Dahir Adan, 22, was an employee at a private security firm Police have identified a 10th victim in the stabbings Dahir Adan had been in a “joyful” and “happy” mood on Saturday before he went to a St. Cloud, Minnesota, mall to buy a phone, a community leader told CNN on Monday. Adan, a private security firm employee with a good reputation in St. Cloud’s Somali community, was intent on purchasing the newly released iPhone 7, according to Haji Yussuf, a local Somali community leader who has been in contact with the man’s family. Adan, 22, is suspected of storming the mall and stabbing 10 people Saturday night before he was shot dead by an off-duty police officer. Earlier, two Somali community leaders in contact with the man’s family told CNN that Adan had been acting strangely before the incident. Details about Adan and the incident began to emerge Monday as authorities worked to piece together the suspect’s background and pinpoint his motive, St. Cloud Police Chief William Blair Anderson told reporters. “We are trying to find everything,” Anderson said. “I want to know everything about this man, from the day he was born until last Saturday.” Federal law enforcement sources and Somali community leaders identified Adan on Monday. An ISIS-linked news agency praised him as a “soldier of the Islamic state.” CNN hasn’t independently verified the claim, and on Monday, authorities maintained that the suspect appeared to have acted alone. “We haven’t uncovered anything that would suggest this was anything but a lone attacker at this point,” Anderson told reporters. The FBI is calling the attack “a potential act of terrorism.” But no evidence has been found tying the suspect directly to terror groups, the police chief said. Adan had a stellar reputation in St. Cloud’s close-knit Somali community, said Yussuf, who is a director at #unitedcloud, a group that works to resolve tensions in St. Cloud. Yussuf called him a “very exceptional young man” who loved his family and respected his community. He was an “exceptional student” and “very smart,” he said. “We’re all trying to find answers as to what happened,” Yussuf said. “The family is very frustrated about this, very sad.” Yussuf said family members want to see the footage of the incident, in which the suspect was said to have lunged at people before he was shot. Yussuf praised law enforcement, saying it is doing an “amazing job” trying to get to the bottom of the case. But he finds any link between ISIS and Adan hard to believe and at this point, he said, there is no connection. “The idea that people like ISIS will claim this responsibility for us is ridiculous,” he said. Related video ISIS claims 'soldier' who stabbed victims at mall As news of the incident emerged, local newspapers in Minnesota, including the Minneapolis Star Tribune and St. Cloud Times, identified the attacker as a member of the Somali community from the central part of the state. St. Cloud, a city of 67,000 about 65 miles northwest of Minneapolis, is home to one of Minnesota’s larger immigrant Muslim communities, and the incident has rattled people there. In recent years, the Muslim community has faced conflicts with other Minnesota residents, including vandalism to mosques and opposition to at least one new Islamic house of worship, according to the Star Tribune. Federal investigators have tracked the recruitment of potential ISIS fighters in Minnesota. Since 2014, nine Somali-Americans from that state were either convicted at trial or pleaded guilty in a plot to join ISIS by traveling to Syria. Before that, dozens of male Minnesota residents had left to join Al-Shabaab, a terrorist group working to turn Somalia into an Islamist state. Yussuf noted that the mall incident occurred amid a contentious US presidential election, with its debates about restricting the flow of immigrants, and Somalis worry it could threaten the amity forged between them and their neighbors. “It’s affected all of our community,” he said. “Nationally, there is the issue of immigrants and the presidential elections and people are saying things about immigrants and refugees – about Mexicans, about Muslims. For 30 years people have been building bridges in our community and we are all afraid that this will disappear because of this one incident.” Muslim and Christian clergy and community leaders gathered on Monday afternoon. They expressed unity and community spirit with one Muslim leader calling ISIS un-Islamic and better called a “Luciferian cult.” Jaylani Hussein, executive director for the Council of American-Islamic Relations Minnesota said leaders are starting a hashtag for social media #stcloudtogether. “This community, after this horrific tragedy, will move forward,” he said. Faith leaders from #StCloud want people to show inclusiveness and unity with #StCloudTogether @WCCO pic.twitter.com/fqZMaTpHrk Police and witnesses said the attacker, wearing a private security company uniform, entered Crossroads Mall on Saturday night around 8. Inside the mall, he made a reference to Allah and asked at least one person if they were Muslim before he attacked. Ashley Bayne, an employee of J.C. Penney at the mall, was visiting a co-worker at the time of the incident. When the stabbings began, Bayne ran out to the parking lot and took off in her car, crying and shaking in the aftermath of an event she said she never thought would happen there. “All of sudden chaos just broke out,” Bayne said. “There was a bunch of people running into the J.C. Penney mall entrance, and they were just screaming that someone was going around the mall stabbing people, and that there was blood everywhere.” Though the mall’s security teams were on site, the security officers were not armed. Initially, nine victims were counted. Chief Anderson Monday said the 10th victim was identified as investigators continued to search through additional security video. The victim, a 21-year-old man from St. Cloud, was not badly injured, and he told police that because of the nature of his injuries, he didn’t initially seek out medical attention and didn’t notify police. The other nine victims have been released from the hospital. Amid the chaos, Jason Falconer, an off-duty police officer from nearby Avon, killed the suspect as he threatened other shoppers. Authorities said Adan, the attacker, had three previous encounters with police. According to Anderson, most of the encounters were for minor traffic violations, none of which led to an arrest. The police chief declined to provide further details about the attacker until more information was known. Jason Falconer: Man who ended Minnesota mall attack a reluctant hero At a news conference Sunday afternoon, the mayor and police chief praised Falconer, a part-time officer and former police chief of Albany, Minnesota, for taking action. Both officials said they had viewed a surveillance tape from Macy’s which revealed details of the confrontation. “His heroic actions are exemplary of having witnessed what he did as the suspect was lunging at him with a knife,” St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis said. “Not only did he fire, the suspect went down, came back up on three different occasions. He protected others from being injured and potentially loss of life. Clearly, a hero.” Related video Sources: Device found at second location Anderson said the attack will change the city forever. “Whenever something as awful as this happens, it’s hard for things to be the same as they were,” the police chief said. After the attacker in Minnesota was killed, the police chief said two search warrants were executed at an address in St. Cloud, and the suspect’s vehicle was impounded. Though the case may be closed soon, Anderson didn’t see things going back to normal. The mall stabbing was one of several incidents reported nationwide Saturday. In New York, an explosion ripped through the Chelsea neighborhood, leaving 29 injured. A second explosive device was found a few blocks away, authorities say. Related article After three US attacks in 1 day, a hunt for answers In New Jersey, an explosion went off in a garbage can on the route of a Marine Corps charity run. Thousands of people were about to participate in the 5K race in Seaside Park. No injuries were reported. The man suspected in the  bombings in New York and New Jersey was captured Monday. Ahmad Khan Rahami was charged with five counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer after a shootout Monday with police in Linden, New Jersey, Union County Prosecutor Grace H. Park said. He is also charged with second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon and second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. Rahami is believed to be connected to pipe bombs found Sunday night in Elizabeth, New Jersey, sources said After the Saturday stabbings, Lul Hersi stood outside the Crossroads Mall, waiting to find out if her son was among the victims. Fear washed over the Somali-American mother, not just for her son’s well-being, but also because of the potential backlash against her community. “This has been a dark day; it is a day we will never forget,” said Hersi. “ISIS does not represent us. It does not represent Islam, and it does not represent Somalis.” Hersi said she hoped the tragedy would bring St. Cloud residents together, rather than divide them further. “Let us unite as one Minnesota,” she said. “Please let’s spread love instead of hate.” CNN’s Jason Kravarik, Catherine E. Shoichet, Brad Parks, Evan Perez, Faith Karimi, Joe Sutton, Steve Visser, Chandrika Narayan, Dani Stewart, Sara Sidner and Lonzo Cook contributed to this report


"When you attack a country, it's an act of war," McCain said McCain also has scheduled a hearing for next week on foreign cyberthreats Sen. John McCain said Friday that Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential election amounted to an “act of war.” The Arizona Republican, who is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, also has scheduled a hearing for next week on foreign cyberthreats to the US, which will also focus on Russian cyberhacking, a committee aide told CNN earlier Friday. McCain, who is one of Washington’s most prominent foreign policy hardliners, has criticized the recent sanctions and expulsions announced by the Obama administration this week as insufficient and belated. He made his latest comments in Ukraine, a nation threatened by a resurgent Russia, after meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. “When you attack a country, it’s an act of war,” McCain said of the recent hackings on Ukrainian TV, according to a transcript compiled by Reuters. “And so we have to make sure that there is a price to pay so that we can perhaps persuade Russians to stop this kind of attacks on our very fundamentals of democracy.” McCain has invited James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence, Admiral Mike Rogers, Director of the National Security Agency, and Marcel Lettre, the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence, to next week’s hearing, according to the aide. Politico first reported on McCain’s hearing. President-elect Donald Trump is scheduled to meet for the first time next week with top leaders of the Intelligence agencies. The President-elect has said it’s time to “move on,” but McCain and other top Hill leaders have vowed to press legislation next year on sanctions in addition to the those announced by President Barack Obama this week. Obama took unprecedented steps Thursday to retaliate against Russian interference in the 2016 election, including expelling 35 Russian operatives from the United States. Those moves came after what the intelligence community says were Russian-orchestrated hackings of Democratic Party organizations during the election. Putin said Friday that the Kremlin would not retaliate and make similar expulsions.


