Subject: FW: Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing for Monday, April 30, 2018
From: "Kathy Chung" <[email-masked]>
To: "Ashley Blazer Biden" <[email-masked]>, "Hunter Biden" <[email-masked]>, "Jill Tracy Biden" <[email-masked]>, "Jimmy Biden" <[email-masked]>, "Valerie Biden Owens" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2018 08:59:18 -0400

Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing

*From:* Bulletin Intelligence <[email-masked]>
*Sent:* Monday, April 30, 2018 7:57 AM
*To:* [email-masked]
*Subject:* Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing for Monday,
April 30, 2018

*Click to access
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=000-108&t=c>
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[image: Image removed by sender. Office of Vice President Biden
Intelligence Briefing]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=001-62d&t=c>

*To: Vice President Joe Biden*

*Monday, April 30, 2018 8:00 AM EDT*
Today's Table of Contents

*Leading the News <#SECTION_1>*

• Kim Says He’ll Give Up Nuclear Weapons If US Promises Not To Attack. <#S1>

*Foreign Policy <#SECTION_2>*

• Pompeo: US Will Withdraw From “Flawed” Iran Deal If It Isn’t Fixed. <#S2>

• Pompeo Didn’t Meet With Palestinians During Israel Visit. <#S3>

• Ross: US To Extend Tariff Relief To Some Allies, But Not All. <#S4>

• Oak Tree Macron Gave To Trump Missing From White House Lawn. <#S5>

• UK Home Secretary Resigns Over Migration Controversy. <#S6>

• Thousands Protest Spanish Gang Rape Verdict. <#S7>

• Philippines First Transgender Lawmaker Seeks Legal Protections. <#S8>

*Domestic Policy <#SECTION_3>*

• Trump Says WHCA Dinner Comedian Wolf “Bombed,” Calls Event “An
Embarrassment.” <#S9>

• Trump Calls Comey “A Liar And A Leaker.” <#S10>

• Caravan Migrants Prepare To Seek Asylum In US. <#S11>

• Parkland Families Criticize NRA For Banning Guns During Upcoming Pence
Speech. <#S12>

• T-Mobile, Sprint Merger Would Leave Only Three Major Wireless Carriers.
<#S13>

• WPost A1: Push To Rein In Stem-Cell Clinics Offering Unregulated
Treatments. <#S14>

• Teachers Continue Strikes In Arizona, Colorado. <#S15>

*Cancer Research <#SECTION_4>*

• Study: Zika Virus May Be Able To Treat Central Nervous System Tumors.
<#S16>

• Some US Proton-Therapy Centers Facing Financial Difficulties. <#S17>

*Editorials/Op-Eds <#SECTION_5>*

• New York Times. <#S18>

• Washington Post. <#S19>

*Biden in the News <#SECTION_6>*

• Biden To Attend Signing Of “Beau Biden Gun Violence Prevention Act.”
<#S20>

• Biden Backs Fernandez In Florida State House Special Election. <#S21>

• Chozick Discusses Biden-Clinton Dynamics In 2016 Democratic Race. <#S22>
Leading the News
Kim Says He’ll Give Up Nuclear Weapons If US Promises Not To Attack.

Revelations Sunday by South Korean President Moon Jae-in about his talks
Friday with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un are receiving heavy media
coverage. Administration officials, however, cast doubt on whether the
North Koreans can be trusted, noting previous failed agreements under past
US presidents. The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=002-93a&t=c>
(4/29, Choe) says “Trump officials spoke cautiously about the chances of
reaching a deal,” and The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=003-70e&t=c>
(4/29, Shelbourne) reports Administration officials on Sunday vowed to
“remain vigilant as North Korea comes to the negotiating table,” with both
Secretary of State Pompeo and National Security Adviser Bolton insisting
“the administration is looking for concrete actions from North Korea.”

        The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=004-82d&t=c>
(4/29, Kim) says Bolton “reacted coolly to word that Kim would abandon his
weapons if the United States pledged not to invade,” telling CBS’ Face the
Nation
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=005-e4c&t=c>,
“We’ve heard this before. This is the...the North Korean propaganda
playbook is an infinitely rich resource. ... What we want to see from them
is evidence that it’s real and not just rhetoric.” Bolton, the Washington
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=006-c21&t=c>
(4/29, Richardson) reports, attributed the upcoming meeting between Trump
and Kim “to the administration’s relentless pressure on the communist
nation.” Said Bolton on Fox News Sunday[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=007-31d&t=c>,
“I think that the maximum pressure campaign that the Trump administration
has put on North Korea has, along with the political military pressure, has
brought us to this point.” Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=008-e90&t=c>
(4/29, Key) says he noted that “world leaders such as the President of
South Korea Moon Jae-in and French President Emmanuel Macron are
giving...Trump credit for bringing North Korea to the negotiating table.”

        Pompeo, Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=009-e9f&t=c>
(4/29, Niquette) reports, said he assessed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un
during their recent meeting, and “concluded that there’s at least a chance
for the US to strike a denuclearization deal.” Pompeo told ABC’s This
Week[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=00a-13c&t=c>,
“My goal was to try and identify if there was a real opportunity there. I
believe there is.” He also said he found Kim to be “well-prepared” when
they met, and ready to discuss how to achieve the US objective of
“complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization.” Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=00b-5b4&t=c>
(4/29, Beavers) quotes Pompeo as adding, “Who knows how the ultimate
discussions will go. There is a lot of work to do, but I am very hopeful
that the conditions that have been set by President Trump give us this
chance.” Citing Pompeo’s remarks, the Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=00c-07a&t=c>
(4/29, Taylor) says the Administration “is growing in confidence that an
upcoming summit with Kim Jong-un will achieve the aggressive
denuclearization timeline Washington wants.”

        All three networks reported the story. ABC World News Tonight[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=00d-c2d&t=c>
(4/29, story 5, 0:25, Llamas) said that “ahead of the proposed summit with
President Trump,” Kim Jong-Un “is promising to shut down his country’s
nuclear test site in May. He says US and South Korean experts, along with
journalists, will be allowed to watch the process.” Calling it “a potential
breakthrough,” NBC Nightly News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=00e-bbd&t=c>
(4/29, story 6, 2:10, Snow) said that while “there is a lot of skepticism
over whether [Kim] would follow through” with his pledge to denuclearize
and “a mystery over what exactly he means,” the North Korean leader is now
“willing to let international inspectors in to his top secret nuclear
facilities.” Bill Neely added, “We have been here before. Ten years ago,
North Korea agreed to scrap a nuclear reactor and invited journalists to
see the cooling tower blown up. When the deal with the US then collapsed,
they restarted the reactor. This time [it] might be different.”

