Evening summary
Thanks for tuning in, everyone.
- A “racist and offensive” yearbook photo from the Virginia governor Ralph Northam’s past resurfaced, prompting outrage and calls for his resignation.
- Donald Trump goes on Face the Nation to talk about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, just before jetting off to his beloved Mar-a-Lago.
Sign up for our morning briefing for a new perspective on the US. We’ll email you a summary of the day’s top stories and must-reads. Subscribe now.
Updated
With the government shutdown over, President Trump can finally return to Mar-a-Lago, the Associated Press is reporting.
Trump typically spends many winter weekends at the Palm Beach estate, golfing at another nearby private club he owns and dining on an outdoor terrace at Mar-a-Lago, where he catches up with friends and club members.
But that routine was interrupted by the partial government shutdown, which ended a week ago after a record 35 days.
The president curtailed his travel during the shutdown, dropping Mar-a-Lago from the itinerary as he sought to avoid travel that would not play well when one-fourth of the government was closed and hundreds of thousands of federal workers had to make do without pay.
The 2020 presidential candidates are weighing in on Virginia Governor Ralph Northam’s “racist and offensive” yearbook photo of a man in blackface and a man in a KKK hood.
It doesn’t matter if he is a Republican or a Democrat. This behavior was racist and unconscionable. Governor Northam should resign.
— Julián Castro (@JulianCastro) February 2, 2019
Leaders are called to a higher standard, and the stain of racism should have no place in the halls of government. The Governor of Virginia should step aside so the public can heal and move forward together.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) February 2, 2019
Trump badmouths Pelosi on “Face the Nation”
President Trump will appear on “Face the Nation” on Sunday, telling Margaret Brennan that Speaker Nancy Pelosi is “very bad for our country.”
Here’s an excerpt from the interview, in which he also tells Brennan that he thinks presidential hopeful and New Jersey Senator Cory Booker has “no chance.”
MARGARET BRENNAN: Let me just finish this bit on Congress because you had quite the showdown with Speaker Pelosi. What did you learn about negotiating with her?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well I think that she was very rigid - which I would expect - but I think she’s very bad for our country. She knows that you need a barrier. She knows that we need border security. She wanted to win a political point. I happen to think its very bad politics because basically, she wants open borders. She doesn’t mind human trafficking or she wouldn’t do this.
MARGARET BRENNAN: She offered you $1 billion for border security.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Excuse me?
MARGARET BRENNAN: She offered over a billion dollars for border security. She doesn’t want the wall.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: She’s- she’s costing the country hundreds of billions of dollars because what’s happening is when you have a porous border and when you have drugs pouring in, and when you have people dying all over the country because of people like Nancy Pelosi who don’t want to give proper border security for political reasons she’s doing a terrible disservice to our country. And on the fifteenth we have now set the table beautifully because everybody knows what’s going on because of the shutdown. People that didn’t have any idea - they didn’t have a clue what was happening - they now know exactly what’s happening. They see human trafficking. They see drugs and gangs and criminals pouring in. Now we catch them because we’re doing a great job. But if we had proper border security we wouldn’t have to work so hard and we could do an ever better job. And I think Nancy Pelosi is doing a terrible disservice to the people of our country. But she can—
MARGARET BRENNAN: You’re still going to have to deal with her though.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, she can keep playing her games but we will win because we have a better issue. On a political basis what she’s doing is – I actually think it’s bad politics, but much more importantly it’s very bad for our country.
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam released a statement apologizing for the blackface/KKK yearbook photo and admitting that he was wearing one of the “racist and offensive” costumes – but he did not not identify which one he wore.
Virginia governor statement after “black face” photo incident made public. pic.twitter.com/18xj9ggO5Q
— Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) February 1, 2019
Virginian Republicans are calling for Democratic Governor Ralph Northam to step down after a photograph from what appears to be his 1984 medical school yearbook page shows a person dressed as a member of the Ku Klux Klan and another wearing blackface, the New York Times is reporting.
It’s not clear if either of the men in the klan robe or blackface was actually Northam, but if so, Virginia Republicans call on him to step down: "If Governor Northam appeared in blackface or dressed in a KKK robe, he should resign immediately.” https://t.co/CQ2xXFDsYY
— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) February 1, 2019
“There are more drunks than old doctors in this world so I think I’ll have another beer,” reads the section, which also identified Dr. Northam’s alma mater as Virginia Military Institute and his medical interest as pediatrics.
A spokeswoman for the governor did not respond to a message on Friday. The existence of the photograph was first reported by the website Big League Politics, and Eastern Virginia Medical School provided a copy of the yearbook page on Friday afternoon.
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie “might run for president again”, BuzzFeed is reporting – just not against President Trump.
Christie, who published a political memoir this week, underlined that he has no interest in ever being a long-shot candidate.
