Subject: FW: Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing for Tuesday, January 8, 2019
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: Tue, 08 Jan 2019 10:04:42 -0500

Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing

*From:* Bulletin Intelligence <[email-masked]>
*Sent:* Tuesday, January 8, 2019 7:58 AM
*To:* [email-masked]
*Subject:* Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing for
Tuesday, January 8, 2019

*Click to access
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=000-12e&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=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=001-04f&t=c>

*To: Vice President Joe Biden*

*Tuesday, January 8, 2019 8:00 AM EST*
Today's Table of Contents

*Biden in the News* <#SECTION_1>

• CNN: Biden’s Decision Looms Large In 2020 Race For Democratic
Presidential Nomination. <#S1>

• Politico: Biden’s PAC Largely Used Midterms Fundraising Cash To Boost
Potential 2020 Bid. <#S2>

• Rubin: Biden’s Rationale For Running Would Take A Hit If Trump Isn’t GOP
Nominee. <#S3>

• Conservative Columnist: If Biden Runs, He Should Quickly Choose A Running
Mate. <#S4>

• Report: Recent “Cultural Changes” Would Pose 2020 Hurdles For Biden. <#S5>

• Writer: “Being A White Male” Would Be Big Drawback For Biden In
Democratic Race. <#S6>

• Writer Downplays Biden’s Appeal To Blue-Collar White Voters. <#S7>

• Esquire’s Pierce Pans Possible Biden Campaign. <#S8>

• Writer: Biden’s “Ego Is Greater Than His Electability.” <#S9>

• TPM: Obama’s Call For “Fresh Blood” At Leadership Event Could Bode Ill
For Biden. <#S10>

• Columnist Highlights Biden’s 1987 Remarks On Free Trade. <#S11>

• McAuliffe Says Biden’s 2020 Decision Won’t Affect His Own Deliberations
On Possible Bid. <#S12>

• Report Examines Why Biden Turned Down Speaker’s Fee At University Of Utah.
<#S13>

• Writers Highlight Partnership Between Beau Biden Foundation, Special
Olympics International. <#S14>

• “Draft Beto” Campaign Expanding Efforts To Convince O’Rourke To Run In
2020. <#S15>

• Harris Set To Promote Her New Book Ahead Of Likely 2020 Run. <#S16>

• Castro Woos Voters In Iowa, Slated To Visit New Hampshire Next Week.
<#S17>

• Democratic Senators In No Hurry To Back Warren. <#S18>

*Leading the News* <#SECTION_2>

• Trump Plans Tuesday Speech On Border “Crisis,” Thursday Trip To Region.
<#S19>

*Foreign Policy* <#SECTION_3>

• Trump Says Syria Plans Have Not Changed. <#S20>

• South Korean Reports: Kim In Beijing For Talks With China’s Xi. <#S21>

• Ross Optimistic About US-China Deal As Talks Resume In Beijing. <#S22>

• In Cairo, Pompeo Expected To Rebuke Obama’s Middle East Vision. <#S23>

• Trump, Canada’s Trudeau Agree To Seek Release Of Canadians Unlawfully
Detained In China. <#S24>

• Key Saudi Suspect In Khashoggi Case Goes Missing. <#S25>

• Saudi Arabia Plans Oil Export Reduction In Effort To Boost Prices. <#S26>

*Domestic Policy* <#SECTION_4>

• White House: Government Shutdown Will Not Affect Tax Refunds. <#S27>

• Trump: “I Can Relate” To Federal Workers Without Pay, Who “Will Make
Adjustments.” <#S28>

• Trump Calls Media “Crazed Lunatics” Who Have “Never Been Worse.” <#S29>

• Conway: House Democratic Leaders Pulling Back On Impeachment Talk. <#S30>

• Warner: Barr Memo On Mueller Probe Disqualifies Him From AG Post. <#S31>

• Politico Analysis: Trump Having Difficulty Finding New Defense Secretary.
<#S32>

• Ginsburg Misses Arguments For First Time Since Joining Supreme Court.
<#S33>

*Cancer Research* <#SECTION_5>

• Use Of Flavored Tobacco Products By US Teens “Rebounded” In 2017 With
Rising E-Cigarette Use. <#S34>

• CDC: Uterine Cancer Incidence, Mortality Increasing. <#S35>

*Editorials/Op-Eds* <#SECTION_6>

• New York Times. <#S36>

• Washington Post. <#S37>
Biden in the News
CNN: Biden’s Decision Looms Large In 2020 Race For Democratic Presidential
Nomination.

In an online article this morning, CNN
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=002-f13&t=c>
(1/8, Merica, Saenz) reports that former Vice President Joe Biden “is the
elephant in the room for the 2020 Democratic primary. As the Democrats’
2020 field begins to take shape,” Biden looms “over the race, with his
decision on whether to run becoming an X factor for some potential 2020
Democrats, especially those who believe they will appeal to the same type
of voters as” him. Biden, “according to a source familiar with the
discussions, is poised to decide in the coming month whether he will” run
for president.

        *Biden’s Brother Thinks He’ll Mount 2020 Bid. *The Palm Beach (FL)
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=003-fb1&t=c>
(1/7, Bennett) reports that Biden’s “youngest brother believes Biden will
launch a 2020 campaign for president and win over the ‘disaffected’ voters
Democrats lost to Donald Trump in 2016.” Speaking with the Post, Frank
Biden said, “I think we’re going to run. You can say that ‘Frank thinks his
brother’s going to run.’ Now, he could surprise me. But I know the family’s
behind him 100 percent.” The Post adds that Frank Biden “said Joe Biden
will make a final decision after family members huddle ‘very soon’ to
discuss the race.”

        Drawing from the Post’s story, the Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=004-2c5&t=c>
(1/7, Lim) quoted Frank Biden as saying, “The decision the party has to
make is almost an existential one. ... Are we going to go with someone that
everyone implicitly trusts, has confidence in, and no one doubts Joe’s
ability to do the job? Who do you think that the disaffected Republicans
and the disaffected Democrats that we need to win over to win Pennsylvania,
to win Michigan, to win Wisconsin, to win Ohio, to win Florida – as a
strictly Machiavellian question, who is best positioned to win those folks
back?”

        Also drawing from the Post’s story, the New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=005-89e&t=c>
(1/7, Campanile) reports that Frank Biden blasted “Hillary Clinton’s failed
2016 campaign – saying his sibling would have won Pennsylvania, would have
campaigned aggressively in Michigan and would not have insulted voters as
‘deplorables.’ ‘We never would have lost Pennsylvania, and all my relatives
– the Finnegan family [his mom’s family] – who voted for Donald Trump
because they felt slighted by Hillary and her campaign,’ Frank Biden” said.

        In a story that largely focuses on Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s (D-TX)
plans to meet with voters during a solo road trip as he mulls a 2020 White
House bid, the Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=006-8ff&t=c>
(1/7, Epstein, Thomas) quotes an unnamed source as saying that Biden is
“leaning forward” toward entering the race for president. The Journal also
quotes Frank Biden as saying of his brother during a Monday interview with
Michael Smerconish, “If he decides to go, he will be the most dynamic
70-something-year-old you’ve ever met in your entire life.” Salon
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=007-776&t=c>
(1/7, Rozsa) reported that Frank Biden told Smerconish “that he
‘absolutely, positively’ wants his brother to run, predicting that his
brother ‘could annihilate Trump.’”
Politico: Biden’s PAC Largely Used Midterms Fundraising Cash To Boost
Potential 2020 Bid.

Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=008-8cc&t=c>
(1/8, Severns, Cadelago) reports that former Vice President Joe Biden
“raised more money for a PAC that supports Democrats in 2018 than any of
his likely White House competitors did,” though “unlike many of them, he
spent the lion’s share of that haul on himself. Biden’s PAC gave Democratic
candidates just a quarter of the more than $2 million he raised and spent
during the midterms. At the same time, he spent half a million dollars on
websites and digital ads that could help him bolster his online presence
and raise money from small donors for a 2020 primary campaign, and more of
his PAC funds went to travel and other expenses.”
Rubin: Biden’s Rationale For Running Would Take A Hit If Trump Isn’t GOP
Nominee.

Writing on the website of the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=009-193&t=c>
(1/7), Jennifer Rubin highlighted Sunday’s New York Times report
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=00a-359&t=c>
(covered in yesterday’s briefing) that said former Vice President Joe Biden
has concluded “that he is not just the best positioned [Democrat] to”
defeat President Trump in 2020, “but perhaps the only one who can.”
However, Rubin said that Biden “has a more fundamental problem than the
deficits his opponents would cite, namely: What if Trump isn’t the GOP
nominee in 2020? ... What’s the rationale for Biden’s candidacy if, say,
former senator Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) or a GOP governor is the nominee?”
Rubin added, “If the GOP nominee is not Trump, Democrats’ criteria for
picking a nominee would change considerably. The most sober, experienced,
insider-y candidate who would have advantages in a race against Trump might
look stale, unexciting and old against a fresher GOP face, especially if
that person is not tainted by Trump sycophancy.”
Conservative Columnist: If Biden Runs, He Should Quickly Choose A Running
Mate.

