Amid a new investigation of his Supreme Court nominee, U.S. President Donald Trump maintained his support for Judge Brett Kavanaugh on Saturday, saying that “hopefully, at the conclusion, everything will be fine.” 

Trump, speaking to reporters on the White House South Lawn prior to his departure for a political rally in nearby West Virginia, noted that the FBI “is all over, talking to everybody,” including women who have accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct, and “I would expect it’s going to turn out very well for the judge.” 

The president also accused opposition Democrats of acting terribly and dishonestly during the Kavanaugh confirmation process. He expressed anger about the leak of Christine Blasey Ford’s accusation against Kavanaugh, which she sent to a congresswoman but had previously requested remain confidential. 

Despite what Trump told reporters, news reports indicated the White House might be limiting the scope of the FBI’s investigation — such as not permitting scrutiny of the claims of another woman, Julie Swetnick, who has accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct at parties while he was a prep school student. 

Trump administration officials also denied they were restricting areas of inquiry.

“The scope and duration has been set by the Senate,” according to a statement by White House spokesman Raj Shah. “The White House is letting FBI agents do what they are trained to do.”

News reports said the FBI had contacted Deborah Ramirez, the second of Kavanaugh’s accusers. The Associated Press reported that Ramirez’s lawyer, John Clune, said she had agreed to cooperate with agents. 

Ramirez alleged in a report published Sept. 23 by The New Yorker magazine that Kavanaugh exposed himself at a drunken dormitory party and shoved his penis in her face, forcing her to touch it while pushing him away. She said the the assault occurred during the 1983-84 school year at Yale University, where they both were students.

The FBI was also following up on accusations by Ford, the first woman who accused Kavanaugh. Her story dated to 1982, when they were teenagers. She said he sexually assaulted her at a gathering at a home in suburban Washington. Kavanaugh has angrily denied the allegation.

Both told their stories to the Senate Judiciary Committee separately Thursday in lengthy hearings.

Trump ordered the new investigation Friday at the request of the Judiciary Committee. The consent for a fresh probe was a concession by the Trump administration and Republicans, who had strongly contended that Kavanaugh was thoroughly vetted numerous times. 

WATCH: Kavanaugh Moves Step Closer to Confirmation, But With a Hitch 

The Judiciary Committee voted Friday to send Kavanaugh’s nomination for the Supreme Court to the full Senate after securing a party-line vote in favor of the nod, but Arizona Republican Jeff Flake requested a delay in the floor vote and the additional investigation.

“This country is being ripped apart here, and we’ve got to make sure that we do due diligence,” Flake said.

Another Republican senator, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, said Friday that she agreed with Flake’s call for additional FBI investigation.

Republicans hold a slim 51-49 margin in the Senate. Kavanaugh needs at least 50 votes to have his nomination confirmed. Vice President Mike Pence would cast the deciding vote if the Senate was evenly split. If all Democrats vote against Kavanaugh, two Republicans would have to do the same to block his confirmation.

Kavanaugh said in a statement released by the White House that he would continue to cooperate with the FBI and the Senate.

“Throughout this process, I’ve been interviewed by the FBI, I’ve done a number of ‘background’ calls directly with the Senate, and yesterday, I answered questions under oath about every topic the senators and their counsel asked me. I’ve done everything they have requested and will continue to cooperate,” he said.

In another development Friday, a high school friend of Kavanaugh, Mark Judge, said he was willing to cooperate with any FBI investigation. Judge is likely to figure prominently in any inquiry by the FBI, because Ford contends he was present when Kavanaugh assaulted her at the suburban Washington party. Judge has denied being at any party with Ford when an attack took place.
…

The FBI has launched a new investigation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

President Donald Trump ordered the investigation at the request of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Trump posted on Twitter Friday night:

Trump said in a statement the updated investigation, which follows sexual misconduct allegations, “must be limited in scope” and “completed in less than one week.”

The decision is a reversal for the administration, which had argued that Kavanaugh had been vetted.

WATCH: Kavanaugh Moves Step Closer to Confirmation, But With a Hitch

​Due diligence

Earlier Friday, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to send Kavanaugh’s nomination for the Supreme Court to the full Senate after securing a vote in favor of Kavanaugh’s nomination from Republican Jeff Flake, who requested a delay and investigation.

