"I'm not sure what decision he'll make. We've given him options," H.R. McMaster said. Trump could announce as early as Tuesday that the US recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's capital White House national security adviser HR McMaster said Sunday morning that he doesn’t know whether President Donald Trump will decide to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. “I’m not sure what decision he’ll make. We’ve given him options,” McMaster said. When asked by “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace about Trump’s decision-making process, McMaster said the President’s advisers have discussed a number of options, and that each of these options will allow the United States to take action concerning Jerusalem in a manner that would “gain momentum toward a peace agreement and solution that works both for Israelis and for Palestinians.” Related article White House is expected to announce US recognition of Jerusalem as soon as Tuesday Trump could announce as early as Tuesday that the US recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, US officials with direct knowledge of the matter and foreign diplomats have told CNN. Upon making the decision public, Trump is expected to sign a waiver to keep the US embassy in Tel Aviv for another six months, but say his administration will move the diplomatic mission to Jerusalem at some point — a goal long sought by Israel. The State Department’s security arm has been told to plan for potentially violent protests at US embassies and consulates once the Trump administration announces it is moving the embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. “We were told that this is definitely coming, and we need to be ready for it,” one official said. The Diplomatic Security Service, which is charged with protecting US posts and personnel overseas, was already bracing for possible protests after Trump retweeted anti-Muslim videos from the far-right group Britain First on Wednesday. The announcement by Trump would put the US in singular company among its allies. While Israel claims Jerusalem as its seat of government, no foreign embassies are located there, as the international community sees it as an issue to be settled as part of a broader peace agreement. Related article State Dept. told to plan for potential protests after Jerusalem embassy announcement Senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat said if the United States recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel it will be “disqualifying itself to pay any role in any initiative towards achieving a just and lasting peace” between Israelis and Palestinians. Any such move, Erekat said in a statement, “would promote international anarchy and … contribute to the further destabilization of the region.” The statement added that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had been speaking with several world leaders to encourage them to appeal to Trump not to create “a new political reality.” Erekat also suggested there would be a clear response from the Palestinian leadership to any move by Trump on the status of Jerusalem, saying “the Palestinian leadership is going to meet soon in order to approve necessary steps in case such an announcement is made.” Palestine Liberation Organization Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi strongly cautioned against recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and relocating the US Embassy to Jerusalem. “It is our hope that saner voices will prevail and that the US administration will refrain from plunging the whole region into a new cycle of chaos and violence,” Ashrawi said in a statement. “By violating the legal status of Jerusalem, including numerous UN resolutions and longstanding US policy, this administration is undermining the global rule of law, as well as American standing, credibility, security, and interests around the world,” the statement added. Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, tweeted that he spoke about the proposed recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. “Such a decision would trigger anger across #Arab #Muslim worlds, fuel tension & jeopardize peace efforts,” he tweeted. Moving the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem was a staple of Trump’s campaign promises, with the then-candidate saying in a March 2016 address to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, “We will move the American embassy to the eternal capital of the Jewish people, Jerusalem.”

US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital


Editor’s Note: The following is an edited excerpt from “The secret costs of Islamophobia,” first published in September 2016. President Donald Trump said his new executive order on immigration and refugees is targeted squarely at “radical Islamic terrorists.” “We don’t want them here,” he said Friday. So why are jihadists celebrating? Trump says the executive order is not a “Muslim ban,” even though it bars citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States for three months and gives preference to non-Muslim refugees. “This is not about religion – this is about terror and keeping our country safe. There are over 40 different countries worldwide that are majority Muslim that are not affected by this order.” But experts say almost every country with Muslims will be affected by the order, because it makes it easier for ISIS and Al Qaeda to recruit alienated young believers. That applies to the United States as well. RELATED: Trump ban is boon for ISIS recruitment, former jihadists and experts say Here’s how: ISIS’ goal is to divide the world into two camps: “the crusaders” and “the caliphate.” No Christians living in Muslim lands; no Muslims living in Christian countries. Its message to Western Muslims: You don’t belong there. Come to the caliphate where you can live as a true Muslim. “This revival of the Khilāfah gave each individual Muslim a concrete and tangible entity to satisfy his natural desire for belonging to something greater,” ISIS said in a recent edition of its online magazine Dabiq. In the same edition – alongside interviews with ISIS fighters, articles praising “martyrs” and gruesome photos of its beheaded and burned victims – ISIS argued that Muslims in the West are living in a “grayzone.” This series explores the lives of Muslims in the age of ISIS and Islamophobia. “Grayzones” are areas where Muslims practice their religion peacefully in non-Muslim countries. ISIS wants to eliminate these zones, in part by turning non-Muslims against their Muslim neighbors. Each terrorist attack chips away a little more grayzone, as Westerners marginalize Muslims, pushing them, ISIS hopes, into the caliphate’s open arms. “Muslims in the crusader countries will find themselves driven to abandon their homes for a place to live in the (caliphate), as the crusaders increase persecution against Muslims living in Western lands. …” In the United States, the vast majority of Muslims reject that message, but a few are inspired by it. According to a study of 101 Americans charged with ISIS-related crimes, half were born in the country and most were citizens. Most were men under 30, one-third had converted to Islam. The vast majority expressed dissatisfaction with living in the United States, and 90% reportedly said they wanted to join the caliphate, perhaps heeding the call to surrender their lives to a larger cause, no matter how violent or quixotic. “Overall, there is a sense of identity crises and alienation from society across a wide range of cases,” the report says. “Anxieties over not fitting in, examples of personal isolation and social anger are frequent.” Those anxieties are often exacerbated, if not incited, by Islamophobia, said Sarah Lyons-Padilla, a social psychologist at Stanford University who has studied radicalization among young American Muslims. American Muslims who felt hopeless, rejected and insignificant because of anti-Muslim discrimination were more willing to support extremist groups and causes, according to a study Lyons-Padilla led last year. “ISIS would love to make all Muslims believe that the West is anti-Islam,” the psychologist said. “When American politicians and citizens spread anti-Muslim rhetoric, be it through discriminatory policies or online trolling, they send the message that Muslims aren’t ‘real Americans’ and that being Muslim is something to be ashamed of. In other words, they’re basically helping ISIS recruit.” Counterterrorism officials agree. In a recent Washington Post op-ed, retired US Army Gen. and former CIA Director David Petraeus said he has grown increasingly concerned about anti-Muslim rhetoric in the United States. “As policy, these concepts are totally counterproductive,” Petraeus said. “Rather than making our country safer, they will compound the already grave terrorist danger to our citizens. As ideas, they are toxic and, indeed, non-biodegradable – a kind of poison that, once released into our body politic, is not easily expunged.” The number of American Muslims who radicalize is small, especially when compared with other Western countries, said William McCants, director of the Brookings Institution’s Project on US Relations with the Islamic World. Law enforcement experts estimate that about 250 Americans have tried to join ISIS, far fewer than the thousands who have flocked to Syria and Iraq from countries such as France and Belgium. “I would argue that American Islam is doing something right in contrast to these other countries,” McCants said. Most American Muslims are integrated and feel content with their lives, in sharp contrast with many Muslims in Western Europe, according to the 2011 Pew Center report. Nearly 90% speak English fluently, and more than 8 in 10 are citizens. Most say they see no conflict between being a devout Muslim and living in a modern society. Still, 81 Muslim-Americans were associated with violent plots in 2015, the highest annual total since 9/11, according to the Triangle Center. Omar Suleiman, a popular cleric who lives in Dallas, said he has sparred with young Muslims attracted to ISIS’ black-and-white theology. Often, they are first- and second-generation immigrants who have grown up with some discrimination and “a whole lot of other-ness and awkwardness,” he said. They are angry young men, frustrated with dead-end careers, irked by clerics who refuse to address controversial topics and incensed about the suffering of Muslims overseas in the Palestinian territories and Syria. “When they find that people aren’t addressing their concerns in an authentic way, they fall prey to Internet radicalism,” Suleiman said. “They become disconnected from the mosque and disconnected from the American Muslim community.”

Trump's executive order on immigration and refugees


Amid rising tensions between the United States and Russia, the former CIA and National Security Agency director under President George W. Bush said Wednesday night that Moscow would be at a disadvantage if a war scenario were to develop. “No one wants to go to war with the Russians, but let me double down on another concept. The Russians really don’t want to go to war with us,” retired Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden said during an interview on CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront.” “They are by far the weaker power,” Hayden said. .@GenMhayden: "No one wants to go to war with the Russians, but the Russians REALLY don't want to go to war with us" https://t.co/Q4YqjNj9OQ He was critical of Russia after two of its bombers were spotted off the coast of Alaska twice in 24 hours. He called it “a little pathetic,” but said it provided a “great opportunity for training for our Alaskan air forces.” Hayden, a frequent critic of Donald Trump during the presidential campaign, did praise the administration’s decisions to launch military strikes on Syria and dropping America’s most powerful non-nuclear bomb on ISIS targets in Afghanistan. He called the moves the right decisions and smart. But he was more concerned with how Trump and his team are responding to North Korea, cautioning, “I do think we might be stirring the pot a little bit too vigorously.” Hayden admitted that “we’re trying to create a disturbance in northeast Asia,” and that the recent tough rhetoric from the Trump administration, Vice President Mike Pence’s visit to the region and the deployment of a carrier strike group to the Korean Peninsula are an attempt to send a message. And he concluded that “the messaging is most intended not for the North Koreans, it’s intended for the Chinese, and we want to influence them to up their pressure on the North.” He warned that the current path means that “the North Koreans are going to be able to strike Seattle here in four or five years with a nuclear weapon, if things don’t change.”


