Sen. Kamala Harris says she'll oppose a spending deal if it doesn't address immigration Sen. Cory Booker testified in the corruption trial for Sen. Bob Menendez Our weekly roundup of the news, notes and chatter about the prospects for the next Democratic presidential race: Former Vice President Joe Biden says he hasn’t decided yet if he’s going to run for president in 2020, but he left open the possibility in a Vanity Fair interview published Wednesday. “I haven’t decided to run,” he told Vanity Fair. “But I’ve decided I’m not going to decide not to run. We’ll see what happens.” He said that if his late son Beau Biden hadn’t fallen ill, he would have run for president. “No question,” he said in the interview. “I had planned on running, and I wasn’t running against Hillary or Bernie or anybody else. Honest to God, I thought that I was the best suited for the moment to be President.” In a separate interview with InStyle, Biden said of 2020: “I’m familiar with the issues, and I think I could bring some talent there. So it’s not that I don’t think I’m equipped to do the job. We’ll just see.” Biden’s book is scheduled to be released November 14. That’ll lead to another big round of interviews and news-making excerpts — so more Biden 2020 speculation (and on-the-record musing from Biden himself) is coming soon. One more Biden note: He appeared in a public service announcement with Lady Gaga this week, urging action against sexual assault. “It’s on us, it’s on everyone to intervene — to stop abuse when they see it, and when they hear about it, to intervene,” Biden says in the video. News and notes: HARRIS TAKES DACA STAND: California Sen. Kamala Harris was the first senator to announce she’ll oppose an end-of-year spending bill if lawmakers aren’t yet “clear about what we are going to do to protect and take care of” the undocumented immigrants brought into the United States as children whose status is now uncertain after President Donald Trump announced he’d eliminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. — Harris has some weekend political travel. She’s in Rhode Island on Friday to raise money with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse. Then, on Saturday, she’s back in Washington delivering the keynote speech at the Human Rights Campaign’s national dinner — where Hillary Clinton and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos will also be on hand. And Sunday, Harris is in Richmond, campaigning for Virginia candidates ahead of the state’s November 7 election. WARREN’S STOPS FOR HILL REPORTERS: Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren stopped to talk with CNN’s Jeremy Herb about the Niger ambush after Pentagon officials briefed lawmakers Thursday. If you’re a Capitol Hill reporter, you already might be surprised: Warren is known for almost never stopping for interviews with congressional reporters. Warren seems to be opening up in recent weeks and it’s fair to read her warming up to the national media as possible 2020 preparation. BOOKER COMES TO MENENDEZ’S DEFENSE: Sen. Cory Booker came to the defense of his New Jersey colleague, Sen. Bob Menendez, this week. He testified in the senior senator’s corruption trial, saying: “Bob has not forgotten where he comes from. He is someone who has known poverty and insecurity and what is honorable about him to me is that when I go home, and I am reminded of who I’m fighting for, I know Bob Menendez doesn’t just have my back but has their backs.” In a rare display of bipartisan unity, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham also testified for Menendez. CUOMO, SANDERS IN PUERTO RICO: Two 2020 prospects — Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo — were separately in Puerto Rico late this week, on visits that, in Cuomo’s case in particular, will be seen as signs of national ambitions. Sanders on Friday is meeting with San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, touring the island and holding meetings about how Congress can help Puerto Rico’s hurricane recovery efforts. Cuomo on Thursday tweeted: “The federal government has said it can’t stay in Puerto Rico forever, but New York isn’t leaving until the job is done.” STEYER’S LAUNCH? Billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer’s $10-million-plus advertising campaign calling for Donald Trump’s impeachment has him on the air everywhere — with more ads in the Washington market than the Virginia gubernatorial candidates whose election is fewer than two weeks away. It’s being seen as a big opening salvo as Steyer considers runs for office — including California governor, the Senate or president in 2020. MARK CUBAN’S PARTY SURPRISE: Billionaire Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says if he runs for president in 2020, he would do so as a Republican — meaning he’d primary Trump. “I think there’s a place for somebody who’s socially a centrist but I’m very fiscally conservative,” he said. DISPATCH FROM THE DEM MINES from CNN’s Gregory Krieg: There will be no 2018 Democratic primary bloodbath. The party can thank Bernie Sanders and his allies, who kept their eyes down ballot, and moderates like West Virginia’s Joe Manchin, who kept close to the base and so didn’t invite unrest from the #resistance. Outside of California, where Sen. Dianne Feinstein faces a fight, and a few feisty Houses races aside, most of the heat is coming from gubernatorial contests. Related article Kevin de León formally announces Senate bid Iowa is interesting, crowded and (expected to be) intense, with seven candidates and no clear favorite. Cathy Glasson, a nurse and union leader is the likely Berniecrat pick and businessman Fred Hubbell — already up with TV ads last Friday! — are a couple buzzy names. Also to watch: Does a progressive challenger emerge to take on Cuomo, a potential 2020er, in New York? And who survives what’s going to be a pricey primary in Illinois – a Pritzker or a Kennedy? Here are a few more to keep eyeballs on. — Saturday, October 28 — Kamala Harris keynotes a Human Rights Campaign dinner in Washington that will also feature Hillary Clinton, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Gold Star father Khizr Khan. — Saturday, October 28 — Bernie Sanders, as part of his single-payer health care push, is in Toronto, where he will tour Women’s College Hospital, Mount Sinai Hospital and Toronto General Hospital. He will also hold a roundtable conversation with participants including a Canadian doctor, patient, policy maker, hospital administrator and pharmacist. — Sunday, October 29 — Harris and former Attorney General Eric Holder campaign for Democratic candidates in Richmond, in what will be Holder’s second day in the state, ahead of the November 7 election there. They’ll each do several events, but the big one is at The Pearl at 1 p.m. ET. — Sunday, October 29 — Sanders holds a speech and discussion with Dr. Danielle Martin at the University of Toronto on what the United States can learn from Canada’s health care system. The event will be live streamed at 11 a.m. ET on Sanders’ Facebook page. — Monday, October 30 — Sanders campaigns with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio at 7 p.m. ET at Terminal 5. DNC chair Tom Perez expects “a double-digit number of candidates” in the 2020 Democratic presidential race. … Maryland Rep. John Delaney says his unusually early entrance into the 2020 race is inspired by Jimmy Carter’s out-of-nowhere win in 1976. … Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg’s 10-month charm offensive across the United States was interpreted in some quarters as potential 2020 prep, but new data shows it hasn’t changed the public’s perception of him. CNN’s Gregory Krieg, Ashley Killough, Sophie Tatum, Tal Kopan, Caroline Kenny, Miranda Green, Saba Hamedy and Betsy Klein contributed to this memo.


Amnesty International has accused European governments of being complicit in the torture and abuse of migrants and refugees in Libya. In a new report, the human rights group criticizes European governments for supporting efforts by the Libyan coastguard to prevent migrants crossing the Mediterranean and returning them camps in Libya. “Hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants trapped in Libya are at the mercy of Libyan authorities, militias, armed groups and smugglers often working seamlessly together for financial gain. Tens of thousands are kept indefinitely in overcrowded detention centers where they are subjected to systematic abuse,” said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International’s Europe Director. “European governments have not just been fully aware of these abuses; by actively supporting the Libyan authorities in stopping sea crossings and containing people in Libya, they are complicit in these abuses.” Amnesty called on the EU to end what it called a “policy of containment” and instead establish “pathways” to bring the migrants and refugees to Europe safely. Dalhuisen called on European governments to rethink their policies and help people reach Europe legally, “including by resettling tens of thousands of refugees.” “They must insist that the Libyan authorities end the policy and practice of arbitrary arrests and detention of refugees and migrants, immediately release all foreign nationals held in the detention centres,” he said. The EU institutions were “working to save lives, pure and simple,” a commission spokesperson said in an email to CNN. “We do so by 1) stopping people drowning in the Mediterranean, 2) evacuating them from disastrous conditions in Libya and 3) offering them safe and legal pathways to come to Europe.” Federica Mogherini, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, spoke with Libyan Prime Minister Fayes al-Sarraj Tuesday morning on the issue, the statement said. An EU Commission-sponsored  joint task force with Libya, the African Union and the United Nations is to meet in Brussels on Thursday. The EU has funded the International Migration Organization to help 15,000 people stuck in Libya to return home, and plans to repatriate 15,000 more. It has also settled 40,000 refugees that have crossed into Europe from Libya and plans to take 50,000 more in 2019, the commission said. CNN has exposed the conditions faced by mainly sub-Saharan Africans in Libya, secretly filming a slave auction there. The Amnesty report also accused the Libyan coastguard of endangering migrants’ lives and of intimidating NGOs operating in the Mediterranean on rescue missions. Last year at least 3,800 people died trying to make the sea crossing from Africa to Europe, according to the UN. Human-trafficking networks have spread in Libya following the NATO-backed overthrow of Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.


A key Senate Democrat is throwing his weight behind a proposal that would allow Congress to reject the Iran nuclear deal, complicating President Barack Obama’s efforts to dodge Republican opposition and lock in the pact on his own. New York Sen. Chuck Schumer said Monday that he is backing legislation introduced by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) to give Congress the ability to halt the implementation of the deal once the United States and five other world powers finalize the details in the coming months. “This is a very serious issue that deserves careful consideration, and I expect to have a classified briefing in the near future. I strongly believe Congress should have the right to disapprove any agreement and I support the Corker bill which would allow that to occur,” Schumer told Politico on Monday. Schumer’s endorsement is key, since he’s influential within his party and set to take over as the top Senate Democrat once Harry Reid departs at the end of next year. With other Democrats now likely to follow suit, his position puts majority Republicans on track to gather the 60 votes they’ll need to advance Corker’s bill – and potentially a veto-proof majority, limiting Obama’s ability to get around that legislation. The White House has complained that Corker’s bill, which would enable Congress to suspend the lifting of sanctions on Iran as part of the deal, could thwart negotiations that the United States, Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia are aiming to complete with Iran by June 30. Democratic senators are expected to propose changes to the bill, which is set for a committee hearing next week. But it’s not clear whether the Obama administration would embrace any of those changes. Obama told The New York Times in an interview published Sunday that “my hope is that we can find something that allows Congress to express itself but does not encroach on traditional presidential prerogatives – and ensures that, if in fact we get a good deal, that we can go ahead and implement it.”


