Selasa, 29 Oktober 2019

Trump and Adam Schiff get in heated exchange over raid - AOL

President Donald Trump and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) exchanged some sharp words online Monday regarding the recent raid that resulted in the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

Trump poked fun at the California Democrat’s recent comments on the danger of not informing Congress of the U.S. military raid over the weekend. The president announced Sunday morning that Baghdadi died in northwestern Syria after troops chased him and three of his children into a dead-end tunnel, where the extremist leader detonated a suicide vest.

“Can you believe that Shifty Adam Schiff, the biggest leaker in D.C., and a corrupt politician, is upset that we didn’t inform him before we raided and killed the #1 terrorist in the WORLD!?” Trump tweeted Monday, adding that he “wouldn’t be surprised” if Democrats impeached him over not informing Congress of the planned raid.

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UNITED STATES - OCTOBER 17: Gordon Sondland, U.S. ambassador to the European Union, arrives to the Capitol for his deposition as part of the House's impeachment inquiry on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Diplomat added significant ballast to the allegation Trump was trying to extort Ukraine into ginning up bad news about Biden. The impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump has heard some extraordinary testimony over the last month. From the first mention of Trump’s desired “deliverable” from Ukraine, successive layers of witnesses and documents have added to an indictment of the president’s conduct that only gets heavier, as Trump howls his defenses to the wind. On Tuesday, things got even worse for Trump – much worse, as many saw it. For almost 10 hours, William Taylor, a former military officer and career diplomat with the rank of ambassador under the last four presidents, spoke with congressional investigators about how the Trump administration has been conducting a two-track foreign policy in Ukraine, where Taylor is in charge of the US embassy. We don’t yet know most of what was said. The current public record of the closed-door testimony comprises only a copy of Taylor’s 15-page opening statement – and the spectacle of the ashen faces of members of Congress as they filed out from the hearing. “This testimony is a sea change,” congressman Stephen Lynch told reporters. In his testimony, Taylor explained his discovery of an “irregular, informal policy channel” by which the Trump administration was pursuing objectives in Ukraine “running contrary to the goals of longstanding US policy”. What the “informal channel” wanted – and briefly obtained, Taylor said – was for the Ukrainian president to agree to go on CNN to announce an investigation of Joe Biden, whom Trump sees, perhaps mistakenly, as a top 2020 threat. The Trump administration held up “much-needed military assistance” to Ukraine in an effort to extract the Ukrainian statement, Taylor said. “More Ukrainians would undoubtedly die without the US assistance,” he noted. In a process scrambled so far by misleading Trump tweets and relying in part on anonymous witnesses, the testimony of Taylor, a Vietnam veteran respected in both parties with 50 years of public service behind him, landed as a potential game-changer. It was just the kind of testimony that seemed to answer even the most stubborn demands of Trump loyalists such as Senator Lindsey Graham for additional, definitive proof that Trump was turning the broad power of his office to his own narrow devices. “If you could show me that, you know, Trump actually was engaging in a quid pro quo, outside the phone call, that would be very disturbing,” Graham said at the weekend. The senator denied in a Fox News appearance Tuesday that Taylor had delivered such evidence. But Taylor added significant ballast to the allegation that Trump was attempting to extort Ukraine into ginning up bad news about Biden. What Taylor added was a careful stitchwork of detail, describing who was working to extort the Ukrainians, how they were going about it, how their aims clashed with stated US policy, how the Ukrainians responded, and what people said to him about it at the time. Taylor made clear he has the memos and other records to back up his story. And he exposed the slapstick clumsiness of the Trump flunkies working the “informal channel” – notably Gordon Sondland, the hotelier and Trump mega-donor turned ambassador. “Ambassador Sondland tried to explain to me that President Trump is a businessman,” Taylor testified. “When a businessman is about to sign a check to someone who owes him something, he said, the businessman asks that person to pay up before signing the check.” But “the explanation made no sense”, Taylor argued. “The Ukrainians did not ‘owe’ President Trump anything, and holding up security assistance for domestic political gain was ‘crazy’.” Reaction to Taylor’s testimony generally fell between shock and dumbfoundedness. “I cannot overstate how damaging this Ambassador Taylor testimony is to Trump,” tweeted Neal Katyal, the former acting solicitor general. “Taylor’s statement is a completely devastating document,” wrote Susan Hennessey, the executive director of the Lawfare site. “I know they will find a way but it’s just impossible to imagine how Republicans in Congress will be able to defend this. It is well beyond what most assumed was the worst-case scenario.” The White House issued a statement Tuesday night impugning Taylor, a Trump appointee, as part of a cadre of “radical unelected bureaucrats waging war on the constitution”. But the taller the evidence against him, the smaller Trump’s protests seemed. Democratic senator Amy Klobuchar, a presidential candidate, challenged Republicans to take a stand. “After Diplomat Taylor’s testimony you can no longer question whether this happened,” she tweeted. “The question is if you choose to follow the law or be part of the cover-up.” Trump huddled Tuesday night with members of his legal team, the Wall Street Journal reported, and he urged congressional Republicans to do more to rebut the impeachment inquiry. But there were reportedly no talking points, and no one knew quite what they were supposed to say, or whom to take that direction from. Notably absent from the meeting of Trump’s advisors was Rudy Giuliani, whom Taylor describes as running the shadow operation in Ukraine. “The official foreign policy of the United States was undercut by the irregular efforts led by Mr Giuliani,” Taylor said. He described a seemingly free hand for Giuliani, whose foreign clients include or have included Ukraine-based antagonists of current and former US officials, to open and close diplomatic channels and to direct US policy as he pleased. One of the weightiest impacts of Taylor’s testimony might have to do with the senior US officials it names. Taylor took his concerns about Trump’s alleged attempt to extort Ukraine, he said, to both national security adviser John Bolton and to secretary of state Mike Pompeo. Bolton, who has since resigned, reacted with outrage and frustration. Pompeo, who is eyeing a US Senate bid in his home state of Kansas, apparently greeted Taylor’s warning with silence. “This is not the story of corruption in Ukraine,” tweeted the political strategist David Axelrod. “It’s the story of corruption at the highest levels of the US government. It’s the story of extortion, with US military aid to a besieged ally held hostage to the president’s personal political project.” Trump’s critics say the story is plain: that the president twisted the immense powers of his office to personal ends, in betrayal of constitution and country. When it comes time to prove it, Taylor’s testimony is likely to be front and center.