“My personality is about having a chance to win,” he said. “I’m competitive. And so if I had a chance to win, I would do it.”
He said he’s had people come up to him on his book tour already who have said they want him to challenge Trump in 2020. But he ruled that out, saying he’s “not interested.”
“In 2024, I’ll be 62 years old. It’s still 10 years younger than the president is now. And like 15 years younger than Joe Biden. So, you know, the field is open. 60 is the new 50.”
Hey all, Vivian Ho on the West Coast, taking over for Adam Gabbatt. Happy Friday!
Summary
I’m handing over to my colleague Vivian Ho on the west coast now. Here’s where things stand:
-
Cory Booker announced his bid for president. The Senator kicked off his campaign with a hopeful message of inclusivity, promising: “We will rise”. Booker was elected in 2013 in New Jersey, becoming the state’s first black senator.
-
A judge is considering imposing a gag order in the Roger Stone case. No ruling has been made yet, and Judge Amy Berman Jackson said that if a gag order is imposed, it would apply only to the pending case. But the judge Stone not to treat the lead up to his trial “like a book tour”.
-
Donald Trump said there’s a “good chance” he’ll declare a national emergency in order to build his border wall. “We will be looking at national emergency because I don’t think anything’s going to happen. I think the Democrats don’t want border security,” Trump said.
-
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the US is pulling out of a key nuclear treaty. The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty bans long-range, ground-launched cruise missiles, but the Trump administration argued that Russia has been violating the pact.
Sign up for our morning briefing for a new perspective on the US. We’ll email you a summary of the day’s top stories and must-reads. Subscribe now.
I’ve had two emails from the Trump campaign today, both requesting ideas for his State of the Union address.
“I need your input before preparing my speech,” the first email begins.
“Nancy & Chuck don’t want me to speak, Mainstream Media outlets don’t want me to speak, and the Hollywood Elites don’t want me to speak,” it continues.
“But I know, Adam wants me to speak.” [sic]
There’s a link to what Trump is calling the “Official State of the Union Prep Survey”, where people can chip in their thoughts ahead of Trump’s big night.
Here’s a clip from Cory Booker’s announcement event earlier today, where he said he would not abolish private healthcare.
The issue of scrapping private healthcare entirely, versus implementing a single-payer system that still allows companies to offer private healthcare, could be one of the defining issues of the Democratic primaries.
The Medicare for all bill introduced by Bernie Sanders, which some members of the Senate have backed, would effectively abolish private healthcare – by prohibiting insurers from offering plans which compete with government-run healthcare.
To be clear (now that I have less frozen fingers), this was the exchange on health care
— Gideon Resnick (@GideonResnick) February 1, 2019
Reporter: Will you do away with private health care?
Booker: Even countries that have vast access to publicly offered healthcare still have private health care. So, no. https://t.co/nUGCG7fscn
President Donald Trump will say to a divided U.S. Congress in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday that Republicans and Democrats can “break decades of political stalemate,” according to an excerpt released by the White House, Reuters reports:
Trump will call on Congress to send him legislation to fund infrastructure projects, will update lawmakers on China trade talks and urge them to approve his trade pact with Canada and Mexico that would replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) a senior administration official told reporters on Friday.
“Together we can break decades of political statement, we can bridge old divisions, heal old wounds, build new coalitions, forge new solutions and unlock the extraordinary promise of America’s future. The decision is ours to make,” Trump will say.
Senator Jeff Merkley will bring an immigrant mother and child separated at the border to the State of the Union as his guests.
Albertina Contreras Teletor and her daughter Yakelin Garcia Contreras, who is turning 12 on Tuesday, will join the Oregon Democrat, CNN reported.
The invitation will “highlight the human suffering caused by President Trump’s child separation policy,” Merkley’s office said.
The Onion is poking some fun at Senator Cory Booker’s reputation as a corporate-friendly Democrat.
Cory Booker Apologizes To Wall Street Bankers For The Mean Things He’s Going To Have To Say About Them https://t.co/FqAZrIf719 pic.twitter.com/RJVafdoHkv
— The Onion (@TheOnion) February 1, 2019
Parkland shooting survivor and gun control activist Cameron Kasky will attend the State of the Union speech as the guest of California Rep. Eric Swalwell.
“In the face of unimaginable tragedy, Cameron Kasky has shown remarkable strength,” Swalwell said Friday, according to the Hill. “He stands at the forefront of the fight for action to address gun violence ... I’m proud to have Cameron join me at the U.S. Capitol, nearly one year after he faced a horror no kid should endure at school, to continue this fight, because there is no right more important than the right to live.”
The Trump administration’s top health official asked Congress on Friday to pass its new prescription drug discount plan and provide it to all patients, not just those covered by government programs like Medicare, the Associated Press reports:
The plan would take now-hidden rebates among industry players like drug companies and insurers and channel them directly to consumers when they go to pay for their medications.
