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Moscow ‘Trump Tower’ Talks Lasted Through 2016, Lawyer Says

U.S. President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani says Trump’s discussions with Russian officials over construction of a Trump Tower in Moscow went on throughout the time he was campaigning for the White House in 2016, months longer than previously acknowledged.

“It’s our understanding that they went on throughout 2016,” Giuliani told NBC’s Meet the Press. Giuliani said there “weren’t a lot of them, but there were conversations.  Can’t be sure of the exact date.”

“Probably could be up to as far as October, November — our answers cover until the election,” Giuliani said, referring to written questions Trump has answered from special counsel Robert Mueller, who for 20 months has been investigating Trump campaign ties to Russia and whether Trump, as president, obstructed justice by trying to thwart the probe.

“So anytime during that period they could’ve talked about it,” Giuliani said. “But the president’s recollection of it is that the thing had petered out (subsided) quite a bit,” and the construction project never materialized.  During the early stages of the 2016 race for the Republican presidential nomination, Trump often said he had no business ties to Russia.

Giuliani, a former New York mayor, said that Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal attorney, “would have a much better recollection of [the Moscow negotiations] than the president. It was much more important to him. That was his sole mission. The president was running for president of the United States.  So you have to expect there’s not going to be a great deal of concentration on a project that never went anywhere.”

‘Big news’

Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the lead Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee that has been investigating Trump campaign ties to Russia, said on the NBC show the length of Trump’s efforts to build a Moscow skyscraper, extending into the November 2016 national election, was “news to me, and that is big news.  Why, two years after the fact, are we just learning this fact now when there’s been this much inquiry?”

Warner added, “I would think most voters — Democrat, Republican, independent, you name it — that knowing the Republican nominee was actively trying to do business in Moscow, that the Republican nominee at least at one point had offered, if he built this building, Vladimir Putin, a free-penthouse apartment, and if those negotiations were ongoing up until the election, I think that’s a relevant fact for voters to know.  And I think it’s remarkable we are two years after the fact and just discovering it today.”

Cohen has pleaded guilty to, among other offenses, lying to Congress about the extent of Trump’s involvement with the Moscow project, telling a congressional panel that Trump’s efforts ended in January 2016, just as the Republican presidential nominating contests were starting three years ago.  He has said he lied to comport with Trump’s own public comments to voters, but more recently has said he recalls the Moscow discussions extending to June 2016, a shorter time frame than Giuliani acknowledged Sunday.

The online news site BuzzFeed said last week that Trump had directed Cohen to lie to Congress about the Trump Moscow timeline, but Mueller’s office late Friday said the report was “not accurate.”  BuzzFeed said it continues to stand by the story.

In a separate interview on CNN, Giuliani said he had “no knowledge” of whether Trump talked to Cohen before his congressional testimony.

Mueller is believed to be writing a report on his findings from his lengthy investigation.  He and other federal prosecutors have secured convictions or guilty pleas from several key figures in Trump’s orbit, including former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, campaign aide Rick Gates, former national security adviser Michael Flynn, former foreign affairs adviser George Papadopoulos and Cohen.

 

 

Democrats Reject Trump’s Offer to End US Government Shutdown

With a partial U.S. government shutdown in its fifth week, Democrats are rejecting President Donald Trump’s offer of limited and temporary protections for some immigrants to America in return for billions of dollars to extend barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border. VOA’s Michael Bowman reports the political stand-off endures and hundreds of thousands of government workers are likely to miss a second paycheck this week.

Trump Assails Pelosi’s Rejection of ‘Compromise’ to End Government Shutdown

U.S. President Donald Trump assailed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday for rejecting what he is calling a compromise to end the record 30-day partial government shutdown, with $5.7 billion for his barrier along the U.S.-Mexican border and three years of protection against deportation for hundreds of thousands of immigrants.

“Nancy Pelosi and some of the Democrats turned down my offer yesterday before I even got up to speak. They don’t see crime & drugs, they only see 2020 – which they are not going to win. Best economy!” Trump said on Twitter, referring to next year’s presidential election. “They should do the right thing for the Country & allow people to go back to work.”

Trump, now halfway through his four-year White House term, offered his plan to end the longest government closure in American history in a speech Saturday. But Pelosi, leader of the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives, called it a “non-starter” before Trump spoke.

Pelosi responded to Trump on Twitter, saying, “800,000 Americans are going without pay,” the furloughed government workers and civil servants forced to work without being paid.  “Re-open the government, let workers get their paychecks and then we can discuss how we can come together to protect the border.”

Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he plans to bring Trump’s proposal to a vote in his chamber in the coming days, although he will need some Democratic support to win approval.