ARCHIVO - En esta foto de archivo del 30 de noviembre de 2018, la entonces embajadora de EEUU en Ucrania, Marie L. Yovanovitch, habla en Kiev. Yovanovich declara el viernes 11 de octubre de 2019 ante las comisiones del Congreso que investigan al presidente Donald Trump antes de posiblemente iniciarle juicio polĂ­tico. (AP Foto/Efrem Lukatsky)

WASHINGTON, DC - October 22: The acting Ambassador to Ukraine, William B. Taylor, Jr., departs after meeting with the House Intelligence committee for their impeachment inquiry, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Ambassador William Taylor is escorted by U.S. Capitol Police as he arrives to testify before House committees as part of the Democrats' impeachment investigation of President Donald Trump, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Former White House advisor on Russia, Fiona Hill, center, leaves Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Oct. 14, 2019, after testifying before congressional lawmakers as part of the House impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, center, arrives on Capitol Hill, Friday, Oct. 11, 2019, in Washington, as she is scheduled to testify before congressional lawmakers on Friday as part of the House impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

FILE - In this March 6, 2019 file photo, then U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, center, sits during her meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Kiev, Ukraine. (Mikhail Palinchak, Presidential Press Service Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks about the House impeachment investigation during a formal signing ceremony for the U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement at the White House in Washington, October 7, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Adam Schiff (D-CA), Chairman of the House Select Committee on Intelligence Committee speaks to the media before a closed-door meeting regarding the ongoing impeachment inquiry against US President Donald Trump at the US Capitol October 8, 2019 in Washington,DC. (Photo by Olivier Douliery / AFP) (Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)