French leader announced plan to resettle refugees after CNN footage on slave auctions Rights group accuses European governments of being complicit in migrant abuse in Libya The French government stepped up its fight against slavery as the first group of refugees rescued from Libya touched down Tuesday in Paris from Niger. France plans to take in 10,000 refugees by 2019, with 3,000 people coming from a resettlement program in Niger and Chad. French President Emmanuel Macron announced the plan in the aftermath of CNN releasing video footage that showed migrants being sold into slavery in the North African country, some for as little as $400 each. Further flights from Niger are expected to land Tuesday and Wednesday in Paris, with additional arrivals set for January. On Tuesday, 25 people from Eritrea, Sudan and Ethiopia arrived at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport in the first flight out from Niger. The prescreened group included 19 women and children, including a 2-month-old baby, and six men. They will be housed in a convent in eastern France’s Alsace region for four months, where they will receive psychological support and instruction in French. Related article Africans enslaved in Libya are people -- let's treat them with humanity Then the nonprofit group France Horizon will help each individual find permanent housing. After obtaining footage of a human auction in Libya, a CNN team traveled in October to that country to investigate. It saw a dozen men sold at an auction outside the capital, Tripoli. The crew was told of auctions taking place at nine locations in the country. Libyan authorities have launched a formal investigation into the auctions under the Anti-Illegal Immigration Agency. France has been at the forefront of attempting to help those escaping slavery find a safe passage away from Libya. In a speech last month following CNN’s release of the footage, Macron labeled the sale of migrants at slave auctions in the North African country as “a crime against humanity” and vowed to press for international sanctions against Libya. News of the auctions sparked protests outside the Libyan Embassy in Paris. The International Organization for Migration also says it will fly 15,000 more migrants home from detention centers in Libya before the end of 2017. The UN migration agency says it has returned more than 14,007 migrants to their home countries this year already. The United Nations estimates there are 700,000 migrants in Libya, and for years those who have crossed the Mediterranean have shared stories about beatings, kidnappings and enslavement. On Monday, UNICEF announced that 36,000 children in Libya are in need of assistance and that 14,000 of them are unaccompanied. Last week, Amnesty International accused European governments of being complicit in the torture and abuse of migrants and refugees in Libya. In a new report, the human rights group criticized European governments for supporting efforts by the Libyan coast guard to prevent migrants from crossing the Mediterranean and returning them to camps in Libya. CNN’s Saskya Vandoorne reported from Paris, and James Masters wrote from London. CNN’s Melissa Bell contributed to this report.


Sen. Jeff Sessions on Sunday became the first sitting senator to endorse Donald Trump, declaring his support for the Republican front-runner during a rally at a football stadium here. The endorsement from the Alabama Republican known for his opposition to illegal immigration will solidify Trump’s attempts to position himself as the Republican presidential candidate with the toughest stance on the issue. The endorsement comes two days before the crucial Super Tuesday primary when Alabama and a dozen other states, mostly in the South, vote. “At this time in American history we need to make America great again,” Sessions told the raucous crowd as he donned one of Trump’s signature caps emblazoned with that campaign slogan. “I am pleased to endorse Donald Trump for president of the United States.” “A movement is afoot that must not fade away,” Sessions added. Cuing up Sessions’ endorsement on stage Sunday before a crowd of thousands, Trump referred to the Alabama senator as “really the expert as far as I’m concerned on borders.” Related video What it would take to build Trump's border wall “We want strong borders. We want the wall,” Trump said. Opinion: Is the First Amendment safe from Donald Trump? Sessions’ endorsement has been months in the making. Speculation of a potential endorsement has swirled since Sessions appeared with Trump at his massive rally in Mobile, Alabama last summer and donned a “Make America Great Again” cap. The Alabama senator then advised Trump as he crafted and ultimately published proposals to reform the U.S. immigration system. And last month Sessions’ communications director Stephen Miller joined Trump’s team as a policy adviser. Related video Trump: 'I know nothing about white supremacists' The Sessions endorsement allowed the Trump campaign to again set its own agenda. It came after Trump’s campaign spent much of Sunday explaining comments on CNN that he didn’t know enough to disavow former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke. Trump later tried to clean up his comments on Twitter amid an outpouring of criticism from his Republican presidential rivals. Sen. Marco Rubio slammed the remarks, saying they make Trump “unelectable.” Trump on Monday tried to clean up the mess, saying he disavowed white supremacists and blamed the incident on a bad earpiece. Sessions said Trump needs to make clear where he stands. “We believe in equality and fair treatment and that’s the moral principle we adhere to as a nation and I hope he makes that clear,” Sessions said on Monday on “The Matt Murphy Show.” “He’s disavowed this before, and you get asked these questions, I don’t know what happened. But I will say this, he needs to make that clear.” Immigration has been at the center of Trump’s presidential platform since the billionaire launched his presidential bid amid controversy, after calling undocumented immigrants coming into the U.S. from Mexico “criminals” and “rapists.” Republican presidential debate: 6 takeaways Trump has since pledged to build a wall on the border between the U.S. and Mexico and promised to force the Mexican government to pick up the cost. Related video Chris Christie endorses Donald Trump Sessions’ is the second major endorsement Trump has received in a matter of days. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a former rival of Trump’s for the Republican nomination, endorsed Trump on Friday. Sessions, who has been in Congress for nearly two decades, said Sunday that he believes Trump will be best positioned to secure the border and stop illegal immigration, which he said “politicians have promised for 30 years to fix.” “Have they done it?” Sessions asked to a resounding “No!” from the crowd. “Donald Trump will do it.  He will.” Sessions also touted Trump’s outsider status, noting that Trump – who largely self-funds his campaign – is not backed by special interest groups. Sessions added that Trump’s campaign “has the potential to have the American people’s voices heard for a change.” “The bosses are you! People in Washington are public servants. They serve you and we haven’t had enough of that,” Sessions said, before ceding the stage to Trump. CNN’s Tal Kopan contributed to this report.


As a federal appeals court deliberates the fate of President Donald Trump’s travel ban, a Republican congressman warned Tuesday night that it will hurt the United States’ ties to Middle East allies needed in the fight against terrorism. In an interview with Erin Burnett on CNN’s “OutFront,” Rep. Will Hurd of Texas said the ban is “a sign of distrust to many of our allies in that region.” “We have about 10,000 Americans in those seven countries,” he said. “Our men and women that are on a military base in Iraq. Who’s protecting that military base? Iraqis. We have special forces in Syria, and they’re shoulder to shoulder with who? Syrians. This is an issue that is going to cause friction with many of our partners.” .@HurdOnTheHill on #ISIS: "Their ability to inspire people, even if they're 7,000 miles away, is unprecedented" https://t.co/6FID4M3kVd Hurd, a former undercover CIA officer and member of the House Homeland Security and Intelligence committees, cautioned “we do live in a dangerous world and to fight Islamic terrorism we need allies and we need partners. And in a place like Iraq, many Iraqi men and women have given their ultimate life to put ISIS and al Qaeda on the run in order to keep them off of our shores.” Asked whether he was aware of any intelligence suggesting a terror plot from any of the seven countries included in the travel ban to warrant the restrictions, Hurd said, “There are no credible, real threats on the homeland as of two days ago.” Hurd  cited his work on a congressional task force to suggest that more attention must be paid to foreign fighters coming from other regions. “There’s over 200 Americans that have gone into Iraq and Syria to fight with ISIS,” he said. “One of the problems that we saw was that our European allies weren’t vetting known travelers against watch lists, information we were providing about people connected to terrorism.” “It’s a lot quicker to slip in, to be fighting in a place like Iraq or Syria, slip into Turkey, get into Europe, find a fake European passport and come through one of our ports of entry,” Hurd continued. “That is something that would take a significant less amount of time.” Hurd said he hopes that the House and Senate will pass legislation to crack down on visa loopholes.