Writing for the Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=00b-d8b&t=c>
(1/7), Philip Klein said that if former Vice President Joe Biden enters the
2020 White House race, “he’ll bring some assets but also significant
baggage. To overcome the latter, he should consider the unorthodox move of
picking his vice presidential running mate as early as possible in the
process.” Klein added, “It would benefit Biden considerably if he could
deflect questions about his age or charges that he’s displayed retrograde
views if he signals early that he plans to make sure the younger and more
diverse generation is represented in his administration and that somebody
exciting is waiting in the wings, especially if he were to serve one term.”
Report: Recent “Cultural Changes” Would Pose 2020 Hurdles For Biden.

A lengthy piece that appeared on the website of WKRC-TV
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=00c-cf4&t=c>
Cincinnati (1/7, Loiaconi) and many other Sinclair Broadcast Group stations
said that in the wake of President Trump’s win in the 2016 election, former
Vice President Joe Biden “and others criticized Democratic nominee Hillary
Clinton for failing to hone an economic message that appealed to working
class white voters. Many Democrats think [Biden] could have succeeded where
she failed in connecting with voters in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and
Wisconsin and delivered an electoral college victory.” However, though “the
post-2016 landscape in many ways makes...Biden a more viable national
candidate, cultural changes over the last two years have also created new
obstacles for him. The #MeToo movement and the controversy surrounding
sexual assault allegations against now-Supreme Court Justice Brett
Kavanaugh,” for example, “revived questions about” Biden’s handling of the
Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas hearings.
Writer: “Being A White Male” Would Be Big Drawback For Biden In Democratic
Race.

Writing for the Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=00d-9e5&t=c>
(1/7), Eddie Scarry said that former Vice President Joe Biden “voted for
the Iraq War, plagiarized speeches, has deep and sometimes shady ties to
banks, wrote the now-loathed 1994 crime bill, and supported the Patriot
Act, but in the Democratic primary, the main crime for which he will have
to answer is being a white male.” Scarry cited several media reports in
making the claim, saying, for example, “The Hill reported just two weeks
ago that Democrats are wracked with ‘worry’ because a poll of Iowa voters
showed that ‘the three people leading polls in the very early stages of
their presidential race are all white men.’” Scarry added, “Biden may have
some of the working-class appeal that President Trump has, but
unfortunately for him, he’s white and in the wrong party.”

        *Buchanan: Biden “An Old White Male In A Party That Wants The Torch
Passed To Women And Minorities.” *In his syndicated column, which appears
at Townhall
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=00e-e51&t=c>
(1/8), Pat Buchanan writes, “The Democratic front-runners for the
presidential nomination – Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Beto [O’Rourke] –
are all white males. ... But while Biden is the front-runner, consider how
far away” he “is from the new realities in his party. Though millennials
are one voting bloc Democrats are courting most, Biden would be the oldest
president ever elected.” He’s “an old white male in a party that wants the
torch passed to women and minorities.” Biden voted “for the war in Iraq,”
supported “an anti-crime bill in the early 1990s that incarcerated
individuals now gaining release by the latest crime bill,” and “presided
over the hearings that resulted in a vote to elevate Clarence Thomas to the
Supreme Court.”
Writer Downplays Biden’s Appeal To Blue-Collar White Voters.

Writing at Slate
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=00f-125&t=c>
(1/7), Ben Mathis-Lilley said that former Vice President Joe Biden “sells
himself as a blunt-talking son of blue-collar Scranton, Pennsylvania;”
someone who can win back Rust-Belt states for Democrats, enabling the party
to retake the White House. However, Mathis-Lilley said that Biden’s
blue-collar appeals to white voters on behalf candidates in the region
during the 2018 midterms were a mixed bag. Consequently, Mathis-Lilley
said, it isn’t “at all clear that the Democrats need a Biden-like candidate
to win” in 2020, “but it’s also not clear that he’d be doomed. ... Given
the above, and his well-documented ‘90s policy baggage, not to mention his
age, it seems like instead of” mounting a White House bid, Biden should
continue making “cable-news appearances as a Democratic surrogate who
remains beloved because he didn’t have to have his record litigated in a
tough primary.”
Esquire’s Pierce Pans Possible Biden Campaign.

Writing for Esquire Magazine
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=010-764&t=c>
(1/7), Charles P. Pierce pans the motion of a 2020 run by former Vice
President Joe Biden, writing that he “has run for president twice before
and he was a genuinely terrible candidate both times.” In addition, Biden
“has a track record that puts him on the wrong side of every issue that
currently energizes his political party.” Pierce cites Biden’s “sponsorship
of a grotesque bankruptcy bill,” his backing of “the truly awful crime bill
proposed by President Bill Clinton,” and his “turtling on Anita Hill. It’s
hard to imagine a presidential candidate who’s a worse fit for the party
that just swept all those new members into the House of Representatives.”
Pierce adds that “a Joe Biden campaign in 2020 would be the most divisive
thing that could happen to a Democratic primary field.”
Writer: Biden’s “Ego Is Greater Than His Electability.”

In a piece for the American Spectator
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=011-4cf&t=c>
(1/8), George Neumayr cites Sunday’s New York Times report
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=012-d71&t=c>
in writing that former Vice President Joe Biden is “telling fellow
Democrats that he is the only electable candidate against [President] Trump
in 2020. But liberals are already throwing a wet blanket over his assumed
candidacy.” Neumayr says that Biden’s “ego is greater than his
electability, and the faux-centrism he has worked so hard to cultivate will
cut against his chances of even winning Democratic primaries.” Neumayr adds
that Biden “should quit while he is ahead, but he won’t. His persistent
vanity – a tendency to get ‘out ahead of his skis,’ as [former President]
Obama once put it – simply won’t let him and foreshadows his final fall.”
TPM: Obama’s Call For “Fresh Blood” At Leadership Event Could Bode Ill For
Biden.

Talking Points Memo
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=013-b1a&t=c>
(1/7, Riga) reported that former President Obama delivered “a speech for
the Obama Foundation in Hawaii Sunday night during which he said we have a
‘deficit of leadership’ and ‘need fresh blood,’ according to a Honolulu
Civil Beat report
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=014-458&t=c>.”
His remarks “may have been innocuous: Obama was speaking at an event
dedicated to nurturing future leaders in the Asia-Pacific region. But if
the President was sending a subtle signal about his 2020 preferences, it
would be bad news for his former vice president. Joe Biden, openly
considering a presidential bid, won his first federal-level election in
1972 and has been a major political player for almost 50 years – hardly new
blood.”
Columnist Highlights Biden’s 1987 Remarks On Free Trade.

Writing for the Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=015-fa4&t=c>
(1/7), Philip Wegmann said, “If Joe Biden jumps in the race, and if 2020 is
anything like the 1988 presidential primary, it will be ‘Make America Great
Again,’ minus the protectionism.” Wegmann cited Biden’s “June 1987
announcement speech, an address he made from the financially strong
Wilmington, Del.,” in which Biden said, “We cannot accept the naivete of
free traders who ignore the flagrant abuses of our trading partners, nor
can we accept the morally bankrupt, easy answer on protectionism – an
answer that smacks of defeatism. Protecting one job today at the cost of
ten of our children’s jobs tomorrow is unacceptable.” Wegmann added that
“if an older and wiser Biden believes what a younger and more idealistic
Biden believed, we are in for a wild 2020,” as he’d “be to the right of”
President Trump on trade.
McAuliffe Says Biden’s 2020 Decision Won’t Affect His Own Deliberations On
Possible Bid.

The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=016-6e8&t=c>
(1/7, Lim) reported that during a Monday appearance on CNN, ex-Gov. Terry
McAuliffe (D-VA) said that former Vice President Joe Biden’s decision on a
potential 2020 run for president won’t be a factor in his own deliberations
on a possible White House bid. McAuliffe is quoted as saying, “I do think
Vice President Biden’s probably running from my conversations with him.
He’s got to make his decision. Mine will be totally independent of what the
vice president does. I’ve always been a big fan of Joe Biden’s. I hope he
gets in the race. The more the merrier.”

        *Columnist: Possible 2020 Mitch Landrieu Bid Likely Hinges On
Whether Biden Runs. *In her Baton Rouge (LA) Advocate
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=017-c02&t=c>
(1/7) column, Stephanie Grace says that Biden’s 2020 decision will likely
have a big impact on whether ex-New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu (D-LA)
decides to enter the presidential race. Grace says that “few possible
candidates have tied their own process as closely to Biden’s as...Landrieu
has.” In an interview last year, Landrieu “said that Biden is his preferred
choice to take on [President] Trump.” That “interview made it clear that
Landrieu’s been grappling with his hypothetical place in a potential
presidential filed for a while now. ... What that means for Landrieu should
become much clearer in the coming weeks, once Biden makes his move – or
doesn’t.”
Report Examines Why Biden Turned Down Speaker’s Fee At University Of Utah.

The Daily Utah Chronicle
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=018-110&t=c>
(1/7, Collett) reports that former Vice President Joe Biden addressed
“students at the University of Utah in December as the keynote speaker to
the MUSE project’s theme of hope, hardship and purpose. ... The most
shocking surprise came when Mark Matheson, director of the MUSE project,
mentioned that Biden did not take the money offered to him by the school.”
Biden “told Matheson that he did not take the money because ‘it should be
put to better use,’ suggesting that the money be put into scholarship
funds.” However, “according to speculation from the New York Times, the
move may also have a political motivation.” The Times report
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=019-a8a&t=c>
(1/1, Sack, Burns), says the Chronicle, claimed “that after Biden and his
aides learned that the compensational money came from state taxpayers,
their decision to not take the money was made” out of concern that “‘such a
windfall might appear...politically distasteful.’”
Writers Highlight Partnership Between Beau Biden Foundation, Special
Olympics International.