Two Swiss journalists were detained while covering the opening of the Abu Dhabi Louvre in the United Arab Emirates on Thursday, according to a statement by Swiss public broadcaster RTS. Journalist Serge Enderlin and cameraman Jon Bjorgvinsson were arrested as they filmed an open-air market, and were held for more than 50 hours, according to the statement. UAE authorities said the journalists had trespassed at a restricted area in an industrial zone, prompting their arrest. Related article Inside the Louvre Abu Dhabi “After the official opening of the Louvre Abu Dhabi; Abu Dhabi police witnessed the journalists trespassing at a secured location in Mussaffah, and subsequently stopped them for questioning. Police later transported the reporters for further questioning at the police department and subsequently released them without charge,” read a statement to CNN by the UAE National Media Council. Enderlin said the pair had been “unlucky.” “We were caught by the police as we were filming in a market on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi where tens of thousands of immigrant workers live, building the country in harsh conditions. We simply wanted to document their life,” he said. RTS said the journalists were blindfolded as they were shuttled to several different locations. “We were separated, had our phones and watches taken away and were put in total isolation,” the statement quoted Bjorgvinsson as saying. “They never laid a hand on us, but their interrogations were tough and long,” he added. The statement added that the crew’s gear was confiscated by UAE authorities. “The NMC works to uphold the right of all media to report freely throughout the UAE. However we recognize that must be done in accordance with UAE laws and regulations,” read the UAE National Media Council statement. The Louvre Abu Dhabi – a $1 billion project – opened last week to great fanfare.


When Aaron Mallin entered Mount Carmel Cemetery to pay his respects to his late father, he noticed right away that something was wrong. A headstone near the entrance had been toppled. “I walked in further, I noticed two over there.  Three over there,” he said. “I just couldn’t believe it.” How could this happen in the United States of America? In all my years, I’ve never seen this. Millard Braunstein Mallin was the first to discover that vandals had desecrated some 175 headstones in the Jewish cemetery here last month, an act being investigated as a possible hate crime. Many of the fallen headstones are adorned with the Star of David and inscribed in Hebrew, offering tender glimpses into the lives buried there: beloved daughter, dear mother, loving father. But what were they really like? CNN, collaborating with the National Museum of American Jewish History, is telling some of their stories. Nettie Stern was only 17 when she married Elmer Braunstein. The couple moved to a small Jewish community in Bridgeton, New Jersey. They quickly put down roots, opening a soda water bottling and beer distributing business. Elmer, a veteran of the US Navy in World War I, joined the American Legion while Nettie spent evenings with a close-knit group of friends, playing bridge and mahjongg. Son Millard Braunstein recalls that Nettie was extremely proud of her husband’s service and instilled that pride in their children. The family cheered Elmer as he played the bugle in the local chapter’s marches. But Stern saw dark clouds gathering on the horizon as Hitler and the Nazis began their ascent to power in Germany.  Anti-Semitism was soon on the rise in New Jersey as well. Nettie went to the house of Millard’s best friend and made arrangements with the friend’s mother. Millard Braunstein, through tears, remembered Nettie telling the woman, “If anything happens to her, would she take care of me?’” Unfortunately, fate was not kind to Nettie. Elmer developed ulcers which ruptured, causing him to develop deadly blood poisoning.  He died in 1942. Millard was only 15 years old. “All of a sudden, [she] had become a mother and a father,” Braunstein said, the pain of the loss audible in his voice.  “I’m a young guy growing up during the war.  My mother did a good job in preparing me for the future.” Time marched on and Nettie persevered. She eventually made the tough decision to sell the family bottling business to the 7-UP company and move in with her parents in Philadelphia. And she sent her son Millard to college at Penn State. “She insisted I go off to college,” he told CNN.  “I didn’t even know where Penn State was.  I was never away from home all my life.” It didn’t matter to Nettie. “Millard, go do the best you can,” she told him. After just one year in college, Millard enlisted as a US Navy hospital corpsman stationed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. Nettie would later remarry and move to Florida. She lived there for more than 30 years, enjoying her children and grandchildren. Life was hard for Rebecca Renee Karp, but she danced her way through it all. She was born July 28, 1940, in Philadelphia’s Strawberry Mansion section. Her mother worked long hours in the city’s Navy Yard to support the US effort in World War II. So Renee’s grandmother raised her and became her protector. It was only fitting that Rebecca, an avid dancer, made it frequently onto Dick Clark’s “American Bandstand” show. Music followed her everywhere. She loved rock ‘n’ roll from the ’50s and ‘60s. She also loved “Soul Train,” country music, big band music and Frank Sinatra. Karp kept dancing into motherhood, raising her three children with the same appreciation for the arts she had. Her daughter, Stacy Silver, always wanted to be a writer. “She always believed in me,” Silver said, her voice cracking with emotion as she fingered her mother’s “hand of God” necklace around her neck. Renee Karp became her daughter’s sounding board for every story she wrote.  Every time she finished one, Renee made the time for Stacy to read it aloud to her. Her children were away at college when Karp told them the news. She had cancer. It was Mother’s Day in 1988 when her children got the call. Mom’s outlook was not good. They rushed to Karp’s bedside in Atlantic City, New Jersey.  But they were too late. “The bus got stuck … we couldn’t get to her in time,” said Silver, holding back tears. But maybe it’s what Karp wanted. She had suffered enough growing up and she was not going to let her children see her suffer anymore. “We think that she’s the one that stopped the bus,” said Silver, her hand moving back to her mother’s necklace. Opportunity was a word not well known to Bessie and Isadore Schwartz. They just tried to make the most of what they had. Isadore Schwartz emigrated to the US from Russia just a year after his birth in 1887.  Bessie, the daughter of Germany immigrants, was born five years later in Catawissa, Pennsylvania. Had Bessie’s parents not emigrated from Germany, she would have been 39 when Hitler was elected German chancellor. The two married when Bessie was only 17 and started a trucking business.  Later, they opened a luncheonette in Philadelphia. As business hummed, the couple led quiet and peaceful lives.  They just simply tried to make a living for their children and give them a foundation for a better life. The Schwartzes weathered the Great Depression but had to pull most of their children – five boys and one girl – out of school and put them to work to keep the family afloat. Only one of their children attended college. But their groundwork paid off: almost all of their grandchildren did. Grandson Stephen Schwartz recalled Isadore sitting him down for long conversations, often reminiscing about his life growing up. “He told me his memories of the assassination of President William McKinley,” said Schwartz. “He was 14 when that happened.” Bessie and Isadore became loving great grandparents and would stay married for 49 years.

vandalism of Jewish cemetery headstones in the United States


Editor’s Note: It’s a Washington tradition that isn’t subject to partisan bickering or a lobbyist’s best efforts to influence. The blooming of the US capital’s cherry blossoms reached its peak on April 5, two days later than the average peak bloom date. Peak bloom is defined as the day when 70% of the Yoshino variety blossoms are open on the cherry trees surrounding the Tidal Basin. “Best viewing of the trees will be for the next four to seven days, but they can last for up to two weeks under ideal conditions, such as cool temperatures to slow the progress from flowers to leaves, and a lack of high winds or heavy rains to bring the petals down,” National Park Service spokesman Mike Litterst said in a statement. Initial predictions were for an early peak this year, but cooler than expected temperatures pushed it back. Related article 5 great places to visit in April The National Cherry Blossom Festival started on March 17 and runs through April 15. The blossoms usually peak between the last week of March and the first week of April, but the park service reports that warmer or cooler temperatures have led to earlier blooms (March 15, 1990) and later blooms (April 18, 1958). The festival commemorates the 1912 gift from Tokyo of 3,020 cherry trees to Washington. The first trees actually arrived two years earlier, a gift from the city of Tokyo and due in part to the advocacy of Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore, one of National Geographic Society’s first female board members. These trees turned out to be diseased and were destroyed. In 1912, first lady Helen Herron Taft planted one of the first of more than 3,000 replacement trees sent from Japan. The 1912 gift of trees included 12 varieties, but now two varieties –  the Yoshino and Kwanzan – dominate. Related article Sakura season: Your guide to Japanese cherry blossoms More than 20 years later, civic groups and local government came together in 1935 to hold the first official festival. The pink blossoms of the Kwanzan trees are often found in the East Potomac Park area, while the white blossoms of the Yoshino are found closer to the northern part of the Tidal Basin near the Washington Monument. Marnie Hunter and Geet Jeswani contributed to this story.


"We've got to have either a special prosecutor or an independent commission," Fiorina said. "The American people need to be reassured about what actually happened here," she added. Former Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina said Wednesday that a special prosecutor or independent commission is needed to handle investigations into Russia and the Trump administration. “We’ve got to have either a special prosecutor or an independent commission, and that’s still the right answer,” Fiorina said on the “John Fredericks Show.” “And every day that goes by, it becomes clearer it’s the right answer because the Democrats will not let this go, and the American people need to be reassured about what actually happened here.” “That’s the only way you’re gonna get to the bottom of this in a way that everyone trusts,” added Fiorina. In a previous appearance on the show in early March, Fiorina said an investigation needed to be one that “no one can question” but didn’t specifically say a special prosecutor was needed. Fiorina is weighing a bid for the Senate in Virginia in 2018.