High Court has ruled that offshore detention does not breach Australian law Over 260 asylum seekers now face deportation from Australia to Nauru Australia’s High Court has rejected a challenge to the government’s right to hold asylum seekers on Manus Island and Nauru. The court challenge – brought by the Human Rights Law Center (HRLC) – centred around the legality of the Australian government to detain people on foreign soil. Related video Child refugees detained on Nauru Island talk to CNN. On Wednesday, the court ruled that the Australian government’s role in funding and participating in offshore detention does not breach Australian law. It means that over 260 people who had been sent to Australia for medical care are likely to be sent back. “We’re disappointed with the ruling,” said the HRLC’s director of legal advocacy, Daniel Webb. “We now look to the Prime Minister to step in and let them stay.” More than 1,400 people are being held in immigration detention on the islands while they wait for their asylum claims to be processed. Some have been there for more than three years. The average length of detention, according to the latest government figures, is 445 days. READ: Children urge Australia to free them from Nauru island ‘prison’ The HRLC brought the case on behalf of 260 people – mainly women and children – who had been transported to Australia for medical care. The lead case is that of a Bangladeshi woman who was detained on Nauru, but brought to Australia during the latter stages of her pregnancy. Wednesday’s judgment legally entitles Immigration Minister Peter Dutton to move quickly in sending her, her child, and all other related cases back to Nauru. According to UNICEF, the group includes women who have been sexually assaulted, 54 children and 37 babies who were born in Australia. Webb said these people were now terrified they would face immediate deportation. He told CNN that phoning the Bangladeshi mother to advise her of the ruling was one of the hardest calls he’s ever had to make. He said she broke down in tears. “The mother just wants what all mothers want – her child to have a decent life somewhere safe,” he said. “The legality is one thing, the morality is another. Ripping kids out of primary schools and sending them to be indefinitely warehoused on a tiny remote island is wrong.” The HRLC told CNN it would be “premature” to discuss any legal avenues they might explore, but the Bangladeshi mother still wanted to do everything she could to ensure her child had “the opportunity to experience freedom somewhere safe.” Australian Prime Minister Turnbull has been under immense pressure to allow child asylum seekers to stay in Australia, regardless of Wednesday’s court ruling. so now we fall back on the conscience of @TurnbullMalcolm and @PeterDutton_MP not to send children and families back into hell. “It is unreasonable for the Australian Government to shift responsibility for this group of children and families with complex needs to a developing state,” said UNICEF Australia. “The Nauru Government… does not yet have the education, child protection, health or social welfare systems required to adequately support people with ongoing needs,” the organization said in a statement on Wednesday. Australia’s controversial immigration policy, “Operation Sovereign Borders,” was spearheaded by Turnbull’s predecessor, Tony Abbott. Related video Australia faces criticism for tough immigration policy. Boats of asylum seekers are intercepted at sea and sent for processing at either the Nauru camp, or one on Manus Island, in Papua New Guinea. If their claims are granted they are either settled in those countries or have the option of moving to Cambodia. Australia’s government says that in implementing this divisive policy, they wanted to send a clear message to any potential refugees and people smugglers – that asylum seekers will not be settled in Australia. But the policy has faced criticism from human rights groups and the wider international community. Critics have slammed conditions in the detention centers. Current and former child detainees at the Nauru camp described it to CNN as a prison. The government however argues that the deterrent has worked. “The Coalition Government has stopped the perilous flow of of people smuggling ventures. There has not been a successful people smuggling venture to Australia in the last year,” an Australian government spokesperson said in a statement to CNN. “Stopping the boats has enabled this Government to return integrity to Australia’s humanitarian and refugee program.”

Australian government offshore detention policy


Congress knows budget battles to the brink all too well Republicans wary of blame for another shutdown Everyone knows that Washington was built on a swamp. But in recent years it’s felt more like the capital is teetering on the edge of a cliff. The political system seems constantly in danger of tipping over the edge and the next close encounter with disaster is fast approaching. After Friday, the government will close down unless Congress can agree to a deal on future funding – or at least push off the climax by a week or two. It’s the first such showdown of the new Trump administration, but just the latest in a long string of fiscal cliffs, speed bumps, sequesters, government shutdown threats and eleventh hour brinkmanship that has come to define the way the American government in the 21st Century struggles to do business. Whether it’s due to political polarization, dysfunction or administrative malpractice, it’s almost impossible to get anything done, without the prospect of something so awful – like the US government defaulting on its debts for the first time in history – to prod politicians into action. And it’s not normal. Related article White House considers 'art of compromise' to avoid shutdown Congress has often fumbled and ground to a halt. But there are few precedents for such a prolonged period of government by crisis. “Yes, Congress has become habitually dysfunctional. For it to be habitually dysfunctional is new,” said Daniel Feller, a University of Tennessee professor who specializes in Jacksonian politics and the 19th Century. “The one case that you can look back to where Congress had been equally and even more dysfunctional is the 1850s and of course that is not encouraging because of what happened at the end of that,” Feller said, referring to the Civil War period. Sometimes in modern Washington, even the threat of a terrible price to pay cannot shake the capital out of its inertia. Four years ago, a sinister-sounding process called sequestration came into effect, triggering automatic spending cuts that scythed social and defense spending beloved by Democrats and Republican lawmakers. The idea arose out of a previous showdown over lifting the federal debt ceiling. Its purpose was to store up such an appalling set of consequences that even feuding Washington politicians on a so-called supercommittee would agree to over $1 trillion in cuts to reduce the deficit. Some hope. The prospect of political pain also failed to defuse a bitter political standoff over a Republican attempt to defund Obamacare in 2013 when the government closed for 16 days in the first such shutdown for nearly 20 years. But then-President Barack Obama rejected the attempt to dent his proudest domestic achievement by linking it to government funding. “You don’t get to extract a ransom for doing your job,” he told GOP lawmakers during a White House press conference at the time. Budget dysfunction did not start in this decade, but the most celebrated example of congressional brinkmanship in recent years may have been the original fiscal cliff. Related article Democrats open to more border security money to avoid funding standoff The looming disaster was first identified by then-Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke in February 2012 when he warned that “there’s going to be a massive fiscal cliff of large spending cuts and tax increases” at the end of that year. The problem was the end of multiple tax cuts, pending spending cuts and an alternative minimum tax patch that threatened to hammer consumers and throw the markets and the economy into a tailspin. Bernanke expressed the somewhat naive hope that Congress could figure out ways to defuse the fiscal time bomb before the end of the year. Yet it took until the dying hours of 2012 – after Obama broke off his vacation in Hawaii to come back to Washington and divisions tore deep into the Republican ranks – for a deal to be reached that brought the economy back from the edge. Related article Border wall fight looms as White House, Capitol Hill scramble for deal to avert shutdown Trump’s first budget showdown is not as severe. But no one knows yet whether it will end with government workers being furloughed and museums shuttered and national parks putting up “closed” signs. It would be clumsy at best for the Trump administration to face a government shutdown – with all the accusations of incompetence that it could bring on the day before the President hits the symbolic milestone of 100 days in office. But over the weekend, the administration appeared to throw a wrench in negotiations on the Hill, calling on lawmakers to include money for the proposed wall on the Mexican border that Trump made a centerpiece of his 2016 campaign. That’s a non-starter for Democrats who find themselves in the unusual position of being able to thwart a Republican president on a major agenda item because Trump needs at least eight of them to vote with him in the Senate. For eight years, the boot was on the other foot, with Republican lawmakers seeking to wring concessions from a Democratic president, usually involving tax and spending cuts linked to government funding or deals to lift the debt ceiling. The thinking behind the White House gambit, delivered by Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and others on the Sunday talk shows, seemed to reflect an administration keen to rack up progress towards a central campaign promise after a somewhat threadbare first 100 days in office. If that makes Democrats running for re-election in Trump country in 2018 vulnerable to accusations that they were soft on reinforcing the border, then all the better. Related article This poll number should scare Democrats Four days out, it seems that neither side in the current showdown is yet ready to go to the brink. Democrats have left open the possibility of more money for border security to avoid a standoff over the wall. The White House has not yet said the Trump would veto a bill that did not include border funding. One White House official signaled on Monday that the Trump won’t insist on funding for the wall in a spending bill to keep the government running past Friday. “Politics is the art of compromise,” the official said. But it’s also clear that both sides are taking part in the normal process of calculating the potential damage that a government shutdown would wreak and which side would pay the most heavy price. Democrats clearly believe that they have the advantage and can make Trump back down — putting off the wall fight for another day. “Instead of risking government shutdown by shoving this wall down Congress’ and American peoples’ throats, the president ought to just let us come to an agreement,” the Senate’s minority leader, Chuck Schumer of New York, said Monday. “We’re happy to debate this wall in regular order down the road once he has a plan,” Schumer said, referring to the President. Republican senators, mindful that the GOP has often been blamed for the government shutdown in 2013 – and absorbed a serious political blow after then-Speaker Newt Gingrich’s conservative call-to-arms shut down the government during the Clinton administration 20 years prior – seem ready to get Friday’s deadline behind them. “I’m not in the business of saying what’s a good idea or a bad idea. I just don’t want it to go down the road to yet another government shutdown. Those are always counterproductive,” Republican Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas said. Related article Border wall fight looms as White House, Capitol Hill scramble for deal to avert shutdown If no deal can be done by Friday, there’s always an opening for another staple of the cliff-prone process: the stop-gap deal to put off a government funding showdown for another day. Congress could pass a short term funding deal, known as a continuing resolution (CR) in legislative speak, to keep the government open for a week or more and then carry on talking – possibly in pursuit of another longer term patch that does little to tackle underlying budgetary issues. “I think a CR is always possible,” Republican Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama said, warning that shutting down the government would be “totally irresponsible” and asserting, “We can kick the can a week.” That would be a familiar scenario. After all, there have been years of budget deals, debt ceiling showdowns and government shutdown dramas that all eventually got resolved – but in a manner that did little to tackle underlying budgetary problems – including long-term government debt, insufficient revenues and putting entitlement social programs on a more secure footing. There are many theories as to why Congress can’t get big things done. The loss of earmarks that enabled party leaders to funnel cash to lawmakers in return for votes has made legislating tougher. Partisan acrimony is also to blame and the fact that many lawmakers in safe districts now fear a primary challenger more than a general election opponent has also helped to squelch compromise. Related article Poll: Trump, Democrats and GOP all unpopular Even if the White House, Democrats and Republicans do manage to defuse this week’s standoff, it is simply an appetizer for much bigger fights to come. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has already warned that he is taking extraordinary budgetary measures after the government reached the limit of its borrowing authority. But the running room is expected to run out sometime this fall, requiring Congress to pass a bill raising the government’s federal borrowing limit – a process it did grudgingly several times during the Obama administration – and without incident for many decades before that. If Congress does not act, the US government could default on its debt, tipping the domestic and even global economy into an unprecedented crisis. That is unlikely to happen, but, given the tenuous control of GOP leaders over the party on Capitol Hill, there are no guarantees. That means government by crisis may be here to stay. CNN’s Lauren Fox and Jim Acosta contributed to this report