Democratic U.S. Rep. Ben McAdams, of Utah, addresses the media at Midvale Senior Citizens Center Friday, Oct. 4, 2019, in Midvale, Utah. McAdams is changing his position to support the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. He said Friday he has not made a decision on whether the president should be impeached, but he supports investigating what he calls serious allegations. McAdams was previously one of a small handful of undecided House Democrats. He says he changed his mind because the Trump administration is unlikely to cooperate with an investigation unless it's conducted as an impeachment inquiry. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Staunch Trump ally Sen. Chuck Grassley pushes back against calls to out whistleblower

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., listens as Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., and other House Democrats discuss H.R. 1, the For the People Act, which passed in the House but is being held up in the Senate, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Sept. 27, 2019. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) speaks to reporters after the Trump administration blocked U.S. ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland from giving testimony in the House of Representatives' impeachment investigation of Trump on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., October 8, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 01: Tourists make photographs inside the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on October 01, 2019 in Washington, DC. Under the leadership of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the House of Representatives has opened an impeachment investigation of President Donald Trump following revelation that a whistleblower filed a complaint that Trump was seeking damaging information about a political opponent from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 30 : President Donald J. Trump talks to reporters about the whistleblower after participating in a ceremonial Swearing-In of the Secretary of Labor Gene Scalia in the Oval Office at the White House on Monday, Sept 30, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

KIEV, UKRAINE - OCTOBER 01: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks to the media on October 1, 2019 in Kiev, Ukraine. Ukraine has been at the core of a political storm in U.S. politics since the release of a whistleblower's complaint suggesting U.S. President Donald Trump, at the expense of U.S. foreign policy, pressured Ukraine to investigate Trump's rival, Joe Biden, and Biden's son, Hunter. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

(COMBO) This combination of pictures created on September 24, 2019 shows US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, on September 24, 2019 and US President Donald Trump in Washington, DC, September 20, 2019. - Amid mounting allegations of abuse of power by the US President, Pelosi announced the start of a formal impeachment inquiry in the House of Representatives, the first step in a process that could ultimately lead to Trump's removal from office. (Photos by Mandel NGAN and SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN,SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., reads a statement announcing a formal impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., steps away from a podium after reading a statement announcing a formal impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

U.S. President Donald Trump reacts to audience applause after his address to the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to address the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

WASHINGTON, DC - September 24: Surrounded by journalists, Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee Adam Schiff (D-CA) emerges from a meeting with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, before the delivers a speech concerning a formal impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on Tuesday September 24, 2019. (Photo by Melina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Members of the White House press corps - holding in the Trump Bar at Trump Tower - watch U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) live on television as she announces an impeachment investigation of U.S. President Donald Trump in New York City, New York, U.S. September 24, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

U.S. President Donald Trump ATTENDS a bilateral meeting with Iraq's President Barham Salih on the sidelines of the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York City, New York, U.S., September 24, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) speaks to news reporters following an impeachment proceeding announcement, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., September 24, 2019. REUTERS/Tom Brenner

U.S. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) walks through a House corridor following an Impeachment Proceeding announcement, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., September 24, 2019. REUTERS/Tom Brenner

U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL.) speaks to news reporters following an Impeachment Proceeding announcement, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., September 24, 2019. REUTERS/Tom Brenner

THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON -- Episode 1125 -- Pictured: Host Jimmy Fallon as Donald Trump during the "Trump U.N. Speech" Cold Open on September 24, 2019 -- (Photo by: Andrew Lipovsky/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

