include Columbus Nova’s latest statement. CNN’s Eli Watkins contributed to this report.


Here’s a look at the life of former South African President Thabo Mbeki. Birth date: June 18, 1942 Birth place: Idutywa, Transkei, South Africa Birth name: Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki Father: Govan Mbeki, a teacher and politician Mother: Epainette (Moerane) Mbeki, a teacher Marriage: Zanele Dlamini Mbeki (1974-present) Children: With Olive Mpahlwa: Monwabise Kwanda Mpahlwa Education: University of London, Economics, 1961-1962; University of Sussex, Brighton, UK, M.A. in Economics, 1966 In the past has publicly questioned the connection between HIV and AIDS, minimized the seriousness of the AIDS epidemic and did not support widespread treatment or testing for AIDS. Mbeki’s father was a leader in the African National Congress. Was expelled from school as a teenager for organizing a student strike. His father was in prison with Nelson Mandela. His son, Monwabise Kwanda Mpahlwa, is believed missing since going into exile in the early 1980’s. Mbeki fathered Mpahlwa at the age of 16, out of wedlock. Creates the Thabo Mbeki Foundation and the Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Institute following his presidency. 1961-1962 - Youth organizer in Johannesburg for the African National Congress. 1962-1990 - Lives in exile in various countries. 1967-1970 - Official in London for the African National Congress. 1971-1972 - Assistant Secretary to the Revolutionary Council for the African National Congress. 1975-1976 - Acting Representative of Swaziland to the African National Congress. 1975 - Member of the National Executive Committee for the African National Congress. 1976-1978 - Representative of Nigeria to the African National Congress. 1978 - Political Secretary to the Office of the President of the African National Congress. 1984-1989 - Director of Information and Publicity and Secretary of Presidential Affairs for the African National Congress. 1989 - Head of the Department of International Affairs for the African National Congress. 1994-1999 - Executive Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa. 1997-2007 - President of the African National Congress. June 14, 1999-September 2008 - President of the Republic of South Africa. 2000 - Publicly denies that HIV causes AIDS, alternately blames the disease on poverty and racism. 2002-2003 - Chairman of the African Union. December 18, 2007 - Mbeki loses his bid for a third term as President of the African National Congress to Jacob Zuma, his former deputy president. Mbeki had dismissed Zuma from the post in 2005 after allegations of corruption and fraud. January 11, 2008 - African National Congress begins an investigation into Mbeki’s administration, regarding possible wrongdoing committed in a multi-billion rand arms deal in 1999. Mbeki is later exonerated. July 2008 - Mbeki tries to mediate a peaceful solution to Zimbabwe’s contested election. He suggests the formation of a national unity government. September 21, 2008 - Announces his resignation as president during a televised address. March 2009 - Along with two other former African presidents, is appointed chair of the African Union High Implementation Panel, working to solve the crisis in Darfur, Sudan. February 27, 2017 - Is inaugurated as chancellor of the University of South Africa.