Watch related video by VOA’s Michael Bowman:

Trump defended his call to offer deportation protection to 740,000 immigrants who came to the United States illegally as children and thousands more from Latin America and African nations who have been living in the United States temporarily, but are facing orders to return home.

Conservative critics of Trump’s plan said the protections against deportation amounted to amnesty for lawbreakers.  But Trump tweeted, “No, Amnesty is not a part of my offer … Amnesty will be used only on a much bigger deal, whether on immigration or something else.  Likewise there will be no big push to remove the 11,000,000 plus people who are here illegally-but be careful Nancy!”

Vice President Mike Pence, in a Fox News Sunday interview, said, “This is not amnesty.  There’s no pathway to citizenship.  What the American people heard yesterday was statesmanship.”

Pence said Trump “set the table for a deal.  The president is offering a solution, the Democrats just sound bites” in television interviews.

Democrats have demanded Trump reopen the government and then negotiate border security provisions, while rejecting a wall as ineffective and immoral.  They are offering $1.3 billion in new border security funding, but none specifically for a wall.  House Democrats plan to offer more border security legislative proposals this week.

Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate, but major legislation in the chamber almost always requires a 60-vote majority.  It is unclear if Trump will be able to convince at least seven Democrats to vote for his proposal.

“As the president says, ‘We’ll see,'” Pence told Fox News. “Now people will start voting and we’ll see where they stand.”

Even if the Senate approves Trump’s plan, it would face defeat in the House, where Pelosi-led opposition runs strong.  A Senate victory for Trump, however, could force new negotiations over his border wall plan and over reopening the government, where the furloughed federal workers are set to miss their second paycheck next Friday.

Trump tweeted, “Nancy Pelosi has behaved so irrationally & has gone so far to the left that she has now officially become a Radical Democrat.  She is so petrified of the ‘lefties’ in her party that she has lost control … And by the way, clean up the streets in San Francisco, they are disgusting!”  The California city is Pelosi’s home town.

As tensions over the border wall and the government shutdown continued unabated last week, Pelosi demanded Trump postpone his scheduled Jan. 29 State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress until after the government is reopened, submit it in writing to Congress or make the speech at the White House.  Trump, in turn, postponed her fact-finding trip with other congressional leaders to visit U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Trump had not directly responded to her call to delay the State of the Union speech till after the shutdown ends.

But on Sunday, he said, “Nancy, I am still thinking about the State of the Union speech, there are so many options – including doing it as per your written offer (made during the Shutdown, security is no problem), and my written acceptance.  While a contract is a contract, I’ll get back to you soon!”

 

 

Trump Proposes Immigration Deal in Bid to End Shutdown

In a bid to end the monthlong partial shutdown of the United States government, President Donald Trump is offering Democrats compromises on his hard-line immigration policies, but they were immediately knocked down by the opposition party. VOA’s White House bureau chief Steve Herman has the story.

Women’s March in Washington Brings Heat on a Wintry Day

The third annual Women’s March on Washington attracted a smaller turnout than the original event in 2017, held one day after President Donald Trump’s inauguration. But Saturday’s event was no less rollicking as women and men marched through the nation’s capital amid considerable controversy leading up to the rally. VOA’s Anna Kook has the details.

What Is DACA? 

President Donald Trump on Saturday proposed to extend protections for individuals enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in exchange for $5.7 billion in funding for a U.S.-Mexico border wall. 

 

The Obama administration in June 2012 issued the DACA executive order after the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act did not pass in Congress several times. The young people affected by DACA and the DREAM Act are often referred to as “Dreamers.” 

 

The executive order allowed some illegal and undocumented immigrants who had entered the country before their 16th birthday and before June 2007 to be exempted from deportation and to obtain renewable two-year work permits. 

 

Eligible persons must have lived continuously in the United States since 2007. 

 

They must be enrolled in school, have completed high school or the equivalent, or have been honorably discharged from military service.

They must not have been convicted of a felony or a serious misdemeanor, or otherwise pose a threat to national security. 

 

In November 2014, DACA was expanded to include illegal immigrants who entered the country before 2010, and it eliminated the requirement that applicants be younger than 31. 

 

The Trump administration rescinded the DACA program in September 2017. 

 

On Friday, the last day the U.S. Supreme Court could accept an appeal and schedule arguments, it took no action on the administration’s bid to end DACA, which means the program will likely survive until the fall, when the court again is in session.  

Trump Plans ‘Major Announcement’ on Border, Longest Shutdown

President Donald Trump said he’ll be making a “major announcement” on the government shutdown and the southern border on Saturday afternoon as the standstill over his border wall continues into its fifth week.

Democrats are now proposing hundreds of millions of dollars for new immigration judges and improvements to ports of entry from Mexico but nothing for the wall, a House aide said, as the party begins fleshing out its vision of improving border security.

