Subject: Correct The Record Tuesday July 22, 2014 Morning Roundup
From: Burns Strider <[email-masked]>
To: CTRFriendsFamily <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2014 09:13:42 -0400
List-Id: <CTRFriendsFamily.americanbridge.org>

**

*Correct The Record Tuesday July 22, 2014 Morning Roundup:*

*Headlines:*

*MSNBC: “Hillary Clinton: ‘I would consider’ anti-Citizens United
amendment”
<http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/hillary-clinton-citizens-united-constitutional-amendment>*

“Already, three major super PACs are working on her behalf, while there are
at least a half dozen smaller ones.”

*CNN: “Hillary Clinton would consider backing bid to limit money in
politics”
<http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2014/07/21/hillary-clinton-would-consider-backing-bid-to-limit-money-in-politics/>*

“Although many pro-Clinton Democratic operatives say they wish big money
was not a part of politics, the pro-Clinton groups have embraced the law.”

*Media Matters for America: “While Maureen Dowd Smears Clinton Foundation,
Colleague Nicholas Kristof Works With It”
<http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/07/21/while-maureen-dowd-smears-clinton-foundation-co/200155>*

“Dowd's criticism raises questions about The New York Times' position on
the Foundation given Dowd colleague Nicholas Kristof's involvement in
Clinton charitable events through the Clinton Global Initiative.”

*Associated Press: “Clinton: US, Europe Should Get Tough on Russia”
<http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_HILLARY_CLINTON?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT>*

“Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday that the U.S. and Europe should work
together to develop tougher sanctions on Russia while she backed President
Barack Obama's calls for a thorough investigation into the passenger jet
that was shot down last week over Ukraine.”

*The Hill: “Clinton calls for tougher sanctions on Russia”
<http://thehill.com/policy/international/212896-clinton-calls-for-tougher-sanctions-on-putin>*

“Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday called for stricter
sanctions on Russia after the crash of a Malaysia Airlines flight in
Eastern Ukraine last week.”

*Politico: “Hillary Clinton defends Israel on Gaza”
<http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/hillary-clinton-israel-gaza-109210.html>*

“Hillary Clinton on Monday repeatedly stressed that Israel was ‘provoked’
by Hamas in the current conflict roiling the Middle East, offering among
her strongest statements yet concerning the hostilities in Gaza.”

*ABC News blog: The Note: “Hillary Clinton: Israel ‘Provoked’ By Hamas”
<http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2014/07/hillary-clinton-israel-provoked-by-hamas/>*

“During back-to-back Facebook and Twitter chats Monday evening, Hillary
Clinton weighed in again on the growing tensions in the Middle East,
reiterating her hope for a ceasefire in the region and stressing her view
that Israel has largely been ‘provoked’ by Hamas throughout the conflict.”

*National Journal: “Here Is All of the New Information to Come Out of
Hillary Clinton's Facebook Q&A”
<http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/here-is-all-of-the-new-information-to-come-out-of-hillary-clinton-s-facebook-q-a-20140721>*

“Hillary Clinton is swinging through Silicon Valley this week on her Hard
Choices book tour. As part of the tour, she stopped at Facebook's
headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., and held a Q&A with users on her book's
Facebook page.”

*The Hill: “Republican wants Benghazi hearings to start in August”
<http://thehill.com/video/administration/212820-republican-wants-benghazi-hearings-to-start-in-august>*

“A Republican lawmaker says he wants a newly formed committee that is
investigating the 2012 Benghazi attacks to start holding hearings during
the August recess.”

*Politico: “Martin O’Malley set to return to Iowa”
<http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/martin-omalley-iowa-109211.html?hp=r5>*

“Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley is heading back to Iowa this weekend, just
weeks after the Democrat — who has said he’s exploring a 2016 presidential
run — was the keynote speaker at the state Democratic convention.”

*The Daily Beast: “Missouri Governor Jay Nixon To Visit Iowa”
<http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/07/21/missouri-governor-jay-nixon-to-visit-iowa.html>*

“With his scheduled visit to an ethanol plant in Emmetsburg, Iowa on Tuesday,
did Missouri Governor Jay Nixon signal his interest in running for
President in 2016? Probably not.”

*Mediaite: “POLITICO Reporter: Media Access to Hillary Clinton Is Intensely
Limited”
<http://www.mediaite.com/tv/politico-reporter-media-access-to-hillary-clinton-is-intensely-limited/>*

“POLITICO reporter Maggie Haberman‘s aggressive Hillary Clinton coverage
has made her an expert on the subject. But, as Haberman said Monday on
C-SPAN2, Clinton isn’t the easiest beat to tackle."

*Politico blog: Dylan Byers on Media: “Halper book: Clintons lobbied GE to
get rid of MSNBC's David Shuster”
<http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2014/07/halper-book-clintons-lobbied-ge-to-get-rid-of-msnbcs-192542.html#.U81nQmvNSls.twitter>*

“Hillary and Bill Clinton went to the top of the NBC food chain, all the
way up to General Electric’s board, to get back at MSNBC's David Shuster in
2008, according to Daniel Halper’s forthcoming book ‘Clinton Inc.’”