President Trump has publicly said he's thankful for a lot of things They range from law enforcement to a signed copy of Marco Rubio's book Thanksgiving, a day aptly named for giving thanks, is nearly upon us. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the things President Donald Trump has publicly given thanks for. Check out the video above for a full survey of Trump’s #blessings. 1. Help “Thank you for all your help,” Trump said to Puerto Rican Governor Rosselló in October. The President commended Governor Rosselló for his hard work and for his cooperation during recovery efforts after Hurricane Maria devastated the island. 2. Law enforcement “We need law and order and we will have law and order. Our police, our firemen - but our police do a fantastic job,” Trump said at a campaign rally in August 2016. “So we should be very thankful for the job they do.” 3. Work toward Israeli-Palestinian peace “I think we have a pretty good shot – maybe the best shot ever – and that’s what we’re looking to do. And I just want to thank you for all of the time, all of the meetings, all of the work. It’s a complex subject; always been considered the toughest deal of all,” Trump said to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in September. Related video History of the White House turkey pardon 4. Questions “Thank you for the question,” then-candidate Trump said to an audience member at a CNN Town Hall in March of 2016. Part of the question: “How do we protect the constitutional rights of minority groups like the Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, and Jews, while still addressing radical Islamization?” Not a softball, but still something Trump was thankful for. 5. Attendance “Thank you for being here, by the way,” Trump said to an attendee of his Made in America Roundtable in July. And to a Medal of Honor recipient who attended a Hispanic Heritage Month event at the White House in October, Trump said, “Thank you for being here. We appreciate it.” 6. Invitations “I am deeply grateful for your invitation,” Trump said to Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu, and their wives, upon landing in Israel for his first overseas trip as President. 7. Votes (in Wisconsin especially) “Thank you for all of the votes you gave me in Wisconsin,” Trump said During a meeting with Harley-Davidson executives and union leaders days after his inauguration. Trump earned almost 23,000 more votes than Hillary Clinton in the state in 2016. 8. Boy Scouts “Thank you for making scouting possible,” Trump said to the moms and dads of Boy Scouts during a speech at the National Scout Jamboree. Same. Scouts – boys, girls, military and characters from literary classics – are cool. 9. “Hardware, plus a beautiful patch” President Trump welcomed survivors of the USS Arizona to the White House, where they presented him with “the nicest hardware, plus a beautiful patch.” Both of which he thanked them for. Related video The story behind the 'Blacks for Trump' man 10. The “Blacks for Trump” sign “Thank you for that sign. ‘Blacks for Trump,’” President Trump said to a regular supporter in Pennsylvania during a speech on April. 11. An autographed copy of Marco Rubio’s book A CNN presidential primary debate essentially descended into 90 seconds of chaos in February of 2016. Seriously, it was bonkers. It started when Trump mentioned a donation he gave Sen. Ted Cruz, which prompted Sen. Marco Rubio to say that Trump had never funded him. According to Trump, Rubio had sent him an autographed copy of his book. “Thank you for the book. Go ahead,” Trump said. Who else is thankful that debates are over? 12. Janet Yellin’s service While he has chosen to nominate Jerome Powell to be the new Fed Chair, President Trump really appreciates current Chair Janet Yellen. “We are grateful for her total commitment to public service,” Trump said. She may be out of a job soon, but Yellen should feel honored to get personally thanked for her service. It doesn’t happen every day. 13. America’s blessings In his weekly address during Passover and Easter earlier this year, Trump took a moment to be thankful for America. “We are grateful for the tremendous blessings of this land, our home. We have a beautiful country, an abundant countryside, and an amazing people with a truly bright and wonderful future,” he said.


The concern among rank-and-file Republican legislators has been palpable A small group of moderate and conservative House Republicans voted against starting repeal Republican lawmakers are heading to Philadelphia Wednesday for two days of intensive work on replacing Obamacare with hopes that some of the biggest questions can be answered by the often confounding President Donald Trump. House and Senate Republicans will pack the city, not far from where Democrats nominated Hillary Clinton just six months ago, for their annual retreat – and crafting a replacement plan for Obamacare is at the top of their list. “Look there are a whole lot of different ideas about how to replace Obamacare,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday, shortly before lawmakers left town. “As all of us have said repeatedly: it will be done in consultation with the new secretary of Health and Human Services, the new head of (the Centers Medicare and Medicaid Services) and active discussion among House and Senate Republicans, because we anticipate no cooperation from the other side.” The repeal part has not been much of a question for the Republican majorities, after they started the clock ticking on stripping core items from the Affordable Care Act earlier this month. But how to craft their own version of Obamacare has Republicans in something of a holding pattern inside the Capitol, largely waiting to see what Trump and his team will do. The concern among rank-and-file legislators has been palpable. A small group of moderate and conservative House Republicans voted against starting the repeal process earlier this month amid a mix of worries that included not having a replacement ready. And other Republicans who supported starting the repeal have said they want more definitive answers, soon. “I’m hopeful for a very definitive solution on what we replace the Affordable Care Act with and not just a framework,” Rep. Mark Meadows, R-North Carolina, chair of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, told reporters on Tuesday. He said he wants to see the plan that Trump said he is preparing and discuss approaches being developed by congressional Republicans. Thursday, in Philadelphia, they will get a chance to press the newly-minted President himself. Trump is scheduled for a two-hour meeting with House and Senate Republicans Thursday – in between meetings with Vice President Mike Pence and British Prime Minister Theresa May. And the group will spend Thursday morning working intensively on health care. Big questions loom about what will happen to states that expanded Medicaid (punctuated by a meeting of Republican governors in the Capitol last week, a day before the inauguration) and how Republicans can expand coverage beyond what Obamacare has accomplished. Lawmakers are also still feeling out how much of the law they can strip away through the budget “reconciliation” – a move that would avoid having to get 60 votes in the Senate to break a Democratic filibuster. The wheels have been turning behind the scenes, perhaps best exemplified by Pence shuttling routinely between the Capitol and the White House. (On Monday, Pence left the White House, spent an hour with House Speaker Paul Ryan on the issue at the Capitol, and then jetted back to the White House to swear in the new CIA director, Mike Pompeo. Tuesday Pence held meetings with individual senators and then joined Senate Republicans for their weekly lunch meeting.) But Trump himself has often injected confusion into the debate, with conflicting comments on what he wants – Republican lawmakers gently corrected him last week after he told The Washington Post he wanted universal health care “coverage” and not just “access.” House and Senate Republican leaders meanwhile have said they are waiting on formal guidance from the White House before rolling out any details. And, they add, those details won’t be coming until Trump has a Health and Human Services secretary – a clear dig at Democrats, who spent Tuesday morning grilling nominee Tom Price. With a virtual vacuum in place on the issue, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, rolled out their own measure that would allow states a series of options for replacing Obamacare – even allowing them to keep it. Cassidy explained Monday that he did not expect the bill to be the final measure that replaces Obamacare but wanted to start debate. He told reporters Tuesday that he thinks their idea – starting the debate before the White House has submitted its own plan – is in keeping with Trump’s style. “You know I imagine when Donald Trump says ‘I am going to build 100-story building in New York,’  he doesn’t say, ‘I want the foundation to be this deep.’ He says, ‘I want to build a 100-story building.’ And therefore that in and of itself is establishes what the foundation is,” Cassidy said. “So sometimes just by setting your goal, you establish everything else and that is my sense of how Donald Trump does his business.” Trump has said that their plan would come almost “simultaneously” with the confirmation of Price for HHS secretary – a prospect that is unlikely until at least a week after the retreat. And Pence told senators earlier this month that the timetable would be something close to mid-February or mid-March. Rep. Chris Collins, a New York Republican and one of Trump’s earliest supporters, said he views the administration plan as a “starting point” and is waiting on that. But he added that letting states decide how to handle Medicaid is something most Republicans agree on – including how to shift the program “How we get that done, the devil is in the details. And the details have not been rolled out,” the congressman said. The holding pattern on the toughest issues has other lawmakers holding their tongues before seeing what the Trump White House proposes. And unless Trump changes his time line for releasing a plan – based on Price’s confirmation – lawmakers could easily leave Philadelphia disappointed. “One of the things I’ve learned is that patience is a virtue,” said Sen. Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican. CNN’s Deirdre Walsh and Ted Barrett contributed to this report.