After days of bitter clashes between Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, it was unclear if the twin developments represented serious steps toward resolving the nasty partisan fight or posturing. But they were the first tangible signs of movement in a dispute that has caused a partial government shutdown, which Saturday was entering its record 29th day.

Trump’s refusal to sign spending bills that lack $5.7 billion he wants to start constructing that wall, which Democrats oppose, has prompted the shutdown.

The White House declined to provide details late Friday about what the president would be announcing. But Trump was not expected to sign the national emergency declaration he’s been threatening as an option to circumvent Congress, according to two people familiar with the planning.

Instead, Trump was expected to propose the outlines of a new deal that the administration believes could potentially pave the way to an end to the shutdown, according to one of the people. They were not authorized to discuss the announcement and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The move, amid a shutdown that has left hundreds of thousands of federal workers without paychecks, represents the first major overture by the president since Jan. 8, when he delivered an Oval Office address making the public case for his border wall. Democrats have said they will not negotiate until the government reopens, raising questions about how Trump might move the ball forward.

Democrats were proposing $563 million to hire 75 more immigration judges, who currently face large backlogs processing cases, and $524 million to improve ports of entry in Calexico, California, and San Luis, Arizona, the Democratic House aide said. The money is to be added to spending bills, largely negotiated between the House and Senate, that the House plans to vote on next week.

In addition, Democrats were working toward adding money for more border security personnel and for sensors and other technology to a separate bill financing the Department of Homeland Security, but no funds for a wall or other physical barriers, the aide said.

It was possible Democrats would unveil that measure next week as the cornerstone of their border security alternative to Trump’s wall, the aide said. Earlier Friday, Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, D-Calif., who chairs the House Appropriations Committee’s homeland security subcommittee, said in an interview that some Democrats were asking leaders, “What is our plan?”

The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to discuss the details publicly. The Democrats’ spending plans were first reported by The New York Times.

In a video posted on his Twitter feed late Friday, Trump said both sides should “take the politics out of it” and “get to work” to “make a deal.” But he also repeated his warnings, saying: “We have to secure our southern border. If we don’t do that, we’re a very, very sad and foolish lot.”

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said only that Trump was “going to continue fighting for border security” and “going to continue looking for the solution” to end what the administration had repeatedly referred to as a “humanitarian and national security crisis at the border.”

While few would argue that a humanitarian crisis is unfolding at the U.S.-Mexico border, as the demand for entry by migrants and the Trump administration’s hardline response overwhelm border resources, critics say Trump has dramatically exaggerated the security risks and argue that a wall would do little to solve existing problems.

Trump will be speaking from the Diplomatic Room at 3 p.m.

Trump’s Friday evening tweeted announcement came after Pelosi, D-Calif., on Friday canceled her plans to travel by commercial plane to visit U.S. troops in Afghanistan, saying Trump had caused a security risk by talking about the trip. The White House said there was no such leak.

It was the latest turn — and potentially the most dangerous — in the high-stakes brinkmanship between Trump and Pelosi that has been playing out against the stalled negotiations over how to end the partial government shutdown.

And it showed once again the willingness of the former hard-charging businessman to hit hard when challenged, as he was earlier this week when Pelosi suggested postponing his State of the Union address until after the shutdown.

It was an unusually combative week between the executive and legislative branches.

Tensions flared when Pelosi suggested Trump postpone the annual State of the Union address, a grand Washington tradition — and a platform for his border wall fight with Democrats — that was tentatively scheduled for Jan. 29.

Trump never responded directly. Instead, he abruptly canceled Pelosi’s military flight on Thursday, hours before she and a congressional delegation were to depart for Afghanistan on the previously undisclosed visit to U.S. troops.

Trump belittled the trip as a “public relations event” — even though he had just made a similar stop in a conflict zone during the shutdown — and said it would be best if Pelosi remained in Washington to negotiate to reopen the government.

Pelosi, undeterred, quietly began making her own preparations for the overseas trip.

But on Friday, Pelosi said her plan to travel by commercial plane had been “leaked” by the White House.

“The administration leaked that we were traveling commercially,” Pelosi told reporters at the Capitol. She said it was “very irresponsible on the part of the president.”

She said the State Department told her “the president outing” the original trip made the scene on the ground in Afghanistan “more dangerous because it’s a signal to the bad actors that we’re coming.”

The White House said it had leaked nothing that would cause a security risk.

Denying military aircraft to a senior lawmaker — let alone the speaker, who is second in line to the presidency after the vice president, traveling to a combat region — is very rare.

Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of California slammed Trump for revealing the closely held travel plan, calling it “completely and utterly irresponsible in every way.”