Protesters with "Kremlin Annex" call to impeach President Donald Trump in Lafayette Square Park in front of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2019. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., announced a formal impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 24: U.S. House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) speaks to the media in response to an announcement by Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) at the Capitol Building September 24, 2019 in Washington, DC. Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry today after allegations that President Donald Trump sought to pressure the president of Ukraine to investigate leading Democratic presidential contender, former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, which was the subject of a reported whistle-blower complaint that the Trump administration has withheld from Congress. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 24: Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) walks with her press secretary, Connor Joseph, to a House Democratic caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol where formal impeachment proceedings against U.S. President Donald Trump were announced by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi September 24, 2019 in Washington, DC. Spanberger is one of seven freshman members of the House with national intelligence or military backgrounds who recently spoke out in an opinion piece calling for an investigation of Trump. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 24: Reporters and congressional staff members wait outside a House Democratic caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol where formal impeachment proceedings against U.S. President Donald Trump were announced by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi September 24, 2019 in Washington, DC. Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry after allegations that President Donald Trump sought to pressure the president of Ukraine to investigate leading Democratic presidential contender, former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, which was the subject of a reported whistle-blower complaint that the Trump administration has withheld from Congress. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 24: Reporters crowd around Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., as he leaves the House Democrats caucus meeting in the Capitol on impeachment of President Trump on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2019. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 24: Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, arrives for the House Democrats caucus meeting in the Capitol on impeachment of President Trump on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2019. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Protesters with Kremlin Annex with a light sign that reads "NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW" call to impeach President Donald Trump in Lafayette Square Park in front of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2019. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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The mission ended the yearslong search for Baghdadi, but Schiff expressed concern over the fact that Trump never gave the bipartisan “Gang of Eight” group of top congressional leaders and ranking intelligence committee members — including Schiff, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) —a heads-up before the raid.

“I’m grateful to our armed forces and intelligence professionals who did such a brilliant job of eliminating this brutal terrorist from the battlefield, and focused on the continuing fight against ISIS,” Schiff responded in a tweet. “I would encourage you to do the same.”

On Sunday, Schiff told ABC’s “This Week” that while the raid was “a success,” it’s important to communicate developments with lawmakers in case plans run into any hurdles.

“Had this escalated, had something gone wrong, had we gotten into a firefight with the Russians, it’s to the administration’s advantage to be able to say, ‘We informed Congress,’” he said.

Pelosi echoed Schiff’s sentiments, stressing Sunday that U.S. “military and allies deserve strong, smart and strategic leadership from Washington.”

“The House must be briefed on this raid, which the Russians but not top Congressional leadership were notified of in advance, and on the Administration’s overall strategy in the region,” Pelosi said in a statement.

Trump later said Sunday that he only let “some” congressional leaders know of the planned raid because he wanted to keep it secret, saying “Washington leaks like I’ve never seen before.”

Trump is already at odds with Pelosi and Schiff as the two House members lead an impeachment inquiry into his conduct.

  • This article originally appeared on HuffPost.

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2019-10-29 10:29:48Z
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Corbyn's backing means election is on - BBC News

Now it is on.

The Labour leader has just issued a statement pressing the button on his election campaign.

In a couple of sentences, giving Boris Johnson the election he craves.

There may still be wrangling about the dates.

Labour and the smaller opposition parties might still have a battle with the government in Parliament this afternoon over when the best or worst time is to ask all of us to go to the ballot boxes.

But Labour has, against the wishes of many of its MPs, shifted to supporting a December election and with that, it means we are on for the first December general election in decades.

The prime minister hopes this will give him a victory at the polls that would allow him rapidly to get his Brexit deal through Parliament and the UK out of the EU.

The Labour leader hopes for a souped-up version of his move forward at the 2017 election that would mean, contrary to the view of many of his own MPs, his project can continue and build.

The Lib Dems and SNP hope for a chance to stop Brexit happening, and expand their own political positions at a junction for the country.

But none of the parties can be remotely sure of what will happen next.

An election at this time of year is unusual and surprising.

The results, when they finally come in in several weeks time, may be the same.

Take a breath though, and don't put this in your diary until the votes in Parliament to back the election have actually been counted too.

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2019-10-29 11:04:20Z
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Hong Kong Bars Pro-Democracy Icon Joshua Wong From Election - The Wall Street Journal

Joshua Wong was informed that his candidacy in District Council elections had been declared invalid. Photo: susana vera/Reuters

HONG KONG—Authorities barred democracy activist Joshua Wong from running in local elections scheduled for next month, a move that risks inflaming an opposition protest movement that has seen momentum in the streets wane in recent weeks.

