Summary
We’re going to wrap up our live-blog coverage for the evening. We want to leave with this inspiring picture of the super moon over NYC:
Incredible photo of #supermoon over One World Trade Center. (📷 via plongpix.x.x/Instagram) @abc7ny pic.twitter.com/m5ZQNtrrXU
— New York City Alerts (@NYCityAlerts) November 15, 2016
Beautiful and inspiring, isn’t it? Now scroll through our compilation of super moon photography fails:
I do love an underwhelming photo. #Supermoonfail: the internet's worst photographs of the perigee full moon https://t.co/Nlaucg3OMi
— Claire Phipps (@Claire_Phipps) November 15, 2016
See you tomorrow!
Additional praise rolling in for the late Gwen Ifill:
Gwen Ifill was a trailblazer and a bright light in journalism. She informed and challenged us, and did so with grace. I will miss her.
— Bill Clinton (@billclinton) November 15, 2016
Here’s Ryan Lizza in the New Yorker on the appointment of former Breibart duce Steve Bannon as chief White House strategist and senior adviser to Donald Trump:
“I’m a Leninist,” Steve Bannon told a writer for The Daily Beast, in early 2014. “Lenin wanted to destroy the state, and that’s my goal, too. I want to bring everything crashing down, and destroy all of today’s establishment.”
At the time, Bannon was the executive chairman of Breitbart News, the far-right news site. When he became the C.E.O. of Donald Trump’s campaign, in August, he told the writer that he had no recollection of the conversation. On Sunday, Trump, in his first personnel decisions as President-elect, named Bannon as his chief strategist and senior counselor and Reince Priebus, the Republican National Committee Chairman, his chief of staff.
The press release from the Trump transition staff said that Bannon and Priebus would be “equal partners.” This is a signal to Washington that Bannon will be the most powerful person in Trump’s White House. On November 6, 2008, the day after his election, Barack Obama made just one personnel announcement: that Congressman Rahm Emanuel would be his chief of staff. Every staff member in the Obama White House reported to Emanuel, including political advisers such as David Axelrod. Even in the George W. Bush White House, which at first had a weak chief of staff, Andy Card, and a powerful political adviser, Karl Rove, everyone, including Rove, formally reported to Card.
Trump has indicated that, in his White House, Bannon will be first among equals.
No request for security clearance for kids – Trump official
A Trump transition official has told the media pool that Trump has not requested top-level security clearances for his children and that the children have not started filling out paperwork for such clearances, contradicting earlier reports by CNN and CBS News (see earlier post).
What’s the next goal for Democrats? Here’s a piece of it: Elect state governors who are in charge of approving the redistricting plans for congressional seats that will happen in 2020, with the Census.
2016 was a disaster for Democrats in every way, including at the state level. Republicans now claim 33 governorships, which is the record going back almost 100 years, the Washington Post points out. Republicans now are sliding into control of an all-time, historic high 69/99 state legislative bodies.
That leaves a lot of room for state-level activism for Republicans on abortion, voting rights, same-sex marriage and transgender discrimination, immigration, drug laws and more.
So the Democratic goal is to elect some governors, stop further gerrymandering and along the way stand up Democratic legislatures that can pass some laws making citizens less vulnerable – in the current political climate “less vulnerable” seems to capture it – to national-level chaos, and that would create a base for greater influence at the national level
@LPDonovan Could easily see a ton of Dem pickups in Gov races: ME/MA/MD/FL/MI/OH/WI/IA/NM/NV/NJ
— Jeff B/DDHQ (@EsotericCD) November 14, 2016
Which will deny Republicans control of redistricting in 2020. https://t.co/QGclv51NSl
— Sean T at RCP (@SeanTrende) November 15, 2016
Updated
Clinton as quoted: 'no one is sorrier than me'
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama urged their party to reflect on what went wrong as Democrats search to find a new leader and rebuild after her stunning defeat to Donald Trump.
On a conference call with congressional lawmakers, Clinton offered a raw evaluation of how the loss has impacted her but encouraged Democrats to fight for the party’s values harder than ever in the Trump era.
“No one is sorrier than me,” she said, according to a Democrat on the call. “Heartbreaks don’t heal overnight, and this one won’t.”
Clinton said the party must “analyze” and warned lawmakers against becoming “distracted or divided” in the many fights ahead.
Meanwhile, Obama addressed supporters on a conference call late on Monday, congratulating Clinton on a “history-making race” while acknowledging how painful it is to lose.
“Expected losses are hard enough, unexpected ones are just worse,” Obama said. “I was telling my team, you’re allowed to mope for a week and a half, maybe two if you really need it. But after that, we’ve got to brush ourselves off and get back to work. We’ve got to come together and focus on a way ahead.”
Like Clinton, Obama encouraged the party to evaluate what went wrong and to rework its strategy at a grassroots level.
“We have better ideas,” Obama said. “But they have to be heard for us to actually translate those ideas into votes and ultimately into action.”
Read the full report:
Pence to meet Trump on Tuesday to discuss cabinet picks
The Trump transition press pool has conducted an interview just then with Jason Miller, a Trump communications adviser, who came down to the Trump Tower lobby around 8:15pm and spoke briefly to reporters.
What follows is the pool’s transcription of the encounter in full:
Q: Should we expect any cabinet announcements or senior White House appointments this week?
A: “Vice President-elect Mike Pence will be here tomorrow meeting with President-elect Trump. They’ll be reviewing a number of names. There has been a lot of work put in by both the Vice President-elect and a number of members of the transition team.