Jang Yeong-jin defected to South Korea in 1997 He was driven to leave the North by the difficulties of living there as a gay man Jang Yeong-jin never loved his wife. Throughout their marriage, he felt guilty and confused, ashamed that he was, in his words, “ruining one woman’s life.” Jang did not hear the word “homosexual” for the first 37 years of his life, saying he had no concept of what it meant, something not unusual in his native North Korea. “When I was in Pyongyang University, I went to see a neurologist, wondering why I was so different to others,” he told CNN. “But as soon as I started talking about my feelings, I had to run out of the office, because the doctor started yelling at me.” Jang says he could cope with limited food or clothing in North Korea but having nothing to dream for left him miserable. He says the closest he came to a dream was a childhood friend he later realized he had been in love with. Their innocent childhood closeness spread well into adulthood. Holding hands or sharing a bed was not unusual he says, as both of their wives knew they were close. “One day my friend came to see me,” he says. “That night I left my wife’s bed and got into his, my heart was beating so fast as he slept and I couldn’t figure out why I felt so hurt by him.” “I got up, went outside and saw a wild goose flying over my head. I knew then I had to leave.” Jang fled across the border into China in 1996, where he struggled for 13 months to find a way to South Korea. China regards North Koreans as economic migrants rather than refugees or defectors, if they are caught they are usually sent back to face punishment. He then made the unheard of, and incredibly dangerous decision to re-enter North Korea, travel south and cross the demilitarized zone, or DMZ, a four kilometer, mine-ridden border than only a handful of people have ever made it through. Jang knew the border well. He woke up next to it every day during his 10 years of compulsory military service, during which he was tasked with decoding South Korea’s military communications. “While I was serving on the border, I wondered what life would be like in South Korea and would I live like a real human being there?” he says. Jang says he knows of others who have had the same experience as him in North Korea and assumes many are still struggling to understand their feelings. “When I was in the military there was a senior officer who had the same problem as me after he got married,” he says. “There was also a man in my hometown who never got married and lived alone all his life.” “North Korea society treats these people as abnormal.” Reading a magazine in a doctor’s surgery in 1998, not long after he arrived in South Korea, Jang saw an article about homosexuality. It was like a light had been switched on, suddenly he had an identity. “That was the first time I knew what homosexuality was and I was really pleased,” he says. “I was 37-years-old by that time and thought I would be living alone for my entire life after leaving North Korea since I could not live with a woman.” Not that life has always been easy in Seoul. Duped by a swindler in 2004 who started a relationship with him and then stole his savings, his trust in people was greatly shaken. He has no family here, they’re all in the North. He has few friends and being the only out gay defector in the South has made settling in twice as hard. “Since I am a defector, I am a stranger in this society,” he says. “For all defectors it is hard to settle down, but for me the hardships double.” Jang however, refuses to give into disappointment, pointing out that at least in the South he is allowed to dream. His current dream is that life begins at 60. “I am very optimistic, I always have hope that I would be able to live like everybody else, loving each other, traveling around the world someday,” he says. A English translation of Jang’s autobiographical novel of his life in the North – “A Mark of Red Honor” – is due to be published in 2017. CNN’s K.J. Kwon contributed reporting.


Editor’s Note: John D. Sutter is a columnist for CNN Opinion who focuses on climate change and social justice. Follow him on Snapchat, Facebook and e-mail. Rising sea level threatens Miami, but city says it's adapting City official: "We're actively planning and we're actively doing" Miami Beach is in trouble. The seas are rising, and people are starting to respond. I recently wrote about one resident of the South Florida city who is so concerned about climate change and rising seas that he’s packing up his home in the center of the island and planning to move to higher ground. Pull up a map of projected sea level rise, and it’s easy to see why. At even 2 to 4 feet of sea level rise, the island will be considerably flooded. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says 6 feet of sea level increase is possible by century’s end. These are long-term trends – measured in decades and generations – but they’re certainly frightening. Others in Miami Beach, however, are vowing to stay and fight. The city is regarded by many as a proactive leader in efforts to hold back the threats of rising tides. How are they doing it? And what are the limits of engineering fixes to climate change and rising seas? To learn about that, I called up Susanne Torriente, assistant city manager and “chief resiliency officer” for Miami Beach, a 90,000-person island municipality off the coast of Miami proper. The following is a transcript of our conversation, edited for length and clarity: CNN: Do you think Miami Beach can survive climate change in the long term? Torriente: I don’t know what the long term is, but I know Miami Beach is adapting to climate change. We’re starting already. … We’re starting to adapt today. And the approach is really incremental adaptation. What can we do in our one-year budget, in our five-year capital plan – and maybe in some of our 20-year master plans – to start to really start to deliver government services in a different way? We have more data nowadays. We have sea level rise projections. CNN: What are you doing today to try to fight sea-level rise? What they’ve done here in Miami Beach is an aggressive stormwater program that includes installing pumps. … We’re installing these pumps that actually take the water and push it out. We’re elevating roads. We’re working on our seawalls. We have 63 miles of seawalls. Only three (miles) are actually public. But we’re looking at elevating those and restoring those. Related article Packing up because of climate change CNN: I’m wondering how that has worked so far. From what I’ve read, Miami Beach has seen a lot of flooding in recent years associated with higher tides. Last fall, the pumps were working and those streets were dry. Versus two years ago, you see those pictures of some of our roads that were really flooded rather high. This year, where the pumps were installed, they worked. CNN: When I was driving around on Miami Beach, I came to these intersections where you feel like you’re almost going up a ramp into a parking garage or something. The road level just goes up dramatically. But seeing that I wondered: Does the floodwater just collect below that? If you’re just raising the road level, how is that helpful? Well, you’re elevating. So the water’s not getting up to you, essentially. That’s on the public side. And we’re also looking at our land use code. Local governments have that kind of building and zoning and planning authority. We are looking at private development – what should be those elevations as well. CNN: I’ve read that for other low-lying cities like New Orleans there’s more potential to put up levees and seawalls to hold the ocean back. But because Miami sits on limestone, which is porous, it’s hard to do that. The water would just go under them. I’m not an engineer, but I’ve heard the engineers talk about, well, are there ways to combat that? Are there ways to seal the limestone? I just heard my city engineer talking about that earlier this week. Yes, that is a challenge for us. The water does come up through this porous limestone that we do sit on. It’s not as easy as just building a wall. That’s why we have to work in other ways, like pumping the water out or elevating the roads. CNN: What would you want to say to someone in Miami Beach – or another coastal community – who’s worried about sea level rise? The important message is: Climate change is here and sea level is rising. But our eyes are wide open to the issue. We’re actively planning and we’re actively doing. We’re actively designing and constructing these kinds of incremental adaptation options that continue to reduce our risk. The work we’re doing today is safeguarding us for the future. As time passes and we have more information and more data we can continue to build upon what we’re doing today. CNN: I met a Miami Beach resident who told me he is packing up and planning to move out of Miami Beach because he’s worried about the long term viability of his home, and, more immediately, he’s worried about his investment given the risks of climate change. I’m wondering what you think of that decision. Do you think it’s alarmist? Is it prudent? I think it’s a personal decision. People have their own circumstances in life, and you make those personal decisions. But I do think it’s important for the residents here to know – and they do know – that this city commission and the residents today here in the city are willing to invest. They raised their stormwater rates so we could issue the bonds to pay for these investments. And the investments we’re making are in fact reducing those risks. If were a coastal community that was getting flooded and we had our eyes closed and were doing nothing, then there should be some worry. But we’re a coastal community heavily involved in designing and constructing – and working to reduce that risk. CNN: I got some comments with people saying this isn’t climate change, this isn’t happening. This is just the coast of Florida and of course it floods sometimes. How certain are you that what you see happening now is climate change? We’re a local government. We have to be responsible. These things are happening. And so that argument really doesn’t happen in South Florida anymore. It’s about actually doing something about. CNN: Marco Rubio is from South Florida and is a Republican presidential contender. And I would say he’s injecting a lot of false doubt into the climate conversation. I’m wondering what you think about that – or about the election as a whole? As a local government appointed official, I’m not going to get into too much of the politics of it. But the science is there. These things are happening. And whoever gets in office needs to understand that these are issues that are facing these communities. We need the help and the coordination from the state and the feds. Right now it’s really the local governments that are stepping up to this. … It’s not a partisan issue down here. CNN: Is this a pretty expensive problem to deal with? Yeah. CNN: I was told you all have pledged something like $400 million to fight this. The estimate is somewhere around $400 million, and the numbers change as you’re out in the field and constructing these things. And it’s essentially a three- to five-year program to install these pumps in these low-lying areas of the city. South Florida is coastal and low-lying. I kind of say we’re flat and flatter. You look at the areas that are most vulnerable and start there. CNN: I think some people could see that number – $400 million – and think, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s a lot of money that’s being used to fight something that’s unwinnable.’ But you spent time here, right? This is a vibrant, beautiful coastal community. People still want to come live, work and play here. So, I’m not ready to give up. (Laughs). There are a lot of people who are not ready to give up. These investments continue to reduce our risk and make us less vulnerable and buy time. Yeah, I think the key message is we’re not willing to give up. That would be disappointing for a lot of folks. Our eyes are wide open, and we’re actively involved in making this community beautiful and vibrant and resilient. You know, 100 years from now, 200 years from now, it’ll be different. I joke with my staff that we’re creating ‘Tomorrowland.’ It will look different. Maybe other generations will have to adapt more and learn to live with the water even more. The design of the city will be different. But we’re not giving up. CNN: What do you think that ‘Tomorrowland’ might look like? Maybe some roads are allowed to flood or some areas are allowed to flood, and we create investments that are built to hold water sometimes and be dry in others. There’s a whole kind of opportunity to create a different city. We’ve had conversation with folks from The Netherlands. That’s really their phrase: “Learning to live with the water.” Our behavior may be different, the way we conduct our lives, but we’ve been doing that for years. Generations adapt. Add John D. Sutter on Snapchat Follow his Facebook posts Subscribe to Sutter’s newsletter