The committee of 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats voted along party lines to move the nomination forward.

“This country is being ripped apart here, and we’ve got to make sure that we do due diligence,” Flake said.

Another Republican senator, Lisa Murkowski, said Friday she agrees with Flake in wanting an FBI investigation. Because Republicans hold a slim 51-49 margin in the Senate, they have little choice now but to slow down the process to confirm Kavanaugh.

Republican leaders said Friday they still plan to move ahead with a procedural vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination Saturday.

​Kavanaugh to cooperate

Kavanaugh said in a statement released by the White House that he will continue to cooperate with the FBI and the Senate. 

“Throughout this process, I’ve been interviewed by the FBI, I’ve done a number of ‘background’ calls directly with the Senate, and yesterday, I answered questions under oath about every topic the senators and their counsel asked me. I’ve done everything they have requested and will continue to cooperate,” he said.

The developments come one day after dramatic testimony by Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, a woman who has accused him of sexual assault when they were teenagers in 1982. Both told their stories to the Senate Judiciary Committee separately in lengthy hearings.

Kavanaugh has angrily denied the allegation that he sexually assaulted Ford at a gathering at a home in suburban Washington.

Kavanaugh needs at least 50 votes to be confirmed by the 100 member Senate. Vice President Mike Pence would cast the deciding vote if the Senate is evenly split. If all Democrats vote against Kavanaugh, two Republicans would also have to do the same to block his confirmation.

In another development Friday, a high school friend of Kavanaugh, Mark Judge, says he is willing to cooperate with any FBI investigation. Judge is likely to figure prominently in any inquiry by the FBI as Ford claims he was present when Kavanaugh allegedly attacked her at a party. Judge has denied being at any party with Ford when an attack took place.

WATCH: Personal and Political Debates Collide in Emotional US Supreme Court Fight

How key senators will vote

Also Friday, several Democrats from states that Trump won announced they would vote against Kavanaugh.

Democratic Senator Joe Donnelly from Indiana said he would vote against the appellate court judge. Donnelly said Ford’s sexual assault accusation against Kavanaugh was “disturbing and credible” and repeated a Democratic call for the FBI investigation.

Senator Doug Jones, a first-term Democrat from Alabama, a state in which President Donald Trump won by a wide margin, said Thursday he is voting ‘no’ on Kavanaugh’s bid for the Supreme Court. 

“The Kavanaugh nomination process has been flawed from the beginning,” he said, adding that Ford was credible and courageous.

Democratic Senator Bill Nelson of swing state Florida also said Thursday he would vote against Kavanaugh. Republicans are trying to gain the vote of Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a state that Trump won comfortably, along with Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Murkowski of Alaska.

Senator Heidi Heitkamp, a Democrat from North Dakota, also said she needs time to decide how she will vote. She is running for re-election in a state that voted heavily for Trump.

​Bar association request

The American Bar Association late Thursday called on the Judiciary committee and the full Senate to delay the vote until the FBI has time to do a full background check on the claims made by Ford and other women.

“We make this request because of the ABA’s respect for the rule of law and due process under law,’’ the ABA letter to committee leadership said. “Each appointment to our nation’s highest court [as with all others] is simply too important to rush to a vote.”

Earlier Friday, committee Chairman Charles Grassley flatly dismissed the ABA’s request, saying, “I’ve explained many times an FBI investigation is not necessary. The ABA is an outside organization like any other that can send us letters and share their advice, but we’re not going to let them dictate our committee’s business.”
…

The trial of Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, is sending shockwaves across the multibillion dollar lobbying industry in Washington. Many lobbyists in Washington fear his guilty verdict on bank and fraud charges and his guilty plea on obstruction charges will make lobbying a much more risky business. Daria Dieguts has the story.
…

The Republican chairman of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee on Friday subpoenaed a U.S. research firm founder to give a deposition on his hiring of a former British spy to compile a dossier on alleged links between U.S. President Donald Trump’s associates and Russia.

Representative Bob Goodlatte, a Republican from Virginia, announced the move on Twitter a day after receiving a letter in which lawyers for Glenn Simpson, the founder of Fusion GPS, said that their client “will not agree to an interview” requested earlier this week.

“As part of our joint investigation into decisions made by DOJ in 2016, today I subpoenaed Glenn Simpson to appear for a deposition,” Goodlatte posted on Twitter.