“They’ll be meeting tomorrow. I don’t want to put a finite time table. Obviously, inauguration day is not getting further away. And people need to get going. This is an absolute top priority understood by the President-elect and the Vice President-elect.”
Q: Any decisions coming tomorrow?
A: “If the Vice President-elect is getting together with the President-elect to discuss names, then I would say that it’s serious, obviously.”
Q: Noting that Senator Jeff Sessions entered the building earlier tonight – is he under consideration for Secretary of Defense, State, etc.?
A: “I’m a huge fan of Sen Sessions and the President-elect will be lucky to have him in any capacity.”
Q: Are Rudy Giuliani and John Bolton finalists for the Secretary of State position?
A: “You can’t believe everything you read. I don’t want to play the speculation game as far as names. There’s a thorough, detailed process that the Vice President-elect and the transition team are going through and the President-elect will make the decision and let us know.”
Q: [Right-wing talk-radio host] Laura Ingraham for White House Press Secretary?
A: “You’re going to see a number of different names that are ultimately becoming a part of the President-elect’s administration. There will be non-traditional names, a number of people who have had wide-ranging success in a number of different fields; wide-ranging success in business … People will be excited when they see the type of leaders the President-elect brings into this administration.”
Q: Comment on Gwen Ifill’s passing?
A: [Paraphrasing]: Soon to come. Monitor Facebook and Twitter accounts.
The post-it protest – group-therapy – public art project in the Union Square-area subway transfer tunnel started by artist Levee has been joined by the governor:
NY State holds the torch high
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) November 15, 2016
-Andrew pic.twitter.com/SCoeaVShzO
Here’s some new Trump-inspired protest art by also-New-Yorker Hope Gangloff:
Here’s a selection of photos of protests around the country Monday:
Skids... crashes:
Happy birthday to this future president. pic.twitter.com/JT3HiBjYdj
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 26, 2016
(h/t @davidseawright)
Does that Bernie onesie have footies?
One of the Bernie Sanders fans who turned out for his book signing in Manhattan. pic.twitter.com/bGat8eY8Xc
— John Wagner (@WPJohnWagner) November 15, 2016
(h/t @daveweigel)
Updated
In which writer Alice McKeon imagines running into Mitt Romney in the deli line and hashing out this whole Trump business with a former Republican presidential nominee who seemed, to her, unacceptable at the time:
If I saw Mitt in the deli aisle & pleaded w/ him to step up and fulfill his true role: Buzzkill-in-Chief... https://t.co/hSMxNFkJOU
— Alice McKeon (@alicemcmini) November 14, 2016
Here’s the top of the Medium post:
Excuse me, Mr. Romney? Hi. Wow, I’ve never seen the deli line this long. What number do you have? Yikes… So, how are you doing? I know that this week must have been a bit of a blow for you. I mean, a racist, chauvinistic imbecile accomplished something that you, a successful businessman and scion of the Republican Party couldn’t. It doesn’t seem right, even for someone who voted against you with a fair bit of glee.
What I wouldn’t now give for your “binder full of women” to be the worst thing said about women on a campaign. It almost sounds quaint. I still don’t think that you would give us control of our own reproductive rights, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you casually said that women had smaller brains because of our head shapes. But I can virtually guarantee that you have never grabbed anyone’s nether regions without their consent.
Warren: president 'should condemn bigots'
Senator Elizabeth Warren goes after Trump on his White House hire Steve Bannon:
Tell us, @realDonaldTrump: You said you'd be a "President for all." Then why are you embracing the ugliness & divisiveness of your campaign?
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) November 15, 2016
Steve Bannon promoted white nationalism, @realDonaldTrump. He's been praised by KKK supporters & denounced by @splcenter & @ADL_National .
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) November 15, 2016
The President of the United States should condemn bigots, @realDonaldTrump. Not give them a West Wing office to decide our country's future.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) November 15, 2016
CBS News joins CNN in reporting that Trump has sought top secret security clearances for his children. SEE UPDATE: Trump camp denies.
.@realDonaldTrump team has asked @WhiteHouse how his children could receive top secret security clearances - details on @CBSEveningNews
— Julianna Goldman (@juliannagoldman) November 14, 2016
Trump had said he would avoid a conflict of interest as president in his business dealings - foreign holdings, debt who knows where, real estate angles, stocks and bonds (we have no idea what he really owns because he did not release his tax returns) – by putting the company / companies in a blind trust under his kids’ management.
But if the reports of his seeking clearance for his children are correct, the kids would be involved in government, meaning they would be prone to the same conflicts of interest. This is going to be messy.
The Trump kids are gonna run the real estate/licensing empire, the transition team, and the situation room.
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) November 14, 2016
Updated
Senator John McCain joins in the outpouring of affection and mourning for journalist Gwen Ifill:
Gwen Ifill will be remembered for her world-class reporting that informed us all & inspired a new generation of journalists. RIP.
— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) November 14, 2016
The Texas Tribune’s Patrick Svitek takes the view from Texas on whether Trump’s border wall has to be an actual huge wall. No, is the view:
A lot of this going around among Texas Republicans, it seems https://t.co/idjhdoVeO2 (via @jrud) #txlege pic.twitter.com/zWo7A0xPaG
— Patrick Svitek (@PatrickSvitek) November 14, 2016
Exit poll data is not always reliable so wade into this pool with fair warning. But Pew Research found that Clinton’s share of the Latino vote was lower than in 2012, all of Trump’s threats about deportations notwithstanding:
Hillary Clinton won 65% of Latino voters on Tuesday, according to National Election Pool exit poll data, a level of Democratic support similar to 2008, when 67% of Hispanics backed Barack Obama. However, Clinton’s share of the Latino vote was lower than in 2012, when 71% of Latinos voted to reelect Obama.