In a letter dated Tuesday, Mr. Wong was informed that his candidacy in District Council elections had been declared invalid in accordance with the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution. In a separate statement, which didn’t name Mr. Wong, officials said support for Hong Kong self-determination was inconsistent with the law.

In recent years, Hong Kong has increasingly barred candidates from taking part in polls. Authorities often cite concerns that candidates support separatism or don’t support China’s sovereignty over the city through the “one country, two systems” policy.

What Hong Kong Protesters Want

What started off as a demonstration against a controversial extradition bill has become a series of massive protests with broad political demands. Here is why so many Hong Kongers keep taking to the streets in a leaderless movement and whether their goals can be achieved. Photo: Thomas Peter/Reuters

Mr. Wong, who has publicly stated that he doesn’t support Hong Kong’s independence, was the only candidate to be blocked from next month’s election. There are many other pro-democracy campaigners among those contesting the 452 seats up for election.

The disqualifying of candidates, many of them young, has exacerbated fears of shrinking freedoms at the root of recent unrest in the city. Young people on the front lines of monthslong protests have complained that they have been driven to violence in part because their representative voices have been shut out of public office.

Banning Mr. Wong—a student leader of protests in 2014 who has visited Washington to press Congress to support Hong Kong’s democracy movement—runs another risk. Any backlash could derail the Nov. 24 elections, as the government has threatened to call off the vote if there is violence.

In the decision detailing the reasons for invalidating Mr. Wong’s candidacy, electoral officer Laura Aron said she had considered Mr. Wong’s public statements since 2016 and his replies to electoral officer’s questions. She said she found that his stance on independence and self-determination has been consistent and that he and the youth political group he co-founded takes the position that Hong Kong independence is an option.

Mr. Wong, speaking to reporters after the decision, said he had clearly stated that he doesn’t support independence. He added that the officer was listening to the Communist Party’s official People’s Daily newspaper and its accusations about his positions. He urged voters to support Kelvin Lam, a pro-democracy candidate who entered the race in his constituency. He also said the decision would encourage more Hong Kongers to take to the streets.

“The decision to ban me from running for office is clearly politically driven,” he added later. “Everyone would know that the true reason is my identity, Joshua Wong, is the crime in their mind.”

The District Council seats up for election make up almost all of the city’s 18 local councils. Pro-democracy candidates are challenging establishment members for a large number of them, hoping that widespread antigovernment sentiment will deliver big gains.

District councilors act as representatives for their constituencies on matters such as government programs and public facilities. Unlike the legislature, which is due to hold elections next year, district councils don’t make laws or hold any kind of veto power over government legislation.

District councilors have close to 10% of the seats on the 1,200-member election committee that chooses Hong Kong’s leader.

Write to Natasha Khan at natasha.khan@wsj.com

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2019-10-29 09:08:00Z
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Trump Officials Had No Clue Where He Got 'Whimpering' Detail in His Baghdadi Raid Account - The Daily Beast

The killing of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi marked a significant win for the United States in the war against the terror group and a major achievement for Donald Trump’s national security policy. But within 24 hours of the raid being announced, the president’s penchant for embellishment had complicated the victory lap he was hoping to take. 

Announcing Baghdadi’s death, Trump claimed that the ISIS leader was “whimpering” and likened him to a “dog” in his attempt to escape U.S. forces. Five senior Trump administration officials who watched in real time as the president spoke on Sunday morning each told The Daily Beast that they had no idea where the president got the “whimpering and crying and screaming” detail. Two officials recounted how after they heard that on Sunday, they immediately began messaging each other questions and comments like, “uh where is he getting that?”

The comments confused officials in the Pentagon as well, some of who told The Daily Beast that there was no way Trump could have heard Baghdadi’s voice on the Situation Room live stream Saturday night because it did not have audio. Two senior officials said while President Trump could have spoken to commandos on the ground who carried out the raid but said that has not often been the case in past operations.

And on Monday, questions about where the president got his information continued to make its way to administration officials. At a press briefing Monday afternoon reporter peppered acting Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley with questions about Trump’s remarks about Baghdadi “whimpering” and “crying”. Asked whether he too had heard the whimpering and crying from Bagdadi, Esper said: “I don’t have those details.” Milley said the president had planned to talk to unit members involved in the raid but that he didn’t know the source of the Baghdadi description Trump used.