Editor’s Note: Juliette Kayyem is the author of the best-selling “Security Mom: An Unclassified Guide to Protecting Our Homeland and Your Home.” She is a professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School, a former assistant secretary of homeland security in the Obama administration and founder of Kayyem Solutions, a security consulting firm. The opinions expressed in this commentary are her own. Juliette Kayyem: Russia hack puts our democracy in peril. Fact-based inquiry is key to preventing future intrusions Kayyem: Probe is about protecting US elections. And if Trump imposes no penalty, it's a policy decision he will own The fact that Donald J. Trump will become president isn’t why we should all care — deeply – about the news that intelligence agencies, but mainly the CIA, have concluded that Russia used cyberattacks and infiltrations aimed at harming Hillary Clinton’s campaign.  (Disclosure: I supported Hillary Clinton and advised her on homeland security efforts, so for the sake of argument I’ll entertain the idea that Russian influence and hacking did not determine the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.) But Russia’s actions have put our democracy in peril.  The investigation launched by President Obama on Friday to assess the extent and success of Russia’s efforts is not just about looking back and seeing what happened in 2016; it is about protecting our elections in the future. The Trump camp’s insistence that the intelligence is not worthy of a deep dive has put it squarely in opposition to a fact-based inquiry supported by scores of nonpartisan intelligence professionals.  The consequences of Trump’s posture are dangerous for his governing in the future (and are a bit of an insult to those who risk their lives to get information for his daily briefings, which he doesn’t attend). Simply put, going to war against your public safety and intelligence apparatus is never a good way to start a presidency.   President Obama certainly knew that when he chose in 2008, against the calls by his progressive wing, to not bring criminal charges against intelligence agents and leaders who were responsible for torture in the post-9/11 era.  Obama took the long view; Trump should do the same. Amid all this political jockeying, though, the investigation – to be completed by Trump’s inauguration – is essential.  Specifically, the inquiries will fall into three categories: Evidence:  What do we know and how do we know it? Several media outlets suggest there were fundamental disagreements between the FBI and the CIA about whether Russian influence was meant to disrupt our democratic process or assist Trump.  If that is true, then a further review by the Obama administration is essential. Related video Trump calls Russia hacking reports ridiculous The FBI, which historically focuses on whether it can make a criminal case in court, is described in news reports as reluctant to say Russia favored Trump; the CIA and every other intelligence agency believe the evidence supports that very assessment.  The public, for the most part, does not know the extent of the evidence but one can surmise – given the CIA’s expertise – that it comes from sources and methods abroad, mainly Russia. Of interest, the Department of Homeland Security and its secretary, Jeh Johnson, are also on the CIA’s side; this is relevant because DHS, by statute, oversees the safety and security of the “dot com” domain.  (Compared with the Pentagon, for example, which secures “dot mil.”) Because the hacking involved civilian and private servers – the Democratic National Committee or Clinton Chairman John Podesta – DHS’ assessment is highly relevant.  In other words, the FBI may be an outlier but it isn’t on the same playing field as CIA, DHS or other intelligence agencies. Means:  How did Putin weigh in on the campaign?  It’s a matter of record that Putin was hostile to a Clinton victory: He believes the Obama administration has favored and supported grassroots protests against him.  And while Republican leaders continue to deny it, if the Republican National Committee was hacked but the information not released, Putin can still use that information to discredit or embarrass our leadership. Related article Where's the outrage over Russia's hack of the US election? Thus, what we don’t know, and what an investigation could show, is how we know he did it. It may be that the information simply came from our intelligence of conversations or activities  – such as phone call tapping, intelligence assets that have infiltrated Moscow’s leadership, signal intelligence picking up email conversations in Russia – that prove Putin had a policy to disrupt the election. But, there are also other theories that must be proved or disallowed in an investigation, including whether there is any information supporting some form of collusion between Trump surrogates and Russia.  Every theory must be run to ground.  The stakes are too high. Related article Putin: Trump's most dangerous best friend Punishment:  It is simply an error to believe this investigation is about Trump.  It isn’t; his supporters need to recognize that.  The ongoing investigation is being conducted to provide Congress and the future president with the means to assess what sorts of penalties Russia will suffer, including sanctions. Trump may choose not to impose a penalty, but the choice has to be made clear: It’s a policy decision that the future president will own. For the public, clarity on Russia’s influence is even more essential because 2016 is just one election.  There will be more, and unless we understand the depth of Russia’s influence, and make efforts to curb it in the future, Putin will be back.  He is, after all, a shoo-in for victory in his 2018 bid for re-election.


People are trying to make their voices heard Here's a look at how it's going Across the country, people are flooding auditoriums, high school theaters and anywhere else they can to give their members of Congress an earful. The reason: to weigh in on President Donald Trump’s agenda, and the potential of the new Congress to reshape government. A Kentucky woman named Rose Mudd Perkins laced into Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday, raising vanishing coal jobs, health care reform and poverty among other things. She ended with a crack about McConnell’s treatment of Sen. Elizabeth Warren. She left, apparently, unsatisfied. Perkins appeared on CNN the next day and continued to outline her frustration with politicians. She told CNN’s Brooke Baldwin about her personal struggles and the issues in her community and said she didn’t believe people’s voices were registering at the congressional level. One frequent topic of discussion at these town halls is the President’s words and actions with regard to immigrants and Muslim people. In at least one case, a Muslim immigrant raised his concerns with a senator. “I’m a Muslim, who’s going to save me here?” asked Zalmay Niazy, who said he worked with the US armed forces in Afghanistan, at a town hall with Sen. Chuck Grassley. People have come bearing signs. Some have a specific message or a warning, but many signs that dot the crowds just show a simple sign of agreement and disagreement so participants can indicate their feelings on different issues. Merlee Harrison, 80 of Fayetteville, holds up signs being handed out outside @SenTomCotton town hall pic.twitter.com/NE1u3bKS8v It's Ernst's only town hall this recess, and Deb (front and center) says it's bulls*** it was in a small room in rural Iowa. The spillover: pic.twitter.com/eRpin3CjtP Angry constituents regularly pledged to bring down their members of Congress in upcoming elections – even years down the line. New Jersey Rep. Leonard Lance, well, he had a time. Rep. Dave Brat, a Virginia Republican, was recorded complaining about being confronted, saying at the time: “Since Obamacare and these issues have come up, the women are in my grill no matter where I go.” He had long since come around by the time he had a town hall on Tuesday, when he said, “I like having debate, spirited conversation – if you can have a conversation.” Here's a good example of the rowdiness/frustration at Rep. Dave Brat's town hall tonight. He took over 30 Qs, got lots of pushback. pic.twitter.com/L3kHyDUNKw Asked on Tuesday about a tense event he held, Rep. Jason Chaffetz said people at his town hall “intended to bully and intimidate” him. He had earlier in the month said the angry voices at his town hall were from paid protesters, but the protesters said they were real people, motivated to do this out of concern, not money. Trump himself has repeatedly said protesters were paid and questionable. The so-called angry crowds in home districts of some Republicans are actually, in numerous cases, planned out by liberal activists. Sad! White House press secretary Sean Spicer detailed this accusation in the briefing room. Other Republicans have chosen not to accuse the people at their town halls of being paid or otherwise illegitimate. Rep. Mark Sanford of South Carolina waded through questions inside and out of his town hall. Rep. Scott Taylor told CNN at his Monday town hall: “That may be happening in other districts, but I don’t know of any paid protesters here, in this district,” Taylor said. And Sen. McConnell said the protests were “as American as apple pie.” Cotton indicated his willingness to engage with his constituents and walked into a tough event on Wednesday. People waited in long lines for Cotton at a liberal pocket of the red state. Line to get into @SenTomCotton town hall #arpx pic.twitter.com/t3OrQIRPxA And when he tried to dodge a determined questioner about Obamacare, the audience erupted. The senator closed out his event by taking a question from a 7-year-old. The boy, Toby, asked about Trump and the GOP prioritizing a border wall with Mexico over public programs, like PBS. “He shouldn’t do all that stuff for just a wall,” Toby told Cotton. For the members of Congress who have chosen to forgo town hall events so far, some constituents have opted to hold their own events, taking a page from Clint Eastwood’s book to debate an empty chair – or suit. Someone put stickers on milk jugs of "missing" US Rep. (GOP, Calif 8th) who refuses to hold town meetings. @WhereIsPaulCook @bittersweetdb pic.twitter.com/mUx9HRA3yn @PodSaveAmerica @jonfavs @jonlovett my Senator Toomey's town hall pic.twitter.com/QQSAB63hHM Have you seen this man?  We're very worried about him. pic.twitter.com/SAT3UaqSWg Tennessee Rep. Diane Black got a question about Obamacare from one teacher, and what the teacher had to say went viral. Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst faced cries of “shame on you” and “do your job” at the event and as she was filing into a car outside. She faced a number of tough interactions, including this moment on Obamacare. Here's the Obamacare question #Ernst was asked. pic.twitter.com/bAAQIYnLto