Goodlatte said in a separate Twitter post that former FBI Director James Comey, former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch and other former Justice Department officials have been invited “as witnesses. Will subpoena them if necessary.”

Simpson’s lawyers also sent their letter to House Oversight Chairman Trey Gowdy, who is conducting with Goodlatte a probe into the Justice Department’s decision to investigate possible collusion between Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and Russia.

The top Democrats on the committees, Elijah Cummings and Jerrold Nadler, in a statement accused the Republicans, who control Congress, of continuing “to abet the president as the walls close in around him.”

Fusion GPS was hired by lawyers for the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign to conduct research on Trump, her opponent.

The firm in turn hired Christopher Steele, a former officer of MI6, the British foreign intelligence agency, to produce a dossier that outlined alleged Russian financial dealings with Trump, a longtime real estate developer, and included salacious personal details that remain unconfirmed.

The dossier was sent to the FBI, which already had launched an investigation into whether Russia interfered with the election and whether Trump campaign officials worked with Moscow to try to sway the outcome.

The Kremlin denies meddling in the election. Trump, who denies his campaign colluded with Russia, has called Steele’s work an “unverified and Fake Dirty Dossier” and has repeatedly denied any collusion with Russia.

In their letter, seen by Reuters, Simpson’s lawyers said Simpson already had been interviewed by the House Intelligence Committee, of which Gowdy is a member, and the Senate Judiciary Committee, which like all committees are led by Trump’s fellow Republicans.

“Part and parcel of this concerted effort by the president’s congressional allies has been a campaign of retaliation against the government’s whistleblowers, including our client Mr. Simpson, for their willingness to cooperate with U.S. law enforcement and for their exercise of their constitutional rights to free speech and political activity as American citizens,” the lawyers wrote.

 
…

A federal judge Friday cleared the way for a lawsuit to go to trial. It accuses Harvard University of discriminating against Asian-American applicants, a closely watched case that could influence the use of race in college admissions decisions.

U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston rejected dueling motions by Harvard and a nonprofit group suing the Ivy League university to rule in their favor ahead of a nonjury trial set to begin Oct. 15.

The ruling came after the U.S. Justice Department, which has been investigating Harvard for potential civil rights violations over its affirmative action policy, threw its support behind the 2014 lawsuit by Students for Fair Admissions Inc.

Burroughs said that rather than presenting her with undisputed facts and evidence that would allow her to rule without overseeing a trial, Harvard and SFFA had filed motions that were “essentially mirror images of one another.”

“There are disputed material facts based on Harvard’s fact witnesses, the statistical evidence, and the expert opinions presented by each side that cannot be resolved before trial,” Burroughs wrote.

Representatives for the group and Harvard did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Affirmative action

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that universities may use affirmative action to help minority applicants get into college.

Conservatives have said such programs can hurt white people and Asian Americans.

SFFA, which is headed by a prominent anti-affirmative action activist, alleged that evidence showed that Harvard’s admissions process, which factored in race, significantly disadvantaged Asian Americans compared with other groups.

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Harvard has denied the allegations and has criticized the lawsuit as an effort to attack the right of colleges to consider race as an admissions factor.

Trump administration

After President Donald Trump, a Republican, took office last year, the Justice Department began investigating whether Harvard’s policies are discriminatory because they limit Asian-Americans’ acceptance.

In court papers, SFFA claimed an Asian-American male applicant with a 25 percent chance of admission would have a 35 percent chance if he were white, 75 percent chance if he were Hispanic and 95 percent chance if he were black.

A Harvard research division found in 2013 that over a decade, Asian-American admission rates were lower than those for whites annually even though whites outperformed Asian-American applicants only on a subjective “personal” rating, SFFA said.
…

The House intelligence committee voted Friday to release transcripts of more than 50 interviews it conducted as part of its now-closed investigation into Russian election interference during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Among those to be released are interviews with President Donald Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, his longtime spokeswoman, Hope Hicks, and his former bodyguard Keith Schiller. The committee also will release dozens of other transcripts of interviews with former Obama administration officials and numerous Trump associates, including Roger Stone, currently the subject of a grand jury investigation.