We bring it up because elections analysts are still turning up gems of information in the results, which of course represent hard numbers (whereas the exit polls rely on voter self-reporting, sampling and weighting and other dark polling arts):
Here's a statistic: Obama won 86% in Starr County, TX (the most Latino county in the nation). Clinton got 79%.
— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) November 14, 2016
Clinton wins New Hampshire
That’s correct – New Hampshire has only just now been called. Clinton picks up 4 additional electoral votes.
BREAKING: Clinton wins New Hampshire. @AP race call at 5:02 p.m. EST. #Election2016 #APracecall pic.twitter.com/x13S2RNCia
— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) November 14, 2016
That makes the tally 290 Trump -232 Clinton.
You might notice that doesn’t add up to 538. That’s because Michigan, with its 16 electoral votes, has yet to be called. Trump appeared to be about 10,000 votes ahead of Clinton in the state with an unknown number of provisional ballots, absentee ballots and other outstanding ballots to be counted (or recounted).
Obama says he'll encourage Trump to leave DREAMers alone
Last question: 750,000 undocumented immigrants gave information to the Obama administration to enroll in a program giving them deferred action on deportation; will you shield that info from Trump? And what do you say about Guantanamo Bay under Trump?
On the deferred action program, Daca, for Dreamers: “I will urge the president-elect... to think long and hard before they are endangering the status of what for all practical purposes are American kids. These are kids who were brought here by their parents... by definition if they’re part of this program they are solid wonderful young people of good character, and it is my strong belief that the majority of the American people would not want to see suddenly those kids have to start hiding again... that’s something i will encourage the president-elect to look at.”
On Guantanamo:
“It is true that I have not been able to close the darn thing because of the congressional restrictions placed on us,” but he’s reduced population to fewer than 100. “There is a group of very dangerous people that we have strong evidence of having been guilty of committing terrorist acts but ... because of the nature of that evidence” they can’t be tried in open court.
Obama: “It’s not just a matter of what I’m willing to do. One of the things that you discover as president is that there are all these rules and norms and laws... and the people that work for you are also subject to these rules and norms... I am very proud that we have been able to leave this administration without significant scandal... I will put this administration against any administration in history, and the reason is because frankly we listened to the lawyers. We had ...people in every agency.”
“One of my suggestions to the incoming president is that he take that part of the job seriously as well... if you actually look at the facts, it works. And this is just one example of the numerous ways in which the federal government is much better than it was.
Iran nuclear deal question. What would you counsel Trump? And on Syria.
Obama:
“Iran is an example of the gap in the rhetoric... and the reality. There was a really robust debate about the merits of the Iran deal before it was completed... it was a serious debate. Ultimately we were able to persuade members of Congress... the main argument against it was that Iran ... would cheat. We know have over a year of evidence that they have abided by the agreement...
“Keep in mind this is not just an agreement between us and the Iranians, this is the P5+1, some of our closest allies...
Nothing on Syria.
Oh wait he has to double back after press persistence.
“Syria is a much more messy situation” than Libya, Obama says. “We have made every effort to try to bring about a political resolution. John Kerry has spent an infinite amount of time trying to negotiate with Russians and Iranians... the situation is obviously different” (from Libya). “We’re going to have to continue to try to pursue a political solution.”
“I recognized that that has not worked,” Obama says of his Syria policy. “It is something that I continue to think about every day,” looking for “Some formula for suffering to end. .. if you have a Syrian military that is committed to killing its people indiscriminately... and it is supported by Russia... and Iran actively supporting that regime, and we are supporting what has to be our No.1 national security priority... that the situation is not the same as it was in Libya...I continue to believe that that was the right thing to do.”
Updated
Obama says the presidency magnifies personal foibles. “I can’t keep track of paper... so pretty quickly after I’m getting stacks of briefing books... I say to myself I’ve got to figure out a system... and I’ve got to find some people who can help me... that seems trivial but...” it’s not.
“There are going to be certain elements of his temperament that will not serve him well unless he recognizes them and corrects them.”
Obama on Trump: 'I don't think he is ideological'
Question: did anything about Trump surprise you? Does anything concern you?
“We had a very cordial conversation. That didn’t surprise me... because he is obviously a gregarious person. He is somebody who likes to mix it up and to have a vigorous debate. What’s clear was that he is able to tap into yes the anxieties but also the enthusiasm of his voters in a way that was impressive. And I said so to him. Because to the extent that there were a lot of those who missed the Trump phenomenon... that connection that he was able to make.. that was impervious to events that might have sunk another candidate, that’s powerful stuff.
Trump, says Obama, has “Fewer set, hard and fast policy prescriptions ... I don’t think he is ideological. I think ultimately he is pragmatic in that way, and that can serve him well..”
“Do I have concerns? Absolutely. Of course I have concerns... The federal government and our democracy is not a speedboat, it is an ocean liner. ... It took a lot of hard work... even in our first two years... I advised him.. before he commits to certain courses of action, he’s really dug in and thought through... where we have a difference... and that’s the affordable care act... obviously this has been the holy grail for republicans.. now that has been taken as an article of faith, that this is terrible... but now that Republicans are in charge they’ve got to take a look... we’ve got 20m people who have insurance who didn’t have it before... health care costs have generally gone up at a comparatively slower rate... people who have health insurance are benefitting in ways they might not be aware of ... free mammograms... it’s one thing to characterize this thing as not working... what happens to those 20m people who have health insurance? Are you gonna just kick them off? ... are you gonna repeal the provision that ensures that... you’re not discriminated against because you’ve got a preexisting condition? That’s really popular?”