Jay Sekulow, an attorney representing President Donald Trump, said Tuesday that Trump was not aware his son was offered information last year purportedly from Russia. In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper late Tuesday night, Sekulow said that Trump had not been aware of a meeting his top campaign officials had with a Russian lawyer last year until “very recently,” as the story emerged from The New York Times over the weekend. “The President, by the way, never saw an email – did not see the email – until it was seen today,” Sekulow said, referring to Donald Trump Jr.’s disclosure of the email thread on Twitter shortly before a Times story containing the same information was published. “So I want to be clear on that,” he added. The email chain disclosed by Trump Jr. showed emails from Rob Goldstone, a music publicist, referring to potentially damaging information on Hillary Clinton as part of a Russian effort to bolster Trump’s campaign. Sekulow said it made no sense that Trump Jr. or anyone else at the meeting, which took place in June 2016, would have informed Trump about it. “Why would you do that?” Sekulow asked. At the meeting and copied on the email thread were Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and a senior White House adviser, and Paul Manafort, then the chair of the Trump campaign. Sekulow added that in his view Trump Jr.’s actions were legal, though he seemed to allow that they might not have been advisable in retrospect. “We can look at it and say a year and a half ago, or a year ago, in the middle of a campaign, would you, should have, could you?” Sekulow said. “That’s really easy to say a year later.” Tapper noted Trump’s relative quiet about the story involving his son and Russia, including a lack of tweets about the issue as the story has unfolded. Asked if Trump was not tweeting at the advice of counsel, Sekulow denied offering Trump legal advice about Twitter but declined to get into specifics about his conversations with the President. “We’re not telling the President what to tweet or not tweet,” Sekulow said. “Nobody wants to see their child going through this.”


Trump had promised to move the embassy during the campaign He has decided against it for now President Donald Trump has signed the waiver keeping the US embassy in Tel Aviv avoiding – for now – a controversial move to Jerusalem. The move, which the White House said was made in an effort to spur peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian officials, was expected but breaks with a promise Trump made during the 2016 campaign. Related article Trump expected to keep US embassy in Tel Aviv -- for now “President Trump made this decision to maximize the chances of successfully negotiating a deal between Israel and the Palestinians, fulfilling his solemn obligation to defend America’s national security interests,” the White House statement said. “But, as he has repeatedly stated his intention to move the embassy, the question is not if that move happens, but only when.” One senior administration official told CNN: “As you have seen the President say, in the region and here in Washington, he thinks this is a hopeful moment for peace and he has committed his administration to try to facilitate progress towards peace and for that reason, he signed the waiver.” Trump promised throughout the 2016 campaign that he would move the US embassy from to Jerusalem, an action the Israeli government has long advocated. “We will move the American embassy to the eternal capital of the Jewish people, Jerusalem,” he said in a March 2016 speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. But after Trump entered the White House, he and his aides began to realize the fragile situation that surrounds any possible peace talks in the Middle East. Trump, after visiting both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the Middle East last month, signaled that he believes peace between the two could be at hand. A senior administration official told CNN Thursday that the embassy will move when conditions are right. Related article Trump: Israelis and Palestinians are ready 'to reach for peace' “It is not a permanent thing,” the official added. “For him, it is a matter of when not if the US embassy is moved to Jerusalem.” The official added that this decision was made to “keep the peace process going.” Signing the waiver this week forestalls any move for another six months. Every US president has signed such a waiver twice a year after a law was passed in 1995 mandating the relocation of the embassy to Jerusalem. One official said that “all parties” – meaning both Israeli and Palestinian leaders – have been notified that the embassy would be staying in Tel Aviv. Netanyahu, in a statement, said while Israel was “disappointed” in the decision, they “appreciate today’s expression of President Trump’s friendship to Israel and his commitment to moving the embassy in the future.” “Israel’s consistent position is that the American embassy, like the embassies of all countries with whom we have diplomatic relations, should be in Jerusalem, our eternal capital,” the Prime Minister said. Ambassador Dr. Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian representative to the United States, said the Trump policy “gives peace a chance.” “We are ready to to start the consultation process with the US administration,” Zomlot said. “We are serious and genuine about achieving a just and lasting peace.” The senior administration official also defended the fact that Trump not moving the embassy was breaking a key campaign promise. “The campaign promise is that the United States is going to take this action and that it is a question of when and not if,” the official said.