Australia -- pretensions to sophistication, but pronounce Sauvignon "Sav" South Korea -- where late-night drinking sessions grease the wheels of industry Ecuador -- local tipple is called "hangover in a bottle" St Patrick’s Day is upon us again. Time for the drinking world to pull on an unamusing leprechaun hat and order pints of the black stuff in a fake Irish accent. But why do we only celebrate the Emerald Isle’s contribution to conviviality when there are other nations out there who love to wallow in drink just as much? In the interest of equality, we herewith embark on a global pub crawl to see who else we should invite to the party. Promise to drink responsibly and you can join us. Australians are no longer the great drinkers they once were. Unlikely as it seems for a country where culture usually refers to something that grows in the folds of discarded sportswear, many Aussies have become refined in their tastes. Cheap lager is no longer cheap and, regardless, beer has been usurped by fancy wines. Still, they have a fine legacy. This is a country whose former prime minister, the legendary Bob Hawke, was once in the Guinness Book of Records for sculling 2.5 pints of beer in 2.5 seconds. Old habits die hard though, so if you do go drinking with Australians, you must still abide by the rules of “the shout.” This means once you’ve accepted a drink as part of a round, you’re obliged to “shout” everyone else a beverage in return – a costly business now that they’re all on the wine. Classic drink: “Cardonay” or a “Sav” – typically Austral-mangled wine varietals consumed either pre- or post-stubbie (of beer). Hangover cure: Cold, leftover pizza, pies, fry-ups, 3 a.m. souvlakis and even Vegemite and cheese sandwiches are all favorites. But sculling 2.5 pints of beer in 2.5 seconds will do the trick every time.* *CNN does not recommend this. Nor will it clean up afterward. Think of Germany and the chances are you’re thinking of a flaxen-haired fraulein hauling vast steins of beer through crowds of moustachioed men in leather shorts to the sound of an oompah band. Or perhaps you think about Angela Merkel. Each to their own. Germans may not be Europe’s biggest beer drinkers – that honor goes to the Czechs – but somehow they’ve cornered the market in celebrating its consumption. This is largely thanks to Oktoberfest, Bavaria’s month-long answer to St. Patrick’s Day. In reality, although Germans do have a taste for hops, barley, malt and water, most drink steadily in rather more mundane circumstances. This is because beer can be bought and consumed not just in bars, but in shops, gas stations, newspaper stands and on public transport. Often without the aid of lederhosen or the sound of parping brass. Classic drink: White wine spritzer. Nah, just kidding. It’s beer. Hangover cure: Herring and raw onion. But you’ll need more beer to fix your herring breath. Uganda leads its African neighbors for alcohol intake, largely thanks to a rampant trade in illegally made rotgut and a winning formula of booze made from bananas. High on the menu is a potent liquor called waragi, also known as war gin because it was once used to fortify troops. Though drinking too much inevitably leads to surrender. Classic drink: Ajono – a semi-fermented beer drunk from communal pots using long straws. Hangover cure: Luwombo – another winning formula: meat cooked in banana leaves. In South Korea, booze acts like a pressure valve, allowing people to vent frustrations. Booze also acts as a lubricant, oiling the wheels of business. And, of course, booze acts like booze, getting people drunk. South Korea’s strict social protocols seem to dissolve in alcohol, with the most hierarchical of relationships turning to brotherhoods by the end of the night, or early morning. A good session involves rapidly soaking up as many “bombs” (mixtures using “golden ratios” of whiskey and beer) as possible and then speaking (or slurring) what’s left of your mind, preferably to your boss. To aid this process, glasses are emptied and quickly filled. Later, inevitably, stomachs are filled and quickly emptied. Classic drink: Soju – to fans, a spirit capable of saving souls. To critics, cheap, sweet vodka. Hangover cure: Haejangguk – a spicy ox blood broth. Sounds like a hangover, tastes like a cure. How to survive a drinking session in South Korea This tiny former Soviet state has earned a reputation for boozing thanks to some World Health Organization stats that placed it top of the table (surely under the table?) for alcohol consumption. There’s been a lot of grumbling about where these numbers came from, particularly as they indicate most people would be too sozzled to respond accurately to any survey. If they are drinking to excess, the Moldovans have a decent selection of homegrown wines to choose from. They also have their own versions of popular East European fruit brandies. These have the same effect as knocking yourself on the head with a hammer, but without the unnecessary expense of buying a hammer. Classic drink: Boza – a sweet, malty fermentation only marginally less disgusting than pickle juice. Hangover cure: Pickle juice. You know you’re off to a bad start when the local liquor is known as “hangover in a bottle.” The best-selling Zhamir is a cheap but brain-penetratingly potent juice made from sugar cane that will get even the hairs on your head drunk after a couple of sips. There is a drinking etiquette in Ecuador. You must wait until a toast is made until you take the first sip of your drink. After that, you’re on your own, but it hardly matters since no one – least of all you – will remember anything about it. Classic drink: Cristal. Another headbanging local hooch, not the posh champagne. Hangover cure: In a country known for its coffee, obviously the best cure is oregano tea. The French may sneer at the uncivilized drinking habits of their European neighbors, but they’re usually sneering with a glass of French vin close at hand. In France, wine is consumed alongside every meal except breakfast. It’s often more freely available, and cheaper, than water. Only French wines will do though. Despite regularly losing taste tests to New World rivals, the French remain steadfastly loyal to their own vineyards, almost to the point of denial. Supermarkets rarely sell alcohol that isn’t French. They’re happy to eat snails, but they won’t touch Belgian beer. Classic drink: Chateauneuf-du-Pape – bold, peppery and over-confident. In other words: French. Hangover cure: Onion soup. Sorry, French onion soup. For better or worse, drinking is a way of life in Russia. Not something that’s necessarily done for enjoyment, but something that’s stoically endured. Like a Siberian winter, gloomy literature or a shirtless political leader. Classic drink: Vodka. Hangover cure: Vodka. China’s rapid economic expansion has seen it become a major consumer of oil, steel and other raw materials. With all that thirsty work, it must surely also have its eyes on the rest of the world’s refreshments. In the meantime, apart from Shanghai billionaires splurging on US$10,000 bottles of Chateau Margaux, the Chinese mostly stick to fiery grain-based liquors. The Chinese love celebratory drinking. Weddings, birthdays and business deals are all good excuses. Drinking takes the form of a series of increasingly incomprehensible toasts. To the outsider, this might seem tortuous. Just wait until the karaoke starts. Classic drink: Baijiu – a white spirit that can also be used to clean vomit from inside a taxi. Hangover cure: Congee – a porridge-like soup that unfortunately resembles stuff that could have been cleaned out of a taxi. While the Irish have one date to celebrate their country’s abiding love of alcohol, the British have three: yesterday, today and tomorrow. The near-constant drinking in the UK revolves around the pub. After a few pints, sometimes the pub begins to revolve, too. Alcohol is used by many Brits to overcome their traditional reserve. And so pubs are the places where relationships begin and end, deals are struck, scores are settled and the whole theater of life plays out to its dramatic conclusion. A range of light snacks may also be available. Classic drink: Pint of bitter – traditional ale that, contrary to popular belief, is rarely served warm. Hangover cure: Full English breakfast – a greasy plate of fried meat that, contrary to health and safety regulations, is rarely served warm. 10 tips for going about London as a local


Harapan is the last Sumatran rhino in the U.S. He's moving to Indonesia in hopes he will breed There are only about 100 living Sumatran rhinos in the world What to do when you want to settle down and raise a family but you’re the last remaining member of your species in the country? No, it’s not the latest sci-fi movie coming out this fall. It’s the real-life story of Harapan, the last Sumatran rhino in the United States. The Cincinnati Zoo isn’t going to let him pine away. Instead, the 8-year-old male Sumatran rhino will move to Indonesia sometime this year in an attempt to breed him with a female rhino at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary, a breeding facility in the Way Kambas National Park of Indonesia. The zoo called the move “the end of an era” for its Sumatran rhino breeding program, the only captive breeding program in the United States that has produced calves for this crtically-endangered species. “Despite the great personal sadness so many of us feel both about Harapan leaving and Cincinnati Zoo’s Sumatran rhino breeding program coming to an end, we need to focus on all we have accomplished, for there is much to celebrate,” said Dr. Terri Roth, Director of the Zoo’s Center for Conservation & Research of Endangered Wildlife, in a statement. “The Cincinnati Zoo has had a profound, historic impact on the effort to save this species.” About 100 of these rhinos exist in the world and only nine live in captivity. One of three calves born at the Cincinnati Zoo, Harapan is the only Sumatran rhino living outside of Southeast Asia. Visitors will be able to see Harapan on display at the zoo until his departure, sometime later this year.

Cincinnati Zoo's Sumatran rhino breeding program


Dalai Lama is 80 years old and has been advised to rest He had been scheduled to give talks in four states On advice of his U.S. doctors, the Dalai Lama has canceled a series of October appearances in the United States, his office announced Friday. The Dalai Lama, 80, was told to rest for several weeks after a routine checkup, the statement said. “We deeply regret the inconvenience caused by this decision and apologize to all the people who have worked so hard in organizing the visit as well as to the public,” his office said. The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the people of Tibet, was scheduled to speak at events in Colorado, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Utah beginning on October 17. The news will be welcomed by officials from China, who regard the Dalai Lama as a separatist. China has vociferously objected in the past to meetings between the Dalai Lama and U.S. officials. When asked for comment about the canceled trip, State Department spokesperson Julia Straker said, “The Dalai Lama is a respected world figure who is always welcomed to the United States.”