Obama also mentions kids staying on parents’ health insurance till age 26. That’s popular too.
If they can come up with something better, Obama says, “I’ll be the first one to say that’s great. Congratulations. If on the other hand, whatever they’re proposing results in millions of people losing coverage... then we’re going to have a problem.”
Trump tells Putin he wants 'strong and enduring relationship'
The Trump transition team says Trump spoke with Putin who congratulated Trump. Trump ‘is very much looking forward to having a strong and enduring relationship with Russia’:
President-elect Donald J. Trump today spoke with President Vladimir Putin, who called to offer his congratulations on winning a historic election. During the call, the two leaders discussed a range of issues including the threats and challenges facing the United States and Russia, strategic economic issues and the historical U.S.-Russia relationship that dates back over 200 years.
President-elect Trump noted to President Putin that he is very much looking forward to having a strong and enduring relationship with Russia and the people of Russia.
Obama says presidency will wake Trump up to reality 'pretty quick'
Question: You said Trump was unfit. Now how do you feel? Qualified? And what do you say to people concerned about Trump and supporters hostile to minorities -- especially Steve Bannon, a proponent of alt-right/ white nationalism?
“It would not be appropriate for me to comment on every appointment that the president-elect starts making... the people have spoken. Donald Trump will be the next president. The 45th president of the US. And it will be up to him to appoint a team to ... serve him well and reflect his policies.
“That’s how democracy works. That’s how this system operates. When I won there were a number of people who didn’t like me, annd didn’t like what I stood for...
“It takes a while for people to reconcile themselves with that new reality..
“Hopefully it’s a reminder that elections matter, and voting counts... we ended up having 43% of the country not voting who were eligible to vote... given that president Trump is now trying to balance what he said in the campaign with working with those who disagreed with him... I think it’s important to us to let him make his decisions... I think the American people will judge over the next couple of years whether they like what they see...
“My role is to make sure that when I hand off this White House, that it is in the best possible shape, and that I’ve been as helpful as I can to him in going forward... and my advice to the president-elect when we had our discussions is that campaigning is different from governing. I think he recognizes that. I think he’s sincere in wanting to be a successful president... I think he’s going to try as best he can to make sure that he delivers not only for the people that voted for him but for the people at large....
“It’s only been six days. I think it’s important for him... to be able for him to distinguish what he was campaigning on and what is practical, what he can achieve...
“I did say to him, as I’ve said publicly, that because of the nature of the campaigns, and the bitterness and the ferocity of the campaigns, that it’s really important to try to send some signals of unity, and to try to reach out to minority groups and women and others that were concerned about the tenor of the campaign. And I think that that’s something that he will want to do. But that’s all happening real fast, he’s got commitments to supporters... it’s a little too early to start making judgments on that.”
On qualifications:
Obama: “He mobilized a big chunk of the country... regardless of what experience or assumptions he brought to the office, this office has a way of waking you up. Those aspects of his positions or predispositions that don’t match up with reality he will find shaken up pretty quick, because reality has a way of asserting itself. Some of his gifts that allowed him to execute one of the biggest upsets in history, hopefully he’ll be able to put those to use...”
Question: what’s the presidential learning curve like?
Obama: “About a week ago I started feeling pretty good.” Ha. “The learning curve always continues. This is a remarkable job... It is a constant flow of information and challenges and issues... that is truer now than it has ever been” because of information flow and the connectivity of the world. He says 50 years ago Syria might be unheard of in the USA. Or a southeast Asia financial crisis might not impact US markets.”
“During the Bay of Pigs crisis, JFK had about two weeks before anyone reported on it. Imagine that.”
In talking with Trump, Obama says, he pointed out that “how you staff, particularly your chief of staff, national security adviser, White House council – a process and a system... understanding that the president is going to be the ultimate decision-maker, that’s got to be set up right away...
“As a consequence of that team, I’ve been able to make good decisions. And if you don’t have that around you, you’ll get swamped..”
They talked about the fact that “I’d been encouraged by his statements on election night about unity... the reset that can happen after an election, all those things are important... I think it’s important to give him the room and the space... I emphasized to him that look in an election like this... gestures matters, and how he reaches out to groups that may not have supported him, how he signals his interest in their concerns, those are the kinds of things that can actually set a tone...
On his personal entry in the job,
“I didn’t really have time to worry about being at ease because we were losing about 800,000 jobs a month.. it’s hard to find an analogous situation...
“I was too busy to worry about how acclimated I was feeling... in this situation... obviously there are people out there who are feeling deeply disaffected... [but] the unemployment rate is as low as it’s been in eight, nine years... the stock market is hovering around its all-time high... we have challenges internationally... [but] significant progress in Iraq and Mosul is now increasingly being retaken by Iraqi security forces supported by us...gas is two bucks a gallon...
“He will have time and space to make judicious decisions.... they’ve got time to consider what exactly they want to achieve.”
Obama says Democrats must 'show up everywhere' to win
On the Democrats: “Should not waver on our core beliefs and principles... an economy that works for everybody... America is inclusive not exclusive... dignity.. of every child...” without discrimination.
“There are going to be a core set of values that shouldn’t be up for debate,” Obama says. “But how we organize politically is probably something we should spend some time thinking about...
“Good ideas don’t matter if people don’t hear them.. given population distribution across the country, we have to compete everywhere, we have to show up everywhere, we have to work at a grassroots level. I won Iowa... because I spent 87 days going to every small town and VFW fish fry county fair... there’s some counties maybe I won that people didn’t expect because people had a chance to see you...