Patients with high drug copays stand to benefit from the proposal, while people who take no prescription drugs, or who rely on generics mainly, would probably pay somewhat more, since premiums are expected to rise.
A day after unveiling the plan as a proposed regulation, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar raised the stakes by calling on Congress to make it law and broaden it to include people covered by employer health insurance, not just Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries.
“Congress has an opportunity to follow through on their calls for transparency ... by passing our proposal into law immediately and extending it into the commercial drug market,” Azar said in a speech at the Bipartisan Policy Center think tank.
Updated
The Los Angeles city attorney’s office will not bring misdemeanor charges over domestic violence allegations against lawyer Michael Avenatti.
City Attorney Mike Feuer said his office will hold hearings on the allegations and the matter remains open, but they have declined for now to bring charges, according to the Associated Press.
Actress Mareli Miniutti accused Avenatti - known for representing Donald Trump’s alleged paramour Stormy Daniels - in November of dragging her by the arm across a bedroom floor of his apartment after an argument.
The Los Angeles district attorney previously declined to bring felony charges, leaving it to the city attorney to consider a misdemeanor prosecution.
Avenatti said he was vindicated by the decision.
The informal hearings will allow both sides to present evidence and charges could be brought after that, per AP.
A court has ordered Avenatti not to contact or be near Miniutti.
Judge considering a gag order in Roger Stone case
A judge is considering imposing a gag order in the Roger Stone case, but no ruling has been made yet, CNN reports.
Stone appeared in court in Washington, DC Friday. The judge gave prosecutors and Stone’s lawyers until February 8 to make arguments on the issue.
Judge Amy Berman Jackson said that if a gag order is imposed, it would apply only to the pending case, so Stone would still be free to talk about foreign relations or Tom Brady, according to CNN. But she warned of the risk of Stone treating the lead up to his trial “like a book tour,” and expressed concern it could taint the jury pool. She said the case is “a criminal proceeding, not a public relations campaign,” according to the Los Angeles Times.
As expected Judge in Roger Stone case considering a gag order.
— Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) February 1, 2019
The judge cautioned Stone against treating the build up to the trial “like a book tour” and reminded him he should not argue his case “on the talk show circuit.”
Both sides will be given a chance to next Friday.
Judge Jackson said she’s considering a gag order in the Roger Stone case because it’s “a criminal proceeding, not a public relations campaign.”
— Chris Megerian (@ChrisMegerian) February 1, 2019
CNN reported that government prosecutors said they are looking at a trial date in October for Stone, who is accused of lying to Congress about the Russia investigation.
Updated
Senator Cory Booker answered questions from reporters outside his home in Newark, New Jersey as he kicked off his presidential bid.
On whether his campaign centered on a message of love would be tough enough to take on Donald Trump, he said, “Love ain’t easy.” Some of the most heroic figures in history, he added, are “folks that took on armed hate, bully club and dogs and fire hoses, with unarmed love, and they took down Jim Crow.”
Asked if he - like former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who made a failed run for president in 2016, would neglect his job duties during his run, he promised he would not. “The voters of New Jersey put their faith in me, and I will never ever let them down. I’m going to continue to be an active force in the Senate.”
In response to criticism he is too friendly to corporate interests, he cited his work to prohibit credit cards from overcharging customers. “Whatever you do when you’re in elected office, you’re going to get criticism,” he said.
As for criticism from the Republican National Committee that he had left Newark a crime-ridden mess, he said that was tantamount to “putting down our urban spaces” and “ridiculing, demeaning and degrading them.” He said that Newark under his watch built new office towers and hotels, opened supermarkets in food deserts, and improved the public schools. When he finished his term the city’s population was growing for the first time in decades, he said.
On his fervent support for charter schools, he said he intends to run “the boldest pro-public school teacher campaign there is,” and noted the state’s teachers union endorsed his Senate bid. He said he would not shy away from his positions. “I believe that we shouldn’t have one size fits all education,” he said.
Asked whether he believes Trump is a racist, Booker said, “I don’t know the heart of anybody. I’ll leave that to the Lord.” But he said Trump has failed “to condemn bigotry and racism,” and said of his comments calling African nations “shithole” countries and questioning a judge’s rulings because of his Hispanic heritage, “That’s bigoted language and there’s no way around that.”
Foxconn to build Wisconsin factory
Foxconn Technology said Friday it will build a factory in Wisconsin after the company’s chairman spoke to U.S. President Donald Trump, Reuters reports:
Reuters reported earlier this week that Foxconn was reconsidering plans to make advanced liquid crystal display panels at a planned $10 billion Wisconsin campus. But after conversations between Trump and Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou, the company said it would now move “forward with our planned construction of a Gen 6 fab facility,” which is a type of plant that produces displays.