Some Republicans expressed frustration. Sen. Lindsey Graham tweeted, “One sophomoric response does not deserve another.” He called Pelosi’s State of the Union move “very irresponsible and blatantly political” but said Trump’s reaction was “also inappropriate.”

Thousands of Women Expected in US Capital for 3rd Annual March

Thousands of women are gathering in cities in the United States and around the world Saturday for the third annual Women’s March to demand gender equality and call attention to environmental concerns and immigrant rights, among other issues.

The beginning

The first Women’s March was held in 2017, the day after Donald Trump was sworn in as president of the United States.

On Trump’s first full day in office, hundreds of thousands of women descended on Washington in a display of popular opposition to the new administration and its policies. Sister marches were held in more than 600 locations in the U.S. and across the globe in solidarity with the marchers in Washington.

Peter Newsham, Washington’s interim police chief at the time, said of the march in the U.S. capital, “The crowd stretches so far that there’s no room left to march.”

Many of the women wore knitted pink “pussycat” hats, featuring small catlike ears, to show their solidarity with the anti-Trump sentiments and as an oblique reference to vulgar comments Trump was known to have made years before he entered politics.

​Moment to movement

In 2018, organizers of the Women’s March sought to build on the first rally by focusing on politics and the power of women voters. They held the second march in Nevada, a battleground state for the midterm elections later in the year. The rally touting the message “Power to the Polls” focused on voter registration, featuring activists and members of Congress as speakers.

As in 2017, sister marches were held in cities across the U.S. and thousands of women also marched in London, Paris, Sydney and other European and Australian cities.

In 2019, the organizers are bringing the march back to Washington. Hopes were high for this year’s turnout, especially after a record 102 women were elected to the House of Representatives in the midterms at the end of last year.

​A growing controversy

Several prominent women’s and civil rights organization are absent from the list of partners published on the Women’s March website.

Among those that had partnered with the group in the past, but missing in 2019, are civil rights organization Southern Poverty Law Center and the political action committee Emily’s List. By late Tuesday, the Democratic National Committee had also withdrawn its name from the list of partners.

The controversy surrounds several Women’s March leaders who have been accused of holding racist and anti-Semitic views.

Organizers have repeatedly denied all accusations of misconduct or using inappropriate speech.

The issue resurfaced when two of the march’s organizers appeared on ABC talk show The View on Monday and refused to denounce Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who has made repeated anti-Semitic and anti-white remarks.

When asked why she had posted a photo of Farrakhan on Instagram with a caption that included the hashtag for the title “Greatest Of All Time,” Women’s March’s co-president Tamika Mallory said, “I didn’t call him the greatest of all time because of his rhetoric. I called him the greatest of all time because of what he’s done in black communities.”

Mallory’s co-president, Bob Bland, denied allegations printed in The New York Times and the Jewish magazine Tablet that members of the organization had expressed anti-Semitic beliefs at a meeting behind closed doors.

“The people that the journalist spoke to did not tell the truth, period, full stop,” Bland said. “The Women’s March unequivocally condemns anti-Semitism, bigotry, transphobia. … We condemn any statements of hate.”

​Going forward

Some marchgoers say they are not deterred.

“The controversy has certainly influenced conversations around my decision to attend or not. Though it never was going to stop me, even more so I feel it’s important to attend,” said Naomi Zipursky of San Francisco, who is attending the local march there Saturday.

“By not showing up, I don’t even allow the conversation to begin and only create a bigger gap.”

“The thought that I, as a Jewish woman, wouldn’t be welcome or would need to leave part of my identity at the door in order to attend the march is disheartening and frankly, alienating,” Zipursky said. “(But) I also believe that what one person may say or do doesn’t necessarily represent what an entire organization may stand for.”

A separate “March for ALL Women” is planned for Saturday in the U.S. capital, with organizers rallying those who may feel the main march is divisive and not inclusive.

Many participants don’t think the marches will ever compare to the first one. 

“It’s going to be very hard to pull off the momentum of the first women’s march,” said Mary Tablante, communications officer at the Asian Americans Advancing Justice. “I am still going (this year) because I do think they are trying to improve it. There’s still a lot of work to be done in the movement.”

Despite the controversy, marches are planned in almost every U.S. state. ABC News reports some states will hold multiple marches: California plans to have more than 30 marches, New York 15, Texas, 13 and Florida 11. Michigan will host eight and Pennsylvania seven.

Marches are also planned in more than a dozen European nations, as well as in Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Pakistan, Israel, Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia, and South Africa, among others.

Graham: US, Saudis Cannot Move on Until Prince ‘Dealt With’

Republican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham said Saturday the relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia cannot move forward until Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is “dealt with,” without being more specific.