US State Dept. cites "troubling increase" in civilian casualties since Russia began airstrikes Secretary of State John Kerry calls his Russian counterpart to express concern about deaths Russian Defense Ministry calls claims "without evidence" The U.S. sharpened its criticism of Russian airstrikes in Syria on Tuesday, charging that “indiscriminate attacks” had reportedly caused hundreds of civilian casualties and the displacement of over 100,000 residents. “We’ve seen a marked and troubling increase in reports of these civilian casualties since Russia commenced its air campaign,” a spokesman for the U.S. State Department said. The spokesman, Mark Toner, cited reports that “Russian airstrikes in Syria have killed hundreds of civilians, including first responders, hit medical facilities, schools and markets, and led to the displacement of over 130,000 Syrians.” He added, “These indiscriminate attacks, as I talked about on infrastructure, on medical facilities, on civilians, does hamper the efforts to get that humanitarian assistance to where it is most needed, absolutely.” Secretary of State John Kerry called Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earlier this week to express concern about the civilian casualties, Toner said. Various human rights groups, including Amnesty International, have accused the Russian military of killing civilians in its airstrikes. Russian jet fighters have carried out 121 combat sorties in Syria and struck 424 “terrorist” targets, since December 28, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Facebook Wednesday. RELATED: Russia, Taliban share intelligence in fight against ISIS In the Facebook post, the Russian Defense Ministry lambasted the State Department’s comments that it was responsible for civilian casualties, calling them “impersonal claims without evidences” and saying that the accusations “resemble performances held by hypnotists.” The Russian Defense Ministry also accused the U.S. of attempting to “shift responsibility” for American military operations that had resulted in “mass killing.” The Russian government began its air war against rebel groups in Syria in September in an effort to bolster its ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, during that country’s nearly five-year-long civil war. Russia and the U.S. are members of the International Syrian Support Group, which is actively promoting a diplomatic solution to end the conflict. Peace talks between the Assad regime and select rebel groups are scheduled to begin in Geneva, Switzerland, in January. ISIS and the al Qaeda-affiliated al Nusra Front will not be participating in the talks. RELATED: Syrian government willing to participate in peace talks with opposition Kerry also asked the Russian Foreign Minister to help ensure that Russian and Syrian military forces avoid targeting opposition and rebel leaders who are involved in the peace process, Toner said. The State Department spokesman expressed concern that airstrikes on rebel leaders involved in the peace talks complicate “our efforts to bring about a meaningful, political, negotiated settlement, as well as a nation-wide cease fire.” While criticizing Russia’s role in carrying out airstrikes, the State Department also praised Russia for supporting the peace talks. “We have at times in the past six months to a year seen Russia play a more positive or more constructive role in the political side of resolving the Syrian conflict,” Toner said. RELATED: Putin: ‘If necessary, we will use’ advanced military capability in Syria


"I almost feel obliged to apologize for some of what my political colleagues said," Biden said Biden was visiting the Mexican capital for economic talks Speaking in Mexico City, Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday came close to offering an apology for comments made by Republicans about Mexico and Mexican immigrants on the campaign trail. “I almost feel obliged to apologize for some of what my political colleagues said,” Biden said alongside Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. “It’s a heated campaign season and I just want you to know, Mr. President, that the most heated rhetoric you’ve heard from competitors for the nomination for president is not who we are as the American people. It is not the view that is the view of the majority of the American people. It’s the exact opposite. It’s the opposite view.” Earlier on Thursday, Biden, who was in Mexico for economic talks, called the rhetoric “disturbing.” Biden has been outspoken in his distaste for harsh rhetoric about undocumented immigrants during the 2016 presidential campaign, including blasting Donald Trump by name for his language about Mexican undocumented immigrants. Trump has suggested that some Mexicans crossing the U.S. southern border are rapists and drug dealers. RELATED – Ex-Mexican president Fox: ‘I’m not going to pay for that f***ing wall’ Biden didn’t name Trump or any other candidate on Thursday, contending instead that multiple GOP candidates have been promoting harmful ideas as they run for president. “Some of the rhetoric coming from some of the presidential candidates on the other team are, I think, dangerous, damaging and incredibly ill-advised,” he said. Biden was visiting the Mexican capital for economic talks accompanied by a delegation of U.S. officials who hope to scale up trade with the country. Biden was not expected to discuss the extradition proceedings for Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, the drug kingpin who Washington is seeking to prosecute on drug trafficking charges.

Republican presidential candidates' rhetoric on Mexico and Mexican immigrants


Editor’s Note: Page Pate is a criminal defense and constitutional lawyer based in Atlanta. He is an adjunct professor of law at the University of Georgia, a founding member of the Georgia Innocence Project, a former board member of the Federal Defender Program in Atlanta, and the former chairman of the criminal law section of the Atlanta Bar Association. Follow him on Twitter @pagepate. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his. Page Pate: In discussions with Russia ambassador, Flynn may have been broken two laws: the Logan Act and making false statements. Pate says there is enough evidence to support an investigation on making false statements, but in political climate, that's not likely President Trump’s national security adviser, Michael Flynn, resigned on Monday night, and his resignation letter cited a conversation he had with Russia’s ambassador during the transition period before Trump took office (and before Flynn had any official authority to engage in diplomatic discussions on behalf of the United States). In the letter, Flynn acknowledges “inadvertently” briefing Vice President Pence with “incomplete information” about that call. There are two laws that may have been broken here – the Logan Act and the crime of making false statements. The Logan Act makes it a crime for a private citizen to communicate with a foreign government without proper authority in an attempt to influence the actions of the foreign government. President John Adams signed the Logan Act in 1799 in response to the actions of a state legislator (George Logan) who apparently went behind Adams’ back and traveled to France to try and negotiate peace with that country during the undeclared Quasi War. Flynn is guilty of violating the Logan Act if he (1) had communication with a foreign government; (2) with the intent to influence that foreign government, (3) while being a U.S. citizen without the authority to engage in diplomatic discussions on behalf of the United States. If Flynn violated this law, he would be guilty of a felony and face up to three years in prison. Related video Graham vows fight to last breath for sanctions Based on what has been publicly reported, it looks like Flynn may have violated this law. There is no question he had discussions with the Russian ambassador while he was still a private citizen without any official authority to represent the United States in diplomatic matters. The only real question is whether he intended to influence how the Russians responded to the sanctions imposed by President Obama after the election. Given the timing of the call, and its likely purpose, it’s certainly possible that the point of the call was to appease Russia so it would not retaliate with its own sanctions against the United States. I do not know the full substance of the call, but that should be available to investigators to review. For the most part, even though some of Flynn’s defenders seem to argue that he violated the Logan Act, they have chosen to criticize the law itself. They argue that the Logan Act is an old law that’s never really been used, and is probably unconstitutional anyway. It’s true that the Logan Act is old. And, while there have been several discussions about pursuing a Logan Act case in recent years, it has apparently never been used to successfully prosecute someone. But so what? There are literally hundreds of federal crimes in the federal code that are rarely, if ever, used. While I personally think that many of these obscure federal “crimes” are outdated, misguided and patently unconstitutional, that doesn’t change the fact that they are still on the books. Some have argued that the law is unconstitutional in two ways – it violates the First Amendment by criminalizing free speech, and violates the Fifth Amendment due process clause because the conduct covered by the law is extremely vague. Another problem with the law is the fact that it hasn’t been used in over 200 years. There is an arcane legal doctrine (desuetude) that calls into question that validity of a dusty old law like this that’s never actually been used. But this old law is still in the Federal Criminal Code. Until Congress rewrites it, or some federal judge strikes it down, it is still good law. And if someone breaks that law, they should be prosecuted. People shouldn’t be able to decide which laws they want to follow, especially people who are running the country. The Logan Act is not the only law that Flynn may have broken. Federal law also prohibits someone from making a false statement when discussing a matter within the jurisdiction of the federal government if there is an intent to deceive a government agency about an important matter. Making a false statement is a felony that carries up to five years in prison. Unlike the Logan Act, prosecutions under the false statements statute occur all the time. Related article For a 'winner,' Trump is doing a lot of losing A false statement can be a lie, or an attempt to cover something up. The critical issue is whether the person intended to mislead a government official about an important matter. Did Flynn make a false statement? Based on what’s been reported, it appears that he did. At some point, it appears that Flynn told Vice President Pence that his discussions with the Russian ambassador did not involve the recently imposed sanctions. That statement was made to a government official, concerned a matter within the jurisdiction of the federal government, and now appears to be false. The only questions are whether Flynn intended to lie or just made an honest mistake, and whether any false statement he may have made was intended to impair the government’s investigation of his discussions with the Russians. Flynn has claimed that he “isn’t completely certain” about whether his discussions with the Russian ambassador included any mention of the sanctions. That seems incredible to me. At the time, Flynn was expecting to become the national security adviser to the incoming president. Related article Flynn's departure: The second big blow to Trump in a week The timing of the call suggests it was made in response to the sanctions that had just been announced by President Obama, and in an attempt to assure Russia that Trump had no intention of continuing the sanctions once he was in office, so there would be no need for Russia to retaliate with sanctions of its own. Russia seemed to have gotten the message because Vladimir Putin later announced there would be no new sanctions imposed against the US. In almost every false statement prosecution, the person being charged doesn’t deny making the statement (especially where, like here, there is a recording of it). Instead, the first line of defense in these cases is for the person to say “I don’t remember saying that.” That’s a good defense, if it’s believable. If the government can’t prove the person intended to lie, then the person can’t be convicted of making a false statement. Sign up for CNN Opinion’s new newsletter.Join us on Twitter and Facebook But is Flynn’s claim that he doesn’t remember credible here? I doubt it. It would take a truly incompetent person to not remember the substance of such an important discussion. A prosecutor can never really prove what’s in a person’s mind when he made a particular statement. Instead, intent is usually proven by the circumstances of the statement itself – what was actually said, when it was said and to whom, and what else was going on at the time. In this case, the circumstances that have been reported so far suggest that Flynn knew that what he was saying to Vice President Pence was false when he said it. But if Flynn simply told Pence, “I didn’t say anything about the sanctions,” that would just be a denial of wrongdoing and was not likely intended to change any official action of the government. Ultimately, even though I think there is enough evidence here to support an investigation, I don’t see it happening. While former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates may have been willing to pursue this case, it’s hard to imagine that the current leadership of the Justice Department will ever investigate. I can’t see how any other federal or state agency would have jurisdiction and, even if one did, the motivation would likely not be strong enough to open a serious inquiry into Flynn’s conduct now that he has resigned. In addition, there is no doubt that any appointment of a special prosecutor would be filled with controversy and criticized as pure politics, especially if the investigation focused on violations of the Logan Act, a law that may be unconstitutional. Flynn’s call with the Russian ambassador and what he said about it to Vice President Pence will almost certainly have political consequences for the Trump administration. But I don’t think it will have any legal consequences for Flynn, personally, despite evidence that he may have broken the law.