Republican lawmakers' effort to repeal and replace Obamacare


Grand imam of Al Azhar explains why he canceled meeting with US vice president He is one of several officials who refused to host Mike Pence on Mideast trip President Donald Trump’s decision to move the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem was “rash and uncalculated” and represented “aggression toward people, countries, cultures and civilizations,” one of Sunni Islam’s highest authorities said Thursday. Sheikh Ahmed El-Tayyeb, the grand imam of Al Azhar, recently canceled a meeting scheduled with Vice President Mike Pence during the latter’s upcoming visit to Egypt. In an exclusive interview with CNN, Tayyeb said receiving Pence would “tear up my identity” and appear “contradictory in front of people.” Tayyeb is one of several officials who have refused to host Pence during the vice president’s Mideast tour, which is set to start Friday. Tawadros II, the head of Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Church, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas also scrapped their meetings with the vice president after Trump’s Jerusalem announcement. The imam said he welcomed Pence’s visit before Trump announced that the United States would move its embassy to Jerusalem and recognize the city as Israel’s capital. The move upended seven decades of US foreign policy that has resisted a recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital before the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is resolved. Tayyeb said the decision would “feed terrorism in the region” but said the Muslim world was not “in a position for confrontation.” “Decisions like this one nurture terrorism, create it and propel it forward to act and express itself in methods we all reject,” he said. “When terrorism rises again, the East and West will drown in seas of blood.” The sheikh, who is considered a leading figure in some schools of Sunni Islam, is one of many prominent Muslim and Arab leaders who condemned Trump on Jerusalem Last month, leaders from the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation recognized East Jerusalem as the “occupied capital” of a Palestinian state in response to Trump’s announcement. The group rejected Trump’s move as “null and void” and said the “dangerous declaration” marked the US withdrawal from the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.


Here's how Trump has pledged to "Make America Great Again" They include five proposals fervently favored by his supporters Donald Trump’s pledge to “Make America Great Again” was itself built on a host of lofty promises that galvanized his supporters and helped him clinch a stunning victory. Below are some of Trump’s signature proposals supporters expect him to deliver on when he takes office in January. Without question, Trump’s central campaign plank was his pledge to build a wall on the US-Mexico border. Trump made immigration a top focal point from the moment he launched his White House bid in June of 2015, when he controversially claimed that Mexico was sending “rapists” and “criminals” across the border. The wall, which Trump has promised will be “beautiful,” was the centerpiece of his immigration policy. He insisted that Mexico would pay for its construction, although he didn’t broach the subject when he met with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto in August. Many Democratic and more moderate voters have voiced opposition to the wall, but the proposal is wildly popular among Trump’s backers. Seventy-nine percent of his supporters said they favor building a wall along the entire US-Mexico border, according to the Pew Research Center. The chants began during the Republican National Convention. Soon, “lock her up” became a ritual at each of Trump’s rallies. And at the second presidential debate, Trump told Hillary Clinton that, were he to win, he would “instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your (missing email) situation.” Clinton responded by saying it’s “just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country.” Trump shot back: “Because you’d be in jail.” Many political observers on the left and the right were troubled by Trump’s comment, but his supporters ate it up. FBI Director James Comey said over the weekend that Clinton should not face criminal charges over a review of emails linked to her time as secretary of state, reaffirming the agency’s findings over the summer. But Trump’s vow to revisit the matter became a main theme of his closing argument, and one not likely to be forgotten by his supporters. Almost a year ago, following the massacre in San Bernardino, California, Trump issued perhaps his most dramatic proposal: “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.” The proposal has morphed in the 11 months since then, making it difficult to identify Trump’s exact position on the matter. He eventually said the ban applied to immigration “from any nation that has been compromised by terrorism,” though his original pledge remains outlined on his campaign website. Just last month, Trump’s running mate Mike Pence, who called the original proposal “offensive and unconstitutional,” said that Trump no longer supports an outright ban on Muslims entering the US. But Republicans seem to believe Trump had it right the first time. Exit poll data from earlier this year found wide majorities of GOP primary voters in support of a temporary