The resignation follows a deadly police shooting that killed a woman from Australia The victim had called 911 to report a possible sexual assault near her residence Minneapolis Police Chief Janeé Harteau resigned Friday, less than a week after a city officer shot and killed a woman who had called officers for help. Harteau, chief since 2013, said the killing of Justine Ruszczyk was among several factors that led her to step down. “Last Saturday’s tragedy, as well as some other recent incidents, have caused me to engage in deep reflection,” she said in a statement. “I’ve decided I am willing to step aside to let a fresh set of leadership eyes see what more can be done for the MPD to be the very best it can be.” Mayor Betsy Hodges said she asked Harteau to resign because “I’ve lost confidence in the chief’s ability to lead us further – and from the many conversations I’ve had with people around our city, especially this week, it is clear that she has lost the confidence of the people of Minneapolis as well.” Ruszczyk’s death didn’t lead to street protests, but protesters drowned out Hodges when she tried to announce the replacement chief Friday night at city hall. “We don’t want you as our mayor of Minneapolis anymore,” shouted activist John Clark. “We ask that you take your staff with you. We don’t want you to appoint anyone anymore.” “Bye-bye, Betsy,” the crowd chanted. Unable to finish her statement, Hodges and the city communications staff walked out of the room. Hodges returned to the microphone about 20 minutes later, after the protesters left, and announced that Assistant Chief Medaria “Rondo” Arradondo will move into Harteau’s job. The mayor said she would not resign. Ruszczyk, 40, was an Australian native who moved to Minnesota in 2014 and was active in the community as a yoga and meditation instructor. Her wedding was scheduled for next month. She had called 911 to report a possible assault near her home. Minneapolis police officers Mohamed Noor and Matthew Harrity arrived about 11:30 p.m. Saturday. Police said a squad car entered an alley and Ruszczyk, 40, approached the driver’s side to talk with the officers. The officer in the passenger seat, Noor, shot and killed the unarmed Ruszczyk, police said. Related video Officer who killed bride-to-be refuses to talk No charges have been filed, but the officers have been placed on administrative leave. Noor had been with the force for two years and was his precinct’s first Somali-American officer. Police have not offered a complete explanation for the killing and the department has come in for heavy criticism because the two officers wore body cameras but had not turned them on. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is leading the investigation and her death is being investigated as a police shooting. Thursday, in her first comments on the case, Harteau said the shooting “should not have happened. … On our squad cars, you will find the words: ‘To protect with courage and serve with compassion.’ This did not happen.” Police violence is a major issue in the Minneapolis area. Philando Castile was killed outside the city, but the trial of the officer who shot him – which ended in acquittal – was held in Ramsey County, Minnesota, 15 miles from Minneapolis. Protesters marched through the city afterward. A fatal police shooting that happened in Minneapolis also led to street protests. Jamar Clark, a 24-year-old African-American, was killed in a scuffle with white Minneapolis officers in front of an apartment building during the early hours of November 15, 2015. The officers were not charged with a crime.  A police internal investigation determined they did not violate department policies and will not face discipline. Bob Kroll, president of the Police Officers Federation, applauded Harteau’s resignation and the appointment of Arrando, and said Hodges should step down, too. “I don’t think people should be confused and obviously by what’s going on there now (the news conference interruption), they’re not. The next one to resign should be Mayor Hodges,” he said. Harteau’s resignation heartened protesters who came out to demonstrate at Loring Park. “I think it’s a really good sign,” Lauren Rice said. “I think you need to start with those people at the top, and when you have this many citizens involved, that’s how it trickles down. It starts at the top, and the citizens just keep pushing for change.” At a Friday meeting, city council member Linea Palmisano said the Castile shooting could have happened in Minneapolis. “I think we need to fundamentally change the way police operate in our city, and if this means a change in leadership … then so be it, because we have a systemic problem,” she said. Harteau joined the Minneapolis Police Department as an officer in 1987, at age 22. She was the department’s first female and openly gay chief. CNN’s Brad Parks contributed to this report from Minneapolis.


Hillary Clinton spoke Friday in Washington She criticized Trump's proposed budget Hillary Clinton again waded into politics Friday, months after losing the 2016 election, by slamming President Donald Trump’s proposed budget blueprint at Georgetown University. “(It) should alarm us all,” Clinton said of the document which proposed deep domestic spending cuts and increased military spending. The former secretary of state, who has recently begun to engage more directly in political fights, said the proposed cuts – which include steep reductions to foreign aid – would be a “grave mistake.” Related article Hillary Clinton makes most political remarks since losing election “We are seeing signals of a shift that should alarm us all. This administration’s proposed cuts to international health, development and diplomacy would be a blow to women and children and a grave mistake for our country,” Clinton said. Clinton, speaking at an event honoring women who contributed to the recent peace process between the Colombia government and the FARC, went on to reference a letter from 120 retired generals who urged Trump not to make major cuts to diplomacy and foreign aid. “These distinguished women and men who have served in uniform recognize that turning our back on diplomacy won’t make our country safer; it will undermine our security and our standing in the world,” Clinton said. The letter from former three- and four-star generals included Retired Gen. David Petraeus, a former CIA director, and retired Adm. James Stavridis, the former NATO supreme allied commander. “The State Department, USAID, Millennium Challenge Corporation, Peace Corps and other development agencies are critical to preventing conflict and reducing the need to put our men and women in uniform in harm’s way,” the generals wrote. Related article Trump: House panel should investigate Clinton, not me The Trump administration released a budget “wish list” in February that increased defense spending by $54 billion and cut the same amount from non-defense discretionary spending, including 13% from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, 31% from the Environmental Protection Agency and 28% from the State Department. While it is unlikely that this budget will get approved by Congress – both Democrats and Republicans have already rejected aspects of the proposal – the budget was a clear sign that the Trump administration plans to make good on their pledge to remake the federal government. White House officials said in February that the budget assumes “the rest of the world to step up in some of the programs this country has been so generous in funding” over the years. Clinton, seemingly enjoying be back in the spotlight after November’s election, relished the fawning attention she received from Georgetown students. Walking in, Clinton was showered with chants of “Hillary, Hillary.” “Thank you. Wow, let’s do that again,” she joked. Later in the speech, Clinton noted how she is once again speaking about “evidence” and “facts,” a subtle knock on a Trump administration that has been critiqued for its relationship to the truth. While speaking about women and peace processes, Clinton called the notion women are more peaceful than men a “stereotype.” “That is a stereotype, that belongs in the alternative reality,” Clinton said, emphasizing the “alternative” in an apparent knock against top Trump aide Kellyanne Conway, who argued early in Trump’s tenure that the White House was presenting “alternative facts.” This story has been updated.


Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has apologized for remarks in a recent speech that were widely condemned as anti-Semitic. In a statement released by his office, Abbas said he did not intend to cause offense in a speech to the Palestinian National Council on Monday, in which he claimed the Holocaust was driven not by anti-Semitism but by a reaction to the financial activities of European Jews. In his speech, citing books written by what he described as Zionist Jewish authors, Abbas also re-aired a discredited theory that Ashkenazi Jews hail from Khazaria, an empire located in Eastern Europe, rather than the biblical Holy Land. “If people were offended by my statement in front of the PNC, especially people of the Jewish faith, I apologize to them,” Abbas said in his statement. “I would like to assure everyone that it was not my intention to do so, and to reiterate my full respect for the Jewish faith, as well as other monotheistic faiths.” “I would also like to reiterate our long-held condemnation of the Holocaust, as the most heinous crime in history, and express our sympathy with its victims,” Friday’s statement from Abbas said. “Likewise, we condemn anti-Semitism in all its forms, and confirm our commitment to the two-state solution, and to live side by side in peace and security.” Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman was quick to reject the apology from Abbas, who is also known as Abu Mazen. He tweeted, “Abu Mazen is a wretched Holocaust denier, who wrote a doctorate of Holocaust denial and later also published a book on Holocaust denial. That is how he should be treated. His apologies are not accepted.” Abbas’ comments in front of Palestinian leaders on Monday drew widespread international condemnation. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “With utmost ignorance and brazen gall, he claimed that European Jews were persecuted and murdered not because they were Jews but because they gave loans with interest.” US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said Abbas had “reached a new low,” adding “to all those who think Israel is the reason that we don’t have peace, think again.” The European Union described Abbas’ remarks as “unacceptable.” The UN’s chief Middle East envoy, Nickolay Mladenov, said Abbas had repeated “some of the most contemptuous anti-Semitic slurs” that did not “serve the interests of the Palestinian people, or of peace in the Middle East.” And in a strongly worded editorial, calling the remarks “vile,” the New York Times said it was time for Abbas to step down as Palestinian leader.


Editor’s Note: Now you can get “5 Things You Need to Know Today” delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here. The US issued a travel alert for Europe ahead of the holiday season, urging tourists to be cautious around Christmas markets and festivals. The alert came after French authorities thwarted a terror plot over the weekend that was linked to ISIS and Syria. Six children are dead after a fatal school bus crash in Tennessee. The driver of the bus has been arrested and charged with multiple counts of vehicular homicide, reckless endangerment and reckless driving. The crash happened Monday afternoon when the bus hit a tree. Donald Trump has rolled out his policy plan for his first 100 days in office. In it: Reworking trade negotiations, canceling environmental restrictions, national security moves and lobbying bans. Not in it: Mexican border walls, “deportation forces” and Obamacare repeals. Also, good news: Stocks continue to rally following the election. They hit a record high yesterday. A 6.9-magnitude quake hit off the east coast of Japan on Tuesday morning, setting off tsunami warnings in the country’s Fukushima and Miyagi Prefectures. If that sounds familiar, it’s because Fukushima was the site of the catastrophic 2011 quake that killed more than 20,000 people. Luckily, no deaths have been reported from this quake. While Trump is making plans and inspiring stock market rallies, his chief strategist pick Steve Bannon continues to catch criticism. In a Canadian TV interview, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean called Bannon a “Nazi,” as well as anti-woman and anti-Black. Bannon, for his part, denied supporting the white nationalism of the alt-right movement he inspires, instead calling himself an “economic nationalist.” People are talking about these. Read up. Join in. Instagram rolls out disappearing, Snapchat-like messages In tech and in life, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. There’s a reason turkey (the food) and Turkey (the country) share a name That and more tasty Thanksgiving trivia for the dinner table. Girl in heartbreaking photo dies of cancer The four-year-old’s picture went viral for its stark portrayal of suffering. “Romance gaming” and virtual boyfriends are big in Japan It’s like being the star of an interactive romance novel…on your phone. Kanye West hospitalized for exhaustion after canceling tour dates Wow, he really did need some Kanye rest. Please do not drool on the screen Watching chocolate being made is strangely soothing. (Click to view)