In a Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=01a-d72&t=c>
(1/8) op-ed, Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation President and CEO Steve Salem and
Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation board member Robbie Callaway write, “The Beau
Biden Foundation (BBF) for the Protection of Children is...taking action
and filling an important gap in protection of children with disabilities.
Based on their expertise in child abuse prevention, BBF recently announced
that it has begun working with Special Olympics International to help the
organization update their existing policies and best practices, conduct
training, and implement new standard operating procedures. Through this
partnership, BBF will lend its team of child protection experts with years
of experience in training, education, and litigation to Special Olympics
International to further help prevent child abuse just as they have done
for law enforcement, educators, healthcare providers, and thousands of
others across the country.”
“Draft Beto” Campaign Expanding Efforts To Convince O’Rourke To Run In 2020.

Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=01b-e2c&t=c>
(1/7, Siders) reported that ex-Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) “is getting a
significant lift in the early nominating states of South Carolina and
Nevada, with operatives in both states joining an effort to draft” him to
enter the 2020 race for president. Politico reported that ex-state Rep.
Boyd Brown (D-SC), a “former Democratic National Committee member, told
POLITICO on Monday that he will become national senior adviser to a ‘Draft
Beto’ campaign,” which “was expected later Monday to announce the hiring of
political consultant Michael Soneff as Nevada state director.” Politico
added, “The ‘Draft Beto’ effort, the most prominent of several similar
draft campaigns, is aiming to raise $1 million for O’Rourke.”

        The Houston Chronicle
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=01c-188&t=c>
(1/7, Wallace) reports, “Nate Lerner, a co-founder of the group based in
Brooklyn, said other groups are trying to also draft O’Rourke to run, but
what makes Draft Beto different is the group is building a network of
operatives and volunteers that could easily transfer over to an official
O’Rourke campaign. ‘No other candidate has anything remotely like this,’
said Lerner, who worked on President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election
campaign.”

        *O’Rourke Planning Solo Road Trip Beyond Texas To Talk With Voters.
*Citing an unnamed source, the Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=01d-9a0&t=c>
(1/7, Epstein, Thomas) reports that as he weighs a run for president,
O’Rourke is in the midst of setting up plans to make a solo trip to states
beyond Texas, driving to venues such as community colleges, where he could
talk with potential voters. The Journal says O’Rourke isn’t planning to
have media or staff members accompany him on the trip, though he may
highlight stops along the way using social media. The Journal adds that
O’Rourke isn’t planning to visit key early voting states like Iowa.
Harris Set To Promote Her New Book Ahead Of Likely 2020 Run.

Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=01e-5b4&t=c>
(1/7, Cadelago) reported that with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) already
“formally exploring a run for the White House,” Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA)
“is stepping onto the 2020 stage herself, beginning with a book tour and a
flurry of largely friendly broadcast media appearances in advance of her
own expected presidential announcement. It’s a chance for Harris to roll
out her personal story while previewing the fundamental themes of her
prospective campaign, drawn from her time as a career prosecutor and her
ideas about reforming the criminal justice system.” Politico highlighted
the various venues where Harris will be promoting her book over the next
week or so.

        In an online article, CNN
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=01f-672&t=c>
(1/7, Reston) reported that Harris’ “book, ‘The Truths We Hold,’ and the
accompanying publicity blitz will offer some hints about the rationale for”
her “likely presidential candidacy. This second work is a more personal
look at her upbringing and the roots of her activism than her first book,
which drew lessons from her career as a prosecutor to explain her approach
to fixing the criminal justice system.”

        The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=020-11c&t=c>
(1/8, Summers) reports that as he mulls a White House run, Harris “is
taking on what could be a hurdle in a Democratic primary: her past as a
prosecutor. In her memoir,” Harris “describes herself as a ‘progressive
prosecutor’ and says it’s a ‘false choice’ to decide between supporting the
police and advocating for greater scrutiny of law enforcement. The argument
is aimed at liberal critics of her record who argue she was sometimes too
quick to side with the police and too slow to adopt sentencing reforms.”
Castro Woos Voters In Iowa, Slated To Visit New Hampshire Next Week.

The Des Moines (IA) Register
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=021-5af&t=c>
(1/7, Opsahl) reports that ex-HUD Secretary Julián Castro (D-TX) on Monday
made his “first visit to Iowa since he announced his presidential
exploratory committee in December. With 2020 intentions nearly out in the
open,” Castro – speaking at a home in Iowa City – “told the crowd why he
thought he’d be a good pick for president. In part, he said it’s his
Democrat values – like his support for universal health care, affordable
housing and rebuilding infrastructure – but also because his track
record...as mayor of San Antonio and as the [HUD] secretary in President
Barack Obama’s cabinet.”

        The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=022-b40&t=c>
(1/7, Greenwood) reported that Castro “will make a trip to New Hampshire
next week, days after he’s expected to announce a firm decision on a 2020
presidential bid. Castro is slated to headline the New Hampshire Institute
of Politics’ ‘Politics and Eggs’ forum on Jan. 16 in Manchester.” Castro
“formed a committee last month to explore a potential presidential bid and
is scheduled to announce his decision on Saturday in his hometown of San
Antonio.”
Democratic Senators In No Hurry To Back Warren.

Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=023-714&t=c>
(1/7, Everett) reported that while Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
“electrified some in the liberal grass roots when she became the first
senator to enter the” 2020 White House contest, “her colleagues aren’t
leaping to support her – or anyone else in the Senate, for that matter.”
Politico said that Warren’s “hard-edged brand of progressive politics has
annoyed some of her colleagues at times, but the lack of support from her
caucus isn’t personal. With a wide open Democratic primary, including
perhaps a half-dozen” other Democratic senators “set to join the race,
there’s no sense in getting out ahead of anyone, according to a dozen
Democratic senators from across the ideological spectrum.”
Leading the News
Trump Plans Tuesday Speech On Border “Crisis,” Thursday Trip To Region.

President Trump’s Twitter announcement
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=024-48b&t=c>
that he will “will Address the Nation on the Humanitarian and National
Security crisis on our Southern Border” on Tuesday evening leads coverage
of the ongoing partial government shutdown, along with continuing coverage
of the possibility the President will declare a national emergency in order
to circumvent Congress on funding a US-Mexico border wall. Some coverage is
skeptical of the Administration’s claim that there is a crisis at the
border, and reports state that the impasse between the Administration and
Democrats in Congress seemed no closer to resolution on Monday.

        All three broadcast networks led their newscasts with the story. ABC
World News Tonight
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=025-2ac&t=c>
(1/7, lead story, 1:20, Muir) reported that on “Day 17” of the government
shutdown, the President “reveal[ed] he now wants to deliver a prime-time
address from the Oval Office tomorrow night, calling it a national security
crisis.” ABC’s Jonathan Karl: “President Trump is planning an all-out PR
blitz to make the case for his border wall”: the Tuesday speech, “and on
Thursday, a trip to the Mexican border. The White House insists the
President has already made a big concession.” President Donald Trump: “The
barrier, of the wall, can be of steel instead of concrete, if that helps
people. It may be better.” Karl: “But the Democrats say they don’t care
what it’s made of; it’s not happening.” House Speaker Pelosi: “The fact is
a wall is an immorality. It’s not who we are as a nation.”

        The CBS Evening News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=026-659&t=c>
(1/7, lead story, 2:20, Glor) reported, “Out of more than two million
federal workers, 800,000 remain furloughed or are working without pay.
Tomorrow night in prime-time, the President will take his case directly to
the nation.” CBS’ Paula Reid said the President’s “publicity blitz comes as
the White House and Democratic leaders appear no closer to resolving the
shutdown. The President wants $5.7 billion to build 234 miles of wall. Over
the weekend, the White House requested an additional $7 billion for more
immigration judges, border agents, medical supplies, and detention
facilities.”

        NBC Nightly News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=027-959&t=c>
(1/7, lead story, 2:05, Holt) reported, “With negotiations to reopen the
government going nowhere, President Trump is going directly to the American
people to build support for that border wall.” The speech and the border
trip are “aimed at awakening Americans to what he says is a major crisis.
Government data, however, reviewed by NBC News appears to undercut a big
part of that argument.” NBC’s Hallie Jackson: “While the White House cites
the growing threat of terrorism at the southern border, numbers provided to
Congress in May...show in the first half of the 2018 fiscal year, agents
encountered only six immigrants listed on a terrorist screening database.”

        The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=028-0df&t=c>
(1/8, Daly, Lucey, Colvin) reports the address “will be carried live by
ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox Broadcasting, Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network,
MSNBC and NBC.” The broadcast networks had not immediately committed to
airing the speech live, but had agreed to by late Monday. The Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=029-c6c&t=c>
(1/7, Dawsey) says the speech “shapes up as both a policy issue and a
political stunt – an attempt by the president to persuade the public that
his vision of a border wall trumps Democratic opposition to it. As such,
the White House’s request for airtime is more problematic than other kinds
of presidential addresses, such as a response to a national defense
emergency, an economic crisis or the annual State of the Union speech.” The
broadcast networks did not air a speech on immigration policy by President
Obama in November 2014.