*Articles:*

*MSNBC: “Hillary Clinton: ‘I would consider’ anti-Citizens United
amendment”
<http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/hillary-clinton-citizens-united-constitutional-amendment>*

By Alex Seitz-Wald

July 21, 2014, 7:28 p.m. EDT

While eying a potential presidential run that would surely be boosted by
deep-pocketed super PACs, Hillary Clinton said Monday evening that she’s
open to supporting a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme
Court’s Citizens United decision, which opened the door to the outside
groups and the flood of money that poured into the political process with
them.

Taking questions from Facebook users at the social media giant’s California
headquarters Monday evening, Clinton expressed some interest in the idea.
“I would consider supporting an amendment among these lines that would
prevent the abuse of our political system by excessive amounts of money if
there is no other way to deal with the Citizen’s United decision,” she said
in response to a question on the measure.

Amending the Constitution is an almost impossibly uphill battle, but the
idea has secured support from almost all the Democrats in the Senate, which
will vote on the measure later this year.

The former first lady is currently on a book tour for her memoir “Hard
Choices,” which was released in June. The publicity campaign is being seen
as part of a months-long rollout leading up to a decision on whether or not
she’ll run for president. Clinton has previously said that she’ll decide by
the end of the year.

On Monday, Clinton also fielded questions on a number of other issues, and
proclaimed “The Brothers Karamazov” by Fyodor Dostoyevsky to be her
favorite book, while “Goodnight Moon” is the first book she plans to read
to her future grandchild.

On the ongoing fighting in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinians, the
former secretary of state said she hopes “there can be a ceasefire soon to
end the conflict,” noting that she negotiated the last such deal.

On the Malaysian airliner shot down over rebel-held territory in Ukraine,
Clinton placed some blame at the feet of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“[T]here is a price to pay for this kind of behavior,” she said of Putin,
adding the crash victims were “murdered.”

Later, at a separate Q&A session hosted by Twitter at its offices, Clinton
elaborated on her view of Russia’s involvement in Ukraine. “There is no
doubt in my mind,” she said, that pro-Russian rebels in Eastern Ukraine
“are very heavily influenced, if not directed by Moscow.” She added that
Russian intelligence officers and special operators ”played a big role in
the insurgency,” and said the militants may be outright controlled by Putin.

Meanwhile, back at Facebook, asked what her first action would be if she
became president, Clinton responded with an answer that seemed designed to
appeal to the vocal populist wing of the Democratic party. “Answering
hypothetically … the next president should work to grow the economy,
increase upward mobility, and decrease inequality,” she said.

For those looking for any hints about a potential 2016 run, Clinton offered
a tantalizing endorsement of the state that holds the nation’s first
primary. “I love New Hampshire,” she replied to a user who asked if she
would visit the Granite State.

Clinton is on a swing through Silicon Valley, a fertile ground for donors
to a potential presidential campaign, stopping at Google’s headquarters
between the visits to Facebook and Twitter.

Clinton is expected to raise more than a billion dollars if she runs, with
even more money going to an archipelago of super PACs and other outside
groups supporting her. Already, three major super PACs are working on her
behalf, while there are at least a half dozen smaller ones.

In the lead-up to the 2012 presidential election, President Obama chose a
similar forum as Clinton’s to endorse an amendment to roll back Citizens
United, telling Reddit users that “we need to seriously consider” an
amendment.

Still, Obama and his allies maintained that they would not “unilaterally
disarm” in the campaign finance arms race. As long as Republicans could use
super PACs, Democrats will too, they said. Clinton’s allies are already
using a similar line to defend their outside activism on her behalf.

*CNN: “Hillary Clinton would consider backing bid to limit money in
politics”
<http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2014/07/21/hillary-clinton-would-consider-backing-bid-to-limit-money-in-politics/>*

By Dan Merica

July 21, 2014, 7:37 p.m. EDT

When Hillary Clinton ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in
2008, she raised and spent more than $250 million to eventually lose to
Barack Obama, according to the Federal Election Commission.

That was then.

On Monday, Clinton - who is now weighing another run at the presidency in
2016 - was asked during a Facebook question and answer session whether she
would "support a constitutional amendment" to overturn the Supreme Court's
"Citizen's United" ruling and limit the amount corporations and outside
influences can contribute to political campaigns.

"I would consider supporting an amendment among these lines," Clinton
responded. "That would prevent the abuse of our political system by
excessive amounts of money if there is no other way to deal with the
Citizen's United decision."

The 2010 Citizens United decision opened the floodgates for outside money
in politics and ballooned the amount spent on campaigns.

Even though Clinton has said she wants to limit money in politics, people
close to her are preparing to raise massive sums for a possible
presidential bid.

Some of her biggest 2008 donors told CNN in January that they are waiting
for her decision on whether to run with open wallets, while a cadre of
outside groups – many of whom were created because of the Citizens United
decision – have begun to raise money in order to be helpful to her possible
candidacy.