Vladimir Putin is back – and stealing Barack Obama’s thunder. The Russian president showed up at the United Nations on Monday for the first time in a decade, proposing a coup against U.S. global leadership and seeking to wrest control of a coalition battling ISIS away from America’s grip. And he wasn’t the only leader of a country challenging the United States to effectively upstage Obama at the annual global meeting, which a U.S. president traditionally uses to command the spotlight. Speeches by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on the 70th anniversary of the creation of the world body also left Obama defending not only his personal foreign policy legacy, which is already under assault at home from Republican presidential candidates, but the entire concept of a world order based on seven decades of U.S. global leadership. The day of speech-making, which also included an address by Cuban leader Raul Castro and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, underscored the multipolar challenges to U.S. power, as slumbering empires seek a resurgence and America faces military challenges from Eastern Europe across the Middle East to Asia. Obama hits Putin, Republicans in U.N. speech Obama has embraced a policy of encouraging other actors to address threats in their region, for instance pulling Saudi Arabia and Jordan into the coalition to fight ISIS. But the approach means that other forces joining the fray – including Iran and now Russia in Syria – may not necessarily agree with America’s preferred end game. Obama offered a full-throated justification of his policies – particularly emphasizing diplomacy over the use of force – in his own U.N. address, but he seemed on the defensive amid claims by critics that his policies have emboldened U.S. adversaries. The most ardent challenger on Monday was Putin, who appears to be probing openings in Ukraine and Syria where he believes the U.S. president will not resist. He recently ordered a military buildup in Syria apparently in support of President Bashar al-Assad, a longtime Russian client, and went behind Washington’s back to conclude an anti-ISIS intelligence alliance with Iran, Syria and Iraq just this weekend. Putin’s message at the U.N. podium Monday was a simple one: U.S. interventions and unilateralism have backfired in the Middle East, and it is time to try something new. His speech will do little to undercut a widespread impression in many Western capitals that his aim in Syria is not just to bolster a Moscow ally but, primarily, to thwart U.S. power and influence in the Middle East. Putin took particular aim at U.S. involvement in Iraq and Libya, which he said fostered a power vacuum filled with “extremists and terrorists.” “Do you realize now what you’ve done?” he asked. He called for a ministerial conference and then a U.N. resolution to reorient strategy against ISIS – even though many U.S. observers believe his real aim is to prioritize attacks against rebels opposed to al-Assad and to thwart U.S. aspirations in a region in which Obama has shown little appetite of becoming embroiled. Related gallery Russian President Vladimir Putin Like Russia, China is also a nation that once enjoyed great power and is now seeking a rebound. Xi, president of a nation that Washington faults for stoking tensions in Asia with its territorial claims at sea while increasingly elbowing the United States in the Pacific, hit out at criticism of China’s communist system. And in a thinly veiled warning against new U.S. military adventures, he warned that “those who adopt the high-ended approach of using force will find that they are only lifting a rock to drop on their feet.” And Iran, which the United States accuses of supporting terror throughout the Middle East, portrayed its deal with world powers over its nuclear capabilities as an example of U.S. capitulation and blamed “incorrect actions of newcomers to the region and naive transregional actors” – a clear reference to Washington – for the chaos in the Middle East. Sensing the rising challenges to U.S. power that were all too evident at the U.N. on Monday, Obama openly faulted the perception – fueled by Republican presidential candidates – that he is a weak leader who has emboldened American adversaries. He seemed to be addressing the historians who will consider his legacy as much as his contemporaries on the world stage, especially when he defended his policy of cooperating with some of the very leaders he faults. “We see in our debates about America’s role in the world a notion of strength that is defined by opposition to old enemies, perceived adversaries, a rising China, or a resurgent Russia, a revolutionary Iran,” Obama said. He was particularly contemptuous of Putin, mocking “state-controlled media” notions of a revived Russia. He said Ukrainians wanted to align with Europe not Moscow and pointed out that sanctions had led to a “fallen ruble and the emigration of more educated Russians.” “History is littered with the failure of false prophets and fallen empires, who believed that might always makes right, and that will continue to be the case. You can count on that,” Obama said. But Obama also acknowledged that he was open to a realistic approach that could see him work with Russia and Iran to fight ISIS and back a “managed transition” away from al-Assad. Seeing al-Assad remain in power for some time and cooperating with Iran on Syria are positions that the administration has long frowned on, and their embrace exposes Obama to criticism from those at home as well as from the adversaries that he faced on the world stage Monday. 5 things to watch at the U.N. General Assembly this week Related video Obama: We want a strong Russia that will work with us Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who is making foreign policy a centerpiece of his run for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, warned that Putin was making a case that American leadership had failed in the Middle East and Obama was to blame. “The President has fallen into that. He’s in fact strengthened Putin’s hands,” Rubio said in an interview with NPR that aired Monday, complaining that states in the region were despairing at the lack of a U.S. strategy to beat ISIS. “If left with a choice between Russia and nothing, they’re going to choose Russia,” Rubio said. Obama has made no secret of the fact that he disdains Putin as a bully and the Russian leader appears to view his opposite number as weak. The ill regard was noticeable in the days leading up to their meeting along the U.N. sidelines, with each side arguing that the other had pushed for the meeting and declaring that the talks were focused entirely on their own priorities – Ukraine in the case of Obama and Syria for Putin. While Obama arguably lost the power play by participating in the meeting – he has shunned Putin since his annexation of Crimea in 2014 – both sides ultimately conceded that they still need to work with each other by showing up and awkwardly shaking hands for the cameras Monday. It seemed clear that Obama did not particularly want to be there, but Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser, told CNN’s “The Lead” on Monday that it would have been “irresponsible” not to meet Putin and test his intentions. It was also an appearance that will likely play better in Moscow, where Putin wants to convince Russians he is a key actor on the global stage, than in Washington.


Chief of staff John Kelly said the White House is reviewing a Democratic memo on the investigation into a Trump campaign associate and he has ordered authorities to give their recommendations on how to handle it by Thursday, after which the President will make his final decision on whether to release the memo and whether to redact it. Kelly said the memo came in late Monday night and on Tuesday, he and White House counsel Donald McGahn met with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein for a “great conversation.” He said the White House was not leaning any way on the memo. Related article Trump met with Rosenstein to discuss Democratic intelligence memo “This is a different memo than the first one, it’s lengthier, well it’s different, so not leaning towards it,” Kelly said. “It will be done in a responsible way. But again, where the first one was very clean relative to sources and methods, my initial cut is this one is a lot less clean. But at the end of it all, it’ll be guys like Rod Rosenstein, Chris Wray from FBI, certainly the national security attorneys at the White House giving the President a recommendation on that.” Speaking to reporters after leaving a meeting on the Hill about immigration, Kelly said that the review of the memo would be much like that done of a previous memo that was written by Republicans. The release of that memo, crafted by Republican staff on the House Intelligence Committee under Chairman Devin Nunes, generated a firestorm of controversy over whether it should be released, with Democrats saying the memo was one-sided and misrepresented the facts of how federal authorities obtained a warrant to surveil Trump campaign associate Carter Page over his potential connections with Russia. “We essentially got it today, the teams are doing exactly the same thing on this one that we did on the first one,” Kelly said. “This one’s more lengthy, but anyway, drop-dead date, they need to get back to me by close of business Thursday, then … we’ll go in and brief the President on it, and just like we did the first time, give him a recommendation as to what he should do going forward.” Kelly continued that Trump will have the final say. “He’ll have a decision to make as to what he wants to do with it: Should he do the same thing he did on the first memo and essentially declassify it, or should he declassify it with some redactions,” Kelly said. “This is not as clean a memo as the first one,” he added, referring to the inclusion of intelligence information. After Trump released the first memo without any redactions, despite objections from the FBI and intelligence community, the House Intelligence Committee reversed course and held a second vote on whether to release the Democratic memo summarizing the same underlying intelligence – this time voting to send it to Trump. On Tuesday, Rosenstein met with Trump for 10 to 15 minutes. Rosenstein was not at the White House for a roundtable on the MS-13 gang that was held around the same time. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders announced in the daily press briefing that the meeting had happened. One White House official told CNN they believed the conversation was solely about the memo.