The 20-million square foot campus marked the largest investment for a brand new location by a foreign-based company in U.S. history when it was announced at a White House ceremony in 2017. It was praised by Trump as proof of his ability to revive American manufacturing. The apparent reversal was seized upon by Democrats in Congress this week.
Trump tweeted Friday: “Great news on Foxconn in Wisconsin after my conversation with Terry Gou!”
Louis Woo, special assistant to Gou, told Reuters on Wednesday that Foxconn wants to create a technology hub in Wisconsin that would largely consist of research facilities. “In Wisconsin we’re not building a factory,” Woo said.
Foxconn said that global market conditions had “necessitated the adjustment of plans for all projects, including Wisconsin.”
The company’s statement Friday reiterated that the “campus will serve both as an advanced manufacturing facility as well as a hub of high technology innovation for the region.”
Foxconn’s statement did not reiterate its commitment to create 13,000 jobs as it did on Wednesday.
Updated
Republicans in South Dakota have introduced a bill to shorten the early voting period there.
The legislation would shrink the days of early voting from 46 days to 14, KELO reported.
The scene on Cory Booker’s block in Newark, via Yahoo News.
I’m outside Cory Booker’s House. I guess his neighbors like him. pic.twitter.com/5feITSVxQO
— Hunter Walker (@hunterw) February 1, 2019
White House adviser Kellyanne Conway’s take on Senator Cory Booker’s run for president: “I think Cory Booker often sounds like a Hallmark card, and not necessarily a person who’s going to tell you everything he’s accomplished in the United States Senate and as mayor of Newark.”
“I imagine the crowded Democratic field of presidential aspirants will be attacking each other’s records or lack thereof, so we’ll be sitting back with copious bowls of popcorn watching that,” Conway said Friday.
But she said that as a former New Jersey resident, “I don’t know what’s in Senator Booker’s record that he’s going to be able to point to and say, ‘Let me bring this to the entire nation.’”
Donald Trump says there's a "good chance" he'll declare national emergency to build border wall
Trump told reporters at the White House that he has little faith negotiations between the parties in Congress will produce an agreement on the wall.
“We will be looking at national emergency because I don’t think anything’s going to happen. I think the Democrats don’t want border security,” Trump said. “We’re getting nowhere with the Democrats. We’re not going to get anywhere with them.”
Trump forced a month-long government shutdown by refusing to approve a government funding bill unless it contained wall money. But he then agreed to a three-week funding bill, saying that if there’s no deal by the time it expires, he’ll either declare an emergency or there will be another shutdown.
“I think there’s a good chance that we’ll have to do that,” he said of the emergency declaration Friday.
Meanwhile, Trump continued to argue that the US is already building sections of the wall with what he called “cash on hand.” What’s actually going on is renovations and replacements on sections of border barrier that existed before Trump took office. There were 654 miles of barrier along the 1,954 mile border before Trump took office, according to the New York Times, but no new sections have been built during his administration. Construction of another 14 mile section is set to begin in February.
“The chant now should be, ‘Finish the wall,’” Trump said Friday in a new spin on his campaign chant.
Updated
Elizabeth Warren apologizes for DNA test
Senator Elizabeth Warren has apologized to the Cherokee nation for her decision to take a DNA test to prove her Native American heritage.
Warren called Bill John Baker, principal chief of the Cherokee nation, on Thursday to apologize, a spokeswoman for the tribe told the New York Times.
“She apologized for causing confusion on tribal sovereignty and tribal citizenship and the harm that has resulted,” said spokeswoman Julie Hubbard said. “The chief and secretary of state appreciate that she has reaffirmed that she is not a Cherokee nation citizen or a citizen of any tribal nation.”
The Massachusetts senator, who is running for president, sparked controversy when she released the test which found she had a Native American ancestor six to 10 generations ago.
Updated
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the Trump administration is “ is risking an arms race and undermining international security and stability” by pulling out of a nuclear arms control treaty with Russia
“Honestly, I don’t think she has a clue. I really don’t think Nancy has a clue,” Trump said in response while speaking to reporters at the White House. “She’s hurting our country very very badly.”
Trump said Russia has been in violation of the treaty. “One side has not been adhering to it. We have, but one side hasn’t. So unless they’re going to adhere, we shouldn’t be the only one,” he said. “We can’t be put at the disadvantage of going by a treaty limiting what we do when somebody else doesn’t go by that treaty.”
He expressed the hope that the US and Russia could negotiate a “new treaty that would be much better.”
Here’s former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie with some advice for Cory Booker, in an interview with the Washington Post.
“He was someone who was pro-voucher, he was pro-charter school, he was somebody who was tough on crime in the city of Newark. If he stays in that lane, and is the articulate, inspirational guy that he is, then I think he’s got a legitimate chance to be a serious potential problem for the president in the general election,” Christie said. “If he goes way wacky left, then he’s just going to be another one of those people, and he won’t be able to distinguish himself. I like him. He’s a friend.”