        On the CBS Weekend News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=00f-1b5&t=c>
(4/29, story 3, 1:35, Morgan), Ben Tracy called Kim’s promises “pretty
significant.” According to South Korea, Kim “said President Trump will
realize that I am not someone who fires nukes toward the South or the
Pacific or aim at the US.” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=010-e22&t=c>
(4/29) reports Moon spokesman Yoon Young-chan quoted Kim as saying, “The
United States, though inherently hostile to North Korea, will get to know
once our talk begins that I am not the kind of person who will use nuclear
weapons against the South or the United States across the Pacific. There is
no reason for us to possess nuclear weapons while suffering difficulties if
mutual trust with the United States is built through frequent meetings from
now on, and an end to the war and non-aggression are promised.”

        The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=011-537&t=c>
(4/29, Cheng, Jeong) says Kim insisted that his pledge to close the
Punggye-ri facility was not because it had become unusable after the last
test in September 2017, Yoon said. Kim was quoted as saying, “You will see
when you come, but there are two bigger tunnels at the site. Those tunnels
are fine and well.” The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=012-9f0&t=c>
(4/29, Kim) says that “while there are lingering questions about whether
North Korea will ever decide to fully relinquish its nukes as it heads into
negotiations with the US, Kim’s comments amount to the North’s most
specific acknowledgment yet that ‘denuclearization’ would constitute
surrendering its weapons.” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=013-68e&t=c>
(4/29, Choe) calls the measures “a confidence-building gesture ahead of a
proposed summit meeting with President Trump,” while the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=014-ea2&t=c>
(4/29, Fifield) says the North is also taking “a symbolic step of goodwill”
by moving “its clock forward half an hour to return to the same time zone
as Seoul.”

        *Bolton: US Won’t Offer Early Sanctions Relief To North Korea.
*The Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=015-bad&t=c>
(4/29, Romm) reports Bolton “suggested Sunday that the United States isn’t
ready to ease sanctions or offer other concessions to North Korea before
Pyongyang fully commits to denuclearization.” Bolton told Fox News Sunday,
“I think that’s what denuclearization means.” He later said that the
Administration isn’t “starry-eyed” when it comes to Kim’s recent promises,
adding that “we’ve got other things to talk about, as well – ballistic
missiles, chemical and biological weapons, the American hostages, the
Japanese abductees. But starting on the nuclear side, with what North Korea
agreed to nearly a quarter-century ago, is a pretty good place to start.”
The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=016-574&t=c>
(4/29, Baker) reports that when Bolton “looks at North Korea, he sees
Libya. It is not a perfect comparison, he acknowledges, but if there is a
model for how to peacefully rid a hostile dictatorial state of its nuclear
program, he points to the disarming of Libya some 15 years ago.” The Times
says that while it is “easy to grasp why the United States views that as a
success,” a “ruthless despot with a history of sponsoring terrorism...might
not see it as such a good deal today. No one will ever know for sure
because he is dead. Which is why North Korea might not find it such an
uplifting model either.”

        *Bolton: Releasing Detained Americans Would Show North Korean
“Sincerity.” *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=017-859&t=c>
(4/28) reports Botlon said the release by North Korea of three Americans
detained there would be a “demonstration of their sincerity” in the lead up
to a planned meeting between Trump and Kim.

        *Pompeo: US Handling Of Iran Will Not Affect Possible Deal With
North Korea. *The CBS Weekend News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=018-f9e&t=c>
(4/29, story 2, 1:20) reported, “Pompeo is in the Middle East, warning
allies the President is likely to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal
unless changes are made. He was asked if exiting that agreement jeopardizes
talks with North Korea.” Pompeo: “I don’t think Kim Jong-Un is staring at
the Iran deal and saying, ‘Oh, goodness, if they get out of that deal, I
won’t talk to the Americans anymore.’”

        *Lawmakers Express Cautious Optimism For Deal, Credit Trump. *NBC
Nightly News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=019-627&t=c>
(4/29, story 4, 1:00, O'Donnell) said that while “the President is already
taking credit for progress on nuclear talks with North Korea...Democrats
offered a more restrained assessment” on Sunday. Sen. Chris Coons (D) was
shown telling Fox News Sunday
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=01a-359&t=c>:
“A summit isn’t a strategy. But having an upcoming summit with an opening
where the supreme leader of North Korea has already made a number of
encouraging offers, I think is a terrific opportunity.” Coons also said on Fox
News Sunday
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=01b-34d&t=c>
(4/29, Wallace), “I will give President Trump credit for helping create
this opening.”

        Sen. James Lankford (R), asked on CNN’s State of the Union[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=01c-57e&t=c>
(4/29, Tapper) if President Trump played a role in the promise by North
Korea to shut down its nuclear sites, said, “President Trump has put in a
set of sanctions that brought North Korea to the table.” He added, “They’ve
isolated diplomats around the world,” and “North Korea is more isolated
than they have ever been. There is no reason to doubt that President Trump
and leadership at the State Department have made a big effort.”

        Rep. Adam Schiff (D), asked on ABC’s This Week[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=01d-eaf&t=c>
(4/29, Karl) whether he believed there was an opportunity for a deal with
North Korea, said, “We don’t know. I think it’s very positive that we have
this now dramatic step towards conciliation by Kim Jong-un. The history,
though, is not encouraging.” He added, “We see the North Koreans vacillate
between confrontation and conciliation. We have to hope this is a change of
course, but we have to be mindful of their record. ... I think it’s more
than fair to say that the combination of the President’s unpredictability
and his bellicosity had something to do with the North Koreans’ willingness
to come to the table.”

        Asked on NBC’s Meet the Press
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=01e-0a2&t=c>
(4/29, Todd) whether President Trump is responsible for the positive
movement between South and North Korea, Sen. Roy Blunt (R) said, “I think
the President is responsible for a lot of it. He is a different
personality, clearly, than the presidents who have tried to deal with North
Korea before,” but “we need to be very skeptical” with the North Koreans.

        *Graham: Trump Deserves Nobel Peace Prize. *Sen. Lindsey Graham (R)
said on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=01f-26a&t=c>
(4/29, Bartiromo), “I think Trump has convinced [Kim Jong-un] the only way
his regime will survive is for them to give up their nukes, and in return,
end the Korean War so North Korea can have a more normal economy.” Graham
added, “President Trump, if he can lead us to ending the Korean War after
70 years, and getting North Korea to give up their nuclear program in a
verifiable way, deserves the Nobel Peace Prize and then some.”
Foreign Policy
Pompeo: US Will Withdraw From “Flawed” Iran Deal If It Isn’t Fixed.

Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=020-b9e&t=c>
(4/29, Carey) reports Secretary of State Pompeo on Sunday “hammered home
his boss’s message: the US will pull out of the Iran nuclear deal if the
‘flawed’ accord can’t be fixed to its satisfaction.” Speaking in Tel Aviv
alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Pompeo said,
“President Trump’s been pretty clear. This deal is very flawed. He’s
directed the administration to try and fix it, and if we can’t fix it, he’s
going to withdraw from the deal. It’s pretty straightforward.” The Wall
Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=021-91d&t=c>
(4/29, Abdulaziz, Lieber) quotes Pompeo as telling reporters earlier Sunday
in Riyadh, “We are determined to make sure [Iran] never possesses a nuclear
weapon. The Iran deal in its current form does not provide that assurance.”

        USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=022-044&t=c>
(4/29, Bacon) reports Pompeo also “accused Iran of ‘behaving worse’ since
signing the 2015 nuclear deal.” The Secretary, it adds, “hammered away with
the administration’s recurring theme: Iran destabilizes the Middle East by
supporting terrorist groups, ruthless Houthi rebels in Yemen and the brutal
regime of President Bashar Assad in Syria.” Said Pompeo: “We remain deeply
concerned about Iran’s dangerous escalation of threats to Israel and the
region – and Iran’s ambition to dominate the Middle East. The United States
is with Israel in this fight.” Pompeo, the Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=023-92b&t=c>
(4/29, Zavis) reports, “sought to muster support Sunday for a more robust
international response to what US officials see as a growing threat
emanating from Iran,” and Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=024-336&t=c>
(4/29) says he visited Riyadh a day earlier, where he met with Saudi King
Salman and “stressed the need for unity among Gulf allies as Washington
aims to muster support for new sanctions against Iran to curb its missile
program.”

        To the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=025-af1&t=c>
(4/29, Lee), Pompeo “ratcheted up the Trump administration’s rhetoric
against Iran and gave warm boosts of support to Israel and Saudi Arabia in
their standoffs with Tehran.” His “tough line,” the AP reports, “was
welcomed by his hosts, particularly in Israel.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=026-22f&t=c>
(4/29, Morello) likewise says “both Pompeo and Netanyahu used their meeting
to tear into Iran, characterizing it as an international menace whose
ambitions have been unleashed by the 2015 nuclear deal, a view shared as
well at Pompeo’s previous stop, in the Saudi capital of Riyadh.”

        *Bolton: Trump Hasn’t Made Decision Yet. *National Security Adviser
Bolton said on Fox News Sunday
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=027-721&t=c>
(4/29, Wallace) that President Trump “has made no decision on the nuclear
deal, whether to stay in or get out.” Trump, he added, “is certainly
considering the framework, the four pillars that President Macron laid out
in their meeting last week.” The President, Bolton continued, “certainly
said very negative things about the deal, which implied that these other
steps wouldn’t really address that concern, but it’s possible in the
discussions with our European allies that we will be able to see some
possibility there.” On CBS’ Face The Nation[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=028-73c&t=c>
(4/29, Brennan), Bolton similarly said, “I’m the national security adviser,
not the national security decision-maker, and in fact, on the Iran nuclear
deal issue, I have presented” the President “with options, and I’ll
continue to do it right up until he makes the decision.”

        *Coons, Blunt, Graham Call For Changes To Deal. *Sen. Chris Coons
said on Fox News Sunday
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=029-0e8&t=c>
(4/29, Wallace) that the Iran nuclear deal “is a terrific opportunity for
President Trump, who made his reputation as a builder, to build on the Iran
nuclear deal and to deal with, as you just said, the areas that were not
fully resolved through the Iran nuclear deal, the ballistic missile
program, their support for terrorism in the region, their terrible human
rights record.” He said, “The Iranian regime is a dangerous, threatening
regime, and if President Trump can successfully lead an effort, with our
European allies, to rein in or to end their ballistic missiles program, to
change the outcome of the current Iranian deal so there isn’t a sunset
clause, I think these will be positive things that I would support.”

        Sen. Roy Blunt told NBC’s Meet the Press[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=02a-849&t=c>
(4/29, Todd), “If we stay in, I would be very much where President Macron
was, [who said] we want to stay in the deal, but here are three things that
have to change.” He added that Iran is “on a certain path to have nuclear
weapons capability in 10 years unless the government would, in a very
unlikely way, change its view of itself and the world.”

        Sen. Lindsey Graham said on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=02b-664&t=c>
(4/29, Bartiromo), “The Iranian nuclear deal puts us on a pathway to a
nuclear arms race in the Middle East; why do I say that?” Graham continued,
“Under the deal, Iran can enrich and reprocess uranium to make their fuel
for nuclear power, but you just go one step beyond that and you make a
nuclear weapon.”

        *UK, France, Germany Also Agree Existing Deal Should Be Broadened. *
Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=02c-aba&t=c>
(4/29) reports Britain, France and Germany have agreed that the 2015
nuclear deal “remains the best way of stopping Tehran getting nuclear
weapons, British Prime Minister Theresa May’s office said on Sunday.” May
had phone calls with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor
Angela Merkel “where they agreed the deal may need to be broadened to cover
areas such as ballistic missiles, what happens when the deal expires, and
what they consider Iran’s destabilizing regional activity, a statement
said.”

        *Israeli Minister: Iran Will Cave Under Pressure Like North
Korea. *Bloomberg
News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=02d-5cd&t=c>
(4/28, Bronner) reports Israeli Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz said in
an interview that “if North Korea abandons its nuclear weapons, credit
belongs to President Donald Trump for his aggressive rhetoric and increased
sanctions – and a similar policy would defang Iran.” Said Katz, “If it
happens in North Korea, it’s proof that this way works and will work with
Iran. Whether through fixing the nuclear agreement or nixing it, such a
policy could even lead to the fall of the regime. Now is the time to be
very tough against Iran.”

        *NBC: Iran Unlikely To Accept New Deal. *On NBC Nightly News[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=02e-a3a&t=c>
(4/29, story 5, 2:15, Snow), Ali Arouzi reported that if President Trump
backs out of the deal, “Iran is likely to become more confrontational, with
implications for regional stability and US allies Israel and Saudi Arabia.”
Mohammad Marandi, a professor at the University of Tehran, told NBC:
“There’s no chance whatsoever that Iran will accept a new deal. If the US
pulls out of the agreement, I think that Iran will pull out of the
agreement.”