Read more about this story at CNN Turk. Prime Minister says ISIS was only "a pawn ... a subcontractor" in this attack Suspected suicide bomber had not been considered a security risk, official says All 10 of those killed were German, officials say It was a strike at the heart of Turkey’s culture and its multibillion-dollar tourist industry. The suicide bombing on Sultanahmet Square on Tuesday killed 10 people – all of them Germans, the German Foreign Ministry confirmed Wednesday. It was the deadliest attack on Germans abroad in more than 13 years. And Turkey’s Prime Minister promised a determined effort to repel the threat. “We will continue our fight against terrorism with the same resolve and will never take a step back,” Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said, according to Turkey’s semiofficial news site, Anadolu Agency. But he added that Istanbul had “become a city of hope today in the rings of fire in the region, to the people of the Middle East, Balkans and Caucasus.” As if to underscore the government’s resolve, Turkey detained 68 suspected terrorists in sweeps across seven provinces, Anadolu Agency reported Wednesday. That included three Russians who were staying at a house in Antalya, according to an account also reported by Russia’s state-run Sputnik news. Another 21 people held in Sanliurfa were “preparing for attacks in Turkey,” according to Anadolu Agency. And 16 people – 15 of them Syrian – were detained in Ankara for allegedly starting to scout out buildings there. One of those caught in the security sweep is being held in connection with the Istanbul blast, according to Turkish Interior Minister Efkan Ala. “The examination and investigation continues in multiple ways and in a very serious manner,” Ala said. Another Turkish official, speaking to CNN on condition of anonymity, said Turkey – and the rest of the world – would never be safe until the situation in Syria is resolved. “As long as there is a training ground for ISIS on the other side of our border we will continue to have this problem, not only Turkey but Europe and U.S.,” the official said. “Turkey remains committed to its calls for an ISIL-free zone, a region free of terrorism across its borders.” ISIL is another acronym for ISIS. The official said Turkey should try to “drive ISIS into the desert. This isn’t a result of Turkish foreign policy; it’s about what’s happening in Syria.” Officials quickly blamed ISIS for the attack. Seventeen people were wounded; 11 were still hospitalized at midday Wednesday, Turkey’s interior minister said. Nine of those still in the hospital were German, one was Norwegian and the other was from Peru, according to Ala. Few details have been released about the attacker. He was born in 1988, officials said. He came to Turkey from Syria, registering as a refugee. He was not being tracked by Turkish security. Ala told journalists Wednesday that authorities had not considered the suspected bomber a security risk, according to Anadolu Agency. He said the suspect had visited the Migration Administration in Zeytinburnu, where he was registered and fingerprinted. Asked whether there had been an “intelligence weakness,” Ala replied, “Your assessment that he was fingerprinted and registered one week ago is correct. However, in terms of our current assessments, he was not among the people being searched or part of the target group, neither was he part of the target persons sent to us by other countries.” Davutoglu, the prime minister, confirmed that the suspect was not being followed. But he said the bomber was quickly identified after the attack because of the ways in which Turkey registers the entry of every foreigner into the country. He also said four other people had been detained. His assessment of who was to blame, however, was more mysterious. “We have determined through the attacker’s entry to Turkey and his contacts that there may be active actors behind the scenes,” he said. “An ISIS connection has been identified but ISIS is a pawn, an intermediary organization, a subcontractor. We are working to reveal the real actors behind this terror organization.” Street vendors and shopkeepers opened for business Wednesday but had few customers. A makeshift memorial appeared at the site of the attack. People laid red roses in the shadow of the city’s world-famous Blue Mosque. The suicide bomber detonated his explosives in the midst of a German tour group made up mostly of retirees, German officials said. “We have a free society … but there are people who want us harmed,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said. “We will persevere.” Still, the attack shocked the nation. The headline on the German tabloid Bild asked: “Was this a targeted attack on us?” But German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said there were no indications Germans were singled out. He encouraged Germans to continue to travel to Turkey. “We don’t want to change our behavior,” he said. The last time Germany experienced such a deadly attack on its citizens was 2002. A suicide attack on a historic synagogue in Djerba, Tunisia, killed 14 German tourists, three Tunisians and two French citizens. Some 4 million Germans visited Turkey in 2015, more than from any other country, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.  Turkey is second only to Spain as a stop for German vacationers. Related gallery The ISIS terror threat The attack took place in an area heavily guarded by Turkish security forces. Sajjan Gohel, international security director at the Asia-Pacific Foundation, thought it was significant that it targeted a square that is both a draw for tourists and significant to Turkey’s history and its diverse cultural identity – the type of place, he said, “that ISIS is so deeply opposed to.” “The type of monuments that are in Sultanahmet Square are the type that ISIS has been blowing up in Syria,” Gohel told CNN. “It’s seen as a place where you have a mesh of different entities. It’s a real melting pot.” If Tuesday’s blast is confirmed to be the work of the terrorist group, that will force Ankara to step up its anti-ISIS fight, Gohel said. “An attack like this is designed to create economic, political and social consequences,” he said. “Turkey has to realize that the pipeline that feeds ISIS from Turkey to Syria has to now be cut off, because incidents like this are not one-offs. This could be part of a series of plots.” To find the likely source of the violence, one only has to look south to Syria, where a civil war has raged for nearly five years. The conflict has claimed more than 250,000 lives, according to the United Nations. More than half the country’s 17 million residents have fled, and a humanitarian crisis remains for those left behind. The violence can be blamed on many groups, including forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. But ISIS has been behind many of the worst atrocities. After initially doing little to fight ISIS, Turkey, a member of NATO, has increasingly become engaged in the fight. It has begun allowing the United States to launch strikes from Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey, and it is trying, too, to prevent more fighters from going through its territory to join ISIS. ISIS has responded by singling out Turkey as a primary target, and a recent issue of its Dabiq magazine had a cover showing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan alongside U.S. President Barack Obama. Turkey’s military cooperation with the United States and other NATO nations in particular has angered ISIS, said Fadi Hakura, associate fellow at Chatham House, a London-based think tank. ISIS goes global: 60 attacks, 19 countries Investigators blamed ISIS for two suicide blasts in October that hit a lunchtime peace rally in Ankara, in which demonstrators were calling for an end to the renewed conflict between the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, known as the PKK, and the Turkish government. Those explosions killed as many as 100 people and injured more than 240 others. CNN’s Ian Lee and Zeynep Bilginsoy reported from Istanbul. CNN’s Ed Payne reported and wrote from Atlanta. CNN’s Gul Tuysuz and Greg Botelho also contributed to this report.


Editor’s Note: David Wearing is a researcher at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, where he teaches courses on Middle East politics and international political economy. The views expressed in this commentary are solely his. Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron is determined to deal with the threat from international terrorists. Or so he keeps saying. The problem is that Cameron’s proposed air strikes in Syria are likely to escalate the threat, while his government’s policies elsewhere in the Middle East are also providing nourishment to “Islamic State” (ISIS) and al Qaeda. Just as his predecessor Tony Blair ignored intelligence warning that invading Iraq would increase the likelihood of terrorist attacks, Cameron is playing fast and loose with the safety of the British public, and the wider world. The plan for bombing “Islamic State” in Syria that Cameron laid before the British Parliament last week started to unravel almost immediately. In response to the crucial question of what ground forces British air strikes would be supporting, Cameron pointed to a total of 70,000 non-extremist Syrian fighters, a number that simply defies all logic. A U.S. initiative to stand up even a 15,000 strong “moderate” force to confront ISIS recently collapsed in failure, having put less than a half a dozen troops onto the battlefield. One of the central facts of the Syrian civil war is that the original democratic opposition forces have been eclipsed by ISIS, the Syrian branch of al Qaeda, and other religious fundamentalist factions. The suggestion that 70,000 genuinely non-extremist, Sunni Arab troops exist, let alone that they are willing and able to reclaim ISIS-held territory, is reminiscent of how the Blair government misrepresented intelligence to justify invading Iraq twelve years ago. Related video David Cameron pushes for airstrikes in Syria In reality, a serious anti-ISIS ground force cannot be put together until a broader de-escalation of the civil war is achieved and a national political process set in motion. Progress in this regard has barely begun. Until a few weeks ago, the key external players in the conflict had never sat round the same negotiating table (and their Syrian counterparts have still yet to join them). This is largely because the U.K., U.S. and their regional allies connived to exclude Iran from negotiations, despite it being no less vital an ally of the Bashar al-Assad regime than Russia. Belatedly including Iran at least now gives diplomacy a chance, but the optimistic joint framework announced just a fortnight ago does not, as yet, add up to a political context conducive to successful military action. It needs time to bear fruit. To judge the current prospects of Cameron’s plan for Syria, look to Iraq, where ISIS was originally born in the chaos of the Anglo-American occupation. Since the U.K. joined air strikes there a year ago, progress has been limited, to put it gently. ISIS won a huge strategic victory in May this year when it seized the regional capital of Ramadi, while U.S. intelligence analysts are now in virtual open revolt against their superiors’ attempts to paint a rosy picture of the situation. The reason for the failure? The absence of any substantive political process addressing the alienation of Sunni Arabs from the central government, and consequently of Sunni Arab ground troops capable of reclaiming significant territory. Related article Moscow alleges Turkey shot down plane to protect oil trade with ISIS For Cameron to propose action that increases the probability of ISIS killing civilians on the streets of Britain is one thing. But to do so without an honest, credible strategy that stands a chance of defeating the group is something else altogether. Meanwhile his government’s approach to the wider region is also fuelling the terrorist threat, not countering it. Britain’s closest alliance in the Middle East is with another group of violent religious extremists, the Saudi royal family, which has supported fundamentalist Syrian groups who in turn have been colluding with al Qaeda. Yet there has been no discernible effort by London to use its leverage over Riyadh to push the latter to de-escalate in Syria, or to act more responsibly elsewhere in the region. Indeed, Britain is providing active, material support for the Saudis’ brutal ongoing war in Yemen, a campaign which – like al-Assad’s repression in Syria - has helped create a humanitarian catastrophe, and opened up yet another anarchic space for international jihadis to fill. It is the same story in Egypt. There Britain supports a regime that came to power in a military coup in 2013 and subsequently waged a campaign of state terrorism against its opponents which, predictably, gave a massive boost to jihadis in the country and opened the door to ISIS. Related video Obama warns Putin against intervening in Syria Egypt’s new ISIS branch is the prime suspect in the recent bombing of a Russian airliner flying out of Sharm el-Sheikh, a resort visited by hundreds of thousands of British tourists each year. Yet President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the coup leader who helped plunge his country into the abyss, was warmly welcomed to Downing Street a few weeks ago, and British arms sales to his regime are now on the increase. The implications for the safety of British holidaymakers, not to mention that of ordinary Egyptians, are alarming. Cameron’s government has been looking for a way into the Syrian conflict for some time, likely motivated above all by the need to restore Britain’s military credibility after the failures of Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. But a new intervention will play directly into the narrative used by ISIS to lure the Western recruits most likely to carry out attacks in Britain. And London’s continued support for authoritarian regimes merely enables the killings, abuses and misrule which allow extremist groups to flourish. The first responsibility of any government is to keep its people safe, but judged by his acts and omissions, David Cameron seems to have conflicting priorities. So a new chapter in Britain’s 14-year-old “war on terror” begins, and by now, we all know the probable outcome. David Wearing is a researcher at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, where he teaches courses on Middle East politics and international political economy. The views expressed in this commentary are solely his.