This Christie nudge of Booker via an interview w @costareports > https://t.co/igaDhzO6h3
— Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) February 1, 2019
The former Republican governor is drawing attention to some aspects of Booker’s record he may not be eager to highlight in a Democratic primary. In particular, Booker is well known for his support of charter schools. It’s a position that has always been controversial but had a significant constituency within the Democratic party not long ago, including in the Barack Obama administration. But the party has moved in the other direction as of late, and is more closely embracing teachers’ unions that have fought charters in cities like Los Angeles.
Interesting to see the heavy use of school imagery and an anecdote about public school, and no mention of charters. It’s the issue where Booker has probably fallen the most awkwardly outside the mainstream of where Democrats are going in 2019. https://t.co/sikPI6zZ15
— Matt Pearce 🦅 (@mattdpearce) February 1, 2019
Updated
Senator and presidential candidate Kamala Harris will bring as her guest to the State of the Union Trisha Pesiri-Dybvik, a federal worker who went without a paycheck during the government shutdown while attempting to rebuild her home after it was destroyed in a wild fire.
I’m thrilled to announce Trisha Pesiri-Dybvik as my guest to this year’s State of the Union. Trisha & her husband both went without a paycheck during the shutdown while rebuilding their home after losing it in a wildfire. America needs to hear their story. https://t.co/nTU5nU9Xgy
— Kamala Harris (@SenKamalaHarris) February 1, 2019
Harris might be Donald Trump’s most formidable challenger, if you ask Trump himself.
“I would say the best opening so far would be Kamala Harris,” he told the New York Times Thursday, pronouncing her name “Kameela.” “I would say in terms of the opening act, I would say, would be her.” Trump praised Harris’s campaign kick-off event, saying she had “a better crowd — better crowd, better enthusiasm.”
“Some of the others were very flat,” he went on. “I do think Elizabeth Warren’s been hurt very badly with the Pocahontas trap,” he said, referring to the derisive nickname he has given the Massachusetts senator over her claims to Native American heritage. “I think she’s been hurt badly. I may be wrong, but I think that was a big part of her credibility, and now all of a sudden it’s gone.”
In an interview on The View, Senator Cory Booker addressed his competitors in the Democratic primary field, which includes fellow senators Kamala Harris and Kirsten Gillibrand, whom he considers friends. “They are friends, they are sisters. There will be some sibling rivalry, but at the end of the day, we’re family,” he said.
Pressed on what sets him apart from the rest of the field, Booker noted he’s the only candidate who lives in an urban center. “I still live in the central ward of Newark, New Jersey - the only senator that goes home to a community that’s still a low-income, inner city community,” he said.
Sen. Cory Booker to @TheView on his just-announced presidential run: "The Democratic Party—I don't want it to be defined by what we're against, but by what we're for. I don't want it to be defined by beating Republicans, but by united Americans." https://t.co/A74naRpbX8 pic.twitter.com/cTqshe1vE9
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) February 1, 2019
Host Meghan McCain asked Booker about his much-mocked “I am Spartacus” moment during the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. In that exchange, Booker said he was going to release confidential documents in violation of Senate rules, which could theoretically have been punished with expulsion from the senate. Other senators stepped up to say that they too would violate the rule, prompting Booker to say, “This is about the closest I’ll ever have in my life to an ‘I am Spartacus’ moment.”
Sen. @CoryBooker says his so-called 'Spartacus' moment during the Kavanaugh hearings was "twisted," and calls it one of his "prouder moments sticking up for people." https://t.co/AtNehfV6R7 pic.twitter.com/rmWaalEoOM
— The View (@TheView) February 1, 2019
McCain said the moment was not “the best reflection” of Booker. “I hope people go back and watch that whole clip, because even that was twisted. What we do in this culture right now, it’s a tear down culture” the New Jersey senator responded. “That was one of my prouder moments, sticking up for people.”
Donald Trump’s re-election campaign ended 2018 with $19.2 million in the bank, the Hill reports.
Trump’s campaign and fundraising committees raised more than $21 million in the last three months of the year, according to a Federal Election Commission filing.
Donald Trump tweeted a defense this morning of his moves to withdraw troops from Syria and Afghanistan.
I inherited a total mess in Syria and Afghanistan, the “Endless Wars” of unlimited spending and death. During my campaign I said, very strongly, that these wars must finally end. We spend $50 Billion a year in Afghanistan and have hit them so hard that we are now talking peace...
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 1, 2019
....after 18 long years. Syria was loaded with ISIS until I came along. We will soon have destroyed 100% of the Caliphate, but will be watching them closely. It is now time to start coming home and, after many years, spending our money wisely. Certain people must get smart!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 1, 2019
Senator Elizabeth Warren raised more than $299,000 online the day she launched her presidential exploratory committee, according to a new Federal Election Commission filing reported by Politico.