Trump's tweets are the most accurate representation of his administration's view The tweets overshadowed the Trump administration's attempt to push for infrastructure reform White House aides, facing a week focused on Thursday’s testimony of former FBI Director James Comey, told reporters over the weekend that President Donald Trump would spend his time focusing on a $1 trillion infrastructure plan. Or, at least, they hoped he would. Trump woke up on Monday morning and rattled of a series of tweets that lambasted his own Justice Department, undercut the credibility of his press secretary and attacked the mayor of London, who is currently trying to navigate his city though its latest act of terrorism. “Pathetic excuse by London Mayor Sadiq Khan who had to think fast on his “no reason to be alarmed” statement. MSM is working hard to sell it,” Trump tweeted, taking a comment made by Khan out of context. At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is "no reason to be alarmed!" People, the lawyers and the courts can call it whatever they want, but I am calling it what we need and what it is, a TRAVEL BAN! “People, the lawyers and the courts can call it whatever they want, but I am calling it what we need and what it is, a TRAVEL BAN,” Trump said, undercutting White House press secretary Sean Spicer, who said earlier this year in that calling his plan a travel ban “misrepresents what it is.” Related article Trump lashes out at London Mayor Sadiq Khan, again Trump’s tweets are the most accurate representation of his administration’s view, given they usually come directly from the President himself. And all of these tweets, taken as the presidential pronouncements that they are, have entirely overshadowed the Trump administration’s attempt to push for infrastructure reform. “We are very confident that through a $200 billion federal government expenditure, and that is over and above all normal infrastructure spending, this is in addition to, that that can equal well over $1 trillion of infrastructure investment in this country,” Reed Cornish, a top White House aide, told reporters about the plan as most major outlets covered Trump’s tweets. This puts aides in a tough position. While they want to push policy reforms, like they did over the weekend, they almost always find themselves getting distracted by 140-character messages from the President himself. Former Trump campaign aides have said that during the campaign they would regularly wake up in the morning in fear of what their boss, then a candidate for president, would have tweeted in the wee hours of the morning. Some of that fear abated, these aides said, when Trump entered the White House. But Monday morning’s series of messages shows Trump will rarely, if ever, break his Twitter habit. Spicer has tried to dismiss conversation about Trump’s tweets in the past by simply saying, Trump’s tweet “speaks for itself.” But on Monday, top Trump aides took to criticizing the media for covering Trump’s tweets. Kellyanne Conway, speaking to NBC News, scolded the media for their “obsession” with Trump’s Twitter account. Conway decried “this obsession with covering everything he says on Twitter and very little of what he does as president.” And on Fox News, she said people don’t hear about infrastructure because “it’s not in a tweet” or it isn’t something “people on other networks can put against the President.” But her own husband, George Conway, tweeted Monday after her remarks, saying: “These tweets may make some ppl feel better, but they certainly won’t help OSG get 5 votes in SCOTUS, which is what actually matters. Sad.” These tweets may make some ppl feel better, but they certainly won't help OSG get 5 votes in SCOTUS, which is what actually matters. Sad. https://t.co/zVhcyfm8Hr Sebastian Gorka, a deputy assistant to Trump, used a tactic similar to Kellyanne Conway on CNN Monday morning. “I just find it really disappointing that not only did you have one of your staff on before me for several minutes on the President’s tweets, now we’re eight minutes into this interview and you’re doing it again,” he said. “Let’s talk about policy.” After pressed that Trump’s tweets are policy, Gorka said: “They are not policy. It’s not policy … It’s not policy, it’s not an executive order. It’s social media. Please understand the difference.” But Trump could, if he wanted to, tweet about infrastructure and follow the lead of his top aides. Instead, though, the President sent six tweets on Monday morning about the mayor of London, his travel ban and his Justice Department. Not one of Trump’s messages mentioned infrastructure.


Petraeus is on probation for two years He needs to notify his probation officer of all his moves If President-elect Donald Trump taps former Gen. David Petraeus to be his secretary of state, Petraeus has three days to notify his probation officer about his new job. He also needs to tell the probation officer before he leaves North Carolina – and his work travel would have to be approved by his probation officer, too. Petraeus, once a widely celebrated military leader who oversaw operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, was sentenced on April 23, 2015, to serve two years of probation and pay a $100,000 fine for sharing classified information with his biographer and lover, Paula Broadwell. “The defendant shall notify the probation officer within 72 hours of any change in residence or employment,” read a court judgment, which was reported first by USA Today. David Petraeus shared classified info. Now can he be secretary of state? “The defendant shall not leave the Western District of North Carolina without the permission of the Court or probation officer. Travel allowed for work as approved by US probation office,” the document also said. Additionally, if Petraeus were to become secretary of state, he would be subject to warrantless searches by his probation officer – including the possibility of searching a work device such as a laptop or a phone. “The defendant shall submit his person, residence, office, vehicle and/or any computer system including computer data storage media, or any electronic device capable of storing, retrieving, and/or accessing data to which they have access or control, to a search, from time to time, conducted by any US Probation Officer and such other law enforcement personnel as the probation officer may deem advisable, without a warrant,” the document read. Trump met with Petraeus to talk about the position on Monday, tweeting about the meeting immediately afterward, saying he “was very impressed” with the retired general. Other names being floated for the position include 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton. CORRECTION: This story has been updated to use the term “probation officer” in all instances.


US President-elect has been critical of agreement throughout his campaign Rouhani also warns US on extending sanctions Iran will not permit Donald Trump to tear up its nuclear deal with the United States, President Hassan Rouhani said Tuesday. “(Trump) wants to do many things, but none of his actions would affect us,” Rouhani said in an address at the University of Tehran, according to Reuters. “Do you think the United States can rip up the JCPOA (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal)? Do you think we and our nation will let him do that?” The JCPOA is a 2015 deal between Iran and the P5+1 group of world powers, including the United States, UK, France, China and Russia plus Germany. Under the deal, Iran must reduce its uranium stockpile by roughly 98%, phase out its centrifuges over the next 15 years, limit research activities, allow heightened inspections and ship spent fuel outside of the country. The Iranian President, who himself is expected to seek a second term next May, added that his country was not a threat to international peace and that the world was being misguided by Washington and Tel Aviv, according to Iranian state media IRNA. “By capitalizing on the dispute over Iran’s nuclear issue, they want to persuade others that the Islamic Republic establishes a threat against security and stability of its neighbors as well as Europe and the global peace,” Rouhani told students. But the agreement’s future has been left in doubt in the wake of Trump’s electoral victory. Throughout his race for the White House, the President-elect has been critical of the Iran deal, calling it one of the worst ever negotiated and pledging to renegotiate its terms. Related article Obama: Trump likely not to seek Iran deal changes “When I am elected president, I will renegotiate with Iran,” Trump said in a USA Today op-ed in September last year. While Trump made no mention of the deal in his video outlining his first 100 days in office, one of his foreign policy advisers confirmed the President-elect’s desire to amend the nuclear agreement a recent radio interview. “‘Ripping up’ is maybe a too strong of word, he’s going to take that agreement, it’s been done before in international context, and then review it,” Walid Phares said on BBC radio in November. Meanwhile, Iran has threatened the Obama administration against signing a 10-year extension of tough economic sanctions, which was approved by the US Senate last week. Related article Obama to sign Iran sanctions bill “The US, as a part of the five plus one, is one of our enemies and wants to pressure us. There is no doubt about that. We have to resist, be steadfast and find a way to counter it,” Rouhani said, according to IRNA. “They may break the nuclear agreement. They have already done so by extending the d’Amato Law (the Iran Sanctions Act). If this measure is actually implemented, then it would be a clear breach of the nuclear agreement and will cause us to react very harshly and severely.” Rouhani said a committee tasked with “monitoring the implementation of a nuclear agreement with six world powers” will “decide on how to respond to the US Congress’ recent extension of a piece of anti-Iran legislation” on Wednesday, Iran’s state-run Press TV reported. “Even if the US President declares invalid part of the bill ratified at the US Congress, we will react to the level of JCPOA (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) violation that has already been committed,” Rouhani said. US senators voted overwhelmingly in favor of a continuance of the Iran Sanctions Act, which they believe is needed to ensure Iran doesn’t violate the terms of the recent international accord to curb its nuclear program. Related article Opinion: Trump should build on Iran deal -- not rip it up President Obama has already faced calls from the Republican leadership asking his administration to halt efforts to facilitate companies doing business with Iran throughout the transition months. “President-elect Trump deserves the opportunity to assess United States policy toward Iran without your administration imposing or implementing additional measures that could complicate the incoming administration’s ability to develop its policy,” House Speaker Paul Ryan, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce wrote in a letter to Obama. CNN’s Sheena McKenzie and Samantha Beech contributed to this report.


The U.S.'s top commander in Afghanistan said Thursday that "Afghanistan is at an inflection point" He added that 2016 could be "no better and possibly worse than 2015" if adjustments are not made The U.S.’s top commander in Afghanistan said Thursday that “Afghanistan is at an inflection point” and that 2016 could be “no better and possibly worse than 2015” if adjustments are not made. In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Army Gen. John Campbell said, “Now, more than ever, the United States should not waver in Afghanistan.” President Barack Obama has previously announced that the U.S. will reduce its military footprint from 9,800 troops to 5,500 by the start of next year. But Campbell warned the committee that “Afghanistan has not achieved an enduring level of security and stability that justifies a reduction of our support in 2016.” Campbell said that building up the Afghan military was “akin to building an airplane while in flight” and said a reduction to 5,500 troops would only allow for a “very limited” training mission. Currently, the U.S. troops stationed in Afghanistan are split between the NATO-led training and assist mission, Operation Resolute Support, which accounts for 6,800 American troops, and a separate mission tasked with performing counterterrorism operations. Responsibility for combat operations was transferred to the Afghan National Security Forces in 2014. It has been a difficult year for the Afghan army, which has suffered heavy casualties in its battle with the Taliban insurgency. The Taliban control or influence as much as 20% of Afghanistan, its highest levels of control since 2001. Experts, including the former commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, retired Gen. David Petraeus, have called for increased U.S. airstrikes to bolster the Afghans in their fight against the Taliban. The U.S. has been prevented from providing close air support to the Afghan military due to rules of engagement that were enacted following the end of U.S. combat operations. The rules only permit coalition airstrikes in situations where coalition troops are directly threatened and as part of counterterrorism missions against transnational groups like al Qaeda. Last month, U.S. forces were granted the authority to strike ISIS in Afghanistan. Campbell said that this authority was granted one year after the coalition became aware of ISIS’s presence in Afghanistan. Related: U.S. airstrikes hit ISIS radio station in Afghanistan Campbell acknowledged a steep drop in close air support, noting that in prior years, the U.S. had provided 150 attack helicopters and two Air Force squadrons. Campbell described the indigenous Afghan air capability as being “extremely limited,” with its airstrike capability having dropped to three Indian-supplied attack helicopters. “Close air support has been the one resource and capability that the Afghans have asked me for every single day,” Campbell said. Campbell said he plans to emphasize the need to fill this air support gap in his final recommendations to the Obama administration, which could include a loosening of restrictions on U.S. airstrikes. “Those who serve in Afghanistan understand it’s worth the investment,” Campbell said.