Although many pro-Clinton Democratic operatives say they wish big money was
not a part of politics, the pro-Clinton groups have embraced the law.

"You have to play the game with the rules as they are," said a source at
Priorities USA, a group that plans to raise big money to support Clinton if
she runs. "We can't unilaterally disarm."

Many of Clinton's 17 Facebook answers dealt with substantive issues.

On violence in the Mideast, she wrote that she hoped "there can be a
ceasefire soon to end the conflict" and was "fully supportive" of Secretary
of State John Kerry traveling to Egypt in a bid help broker a deal.

She also wrote that her first move as President, should she run and be
elected, would be to "grow the economy, increase upward mobility, and
decrease inequality."

But like many Facebook posts, some were less than serious.

She agreed to sign two copies of "Hard Choices" - her new memoir - and in a
response to "Rufus Doggetti," Clinton wrote that, yes, from time to time
she does let her dogs on the sofa.

She also wrote that her favorite book was "The Brothers Karamazov" by
Fyodor Dostoyevsky and that the first book she would read her new
grandchild would be "Goodnight Moon" by Margaret Wise Brown.

And in the category of substantive in the future, Clinton offered this nod
to the first-in-the-nation primary state: "I love New Hampshire!"

In addition to sitting down for Facebook questions, Clinton toured the
company's Menlo Park, California, headquarters. She spent the morning at
Google and participated in a conversation with company employees.

Clinton also had a live-streamed conversation with Twitter staff, where the
former secretary of state was interviewed by Katie Stanton, who spent six
months working for the Clinton State Department in 2010 when she served as
special adviser to the Office of Innovation.

Clinton fielded questions on college affordability, women in leadership and
her 2016 aspirations. Many of the questions were asked by Twitter staff and
famous Twitter users.

She heralded the role of social media, but said she hoped in the future
that "we would see a maturing of the use of social media, not just to score
points ... but to try to create space for real conversations."

Clinton also tacked to her party's left on college affordability, an issue
many progressives and liberals have heralded as critical.

"Too many young people are being priced out of going to college or staying
in college," Clinton said.

She later added, "I think it is one of the biggest problems we have in the
country. College education just costs too much. It is hard to relate the
rise in cost to the actual product that has certainly changed somewhat, but
not so dramatically as to justify those costs."

Clinton sidestepped a query from soccer star Julie Foudy about who
Clinton's running mate would be if she ran in 2016.

"I think Julie has been a tremendous soccer player but I am not ready to
answer her question," Clinton said, "because I am not even ready yet to say
that I am going to do it or that I would get it done."

*Media Matters for America: “While Maureen Dowd Smears Clinton Foundation,
Colleague Nicholas Kristof Works With It”
<http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/07/21/while-maureen-dowd-smears-clinton-foundation-co/200155>*

By Matt Gertz

July 21, 2014, 3:54 p.m. EDT

New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd has attempted to scandalize the Bill,
Hillary, and Chelsea Clinton Foundation in two consecutive columns, even as
colleague Nicholas Kristof prepares to participate in the Clintons'
charitable events for the sixth straight year.

Dowd's attacks on the Clinton Foundation are the latest salvo in her
decades-long anti-Clinton campaign.

In her July 19 column, Dowd baselessly criticized the "foundation
dishabille" as part of the "percussive drama" that supposedly surrounds the
Clintons. Dowd devoted her July 12 column to lashing out at Chelsea Clinton
for giving paid speeches and donating the fees to the Clinton Foundation,
an activity which Dowd described as somehow "unseemly."

The Clinton Foundation's website says its mission is "to improve global
health, strengthen economies, promote health and wellness, and protect the
environment." But Dowd baselessly smeared the Foundation as a phony
organization intended solely to benefit the Clinton family, claiming that
Chelsea Clinton was "joining her parents in cashing in to help feed the
rapacious, gaping maw of Clinton Inc." by giving her speaking fees to the
Clinton Foundation rather than donating the proceeds to "some independent
charity not designed to burnish the Clinton name as her mother ramps up to
return to the White House and as she herself drops a handkerchief about
getting into politics."

Dowd's criticism raises questions about The New York Times' position on the
Foundation given Dowd colleague Nicholas Kristof's involvement in Clinton
charitable events through the Clinton Global Initiative. Founded by
President Clinton in 2005 and merged into the broader Clinton Foundation
last year, CGI brings together global leaders from the public, nonprofit,
and private sectors to help solve pressing international issues.

Kristof has participated in CGI's annual meeting in each of the last five
years, either by delivering remarks or moderating panels. In a 2010 "CGI
Stories" video, Kristof praised the group, saying, "There has been a bit of
a change in how global poverty and global health is perceived and I think
what's happening at CGI both reflects that and also helps shape it."

In an interview with Media Matters, Kristof said CGI events give him "a
chance to meet people who converge from around the world" that are focused
on issues that interest him, such as global women's rights, development,
and education. He said that he plans to attend the group's annual meeting
in September if he is invited. He declined to comment on Dowd's work.