        *Kaine Op-Ed: Congress Must Remind Trump That War Power Is Limited.
*In a Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=02f-8f6&t=c>
(4/29) op-ed, Sen. Tim Kaine calls on Congress to “act in a bipartisan
manner to define what military action the president can and can’t take
against terrorist groups,” and “clarify that military action against a
sovereign nation, except to defend the United States from imminent attack,
requires separate congressional approval.” Kaine says “President Trump
believes he can launch missile strikes against Syria and broadly expand the
global war on terrorism without seeking any congressional approval,” so it
is up to Congress to “take back the unlimited authority the president
believes he has.” He outlines a new military authorization that he
negotiated and introduced along with Sen. Bob Corker, and argues that it
“is about making sure we do not order our troops to risk their lives and
health unless Congress has the guts to debate and then vote that a military
mission is in the national interest.”
Pompeo Didn’t Meet With Palestinians During Israel Visit.

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=030-77f&t=c>
(4/29, Harris, Kershner) reports Secretary of State Pompeo came to Israel
on Sunday “in the midst of the worst crisis in relations between Israelis
and Palestinians in years, but he did not meet a single Palestinian
representative and mentioned them publicly once.” The Times says that while
“secretaries of state typically met Palestinian representatives on regional
tours like this one...no one at the State Department called Palestinian
leaders to ask for a get-together with Mr. Pompeo, according to Palestinian
officials.” During the visit, Pompeo “mentioned that the boundaries of
Jerusalem should still be the subject of negotiations between the parties,”
but the “escalating protests along the border between Gaza and
Israel...went unmentioned.”

        *NYTimes: Gazans Growing Increasingly Desperate. *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=031-a2c&t=c>
(4/29, Abuheweila, Halbfinger) reports that “more than a decade of
deprivation and desperation, with little hope of relief, has led thousands
of young Gazans to throw themselves into a protest that few, if any, think
can actually achieve its stated goal: a return to the homes in what is now
Israel that their forebears left behind in 1948.” The Times adds that “with
its 64 percent unemployment rate among the young, Gaza, under a blockade
maintained by Israel and Egypt for years, presents countless men...with the
grimmest of options.” The protests are “meant to build to a climax on May
15, the day Palestinians mark the Nakba, or catastrophe, of their flight
and expulsion when Israel was established 70 years ago.”
Ross: US To Extend Tariff Relief To Some Allies, But Not All.

Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=032-9a8&t=c>
(4/29, Jacobs) reports Commerce Secretary Ross said in an interview over
the weekend that the Administration “plans to extend relief from steel and
aluminum tariffs to some countries, but not all, when their temporary
exemptions expire on Tuesday.” Ross “declined to identify which nations
would be spared from the tariffs,” but said an announcement will be made
“right before the May 1 deadline for the duties to kick in.”

        *NYTimes: Final Decisions “Likely To Come Down To” Trump’s “Whims.”
*The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=033-d3d&t=c>
(4/29, Ewing, Swanson), meanwhile, reports the Administration “dispensed so
many temporary exemptions to steel and aluminum tariffs that many countries
figured the threats were just political theater. But with only days left
before the exemptions expire and punitive tariffs take effect, it’s dawning
on foreign leaders that decades of warm relations with the United States
carry little weight with a president dismissive of diplomatic norms and
hostile toward the ground rules of international trade.” With Tuesday’s
deadline looming, the Times’ decision on whether to grant exemptions, and
to whom, “appears likely to come down to the whims of President Trump.”

        *LATimes: Uncertainty Over Steel Tariffs Threatens US Economic
Growth. *The Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=034-34e&t=c>
(4/29, Lee) reports that “these should be good times for American
manufacturers, construction firms, canners and others that use industrial
metals for their business. ... But since President Trump abruptly slapped
hefty tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of imported steel and aluminum
on March 23, the outlook has turned hazy for many – downright bleak for
some.” In addition to exception for US allies, the Commerce Department is
“supposed to rule on hundreds of requests for exemptions from US
manufacturers who say that domestic firms can’t supply the particular types
of metals they need.” As of the weekend, the Department “had posted
tariff-exclusion requests for about 650 steel importers, but roughly 5,000
more hadn’t been publicly listed on its website.”

        *China Expected To Make Trade Offers To US Officials During Visit. *The
Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=035-71b&t=c>
(4/29, Davis, Wei) reports China is preparing to greet a visiting US trade
delegation this week. Their visit is expected to include talks with
President Xi Jinping and pledges to cut tariffs and ease regulations.

        *WSJournal A1: China’s Global Economic Ambitions Threatened By
Shrinking Workforce. *In a front-page analysis, the Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=036-458&t=c>
(4/29, A1) says China’s long-term economic growth and global ambitions are
threatened by a shrinking workforce and rapidly growing elderly population.
President Xi Jinping has signaled his alarm over the demographic trend and
Beijing has softened birth restrictions; however, some officials have
cautioned against making drastic, sudden changes to the policy.

        *Spending Bill Included Provision To Enforce “Buy American” Rules
For Federal Agencies. *The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=037-55a&t=c>
(4/29, Varney) reports that despite laws “dating back to the Depression and
periodic prodding from presidents and Congress, federal agencies can’t seem
to wean themselves from foreign-made goods.” With “exceptions, loopholes,
waivers and free trade deals that prohibit the US government from limiting
agreements with trading partners,” Congress “says it’s finally had enough.”
Included in the spending bill passed last month” were instructions to the
administration to look into creating a website, BuyAmerican.gov, to track
waivers and violations.”
Oak Tree Macron Gave To Trump Missing From White House Lawn.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=038-0b9&t=c>
(4/29) reports that “a mystery is brewing at the White House about what
happened to the oak tree President Donald Trump and French President
Emmanuel Macron planted there last week.” The sapling was a gift from
Macron on the occasion of his state visit, but was missing from the South
Lawn “by the end of the week.” According to the AP, the White House “hasn’t
offered an explanation.” However, BBC News Online (UK)
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=039-0e0&t=c>
(4/30) reports that after “a Reuters photographer on Saturday took a shot
of only a yellow patch of grass where the tree once stood,” French
Ambassador to the US Gerard Araud “tweeted the sapling was in quarantine.”
BBC notes, “The US Customs and Border Protection website explains that
foreign plants ‘intended for growing (propagative) require a foreign
phytosanitary certificate in advance’ before being brought into the
country.”
UK Home Secretary Resigns Over Migration Controversy.