The move to release the materials by the committee chairman, GOP Rep. Devin Nunes of California, a close Trump ally, will provide the public with 53 transcripts spanning thousands of pages of raw testimony as special counsel Robert Mueller continues his Russia investigation. But not all interviews conducted by the committee are being released, and there wasn’t a firm timetable Friday for when they will ultimately be made public.

The interviews form the basis for the GOP-authored report released this year that concluded there was no coordination between Trump’s presidential campaign and Russian efforts to sway the election. Committee Democrats, who voted against approving the report, have disputed its findings. They say the investigation was shut down too quickly and that the committee didn’t interview enough witnesses or gather enough evidence.

Republican Rep. Mike Conaway of Texas, who led the investigation in place of Nunes, said he “wanted to declassify or release as much of the underlying data as we could so that not only would they have my conclusion, but they could look at what I was looking at to make up their own mind.”

But Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the committee’s top Democrat, said some of the most important transcripts — six in total — are still being withheld.

The withheld transcripts include separate interviews with Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., who has attracted attention for his pro-Russian statements, and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, who headed the Democratic National Committee when court papers say its computer systems were hacked by Russia.

Conaway said those transcripts were being withheld as a “professional courtesy” extended to members of Congress who participated in the interviews with the understanding they would be confidential.

Democrats say Wasserman Schultz has agreed to the release of her transcript. And on Friday, Rohrabacher told The Associated Press that he hasn’t objected to the release of his. Asked if he would agree to its release now, Rohrabacher said, “I’ll think about it.”

Also being withheld are transcripts of closed hearings with former CIA Director John Brennan, former FBI Director James Comey and former National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers as well as the transcript for the committee’s business meeting when GOP members approved their final report.

None of the transcripts, including those set for public release, has been provided to Mueller as part of his investigation, a move Democrats unsuccessfully pushed for on Friday.

“We have suspicions that people testified before our committee falsely and committed perjury, and the special counsel is in the best position to determine, on the basis of the additional information he has, who might have perjured themselves,” Schiff said.

But Conaway said Mueller hasn’t asked for access to the transcripts, and Republicans don’t want to be accused of trying to “skew” the investigation or obstruct justice by sending him materials he didn’t request.

“He’ll ask for it if he wants to. He’s a big boy,” Conaway said, noting the special counsel will be able to review them once they’re public.

The 53 transcripts approved for release will now go to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for a declassification review.

Conaway and Schiff said they didn’t know how long the review would take or when the transcripts would be released to the public. Schiff said Republicans made clear that none of the transcripts, which largely don’t contain classified information, will be released until the declassification review is completed for all of them.

 
…

Women demonstrated on Capitol Hill Thursday while the Senate Judiciary Committee listened to testimonies by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and the woman who accused him of a sexual assault 36 years ago. Many women came out in support of professor Christine Blasey Ford. But Kavanaugh has supporters among women, as well. The case reminds many of one in 1991, when attorney Anita Hill accused then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports.
…

As global leaders digest the fallout from a stormy United Nations General Assembly in New York this week, China has strongly denied accusations from U.S. President Donald Trump that Beijing is trying to interfere in the U.S. midterm elections in November. Meanwhile, the diplomatic tussle has intensified between the United States and other signatories over the future of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, as the U.S. prepares to hit Tehran with fresh sanctions. Henry Ridgwell reports.
…

President Donald Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court went before a Senate committee Thursday, with dramatic testimony over almost nine hours from Kavanaugh and from a woman who has accused him of sexually assaulting her when they were high school students in Maryland in 1982.

The Senate Judiciary Committee, which heard from Kavanaugh and his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, was expected to vote Friday on his nomination.

If approved by the committee, the nomination would then go before the full Senate, where confirmation could hinge on a handful of key senators.

​Republicans

Jeff Flake. A frequent Trump critic who will retire from the Senate in January, Flake was complimentary toward Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearing earlier this month. On Thursday, Flake, who is a Judiciary Committee member and sat through the hearing, said he was still processing his position on the nominee.​

Susan Collins. A moderate who sometimes breaks from party ranks, Collins earlier said she wanted both Ford and Kavanaugh to testify under oath to the committee and told reporters that if Kavanaugh had lied about allegations of sexual misconduct, “that would be disqualifying.”

​Lisa Murkowski. An occasional party renegade, she has not said how she will vote. Murkowski met privately late Thursday with Collins, Flake and Democrat Joe Manchin. Earlier in the day she told Reuters: “I find Dr. Ford’s testimony to be credible.” 