The Times also declined to comment on the tension between Dowd's campaign
to scandalize the foundation and Kristof's continued relationship with it.

The paper's Ethical Journalism handbook suggests that the paper has not
institutionally adopted Dowd's critique. It states that Times journalists
"must consult with the standards editor or the deputy editorial page
editor" before addressing "groups that might figure in coverage they
provide, edit, package or supervise, especially if the setting might
suggest a close relationship to the sponsoring group." It also bars them
from accepting "invitations to speak where their function is to attract
customers to an event primarily intended as profit-making."

*Associated Press: “Clinton: US, Europe Should Get Tough on Russia”
<http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_HILLARY_CLINTON?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT>*

By Ken Thomas

July 21, 2014, 10:41 p.m. EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday that the U.S. and
Europe should work together to develop tougher sanctions on Russia while
she backed President Barack Obama's calls for a thorough investigation into
the passenger jet that was shot down last week over Ukraine.

Clinton said in a Facebook chat from the company's headquarters in Menlo
Park, California, that tougher sanctions would make clear to Russian
President Vladimir Putin "that there is a price to pay for this kind of
behavior." The former secretary of state said she agreed with Obama's
comments earlier Monday urging "immediate and full access" for
investigators combing through the wreckage of the downed plane.

"We should do more to ensure a thorough investigation that not only
respects those who were murdered in the attack on the plane, but also tries
to find answers to who is responsible," Clinton wrote during the
question-and-answer session on the popular social media site.

Obama accused pro-Russian separatists of removing evidence and bodies from
the crash site and said the burden was on Russia and Putin to compel the
separatists to cooperate with the investigation. He said if Russia
continues to violate Ukraine's sovereignty, Moscow "will only further
isolate itself" and the economic costs will increase.

Clinton said the U.S. should encourage Europeans to ensure that they are
less dependent upon Russian energy. She called for "more support given to
the Ukrainians to guard their borders and protect themselves."

The potential 2016 Democratic presidential candidate responded to a
wide-ranging list of questions on Facebook that covered her book, "Hard
Choices," domestic and foreign policy issues, her favorite book and her
role as a grandmother-to-be.

Clinton said she was hopeful for a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel to
end the fighting in the Gaza Strip and noted that she negotiated the last
cease-fire in 2012. She said she was "fully supportive" of Secretary of
State John Kerry's work with the Egyptians to bring a halt to the fighting.

Asked what her first action would be if elected president, Clinton said,
"answering hypothetically ... the next president should work to grow the
economy, increase upward mobility and decrease inequality."

Clinton listed her favorite book as Fyodor Dostoyevsky's "The Brothers
Karamazov" and said she already had a first children's book picked out to
read to her future grandchild: Margaret Wise Brown's "Goodnight Moon."

The former first lady appeared at an event at Google's Mountain View,
California, headquarters earlier Monday and ended the day at a forum at
Twitter's offices in San Francisco.

Clinton, who has amassed more than 1.6 million followers since joining
Twitter last year, shared advice for women considering entering politics,
advocated for Internet freedom and urged the U.S. to take steps to rein in
student debt and the high cost of attending college.

*The Hill: “Clinton calls for tougher sanctions on Russia”
<http://thehill.com/policy/international/212896-clinton-calls-for-tougher-sanctions-on-putin>*

By Mario Trujillo

July 21, 2014, 6:32 p.m. EDT

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday called for stricter
sanctions on Russia after the crash of a Malaysia Airlines flight in
Eastern Ukraine last week.

"We should work to bring our European allies together with us on tougher
sanctions that would make it clear to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin
that there is a price to pay for this kind of behavior, and we should
encourage Europeans to start immediately to make sure they are less
dependent on Russian energy so they are not intimidated," Clinton said
during a Facebook question and answer.

Clinton said she agrees with President Obama that "all those murdered"
deserve a full investigation into last week's events, when Malaysia
Airlines Flight 17 was shot down while carrying nearly 300 people.

"Finally, I would like to see more support given to the Ukrainians to guard
their borders and to protect themselves," she said.

The United States, Ukraine and others have said there is strong evidence to
suggest that pro-Russian separatists shot down the plane. President Obama
and others have criticized Russia for creating an unstable climate in
Ukraine by backing the militants.

The United States last week imposed its harshest sanctions yet on Russian
companies before the crash. And on Monday, Obama said costs would increase
for Russia if it continues to support the separatists with training and
weapons.

Last week, Clinton said there was a growing awareness the separatists were
involved, and the surface-to-air weapons likely came from Russia.

Clinton participated in the question and answer Monday while on a trip to
Silicon Valley, visiting with Facebook, Twitter and Google.

She remained coy about her 2016 presidential ambitions but offered a few
morsels, saying, "I love New Hampshire," in response to one question about
visiting the first-in-the-nation presidential primary state.