Baghdadi had commanded forces from hideouts in both Syria and Iraq and was responsible for the killing of thousands of individuals in both those countries. He also inspired the kidnapping and killing of American aid workers and journalists as well as spectacular attacks overseas. His death was celebrated as a major breakthrough in a years-long effort to limit ISIS’ reach and operational capacity; and, as such, questions over the validity of Trump’s account of the raid mounted were dismissed by his supporters and Republican operatives as the gripings of a press corps determined to find superficial ways to ding him. 

But if history is any guide, those questions could pose real headaches in the weeks and months ahead. In 2011 then-Deputy National Security Adviser John Brennan told reporters Osama bin Laden was armed during a U.S. special operations raid. When White House press secretary Jay Carney later had to reverse that account the Obama administration was criticized with trying to embellish the specifics of that similarly historic raid.

Trump has made similar overstatements before. Two people close to the president say that when they heard about his comments on the “crying” late ISIS leader, it reminded them of how Trump privately, as well as publicly, enjoys reflexively insulting his enemies in situations much less weighty than an anti-Islamic State raid. “Whether they’re actually crying or not, [Trump] will very often accuse some person he’s in a fight with, like a celebrity or a politician, of being weak and just crying all over the place,” one of the sources said. “It’s a favorite insult of his.”

When it came to Baghdadi’s death, the president wasn’t the only one who seemed to get over his skis. On Sunday, President Barack Obama’s White House photographer Pete Souza suggested that a picture from the situation room featuring Trump had been staged after the attack had concluded based on an erroneous belief of when the raid took place. Souza wasn’t alone either. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) retweeted a tweet declaring that the picture was taken 95 minutes after the raid. 

But Trump wasn’t hampered on Monday by a fondness for hyperbole alone. He also seemed incapable of stopping himself from quickly veering back into the familiar territories of personal and cultural grievance. In his first visit to Chicago since he was sworn in as president, Trump delivered a speech on Monday blasting the city as a national embarrassment for its gang violence, crime stats, and immigration policies.

“It’s embarrassing to us as a nation,” Trump said at a convention for police chiefs. “All over the world they’re talking about Chicago. Afghanistan is a safe place by comparison.”

During the speech, the president took a shot at Jussie Smollett, the Empire actor who Chicago police said faked a violent hate crime on himself and then tried to pin it on nameless Trump supporters.

Eddie Johnson, the city’s police superintendent, made a point of boycotting Trump’s speech, and Mayor Lori Lightfoot posted to Twitter on Monday: “Rather than belittle Chicago’s communities with hateful and dishonest rhetoric, he needs to go back to D.C. and face his fate” during the ongoing impeachment inquiry.

Right after trashing Chicago within its city limits, President Trump headed back to D.C. to attend a Halloween event for trick-or-treaters at the White House. He also resumed a preferred pastime: hate-posting on Twitter.

“Can you believe that Shifty Adam Schiff, the biggest leaker in D.C., and a corrupt politician, is upset that we didn’t inform him before we raided and killed the #1 terrorist in the WORLD!? Wouldn’t be surprised if the Do Nothing Democrats Impeach me over that! DRAIN THE SWAMP!!” he tweeted on Monday evening.

That was sent minutes after he retweeted a December 2015 post by “Steph,” detailing why she called herself a devoted Trump follower: “I'm an American citizen, sick of being pillaged & endangered by my government for every faction, race, religion and cause other than my own.”

—With additional reporting by Sam Stein

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2019-10-29 08:32:00Z
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Deadly earthquake hits southern Philippine island of Mindanao - Al Jazeera English

At least four people were killed after a 6.6-magnitude earthquake struck the southern Philippines on Tuesday, just over a week since a strong tremor jolted the same area and left seven people dead.

The quake's epicentre was located inland northeast of Tulunan town in Cotabato province, 972km (604 miles) south of Manila, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said.

Seismology experts said there were no threats of a tsunami.