        The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=02a-ca9&t=c>
(1/7, Tackett, Fandos) says the President “unleashed an offensive on Monday
to persuade Americans that a ‘humanitarian and security crisis’ on the
southern border must be addressed before a government shutdown can end,”
announcing both the speech and the trip. The Times says Trump “has offered
little to his Democratic adversaries to lure them to the table. Now, he
will try to use a broad-based public appeal to raise the pressure.” The Wall
Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=02b-4be&t=c>
(1/7, Ballhaus, Bender, Nicholas) reports the White House initially weighed
a televised speech in late December, but feared audiences would be small
during the holiday season.

        Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=02c-0b2&t=c>
(1/7, Spiering) says in its brief report that “the address will be Trump’s
first address to the nation from the Oval Office as president.” Jim Acosta
said on CNN’s Situation Room
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=02d-d7d&t=c>
(1/7), “Even the President’s own allies...have been warning him that his
immigration message has not been resonating with voters or with the base,
which is why you will see the President insist in his speech tomorrow night
that the nation faces a border crisis.” Bill Kristol said on CNN’s The
Lead[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=02e-f20&t=c>
(1/7), “If he gives [the speech] and it goes nowhere, which is what I would
expect, I think by Wednesday, Thursday, then you see serious erosion of
Republican support on the Hill. This is Trump’s last card. What else is he
going to do?”

        Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=02f-4bc&t=c>
(1/7, Mason, Rampton) reports Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Schumer
“called for the networks to grant them equal time in a joint statement.”
They said, “Now that the television networks have decided to air the
President’s address, which if his past statements are any indication will
be full of malice and misinformation, Democrats must immediately be given
equal airtime.” USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=030-33d&t=c>
(1/7, Jackson, Fritze) reports, “Democrats said Trump and aides exaggerate
the numbers of immigrants entering the country illegally to justify his
stance on the wall.”

        The Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=031-b0a&t=c>
(1/7, Stokols) writes that “little evidence supports Trump’s claim of a
crisis. In the most recent budget year that ended Sept. 30, the number of
people apprehended or refused entry at the border stood at just over
520,000, or about half the number in many years from the 1980s to the
mid-2000s.” Wolf Blitzer said on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=032-2d6&t=c>
(1/7), “The White House has been using false claims to spin this into a
crisis, insisting against all evidence that terrorists have been crossing
the border from Mexico into the United States.”

        Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) said on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=033-48a&t=c>
(1/7), “A speech tomorrow night and a political visit to the border on the
following day, means that he’s not anxious to have this dispute be
resolved. ... He has a ‘my way or the highway’ approach, and he’s willing
to hold literally hundreds of thousands of Americans’ lives and economic
well-being in jeopardy until he tries to extract what he wants.”

        The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=034-dc4&t=c>
(1/7) editorializes, “Trump’s mass incarceration of migrant families is
overwhelming an already burdened system that, without a giant injection of
taxpayer dollars, will continue to collapse, leading to ever more human
suffering. ... The Trump administration is asking Congress and the American
public to embrace warped logic, that its policies are going to continue and
that the only question is whether any money should be spent on measures to
ease the suffering caused by those policies.”

        The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=035-c8d&t=c>
(1/7) says in an editorial, “Rather than talk about the immorality of a
wall, Democrats could use their leverage to achieve a truly moral purpose.
In return for a few billion dollars for a segment of the president’s wall –
which would immediately be challenged in court by property owners along the
border – Democrats might permanently shield from deportation well over 1
million ‘dreamers.’”

        Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=036-1a1&t=c>
(1/7, Everett, Morin) runs its report under the headline “Trump Starts PR
War As Shutdown Talks Falter.” Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=037-188&t=c>
(1/7, Epstein, Smith, Litvan), The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=038-966&t=c>
(1/7, Fabian), and CQ Roll Call
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=039-310&t=c>
(1/7, Bennett) also report.

        *No Details Released Yet On Thursday Border Trip. *The New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=03a-ea0&t=c>
(1/7, Fredericks) reports, “No details were released about Trump’s trip,
although the Federal Aviation Administration issued a notice that airspace
over the vicinity of McAllen, Texas, would be restricted Thursday because
of a ‘VIP movement.’” The city “is home to a Customs and Border Protection
facility where migrants who have crossed illegally into the United States
have been detained.” The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=03b-83a&t=c>
(1/7, Correll) reports “conservative commentator” Ann Coulter “condemned
the decision” for the President to travel to the border in a series of
tweets. One read, “Trump GOING TO THE BORDER is beyond moronic. Does he
need to meet with a cancer patient before deciding to fund cancer
research?”

        *Pence, Conway Say Trump Has Made No Decision On Declaring National
Emergency. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=03c-b2a&t=c>
(1/7, Mason) reports Vice President Pence said Monday that the President
“has not made a decision on whether to declare a national emergency over
his demand for border wall funding and the White House counsel’s office is
studying the matter.” The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=03d-ad2&t=c>
(1/7, Boyer) reports Pence also criticized congressional Democrats, asking,
“When are the Democrats going to start negotiating? There is a crisis at
the southern border. We just need the Democrats to start negotiating.” The New
York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=03e-5ed&t=c>
(1/7, Haberman, Karni) reports the White House and Democrats “have made
little progress” toward resolving the impasse, and weekend meetings led by
Pence “showed in ways big and small how the distance between the two sides
remains a wide gulf with no clear compromise on the horizon.”

        Kellyanne Conway, appearing on Fox News’ Ingraham Angle[image:
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<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=03f-f2b&t=c>
(1/7), also did not say whether the President would declare a national
emergency. Conway said, “What he has said about that is that he is
considering it. He has never committed to it. The White House Counsel’s
office is researching the legal implications of it.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=040-bde&t=c>
(1/7, A1, Costa, Rucker) says Trump “believes forcing a drastic reckoning
by executive action may be necessary given the Democratic resistance and
the wall’s symbolic power for his core voters,” according to White House
officials. House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler, who visited the border
Monday, warned against such a move, saying, “We will oppose any effort by
the President to make himself a king and a tyrant. The President has no
authority to usurp Congress’ power of the purse.”

        Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) said on CNN’s Situation Room[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=041-ce5&t=c>
(1/7) that if the President were to declare a national emergency, “it is
going to be tied up in litigation. Without a doubt, if he were to make that
declaration, it is going to be tied up in the courts. There is going to be
a question of constitutional law under Article II and Title 50. So I don’t
even think it would be allow to move forward.” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=042-c6e&t=c>
(1/7, Gibson) similarly writes that the President “would almost certainly
face a legal challenge if he carries out his threat.”

        *Ex-President Carter Denies Supporting Border Wall. *Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=043-744&t=c>
(1/7, Choi) reports ex-President Carter “denied ever supporting...Trump’s
border wall, contradicting the current commander in chief’s claim that
previous presidents confided they regret not building a physical barrier on
the southern border.” Carter said in a statement, “I have not discussed the
border wall with President Trump, and do not support him on the issue.”
Every living former president other than Obama has now denied supporting
the wall, “but Obama has not met with Trump since the funeral of George
H.W. Bush in early December; they had last met at Trump’s 2017
inauguration.”

        *Democratic Legislation Would Fund Some Agencies, Block Senate
Action Until Shutdown Resolved. *The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=044-ea3&t=c>
(1/7, Werner, Kim, Stein) reports, “Democrats moved on two fronts Monday to
goad Republicans into reopening the federal government, lining up House
bills to fund shuttered agencies and preparing to block action in the
Senate until the shutdown is resolved.” Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=045-73d&t=c>
(1/7, Bresnahan, Ferris) reports, “Several dozen House Republicans might
cross the aisle this week to vote for Democratic bills to reopen shuttered
parts of the federal government” amid GOP concerns that Republican “support
for the shutdown is eroding.”
Foreign Policy
Trump Says Syria Plans Have Not Changed.

In a tweet Monday, President Trump blasted as “very inaccurate” a New York
Times report
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=046-c99&t=c>
which said US forces could be in Syria for years. Trump wrote
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=047-4b8&t=c>,
“The Failing New York Times has knowingly written a very inaccurate story
on my intentions on Syria. No different from my original statements, we
will be leaving at a proper pace while at the same time continuing to fight
ISIS and doing all else that is prudent and necessary!” In a tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=048-e74&t=c>
Monday evening, Trump wrote, “Endless Wars, especially those which are
fought out of judgement mistakes that were made many years ago, & those
where we are getting little financial or military help from the rich
countries that so greatly benefit from what we are doing, will eventually
come to a glorious end!”

        David Martin said on the CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=049-418&t=c>
(1/7, story 5, 2:00, Glor) that while Trump “insisted today he has not
changed his mind about pulling troops out of Syria, the new timetable for
their withdrawal is dramatically different.” The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=04a-a3b&t=c>
(1/7, Boyer) reports The Times said White House National Security Adviser
Bolton “indicated on a trip to Israel that the troop pullout could be
delayed ‘for months or even years.’”