“The challenge for a national party is how do you dig in there and create those kinds of structures so that people have a sense of what it is that you have to stand for.”
Can’t do it with a national press strategy especially given “splintering of the press,” Obama says. State and local parties, school board races, state rep races and city council races... “I’m optimistic that that will happen,” Obama says.
He reminds the press of 2005 Democratic setbacks. He says he’s optimistic.
Obama says Trump committed to Nato
Question: What will you tell world leaders about Trump? And the Democratic party – where now?
Obama: “One of the great things about the United States is that when it comes to world affairs the president obviously is the leader of the executive branch... but the influence and the work that we have is the result not just of the president... countless interaction of the military... diplomats... intelligence officers... development workers...
“There’s enormous continuity beneath the day-to-day news...that will continue.”
“In my conversation with the president-elect, he expressed a great interest in maintaining our core relationships...”
That includes Nato, Obama says.
“There is no weakening in resolve when it comes to America’s commitment to maintaining a strong and robust Nato relationship.”
Obama offers condolences to Gwen Ifill’s family, the journalist whose death from cancer at age 61 was just announced.
“Gwen was a friend of ours, she was an extraordinary journalist,” Obama begins, and goes on to read a lengthy warm and admiring statement paying tribute to Ifill.
Here’s Obama. He’s talking about his upcoming trip to Peru, Greece and Germany.
“I wanted to see if I could clear out some of the underbrush” of questions before the overseas trip, he says.
“My team stands ready to accelerate in the next steps that are required to ensure a smooth transition, and we are going to be staying in touch as we travel,” Obama says. While not prescribed explicitly in the constitution, Obama says, “It is one of those norms that are vital to a functioning democracy, similar to those norms of... tolerance...reason...facts.”
Obama says “as long as I’m president” those norms will be respected. That’s not very long at all now.
A not-so-subtle dig at Trump.
Obama to speak
We’re expecting to hear from the president shortly, in Obama’s first press conference since Donald Trump’s election as the next US president.
Here’s a live video stream:
Transcript of first lady Michelle Obama’s speech at a homeless veterans’ organization:
MRS. OBAMA: “Thank you all so much.” (Applause.) “You all, please, please. Thanks so much. Welcome.”
AUDIENCE MEMBER: “Run for President!” (Laughter.)
MRS. OBAMA: “Be quiet back there.” (Laughter.)
Gwen Ifill, the veteran journalist and co-anchor of PBS’ Newshour with Judy Woodruff, died on Monday of cancer, the network said. She was 61.
A former newspaper reporter, Ifill switched to television and worked for NBC News and PBS. She moderated two vice-presidential debates.
She took a leave from her nightly show for health reasons earlier this year, never making public her illness. A week ago, she went out on leave again, taking her away from election night coverage.
Sara Just, PBS Newshour executive producer, called Ifill “a standard bearer for courage, fairness and integrity in an industry going through seismic change”.
Lawyers file motion to delay Trump University trial until after inauguration
Attorneys for Donald Trump have filed a motion to delay until after the presidential inauguration a class-action fraud lawsuit involving the president-elect and his now-defunct Trump University.
In the motion filed on Saturday in San Diego federal court, Trump lawyer Daniel Petrocelli argued that the extra months would give both sides time to possibly reach a settlement.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Petrocelli had asked to postpone the trial until sometime soon after the 20 January inauguration, to allow Trump to focus on the transition to the White House.
“The 69 days until inauguration are critical and all-consuming,” Petrocelli said in the filing, arguing that the president-elect should not be required to stand trial during that time.
Petrocelli had said at a hearing in San Diego on Thursday that he would request the delay, though US district judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is overseeing the lawsuit, told lawyers he was not inclined to put off the six-year-old case further and encouraged the parties to settle.
The lawsuit involves students who claim they were lured by false promises to pay up to $35,000 to learn Trump’s real estate investing “secrets” from his “hand-picked” instructors.
From the long-suffering transition pool in Trump Tower:
At 1:45 p.m., Don Jr and Eric Trump got off the elevators, walked past the pool and descended the escalators to the food court in Trump Tower. One of us asked Don Jr. how things were proceeding and he said, ‘Going well.’ They took seats at a table in the Trump Tower Grille.
While we were focused on that scene, Ivanka Trump apparently walked right by us and joined her brothers at the table. We are now holding near the Trump’s Ice Cream Parlor counter, awaiting further developments and considering whether it’s wise to abandon our post opposite the elevators.
At 2:02 p.m. Hope Hicks walked past us.
This seems to be the place to be.
Nigel Farage: Theresa May betraying national interest by rejecting my Trump offer
Nigel Farage has accused Theresa May of betraying the national interest after she rejected his offer to help Downing Street build a better relationship with US president-elect Donald Trump, Rowena Mason reports.
The outgoing Ukip leader was the first foreign politician to meet Trump since last week’s US election, but No 10 made it clear today that there was no need for a “third person” in the relationship between Downing Street and the White House.
In response, Farage reacted with fury, accusing “ghastly little apparatchiks” of excluding him, despite his attempt to help the prime minister.
“It just goes to show they are not really interested in the country or the national interest, they are more concerned about petty party politics and trying to keep me out of everything,” he said.
“If you think of America in terms of a business and think of them as a client we want to do business with, what would you do? You would use the person who has the connections. Nobody in this administration in the UK has any connections with the Trump team at all, and yet they are prepared on behalf of the country to cut off their noses to spite their faces.”