Editor’s Note: Frida Ghitis is a world affairs columnist for The Miami Herald and World Politics Review, and a former CNN producer and correspondent. The views expressed in this commentary are her own. Donald Trump's rise to the presidency was supposed to usher in a sweep of victories for like-minded candidates, writes Frida Ghitis Instead, it's ruining their chances for success, she writes When Emmanuel Macron, France’s moderate centrist candidate, won Sunday’s presidential election against his fiery nationalist opponent Marine Le Pen, he confirmed a trend that should worry right-wing populists – especially those working in the White House. In an ironic twist, Donald Trump’s rise to the presidency – which was supposed to usher in a sweep of victories for like-minded candidates – is ruining their chances for success. To be sure, Macron’s victory was the result of countless factors, some of them unique to France. But one of the reasons Macron won is that French voters were horrified at the prospect of electing their own version of Trump. Le Pen reminded them a bit too much of the new American president, a man they strongly dislike. Trump has low approval ratings in the United States, but it’s nothing compared to his ratings in France. A recent poll found an astonishing 82% of French voters have unfavorable views of Trump. That’s even worse than Putin’s dismal 70.9%. Trump’s election in the United States was supposed to help other populist politicians across the Atlantic. Instead, it is tripping them up. The French election, like any political contest, was a local affair. But it was also a microcosm of a larger battle raging in Western democracies. The West has become a battleground for nationalist populists, who rile up the crowds and stoke their discontent and fears by blaming their countries’ woes on outsiders, on immigrants, on bad trade deals and on international organizations that erode the countries’ sovereignty. They are facing off against “small L” liberal democrats, politicians who advocate democratic freedoms, tolerance, equality, international trade and active participation in international organizations. The nationalists have enjoyed good relations and strong (we’re still trying to find out how strong) support from Russian President Vladimir Putin. They would like to see the European Union dismantled, a goal Putin rightly views as weakening the West. In the United States, Trump campaigned as a nationalist populist. (He is not governing as he campaigned, but that’s another story.) His victory sparked a wave of euphoria among Europe’s populists. Steve Bannon, Trump’s ideologically-charged strategist, presumably still wants to see the nationalist revolution sweep across the West. But the euphoria that followed Trump’s election has been followed by grim news for his European soul mates. Europe’s anti-immigrant leaders made the pilgrimage to the United States, delirious about Trump. The Dutch anti-Muslim leader Geert Wilders attended  the Republican convention. The UK’s Nigel Farage, head of the anti-EU party UKIP, was all smiles at Trump Tower just after the election, with Trump recommending that he be appointed ambassador to the United States. Then there was Le Pen, who was spotted in the Trump Tower lobby a week before the inauguration. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, said her presence had nothing to do with Trump. But she was meeting with a man named Guido Lombardi, a resident of Trump Tower, who described himself as a liaison between Trump and Europe’s far-right leaders. Right up to the inauguration, the nationalists had much to celebrate. But the Trump embrace has turned into a Trump curse. Let’s just say they’re not tired of winning. I’ve been spending time in European countries as voters prepare to go to the polls, and what I have found is that many people are simply stunned – and not in a good way – about what they see in the United States. As a result, nationalists are losing altitude. In the Netherlands, Wilders’ Party for Freedom (PVV) started soaring in the polls after Trump’s election. His motto, “Make the Netherlands ours again,” deliberately emulated Trump’s “Make America great again.” The PVV held only 15 seats going into the election. By January 20 it was polling to win 41 seats, a stunning figure by the standards of the Netherlands’ fragmented multi-party parliament. But then Trump took office. The headlines in the Netherlands showed massive demonstrations at US airports in support of immigrants. The nightly news showed to slack-jawed viewers an American president calling the media “the enemy of the people” and blatantly lying. The PVV’s lead started to evaporate. The election became a referendum on Trump. On Election Day, the lead was gone. The PVV won 20 seats. A big gain from the last election, but less than half what it had polled before Trump became President. In the UK, Farage’s UKIP has slipped in the mud. In local elections last week the party was wiped out even in the areas where it had traditionally done well. Its only member of parliament has stepped down. The party, according to former members, is finished. Then there’s France. Sign up for CNN Opinion’s new newsletter.Join us on Twitter and Facebook Much about the French election was reminiscent of America’s, from the xenophobia and the anti-refugee, anti-Muslim rhetoric, all the way to the massive hacking and release of emails from the Macron campaign, an act that appears linked to Russia. A Kremlin-linked bank, incidentally, helped finance Le Pen’s campaign. But it is also clear that Le Pen was hurt by her association with Trump. When I asked French voters about Le Pen, somehow the name Trump kept coming up. Some parties deliberately labeled Le Pen “the French Trump.” Political posters melded the two politicians’ faces, making Trump and Le Pen look like the same person and urging voters “Don’t Trump yourself.” In an atmosphere where more than eight in ten voters dislike Trump, that wounded her. Le Pen did not become president of France, but she did finish second in a field of 11 candidates. That’s an achievement and a sign that the battle between the competing philosophies is not over, and that she tapped into concerns that Macron must address. That message applies beyond France. Some of the issues at the core of populist agendas are legitimate and deserve to be addressed. In some ways, nationalists have made significant gains. They have already moved the entire political spectrum further to the right. Some of their losses have come because their rivals have co-opted their causes. But major questions remain unresolved, including the workings of the European Union, the best way to deal with migration pressures, and the right response to what many perceive as threats to local values. It seems palpable that the West is living through a crucial moment in its history. More elections loom ahead in Europe, including in Germany, and the Trump administration is just getting started in the United States. The trend so far strongly suggests that Trump has become a liability for nationalists. But the larger contest is far from over – even if Steve Bannon’s vision of a nationalist revolution across the West, piloted by his boss, is crashing into the rocks.


Editor’s Note: David Sterman is a policy analyst at New America’s International Security Program. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. On Tuesday, the US Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice released a report that was mandated by President Trump’s executive order – signed in March 2017 – which revised the “travel ban” from a number of Muslim-majority countries. Attorney General Jeff Sessions asserted that Tuesday’s report – which found that 73% of individuals convicted of international terrorism crimes in federal courts between September 11, 2001 and December 31, 2016 were foreign-born – “reveals an indisputable sobering reality – our immigration system has undermined our national security and public safety.” Far from revealing an indisputable reality, the misleading report is, in fact, the latest indication that the Trump administration is trying to skirt the truth. President Trump promoted the new report by tweeting that it shows “nearly 3 in 4 individuals convicted of terrorism-related charges are foreign-born,” dropping the key qualifier of “international.” This tweet ignores the numerous incidents of terrorism in the United States committed by individuals motivated by far-right and other ideological motives. Related article 16 years after 9/11: The state of the terrorist threat Far-right-wing terrorists have killed 69 people in the US since the 9/11 attacks. The vast majority of individuals involved in those plots were born American citizens. Even if you look only at jihadist terrorism, the report’s findings are misleading on several points. First, it includes the cases of terrorists who were captured abroad for terrorist incidents, but had never set foot in the United States before they faced trial. Such foreign terrorists are not immigrants. This would not be the first time the administration has played fast and loose with the facts on this issue. In February, 2017, White House adviser Stephen Miller told NBC’s Meet the Press: “First of all, 72 individuals, according to the Center for Immigration Studies, have been implicated in terroristic activity in the United States who hail from those seven nations, point one.” The data he cited – originally collected by then-Senator Sessions and presumably the basis for parts of this new report – included four terrorists who came to the US to face trial. Second, contrary to the thrust of the new report, most foreign-born terrorists have radicalized in the United States, not in the countries that they often left when they were children. A leaked Department of Homeland Security draft report from March 2017 obtained by MSNBC’s “Rachel Maddow Show” states: “We assess that most foreign-born US-based violent extremists likely radicalized several years after their entry to the United States.” The report found that almost half of foreign-born extremists were less than 16 years old when they entered the country, and a majority were only indicted more than ten years after they had first entered the country. A CNN review of the eight cases actually named in Tuesday’s report found that “several of the individuals had lived in the United States for many years before committing the terror-related offenses they were eventually convicted for in federal court.” Once again, this is not a new issue. The data Stephen Miller cited in February to defend the travel ban included the case of Mohamed Osman Mohamud, who came to the United States when he was a young child and who was arrested and convicted of plotting to attack a Christmas tree ceremony in Portland, Oregon, more than a decade after he came to the United States. The citation of the case was not just Miller using misleading data that happened to include Mohamud. The Mohamud case was specifically cited to defend the travel ban in a set of frequently asked questions on the ban that was posted by the US Department of Homeland Security. Meanwhile, the data being cited by the Trump administration contrasts with that collected by the nonpartisan research institution, New America, which found that about half of the 420 individuals accused of jihadist terrorism crimes in the United States since 9/11 were born American citizens and that 85% were either US citizens or legal permanent residents. Related video How Donald Trump talks about attacks By including only those convicted in federal courts, the government’s new report excludes well known examples of deadly terrorist attackers who were natural born American citizens, such as Carlos Bledsoe, who killed a soldier in an attack on a military recruiting station in Little Rock, Arkansas in 2009 and was charged in state court. Nidal Hasan, who was born in Arlington, Virginia, killed 13 people in 2009 in an attack at the Fort Hood, Texas military base. Since he was charged in military court, his case is not included in this week’s report. Also left out is Omar Mateen, who killed 49 people in an attack in the Pulse nightclub in Orlando in 2016 and died during the attack. While none of these three native-born American citizens are included in the new government report, they alone killed more than half of all the victims killed by jihadist terrorists in the United States since 9/11. Indeed, 8 of the 14 individuals – including Bledsoe, Mateen, and Hasan – who committed deadly jihadist attacks in the United States since 9/11 were also born in the United States. Sign up for CNN Opinion’s new newsletter.Join us on Twitter and Facebook While the government may assert it has access to better data or secret information, New America’s conclusions are supported by other examinations of the origins of American terrorists, including from the RAND Corporation and the Center on National Security at Fordham Law School, both of which also found about half of the jihadist terrorists they examined to have been born American citizens. With the repeated misleading claims by an administration set upon defending a policy that was seemingly crafted to defend candidate Trump’s call for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States,” the question must be asked: Can the government’s claims regarding the terrorist threat be trusted? If the answer is no, that has serious ramifications for efforts to prevent terrorism and communicate effectively when an attack does occur.