        Ian Pannell said on ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=04b-7ea&t=c>
(1/7, story 7, 1:55, Muir) that Bolton “appear[ed] to contradict the
Commander-in-Chief about pulling American troops out of Syria.” Bolton
“stressed there is now no timetable for removal of the 2,000 troops.” NBC
Nightly News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=04c-2fa&t=c>
(1/7, story 3, 1:30, Holt) reported Bolton is “doing damage control,” while
the Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=04d-22a&t=c>
(1/7, Taylor) describes the Administration as “scrambl[ing]” to “straighten
out the messaging of its Middle East policy and assure allies of America’s
staying power amid confusion in the region over the scope and pace of the
president’s plan for withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria.”

        The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=04e-b4f&t=c>
(1/7, Ryan) says Trump’s comment, “which differed from earlier promises of
a swift departure for the more than 2,000 U.S. troops stationed in Syria,
was the latest iteration of an evolving roadmap for concluding the military
mission there.”

        Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=04f-392&t=c>
(1/7, Morin) says Trump “pushed back against reports that...Bolton had
contradicted the president’s initial plans to quickly withdraw troops from
Syria.” Politico says that since the President announced that US troops
were being withdrawn from Syria, “White House officials have downplayed
Trump’s declaration, with Bolton most recently putting conditions on
withdrawing troops from Syria that could delay the pullout months or even
years.” Similarly, Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=050-b69&t=c>
(1/7, Alexander) says Administration officials have in recent days,
“applied the brakes, making clear the withdrawal will not happen quickly.”

        In an editorial, the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=051-8b5&t=c>
(1/7) says the Administration “began backtracking almost immediately” after
the President announced his decision to withdraw US troops from Syria.
After Bolton’s comments, Trump “insisted in a tweet on Monday that the way
things stand is ‘no different from my original statements.’ But which
senior administration official should the nation and the world believe –
the boss or everyone below him?” The Times says Bolton and Secretary of
State Pompeo “are crisscrossing the Middle East this week to reassure
friendly governments that the administration is pursuing a coherent agenda,
particularly in building a coalition against Iran. Is Mr. Trump also on
board?”

        Former NSA attorney Susan Hennessey said on CNN’s Situation Room[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=052-aee&t=c>
(1/7), “I think what we are seeing now is that the President, frankly, has
such spectacularly bad ideas” and “instead of having an administration that
is attempting to actually implement the President’s policies, what we have
are Administration officials whose basic task is to mitigate and try to
work around the President’s worst impulses.”

        *Bolton Pressing Turkey For Assurances Kurdish Forces In Syria Will
Not Be Attacked. *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=053-67d&t=c>
(1/7, Miller) reports from Ankara that National Security Adviser Bolton is
“set to press Turkey for assurances that it won’t attack the Kurdish
fighters in Syria, which he said is now a condition for the withdrawal of
American troops from northeastern Syria.” According to the AP, Bolton
arrived in Turkey “for negotiations with the NATO ally about the safety of
the Kurds, who have fought alongside American forces against the Islamic
State in Syria, and fear a military assault from Turkey should the U.S.
pull out.” The AP adds that “the talks are likely to be contentious, as
Turkey considers the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG, a
terrorist group linked to an insurgency within its borders, and has
threatened to mount a campaign against the groups.”

        Erdoğan: Turkey Will “Get The Job Done” In Syria. In an op-ed for
the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=054-6ca&t=c>
(1/7), Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan writes that President Trump’s
decision to withdraw US troops from Syria was right, but the withdrawal
“must be planned carefully and performed in cooperation with the right
partners to protect the interests of the United States, the international
community and the Syrian people.” Erdoğan stresses Turkey’s commitment “to
defeating the so-called Islamic State and other terrorist groups in Syria,”
and says Turkey is “the sole stakeholder that can work simultaneously with
the United States and Russia. We will build on those partnerships to get
the job done in Syria.” Erdoğan concludes, “Turkey is volunteering to
shoulder this heavy burden at a critical time in history. We are counting
on the international community to stand with us.”

        *Singh: China Needs US-Led International Order To Safeguard Its
Interests. *In the Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=055-129&t=c>
(1/7), Mike Singh, managing director of the Washington Institute for Near
East Policy, says China has been silent about the President’s decision to
withdraw US forces from Syria because it depends on the international
order, led by the US, to safeguard its interests.
South Korean Reports: Kim In Beijing For Talks With China’s Xi.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=056-8ad&t=c>
(1/7, Shin) reports that “South Korea’s Hankyoreh newspaper, citing an
unidentified source with close knowledge of North Korea-China affairs,
reported” that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un “was traveling to Beijing
late on Monday” to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Citing “an
unspecified source familiar with North Korea issues,” South Korea’s Yonhap
news agency similarly “said a North Korean train possibly carrying a
‘high-level’ official had crossed the border into China.” News of Kim’s
likely Beijing visit broke just hours after “the South Korean newspaper
Munhwa Ilbo reported that U.S. State Department officials recently met
multiple times with North Korean counterparts in Hanoi and discussed
planning a second summit between Trump and Kim, fuelling speculation that
Vietnam could host the event.” Also on Monday, in an interview with CNBC
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=057-48d&t=c>
(1/7), Secretary of State Pompeo “praised China’s support for resolving the
North Korean crisis and said he did not think the U.S. trade dispute with
Beijing would affect this.” Said Pompeo, “The Chinese have been very clear
to us that these are separate issues,” and their “behavior has demonstrated
that as well and we appreciate that. China has actually been a good partner
in our efforts to reduce the risk to the world from North Korea’s nuclear
capability; I expect they will continue to do so.”

        The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=058-40e&t=c>
(1/7, Choe) says that if Kim is in Beijing, the visit would provide Xi
“with an opportunity to accentuate his country’s leverage over North Korea
as China and the United States try to head off a trade war.” According to
the Times, such a visit would also suggest that the North Korean leader is
seeking “Xi’s advice or demonstrating his country’s alliance with China as
he prepares for another meeting” with President Trump. Kim similarly met
with Xi in China in three separate visits “before and after his historic
first summit meeting with Mr. Trump, in Singapore last June.”

        *USA Today: Trump Should Not Meet Kim In Second Summit. *In an
editorial, USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=059-9b7&t=c>
(1/7) argues that President Trump should not agree to a second summit with
Kim. USA Today explains that nearly seven months after Trump “emerged from
his historic summit last June” proclaiming that the nuclear threat is over,
Kim has “made plain” that “hasn’t budged on a crucial pre-summit demand: no
disarmament until U.S.-led sanctions are removed.” Kim also has sent
“flowery missives to Trump” in a strategy “perhaps best described as
flattery-will-get-you-everywhere.” Finally, USA Today says, “Trump has a
history of making one-sided foreign policy moves without getting anything
in return.” Instead of a second summit, USA Today recommends that Trump
“set those beautiful letters aside and continue sanctions until Kim takes
concrete steps toward dismantling his nuclear arsenal.”

        USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=05a-dad&t=c>
(1/7) columnist James Robbins acknowledges that “Pyongyang has still not
given up its nuclear weapons,” but argues “the fact that Kim is willing to
denuclearize constitutes a historic diplomatic breakthrough.” Robbins
writes, “Those who rush to declare the diplomatic process a failure must
reckon with the fact that the mere existence of the process is a resounding
success.” After contrasting “Trump’s efforts with the failed attempts of 12
previous presidents over 67 years to promote durable peace on the Korean
Peninsula,” Robbins calls on critics to “agree that it might take slightly
longer than seven months to overcome almost seven decades of hostility.”
Ross Optimistic About US-China Deal As Talks Resume In Beijing.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=05b-17a&t=c>
(1/7, Martina) reports that in an interview with CNBC, Commerce Secretary
Ross “predicted...that Beijing and Washington could reach a trade deal that
‘we can live with’ as officials from the world’s two largest economies
resumed talks in a bid to end their trade dispute.” According to Reuters,
Ross said “the immediate trade issues would be easiest to tackle while
enforcement issues and structural reforms, such as intellectual property
rights and market access, would be more challenging to resolve.” Ross is
quoted as saying, “I think there’s a very good chance that we will get a
reasonable settlement that China can live with, that we can live with and
that addresses all of the key issues.”

        The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=05c-40a&t=c>
(1/7, Wei) reports that a key issue US negotiators are pressing their
counterparts on is how to ensure China fulfills its promises. Concerns
include specific dates it will make purchases by and assurance that
governmental powers in licensing, environmental regulation, and other areas
won’t be used to hinder American companies if the US gets increased access
to Chinese markets. US officials say that China has a history of making
market-opening pledges and then increasing the barriers for foreign firms.

        The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=05d-e1e&t=c>
(1/7, McDonald) reports from Beijing that “talks aimed at ending a trade
war between China and the U.S. are underway, with the world’s two biggest
economies expressing optimism over the potential for progress but neither
indicating its stance has changed.” The AP says “cooling economic growth in
both countries is increasing pressure to reach a settlement.” The AP adds
that the US delegation is led by deputy US trade representative Jeffrey
Gerrish, “and includes agriculture, energy, commerce, treasury and State
Department officials.”

        According to the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=05e-e2e&t=c>
(1/7, Lynch), “In a sign that the working-level meeting was off to a good
start, China’s economic czar, Vice Premier Liu He, dropped by the talks to
spur on the negotiators.” The Post says “a potential deal would likely
involve a sharp increase in Chinese purchases of American soybeans and
liquefied natural gas.” The Post adds that President Trump “has repeatedly
said that China is desperate to strike a deal because its economy is
slowing while the United States continues to power ahead.”

        Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=05f-60c&t=c>
(1/7) reports that Liu, “the top economic adviser to Chinese President Xi
Jinping...led previous negotiations in Washington that produced a deal that
President Donald Trump then repudiated.” Bloomberg News says China “had
previously said the talks would be led by a lower-ranking official from the
Ministry of Commerce.” Bloomberg News also reports that USTR Lighthizer is
“expected to meet with Liu later this month,” and his “participation in the
meeting...signals that China is attaching high importance to the talks,
even if the main participants this time are mid-level officials.”

        *Ross Denies Trade Talks Led To Apple’s Revenue Warning. *Ross said
on CNBC’s Squawk Box
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=060-67e&t=c>
(1/7), “I don’t think Apple’s earnings miss had anything to do with the
present trade talks. Think about it, there have been no tariffs put on
Apple products. So that’s not it.”
In Cairo, Pompeo Expected To Rebuke Obama’s Middle East Vision.

Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=061-d7d&t=c>
(1/7, Toosi) reports Secretary of State Pompeo is embarking “on what may
prove his toughest trip yet, a weeklong swing through the Middle East in
which he will give a major speech about America’s role in the region and
privately reassure Arab allies that the U.S. remains committed to them.” In
an address “to be given in Cairo, Pompeo plans to repudiate the Middle East
vision” of former President Obama. Sources told Politico that Pompeo “will
slam Obama’s engagement with Iran,” while asserting that President Trump
“has the region’s best interests at heart.” Politico says foreign leaders
are questioning whether they can believe Pompeo, because “Trump has spent
the last several days contradicting him and other top advisers about his
administration’s plans in the Middle East.” State Department spokesman
Robert Palladino on Monday “sought to reassure on that front,” saying
Pompeo and the President “talk often,” and that Pompeo “is in lockstep”
with Trump on “foreign policy priorities.”
Trump, Canada’s Trudeau Agree To Seek Release Of Canadians Unlawfully
Detained In China.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=062-8de&t=c>
(1/8, Gillies) reports that the Administration “is calling the detentions
of two Canadians in China unlawful and Canadian Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau and President Donald Trump have agreed to continue to seek their
release, officials said Monday.” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders
said in a statement that during a Monday phone call, Trump and Trudeau
“discussed the unlawful detention of two Canadian citizens in China as well
as bilateral trade issues.” Trudeau’s office said in a statement
summarizing the call that the Canadian premier “thanked the President for
the strong statements of support by the United States in response to the
arbitrary detention of two Canadians in China. The two leaders agreed to
continue to seek their release.” According to the AP, Secretary Pompeo and
the State Department “previously called for their release,” but the “White
House hasn’t spoken publicly about the detained Canadians until now.”
Key Saudi Suspect In Khashoggi Case Goes Missing.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=063-3cb&t=c>
(1/7, Fahim) reports that the whereabouts of “Saud al-Qahtani, a powerful
royal adviser whom Saudi prosecutors allege played a major role in the
events that led to Jamal Khashoggi’s killing in Istanbul three months ago,”
are unknown. Saudi authorities “did not respond to requests for comment
about whether he is free, detained or under indictment.” The Saudi
government’s “treatment of Qahtani is being closely watched in Washington
and other foreign capitals as a test of whether Saudi Arabia is sincere
about prosecuting everyone found to be involved in Khashoggi’s killing,
including senior officials.” According to the Post, there are “many
unanswered questions surrounding Qahtani’s role include whether he helped
hatch the plot, as some Saudi officials allege, or is a fall guy served up
by the government.” Some “argue that Qahtani’s fate is beside the point,”
however, and “say the more urgent question is whether Saudi Arabia has
taken steps to repudiate the repressive policies that he has come to
represent.”

        *Thailand Grants Saudi Teen Temporary Asylum. *NBC Nightly News[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=064-10e&t=c>
(1/7, story 11, 1:30, Holt) reported a Saudi teenager has made “headlines
around the world with an appeal on social media to avoid being sent back
home where she fears for her life.” Correspondent Richard Engel reported
that 18-year-old Rahaf Mohammed al-Qanun of Saudi Arabia claims “she was
abused by her Saudi family, escaped, but was stopped in Thailand on her way
to Australia.” According to Engel, the teen “said she feared her family
would kill her because she’d renounced Islam” and has barricaded herself
inside a Bangkok airport hotel, pleading with the United Nations Human
Rights Council to grant her asylum. Engel reported, “With tens of thousands
following her on Twitter,” Thailand on Monday “agreed to let her in the
country, returning her passport.” Human Rights Watch Deputy Asia Director
Phil Robertson said, “Because of the determination to stand up for herself,
to fight for her rights, she was able to buy the time that she needed to
get UNHCR in to see her.”

        The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=065-7db&t=c>
(1/7, Kaewjinda, Batrawy) says that “Alqunun’s plight mirrors that of other
Saudi women who in recent years have turned to social media to amplify
their calls for help while trying to flee abusive families and other
obstacles they face in the conservative kingdom.” According to the AP,
Alqunun’s case “highlighted Saudi Arabia’s male guardianship laws, which
require women who want to travel, obtain a passport or marry to have the
consent of a male relative – usually a father or husband – no matter what
their age.” The case “also underscored the limits of the reforms being
pushed by Saudi Arabia’s powerful Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman as he
struggles to repair damage to his reputation after the grisly killing three
months ago of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents in Istanbul.”
Saudi Arabia Plans Oil Export Reduction In Effort To Boost Prices.

The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=066-618&t=c>
(1/7, Faucon, Said) reports OPEC officials say that, in an attempt to
increase oil prices above $80 a barrel, Saudi Arabia plans to reduce crude
exports to around 7.1 million barrels a day before February. Saudi Arabia
plans to increase its expenditures in 2019 by seven percent as it seeks to
diversify its economy, and an OPEC calorific said the country’s budget
requires oil prices increase to as much as $95 a barrel. However, people
familiar with the kingdom’s thinking say it would be content with prices of
$80 to $85 a barrel, which would limit the need to tap financial reserves.
Domestic Policy
White House: Government Shutdown Will Not Affect Tax Refunds.

The CBS Evening News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=067-bfe&t=c>
(1/7, story 2, 0:05, Glor) reported the White House said that tax refunds
will not be delayed by the government shutdown. The Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=068-e70&t=c>
(1/7, Davison) reports White House Office of Management and Budget acting
Director Russell Vought, told reporters, “Tax refunds will go out.”
Previous shutdown contingency plans would have the IRS accept tax returns
but delay refunds until the government was funded. The move “may reduce
political pressure on Congress and President Trump to reach a deal to
reopen the federal government,” as “the shutdown effects will be felt much
less widely.” The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=069-e1c&t=c>
(1/7, Rubin, Nicholas) reports the Administration’s move removes much of
the force from a planned House Democrat a bill to fund agencies, including
the IRS.

        The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=06a-615&t=c>
(1/7, Paletta, Rucker) reports, “OMB determined that paying tax refunds was
an ‘indefinite appropriation,’ and not something that needed annual
congressional approval.” Meanwhile, the number of IRS employees who will be
called back to work without pay and when the tax filing season will begin
have not been decided. Vought has pushed “a string of initiatives” in an
effort “to lessen the impact of the shutdown.” At the same time, as
“agencies are reversing course and abandoning their initial shutdown
plans,” they are drawing questions from members of Congress.

        Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=06b-9ab&t=c>
(1/7, Faler) reports Vought’s announcement “appears to contradict guidance
a senior administration official had given just hours earlier” that “the
Treasury Department would not be able to say until Wednesday or Thursday
whether millions of Americans would see their refunds delayed because of
the budget fight.”
Trump: “I Can Relate” To Federal Workers Without Pay, Who “Will Make
Adjustments.”

ABC World News Tonight
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=06c-252&t=c>
(1/7, story 2, 2:25, Muir) reported President Trump said, “I can relate” to
those going without paychecks, adding, “I’m sure that the people that are
on the receiving end will make adjustments.” ABC added, “The President says
the pain is worth it.”

        However, the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=06d-9b5&t=c>
(1/7, Selk, McCarthy) interviewed six federal employee who described
“sleepless nights, creeping anxieties and financial distress.” While “the
country’s 2 million federal workers have mostly soldiered on” in the face
of two years of “budget cuts, hiring freezes, inept Cabinet secretaries
and, for some, open hostility to their fundamental mission,” now some see
the shutdown “as the ultimate insult.”

        Petula Dvorak, in a column in the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=06e-e8d&t=c>
(1/7), writes, “Federal workers are testing the shark-infested waters of
the herky-jerky, eat-what-you-kill gig economy by finding side hustles to
make ends meet.” She casts it as typical of “any good empire in its waning,
sunset years...becoming a nation of hustlers, scrappers and scavengers.”
Additionally, some federal employees have to continue their regular jobs
without pay while attempting to find enough side work to survive. Dvorak
details ads from federal workers seeking to sell furniture to their
children’s toys, concluding, “Is this great, America? Or something far from
it?”