Politico Europe
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=03a-76e&t=c>
(4/29, McTague, Dickson) reports “beleaguered” British Home Secretary Amber
Rudd “finally bowed to pressure to resign” Sunday over “fresh allegations
she had misled the public over her department’s targets to remove illegal
immigrants.” The “mounting migration scandal” stemmed from “revelations
that legal Caribbean migrants who moved to Britain decades ago – the
so-called Windrush generation – had been ordered to leave the country
because they did not have the correct documentation.” Rudd alleged there
was no “target” to increase illegal immigrant deportations, even though she
previously told Prime Minister Theresa May that her department sought to
increase such “removals” by 10 percent. Her “departure – the fourth by a
Cabinet minister in the last six months – risks further destabilizing the
fragile consensus among May’s top team that has kept the prime minister in
her job as she negotiates Britain’s exit from the EU.”
Thousands Protest Spanish Gang Rape Verdict.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=03b-205&t=c>
(4/29, Erickson) reports that two years ago, an 18-year-old woman was
allegedly gang-raped by five men at the Running of the Bulls festival in
Spain. The trial has “consumed Spain’s attention for nearly two years,” and
late last week, “the men were acquitted of sexual assault, a charge that
includes rape.” Instead, they were found guilty of the lesser charge of
“sexual abuse” and sentenced to nine years in prison. In the wake of the
verdict, “tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets in
protest.” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=03c-af2&t=c>
(4/29, Minder) reports that the mass protests “extended into the weekend in
Pamplona,” where “more than 35,000 people gathered. ... Enormous protests
also took place in Madrid and other cities after Thursday’s ruling, which
has been seen as a landmark case about women’s rights in Spain.”
Philippines First Transgender Lawmaker Seeks Legal Protections.

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=03d-8d4&t=c>
(4/29, Almendral) reports, “Dominated by conservative morals taught by the
Roman Catholic Church, the Philippines is also one of Southeast Asia’s most
tolerant countries toward gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender people.”
Now, lawmakers are “taking steps to ensure national legal protections that
would penalize discrimination against them.” Geraldine Roman, “the
country’s first openly transgender member of Congress, is spearheading
efforts to broaden legal protections in the Philippines,” where
“conservative politicians, backed by Catholic and evangelical groups, have
thwarted anti-discrimination measures.”
Domestic Policy
Trump Says WHCA Dinner Comedian Wolf “Bombed,” Calls Event “An
Embarrassment.”

President Trump tweeted twice on Sunday about the White House
Correspondents’ Association dinner and the 19-minute routine by comedian
Michelle Wolf, which was directed at Administration officials including,
most prominently, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders. At 7:45 a.m.
yesterday, Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=03e-d9e&t=c>,
“Everyone is talking about the fact that the White House Correspondents
Dinner was a very big, boring bust...the so-called comedian really
‘bombed.’” He returned to the subject at 10:38 p.m. last night, tweeting
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=03f-fdf&t=c>,
“The White House Correspondents’ Dinner was a failure last year, but this
year was an embarrassment to everyone associated with it. The filthy
‘comedian’ totally bombed. ... Put Dinner to rest, or start over!”

        ABC World News Tonight
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=040-dfc&t=c>
(4/29, story 3, 0:50) and the CBS Weekend News[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=041-ed0&t=c>
(4/29, story 2, 1:20) both briefly reported on Wolf’s routine, with ABC’s
Tara Palmeri saying that Wolf “brutally roasted the President and his
staff,” and “many [are] criticizing Wolf for crossing the line.” CBS’ Errol
Barnett said that Sanders “became the target” of Wolf’s routine. Trump
“said the event was a ‘big, boring bust,’ and that Wolf ‘bombed.’” The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=042-a14&t=c>
(4/28) reports that Trump “gave a thumbs-down” to Wolf, and White House
Director of Strategic Communications Mercedes Schlapp “walked out in
protest.” White House Correspondents’ Association President Margaret Talev,
the Bloomberg News senior White House correspondent, “said she didn’t want
a dinner celebrating the constitutional right to free speech to be
overshadowed by the ensuing uproar over Wolf’s jokes.” Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=043-75c&t=c>
(4/29, Griffiths, Calderone) reports that “almost immediately after Wolf”
left the stage, journalists “began to distance themselves from her
performance.” The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=044-be9&t=c>
(4/29, Richardson) reports that Fox News’ Ed Henry called on the WHCA to
apologize to Sanders.

        USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=045-292&t=c>
(4/29, Jensen) reports under the headline “Michelle Wolf Obliterates Sarah
Huckabee Sanders” that Sanders received “a brutal roasting.” The New York
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=046-e7d&t=c>
(4/29, Grynbaum) said Wolf’s routine was “a roast that took unflinching aim
at some of the notables in the room – and quickly opened a divide, largely
but not entirely along partisan lines, over the limits of comedy and comity
under a president who rarely hesitates to attack the press.” While Fox
News’ Brian Kilmeade called it “personally offensive,” NBC analyst Howard
Fineman said, “Before we criticize Michelle Wolf, let’s remember that
Donald Trump has done and said some of the crudest things that any
president in history has ever done.”

        The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=047-330&t=c>
(4/29, Heil) said the reaction was “polarizing.” Maggie Haberman of the New
York Times “credited Sanders, who looked on impassively during Wolf’s
comedy routine, for remaining stoic,” and said that Sanders “absorbed
intense criticism of her physical appearance, her job performance, and so
forth.” Comedian and writer Kumail Nanjiani tweeted “that he had asked
Haberman to point to where Wolf criticized Sanders’s appearance,” and
claimed that she “responded by unfollowing him.” He also wrote, “They call
you liars. They call Mexicans rapists. They call Muslims murderers. They
support white supremacists. But someone calls them out on what they do, &
suddenly they’re heroes for not walking out.”

        The New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=048-308&t=c>
(4/29, Moore) reports that Sanders’ predecessor Sean Spicer called Wolf’s
set a “disgrace,” while the Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=049-2ce&t=c>
(4/29, Siegel) reports that “others said such dinners will help Republicans
by exposing the press as being biased.” Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=04a-f50&t=c>
(4/29) is critical of “Wolf’s raunchy anti-Trump routine,” but adds “that
what Trump says is far more important that quips from an edgy comic.” The
Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=04b-dba&t=c>
(4/29, Manchester) headlines its report “White House Press On Defensive
After Michelle Wolf Torches Trump, Sanders.” ABC World News Tonight[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=04c-364&t=c>
(4/29, story 2, 1:40, Llamas) also reported on Trump’s effort “to steal the
spotlight from the annual correspondents’ dinner” by holding a rally in
Washington, Michigan.
Trump Calls Comey “A Liar And A Leaker.”