Answering "hypothetically," she said at another point her priority as
president would be to "grow the economy, increase upward mobility, and
decrease inequality."

She also said she would consider supporting a constitutional amendment to
undo the effects of a pair of Supreme Court decision that rolled back
campaign finance restrictions.

Her answer, however, was more cautious than many Senate Democrats, who have
vowed to vote on such a proposal.

"I would consider supporting an amendment among these lines that would
prevent the abuse of our political system by excessive amounts of money, if
there is no other way to deal with the Citizen's United decision," she said.

*Politico: “Hillary Clinton defends Israel on Gaza”
<http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/hillary-clinton-israel-gaza-109210.html>*

By Katie Glueck

July 21, 2014, 11:02 p.m. EDT

Hillary Clinton on Monday repeatedly stressed that Israel was “provoked” by
Hamas in the current conflict roiling the Middle East, offering among her
strongest statements yet concerning the hostilities in Gaza.

The former secretary of state and possible 2016 Democratic front-runner
delivered those comments during a question-and-answer session at the
Twitter headquarters in San Francisco. She weighed in on the conflict
between Israel and Hamas militants in several interviews last week as well,
criticizing the leadership of Hamas as Israel launched a ground invasion
into Gaza in response to rockets Hamas was lobbing into the country.

“You mention, in particular, the difficulties we currently are seeing in
the Middle East,” she said, in response to a question about how Hamas and
the Israel Defense Forces use Twitter. “Because of the actions by Hamas,
first to rain rockets onto Israel, Israel being provoked — because I do
think that was part of the Hamas calculation, to provoke Israel to respond,
to defend itself, which any nation has to do if you are under attack like
that, and then we see the unfortunate effects of any conflict with innocent
people being caught in the crossfires.”

Her remarks came as part of a question-and-answer session with Katie
Stanton, Twitter’s vice president of global media who previously served on
the innovation team at the State Department during Clinton’s tenure there.

The livestream event appeared to draw only several hundred viewers, and the
bulk of the questions seemed to come from celebrities and well-known
activists including Kerry Washington, Malala Yousafzai, Amy Poehler and
Melinda Gates, along with Twitter employees.

In the interview, which ran a little over 45 minutes, Clinton touched on a
wide range of issues, from empowering women and girls — a favorite subject
of hers, to blasting Russia’s Vladimir Putin, telling women not to be too
hard on themselves, and lamenting the skyrocketing costs of college.

“College education just costs too much,” she said. “It’s hard to relate the
rise in cost to the actual product, that has certainly changed somewhat,
but not so dramatically as to justify those costs.”

Clinton, who is on tour to promote her memoir of her time at the State
Department, “Hard Choices,” has come under fire for the way she discussed
her personal finances — saying, for example, that when she and former
President Bill Clinton left the White House, they were “dead broke.” On
Monday night, she appeared cautious as she struck a personal note about how
she and her husband paid for law school, noting that after graduation, they
took “relatively” low-paying jobs.

“When we were in law school, we both took out loans, we both worked two,
three, four jobs but when we graduated, we had the opportunity to pay back
as a percentage of our income,” she said as she outlined possible answers
to handling education costs. “And we both took relatively low-paying jobs
—I went to work for the Children’s Defense Fund, Bill became a law
professor in Arkansas, I later moved to Arkansas, taught at the law school
and made, like, $17,000, and we were paying back as a percentage. And we
could keep up with those payments without having to sacrifice too much.”

She also sought to inject humor throughout the conversation. At one point,
responding to a tweet that asked her about her biggest accomplishment as
secretary of state and was signed “xoxo,” Clinton replied, “Spreading
‘xoxo’ everywhere,” before launching into a weightier response touching on
a number of her foreign policy achievements.

Asked by soccer star Julie Foudy about who her running mate might be,
Clinton said she would take a pass on the question.

 “I’m not even ready yet to say that I’m going to do it or that I would get
it done,” she said of 2016.

Earlier in the day, Clinton hosted a Facebook chat, where she received
several hundred questions. She fielded a wide range of issues, from
campaign finance — she would “consider” a constitutional amendment “that
would prevent the abuse of our political system by excessive amounts of
money if there is no other way to deal with the Citizens United decision” —
to which is the first book she plans to read to her grandchild, whose birth
is expected later this year (“Goodnight Moon” was her answer.).

In both the Facebook chat and on Twitter, Clinton said she supported an
investigation into the fallen Malaysia Airlines flight, which crashed in
Ukraine last week, and urged Europe to step up its efforts to hold Russia
accountable amid questions over Moscow’s ties to pro-Russian separatists in
Ukraine.

*ABC News blog: The Note: “Hillary Clinton: Israel ‘Provoked’ By Hamas”
<http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2014/07/hillary-clinton-israel-provoked-by-hamas/>*

By Liz Kreutz

July 22, 2014, 3:00 a.m. EDT

During back-to-back Facebook and Twitter chats Monday evening, Hillary
Clinton weighed in again on the growing tensions in the Middle East,
reiterating her hope for a ceasefire in the region and stressing her view
that Israel has largely been “provoked” by Hamas throughout the conflict.