Democrats

Heidi Heitkamp. Facing a re-election campaign in North Dakota, a heavily pro-Trump state, she had called for further investigation of Ford’s allegations. She said late Thursday she needs to “fully digest” the committee hearing. 

​Joe Manchin. Also up for re-election, in the pro-Trump state of West Virginia, he met with Republicans late Thursday.

Joe Donnelly. Donnelly is up for re-election in the red-leaning state of Indiana. He has said the allegations against Kavanaugh “merit further review.”

Doug Jones. The first Democratic senator elected from Alabama in more than 20 years, he must show he can be independent-minded to stay in office. The Kavanaugh vote could be a test.
…

U.S. President Donald Trump strode up to the lectern and took stock of the world’s press in a five-star New York hotel.

“This is quite a gathering. Wow!” he crowed.

And so began 1 hour and 22 minutes with the world’s most powerful man, pumped by days of U.N. diplomacy and seething over Democratic opposition to his Supreme Court nominee, now fighting multiple allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior while a student.

Standing before a large row of American flags, the 45th president of the United States dealt with everything from China, Iran and the Kurds, to socialism, Justin Trudeau, women, the Supreme Court and Middle East peace.

Without notes and clearly relishing the occasion, he dished out compliments and made digs where he saw fit.

WATCH: Trump Accuses China of Meddling in US Elections at Press Conference

“You do a very good job,” he told a Fox reporter who asked about NAFTA.

“Say ‘thank you, Mr. Trump,’” he mocked when a New York Times journalist said the newspaper was thriving rather than failing, with circulation figures up under the Trump presidency.

From the Lotte New York Palace on Madison Avenue, a brisk seven-minute walk from his old penthouse home and real-estate company headquarters at Trump Tower, the 72-year-old president appeared ready to go on all night. 

Here is a sampling:

On Supreme Court pick Brett Kavanaugh:

“If we brought George Washington here,” said an exasperated Trump of America’s first president and founding father, “the Democrats would vote against him, just so you understand, and he may have had a bad past, who knows.”

On sexual assault:

“I’ve had a lot of false charges made against me. Really false charges!” he said as journalists pointed out that he had been the accused of inappropriate sexual behavior in the past. “So when you say ‘does it affect me in terms of my thinking with respect to Judge Kavanaugh?’ Absolutely. Because I’ve had it many times.”

On women:

“I’ve always said, women are smarter than men.”

On the Kurds:

“They’re great people, they’re great fighters, I like them a lot,” he said, later calling on a journalist as “Yes please, Mr. Kurd.”

On U.N. laughter:

“They weren’t laughing at me, they were laughing with me,” he insisted of the laughter that broke out in the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday after Trump boasted that his administration had done more than any other in U.S. history.

On Xi Jinping:

“I will, tomorrow, make a call to him and say ‘Hey, how are you doing?’ Trump said with a smile after admitting that Xi “may not be a friend of mine anymore.

“They are doing studies on Donald Trump, they are trying to figure it all out,” he said in reference to apparent Chinese interest in an American president so different to his predecessors.

Ending on a high:

“Elton John said when you hit that last tune and it’s good, don’t go back,” he said, taking the last question and pondering on what happens when a performer doesn’t deliver a good encore after a rousing concert.

“They don’t hit it and … everyone leaves and they say ‘that wasn’t a very good concert, was it?’”
…

U.S. President Donald Trump said “Iran has to come back and they have to talk” if it wants to avoid a new round of economic sanctions.

Speaking to reporters in New York Wednesday, the president defended his decision to withdraw from the 2015 six-nation agreement for Tehran to give up its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of crippling economic sanctions.

“Here’s the thing: they have rampant inflation,” Trump said. “They have rampant inflation, their money is worthless. Everything is going wrong.

“At some point I think they are going to want to come back and say can we do something. Very simple, I just don’t want them to have nuclear weapons,” he added.

​Taking on Iran, nuclear deal

Taking the gavel of the United Nations Security Council earlier in the day, Trump used most of his remarks on the theme of nuclear nonproliferation to criticize Iran, labeling the government the “world’s leading sponsor of terrorism.”

He claimed that “Iran’s aggression only increased” after the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Agreement (JCPOA) was signed. The Trump administration withdrew from the deal earlier this year.