Newly emboldened, populist voices of the Democratic party called on Sunday for the grassroots revival of progressive forces in America, to remake the party and rebound following Donald Trump’s crushing victory over Hillary Clinton in the presidential election, Joanna Walters reports.
Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, who was defeated by Clinton in the Democratic primary, and Keith Ellison, a rising progressive star and a leading contender to become the new chair of the party, both called for redirecting of party efforts away from the wealthy liberal elite.
“We have to do a lot of rethinking,” Sanders told CBS on Sunday. “Democrats have focused too much on a liberal elite, which has raised incredible sums of money from wealthy people but has ignored … the working class, middle class and low income-people in this country.
“Now we need to create a grassroots movement of millions of people who want to transform this country.”
Sanders promised to fight Trump on environmental regulations, and said he wanted millions to campaign on forcing Republicans to action on climate change, which Trump has denied exists. He also repeated his rejection of Trump’s campaign rhetoric on immigrants, women, isolationism and Muslims, saying: “We will not accept racism, sexism or xenophobia.”
The senator, who has described himself as a democratic socialist, admitted he might find common ground on finance reform with Trump – if the Republican held to his word to be “the champion of working people” and has “the courage to stand up to Wall Street”. The senator also said he agreed with Trump on the need to rebuild America’s infrastructure and overhaul international trade deals.
“If he’s for creating a trade policy so that corporate America starts investing in this country, not in China, yeah, we can work together on that,” Sanders said.
But he said he feared the government would devolve into an oligarchy, with a small number of extremely wealthy people in control of the US economic levers. Sanders reserved criticism for Democrats, as well, in their deference to the rich. He criticized the party for failing to appreciate that average working Americans are working longer hours for low wages, are upset and “worried to death about the future generation”.
“Trump tapped that,” he said.
Donations to Planned Parenthood in Mike Pence's name surge
Donations to Planned Parenthood, an organization dedicated to providing access to women’s health care, in the name of vice president-elect Mike Pence have soared in the wake of last Tuesday’s election.
According to the BBC, the campaign by supporters of abortion access began five years ago, when Pence was still a member of Congress and introduced measures to ban federal funding for the organization. During his tenure in Congress and as governor of Indiana, Pence was a staunch opponent of abortion and embryonic stem-cell research.
Pence’s office has not returned a request for comment.
John Oliver’s first post-election show gave the host a chance to implore that people refrain from normalizing Donald Trump as president.
The comedian used the episode of his show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver to express his dismay and concern over the result. “It turns out that instead of showing our daughters that they could someday be president, America proved that no grandpa is too racist to become leader of the free world,” Oliver said.
From the transition pool:
Spotted at Trump Tower heading up on an elevator about 12:30 p.m.: the President-elect’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. He did not reply to our questions about the transition. Also spotted: Arizona state treasurer Jeff DeWit, whose Twitter account says he was COO/CFO for Trump campaign. Asked his role in the transition, Mr. DeWit said: ‘Getting things done.’
Supporters of Bernie Sanders are holding a sit-in at New York senator and likely future minority leader Chuck Schumer’s office:
Bernie supporters are staging a sit-in at Schumer’s office. https://t.co/xle35VKImE
— Anthony De Rosa (@Anthony) November 14, 2016
Speaking with the transition pool at Trump Tower, former Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway - we say “former” because there’s not really a campaign left to manage, is there? - spoke to reporters for roughly five minutes, by far the longest exchange any member of the president-elect’s team has spoken with the press pool since his election last Tuesday.
Conway said that Americans could “possibly” hear about nominations for cabinet secretaries as soon as this week, although she declined to go into specifics.
Of the appointments of RNC chair Reince Priebus as chief of staff and the controversial naming of Breitbart chair Steve Bannon as senior counsel to the president, Conway was positive.
“I’ve worked closely with both of them,” Conway said. “I think it’s a great team. And I’ll continue to work closely with both of them in some capacity to be decided. They complement each other. They both have the most important thing: the ear of the boss.”
On Bannon specifically, Conway was defensive:
I worked very closely with Steve Bannon. He’s been the general of this campaign. And frankly people should look at the full resume. He has got a Harvard business degree. He’s a Naval officer. He has success in entertainment. I don’t know if you’re aware of that. And he certainly was a Goldman Sachs managing partner. Brilliant tactician.
Does Bannon need to do anything to reassure people about his alt-right connections?
I’m personally offended that you think I would manage a campaign where that would be one of the going philosophies. It was not. 56 million-plus Americans or so saw something else. I know people weren’t prepared for us to win. And so we’re reaching around to find extreme examples of - or perhaps those extreme examples of those who support the president.
And on Trump’s Twitter use: “I’ll leave that to him.”
The president of the People For the American Way has released a statement in response to president-elect Donald Trump tipping Breitbart chief Steve Bannon as his senior advisor:
“By choosing Steve Bannon as chief strategist, Trump has made clear that he intends to carry the racism and anti-Semitism of his campaign straight into the White House,” said Michael Keegan in the statement. “The website Bannon ran is a home for the White Nationalist Right that elevates racist, xenophobic, anti-Semitic tirades and conspiracy theories.”
“Congressional Republicans need to stand up and call out Trump for choosing Bannon as a senior adviser and ‘equal partner’ to Trump’s Chief of Staff. This isn’t about partisan politics; no one with Bannon’s record should be anywhere near the White House.”
Chelsea Manning makes appeal for release before Trump takes office
Chelsea Manning has made a last-ditch appeal to Barack Obama to commute her sentence for leaking state secrets to time served, calling on him to release her from military prison so that she can have her “first chance to live a real, meaningful life”.