The CBS Weekend News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=04d-f0f&t=c>
(4/29, lead story, 1:10, Morgan) reported that during his Saturday evening
rally in Washington Township, Michigan, President Trump criticized ex-FBI
director James Comey. Trump: “Comey is a liar and a leaker. I did you a
great favor when I fired this guy.” CBS’ Errol Barnett reported that Trump
suggested “for the first time that Russia directed lawyer Natalia
Veselnitskaya to admit she is an informant to sow chaos in the US.” Trump:
“Putin and the group said, ‘You know, this Trump is killing us. Why don’t
you say that you’re involved with government?’” On NBC Nightly News[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=04e-d9e&t=c>
(4/29, story 3, 1:35, Snow), Kelly O’Donnell reported that Trump also
voiced “the political jeopardy he faces if Democrats take control of
Congress.” Trump: “‘We will impeach him,’ the people said. ‘But he hasn’t
done anything wrong.’ ‘Oh, that doesn’t matter. We will impeach the
President.’”

        *Comey Calls House Intelligence Committee Report “Political
Document.” *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=04f-9d1&t=c>
(4/29) reports Comey “is dismissing a House Intelligence Committee report
that found no collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign.” He told
NBC’s Meet The Press “that he considers the report, issued Friday by
Republicans, to be a ‘political document.’ He says the most important
investigation is being done by special counsel Robert Mueller.” The Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=050-beb&t=c>
(4/29, Horwitz) reports that Comey said of the House Intelligence
Committee’s investigation, “It’s just a wreck.”

        House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Trey Gowdy said on CBS’
Face the Nation
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=051-a62&t=c>
(4/29, Brennan), “I have more confidence in Executive Branch investigations
than I do congressional,” but “I wouldn’t say it’s a ‘wreck.’ ... There was
no evidence of collusion or conspiracy in the evidence they found.”

        *Waters: Republicans Are “Embarrassed,” “Worried” About Mueller
Probe. *Rep. Maxine Waters (D) said on [image: Image removed by sender.
Video]MSNBC’s AM Joy
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=052-bcd&t=c>
(4/29), “I believe, if the facts are unveiled...that Republicans are going
to be hard-pressed to stand with this President and to deny that he has
colluded with Russia and that he’s obstructed justice. I think even as a
Republicans see it now, some of them are whispering. They’re embarrassed.
They’re worried, they’re scared that this President is going to take them
down eventually.”

        *Avenatti Expects Cohen To “Flip.” *The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=053-b51&t=c>
(4/29, Viebeck) reports that Michael Avenatti, attorney for adult film
performer Stormy Daniels in her lawsuit against Trump’s personal attorney
Michael Cohen, “predicted that Cohen will ‘flip’ and cooperate with federal
prosecutors” during a Sunday CNN interview. Avenatti said on CNN’s State of
the Union
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=054-507&t=c>
(4/29, Tapper), “Mr. Trump and the Administration have concluded what I’ve
been saying for weeks: that Michael Cohen is in a lot of trouble and he’s
going to flip on the President.” The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=055-363&t=c>
(4/29, Morton) reports that Avenatti cited a critical headline about Cohen
in the National Enquirer, “which is headed by Trump friend David Pecker.”
He told CNN that the headline “is the first effort on their part to
undermine Mr. Cohen’s credibility so that they can claim – when he does
flip – that he’s a liar, that he has no credibility.”

        *Politico Magazine Profiles “Pro-Trump PR Guy” Torossian. *Politico
Magazine
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=056-f1a&t=c>
(4/29, Schreckinger) runs a 4,000-word profile of Ronn Torossian, “the
pro-Trump PR guy at the center of the Mueller probe.” Torossian “caught
Washington’s notice first when he announced in an op-ed that he had
testified about his abortive dealings with Paul Manafort to a Washington
grand jury convened by special prosecutor Robert Mueller, and then again
when he emerged as the face of Sinclair Broadcasting’s caustic PR
counteroffensive to charges that it forces affiliates to air pro-Trump
propaganda.”
Caravan Migrants Prepare To Seek Asylum In US.

In its lead segment, ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=057-482&t=c>
(4/29, lead story, 2:40, Llamas) reported a “caravan of migrants seeking
asylum” are “expected to turn themselves over to customs agents.” ABC
(Gonzalez) called it a “border showdown.” The nearly 200 migrants are
“seeking asylum away from gang violence, LGBT persecution, and other
dangers back home,” but “President Trump has been warning for weeks that
this caravan needs to be stopped.” The [image: Image removed by sender.
Video]CBS Weekend News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=058-4c5&t=c>
(4/29, story 4, 2:15, Morgan) reported the “showdown at the Mexico border”
will “test the Trump Administration’s rhetoric, criticizing their plans to
seek asylum.” Also in its lead segment, [image: Image removed by sender.
Video]NBC Nightly News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=059-ae8&t=c>
(4/29, lead story, 2:10, Snow) reported, “Though their numbers dwindled,
tonight, just over 100 migrants are putting the Administration’s statements
to the test, prepared to apply for asylum.” NBC (Schwartz) added,
“Officials say they’ll respect all legitimate asylum pleas under the law
but will prosecute lawyers if they are found coaching them what to say.”
Schwartz added that CBP says “that they have reached capacity at the port
of entry that we are headed to right now, and they’re not accepting anybody
else without proper documentation.”

        The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=05a-871&t=c>
(4/29, Averbuch, Partlow) reports that prior to turning themselves in,
there were weddings, which “underscored one of the migrants’ greatest fears
now that they’ve reached the border: having their families torn apart once
they turn themselves over to US immigration authorities.” US officials have
“suggested that the migrants should stay in Mexico and warned” against
false immigration claims. Rodney S. Scott, chief patrol agent in San Diego
for the US Border Patrol, said in a statement, “To anyone that is
associated with this caravan, Think Before You Act.” Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=05b-256&t=c>
(4/29, Rodriguez) reports the migrants’ “‘marriages’ might not work for
these migrants because US immigration courts require substantial proof to
prove that a marriage is real.”

        The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=05c-383&t=c>
(4/29, Semple) reports, “The Trump administration’s aggressive response to
the caravan has only seemed to embolden its organizers and to mobilize
supporters.” Volunteer immigration lawyers and paralegals traveled to
Tijuana to help. “Those migrants deemed to have solid claims of persecution
were encouraged to apply for asylum,” while others were advised “to seek
protection in Mexico or elsewhere in Latin America.” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=05d-029&t=c>
(4/29, Schrank) calls migrants’ decisions on whether to cross the border
illegally or seek asylum “hard choices.” US border authorities said, in
Reuters’ words, “that some people associated with the caravan had already
been caught trying to slip through the fence.” The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=05e-c2d&t=c>
(4/29, Spagat) and the Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=05f-e67&t=c>
(4/29, Caldwell) are among the other media outlets also reporting on the
caravan’s arrival.