Thailand’s former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra fled Thailand for Dubai two days before a verdict was due to be delivered in a trial over rice subsidies, a highly-placed source in her Pheu Thai party said Friday. Yingluck left Thailand on Wednesday and is now “safe and sound” in Dubai, the source said. She was due to appear in court Friday but a warrant was issued for her arrest after she failed to show up. Yingluck’s brother Thaksin, who is also a former Thai Prime Minister, lives in Dubai and London in self-imposed exile to avoid corruption charges. Related video Former Thai PM: 'I've never thought of fleeing' Senior police official Gen. Sriwara Rangsibhramakul told CNN that there was no official record of Yingluck leaving the country, which would suggest she slipped into a neighboring country first by crossing over a land border. Asked if it was possible she fled via a natural land border, Rangsibhramakul would only say: “That is possible.” At the hearing on Friday, Yingluck’s lawyer said she was ill, but did not produce a medical certificate. The explanation was rejected and Thailand’s Supreme Court issued an arrest warrant. Yingluck – ousted by a military coup in 2014 – had been barred from leaving Thailand without court approval since 2015, when her trial started. Her bail of 30 million baht ($900,000), posted when the trial began more than two years ago, has been confiscated. Yingluck faced up to 10 years in prison for alleged negligence over the rice-buying scheme, which cost the country billions of dollars. The court has set a new date for the verdict of September 27. The rice subsidy program, introduced in 2011, pledged to pay farmers well above the market rate for their crop. But critics said it wasted large amounts of public funds trying to please rural voters, hurting exports and leaving the government with huge stockpiles of rice it couldn’t sell without losing money. Yingluck said the rice subsidy scheme was “beneficial for the farmers and the country” and that claims it lost money were wrong and motivated by political bias against her. In 2016, she pledged to see through her trial, and said that she had not considered leaving the country. Her no-show Friday was a “big surprise” to most people in Thailand, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University, told CNN, and will have “emboldened” the military government. There was only a “low risk” of unrest following her absence, he added. “The military government have been suppressing dissent and suppressing demonstrations. (Her supporters are) fanned out over the country so it is hard for them to mobilize.” Hundreds of Yingluck’s supporters who’d been waiting outside the court for the verdict quickly dispersed once word spread that she hadn’t appeared. Thai police had deployed 3,000 officers to guard against potential protests. When she was inaugurated in 2011, Yingluck became Thailand’s first female prime minister and its youngest in over 60 years. After the 2014 coup, she was impeached by Thailand’s military-appointed National Legislative Assembly. The ruling barred her from political office for five years. At the time, Yingluck said she had behaved with integrity and honesty during her time as prime minister. CNN’s Euan McKirdy and Elaine Ly contributed to this report.


Over 35,000 people detained and 17,000 arrested since July 15 coup attempt State crackdown has also seen at least 81,000 fired or suspended As Turkey returns to some degree of normality following the July 15 coup attempt, which claimed the lives of at least 240 people and 40 coup plotters, the government has wasted little time in their response. The country’s Prime Minister Binali Yildirim quickly made public addresses denouncing the failed military uprising. While President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to seek revenge for “a clear crime of treason” in an exclusive interview with CNN. The reassertion of power has been swift with mass arrests, detentions and dismissals of suspected coup plotters. Here’s a look at the numbers so far: The purge of those alleged to have been involved in the coup has been far-wide and sweeping. Approximately 35,022 people have been detained in connection to the failed coup earlier this month, a senior official told to reporters. Of those, 11,597 detainees have since been released while 5,685 people remain in custody but have yet to go before a judge. Previously Turkey’s interior minister Efkan Ala said the majority of the detentions have been military – 10,012 people (including 178 generals),  state broadcaster TRT reported. Related: Fate of 1,600 conscripts hangs in the balance In addition to the large number of detentions, around 17,740 people have been arrested on specific charges, the official added. Turkish authorities have stripped the country’s security forces, arresting at least 5,226 military personnel, and seizing as many as 151 generals and admirals – a third of the general-rank command of the Turkish military. Additional arrests include 1,684 prosecutors and judges and 1,019 members of the police force. 1,200 troops have since been released, the government said. The country’s PM has also told state-run news agency Andalou of its intentions to disband Turkey’s elite presidential guard unit. Related video Turkish parliament approves state of emergency About 1.5% of the army were involved in the July 15 coup attempt according to a statement made by the Turkish Armed Forces, TRT reported Wednesday. The statement also broke down the use of military inventory used by coup plotters including: Opinion: Why West must embrace Turkey Turkish authorities have issued 47 new arrest warrants for journalists, managers and former staff of the Zaman newspaper, the government said Wednesday. An official from Erdogan’s office called the newspaper “the Gulen Movement’s flagship media organization.” Related video Turkey cracks down on satire magazine CNN has reached out to Zaman for comment but they had not responded by time of publishing. This is the latest crackdown on individuals suspected of having ties to alleged coup plotters including cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Erdogan has repeated cited as the mastermind behind the coup attempt on July 15. Gulen lives in self-imposed exile in the U.S. and has denied any involvement. “The prosecutors aren’t interested in what individual columnists wrote or said. At this point, the reasoning is that prominent employees of Zaman are likely to have intimate knowledge of the Gulen network and as such could benefit the investigation,” the official said. Previously, 42 warrants were issued on similar grounds Tuesday. A total of 89 warrants have been issued for journalists in the country to date. Meanwhile, Turkey’s broadcasting authority has revoked licenses for 24 radio and television companies believed to have links to Gulen, Anadolu has reported. Related: How people in Turkey feel about failed coup In addition to mass arrests, Turkish authorities have fired or suspended at least 81,494 people from various institutions, including some from state-run organizations, said Turkish PM Binali Yildirim according to Andalou. Among those affected: Related: Could NATO unravel next? Turkey has closed more than 2,000 institutions they say are linked to Gulen. Suspects can be detained for up to 30 days without charge under a new presidential decree issued in the wake of the foiled revolution. The directive also allows the government to listen in on all conversations suspects have with their legal representation. A state of emergency has also been sanctioned. Related article After failed Turkey coup, must U.S. extradite cleric? Allegations of torture and rape of coup plotters have also emerged, according to human rights groups. Amnesty International says detainees face grim conditions including beatings, lack of access to food, water and lawyers amid calls for independent monitors to assess conditions. While Erdogan’s forceful rhetoric post-coup has indicated that those who plotted against him could face the death penalty, presently that is not an option. Capital punishment for peacetime crimes was outlawed in Turkey in 2002. The death penalty was completely abolished two years later as part of wider human rights reform in the country. Turkey continues to push for entry into the European Union, but following the president’s comments, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini made it clear any move to reintroduce capital punishment would stall these discussions. CNN’s Gul Tuysuz as well as journalists Isil Sariyuce and Nimet Kirac contributed to this piece.