Trump repeated his frequent assertion that the JCPOA, which was signed by his predecessor, Barack Obama, was a “horrible, one-sided” deal benefiting Iran.

“They needed cash,” Trump said. “We gave it to them.”

Trump added that Iran, “a regime with this track record, must never be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon,” and warned that Washington will pursue even tougher sanctions against Tehran.

Speaking immediately after Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron said there needs to be a long-term strategy to manage the Iran issue and it cannot be done with just sanctions and containment.

Macron added that all countries share the same objective of preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

​Rouhani reacts

Speaking at a news conference shortly after the Security Council session, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the meeting, which he did not attend, showed how isolated the United States is in its decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal.

“And today in the U.N. Security Council it became clear that America is alone,” Rouhani told reporters. “All the countries that spoke in the U.N. Security Council supported the JCPOA, either directly or indirectly, and referred to the American action as an incorrect action.”

Rouhani dismissed additional sanctions President Trump said would go into effect in early November, saying there was “not much left” for the U.S. to do. He urged nations to “trample upon” the sanctions and ignore them, because they are “illegal” and contradict the U.N. Security Council resolution that endorsed the nuclear deal as international law.

“The most important substance of the discussion is that nearly all other council members reiterated their commitment to preserving the Joint Comprehensive Program of Action, despite U.S. opposition, while several members (notably UK, France, Netherlands, Sweden) expressed their strong concern about Iran’s other destabilizing activities,” said Thomas Countryman, former assistant secretary of state for international security and nonproliferation and now chairman of the board for the Arms Control Association.

In addition to controlling the spread of nuclear weapons, Trump, in his remarks on the stated theme of the council’s meeting, said, “We must never forget the risk posed by biological and chemical weapons.”

The U.S. president noted action he has taken to respond to Syria’s use of chemical weapons against civilians during that country’s protracted civil war and said, “The Syrian regime’s butchery is enabled by Russia and Iran.”

But Trump expressed gratitude to Iran, Russia and Syria for slowing attacks in Idlib, saying, “Get the terrorists, but I hope the restraint continues.”

​US, North Korea

Trump told the Security Council that “many things are happening behind the scenes” between the United States and North Korea as they pursue denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Trump predicted that very good news will be coming out of North Korea “in coming days and years.”

Earlier Wednesday, Trump said his administration is planning a second summit with Kim and details will be announced soon.

“I’ll be meeting with Chairman Kim,” Trump told reporters arriving at the United Nation’s General Assembly. He said a date and location would be announced soon.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he is planning the summit and that it may take place after October. The State Department announced Pompeo will visit Pyongyang next month.

“We’re working diligently to make sure we get the conditions right so that we can accomplish as much as possible during the summit. But we hope it will be soon,” Pompeo told the program CBS This Morning. “It may happen in October, but more likely sometime after that.”

Pompeo’s remarks came one day after Trump touted his relationship with North Korea, telling the United Nations General Assembly it has helped ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

“The missiles and rockets are no longer flying in every direction, nuclear testing has stopped; some military facilities are already being dismantled,” Trump said.

Trump added that “much work remains to be done” with North Korea and said, “The sanctions will stay in place until denuclearization occurs.”

His comments about North Korea were in sharp contrast from those he delivered at the assembly last year, when he threatened to “totally destroy” the country and ridiculed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as “Rocket Man” who was on a “suicide mission.”

South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in, personally relayed a message to Trump on Monday, telling him that Kim wants to meet him again soon to make progress on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Wednesday’s Security Council meeting, with a U.S. president taking the gavel for only the third time (Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama did it twice), comes one day after Trump called on world leaders during his address before the U.N. General Assembly to “isolate Iran’s regime as long as its aggression continues.”

VOA United Nations correspondent Margaret Besheer, Wayne Lee and Richard Green​ contributed to this report.
…

VOA’s Greta Van Susteren told a congressional panel Tuesday that Rohingya refugees are vulnerable to human trafficking, exploitation and violent extremism. Van Susteren and Stephen Pomper, U.S. program director for the International Crisis Group, gave their testimonies on Myanmar’s persecuted Muslim group to the House Foreign Affairs Committee in a hearing on “Genocide Against the Burmese Rohingya.” VOA’S Zlatica Hoke has more.
…