Speaking in Ankara a day after meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Graham also said Congress will reintroduce sanctions against those involved in the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

“The relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia cannot move forward until Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is dealt with,” Graham said.

Khashoggi was a prominent Saudi journalist and U.S. resident who wrote opinion columns for The Washington Post. He was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October.

Riyadh initially denied knowledge of Khashoggi’s disappearance, then offered contradictory explanations, including that he was killed in a rogue operation.

Saudi officials have said the crown prince knew nothing of the killing. Saudi Arabia said last year that 21 Saudis were taken into custody in relation to the Khashoggi case, 11 of whom have been indicted and referred to trial.

Crown Prince Mohammed’s top aide Saud al-Qahtani was dismissed after overseeing the operation.

The United States imposed economic sanctions on 17 Saudi officials in November for their role in the Khashoggi killing.

The Senate voted in December to move ahead with a resolution to end U.S. military support for the Saudi-led coalition in the war in Yemen, and lawmakers vowed to push for sanctions against the kingdom in the new year.

US House to Probe Report Trump Directed Lawyer to Lie to Congress

The Democratic chairmen of two House committees pledged Friday to investigate a report that President Donald Trump directed his personal attorney to lie to Congress about negotiations over a real estate project in Moscow during the 2016 election.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said “we will do what’s necessary to find out if it’s true.” He said the allegation that Trump directed Michael Cohen to lie in his 2017 testimony to Congress “in an effort to curtail the investigation and cover up his business dealings with Russia is among the most serious to date.”

The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, said directing a subordinate to lie to Congress is a federal crime.

“The @HouseJudiciary Committee’s job is to get to the bottom of it, and we will do that work,” Nadler tweeted.

The report by BuzzFeed News, citing two unnamed law enforcement officials, says that Trump directed Cohen to lie to Congress and that Cohen regularly briefed Trump and his family on the Moscow project — even as Trump said he had no business dealings with Russia.

The Associated Press has not independently confirmed the BuzzFeed report.

An adviser to Cohen, Lanny Davis, declined to comment on the substance of the article, saying that he and Cohen wouldn’t answer questions out of respect for special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe. Mueller is investigating Russia meddling in the election and contacts with the Trump campaign.

The BuzzFeed story says that Cohen told Mueller that Trump personally instructed him to lie about the timing of the project in order to obscure Trump’s involvement.

Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, scoffed at the report, saying in a statement, “If you believe Cohen I can get you a good all cash deal on the Brooklyn Bridge.”

Cohen pleaded guilty in November to lying to Congress in 2017 to cover up that he was negotiating the real estate deal in Moscow on Trump’s behalf during the heat of his presidential campaign. The charge was brought by Mueller and was the result of his cooperation with that probe.

Cohen was recently sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to tax crimes, bank fraud and campaign violations. He is scheduled to testify before the House Oversight and Reform Committee February 7.

The report comes as House Democrats have promised a thorough look into Trump’s ties to Russia. Though House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has discouraged any talk of impeachment in the early days of her new majority, some senior Democrats said that if the BuzzFeed report is true, Trump’s actions could rise to that level.

“If the @BuzzFeed story is true, President Trump must resign or be impeached,” tweeted Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro, a member of the House intelligence panel.

Rhode Island Rep. David Cicilline, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, tweeted that if Trump directed Cohen to lie, “that is obstruction of justice. Period. Full stop.”

William Barr, Trump’s nominee for attorney general, said at his Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday that a president or anyone else who directs a witness to lie is illegally obstructing an investigation. That statement attracted attention given Barr’s expansive views of presidential powers and his belief that presidents can’t be scrutinized by prosecutors for acts the Constitution allows them to take.

Pelosi Delays Afghan Trip After Trump Leaks Travel Plans

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi cancelled plans Friday to fly commercially to Afghanistan after her office said President Donald Trump announced the sensitive travel plans, significantly increasing the security threat on the ground according to a State Department assessment.

A spokesperson for Pelosi’s office said in a statement “the administration had leaked the commercial travel plans as well.”

Trump revoked the use of a military plane for Pelosi and Democratic members of Congress’ planned trip to Afghanistan and Brussels late Thursday, the latest maneuver in a bitter political battle over the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.

In a letter to the speaker of the House, the president denied Pelosi and members of Congress the use of a military plane to meet with NATO allies in Brussels and U.S. troops in Afghanistan, writing “in light of the 800,000 great American workers not receiving pay, I am sure you would agree that postponing this public relations event is totally appropriate.”

 

A spokesperson for Pelosi’s office said the trip would have provided “critical national security and intelligence briefings” as well as served as an opportunity for Pelosi to thank the troops.