With the clock running down on the current presidency, the US soldier is making her last, and what her supporters hope will be the most promising, stab at persuading Obama to set her free after more than six years in custody. Their assumption is that the prospects of incoming president Donald Trump showing her leniency rank as slim, to none.
Manning has already served considerably more time behind bars than any other official leaker in recent US history. In a letter that accompanies the petition, her lawyers, Nancy Hollander and Vincent Ward, liken the soldier’s plight to the many other criminal offenders that have already been given a second chance by Obama through his clemency powers.
The lawyers remind the sitting president that Manning carried out her massive leak of state secrets in 2010, that included hundreds of thousands of US diplomatic cables and warlogs from Afghanistan and Iraq, at a time when she was under huge psychological stress as a result of being a transgender woman. They also emphasise the prisoner’s harsh treatment when she was first brought from Iraq to the US including a prolonged spell in solitary confinement – an issue that Obama has embraced in recent moves to restrict the use of solitary in federal penal institutions.
“Since Ms Manning’s arrest she has been subjected to torturous conditions while in military confinement. For nearly a year Ms Manning was held in solitary confinement while awaiting trial, and since her conviction, has been placed in solitary confinement for an attempted suicide,” they write.
The new petition, which was first reported by the New York Times, comes on top of a previous clemency request and an ongoing appeal against her 35-year military sentence. In supporting material, Daniel Ellsberg, the source of the legendary Pentagon Papers that revealed secrets about the Vietnam war, tells Obama: “It is my firm belief that Ms Manning disclosed this material for the purpose of informing the American people of serious human rights abuses, including the killing of innocent people by the United States troops in Iraq.”
Mike Pence goes to court to prevent release of email
Vice president-elect Mike Pence is fighting against the release of an email sent to him in his capacity as governor of Indiana by a political ally, the Indianapolis Star reports, after he redacted the email’s contents before they were included in the public record.
The email relates to an inquiry into Pence’s hiring of outside council to litigate a case against the Obama administration in 2014.
“It comes down to this: the court is giving up its ability to check another branch of government, and that should worry people,” Gerry Lanosga, an Indiana University media professor specializing in public records law, told the Indianapolis Star.
Pence’s refusal to release the contents of the email echoes the year-long brouhaha over the release of Hillary Clinton’s emails during her tenure as secretary of state - which likely helped cost Clinton the election.
From the long-suffering transition pool:
At 10:55 am Jason Miller, communications advisor to transition, entered the building and walked to the elevators. Pool swarmed him. We asked about timing of future appointments. ‘We’ll let you know as soon as we have something,’ he said. And he was gone. Pool resumed its vigil in the lobby.
With Donald Trump in the White House, tourists from other states may soon be able to bring their guns to shops of Fifth Avenue, the plaza at Rockefeller Center and other New York City sights.
Advocates say they expect Congress to finally pass a sweeping gun rights law that could dismantle local gun-carrying restrictions in states including New York, New Jersey, Maryland, California and Hawaii.
These changes could come soon. If Congress passes a federal right-to-carry law, it’s “certainly possible” that within a year or two, New York tourists might be able to carry a concealed weapon as they tour the city, said Robert Spitzer, a gun politics expert at SUNY Cortland.
Trump, who himself has a permit to carry a concealed firearm, has already endorsed a new reciprocity law as part of his gun rights platform. Concealed-carry permits from one state “should be valid in all 50 states”, his platform reads, calling the proposal “common sense”.
Gun control groups call national reciprocity “a threat to public safety” and have pledged to fight the legislation, as they have done before. But it’s not clear how successful they may be against a united government, with Republican majorities in the House and Senate and a Republican president.
Gun rights advocates say the law would be a major victory for civil rights. Passing national carry reciprocity is a top priority for the National Rifle Association, one of Trump’s most loyal supporters throughout his campaign.
“We now have a president and Congress who understand that our fundamental right to self-defense does not stop at a state’s borders,” NRA spokeswoman Jennifer Baker said in a statement. “Our members and gun owners across the country look forward to the day when President Trump signs this important legislation into law.”
Adam Winkler, a gun politics expert at the University of California Los Angeles law school, said: “Right now, the NRA has got its way. It’s not clear why it would be looking for major compromises.”
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Vile conspiracist Alex Jones - forgive the editorializing, but he does think that the Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax perpetrated by the Obama administration and that the families of the 20 children murdered at the Connecticut elementary school are faking it - has announced in a video that president-elect Donald Trump called him over the weekend to thank him for his hard work in getting him elected.
“He said, Listen, Alex, I just talked to kings and queens of the world, world leaders, you name it, but he said it doesn’t matter, I wanted to talk to you, to thank your audience, and I’ll be on the next few weeks to thank them,” said Jones, who believes that the government is secretly poisoning water with chemicals that turn frogs gay.
“I said, ‘is this is a private call?’ And he said ‘no, I want to thank your viewers, thank your listeners for standing up for this republic, we know what you did early on, throughout this campaign, standing up for what’s right.’”
A northern Michigan police officer has been suspended with pay after he was seen off-duty driving a pickup truck bearing a Confederate flag around a group protesting against the election of Donald Trump as president, the Associated Press reports.
There have been numerous reports of threats, intimidation and racially charged violence around the country since Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton on Tuesday.
Officer Michael Peters’ suspension was announced on Sunday by Traverse City police chief Jeff O’Brien, who earlier said an internal investigation would start on Monday to see whether Peters broke any departmental rules.