This page includes the show Transcript March 27, 2017 A new leader is chosen in Hong Kong - but not without controversy. A Republican effort to replace Obamacare falls short in the House. Another moon race may be getting off the ground. And a CNN Hero gives children a refuge from violence in Chicago. It’s all covered today on CNN 10. TRANSCRIPT CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR:  Welcome to a new week and its first edition of CNN 10.  I’m Carl Azuz, explaining new subjects from around the world, and that includes what happened yesterday in Hong Kong. An election committee chose the region’s first female leader, a former chief secretary named Carrie Lam.  She received 777 of the 1,063 votes that were cast and she said the first thing she’d do is repair Hong Kong’s divided society so the people there can move forward together. Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China.  It’s not independent.  So, elections like this can come with controversy. For one thing, even though the committee that chose Lam is described as broadly representative of the people, most of the committee members are believed to follow what China wants for the region, and critics say China favored Lam as Hong Kong’s leader, though, opinion polls showed another candidate named John Tsang was more popular with Hong Kong residents.  That’s according to a University of Hong Kong professor.  A protester described the vote as a selection, rather than an election. Lam says she’ll work with everyone to make a better Hong Kong. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SUBTITLE:  Hong Kong & China: One Country, Two Systems. IVA WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT:  Hong Kong and mainland China, one country but two very different systems. Hong Kong runs its own finances, education, immigration policy and judiciary, and people in the city enjoy basic rights like freedom of expression and freedom of the press – rights that people in communist mainland China do not have. Before the U.K. handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997, it worked out a deal that allowed Hong Kongers many of the rights they enjoyed as British subjects for 50 years after the hand over. The term “one country, two systems” is the crux of Hong Kong’s de facto constitution, known as The Basic Law.  It’s supposed to guarantee the city a high degree of autonomy from China.  But there’s growing concern that China is not honoring the deal. In 2014, Hong Kong saw its largest demonstrations in decades.  Mass protests over how the city’s top leader is elected.  Activists say the Basic Law allows Hong Kongers the right to develop their own democracy and to hold free elections.  But Beijing insists it has complete jurisdiction over Hong Kong and must pre-approve all candidates who stand for the top posts. (END VIDEOTAPE) AZUZ:  In the U.S. Capitol on Friday, House Speaker Paul Ryan said, quote, “We are going to be living with Obamacare for the foreseeable future.”  A Republican plan to repeal and replace the law didn’t look like it was going to get enough votes in the House to pass and it was pulled from the House floor on Friday. Republicans controlled the House of Representatives with 241 seats to Democrats 194 seats.  But all Democrats opposed the Republican health care plan and some Republicans opposed it, too, saying it didn’t go far enough to eliminate Obamacare.  That contributed to Speaker Ryan’s decision not to hold the vote. President Donald Trump, who supported the bill, blamed the Democratic opposition and said that Obamacare would, quote, “explode on its own.”  Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer said the president never tried to reach out to Democrats and that the blame falls with him and the Republicans.  The White House says the president would continue trying to get Obamacare repealed and that his next major legislative priority is tax reform. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) AZUZ (voice-over):  Ten-second trivia: The last manned mission to the moon was completed in what year? 1969, 1972, 1998, or 2001? In 1972, the Apollo 17 mission to the moon was completed.  It was the last time humans traveled beyond near-earth orbit. (END VIDEO CLIP) AZUZ:  In all, six missions were successfully in landing humans on the moon and bringing them back home.  First person pictures, scientific measurements, samples gathered of lunar soil, all of these things were done for the last time in the early 1970s. Are people headed to the moon again? President Trump recently signed a bill worth $19.5 billion in funding for NASA.  It’s working on a jumbo rocket called the space launch system, while private company SpaceX is developing a rocket called the Falcon Heavy.  Another company named Blue Origin is looking skyward and China is eyeing a manned mission to the dark side of the moon.  Some have called this the dawn of a new moon race, while others say setting dates and goals is one thing, carrying them out is another entirely. Still, the moon, our closest natural satellite, seems to hold a pull for scientists that’s more than gravitational. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JENNIFER GRAY, CNN METEOROLOGIST:  Many of the moon’s nicknames date back to the early Native Americans.  They named each full moon in every month to help them keep track of their planting and harvesting schedule. SUBTITLE: What’s in a moon’s name? GRAY:  The full name in April is known as the Pink Moon, signaling the first appearance of the wild ground phlox, one of the earliest spring flowers. When you have two full moons in a calendar month, the second one is called the Blue Moon. One of the more notable moons, the Harvest Moon in October, also known as the Hunter’s Moon or the Blood Moon.  This is when the leaves are falling off the trees and he animals are fat.  So, this signaled to tribes it was time to hunt all they could to get them to that long winter. And another thing to note is that the moon does not appear pink during the Pink Moon, red during the Blood Moon, or blue during the Blue Moon.  The only thing that can really alter the way we see the moon is if there’s a lot of dust, haze, ash or smoke in the atmosphere, the moon can sometimes have an orange or red glow. (END VIDEOTAPE) AZUZ:  In some areas of Chicago, Illinois, gang violence, gang violence, shooting by the hundreds take place every month and children are often caught in the crossfire.  A member of the Chicago police department had had enough of it.  She took action to create Future Ties.  It’s a nonprofit afterschool and summer program that provides a safe space to children from kindergarten to the fifth grade, and it’s a reason why she’s a CNN hero. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JENNIFER MADDOX, CNN HERO:  We are in a state of emergency here in the city of Chicago. A lot of our young people are fearful to even come outside. The shooting, the killing.  Five, six, seven-year-olds.  They’re losing people that they love and care about. UNIDENTIFIED GIRL:  My godbrother. UNIDENTIFIED BOY:  My cousin. UNIDENTIFIED GIRL:  My uncle. UNIDENTIFIED BOY:  My brother. MADDOX:  It’s very unfair for kids not to be able to enjoy their childhood. I’m a law enforcement officer, but I’m also a mother and a member of this community.  We can’t arrest our way out of this.  Once I saw that there was another side to policing, I thought that I could do more. Even though we are right in the trenches, our center offers an escape for the young people.  They know once they walk through those doors that they’re safe. We make sure that the kids have healthy hot meals.  They get help with their homework. Eleven.  So, what do you do with the one? We mentor them. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:  What do we have to do? KIDS:  Think before we act! UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:  That’s right. MADDOX:  We want to make sure that they make better choices when it comes to violence. How are you doing today? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:  She helped me redefine the world more than what I actually know it as. Probably one of the best things that this neighborhood really has is her. MADDOX:  Good job. I am very proud to be one of the bridges to connect police and community.  We have to learn to trust one another.  I want the children to make the best out of their lives.  I look at their faces every day and there’s hope. (END VIDEOTAPE) AZUZ:  In Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the police force recently won a Guinness World Record related to its efforts to reach out to the community.  They’re doing that one Ferrari, one Lamborghini, one Bentley at a time.  Dubai has the world’s fastest police car in service, a Bugatti Veyron.  It’s one of a 14-car fleet of vehicles nobody can outrun or afford.  But they’re not so much used to chase down suspects as they are to encourage tourists to interact with police. Even with nothing to Ferrari from the cars, most communities wouldn’t be too police with the maintenance.  Bugatti have a lot of money to keep those Veyron-ning.  You’d need a slick $20,000 for an oil change, you’d burn $40,000 on tires.  For departments on a budget, you’re Aston too much.  There’s just no Bentley way to make ends fleet. I’m Car-l Azuz. Click here to access the printable version of today’s CNN 10 transcript. CNN 10 serves a growing audience interested in compact on-demand news broadcasts ideal for explanation seekers on the go or in the classroom. The show’s priority is to identify stories of international significance and then clearly describe why they’re making news, who is affected, and how the events fit into a complex, international society. Thank you for using CNN 10


South Koreans set to go to the polls May 9 Special election convened after ex-leader's impeachment upheld less than a week ago The date for South Korea’s presidential election has been announced, with the country set to vote on its next leader nearly two months after a court upheld the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye. The country’s presidential elections will take place on May 9, Interior Minister Hong Yun-sik said Wednesday. Acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn will not run in the election, he confirmed. Related video What's next for South Korea? “I have concluded that it is not appropriate for me to run in the election, to maintain stable national security and manage a fair election,” Hwang said. The special election was announced following the downfall of Park, the first female South Korean leader. Last week the country’s Constitutional Court upheld a parliamentary vote to impeach Park over allegations of corruption and cronyism. With the ruling, she became the country’s first democratically elected leader to be forcibly removed. South Korea: Cheers, tears as Seoul wakes up to life without Park Related video South Korea's impeached president says goodbye With Park’s ruling conservatives looking out of favor, it seems likely the country will turn to the left-wing opposition, which has signaled it would be likely to pursue a policy of engagement with the North. A left-wing government would also place into question the continued deployment in South Korea of a US missile defense system, which is bitterly opposed by China. Liberal candidate Moon Jae-in, of the opposition Democratic United Party, led opinion polls shortly after Park’s ouster was confirmed. Moon was defeated narrowly by Park in 2012. Park’s impeachment left the country divided, with a hard core of her supporters continuing to demonstrate long after the court’s decision was announced Friday. Demonstrations following her removal turned violent, with three people reported killed. Park’s exit seen as chance to reset China relations Park’s election in 2013 as South Korea’s first female president was widely celebrated as a milestone. But her response to a ferry disaster and accusations of being unduly influenced by a longtime friend and adviser tainted her rule. She was ultimately brought down by a corruption scandal that has dominated South Korean politics for months. Questions about her ties with Choi Soon-sil, who is on trial for abuse of power and fraud, emerged last year. The President was accused of being unduly influenced by Choi, who was arrested after  being accused of abusing her relationship with the President. Park denies claims that she forced companies to donate millions of dollars to foundations she had established. With her removal from office, Park also loses the immunity that the executive enjoys, and could also be indicted for corruption. Prosecutors have confirmed that they notified Park’s lawyer that she needs to appear at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office on March 21 to be interviewed as a suspect over allegations she colluded with Choi to extort money from Samsung. Park denies the allegations. Journalist Taehoon Lee reported from Seoul, South Korea. CNN’s Euan McKirdy wrote and reported from Hong Kong.