        *Shutdown Showing Impact On US Economy. *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=06f-73b&t=c>
(1/7, Tankersley, Goldstein, Thrush) reports, “The impact of a partial
government shutdown began to ripple across the economy.” As a result of the
shutdown, Bank of America Merrill Lynch economists downgraded “their
estimates for economic growth at the end of 2018 by a 10th of a percent.”
Many federal workers will miss their first paycheck this week, and they
“owe a combined $249 million in monthly mortgage payments, according to the
online real estate firm Zillow.” Additionally, the SEC cannot approve
initial public offerings and corporate mergers, the Commerce Department is
not processing manufacturers’ requests for exemptions from Trump metal
tariffs, farmers aren’t being paid subsidies to mitigate the effects of
Trump’s trade war, and Zillow estimates that “as many as 39,000 federally
backed mortgage applications may have already been delayed.”

        *Shutdown Beginning To Affect Air Travel. *Tom Costello reported on NBC
Nightly News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=070-7bf&t=c>
(1/7, story 2, 1:20, Holt) that 800,000 federal workers are affected by the
government shutdown, with the National Capital Region, California, and
Texas the “most impacted.” Should the shutdown continue, “51,000 TSA
employees will not get paid on Friday.” Some already are calling in sick in
protest, and “many federal workers, including TSA officers, are asking, how
soon should they look for another job.”

        The CBS Evening News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=071-b0d&t=c>
(1/7, story 3, 2:00, Glor) reported, “Wait times are up at many airports as
some screeners call out sick rather than work without pay.” CBS (Van
Cleave) added the TSA “is worried lines will get longer if more TSA
screeners call out sick due to the ongoing government shutdown.”
Additionally, “many of the more than 51,000 screeners cannot afford to miss
a check, and officials fear they may not come to work.” Others working
without pay include air traffic controllers, NTSB accident investigators,
and FAA inspectors.

        ABC World News Tonight
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=072-cd0&t=c>
(1/7, story 2, 2:25, Muir) reported the Air Line Pilots Association sent
the President a letter that “says the shutdown is adversely affecting the
safety, security and efficiency of our national air space system” due to
fewer safety inspectors and the personal and financial stress on employees
forced to work without pay.

        *Bloomberg News Analysis: Upcoming Deadlines Will Pressure Trump To
End Shutdown. *In an analysis, Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=073-274&t=c>
(1/7, Talev, Dennis) reports, “A series of deadlines over the next seven
weeks will increase pressure on Trump to cut a deal to end” the shutdown.
On January 11, federal workers will miss their first paychecks. While they
“are not allowed to strike, many can be expected to eventually walk off the
job and go work elsewhere.” On January 21 Trump will travel to Davos,
Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum, and would have to face global
political and business leaders while unable to “get his own government
re-opened.” On January 29 Trump will give the State of the Union address
with House Speaker Pelosi “sitting behind him,” and a shutdown “would cast
a pall on what is usually a highlight of the year for any president.”

        *Lawsuit Will Seek Damages For Federal Employees Forced To Work
Without Pay. *The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=074-fe2&t=c>
(1/7, Howell) reports unless a deal is reached to stop the government
shutdown by Tuesday, federal employees’ paychecks won’t go out on time,
which could cause “a costly, if unintended, consequence of the partial
federal shutdown”: a lawsuit. Attorney Heidi Burakiewicz, is leading a
lawsuit seeking damages for the about 420,000 federal workers who have been
forced to work and may not be paid; she won a “class action case for 25,000
employees who worked during the last major shutdown in 2013.” She argues
“that failing to compensate essential workers on payday flouts the Fair
Labor Standards Act” and the government was previously ordered “to pay
damages in addition to their back pay from Congress.”

        *Shutdown Could Have Long-Term Effects On National Weather Service.
*The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=075-f6f&t=c>
(1/7, Fritz) reports, “Ostensibly, the partial government shutdown does not
affect National Weather Service operations related to its mission to
protect lives and property,” but it is affecting the agency in
“less-obvious ways.” The agency requires “often-grueling shift work,” and
“not getting paid to do that job makes it even more stressful” on
employees. Also, the Global Forecast System, “the United States’ premier
weather model, is running poorly, and there’s no one on duty to fix it,”
meaning that areas relying on the forecast – “transportation, the energy
sector, national security, agriculture, the stock market, extreme weather”
– are affected. Additionally, the National Weather Service’s new global
forecast model’s roll out is expected to be delayed, and the current models
aren’t being updated in preparation for the next hurricane season. These
“effects could stretch well beyond when the government reopens.”
Trump Calls Media “Crazed Lunatics” Who Have “Never Been Worse.”

The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=076-861&t=c>
(1/7, Burke) reports the President “ramped up his attacks against the
press” on Monday, issuing “a trio of tweets” in which he called the media
“crazed lunatics” that have “given up on the TRUTH” and said the “Fake
News” has “never been worse.” Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=077-ab5&t=c>,
“With all of the success that our Country is having, including the just
released jobs numbers which are off the charts, the Fake News & totally
dishonest Media concerning me and my presidency has never been worse. Many
have become crazed lunatics who have given up on the TRUTH!”

        He followed that with another tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=078-438&t=c>
saying, “The Fake News will knowingly lie and demean in order make the
tremendous success of the Trump Administration, and me, look as bad as
possible. They use non-existent sources & write stories that are total
fiction. Our Country is doing so well, yet this is a sad day in America!”

        In a third tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=079-7e0&t=c>,
Trump wrote, “The Fake News Media in our Country is the real Opposition
Party. It is truly the Enemy of the People! We must bring honesty back to
journalism and reporting!”

        *WPost Analysis Ties Attack On Media To Reports About Bolton’s
Comments On US Withdrawal. *The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=07a-336&t=c>
(1/7, Wagner) reports in an analysis that it was unclear “what provoked
Trump’s broadside,” but “a couple of hours later, Trump was back on
Twitter, taking issue with a New York Times story that reported” National
Security Adviser Bolton “had rolled back Trump’s decision to rapidly
withdraw U.S. troops from Syria.”

        *NBC News Highlights Axios Report On “Misinformation” Making Its
Way To Trump’s Desk. *On NBC’s Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=07b-4eb&t=c>
(1/7), Savannah Guthrie said a new report from Axios
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=07c-98f&t=c>
(1/6, Allen, Vandehei) that “some Trump supporters and allies are concerned
about misinformation now getting right to the President’s desk.” Kristen
Welker reported that former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly “was
focused on regulating the information and news stories that made their way
to the President’s desk, and now there are concerns that with Kelly’s
departure there’s been a flood of misinformation getting to Mr. Trump.”
Welker said that, according to Axios, “former White House officials have
expressed concerns about a ‘wild west-like atmosphere’ returning to the
West Wing,” and “note the President has made a number of recent statements
that have been fact checked false or misleading.”

        *Frum: Establishment Media Has A Pro-Trump Bias. *Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=07d-b1e&t=c>
(1/7, Caruso) reports David Frum of The Atlantic argued on CNN’s Reliable
Sources
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=07e-0ae&t=c>
(1/6) Sunday that the establishment media has a “pro-Trump bias.” Frum
said, “Relative to the truth, the prestige press in this country has a
pro-Trump bias. Relative to the truth, Trump gets easier coverage than he
deserves. ... The surest way onto the op-ed page of a prestigious paper is
to come up with some angle to explain why something the President has done
is less crazy or dangerous than it seems.”

        *Milbank: Trump Is Entering His “Terrible Twos.” *Dana Milbank
writes in the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=07f-056&t=c>
(1/7) that the President “is entering his terrible twos.” Milbank argues
that “what the president is doing actually is normal. For a 2-year-old,”
and says late pediatrician Benjamin Spock’s guide “tells us all we need to
know about this presidency as it approaches its second birthday.” Spock
wrote, “This can be a physically exhausting and trying time.” The
two-year-old “has a hard time making up his mind, and then he wants to
change it,” his “understanding of the world is still so limited,” and “he
becomes bolder and more daring in his experiments.”
Conway: House Democratic Leaders Pulling Back On Impeachment Talk.

Kellyanne Conway said on Fox News’ Ingraham Angle[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=080-5e9&t=c>
(1/7), “Just this weekend, you saw the Democratic leadership in the House
pulling way back on this notion of impeachment. They are worried about I
think the freshman members, particularly, coming in here saying, ‘I thought
that’s why we’re here.’ You’re here to represent the constituents that
elected you and you’re here to represent their interests.”

        *Bloomberg News Analysis: White House Could Try To Block Parts Of
Mueller Report. *Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=081-42e&t=c>
(1/7) reports that the White House “may try to block portions of Special
Counsel Robert Mueller’s final report from being shared with Congress and
the public in a fight that could end up before the Supreme Court.”
According to Bloomberg News, Mueller “may submit his findings on Russian
interference in the 2016 presidential campaign to the Justice Department as
early as February,” and House Democrats “have said they’ll demand that the
department hand over the report – and that they intend to make it public.”
However, Bloomberg News says the White House “may counter by asserting
executive privilege to prevent key findings from being turned over,” and
“under the federal regulation that authorizes special counsels, Mueller is
required only to submit his report to department leaders. There’s no
mandate that any part of Mueller’s findings be provided to Congress or the
public.”