ISIS supporters post photos of the destruction of the temple UNESCO says the destruction of the temple is "a new war crime" ISIS seized the Palmyra ruins in Syria in May, prompting fears for the ancient site Following the destruction of a nearly 2,000-year-old historic ruin in Syria – an act the United Nations cultural organization called a war crime – ISIS followed up with images of how it blasted the site. ISIS supporters on Tuesday posted photos that show the destruction of the Baalshamin temple in Palmyra, Syria. Maamoun Abdulkarim, Syria’s director-general of antiquities and museums, said that sources in Palmyra informed him that ISIS members rigged the temple with large quantities of explosives and detonated them. The photos showing the destruction are real, he said. The series of photos shows men rolling barrels of explosives into the temple and strapping them to columns, then a mushroom cloud with a final photo of a pile of rubble. Related video ISIS destroys Palmyra temple, continues Syrian assault Captions on the photos claim that ISIS used IEDs, improvised explosive devices, to completely level the temple, which dates back to the first century. The photos were posted on the usual Internet photo-sharing sites the group uses to distribute its propaganda. “They destroyed an incredibly important architectural structure,” Abdulkarim said. “It is the first structure in the Palmyra complex to be destroyed, although they recently destroyed two Islamic shrines nearby. “They said they would destroy the statues but not the structures themselves inside Palmyra,” he said. “They lied.” February: Video shows ISIS destroying antiquities in Iraq Irina Bokova, the director-general of UNESCO, said in a statement that the destruction of the temple was “a new war crime and an immense loss for the Syrian people and for humanity.” News of the demolition of the temple comes less than a week after the observatory said ISIS militants had publicly beheaded Khaled al-As’ad, 82, the former general manager for antiquities and museums in Palmyra. ISIS fighters seized control of Palmyra and the nearby modern town of Tadmur in May, prompting fears over what the militants would do to the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The images fit ISIS’ pattern of producing propaganda aimed to shock viewers, particularly Western audiences. June: ISIS destroys ancient Muslim shrines CNN’s Ben Wedeman and Brian Walker contributed to this report.


Erdogan slammed the Security Council over the Syria war He called for a no-fly zone in the war-torn country Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for an overhaul of the United Nations on Monday, saying its Security Council had failed to address the Syria conflict and other global challenges. Erdogan gave an unabashed speech in Istanbul at the closing of a NATO meeting, where he slammed the Security Council’s concentration of power, reiterating that “the world is bigger than five.” “There are so many countries. There are five permanent members of the Security Council and one of those five permanent members can make a decision that binds the rest of the world. That is not fair, that is not just.” Related article There's anxiety in Europe over Trump and NATO, former British minister says “There have been numerous positive steps taken, however, the United Nations failed to act effectively facing a number of issues, Syria included,” Erdogan said. The Security Council, responsible for international peace and security issues, includes five permanent member states – the United States, China, France, Russia and the United Kingdom – which all hold the power to veto decisions or resolutions. The Council has been widely criticized as ineffective over its inaction on the war, failing to push through decisions on the conflict since it broke out with the Arab Spring in 2011. That’s because Russia – an ally to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government – has used its veto power five times regarding the conflict, while China vetoed four of the five. It took three years before any decisive international intervention, beginning with US-led airstrikes in 2014. “To achieve international peace and security, it’s going to be very difficult, and perhaps fail if the United Nations is not restructured,” he said. “The United Nations was formed at the end of World War II and we cannot continue to manage this world with an organization that old.” Erdogan also took the opportunity to call on world powers to stop supporting “terrorist organizations,” including the Kurdish People’s Protection Unit (YPG). The US calls the YPG a “moderate rebel group” and has given it military support and arms through the Syrian Democratic Forces alliance fighting ISIS militants. “Some say … we do not recognize the YPG as a terrorist organization because they fight against Daesh,” Erdogan said, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS. He pointed out that Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, the militant group formerly known as Jabat Al-Nusra, was also fighting ISIS and was internationally considered a terrorist organization. “They fight against Daesh. Just because a terrorist fights another terrorist, can you call them a good terrorist? At least that’s what we are seeing in Syria and Iraq,” he said. Related article Trump's potential Pentagon chief sounds strong support for NATO He also called on the world to help implement a no-fly zone in Syria, a policy that US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton suggested during the election campaign. But the idea has been met with little enthusiasm in Washington, where it has been mulled for years. “But despite saying yes to us, (the no-fly zone) has been left just sitting there without action. And it is my wish from now on, headed by the United States, that these steps now can be taken. And we can strike a blow to terrorist organizations, and the dangers in Turkey can be eliminated,” he said. Erdogan also used the opportunity to criticize Europe’s response to the refugee crisis, complaining that the burden had fallen heavily on Turkey’s shoulders and that the Turkish people were not given enough in return. Related article NATO bolsters presence in Eastern Europe as Russia tension rises “As you know, since the beginning of the crisis in Syria, Turkey has taken its place at the frontline. And Turkey has never turned shy from its humanitarian duties. Turkey has opened its doors to over 3 million Syrians, and unfortunately all the promises of support made to Turkey have remained just that – promises, and only a small fraction of those premises have materialized,” he said. In March the European Union reached a deal with Ankara, in which Turkey would essentially prevent migrants from leaving its coast for EU states, or would accept migrants sent back from EU countries for registration there. In return, Turkey was to receive significant financial aid and its push to join the union was to be expedited. Erdogan was speaking on the final day of the 62nd annual session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, where the Syrian conflict and Europe’s refugee crisis featured heavily in talks. NATO – the North Atlantic Treaty Organization – is a 28-member group that deals with security issues in the Atlantic and couples the United States with its European allies. US President-elect Donald Trump during his election campaign questioned Washington’s commitment to NATO, as he expressed interest in bringing the US closer to Russia. Moscow has reiterated it is not a regional security threat and accuses NATO of provoking regional tensions.


TPP signatories have to decide whether to amend or abandon the agreement It'll be a lengthy process US President Donald Trump dealt a death blow to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade deal that was negotiated between 12 nations who represent more 40% of the global economy. The other 11 countries knew this was coming – Trump excoriated the TPP, among other trade deals, on the campaign trail, saying that the deal would send jobs overseas and benefit special interests rather than American workers. His election in November all but sealed the TPP’s fate, at least in its current form. So what’s next for Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam? TPP vs RCEP: Key trade deals explained The biggest driver for most TPP participants was access to the valuable US market; America’s GDP accounts for 69% of the combined GDP of the 12-member bloc, Rajiv Biswas, IHS Global Insight’s Asia-Pacific chief economist, told CNN in an email. Dairy, meat and agricultural products – especially in New Zealand and Australia – could have made their way to the US. Japan, the next biggest market, would drop some of its protections on domestic meat and rice, which would be a boon for foreign exporters but may hurt domestic producers. Trump’s first executive actionTPP vs RCEP: Trade deals explainedTPP withdrawal – 5 things to know Watch: Why the TPP is such a big deal ‘Trump’s TPP move is misdirection’ ‘Bad news for Americans?’Killing TPP leaves door open for China‘What does the US want in the Pacific?’ Trump’s first executive actionTPP vs RCEP: Trade deals explainedTPP withdrawal – 5 things to know Watch: Why the TPP is such a big deal ‘Trump’s TPP move is misdirection’ ‘Bad news for Americans?’Killing TPP leaves door open for China‘What does the US want in the Pacific?’ But it would also get access to new markets for its own products – notably automobiles. “A number of Asian TPP signatories were expected to derive significant economic gains from the TPP and the final decision by President Trump to withdraw from TPP is a blow to their trade liberalization plan,” Biswas said. The countries that have responded have vowed to either try to revive the TPP or enact new agreements. Australia: “The TPP, including the United States, certainly can’t go forward unless the United States wants to change its mind … We have an agreement that has made a lot of very big gains. Gains that Australia, Japan, Canada, Mexico and other countries want to keep hold of. Which is why a number of us had a conversation about a possible TPP 12 minus one.” – Steven Ciobo, Australia’s Trade Minister Canada: “The agreement cannot enter into force without the United States.” – Kristine Racicot, spokeswoman for Global Affairs Canada Chile: “We are interested in continuing the advancement of integration with countries in the Asia Pacific region, many of who were part of the TPP … We are going to persist in the way of the integration and opening to the world.” – Heraldo Munoz, Chile’s Foreign Minister Japan: “I believe President Trump understands the importance of free and fair trade, so I’d like to pursue his understanding on the strategic and economic importance of the TPP agreement tenaciously. The new rules that finalized in the TPP agreement after several years of negotiation will serve the model for future trade negotiations and are expected to become the 21st century global standard.” – Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, speaking to parliament Tuesday Malaysia: “Should the TPPA (Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement) fail to enter into force, it will be a missed opportunity for Malaysia since a number of research houses have singled us out as a clear winner in the TPPA … Should the TPPA fail to materialise, our focus would be to enhance the economic integration of ASEAN. “Notwithstanding the current position of the new US Administration on TPPA, we will continue to engage with our American colleagues to strengthen our bilateral trade and economic relations, given the US’ importance as our third largest trading partner and a major source of investment.” – Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed, Malaysia’s Minister of International Trade and Industry Mexico: “Our priority is to consolidate ourselves as a relevant actor to intensify the flows of commerce, investment and tourism. And particularly before the evident difficulty due to the materialization of the TPP. Mexico will immediately initiate conversations to generate new  bilateral trade accords with the participant countries in this partnership.” – Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto New Zealand: “The US position is disappointing but not unexpected as the President Trump’s views have been clear for some time. Our preference was to have the US involved in the TPP. However, the agreement still has value as an FTA with the other countries involved.” – Todd McClay, New Zealand’s Trade Minister Singapore: “The US has indicated that it will pull out of the TPP agreement. Without the participation of the US, the TPP agreement as signed cannot come into effect. There are other regional integration initiatives still ongoing, including the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the proposal for a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific. Singapore will continue to participate in these initiatives.” – Spokesperson, Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry Vietnam: “Vietnam considers its participation in the TPP and other FTAs one further step to implement its policy of proactively facilitating the comprehensive economic integration … which will help create a new momentum for development, and contribute to the regional integration and economic linkage. Therefore, Vietnam will continue its reforming process and make better domestic preparation to fulfill the commitments of trade agreements of which Vietnam has been and will be a member.” – Le Hai Binh, Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Peru: “Obviously it is not the Trump Pacific Partnership because he has always said that he is against free trade. I am in favour of free trade because it benefits Peru … We should work with China, the countries of Asia, India, Australia, New Zealand … And we will make the APEC Pacific group extend to India … We are going to take the best things of the TPP, get them in there and get the things that are not so good out of TPP.” – Peruvian President, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski CNN is waiting for Brunei to respond. Trade liberalization would have made it easier for manufacturers to sell goods abroad and given domestic markets greater access to foreign goods, saving each country billions in tariffs and duties. Opponents of the deal, especially in the United States, argue that if demand for domestic goods decreases, jobs would have been sent abroad. Though free trade and tariff reduction was a big focus of the TPP, it also set out rules amongst participants on a host of economic industries, including forced labor, environmental laws and intellectual property rights, among others. The vision was to set up a platform for cooperation that could eventually go beyond Asia, according to the Brookings Institution’s Mireya Solís – it’s an “Asia-Pacific platform with aspirations to set global standards.” “Its explicit aim to establish a trans-regional platform that bridges Asia and North and South America,” Solís writes. “It gives its rules and standards the opportunity to disseminate far and wide.” Trump’s decision to kill TPP leaves door open for China It’s not a zero-sum game, but if you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu. So by being one of the TPP’s first signatories, countries could help influence the rules, rather than be bound by them later on. The full text of the agreement can be found here. A dedicated TPP website from the Office of the United States Trade Representative is no longer accessible; it now redirects you to the USTR homepage. In its current form, likely yes. Despite the comments from TPP leaders eager to revive the agreement in some form, it won’t have the heft of the original. “While the other 11 TPP members could create a parallel agreement without the US and move forward, the economic benefits will be significantly reduced without the US participating,” Biswas said. “If the other 11 TPP members do decide to move ahead with TPP, it is possible that other Asia-Pacific countries could eventually join the TPP agreement, adding to its importance,” he added. From a technical perspective, it’s nearly impossible to revive the TPP. As Matthew P. Goodman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies points out, Article 30.5 of the agreement requires that it be ratified by at least six countries who represent 85% of the TPP’s combined GDP. That means that the US and Japan would both have to ratify the TPP in its current form for it to go into effect. The other TPP countries could in theory go back to the drawing board and amend the agreement, starting with Article 30.5. It wouldn’t be the TPP per se, but it would be similar. CNN’s Zahra Ullah, Pamela Boykoff and Julia Jones contributed to this report