The speaker’s office said “in light of the grave threats caused by the president’s action, the delegation has decided to postpone the trip so as not to endanger our troops or security personnel.”

The president’s letter did not directly address Pelosi’s call Wednesday for Trump to delay his scheduled Jan. 29 State of the Union address until government funding is restored and the shutdown ends.

 

“This is completely inappropriate by the president,” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff told reporters outside Pelosi’s office Thursday. “We’re not going to allow the president of the United States to tell the Congress it can’t fulfill its oversight responsibilities.”

The back-and-forth between the White House and the speaker of the House meant there is no end in sight for a partial federal government shutdown, which will soon enter its fifth week. The shutdown was triggered by a standoff between Democrats and Republicans over funding for construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border.

“While many Democrats in the House and Senate would like to make a deal, Speaker Pelosi won’t let them negotiate,” Trump said in a speech at the Defense Department. “Hopefully, Democrat lawmakers will step forward to do what is right for our country, and what’s right for our country is border security at the strongest level.”

 

Democrats insist they will negotiate stronger, more effective border security measures once the government reopens, but that a border wall would be wasteful, ineffective and a blight on America’s image.

 

Pelosi, the top-ranking congressional Democrat, said Trump’s “insistence on the wall is a luxury we can no longer afford.”

Later Thursday, Trump also canceled a planned trip by a U.S. delegation to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.  The delegation, consisting  of Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer and assistant to the president Chris Liddell, was scheduled to travel next week.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said the president wanted to make sure “his team can assist as needed” during the government shutdown.

Hundreds of thousands of federal workers missed a paycheck last week and are set to miss another next week.

 

“Not only are these workers not paid, they are not appreciated by this administration,” said Pelosi, who leads the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives. “We should respect what they do for their country.”

 

Pelosi’s move on the State of the Union drew sharp criticism from Senate Republicans.

 

“By disinviting POTUS for SOTU, Pelosi erased any pretext for her unwillingness to negotiate an end to the shutdown. It is personal, petty, and vindictive,” Senator John Cornyn from Texas tweeted Thursday.

 

Trump has called for more than $5 billion in taxpayer funding for the wall, while Democrats have offered $1.3 billion in new money for border security, but none specifically for a wall.

 

Watchdog: Thousands More Children May Have Been Separated

Thousands more migrant children may have been split from their families than the Trump administration previously reported, in part because officials were stepping up family separations long before the border policy that prompted international outrage last spring, a government watchdog said Thursday.

It’s unclear just how many family separations occurred at the U.S.-Mexico border; immigration officials are allowed under longstanding policy to separate families under certain circumstances. Health and Human Services, the agency tasked with caring for migrant children, did not adequately track them until after a judge ruled that children must be reunited with their families, according to the report by the agency’s inspector general.

Ann Maxwell, assistant inspector general for evaluations, said the number of children removed from their parents was certainly larger than the 2,737 listed by the government in court documents. Those documents chronicled separations that took place as parents were criminally prosecuted for illegally entering the country under President Donald Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy.

“It’s certainly more,” Maxwell said. “But precisely how much more is unknown.”

Maxwell said investigators didn’t have specific numbers, but that Health and Human Services staff had estimated the tally to be in the thousands.

Lee Gelernt, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney who sued on behalf of a mother separated from her son, said the separation policy “was a cruel disaster from the start. This report reaffirms that the government never had a clear picture of how many children it ripped from their parents.”

Most of the tens of thousands of children who come into government custody cross the border alone. But the report found that in late 2016, 0.3 percent of children turned over to Health and Human Services had crossed with a parent and were separated. By the summer of 2017, that percentage had grown to 3.6 percent, officials said. The watchdog did not give exact numbers, but the total number of migrant children who passed through the agency’s care during the 2017 budget year was 40,810. The separated children had already been released to sponsors, who are generally parents or other close relatives.

The inspector general did not say why the children had been separated before the zero-tolerance policy. Immigration officials are allowed to take a child from a parent in certain cases — serious criminal charges against a parent, concerns over the health and welfare of a child or medical concerns. That policy has long been in place.

Katie Waldman, a spokeswoman for Homeland Security, said the report reinforced what officials have long said. “For more than a decade it was and continues to be standard for apprehended minors to be separated when the adult is not the parent or legal guardian, the child’s safety is at risk” or there’s a record of a “serious criminal activity by the adult,” she said.

In some cases, however, Homeland Security officials said a parent had a criminal history but did not offer details on the crimes, the watchdog reported.

The number of families coming across the border has grown even as overall illegal border crossings have decreased dramatically compared with historic trends. Over the past three months, families made up the majority of Border Patrol arrests.