        *Trump Threatens Government Shutdown Over Wall Funding. *In its
lead segment, the CBS Weekend News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=060-348&t=c>
(4/29, lead story, 1:10, Morgan) reported that Trump on Saturday evening
“threatened to shut down the federal government in September if Congress
does not approve more funding to build a wall on the Mexico border.” CBS
(Barnett) added that during his “freewheeling speech” during his campaign
rally in Washington Township, Michigan, “Trump let loose, threatening to
close the country.” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=061-868&t=c>
(4/29) reports Trump “threatened to shut down the federal government in
September if Congress did not provide more funding to build a wall on the
border with Mexico.” He said, “If we don’t get border security we will have
no choice, we will close down the country.”

        *WPost Editorial Criticizes Administration For Separating
Unauthorized Child Migrants, Parents. *In an editorial, the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=062-866&t=c>
(4/29) criticizes Administration officials for supporting removing
unauthorized child migrants from their “parents as a means of deterring
illegal border-crossers,” a practice “already happening with increasing
frequency.” Despite DHS statements that this is not the agency’s policy,
“administration officials acknowledge that hundreds of children, including
scores younger than 4, have been taken from their parents in the past few
months.” The Post blasts President Trump for “his crusade to rid the United
States of undocumented immigrants,” concluding that “to splinter families
and traumatize children in the name of frightening away migrants, many of
whom may have a legitimate asylum claim,” is “beyond the pale for a
civilized country.”
Parkland Families Criticize NRA For Banning Guns During Upcoming Pence
Speech.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=063-be8&t=c>
(4/29, Horton) reports that though the NRA “has championed the idea of a
‘good guy with a gun’...no firearms will be allowed when Vice President
Pence speaks at its annual meeting – sparking criticism from Parkland
students, who say schools should be afforded the same protection.” Fred
Guttenberg, whose son was killed in the February school shooting, said,
“According to the NRA, we should want everyone to have weapons when we are
in public. But when they put on a convention, the weapons are a concern? I
thought giving everyone a gun was to enhance safety. Am I missing
something?” The NRA says that due to Secret Service security for Pence, no
weapons will be allowed in the Dallas arena while he is present. During the
rest of the annual meeting, “lawfully carried firearms will be permitted at
the convention center and the host hotel, the NRA said.”
T-Mobile, Sprint Merger Would Leave Only Three Major Wireless Carriers.

NBC Nightly News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=064-bb8&t=c>
(4/29, story 7, 1:35, Snow) reported on a “mega merger that, if approved,
would leave just three major wireless carriers for you to choose from.
AT&T, Verizon and the combination of Sprint and T-Mobile,” and that “raises
questions about competition and prices amid fewer choices for consumers.”
NBC (Bradley) added that a merger of the “former competitors now business
partners” would “keep the T-Mobile name and move into striking distance of
larger rivals Verizon and AT&T, leaving only three major players on a
fiercely competitive field. Analysts say that could mean higher prices.”
The companies “insist the merger would add thousands of American jobs,
increase competition and drive prices down, and let them conquer new
frontiers.” NBC noted that the Justice Department, which will review the
proposed deal, “could still keep this merger from becoming a marriage.”

        *WSJournal A1: Tax Law Encourages Keeping Profits In US, Sending
Assets, Jobs Abroad. *In a front-page analysis, the Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=065-2de&t=c>
(4/29, A1, Rubin) reports that experts say the reduction in the US domestic
corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent will have companies
increasingly keeping profits in the US instead of overseas, although the
system has new quirks that present slight incentives for companies to hold
foreign assets. The Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income tax (GILTI) exempts
a risk-free return, calculated at 10% of tangible foreign assets, creating
an incentive for manufacturers to put factories outside the US even as
European countries are requiring more people and facilities be located in
their countries to qualify for tax benefits. In contrast to the old system,
in which profits were usually shifted abroad using paper transactions, the
new system gives companies incentive to move assets and jobs abroad.
WPost A1: Push To Rein In Stem-Cell Clinics Offering Unregulated Treatments.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=066-d0c&t=c>
(4/29, A1, McGinley, Wan) reports that “hundreds” of stem-cell clinics
“have popped up across the country, many offering treatments for conditions
from Parkinson’s disease to autism to multiple sclerosis,” none of which
have been approved by federal regulators. “Critics call such clinics
modern-day snake-oil salesmen,” and poor outcomes from such procedures are
“prompting lawsuits and new efforts by state and federal regulators to rein
in potentially dangerous and worthless treatments.” The facilities argue
that “because they use surgical procedures to administer patients’ own
cells,” they aren’t subject to FDA regulation, but regulators and
researchers disagree, saying the “clinics are essentially conducting human
experiments without proper oversight.” While such direct-to-consumer stem
cell clinics “expanded mostly unchallenged,” with FDA Commissioner Scott
Gottlieb and his predecessor blaming “limited resources for the lack of
aggressive action in the past,” officials say a new crackdown “focus on
high-risk procedures such as injections into the brain, spinal cord and
eye.”
Teachers Continue Strikes In Arizona, Colorado.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=067-4ec&t=c>
(4/28, Christie) reported that “as thousands of teachers and supporters
gathered at the Arizona Capitol to protest inadequate public school funding
for a second day Friday, Gov. Doug Ducey again skipped the chance to
address them,” while in Denver, “several thousand teachers gathered for a
second day to protest low education funding were greeted by” Gov. John
Hickenlooper, who “said he would work to have the state repay all of the
approximately $1 billion borrowed from education during the recession.” On NBC
Nightly News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=068-bad&t=c>
(4/27, story 4, 1:30, Guthrie), Steve Patterson reported that in Colorado,
“thousands of teachers converg[ed] on the state capitol, forcing public
schools to shut down. Half a million students out of class.”

        Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=069-678&t=c>
(4/27, Schwartz, Hay) reported that Ducey on Friday “announced a deal with
state legislative leaders to raise teachers’ pay 20 percent by 2020” and
“said the deal would also restore funding for schools that were cut in the
last recession.” Nonetheless, Reuters says the Arizona Education
Association and Arizona Educators United “reacted with skepticism.” In a
brief segment, the CBS Weekend News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=06a-a35&t=c>
(4/29, story 5, 0:20, Morgan) reported Arizona teachers “are expected to
continue their walkout” today, despite Ducey’s announcement. CBS added, “A
similar walkout is under way in Colorado.” ABC World News Tonight[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=06b-07f&t=c>
(4/27, story 8, 0:20, Muir) reported that in Arizona, teachers “plan to
stay on the picket line, they say, indefinitely.”