“He is not working as a police officer,” O’Brien told the Traverse City Record-Eagle. “I do not condone his actions.”
O’Brien confirmed that Peters was in a photo taken at Friday’s rally. The newspaper could not reach Peters for comment, and the Associated Press was unable to find a telephone number for Peters.
The Confederate battle flag is seen by many people as a symbol of hatred and intimidation of African Americans following the civil war and the end of slavery.
From the transition pool:
Greetings from the benches opposite the bank of elevators at Trump Tower. At 9:34 am we spotted Steve Mnuchin, a candidate for Treasury
Secretary, entering an elevator. Tacked to the back of the elevator was a picture of the President-elect.
Reince Priebus: Steve Bannon 'was a force for good' on the campaign
Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee and President-elect Donald Trump’s newly named White House chief of staff, appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe today and addressed concerns by Jewish groups about Breitbart News chief Steve Bannon’s new role as chief strategist and senior counselor to the president.
“He was a force for good on the campaign at every level that I saw, all the time,” Priebus said of Bannon. “I’ve only seen a generous, hospitable, wise person to work with.”
“That’s not the Steve Bannon that I know and I’ve spent a lot of time with him,” Priebus said, when asked about accusations of anti-Semitism against Bannon. “And here’s a guy who’s a Harvard Business School, London School of Economics, 10-year Naval officer advising admirals. He was a force for good on the campaign at every level that I saw, all the time. But look, you know, this is all about achieving president-elect Trump’s agenda and I can assure you - and I think it’s really important and I know that president-elect Trump wants everyone to understand this - that all Americans out there, no matter your race, your gender, your ethnic background, he wants to make you proud of our country. He wants to serve you.”
When pressed on Bannon - whose reign at Breitbart has seen the website become a hotbed of conspiracy theories, racial invective and not-so-coded anti-Semitism - by another panelist, Priebus doubled down, calling him “a generous, hospitable, wise person.”
“Well, I think everyone out there can agree that you judge people as you see them, not as other people have said,” Priebus said. “That’s what I would say, is that it’s what people do, it’s how people act on a day-to-day basis, and that’s nothing I’ve ever seen. I’ve only seen a generous, hospitable, wise person to work with.”
Today in transition 2016
Good morning and welcome to the Guardian’s politics live blog, where we are continuing to document every step of President-elect Donald Trump’s journey from upstart reality TV star to leader of the free world.
There are 67 days until Trump takes the oath of office.
- Trump sat down with 60 Minutes’ Lesley Stahl this weekend, for an interview that was light on specifics but heavy on gold leaf. Trump sent conflicting messages, particularly on his plans for a supreme court nominee, saying he will appoint justices who will send abortion rights “back to the states”. He said the issue of marriage equality didn’t trouble him “because it was already settled”.
- Trump also said he plans to deport as many as 3 million people, and that fencing will form part of his promised wall on the border with Mexico.
- Trump’s choice of his two most important aides has drawn highly polarized reviews. Trump named Republican National Committee chair Reince Priebus as chief of staff but also named Steve Bannon, campaign CEO and former chief executive of far-right website Breitbart, as “chief strategist and senior counselor”. Numerous individuals and organizations immediately said Breitbart’s extremism made Bannon a questionable choice.
- Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish watchdog group, said it was “a sad day when a man who presided over the premier website of the ‘alt-right’ – a loose-knit group of white nationalists and unabashed antisemites and racists – is slated to be a senior staff member in the ‘people’s house’.”
- In 2007, Bannon’s ex-wife accused him of making antisemitic remarks, which he denied. In 1996 he was charged with domestic violence in a case that was eventually dismissed. In August, the Guardian found that he was registered to vote in Florida, a key swing state, at an empty house where he did not live, in an apparent breach of election laws. Bannon subsequently changed his registration.
- Meanwhile, former House speaker and mooted Trump secretary of state Newt Gingrich, speaking on Face the Nation, denied that Bannon was antisemitic, citing Bannon’s work in finance and Hollywood as evidence that he couldn’t be.
- In his meeting with Barack Obama last week, Trump was reportedly sketchy on many of the details of actually running the world’s sole remaining superpower, according to the Wall Street Journal:
During their private White House meeting on Thursday, Mr Obama walked his successor through the duties of running the country, and Mr Trump seemed surprised by the scope, said people familiar with the meeting. Trump aides were described by those people as unaware that the entire presidential staff working in the West Wing had to be replaced at the end of Mr Obama’s term. After meeting with Mr Trump, the only person to be elected president without having held a government or military position, Mr Obama realized the Republican needs more guidance. He plans to spend more time with his successor than presidents typically do, people familiar with the matter said.
- Just because Trump has been briefed about how to launch a nuclear war, don’t think he doesn’t still rely on Twitter as the tip of his spear. On Sunday the businessman, who spent the weekend at Trump Tower forming his transition plans, tweeted: “Wow, the [New York Times] is losing thousands of subscribers because of their very poor and highly inaccurate coverage of the ‘Trump phenomena’.”
The @nytimes sent a letter to their subscribers apologizing for their BAD coverage of me. I wonder if it will change - doubt it?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 13, 2016
Happening today:
- Obama will host a call with the Democratic National Committee. After losing the White House and failing to take back either the House of Representatives or the Senate, and with looming supreme court nominations that will likely further isolate the left, the party is in the wilderness.
- Obama will give a press conference at 3.15pm ET, his first since Trump was elected.
- Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton will participate in a separate call with House minority leader Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats.
- Trump will be in Trump Tower. We will feed you reports from the long-suffering press pool at the Fifth Avenue ziggurat, as they come.
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