The Administration for Children and Families, the division under Health and Human Services that manages the care of unaccompanied minors, said it generally agreed with the findings and noted the report did not find that the agency lost track of children under its care. It also noted new policies were in place to help track newly separated children. And the court never instructed officials to determine the number of children separated before the June 26 ruling.

Last spring, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions said anyone caught crossing the border illegally would be criminally prosecuted. Families were brought into custody by U.S. Border patrol officials, then their parents taken to criminal court. If the parents were gone longer than 72 hours — the length of time Border Patrol is allowed to hold children — the children were transferred to the custody of Health and Human Services.

The practice prompted an outcry, with church groups and lawmakers calling the separations inhumane. Trump ordered an end to the separations on June 20. At the time, a federal judge who was already hearing the case of a mother separated from her son ruled that children must be reunited with their parents. Since the court order, 118 children have been separated.

Despite “considerable” effort by Health and Human Services to locate all the children placed in its care, the report said officials were still finding new cases as long as five months after the judge’s order requiring reunifications.

“There is even less visibility for separated children who fall outside the court case,” investigators concluded.

They said it’s not clear the system put in place to track separated children is good enough. And the lack of detail from immigration authorities continues to be an issue.

The border remains a crucible for the Trump administration, with a partial government shutdown that has dragged on nearly a month over the president’s demand for $5.7 billion for a border wall that congressional Democrats are unwilling to provide.

The inspector general’s office was also looking into other aspects of the separations, including the health and mental well-being of the children who had been separated. It expects to have other reports on the topic.

Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said he would hold the government accountable in the matter. “The Trump administration, with its unique blend of incompetence, cruelty, and disregard for basic decency, misled the American public on one of its most heinous policies to date,” he said in a statement.

 

State Department May Ask to Scrap Another Obama Climate Order

The U.S. State Department said in a report released Thursday by the investigative arm of Congress that it may recommend President Donald Trump revoke an Obama-era order directing federal agencies to consider climate change in international development programs.

Such a move would deepen the Trump administration’s already broad rejection of former President Barack Obama’s policies on global warming, which Trump has repeatedly suggested is not as serious as scientists claim.

In the 2014 executive order, Obama directed the State Department and other agencies to factor climate resilience into development programs to help vulnerable populations around the world protect themselves from the effects of droughts, floods and storms exacerbated by climate change.

Order weakened

The State Department said in the General Accountability Office, or GAO, report published Thursday that its foreign assistance and budget bureaus “will begin working with stakeholders to consider whether to recommend that the Secretary (Mike Pompeo) ask the president to rescind” the order.

The State Department’s comment came in response to a GAO recommendation that it improve guidance to foreign bureaus on the geopolitical risks of climate change.

The GAO report said the State Department has identified migration of vulnerable populations in countries that face conflicts as a risk of climate change, but that Obama’s executive order has in effect been weakened because missions are not assessing the risks.

Unusual response

The State Department said “it does not oppose” the GAO’s recommendation. But if Trump reverses Obama’s executive order, it would not be required to improve the guidance.

The State Department’s response to the GAO was a highly unusual way for a federal department to signal potential policy initiatives, said a GAO official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Trump has made reversing Obama-era executive orders and regulations on climate a priority since his early weeks in office, mainly as a way of reducing the regulatory burden on the oil, gas and coal industries.

The GAO report was commissioned by Democratic Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Dianne Feinstein and others.

The State Department and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

N. Korea Envoy in US for Talks with Pompeo, Possibly Trump

A North Korean envoy arrived in Washington on Thursday for expected talks with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and a possible encounter with President Donald Trump aimed a laying the groundwork for a second U.S.-North Korea summit.

The envoy arrived on the same day Trump unveiled a revamped U.S. missile defense strategy that singled out North Korea as an ongoing and “extraordinary threat,” seven months after he declared after his first summit with leader Kim Jong Un that the North Korean threat had been eliminated.

Kim Yong Chol, Pyongyang’s lead negotiator in denuclearization talks with the United States, was due to meet Pompeo and could also go to the White House on Friday, a person familiar with the plan said, a sign of potential movement in a diplomatic effort that has appeared stalled for months.

The North Korean visit could yield an announcement of plans for another summit between Trump and Kim Jong Un, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

There has been no indication, however, of any narrowing of differences over U.S. demands that North Korea abandon a nuclear weapons program that threatens the United States or Pyongyang’s demand for a lifting of punishing sanctions.

Kim Yong Chol, a hardline former spy chief, arrived in Washington on a commercial flight from Beijing, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported.

Pompeo had planned to meet his North Korean counterpart to discuss a second summit last November, but the meeting was postponed at the last moment.