Trump administration's travel ban and terrorism report


Editor’s Note: Jonathan Cristol is a fellow at the World Policy Institute and a senior fellow at the Center for Civic Engagement at Bard College. You can follow him @jonathancristol. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. Jonathan Cristol: New South Korean leader could upend US ties with key regional ally Kim Jong Un knows a nuclear weapon offers more protection than piece of paper, he says The election of Moon Jae-in as President of South Korea has the potential to upend the US relationship with a key regional ally. Moon does not appear to share the hard line toward North Korea of his recent predecessors and seeks greater distance and autonomy from the United States. He is said not to favor sanctions and has called for the reopening of the Kaesong industrial complex, which provided jobs and money to North Koreans. It is also possible that he will advocate a return to talks aimed at ending North Korea’s nuclear program, though he has said he would not do so unilaterally. Related article South Korea election: Moon Jae-in claims victory President Donald Trump has no real Korea policy and has made many schizophrenic statements about both Koreas, but he does have a long history of advocating talks with Kim Jong Un. It is tempting to look at the recent Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action between the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany and Iran, aka “the Iran deal,” as a model for nuclear negotiations with North Korea. However, the situations are not comparable, and North Korean negotiations have a far lower likelihood of success. Iran came to the table for two major reasons. The most obvious, but arguably not the most important, was the crippling sanctions against the regime put into place by the Obama administration and the Security Council. These sanctions were effective, both because they were comprehensive and because the Iranian government cares about and is responsive to its own people. These conditions do not hold in North Korea, which brooks no dissent and is willing to let hundreds of thousands of its citizens starve to ensure the regime’s survival. Perhaps more importantly, in the years before the start of negotiations in Oman, Iran’s perceived need for nuclear weapons decreased. In 2007, the United States had more than 195,000 troops in states that border Iran and had just invaded two of its neighbors. By 2014, US troop levels had decreased to just over 34,000, and the United States was clearly war-weary and not eager to invade another Middle Eastern country. The perceived threat posed by the United States to Iran had diminished and thus negotiations were more politically palatable to Iran. North Korea’s perceived need for nuclear weapons will never change. Unlike the US presence on Iran’s borders, South Korea and Japan are forever. The powerful South Korean army will always be looking across the Demilitarized Zone at the North. And while the US commitment to South Korea may, after a series of tweets from Trump, be more tenuous than it has been in years, the military alliance between the United States and South Korea remains strong. Iran does not have a history of breaking commitments to the United States. This is not to say that they are a good actor, or a positive force in international affairs, but unlike in North Korean negotiations, Iran has so far acted in good faith. It is true that the Iranians do not abide by the spirit of their commitments, but ultimately they have lived up to their commitments. North Korea, on the other hand, has a perfect track record of violating the agreements it made regarding its nuclear program in 1994, 2005, 2007 and 2012. Why should it be trusted now? Related article South Korea's new president wants to reverse its North Korea policy Similarly, why would North Korea trust the United States? In 2003, the United States made an agreement with Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi to eliminate his weapons of mass destruction program. Gadhafi both complied with that agreement and shared intelligence that led to the breakup of the A.Q. Khan network. Then, at the first opportunity, the United States aided in his overthrow. Finally, perhaps the most important key difference between Iran and North Korea is that North Korea actually has nuclear weapons and Iran did not. There are few cases in which states gave up their nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, one of those was Ukraine, which gave up its weapons in exchange for a guarantee of its territorial integrity. Kim knows a nuclear weapon offers more protection to his regime than a piece of paper, and he believes he needs nukes to survive. Unless those conditions change, negotiations with North Korea are unlikely to be successful.


Trump has sought to slow refugees coming to the US Abdullah has welcomed many refugees to Jordan When King Abdullah II of Jordan was presented with a wave of refugees from Syria, he welcomed more than a million people into his country. When President Donald Trump was presented the same, he closed the door. The two world leaders who met Wednesday are united in the fight against ISIS – a fact Trump heralded during a news conference in the White House Rose Garden – but the duo are each other’s antithesis when it comes to responding to the now ever-present issue of Syrian refugees. Related article Trump prepares for critical week of diplomacy The meeting comes as the focus on Syria’s ongoing civil war is at its brightest: The White House, along with activist groups and other foreign leaders, blamed forces tied to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday for a chemical attack in a rebel-controlled area of Syria. On Wednesday, Abdullah downplayed his differences with Trump regarding refugees, largely deflecting a question about Trump’s refugee ban. And Trump pledged to help Jordan with strains caused by the influx of refugees looking to escape Syria. “We also acknowledged the vital role that Jordan has played in hosting refugees from the conflict in Syria,” Trump said, adding that the United States will contribute more aide to Jordan for refugees. “This aid will help countries like Jordan host refugees until it is safe for them to return home,” Trump said. “The refugees want to return home.” Related article 9th Circuit will hear travel ban suit in May Abdullah echoed this sentiment: “Most, if not all, Syrian refugees want to go back to Syria.” Pictures of children writhing in pain from the attack have plastered TVs around the world, bringing into focus the human impact the ongoing war. White House officials said this week that Middle East peace and the refugee crisis will be among the topics the two world leaders will discuss Wednesday. Trump said Wednesday that the chemical attack “crossed a lot of lines” for him and changed his “attitude towards Syria and Assad has changed very much.” The official White House visit is the second time Abdullah and Trump have seen each other this year. The two met briefly in February around an annual Washington prayer breakfast. Abdullah also met with Vice President Mike Pence in February to discuss the fight against terrorism and the Syrian crisis, according to the White House. But Wednesday’s put a sharper focus on the differences between the two world leaders, especially in terms of the ongoing refugee issue that has put pressure on Jordan’s economy. The Syrian civil war has caused 4.81 million Syrians to flee their country, according to the United Nations, while 6.3 million people have been displaced internally. Jordan’s response to the crisis was to take in over million refugees, the country’s leaders have said, a decision that dramatically altered the make-up of the oil-less Middle Eastern country that shares a 233-mile border with Syria. The United Nations has registered close to 700,000 refugees in Jordan alone. “We really didn’t have much choice,” Abdullah told CBS in 2016. “They were flooding across the border, being shot by the Syrian regime and Jordan has always been a place that opens its arms to refugees from many countries unfortunately.” The decision has increased Jordan’s population by 20%, Abdullah said, straining the country’s ability provide basic necessities, like water, to the refugees, while at the same time decreasing the services Jordanian citizens have received from their government. “Jordan is fatigued and has reached its maximum carrying capacity whether in terms of available resources,” Jordanian Prime Minister Hani al-Mulki said Tuesday. “Without the continued support of the international community this will negatively impact our overstretched ability to continue providing necessary services to Syrians.” Despite the troubles, though, Abdullah’s decision stands in stark contrast with Trump, who – days after assuming office in January – directed his administration to shut the door on Syrian refugees. “I’m establishing new vetting measures to keep radical Islamic terrorists out of the United States of America. We don’t want them here,” Trump said as he signed the order. “We only want to admit those into our country who will support our country and love deeply our people.” While that order – and a subsequent order that looked to do something similar – have been blocked by courts, the Trump administration has made clear that Syrian refugees will not be welcome without a pause in the program. Trump capped his presidential campaign by routinely promising to “suspend” the Syrian refugee program and slammed Hillary Clinton, his 2016 opponent, for advocating the United States increase the number of Syrian refugees they accept. “Hillary Clinton wants a 550% increase in Syrian refugees pouring into our countries,” Trump said days before the election in Florida. “Her plan would mean generations of terrorism and extremism spreading in your schools and all throughout your communities.” One area on which Trump and Abdullah do agree is the fight against ISIS, where both world leaders are supportive of going after the terrorist organization. Abdullah, a former special operations commander in Jordan, told CNN in 2015 that while ISIS is trying to link itself to Islam, “These people… are on the fringe of Islam.” And he has cracked down violently on the group. When ISIS captured Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh in 2015 and killed him by putting him inside a cage and setting it on fire with a flamethrower, Abdullah responded by hanging two prisoners, including one that ISIS had previously requested be released. Jordan has also played a key role in the campaign against ISIS, regularly participating in air attacks against the group and sharing intelligence with the CIA and other American organizations. Trump campaigned on a platform of tough talk on ISIS, including pledging to “bomb the hell” out of the group. “I will quickly and decisively bomb the hell out of ISIS, will rebuild our military and make it so strong no-one – and I mean, no one – will mess with us,” he said in a radio ad during the campaign. Trump heralded Abdullah as “a great warrior” who has been key in the fight against ISIS. And Abdullah said the fight against terror “has no borders, no nationality, no religion.” “We are very encouraged with the president’s determination to support Arab and Muslim states in their fight against terrorism,” he added.