There were more than 8,000 individual donations to the Massachusetts senator on Dec. 31, with an average gift of $37.
Cory Booker’s policy agenda in his presidential run includes a plan to give newborn babies savings accounts worth tens of thousands for when they turn 18 and a proposed federal jobs guarantee the Washington Post reports.
He’ll also propose a plan to stop anti-competitive hiring practices and monopolies, and a refundable housing credit program that would aim to help Americans struggling to pay rent.
His criminal justice proposals include legalizing marijuana, giving federal money to areas hurt by the war on drugs, improving the treatment of incarcerated women, and increasing funding for public defenders, aides told the Post.
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway suggested Senator Cory Booker should be accused of sexism for running against several women already in the 2020 Democratic presidential field.
“What is wrong with the candidates that are already in there?” she said on Fox & Friends, Politico reported. “What is your objection to Kamala Harris running, Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand, these others who have already announced, Tulsi Gabbard maybe? If he were a Republican running against them, they immediately would call him a sexist for running against these women in the Democratic field.”
There’s still a chance that the INF nuclear treaty could be salvaged in the next six months, if Russia destroys missiles and launchers, the Guardian’s Julian Borger reports.
“This is in reality, under international law, Russia’s final chance,” a senior administration official said. “If there is to be an arms race, it is Russia that has undermined the global security architecture.”
Donald Trump announced Friday that the US would formally withdraw in six months, and is immediately suspending participation in the treaty.
In his statement, Trump warned that unless Russia destroyed its missile by August: “We will move forward with developing our own military response options and will work with Nato and our other allies and partners to deny Russia any military advantage from its unlawful conduct.”
New York Times publisher A. G. Sulzberger discussed Donald Trump’s anti-press rhetoric in an Oval Office meeting with the president, where Trump was also interviewed by two Times reporters.
In excerpts released today, Sulzberger asked Trump if he’s aware that his rhetoric has had global consequences, emboldening authoritarians to crack down on journalists.
“I do notice that people are declaring more and more fake news, where they go “fake news.” I even see it in other countries. I don’t necessarily attribute that to me,” Trump said. “I think I can attribute the term to me. I think I was the one that started using it, I would say. But I do see that.”
Trump goes on to complain more about how he is covered by the US press, while Sulzberger tells him that every US president felt has felt their coverage was harsh.
“I came from Jamaica, Queens, Jamaica Estates and I became president of the United States. I’m sort of entitled to a great story from my — just one — from my newspaper,” Trump said.
Read the full exchange here.
US military intervention in Venezuela is not imminent, National Security Adviser John Bolton said Friday.
“No,” Bolton said when asked by conservative talk radio host Hugh Hewitt if the US, Brazil or Colombia are about to intervene, the Hill reported.
“The president said all options are on the table. But our objective is a peaceful transfer of power,” Bolton said.
Speculation about military intervention was sparked when Bolton was photographed holding a notepad saying, “5,000 troops to Colombia.”
Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and his wife have donated $500,000 to a legal fund paying the bill for current and former Donald Trump aides ensnared in the Russia investigation, CNN reports.
The fund, called the Patriot Legal Expenses Fund Trust, was set up last year to collect donations for legal defense. It has not disclosed whose legal bills it is paying, but they do not include Trump’s personal legal bills.
The Adelsons’ donation is the biggest to the fund so far.
Updated
Cory Booker, who speaks decent Spanish, did one of his opening campaign interviews with Univision.
"Voy a trabajar duro con la comunidad latina", dice en español a Univision @corybooker, ahora precandidato demócrata a la presidencia 2020. pic.twitter.com/pUWArIt0NQ
— Univision Noticias (@UniNoticias) February 1, 2019
“I want to announce my candidacy for president of the United States,” he said in Spanish.
“We have a bad situation in our country. American citizens have lost faith in our country,” he went on. “I want to change this. I have faith in our power when we work together...And I have faith that together we are going to have more success in our country.”
The host noted that for the first time in history, the Latino electorate would be larger than the African American electorate, and asked Booker what concrete promises he could make to Hispanic voters. He noted that Latino voters had helped him get elected mayor of Newark and re-stated his campaign themes of unity. “I’m going to work hard with the Latino community,” he said.
He declined to identify his chief rival in the Democratic field, saying he would focus on presenting his platform.
“It’s obvious my Spanish isn’t perfect but I want to speak directly with the people,” Booker said.
Some analysis has given Kamala/Beto an edge with Latino voters (because CA/Texas), but Booker working hard to appeal to this group. One of his first interviews is en Español with Univision https://t.co/eWjXjicGTV
— Rebecca Buck (@RebeccaBuck) February 1, 2019
Updated
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has thrown his support behind home state senator Cory Booker for president.