“You mention in particular the difficulties we currently are seeing in the
Middle East because of the actions by Hamas, first to rain rockets on to
Israel. Israel being provoked,” Clinton told Twitter’s VP of Global Media
(and former State Department employee), Katie Jacob Stanton, when asked how
social media has changed diplomacy between conflicting nations,
particularly with IDF and Hamas, who regularly communicate via Twitter.

She added: “I do think that was part of the Hamas calculation, to provoke
Israel to respond to defend itself, which any nation has to do if you are
under attack like that.”

Clinton went on to give an idealistic view of how social media should be
used between countries: “It is a fact of social media right now that too
often people use it as a weapon, instead of an opportunity. And maybe one
of the ways we can think together about the next phase in the development
of social media is as a tool of outreach, a tool of reconciliation, a tool
of negotiation, and maybe even resolution,” she said.

Earlier in the day during the Facebook Q&A, Clinton, who as secretary of
state helped to negotiate the last ceasefire in November 2012, said she
hopes there can be another ceasefire soon to end the current conflict, and
added that she is “fully supportive” of Secretary Kerry’s efforts do so.

Secretary Kerry is currently in Cairo, Egypt where he is working to
negotiate a ceasefire in the Gaza strip. Early Monday he announced the U.S.
would give $47 million in aid to Gaza and voiced “concern” over civilian
deaths – more than 583 Palestinians and 27 Israelis over the past two
weeks—and meanwhile reaffirmed support for Israel’s self-defense.

Hillary Clinton’s comments were part of the two social media chats she
participated in Monday during a swing through Silicon Valley, where she
visited the headquarters of Google, Facebook, and Twitter.  In addition to
the Middle East, Hillary Clinton answered questions about Ukraine, saying
there “was no doubt” in her mind that the Ukrainian separatists were
getting help from Russia and pushed for European nations to enact stricter
sanctions on Putin; abortion rights, where she again slammed the Hobby
Lobby ruling; and college tuition, which she says, “costs too much.”

During the Twitter chat, Clinton took questions not only from users who
submitted them using the hashtag #AskHillary, but from a range of
high-profile friends and celebrities, which drew a bit of cynical
skepticism from people watching online.

The questions came from Amy Poehler (who Clinton conceded “did do a really
wicked imitation of me.”), Malala, Melinda Gates, and Scandal star, Kerry
Washington (who Clinton called “terrific.”) In addition, soccer star, Julie
Foudy, snuck in a question about 2016, asking who would be her VP pick. But
Clinton didn’t even pretend to answer.

“I’m going to take a pass on that,” she said, and moved on.

*National Journal: “Here Is All of the New Information to Come Out of
Hillary Clinton's Facebook Q&A”
<http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/here-is-all-of-the-new-information-to-come-out-of-hillary-clinton-s-facebook-q-a-20140721>*

By Emma Roller

July 21, 2014

Hillary Clinton is swinging through Silicon Valley this week on her Hard
Choices book tour. As part of the tour, she stopped at Facebook's
headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., and held a Q&A with users on her book's
Facebook page.

Here is all of the new information to come out of that Q&A:

- Hillary Clinton agrees with President Obama's statement Monday that
Russian President Vladimir Putin has "direct responsibility" for the
downing of Malaysia Airways Flight 17.

- Hillary Clinton supports a cease-fire to end the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

- Hillary Clinton "enjoyed" writing her book.

- Hillary Clinton "supported" closing the Guantánamo Bay naval station, but
acknowledges the difficulties Obama has faced in closing it.

- Hillary Clinton would theoretically support a constitutional amendment to
overturn the Citizens United decision to "prevent the abuse of our
political system by excessive amounts of money."

- Hillary Clinton's favorite book is The Brothers Karamazov.

- Hillary Clinton is inspired by Nelson Mandela's "courage and capacity for
forgiveness."

- Hillary Clinton is "so excited [she] cannot wait!" to be a grandmother.

- The first book she reads to her grandchild will be Goodnight Moon.

- Hillary Clinton is "committed to" women's rights, gay rights, and
religious freedom.

- Hillary Clinton opposes the Supreme Court's recent Hobby Lobby ruling.

- "From time to time," Hillary Clinton lets her three dogs sit on the sofa.
She generally loves dogs.

- Hillary Clinton also loves the state of New Hampshire.

- Hillary Clinton looks forward to going back to Chicago.

- If you ask politely, Hillary Clinton will sign your copy of her book.

- It was a "real treat" for Hillary Clinton to answer Facebook users'
questions.

Now you know.

*The Hill: “Republican wants Benghazi hearings to start in August”
<http://thehill.com/video/administration/212820-republican-wants-benghazi-hearings-to-start-in-august>*

By Molly K. Hooper

July 22, 2014, 6:00 a.m. EDT

A Republican lawmaker says he wants a newly formed committee that is
investigating the 2012 Benghazi attacks to start holding hearings during
the August recess.

Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.) tells The Hill that Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.),
the chairman of the Select panel, is busy hiring staffers for the
high-profile panel.

"I hope that they start holding hearings even if we're not here in August,"
he said. It remains unclear, however, if that will happen.

Asked if former secretary of State Hillary Clinton should testify on the
attacks that left four Americans dead, Huizenga said the potential 2016
Democratic presidential contender still has questions to answer.

*Politico: “Martin O’Malley set to return to Iowa”
<http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/martin-omalley-iowa-109211.html?hp=r5>*

By Maggie Haberman

July 22, 2014, 6:02 a.m. EDT

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley is heading back to Iowa this weekend, just
weeks after the Democrat — who has said he’s exploring a 2016 presidential
run — was the keynote speaker at the state Democratic convention.

O’Malley will appear at fundraisers in targeted state Senate races, a
source familiar with the trip said.

It’s the second trip of the cycle for O’Malley to the Hawkeye State, and
comes after he challenged the White House over their policy of deportations
of Latin American children who have come across the Southwestern border to
escape violence in their own countries.

He will appear at four fundraisers, including one in Clinton for Sen. Rita
Hart, one in North Liberty for Senate candidate Kevin Kinney, and two for
Jack Hatch, one in Council Bluffs and one in Sioux City.

He’s making a repeat visit on Hatch’s behalf, after holding events with him
on his last visit.

O’Malley is the only Democrat who is known to be likely to run at this
point, and he has a progressive record that he could use to establish
himself as to the left of runaway frontrunner Hillary Clinton. (Clinton
says she has yet to decide if she’s running, but most of her allies believe
she will.)

During O’Malley’s last visit, retiring Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) praised
O’Malley credentials as a model of progressive causes.

*The Daily Beast: “Missouri Governor Jay Nixon To Visit Iowa”
<http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/07/21/missouri-governor-jay-nixon-to-visit-iowa.html>*

By Ben Jacobs

July 21, 2014

[Subtitle:] Jay Nixon, the two-term Democratic governor of Missouri, is
visiting Iowa Tuesday. Does this mean there's yet another Democratic
contender in 2016?

With his scheduled visit to an ethanol plant in Emmetsburg, Iowa on Tuesday,
did Missouri Governor Jay Nixon signal his interest in running for
President in 2016? Probably not.

While Nixon has long been considered a potential Democratic candidate if
Hillary Clinton decides not to run , the two-term governor's visit to Iowa
seems to be driven entirely by local political concerns. Nixon is visiting
Project Liberty, a brand new ethanol plant that processes cellulosic
ethanol, which is made from the waste parts of corn like the husk and the
cob. In contrast, traditional ethanol is made from the actual corn kernels.

Poet, the company which operates the plant, has several plants in Missouri
and Nixon is apparently going to promote the new process and encourage
similar plants to be built in his home state. The trip is his only stop in
the Hawkeye State and the event is closed to the public, meaning that Nixon
will not to get to meet any potential caucusgoers.

Iowa has witnessed a dearth of visits from Democratic hopefuls this cycle,
with only Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley and Vermont Senator Bernie
Sanders making appearences so far. The limited nature of this trip means
that the Missouri governor, who has mentioned the need for a 2016
Democratic candidate from the heartland in the past, can't be added to this
list.

But, then again, no politician visits Iowa by accident.

*Mediaite: “POLITICO Reporter: Media Access to Hillary Clinton Is Intensely
Limited”
<http://www.mediaite.com/tv/politico-reporter-media-access-to-hillary-clinton-is-intensely-limited/>*

By Eddie Scarry

July 21, 2014, 2:31 p.m. EDT

POLITICO reporter Maggie Haberman‘s aggressive Hillary Clinton coverage has
made her an expert on the subject. But, as Haberman said Monday on C-SPAN2,
Clinton isn’t the easiest beat to tackle.

Asked to describe the difference in media accessibility between Clinton and
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, another political figure Haberman has
experience covering, Haberman said it’s “night and day.”

“What has been really striking about Hillary Clinton’s book tour,” Haberman
said, “is she has not taken a single question, that I know of at least …
from reporters who are attending.”

Haberman went on to describe the “very controlled interviews” Clinton has
granted to media recently. “There is very little that is sort of up in the
air and unexpected about them.”

By contrast, Haberman said when travelig with Christie she has been able to
“get really right up close with him.” She said, “You just can’t get that
with Clinton.”

Watch via CSPAN2:

[VIDEO]

*Politico blog: Dylan Byers on Media: “Halper book: Clintons lobbied GE to
get rid of MSNBC's David Shuster”
<http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2014/07/halper-book-clintons-lobbied-ge-to-get-rid-of-msnbcs-192542.html#.U81nQmvNSls.twitter>*

By Hadas Gold

July 21, 2014, 3:15 p.m. EDT

Hillary and Bill Clinton went to the top of the NBC food chain, all the way
up to General Electric’s board, to get back at MSNBC's David Shuster in
2008, according to Daniel Halper’s forthcoming book “Clinton Inc.”