A 15-year-old high-school student from Davao del Sur province was confirmed dead after being hit by a hollow blocks during the quake, the public information office of Magsaysay town in the province was quoted by news reports as saying.

CNN Philippines is also reporting that a 66-year-old man died in Koronadal City, South Cotabato after sustaining head injuries during the incident.

A father and his child was also killed in the town of Arakan, Cotabato, according to ABS-CBN News.

A Manila-based radio station also reported that several children in Tulunan were injured when their school collapsed. 

The quake was initially reported as magnitude 6.8 but was later downgraded to 6.6.

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The quake struck at 9:04am (0104 GMT), rattling buildings and forcing people to rush out of offices, schools and hospitals in the affected areas, according to initial information from the institute and videos shared on social media.

Photos posted on social media also showed a collapsed school building in Tulunan and several injured students.

In an interview with Manila-based radio station DZMM, Renato Solidum, head of the country's earthquake monitoring agency, warned of more aftershocks.

Mindanao, Philippines

Tulunan Mayor Reuel Limbungan said he had ordered classes and work to be suspended to allow engineers to check buildings.

"All patients in hospitals should also be moved outdoors for now," he told Manila radio station DZMM. "This was a stronger earthquake from last time."

Dibu Tuan, mayor of the neighbouring town of T'boli, South Cotabato described the earthquake on Tuesday as "stronger" than the tremor that hit earlier this month.

On October 16, a 6.3-magnitude quake struck almost the same area, with the epicentre located southwest of Makilala town in nearby North Cotabato province.

Seven people were killed in that quake, which also left 215 people injured, disaster relief officials said.

The Philippines is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where about 90 per cent of the world's earthquakes strike.

The last major quake to hit the country was a 7.1-magnitude tremor that killed more than 220 people in the central Philippines in October 2013.

In July 1990, more than 2,400 people were killed in the northern island of Luzon in a magnitude-7.8 quake, one of the strongest ever to hit the country.

SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies

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https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/10/strong-earthquake-hits-southern-philippine-island-mindanao-191029023153907.html

2019-10-29 08:05:00Z
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Senin, 28 Oktober 2019

Baghdadi's death: More details emerge from US raid: Live updates - CNN International

An aerial view taken on October 27, 2019 shows the site that was hit by helicopter gunfire which reportedly killed nine people near the northwestern Syrian village of Barisha.
An aerial view taken on October 27, 2019 shows the site that was hit by helicopter gunfire which reportedly killed nine people near the northwestern Syrian village of Barisha. Omar Haj Kadour/AFP/Getty Images

The covert operation started around 5 p.m. on Saturday evening as eight helicopters carrying teams of elite US troops, including Delta Force operators, flew exactly one hour and ten minutes over "very, very dangerous territory" towards the compound, according to President Donald Trump on Sunday.

"We flew very, very low and very, very fast. It was a very dangerous part of the mission. Getting in and getting out, too. Equal. We wanted an identical -- we took an identical route," Trump told reporters on Sunday while providing a detailed account of the secret mission.

While in transit, the helicopters were met with local gunfire. US aircraft returned fire and eliminated the threat, Trump said speaking to the media.

After arriving at the compound, US troops breached a wall to avoid a booby trapped entrance and that's when "all hell broke loose," the President added.

While clearing the compound, US forces killed a "large number" of ISIS fighters during a gun battle without suffering casualties, according to Trump.

At least two ISIS fighters were captured and 11 children were taken into custody. Two of Baghdadi's wives were killed during the operation and their suicide vests remained unexploded.

Ultimately Baghdadi, who was also wearing a suicide vest, took refuge in a "dead end" tunnel with three children.

He reached the end of the tunnel, as our dogs chased him down. He ignited his vest, killing himself and the three children. His body was mutilated by the blast. The tunnel had caved in on it in addition," Trump said.

DNA tests that positively confirmed Baghdadi's identity began "about 15 minutes after he was killed" and US teams on the ground "brought body parts back," sources told CNN.

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https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/baghdadi-monday-dle-intl/index.html

2019-10-28 12:38:01Z
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