Cory Booker ran toward the toughest problems and has fought to build a more just and fair nation for everyone, from his days on the Newark City Council, as mayor, and as a U.S. Senator. He'll make an amazing President. https://t.co/3eRZveuuPJ
— Phil Murphy (@PhilMurphyNJ) February 1, 2019
Senator Cory Booker, joined by his mom Carolyn, signed paperwork formally declaring his candidacy for president.
His adviser Matt Klapper posted video of the moment.
Cory signs paperwork declaring his candidacy for president, his mom Carolyn by his side. pic.twitter.com/2KUXn4nUfN
— Matt Klapper (@mattklapper) February 1, 2019
“The paperwork is signed. I am official,” Booker said.
It’s looking like Booker’s mom will play a visible role in her single son’s campaign, according to Yahoo News.
Cory Booker’s mom, Carolyn, is clearly going to be a big part of his campaign. She flew from Vegas and was with him in church last night and now they’re together on Instagram Live with his brother. Family clearly filling some of the role we might otherwise see from a spouse. pic.twitter.com/QU61aoVkdL
— Hunter Walker (@hunterw) February 1, 2019
Senate intelligence committee investigators have learned who Donald Trump Jr. was talking to in three phone calls with blocked numbers just before and after an infamous Trump Tower meeting in June 2016, ABC News reports.
The calls were between Trump Jr. and two family friends, NASCAR CEO Brian France and real estate developer Howard Lorber, sources told ABC.
Trump Jr.’s phone calls with blocked numbers have fueled speculation over whether he told his father about the meeting at Trump Tower, where he and other top Trump aides met with a Russian lawyer who claimed she had dirt on his opponent Hillary Clinton.
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand welcomes Cory Booker to the presidential race and says she’ll be rooting for him - “just, you know, not TOO hard.”
Congratulations and welcome to the race to one of my closest friends, @corybooker! I'll be cheering you on—just, you know, not TOO hard. pic.twitter.com/zeWskppQpv
— Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) February 1, 2019
Newly elected female state representatives in Massachusetts are being frequently mistaken for political aides at the State House, the Boston Globe reports.
Rep. Tram Nguyen recounted an exchange with a lobbyist who couldn’t seem to grasp she was an elected official.
Lobbyist: Are you Rep X's aide?
— Representative Tram T. Nguyen (@TeamTram) January 28, 2019
Me (in full suit): No.
Lobbyist: Are you Rep Y's aide?
Me: No. I'm Rep Nguyen.
Lobbyist: Oh, you're Rep Nguyen's aide.
Me: No! I'm the representative.
This is why we need more women, and #WOC in leadership positions. #RepresentationMatters
Nguyen told the Globe she was also stopped from entering a staff bathroom in the State House by someone who thought she was a tourist.
“I get it. I look much younger than I am,” Nguyen said. “Everyone keeps telling me I will love it some day. But it has been a struggle to establish my authority.”
Rep. Maria Robinson, who like Nguyen is Asian-American, said she was mistaken for an aide nine times in a single day.
“I’m brand new in the building, and people will learn,” she said.
Updated
Donald Trump made a number of false and misleading statements in his interview Thursday with the New York Times, according to a fact check by the newspaper.
Trump said: “You look at the heroin and a lot of the other drugs, they come from — 90 percent, more than 90 percent — from right across the southern border. And unlike what the Democrats say, they don’t, you don’t bring trucks of drugs through the checkpoints. You bring trucks of drugs by making a right 20 miles, and a left into the country.”
This is false. Most of the heroin entering the United States does come across the southern border, but most of it passes through ports of entry, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. About 90% of heroin seized was at ports of entry from Oct. 1, 2017, to Aug. 30, 2018, compared to 10% in areas between checkpoints.
On tariffs, Trump said: “We have 25 percent now on $50 billion. And by the way, Peter, that’s a lot of money pouring into our Treasury, you know. We never made 5 cents with China. We’re getting right now 25 percent on $50 billion.”
This is also false, the Times found. It is American companies and consumers paying the tariffs, not the Chinese. It is also untrue that the Treasury Department never collected any revenue from tariffs on Chinese products before Trump’s term. President George Washington signed the first tariffs applying to China in 1789.
It is clear that Trump himself did not write this statement. It is formally worded with none of the president’s verbal tics, and it is sharply critical of Russia.
It leaves open the possibility that the INF treaty could be saved within the six months before US withdrawal takes effect. But it sets a high bar, requiring Russia to destroy “all of its violating missiles, launchers, and associated equipment”.
That has been Washington’s position all along by the US negotiator Andrea Thompson. She has not been prepared to examine a compromise involving inspections of the suspect Russian missile and possible tweaks to limit its range.