Good morning! We hope you enjoyed the special Sunday evening newsletter. Let us know what you thought about it. Now, here’s what you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door. (You can also get “5 Things You Need to Know Today” delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.) There’s been another explosion in Texas’ capital, and police think it’s linked to the three other bombings that have rocked the city. The explosion last night, from a package left on the side of a road, injured two men. Police think the explosion may have been triggered by a tripwire attached to the package. People living near the blast scene have to stay indoors until 10 a.m. local time. This latest explosion comes less than a week after police said three package explosions that happened over 10 days were connected. Those explosions killed a man and a teenager, and injured two others. The victims have been African American or Hispanic, and police haven’t ruled out that the bombings could be racially motivated. There’s lots of diplomatic activity going on in advance of a possible meeting between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.  Finland is hosting representatives from North Korea, South Korea and the US for talks on denuclearization. The American representatives at these talks won’t be government officials though, since the US does not have a diplomatic presence in North Korea. Meanwhile, Sweden is reportedly helping negotiate the release of three Americans held captive in the North. Freeing the Americans – Kim Hak-song, Kim Sang-duk and Kim Dong Chul – would undoubtedly be “a huge deal” for the US, a source told CNN. Exit polls say Vladimir Putin won Russia’s presidential election, but we already knew Putin would come out on top. He had no real opposition to run against, and Alexei Navalny, the person who might have mounted a legitimate challenge, was barred from running. Putin, a former KGB spy, has dominated Russian politics for 18 years and is already Russia’s longest-serving leader since Joseph Stalin. He will now rule for another six years when he’ll be 71, and obliged by law to step down. But he hasn’t prepped a successor yet, so he may try to find a way to extend his power beyond his term. As President Trump ramps up the fire and fury on special counsel Robert Mueller, lawmakers on both sides are telling Trump to back off. Trump went after Mueller and his investigation big time over the weekend, saying (once again) that: – there was no collusion between his 2016 campaign team and Russia – the investigation should have never been started – Mueller’s team is full of Democrats. To a lot of folks this sounds like Trump prepping to cross the red line and fire the special counsel. Lawmakers hit back on the Sunday talk shows. Democrats demanded that action be taken to protect Mueller, while Republicans issued threats of their own to the President. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham was the most direct, saying on CNN’s “State of the Union” that firing Mueller “would be the beginning of the end of his presidency.” Facebook suspended Cambridge Analytica, a data firm used by Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, after allegations that the company used the data of 50 million Facebook users without their permission. Now, Facebook tells CNN it’s looking into the relationship between a current employee and Cambridge Analytica. These revelations prompted new scrutiny of how Facebook was used to reach and influence voters during the 2016 US presidential election. There are also renewed questions about whether Facebook does enough to protect its users. U Must Be Cinderella UMBC’s historic ride through the NCAA tourney is over, but the school’s snarky Twitter feed lives on. Car cash Who needs a car payment when you can just pay $199 a month to have Lyft take you everywhere. Reboot rollout The reboot wave/affliction rolls on. Now Melissa Joan Hart is coming back with a new version of “Clarissa Explains It All.” Safe at home Don’t feel safe leaving your luxury vehicle in your condo’s parking garage? Maybe you should move to the Miami tower where your car can stay with you. 4 The number of winter storms to smack the Northeast in three weeks. This latest storm is projected to hit the Mid-Atlantic states tomorrow before rolling into New England. $457.6 million That’s how much the winning Powerball ticket sold in Pennsylvania over the weekend is worth Ask them anything Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School will host a live Q&A on Twitter today at 12:30 p.m. ET. People will be using #AskMSDStudents to ask questions. Money pit The dark side is powerful – and expensive. Just how much would it cost to build a real-life Death Star? Get ready to count into the quadrillions. (Click to view)


Editor’s Note: Cory Gardner, a Republican, is the junior United States senator from Colorado. He previously served as the US representative for Colorado’s 4th congressional district. This views expressed in this commentary are his own. Sen. Gardner: Trump should seize the opportunity to communicate to Kim Jong Un that the US remains committed to standing up to tyrants Turning a blind eye to North Korea produced one of the greatest and most complex security challenges facing the incoming administration, Gardner says The Obama administration’s failed policy of “strategic patience” toward Pyongyang contributed to the rapid development of North Korea’s arsenal of mass destruction. The acceleration of its nuclear and ballistic missile program represents a grave threat to global peace and stability – and a direct threat to the American homeland in the immediate future. In short, turning a blind eye to North Korea produced one of the greatest and most complex security challenges facing the incoming Trump administration. Therefore, it is imperative that the next administration not only ratchet up pressure on the regime, but that it work with Congress, the international community and our allies in the region to counter North Korean aggression. North Korea’s spike in weapons tests is evidence that its capabilities are increasing and that its murderous leader, Kim Jong Un, grows increasingly belligerent and provocative. The Institute for Science and International Security has estimated that North Korea may currently have as many as 20 nuclear warheads, while the Rand corporation believes that North Korea has the potential to possess as many as 100 warheads within the next five years. Recently, the regime conducted its fifth and largest nuclear test with an estimated explosive yield of 10 kilotons of TNT in September 2016, marking its second test of the year and fourth test since 2009. Related video Defector: North Korea determined to have nukes North Korea’s cyber attacks have also grown in number and sophistication. According to a recent report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies: “North Korea is emerging as a significant actor in cyberspace with both its military and clandestine organizations gaining the ability to conduct cyber operations.” In addition to the widely-reported hack of Sony Pictures in 2014, the North Koreans have successfully breached South Korean civilian and military institutions, including reportedly obtaining blueprints for components of the US-made F-15 fighter jet. North Korea’s malicious activities extend beyond its weapons program and cyber attacks; North Korea is one of the world’s foremost abusers of human rights. According to a 2013 Amnesty international report, the regime was holding as many as 200,000 men, women, and children in political prison camps, where they are subjected to what the UN has described as “unspeakable atrocities”. After years of inaction, Congress addressed Kim Jong Un’s belligerent behavior by passing the North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act in February of 2016, marking the first time Congress imposed stand-alone mandatory sanctions on North Korea. President Obama signed the legislation into law just days later, a recognition that his policy of “strategic patience” was unsuccessful and it is time for a new approach to deterring Pyongyang. This legislation was also the first to mandate cyber sanctions against North Korea, however, the Obama administration has not done so to date. While the Obama administration has implemented portions of the North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act, I encourage the Trump administration to continue with the full implementation and more importantly, the enforcement of the sanctions outlined in the legislation. In particular, I urge the new administration to utilize the so-called “secondary sanctions,” which target outside entities, or companies, that help Pyongyang engage in illicit behavior. Many of these companies are based in the People’s Republic of China, and the US must not be afraid to anger Beijing by going after them. While the Obama administration has sanctioned and indicted four Chinese nationals and one Chinese-based company for its business tied to North Korea’s weapons program, there are many more that the Treasury Department can – and should – target with financial sanctions. Due to the lack of real enforcement mechanisms, it is impossible to know whether China – North Korea’s largest trading partner – has faithfully complied with UN Security Council Resolutions relating to North Korea, and the United States has done little to address it. That is why I urge the Trump administration to immediately pursue and implement a full range of economic and criminal unilateral sanctions on any entity that violates North Korea sanctions. Our message must be clear: if you do business with Pyongyang, you will face the full wrath of the US economic sanctions regime. While sanctions are an important tool to deter Pyongyang, it is also essential that the US reassure our allies, South Korea and Japan, through action that any aggression from North Korea will result in unwavering diplomatic and military support from the United States. The US should continue with show of force exercises near North Korea to demonstrate to the regime that it will pay a heavy price for any aggression to our allies in the region, such as the B-1 nuclear bomber overflights in September. Related video What is THAAD? Additionally, we must expedite the placement of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, in South Korea to protect our allies and the tens of thousands of American troops in the region. I also urge the Trump administration to explore possibilities for asymmetrical actions to increase pressure on the regime, such as the re-designation of North Korea as a state sponsor of terror, stripping Pyongyang of its United Nations seat, or imposing a genuine and enforceable global trade embargo on Pyongyang. Sign up for CNN Opinion’s new newsletter.Join us on Twitter and Facebook In order to effectively counter the North Korean threat, the US must strengthen its alliances in the region and build a genuine and lasting trilateral alliance between the US, the Republic of Korea, and Japan. The recent trilateral missile defense exercises and the signing of an intelligence information-sharing agreement between Seoul and Tokyo have been historic developments and we must continue to build on this progress. While US policy toward North Korea has been enhanced with the new sanctions legislation, we still have not peacefully disarmed Pyongyang – and that should be the primary and unwavering US policy goal. Through a policy of strength, the incoming Trump administration should seize the immediate opportunity to communicate with action to Kim Jong Un as well as our allies that the United States remains committed to standing up to tyrants and ensuring peace and stability around the globe.