Halper, the online editor at the conservative Weekly Standard, details how
far the Clinton camp went to get back at Shuster for saying that Chelsea
Clinton was "sort of being pimped out in some weird sort of way” for
lobbying super delegates on her mother’s behalf during the presidential
primaries.

“According to a source close to the situation, the Clintons called people
on the board of NBC’s parent company General Electric to say, ‘Well, this
is outrageous, how NBC News and MSNBC are handling this, and we need to do
something about it,'" Halper writes. "Before long, GE’s chairman Jeffrey
Immelt, was on the phone with Jeff Zucker, the president and CEO of NBC
Universal at the time, and (former NBC News president) Steve Capus asking,
‘What the hell is going on over there? Why are my board members talking
about the reporter, and why is your reporter referring to Chelsea as a
prostitute?’”

The strife between Shuster and the Clintons was well documented during the
2008 campaign and a series of heated emails between Shuster and Clinton
spokesperson Philippe Reines were published by POLITICO at the time.  At
one point, the Clinton campaign threatened to pull out of a debate hosted
by NBC News.

In the book, Halper notes that Wolfson also purposely didn’t connect
Shuster to the Clintons when he wanted to personally apologize, instead
telling him to email Clinton aide Huma Abedin. Wolfson then went to the
press and said Shuster was refusing to apologize.

The Clinton campaign, Halper writes, “wanted to make it look like men, such
as David Shuster, were beating up on the woman who could be the first
female president of the U.S.”

Shuster ended up being suspended for two weeks. He was fired in 2010 after
filming a pilot for CNN without MSNBC's approval. He now hosts a show on Al
Jazeera America.

“Finally, [the campaign] sent a message to the media: You may like Obama
more than Hillary, but you’d better watch what you say because we have the
power to destroy you," Halper writes. "To deliver their message, a popular
ex-president, the nation’s most famous senator, and their powerful friends
bullied a relatively obscure reporter with powerless friends and spineless
bosses. While they were at it, the press and public were misled about his
attempts to apologize."

Halper’s book leaked last week when a man identifying himself as Robert
Josef Wright sent out a blast email to media executives, editors and
journalists with PDFs of all 317-pages. The book is scheduled to hit
shelves on Tuesday.

Update (5:30 p.m.):

Clinton spokesperson Nick Merrill said in an email that Halper should be
treated the same as "Blood Feud" author Ed Klein and "Her Way" author Jeff
Gerth.

"Daniel Halper has joined the discredited and disgraced ranks of Ed Klein
and Jeff Gerth, his book came and went so fast that nobody bothered to read
it, and nobody will," Merrill said.

*Calendar:*

*Sec. Clinton's upcoming appearances as reported online. Not an official
schedule.*

·  ~ July 23-27 – Boston, MA: Sec. Clinton speaks at the Ameriprise
Financial Conference (Politico
<http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/george-w-bush-hillary-clinton-substitute-speaker-109010.html>
)

·  July 23 – Oakland, CA: Sec. Clinton helps launch new Too Small To Fail
effort in Oakland (Twitter
<https://twitter.com/danmericaCNN/status/491357078083371008>)

·  July 29 – Saratoga Springs, NY: Sec. Clinton makes “Hard Choices” book
tour stop at Northshire Bookstore (Glens Falls Post-Star
<http://poststar.com/news/local/clinton-to-sign-books-in-spa-city/article_a89caca2-0b57-11e4-95a6-0019bb2963f4.html>
)

·  August 9 – Water Mill, NY: Sec. Clinton fundraises for the Clinton
Foundation at the home of George and Joan Hornig (WSJ
<http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2014/06/17/for-50000-best-dinner-seats-with-the-clintons-in-the-hamptons/>
)

·  August 28 – San Francisco, CA: Sec. Clinton keynotes Nexenta’s OpenSDx
Summit (BusinessWire
<http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20140702005709/en/Secretary-State-Hillary-Rodham-Clinton-Deliver-Keynote#.U7QoafldV8E>
)

·  September 4 – Las Vegas, NV: Sec. Clinton speaks at the National Clean
Energy Summit (Solar Novis Today
<http://www.solarnovus.com/hillary-rodham-clinto-to-deliver-keynote-at-national-clean-energy-summit-7-0_N7646.html>
)

·  October 2 – Miami Beach, FL: Sec. Clinton keynotes the CREW Network
Convention & Marketplace (CREW Network
<http://events.crewnetwork.org/2014convention/>)

·  October 13 – Las Vegas, NV: Sec. Clinton keynotes the UNLV Foundation
Annual Dinner (UNLV
<http://www.unlv.edu/event/unlv-foundation-annual-dinner?delta=0>)

·  ~ October 13-16 – San Francisco, CA: Sec. Clinton keynotes
salesforce.com Dreamforce
conference (salesforce.com
<http://www.salesforce.com/dreamforce/DF14/keynotes.jsp>)