Witness describes Iranian refugee on Nauru setting himself alight Papua New Guinea's top court: Australian detention center is illegal Around 900 asylum seekers are detained on Manus Island Papua New Guinea plans to shut down an offshore migrant detention center used by Australia after a top court ruled it  unconstitutional. Following Papua New Guinea’s Supreme Court ruling Tuesday, Prime Minister Peter O’Neill announced that he will ask Australia to seek other options for detainees at the Manus regional processing center in the Pacific island nation. “We did not anticipate the asylum seekers to be kept as long as they have at the Manus center,” O’Neill said. Around 900 men are in the detention center on the Papua New Guinea island, according to Australian immigration authorities. O’Neill said Papua New Guinea would welcome “legitimate” refugees who want to settle in his country. While acknowledging the economy would suffer as a result of the closure, he pledged to work with Australia to ensure business owners would be taken care of. Negotiations with Australia will determine the time frame of the closure. He also said he was proud of the part Papua New Guinea played in stopping deaths caused by the people-smuggling trade. Meanwhile, an 23-year-old Iranian asylum seeker housed in another Australian offshore detention camp on the island nation of Nauru, several hundred miles from Papua New Guinea, is in critical condition after setting himself on fire in front of representatives from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). “He’s in a very serious condition and the plan is to provide an airlift for him later tonight,” said Peter Dutton, the Australian minister for immigration and border protection, according to CNN affiliate Sky News Australia. “But he’s in a very, very serious condition and his outlook is not good at all.” A witness who was in the room when the incident occurred told CNN the man had become “very angry and everything happened (so) fast.” “He was burning. He was in a lot of pain running around (so) bad,” said the witness. “All his body got burned unfortunately.” “The last words that come out of his mouth was that I’m just sick of here and you still think we are (OK).” Nauru’s government said the detainee was protesting conditions on the island and timed his act to coincide with the UNHCR visit. “Unfortunately we have seen protests like this during high-profile visits, as some from within the refugee community try and influence the Australian government’s offshore processing policies,” the government statement read. It said that it “continues to urge our refugee community to refrain from such protests for the protection of themselves and others.” Catherine Stubberfield, spokeswoman for UNHCR in Australia’s capital, said that UNHCR staff and doctors accompanying the mission tried to help the man with blankets and water and remained on site until he was taken by car to a hospital. “UNHCR remains seriously concerned about the grave mental health status of large numbers of asylum seekers and refugees,” said Stubberfield, adding that UNHCR staff at the site had not spoken to the man prior to the accident. Related video Baby asylum seeker sparks controversy in Australia Some 1,200 people are currently detained in offshore “regional processing centers” on Manus and Nauru, thousands of miles from Australia, according to immigration authorities. The camps have been widely condemned and many have called for their closure. A 2015 Australian Senate inquiry reported that the camps had poor hygiene and provided little educational opportunities. It also documented instances of sexual assault. Some detainees have been in the camps for more than three years. Government figures show the average length of detention as 454 days, as of the end of March. Current and former child detainees at the Nauru camp told CNN it’s like a prison. “It’s not a crime to want to have a better life and future,” said one 18-year-old girl who asked CNN not to reveal her name because she fears for her safety. “We are treated as prisoners.” The Papua New Guinea court’s decision “does not alter Australia’s border protection policies,” Dutton said. “No one who attempts to travel to Australia illegally by boat will settle in Australia,” he said in a statement. “Those in the Manus Island Regional Processing Center found to be refugees are able to resettle in Papua New Guinea,” he added. “Those found not to be refugees should return to their country of origin. People who have attempted to come illegally by boat and are now in the Manus facility will not be settled in Australia.” Campaigners against the detention centers welcomed the court’s decision. The PNG Supreme Court has ruled that the Manus Island Detention Camp is ILLEGAL. Time to bring those left there to Australia to be cared for It is well time to close these awful detention camps on Manus &Nauru and start treating people like human beings. Anything less is senseless “It is well time to close these awful detention camps on Manus (and) Nauru and start treating people like human beings. Anything less is senseless,” Greens Sen. Sarah Hanson-Young tweeted. Daniel Webb, director of legal advocacy at the Human Rights Law Center, said the conditions on Manus were “incredibly harmful.” “We’ve known it’s cruel, we’ve known it’s inhumane, today’s judgment confirms it’s illegal.” He added that Tuesday’s ruling should be a “wake-up call” to the Australian government. “Legally, there may be a few ways to respond,” said Aurora Adams, a human rights campaigner at Get Up. “Morally there is only one option, the camps must be closed.” She described Dutton’s statement as “highly disappointing,” adding that there was a clear popular mandate within Australia for the government to change its policy. CNN’s Zahra Ullah and Tim Hume contributed to this report.

Australian offshore detention centers (Manus Island and Nauru)


North Korea’s pledge to freeze missile launches during talks with South Korea is a marked departure from last year’s barrage of missile and nuclear weapons tests. In 2017, the country launched 23 missiles, including its first intercontinental missiles that it said had a long enough range to reach the United States mainland. At the same time, Pyongyang boasted that it was perfecting the technology to top a long-range missile with a nuclear warhead, increasing the threat to the US as a potential target. The first missile Kim fired in 2017 flew over Japan as the new US President Donald Trump met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. It was the first North Korean missile of the Trump administration and set the scene for a series of launches that sent missiles higher, further, and with enough power to put most of the world in range. Barely a month went by without a missile launch. Trump teeters on the edge of a familiar North Korean trap In March, North Korea tested a new rocket engine which state media said represented a “great leap forward” for the country’s rocket industry. In April, as Trump prepared to meet his Chinese counterpart, President Xi Jinping, North Korea fired another ballistic missile off the coast of the Korean Peninsula. But it wasn’t until July, when North Korea fired its first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), that North Korea sent clear evidence that its missile program was developing quickly. The Hwasong-14 launched on July 4 – Independence Day in the US – flew on a steep trajectory, 2,800 kilometers (1,741 miles) above the Earth, before splashing down in the sea off the Korean Peninsula. Analysts said if the missile were to be fired on a standard, flatter trajectory, it would be capable of reaching Alaska. North Korea followed that with a second ICBM test on July 28, which South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff said was more advanced than the July 4 launch. For a start, it went even higher, some 3,700 kilometers (2,300 miles) above the Earth, which suggested it could reach major US cities such as Los Angeles, Denver and Chicago if fired on a flatter trajectory, experts said. North Korea followed up that launch with a sixth nuclear test, its first of 2017. The explosion created a magnitude-6.3 tremor, making it the most powerful weapon Pyongyang has ever tested. Hours before the test, North Korean state media released pictures of the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un inspecting what it claimed was a nuclear warhead being placed inside a missile. On November 29, North Korea claimed to have successfully tested a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile, topped with a “super-large heavy warhead,” capable of striking the US mainland. North Korea’s greatest nuclear advances have come under leader Kim Jong Un, who has tested more missiles than his father and grandfather combined. The tests are thought to have been timed for maximum political impact – a May launch coincided with the One Belt One Road summit in Beijing, an important project for Chinese President Xi Jinping, and a February launch happened as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was visiting US President Donald Trump. And the ICBM test came on July 4, Independence Day in the US. In 2017, both US and South Korean authorities said they believed Pyongyang would be able to pair their nuclear and missile capabilities sometime in the new year. Most weapons experts believe the world will not know with certainty if North Korea can launch a nuclear-armed ballistic missile until they actually do so.


US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley addressed the Security Council Wednesday on the consequences of failing to act in response to chemical weapons attacks in Syria, as President Donald Trump considers whether and when to pull US troops out of the war-torn country. “It is a sad fact that, just a few years ago, a single chemical weapons attack would have united us in shock and anger,” said Haley. “It would have been enough for us to take immediate action. Now, we have a regime that uses chemical weapons practically every other week.” Haley’s remarks come exactly one year after the sarin gas attack killed over 80 people in the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun, prompting Trump to strike a Syrian government air base with Tomahawk cruise missiles. Yet on Tuesday, Trump suggested at a news conference he wanted to remove US troops from Syria – a move he says reflects progress in the US mission to confront the terror group ISIS, but critics say would further embolden the Assad regime and its main allies, Russia and Iran. Related article Trump will keep troops in Syria for short-term, but wants exit soon And while Trump privately told his national security team he was willing to keep troops there in the short-term, he made it clear he doesn’t want them in Syria for the long-term and expects the costs of stabilizing Syria to be shouldered by regional players. A statement from White House press secretary Sarah Sanders on Wednesday stated that “The military mission to eradicate ISIS in Syria is coming to a rapid end, with ISIS being almost completely destroyed.” “We will continue to consult with our allies and friends regarding future plans,” the statement added. “We expect countries in the region and beyond, plus the United Nations, to work toward peace and ensure that ISIS never re-emerges.” Chemical weapons attacks have become an all-to-frequent event in Syria since the country descended into civil war in 2011. In October, a report from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the United Nations’ Joint Investigative Mechanism confirmed international suspicions that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government was responsible for the sarin attack in Khan Sheikhoun. Related article For Trump, Syria policy is all about the economy -- and private jumbo jets But the Russian government cast doubt on the report, and vetoed a Security Council resolution to extend the Joint Investigative Mechanism’s mandate. “Our lack of action has consequences,” Haley said in her remarks Wednesday, linking the lack of concerted action in Syria to separate chemical weapons attacks in the United Kingdom and Malaysia, which targeted a former Russian double agent and the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un respectively. Both of those attacks have been tied by authorities to state actors – Russia and North Korea. “When we let one regime off the hook, others take notice,” said Haley. “The use of nerve agents in Salisbury and Kuala Lumpur proves this point, and reveals a dangerous trend: We are rapidly sliding backward, crossing back into a world we thought we left.” “No one wants to live in a world where chemical weapons are used. No one wants to live in fear that a colorless, shapeless gas will suddenly seep into our lungs and leave us gasping for air.”