        *Blackwater’s Prince Says He Has Only Spoken With Mueller’s
Investigators Once. *CNBC
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=082-16c&t=c>
(1/7) reports that Blackwater founder Erik Prince said Monday that he
“would have preferred getting a ‘proctology exam’ to being interviewed by
special counsel Robert Mueller’s team of investigators about his meeting
with a Russian investor linked to Vladimir Putin,” but he added that “his
previously reported sitdown with Mueller’s team regarding that curious
encounter in the Seychelles islands, which took place shortly before Donald
Trump became president, was ‘much ado about nothing.’... ‘I answered their
questions, and they haven’t talked to me since,’ said Prince, a former Navy
SEAL.” According to CNBC, Mueller “was reportedly looking into whether
Prince’s meeting with Putin pal Kirill Dmitriev was part of an effort to
establish a secret line of communication between the Kremlin and the
incoming Trump administration.”

        *Judge Chides Concord Management Attorney Over “Animal House”
References. *The AP
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(1/7, Day) reports US District Judge Dabney Friedrich “reprimand[ed]” Eric
Dubelier, an attorney for Concord Management, “a Russian company accused of
meddling in the 2016 presidential election, saying his references to movies
like ‘Animal House’ in recent court filings are inappropriate.” In court
Monday, Friedrich told Dubelier to “knock it off,” to which Dubelier
“responded by accusing Friedrich of bias, an accusation she denied.” The
exchange occurred “after Dubelier quoted from the 1978 comedy ‘Animal
House’ in a filing last week.”
Warner: Barr Memo On Mueller Probe Disqualifies Him From AG Post.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) said on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
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(1/7), “The one thing we’ve seen from the Trump Administration is they want
somebody in the Justice Department that will clamp down on the Mueller
investigation. Rod Rosenstein has not done that, so Trump wants to put
someone in who is loyal to him first. Acting Attorney General Whitaker
obviously didn’t pass the smell test. Now, unfortunately, [Attorney
General-designate] Barr, who has got a good reputation but it appears
during the summer was putting forward these memos saying the President in a
sense is above the law, almost soliciting for the Attorney General’s
position and I feel those kind of memos in this case, at this moment in
time, disqualifies him.”

        *DOJ Seeks To Delay Whitaker Testimony To House Panel. *Citing “two
sources familiar with the situation,” Politico
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(1/7, Samuelsohn, Bade) reports the Justice Department is seeking to delay
Whitaker “from delivering testimony to the new Democratic-led House until
next month, potentially pushing his high-profile appearance until after a
permanent replacement has already been confirmed.” Whitaker had committed
“to Democratic leaders that he’d give testimony in January to the House
Judiciary Committee,” but DOJ officials “asked for a delay of the hearing
until mid- or late February, telling the Democrats that they’d been
short-staffed because of the government shutdown that started Dec. 22, as
well as Whitaker’s travel out of Washington.” The delay “could ultimately
make Whitaker’s testimony less relevant” if Barr “has already been
confirmed by the Senate.”
Politico Analysis: Trump Having Difficulty Finding New Defense Secretary.

In an analysis, Politico
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(1/7, Johnson, Lippman) reports that following “the abrupt departure of
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis,” President Trump is finding it “tough” to
replace him. Both Ret. Gen. Jack Keane and former Sen. Jon Kyl turned down
the post. Mattis’ resignation “reinforced the image of a commander in chief
unafraid to buck his top military advisers,” and Trump’s decision to
withdraw from Syria has “alienated...top candidates for the job, some of
whom have sharply criticized it in public – making it difficult for the
White House to recruit a replacement.”
Ginsburg Misses Arguments For First Time Since Joining Supreme Court.

The AP
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(1/7, Sherman) reports that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is “missing
arguments for the first time in more than 25 years as she recuperates from
cancer surgery last month.” According to the AP, Ginsburg “was not on the
bench as the court met Monday to hear arguments.” The AP adds, “It was not
clear when she would return to the court, which will hear more cases on
Tuesday and Wednesday, and again next week.”

        The New York Times
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(1/7, Liptak) reports that Chief Justice Roberts “announced his colleague’s
absence at the start of Monday’s session, saying that ‘Justice Ginsburg is
unable to be present today.’” Peter Williams said on NBC Nightly News[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=089-eee&t=c>
(1/7, story 4, 0:40, Holt) that Ginsburg will “continue to participate by
reading the legal briefs and the oral argument transcripts. No word on when
she’ll be back on the bench.” Terry Moran said on ABC World News Tonight[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=08a-80b&t=c>
(1/7, story 8, 0:50, Muir) that in a “sign she plans to continue full steam
ahead, she’s hired law clerks through the year 2020.”

        According to the Washington Post
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(1/7, Barnes), “Cancer specialists say the kind of surgery Ginsburg
underwent is performed only when the doctors are convinced the cancer has
not spread to other organs – in that case, the treatment would be a
systemic therapy like chemotherapy.” The CBS Evening News[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
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(1/7, story 9, 0:10, Glor) also reported briefly on Ginsburg’s absence from
Monday’s arguments.
Cancer Research
Use Of Flavored Tobacco Products By US Teens “Rebounded” In 2017 With
Rising E-Cigarette Use.

Reuters
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(1/7, Rapaport) reports US teen use of flavored tobacco products
“rebounded” in 2017 as flavored e-cigarette use increased and use of other
flavored tobacco products “decreased or leveled off,” according to Hongying
Dai, PhD, of the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, who
authored a new study
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on the trend that was described in JAMA Pediatrics. Among tobacco product
users, 69.4 percent used flavored products in 2014, but this fell to 57.7
percent in 2016 before returning to 63.6 percent in 2017. Reuters says the
study “doesn’t help answer a key question about vaping: whether
e-cigarettes can help smokers quit or prevent people from starting in the
first place.”

        MedPage Today
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(1/7) reports Dai’s research “was supported by the National Cancer
Institute and the National Institutes of Health,” adding that the National
Cancer Institute also has awarded a $19 million grant to the University of
Rochester Medical Center and the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center
to study tobacco product flavorings.
CDC: Uterine Cancer Incidence, Mortality Increasing.

Fox News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=090-b29&t=c>
(1/7, Alvarez) reports a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
report found “uterine cancer is one of the few cancers with increasing
incidence and mortality in the United States.” The CDC report also said
that “black women were more likely to receive a diagnosis at a distant
stage and with more aggressive histologic types than were other women.”
Obesity may explain these trends, but “researchers don’t understand all the
reasons behind the association, says the National Cancer Institute.” NCI
also “states that almost 70 percent of US adults age 20 and over are
overweight,” and “overweight women are 2-4 times more likely to develop
endometrial cancer.”
Editorials/Op-Eds
New York Times.

*“Borderline Insanity.”* The New York Times
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(1/7) editorializes that President Trump’s “mass incarceration of migrant
families is overwhelming an already burdened system that, without a giant
injection of taxpayer dollars, will continue to collapse, leading to ever
more human suffering. ... The Trump administration is asking Congress and
the American public to embrace warped logic, that its policies are going to
continue and that the only question is whether any money should be spent on
measures to ease the suffering caused by those policies.”

        *“Who Speaks For America?” *In an editorial, the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010801biden&r=email-8427&l=092-9b9&t=c>
(1/7) says the Administration “began backtracking almost immediately” after
the President announced his decision to withdraw US troops from Syria.
After National Security Adviser Bolton’s comments, in which he “laid down
conditions” for the withdrawal Trump “insisted in a tweet on Monday that
the way things stand is ‘no different from my original statements.’ But
which senior administration official should the nation and the world
believe – the boss or everyone below him?” The Times says Bolton and
Secretary of State Pompeo “are crisscrossing the Middle East this week to
reassure friendly governments that the administration is pursuing a
coherent agenda, particularly in building a coalition against Iran. Is Mr.
Trump also on board?”
Washington Post.

*“China Has Launched A Massive Campaign Of Cultural Extermination Against
The Uighurs.”* In an editorial, the Washington Post
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(1/7) castigates Chinese authorities for their “gross bigotry” against the
“the Uighurs, against whom they have launched a massive campaign of
cultural extermination.” While China has sought to “rebrand concentration
camps” holding hundreds of thousands of Uighurs and other Muslims in the
Xinjiang region as “vocational training” centers, their imprisoning “scores
of the most prominent Uighur intellectuals” there easily belies the
fiction. As the Trump Administration has “largely ignored the issue,” the
Post calls on Congress to pass bipartisan legislation creating “a special
coordinator to respond to the Xinjiang crisis and prepare the ground for
sanctioning Chinese officials involved in the repression failed to pass the
last Congress.”

        *“Democrats Can Use Their Leverage On The Wall For A Truly Moral
Purpose.” *The Washington Post
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(1/7) says in an editorial, “Rather than talk about the immorality of a
[border] wall, Democrats could use their leverage to achieve a truly moral
purpose. In return for a few billion dollars for a segment of the
president’s wall --which would immediately be challenged in court by
property owners along the border – Democrats might permanently shield from
deportation well over 1 million ‘dreamers.’”

        *“Congo’s Fragile Steps Toward A Democratic Transition Must Not Be
Lost.” *In an editorial, the Washington Post
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(1/7) warns, “Congo is in a precarious position,” and while its recent
election was “not conducted in perfect conditions,” the Post adds it – “and
Congo’s fragile steps toward a democratic transition – must not be lost.”
With observers saying there is a clear winner and “ample and disturbing
suspicions” that the forces of President Joseph Kabila are seeking “to rig
the election for his hand-picked candidate,” the Post warns that should the
electoral commission “not promptly publish the results, Congo may be
convulsed by protests and the moment for a democratic handoff will have
been lost.”

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