Editor’s Note: Retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling is a national security, intelligence and terrorism analyst for CNN. He served for 37 years in the Army, including three years in combat, and retired as commanding general of US Army Europe and the 7th Army. He is the author of “Growing Physician Leaders.” The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely his. Mark Hertling: Memorial Day is a time to remember those who made the greatest sacrifice But it's also a reminder to those left behind that we must honor their memories “Earn this!” For my money, that’s the best line ever spoken in any war movie. Playing the role of a dying Capt. Miller in “Saving Private Ryan,” Tom Hanks pulls Ryan – played by Matt Damon – in close and demands that he live his life in such a way as to pay back the sacrifices and deaths of those who had come to save him. No matter how many times I see that film, it always affects me the same. In fact, as I grow older, it seems to influence me more. Instead of seeing Ryan of World War II, I see many other faces and recall many other names of those who I served with and who gave their last breath for something greater than themselves. And I wonder if I’m doing enough to earn it in their eyes. There’s a wooden cigar box on my desk that holds cards with the photographs of 253 soldiers, sailors, airmen, allies and civilians who served and made the ultimate sacrifice under my command in combat. They epitomize America’s best, and their pictures represent the kind of people we all should aspire to be. When I open the box every day, I pick a few of those pictures  and pray for their families – their wives, husbands, children, parents, loved ones. I often wonder what miracles each one of them could have experienced in their lives if they had been one of the ones coming home. Related video Trump signs health care bill for veterans Just this week I picked up the photo of Command Sgt. Maj. Eric Cooke, who was killed just a few hundred yards away from me in 2003 on Christmas Eve. His vehicle was struck with an improvised explosive device (IED). Right under his card was the one of Pvt. Jonathan Falaniko, a good-looking kid from Samoa who was the son of one of our other command sergeant majors. Pvt. Falaniko was killed in action just a few weeks after arriving in our unit while he was patrolling down a road. He was 19, and his father, Command Sgt. Maj. Iuniasolua Falaniko, had to do something no father should ever have to do: escort his son’s body back from Iraq to his mother, and then on to Arlington National Cemetery. As I went through the photos this week, I saw the ones of Staff Sgt. Du Tran, the son of a Vietnamese immigrant, and Mexican immigrant Pvt. Rey Cuervo. Tran’s wife – the daughter of an immigrant – was back in Germany with their three children at a US Army base that memorialized her young husband. Our division named a forward operating base after Cuervo. Immigrants, since the early history of our Army, have been part of our ranks, looking to serve their new country, earn citizenship and be accepted in society. Related article This isn't how to honor veterans More faces of our brave veterans followed. Spc. Michelle Witmer, a  military policewoman, was killed in a small arms attack, and Staff Sgt. Carletta Davis was killed while serving as a medic for an infantry patrol.  Second Lt. Lennie Cowherd III had been a friend to our son when they went to West Point together, and cavalryman Capt. Rowdy Inman – also a West Point graduate – was already known by his soldiers and all of his commanders as a rising superstar. Both were shot and killed by snipers. Cpl. Luke Runyan and Pfc. David Sharrett II both died in different intense firefights with al Qaeda terrorists. Unfortunately, Sharrett got caught in a crossfire and was struck by a stray bullet from one of his fellow soldiers’ weapon. I didn’t personally know Navy Petty Officer Kevin Bewley or Estonian Army Sgt. Andres Nulamae (a member of one of four different allied units that were assigned to me), but they were part of our force, too. Although there are many photos of fallen soldiers that I go through daily, the one that I picked today is the one that inspired me to write this piece. It’s the picture of 1st Lt.Thomas Brown in his desert floppy hat and sunglasses. He’s smiling and giving a one-handed thumbs up. Brown was a charismatic infantryman from Connecticut, killed on September 23, 2008, and survived by his mother.  As I look at his picture – one that will allow him to remain forever young – with his big grin and devil-may-care visage, I wonder what could have been. These are all our nation’s very best. When we send them off to war, we inherently know some will never come home alive. During those heart wrenching times, we are left to contemplate our personal loss. Still, we must also reflect on all the goodness that might have been. Sign up for CNN Opinion’s new newsletter.Join us on Twitter and Facebook Each person who raises their hand and vows to protect and defend our Constitution makes a commitment to give their all. And some of them do just that. When they don’t come home, the daily decisions we make and the daily actions we take in serving our nation and each other become the measure of our commitment to them. We honor their sacrifice by making a commitment to serve our nation and each other. We have an obligation to honor their memories by the way we lead our lives, the way we speak, the way we act, and the way we carry on each day. We have to earn it.