ban against Muslims from entering the country. Republicans have been trying to repeal President Obama’s signature health care law pretty much from the moment it was signed in 2010. Now the GOP will finally have someone in the White House to finish the job. Trump has hammered the Affordable Care Act, widely known as Obamacare, calling it a “disaster” and vowing to replace it with “the finest health care plan there is.” The law has had its share of setbacks, the most recent of which was the announcement that premiums are set to skyrocket in 2017. The prospect of undoing Obamacare will excite even the Republicans who were lukewarm toward Trump’s candidacy. House Speaker Paul Ryan said last week that, despite his misgivings with Trump, he nevertheless voted for the GOP nominee in part because of the opportunity to get rid of the health care law. Trump is now armed with a Republican House and Senate eager to repeal, though that would entail kicking up to 20 million people off health insurance. Trump’s improbable win on Tuesday was driven in large part by his triumph in the Rust Belt, with states like Wisconsin and Pennsylvania going to the GOP for the first time since the 1980s, and Trump leading in a third, Michigan. He inspired voters there with a populist message on free trade, promising to return their communities to the golden years by scrapping what he described as horrible deals for workers. The two deals in question, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), gave Trump an opening with Rust Belt voters  – and proved to be a political weak spot for Clinton. She came out against TPP, which is opposed by many Democrats, after previously describing the measure as a “gold standard” – a shift for which Trump took credit. And Clinton’s position on NAFTA, which was signed into law by her husband former President Bill Clinton, was difficult to pin down. In contrast, Trump has been resolute in his opposition to both. He has vowed to renegotiate the terms of NAFTA with Mexico and Canada, leaving open the possibility of pulling out entirely, and has said he will not approve TPP as president.


President Donald Trump has pulled out of a summit with North Korea next month, and Americans are likely not going to be pleased. Unlike a lot that has happened during the Trump administration, Americans were actually happy with the direction Trump was taking on North Korea. Earlier this month, a CNN poll found that 77% of Americans approved of Trump’s decision to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. That included 92% of Republicans, 79% of independents and even 62% of Democrats. In that same poll, Trump’s approval rating among Democrats for his overall job performance was just 9%. Perhaps more interesting is that Trump was gaining overall positive marks for the entirety of his North Korean approach. In the CNN poll, 53% of approved of how he was handling relations with North Korea. That was up from 43% in March and 35% last November. It was also significantly higher than his 41% job approval rating overall and his 42% approval rating on foreign affairs. Indeed, Trump’s approval rating on North Korea was higher than it was for any other issue tested by CNN. Amazingly, it was higher than Trump’s ratings on the economy, which has historically been among Trump’s best issues and was probably helping to drive up Trump’s approval rating despite the constant disarray in the White House. Trump’s handling of North Korea may have been at least partially responsible for his recent uptick in the polls. While there is no way to know what, exactly, has driven up Trump’s approval rating over the last few months, it’s probable that seeming to appear more presidential and doing stuff that presidents normally do helped. Trying to negotiate peace with a longtime adversary like North Korea may have been part of that effort. Americans, though, seem to have appreciated Trump’s efforts without actually expecting anything to occur from them. Although Americans were gaining confidence that the situation with North Korea was going to be resolved without conflict, only 41% of them said they were confident of that in a CBS News poll conducted earlier this month. The same poll found that 56% of Americans thought that a meeting between Trump and Kim would either make the situation between the two countries worse or result in no change. Americans, simply put, doubted that North Korea was really ever serious about negotiating over its nuclear program. A Pew Research Center poll taken in late April and early May discovered that only 38% of Americans believed that North Korea was “serious about addressing international concerns about their country’s nuclear enrichment program.” And when it came to actually giving up nuclear weapons, a very low 19% of voters in an April Quinnipiac University poll said they thought North Korea would. The big question after the failure to have a summit is whether Americans will sour on the idea that economic and diplomatic efforts can resolve the situation with North Korea. Back in March, 63% of respondents told CNN that they thought those methods could resolve the crisis. In the same poll, 45% of Americans favored military action against North Korea if economic and diplomatic efforts failed. That was nearly equal to 46% who were opposed. Among those who approved of Trump’s job performance, 65% favored military action if economic and diplomatic efforts failed.