        The Arizona Republic
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=06c-7ca&t=c>
(4/27) reported Arizona Education Association President Joe Thomas said, “I
think we have to come back Monday because they closed shop and ran away
from us yesterday, and we have to show them that they don’t get to run away
from our students.”
Cancer Research
Study: Zika Virus May Be Able To Treat Central Nervous System Tumors.

Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=06d-69c&t=c>
(4/27) reported researchers found that the Zika virus “can be used in vivo
to treat aggressive human central nervous system (CNS) tumors.” The findings
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=06e-1f5&t=c>
were published in Cancer Research.
Some US Proton-Therapy Centers Facing Financial Difficulties.

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=06f-1a9&t=c>
(4/28, B3, Hancock) reported that “although most of the” proton-therapy
“centers in the” US “are profitable, the industry is littered with
financial failure: Nearly a third of the existing centers lose money, have
defaulted on debt or have had to overhaul their finances.” Approximately
“30 years after the Food and Drug Administration first approved proton
therapy for limited uses,” physicians “often hesitate to prescribe it and
insurers often will not cover it,” which “means there simply may not be
enough business to go around.”
Editorials/Op-Eds
New York Times.

*“A Growing Problem For The Military Transgender Ban – Facts.”* In an
editorial, the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=070-341&t=c>
(4/29) writes, “A growing body of research and expert opinion supports the
only fair and just solution” to the conflict over President Trump’s ban on
transgender people serving in the military: “Repudiating Mr. Trump’s cruel
decision.” The Times cites testimony from “the chiefs of the Army, Navy and
Air Force; the commandant of the Marine Corps and the incoming commandant
of the Coast Guard,” as well as “half-dozen former United States surgeons
general” rebutting the “flawed Pentagon report released in March that
served as the intellectual and scientific basis for Mr. Trump’s policy.”
The Time concludes, “If the administration refuses to recognize the rights
of this vulnerable population to help defend the country and be judged on
the basis of ability rather than prejudice, then the courts must remedy
that injustice.”
Washington Post.

*“Determined To Harm The Environment.”* In an editorial, the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=071-d9c&t=c>
(4/29) writes that EPA Administrator Pruitt “should not be the nation’s top
environmental officer” due to the “expanding ethical cloud” and his
determination “to ruin the environment.” The Post cites Pruitt’s “pattern
of siding with industry over experts,” citing rulings on burning biomass
and barring peer-reviewed scientific research from being considered in EPA
decisions. The Post concludes, “Pruitt has spent much of his public life
with his head in the sand. If he gets his way, the whole EPA will assume
the same position.”

        *“Is There A Strategy On Tariffs?” *The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=072-619&t=c>
(4/29) editorializes that the Commerce Department has imposed “substantial
new tariffs on newsprint from Canada, driving up newspaper production costs
across the country. For papers already struggling to keep up in the
Internet age, the impact can be devastating.” The Post notes that the
tariff “is not yet permanent; if the underlying dispute between the two
countries gets resolved by approximately Labor Day, it may be eliminated.”

        *“Treating Children As Collateral Damage.” *In an editorial,
the Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=073-090&t=c>
(4/29) criticizes Administration officials for supporting removing
unauthorized child migrants from their “parents as a means of deterring
illegal border-crossers,” a practice “already happening with increasing
frequency.” Despite DHS statements that this is not the agency’s policy,
“administration officials acknowledge that hundreds of children, including
scores younger than 4, have been taken from their parents in the past few
months.” The Post blasts President Trump for “his crusade to rid the United
States of undocumented immigrants,” concluding that “to splinter families
and traumatize children in the name of frightening away migrants, many of
whom may have a legitimate asylum claim,” is “beyond the pale for a
civilized country.”
Biden in the News
Biden To Attend Signing Of “Beau Biden Gun Violence Prevention Act.”

WCAU-TV
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=074-d06&t=c>
Philadelphia (4/29) reported that Delaware Gov. John Carney (D) “will sign
a major piece of gun legislation” today. “Carney and former Vice President
Joe Biden will be at the University of Delaware” for Carney’s signing of
“The Beau Biden Gun Violence Prevention Act,” which “restricts access to
firearms for those who mental health professionals believe present a danger
to themselves or to others. The act is similar to legislation Beau Biden
championed when he was Delaware’s attorney general in 2013.”

        WPVI-TV
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=075-24c&t=c>
Philadelphia (4/30) reports this morning that Biden “and his wife, Dr. Jill
Biden, will be in Newark for a special bill-signing today.” WPVI-TV adds
that Carney “will sign ‘The Beau Biden Gun Violence Prevention Act.”
WTXF-TV[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=076-ad8&t=c>
Philadelphia (4/30) offered a similar report and said, “The former Vice
President, who served as Delaware’s senator from 1973 to 2009, calls the
bill a fitting tribute to his late son’s legacy.”
Biden Backs Fernandez In Florida State House Special Election.

The Miami Herald
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=077-a98&t=c>
(4/27, Smiley) reported, “With a special House election looming in central
Dade, Miami Democrats are bringing in the party’s favorite hype man.
District 114 candidate Javier Fernandez has received the endorsement of
former Vice President Joe Biden, which the party hopes will help boost
voting heading into Tuesday’s election.” The Herald said District 114
“leans ever-so-slightly Republican,” and Andrew Vargas (R) “has a roughly
1,200-vote lead in early and absentee voting based on votes cast along
party lines.” Biden is quoted as saying in a statement, “I proudly endorse
Javier Fernandez, who will be a strong Democrat in a critical seat in the
Florida House. Javier will be a champion in Tallahassee in the fight for
affordable healthcare, common-sense gun reform, and protecting Florida’s
vital coastline from sea-level rise.” The candidates are vying to succeed
“disgraced” ex-state Rep. Daisy Baez (D).
Chozick Discusses Biden-Clinton Dynamics In 2016 Democratic Race.

New York Times reporter Amy Chozick, author of the new book, “Chasing
Hillary,” was asked on MSNBC Live
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018043001biden&r=email-d598&l=078-fb4&t=c>
(4/29) by Alex Witt, “Joe Biden – you write how he confided to the press
corp he wanted to run for president [in 2016], but was afraid if he did it,
the Clintons would set out to destroy him.” Witt asked Chozick to describe
the Biden-Hillary Clinton relationship. Chozick said the two “are kind of
chummy,” adding that Clinton’s “father was from Scranton, and they had this
Scranton connection. So, I think they’re friendly on a cordial level, but
Biden was a real threat. People forget how worried they were. When Hillary
Clinton was locking in all this union support early on, a lot of people
thought that was because of [Sen. Bernie Sanders], but it was really about
freezing out Biden and not letting Biden get into that race.”

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