US military personnel who made the ultimate sacrifice


Watch the Paul Ryan town hall moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper Thursday at 9 p.m. ET Ryan must hold together an unruly set of Republicans Repealing the Affordable Care Act is the top item on Ryan's agenda House Speaker Paul Ryan said Thursday Republicans plan to repeal President Barack Obama’s health care law at the same time they approve a GOP replacement plan. “We want to do this at the same time, and in some cases in the same bill,” Ryan said during a town hall in Washington sponsored by CNN and moderated by Jake Tapper. “So we want to advance repealing this law with its replacement at the same time.” Ryan said Republicans are moving “as quickly as they can” to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, but said he doesn’t yet have a date, and it will take “a little bit of time” to do so. “We’re working on this as fast as possible,” he said, adding that the GOP will act “definitely within these first 100 days” of Trump’s presidency. Ryan’s comments align the speaker with President-elect Donald Trump, who said at a news conference Wednesday that repealing and replacing Obamacare should happen “essentially simultaneously.” Some Republicans on Capitol Hill have urged more caution, however, as the party tries to find consensus on a plan to replace the law that has insured millions of people. At the outset of the town hall, Ryan didn’t say that the government has an obligation to insure every American. “I clearly think there’s a role for the government in health care, no doubt about it,” the Wisconsin Republican said. Related video Paul Ryan: Obamacare law is collapsing He added that he supports elements of the health care law – including that “people with pre-existing conditions, no matter how much money they make,” should have access to insurance. But, he said, “The law is collapsing, and so we’ve got to rescue people.” Ryan faces a tough balancing act as he leads the House at the outset of Trump’s administration. He’s attempting to hold together an unruly set of Republicans that includes Trump loyalists who want to see the President-elect’s populist policies swiftly enacted, fiscal hawks who fret about the price tag of those policies and moderates still leery of the President-elect. Meanwhile, Democrats appear set to deny the GOP even limited support on any major initiatives. Related gallery In transition: President-elect Trump Ryan, who waited weeks to even endorse Trump after he clinched the GOP nomination, also now knows his party’s electoral fate is largely tied to his ability to help Trump succeed. And he remains committed to his own, much more detailed policy platform, years in the making. Ryan had long sought a Republican president to sign his entitlement reforms and budget cuts into law – but hadn’t counted on this Republican president. Ryan was asked point-blank by a woman whose parents brought her to the US as an undocumented immigrant at age 11, and who has remained in the country for 21 years since: “Do you think that I should be deported?” “I can see that you love your daughter and you’re a nice person who has a great future ahead of you, and I hope your future’s here,” Ryan responded. Related video Paul Ryan tells undocumented mom not to worry Trump has pledged to repeal Obama’s executive actions that allowed undocumented immigrants brought into the country as children and their families to remain in the country without fear of deportation. Ryan said lawmakers are talking with Trump’s transition team about those immigrants – and said Trump’s focus is on violent criminals and building a US-Mexico border wall. “That’s the problem he wants to focus on. This is not the focus. And so what we have to do is find a way to ensure that you can get right with the law,” he said. “We have to figure out how to fix this, but to do that, people need to have confidence that our laws are being followed, people know who’s coming and going and we need to have a secure border.” “What we have to do is figure out how to have a humane solution to this very legitimate, sincere problem, and respect the rule of law,” Ryan said. Tapper asked Ryan if Republicans would seek a law barring the federal government from using information submitted by those allowed to remain in the US through Obama’s executive actions to deport those individuals. Ryan responded that though some fear a deportation force, “it’s not happening.” Tapper responded that Trump had actually talked of creating a “deportation force” on the campaign trail. “I know, I know,” Ryan said, laughing. “But I’m here to tell you, in Congress, it’s not happening.” He did, however, take a hard line on “sanctuary cities” that don’t deport undocumented immigrants. “Sanctuary cities are a violation of the rule of law, and they are not to be tolerated,” he said. “That means if you want federal assistance, you’re not going to get it. You’ve got to enforce the law,” Ryan said, referring to cities that adopt such policies. Ryan took a tough line on Russia, saying the United States must “step up our game” and adopt a “stronger Russia engagement policy, for sure, across the board.” “The fact that a foreign government tried to meddle in another government’s election is wrong,” Ryan said, calling for stronger sanctions against the country. He called Russia a “global menace led by a man who is menacing.” “Vladimir Putin does not share our interests,” Ryan said. “He frustrates our interests. He violates his neighbors. … He’s not democratic. I really think a lot of the things that he is doing is to try to delegitimize the other democracies so that his illegitimate democracy doesn’t look as illegitimate by comparison.” That’s a contrast to Trump, who has praised Putin, the Russian president. The President-elect  acknowledged at the Wednesday news conference that he thought Russia was responsible for the hack but blamed poor cybersecurity at the Democratic National Committee and said Putin wouldn’t take such actions under a Trump administration. Ryan said he believes intelligence – including a two-page summary of unverified claims that Russian operatives claim to have compromising personal and financial information about Trump – that CNN exclusively reported was presented to Trump and Obama last week – “has been politicized.” Related video Ryan comments on claims involving Russia Still, he defended the intelligence community, saying of Trump: “I think he’s going to learn that there are a lot of good men and women in the intelligence community who risk their lives to keep us safe.” But, in a nod to Trump’s complaints that some news organizations published the uncorroborated details, Ryan said: “I completely understand why he’s frustrated that eight, nine days before his inauguration, this junk gets thrown out there.” CNN has not published or aired any of the uncorroborated details from the memo. The speaker was pressed at the town hall on the GOP’s push to block Planned Parenthood from receiving federal health care dollars for services provided to women because the organization provides abortions – even though abortions are not covered by taxpayer dollars. “We don’t want to commit taxpayer funding for abortion, and Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion provider,” he said. Related video Ryan: I want women to get the care they need Tapper pressed Ryan, noting that existing law blocks taxpayer dollars from funding abortions. But, Ryan argued, “money’s fungible, and it effectively floats these organizations.” He said Republicans would rather shift those dollars – and redirect Planned Parenthood’s patients using those dollars – to federal community health centers. “You don’t have these controversies by funding health centers,” he said. The vast majority of federal money that Planned Parenthood does receive funds preventive health care, birth control, pregnancy tests, and other women’s health care services. Ryan said he doesn’t expect Trump to get off Twitter when he moves into the White House – and he doesn’t know how the President-elect’s social media use will affect foreign and domestic policy. “I think he’s going to keep doing this, and I think he’s going to be probably a little more restrained in his tweets probably, but it’s all relative,” Ryan said. “But I do believe it’s been extremely effective for getting elected president, I’ve got to tell you. He was able to touch and tap into people’s hearts and minds.” Ryan joked about his own viral sensation – when a congressman’s son left the Wisconsin Republican confused with his Cam Newton-style move in a photo with the speaker. “I actually do know what a dab is,” he said to laughter. But, he said, the young man was dabbing incorrectly. “I thought he was sneezing.”


On World Elephant Day, one Indian pachyderm is lucky to be alive It's been pulled to safety after being swept by floodwater all the way to Bangladesh It’s said that elephants never forget – and one Indian mammoth swept by flood waters all the way to Bangladesh should have no trouble remembering this dramatic adventure. The four-ton female was separated from its herd in floods in northeast India in late June. It is thought to have traveled around 620 miles, a journey that included crossing the mighty Brahmaputra River, on its way to northern Bangladesh. The animal first became separated from the herd in Assam, India. The weak and exhausted beast spent several weeks stranded in a flooded area and nearly drowned in a rescue attempt Thursday. But Friday – World Elephant Day – the pachyderm finally set its feet back on dry land. According to Bikash Brahma, state Principal Chief Conservator of Forests in India, a team of three experts was sent to help locals in the Jamalpur district of Bangladesh to deal with the animal. He told CNN: “The elephant got separated from the herd. It was in the water when it crossed over into Bangladesh. The water currents were very strong so it would not have been possible for the elephant to swim back.” The animal was tranquillized Thursday but became distressed and charged into a pond, where it then fell unconscious. Villagers jumped into the water and helped to pull it out with ropes and chains so it wouldn’t drown. “The elephant is okay,” said Brahma, adding that it will be transported to a safari park late Friday or Saturday. The animals are critically endangered in Bangladesh. According to the charity Eleaid, there are as few as 196 elephants in the wild there, due to habitat loss and food scarcity. The country has about 100 in captivity. By contrast, in India, there are about 24,000 wild elephants and 3,500 in captivity. CNN’s Omar Khan contributed to this report.


Top House Republicans are considering publicly releasing some of the underlying intelligence behind a memo spearheaded by Rep. Devin Nunes that alleges FBI abuses of surveillance laws. Nunes, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, met with Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte and Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy while the House was in session during the shutdown this weekend to discuss the prospect of releasing some of the intelligence to support the findings of the classified memo, which was prepared by Nunes and Republican committee staff, multiple Republican lawmakers told CNN. Rep. Mike Conaway, the Texas Republican leading the Intelligence Committee’s Russia investigation, confirmed that the three chairmen were meeting about moving the process forward under House rules. Republicans on and off the House Intelligence Committee are pushing for the release of Nunes’ four-page memo alleging abuses of the surveillance law known as FISA related to the opposition research dossier on Donald Trump and Russia. The committee could use an obscure rule to bypass the normal declassification process, with a vote that would put the decision to make the memo public in the President’s hands. “It’s like any document you put out, it should be referenced, footnoted — it should have the appropriate underlying reference to the material and to the degree that you can, show that material,” said Rep. Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican who has called for the firing of special counsel Robert Mueller and the resignation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Related article How the House Intelligence Committee can make Nunes' FISA memo public “I think the memo is accurate, but I think just because we know what the other side’s argument is going to be, you need that,” Jordan added. Democrats say the memo’s findings are skewed and contain no more than partisan talking points, and they warn that releasing the memo will harm Congress’ relationships with the Justice Department and intelligence community. But Republicans appear to be charging ahead with their plan to publicly release the document and potentially some of the underlying intelligence so long as sources and methods are not disclosed. “If we’re going to go through the process anyway of declassifying the memo, are there some of the supporting documents that might not reveal sources and methods but might answer key questions that the memo does raise?” said Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican who has been among the most vocal Republican critics of Mueller’s probe. “Chairman Goodlate and Chairman Gowdy and Chairman Nunes each sort of have jurisdiction over elements, and they are meeting and discussing a process now that I think will lead to greater transparency.” Nunes declined to comment on his discussions with Gowdy and Goodlatte. “I don’t talk about committee business,” Nunes said. Gowdy and Goodlatte’s offices did not respond to a request for comment. The Nunes memo focuses on the FBI’s use of the dossier on Trump and Russia compiled by ex-British intelligence agent Christopher Steele and paid for through Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee. The document alleges that the FISA judge who signed off on surveillance warrants for members of Trump’s team during the campaign was not given full information about the dossier that was used in at least one application, including that it was paid for by the Democratic sources, CNN reported Saturday. CNN first reported last April that the dossier was used as part of the justification with the secret FISA court to monitor the communications of former Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page. While the FBI used information beyond the dossier to support the court application, the dossier was cited in footnotes to specific allegations, according to current and former US officials briefed on the matter. Steele was considered by the bureau to be a credible FBI source, so using the material was not out of line with FBI practice, according to the current and former officials. On Thursday, the Intelligence Committee voted along party lines to allow all House members to view the four-page classified memo, which has sparked a conservative effort to release it, complete with a Twitter hashtag #ReleaseTheMemo. Democrats have accused the Republicans on the Intelligence Committee of using a set of talking points to try to discredit the FBI and protect Trump. Related article Nunes' FBI memo becomes conservative rallying cry “Their only priority is to protect the President and their political fortune, and they’re willing to burn down the FBI and anything else if they need to do it,” said California Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the intelligence panel. “It would be a real betrayal of the intelligence community for partisan political reasons.” Conaway, however, argued that the executive branch would still have the chance to review and weigh in on making the materials public, as the committee rules give the President five days to object if the committee votes to make the document public. “We believe it’s important enough, given the players involved, to take this step, and there’s one other step before those, and that is the White House gets to make an independent review of that,” Conaway said. Trump himself has been skeptical of the intelligence community and FBI, and he calls the Russia investigations and the dossier a “hoax” and “witch hunt.” “I would not expect President Trump to want to keep these things from the public,” Gaetz said.