Trump claims that “our NATO allies fully support us”. That is not entirely true. The allies agree that Russia is violating the INF treaty but do not agree with the US walking out of the treaty, which they believe still restrains Russian freedom of action in deploying missiles.
Western European countries are fearful this will lead to a new arms race on European soil, a rerun of the tense 1980’s. Some Eastern European countries meanwhile would host new US medium-range missiles as a guarantee that the US would come to their defence.
Trump says his administration remains “committed to effective arms control” but neither he nor Mike Pompeo addressed the question of extending the New Start treaty, the last arms control agreement currently constraining the arsenals of the big nuclear weapons powers. It expires in 2021.
Updated
US will withdraw from nuclear treaty, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announces
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the United States is pulling out of a key nuclear treaty, according to CNN.
JUST IN: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announces that the United States is suspending participation in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) effective February 2.
— Jennifer Hansler (@jmhansler) February 1, 2019
Here’s a statement from Donald Trump explaining the decision, via Bloomberg News:
Full Trump statement on beginning the process tomorrow of withdrawing from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty pic.twitter.com/NsvNucK4nU
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) February 1, 2019
The treaty has been a centerpiece of superpower arms control since the Cold War and some analysts worry its demise could fuel a new arms race, according to the Associated Press. More from AP:
An American withdrawal, which has been expected for months, would follow years of unresolved dispute over Russian compliance with the pact, known as the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces, or INF, treaty. It was the first arms control measure to ban an entire class of weapons: ground-launched cruise missiles with a range between 500 kilometers (310 miles) and 5,500 kilometers (3,400 miles). Russia denies that it has been in violation.
U.S. officials also have expressed worry that China, which is not party to the 1987 treaty, is gaining a significant military advantage in Asia by deploying large numbers of missiles with ranges beyond the treaty’s limit. Leaving the INF treaty would allow the Trump administration to counter the Chinese, but it’s unclear how it would do that.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in early December that Washington would give Moscow 60 days to return to compliance before it gave formal notice of withdrawal, with actual withdrawal taking place six months later. The 60-day deadline expires on Saturday, and the administration is expected to say as early as Friday that efforts to work out a compliance deal have failed and that it would suspend its compliance with the treaty’s terms.
Updated
The US jobs market has now added jobs for a record 100 months in a row, shaking off last month’s government shutdown to add 304,000 jobs in January, according to the latest jobs report released Friday.
But the unemployment rate ticked up slightly in January, to 4%.
The current streak of job creation began in October 2010, and is now more than twice as long as the previous record, a 48-month run that ended in 1990.
In other happenings today, Donald Trump is holding a late morning meeting to discuss fighting human trafficking on the southern border, and then will depart at 4pm for his Mar a Lago club in Florida.
Roger Stone, the president’s close associate who was indicted last week, is due back in court this afternoon.
The Trump administration is expected to announce that it is withdrawing from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces, or INF, treaty, according to the Associated Press.
In Cory Booker’s first radio interview after announcing his run for president, he called for the legalization of marijuana, according to the New York Times.
“It means changing our drug laws. Ending prohibition against marijuana,” he said.
Booker, in first radio interview, calls for marijuana legalization: "It means changing our drug laws. Ending prohibition against marijuana."
— Nick Corasaniti (@NYTnickc) February 1, 2019
Senator Cory Booker has announced several key staff members for his presidential bid. Here’s the list, via Yahoo News.
And we have the first "Cory 2020" press release announcing key members of his team including longtime members of his political operation and @just_jenna who was digital director of Hillary's 2016 campaign. pic.twitter.com/8aPfFJgTYW
— Hunter Walker (@hunterw) February 1, 2019
Cory Booker launches run for president
New Jersey Senator Cory Booker is running for president in 2020, he announced Friday.
The Democrat said he is jumping into the race in a morning email to supporters.
“Right now, Americans’ faith is being shaken. Folks worry that what is tearing us apart is stronger than that which holds us together,” he said. “I’m running for president to change that. I am running for president because I don’t believe that.”
Booker, who is black and first rose to prominence as the mayor of Newark, invoked the civil rights movement, recalling how his parents tried to move into a neighborhood with good public schools when he is a baby, but realtors would not sell to them because of their race. White volunteer lawyers stepped in to help them fight.
“Like all of us, I know I can never pay back my blessings, but we can, we must, pay them forward – with service and leadership and the same defiant love that is the true soul of this nation,” he wrote. “That’s why I am running for president of the United States.”
The New Jersey senator joins an already crowded field that includes Senators Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, and Kirsten Gillibrand, former housing secretary Julián Castro, Reps. John Delaney and Tulsi Gabbard, and South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg. It is expected to continue to grow.
Booker planned to give his first three interviews Friday morning to national radio shows with black or Latino hosts, and then to appear on ABC’s The View with his mother in the audience, according to the New York Times.
Updated