Diplomatic contact was resumed after Kim Jong Un delivered a New Year speech in which he said he was willing to meet Trump “at any time,” South Korea’s ambassador to the United States, Cho Yoon-je, told reporters last week.

Kim Yong Chol was last in Washington in June, when he delivered a letter from Kim Jong Un to Trump that opened the way for the June 12 summit in Singapore.

That meeting yielded a pledge from the latter to work toward denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and Trump declared the next day that there was “no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea.”

There has been little obvious progress since, however, which was underlined by the Missile Defense Review unveiled Thursday.

Introducing the report, acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan noted that North Korean missiles remained a “significant concern.” Trump himself only mentioned North Korea in passing at the same event, saying negotiations he had conducted should have been done years ago.

‘Concrete steps’

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence acknowledged on Wednesday that efforts to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear arsenal had not made headway.

“While the president is promising dialogue with Chairman Kim, we still await concrete steps by North Korea to dismantle the nuclear weapons that threaten our people and our allies in the region,” Pence said in an address to U.S. ambassadors and other senior American diplomats at the State Department.

Trump said on Jan. 2 that he had received a “great” letter from Kim Jong Un and would probably meet him again in the not-too-distant future, but there was no rush.

Pyongyang had stopped missile and bomb testing and if it had not been for his administration “you’d be having a nice big fat war in Asia,” he said.

CNN quoted a source familiar with the U.S.-North Korea talks as saying that Kim Yong Chol would be carrying a new letter from Kim Jong Un to Trump.

Kim Yong Chol will be the first top North Korean official to stay overnight in Washington since the late Vice Marshal Jo Myong Rok did so ahead of talks with then-President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in 2000.

Communist-ruled Vietnam, which has good relations with both the United States and North Korea, has been widely touted as the most likely venue for a second meeting between Trump and Kim Jong Un.

The Washington Post quoted people familiar with recent diplomatic activity as saying that if announced soon, the summit would probably take place in March or April, with the coastal city of Danang the most likely venue.

Trump Cancels Pelosi-led Trip to Afghanistan, Brussels

U.S. President Donald Trump forced House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to cancel a planned trip to Afghanistan and Brussels on Thursday, the latest maneuver in a bitter political battle over the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.

In a letter to the speaker of the House, Trump denied Pelosi and members of Congress the use of a military plane to meet with NATO allies in Brussels and U.S. troops in Afghanistan, writing “in light of the 800,000 great American workers not receiving pay, I am sure you would agree that postponing this public relations event is totally appropriate.”

A spokesperson for Pelosi’s office said the trip would have provided “critical national security and intelligence briefings,” as well as serving as an opportunity for Pelosi to thank the troops.

The president’s letter did not directly address Pelosi’s call Wednesday for Trump to delay his scheduled Jan. 29 State of the Union address until government funding is restored and the shutdown ends.

“This is completely inappropriate by the president,” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff told reporters outside Pelosi’s office. “We’re not going to allow the president of the United States to tell the Congress it can’t fulfill its oversight responsibilities.”

The back-and-forth between the White House and the speaker of the House meant there is no end in sight for a partial federal government shutdown, which will soon enter its fifth week. The shutdown was triggered by a standoff between Democrats and Republicans over funding for construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

“While many Democrats in the House and Senate would like to make a deal, Speaker Pelosi won’t let them negotiate,” Trump said in a speech at the Defense Department. “Hopefully, Democrat lawmakers will step forward to do what is right for our country, and what’s right for our country is border security at the strongest level.”

Criticism for Trump

Democrats insist they will negotiate stronger, more effective border security measures once the government reopens, but that a border wall would be wasteful, ineffective and a blight on America’s image.

Pelosi, the top-ranking congressional Democrat, said Trump’s “insistence on the wall is a luxury we can no longer afford.”

Later Thursday, Trump also canceled a planned trip by a U.S. delegation to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The delegation, consisting  of Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer and assistant to the president Chris Liddell, was scheduled to travel next week.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said the president wanted to make sure “his team can assist as needed” during the government shutdown. 

Hundreds of thousands of federal workers missed a paycheck last week and are set to miss another next week.

“Not only are these workers not paid, they are not appreciated by this administration,” said Pelosi, who leads the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives. “We should respect what they do for their country.”

Criticism for Pelosi

Pelosi’s move on the State of the Union address drew sharp criticism from Senate Republicans.

“By disinviting POTUS for SOTU, Pelosi erased any pretext for her unwillingness to negotiate an end to the shutdown. It is personal, petty, and vindictive,” Sen. John Cornyn from Texas tweeted Thursday.

While many Democratic lawmakers applauded Pelosi, Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia told MSNBC, “I think this [delaying the State of the Union address] is the wrong approach to be taking. … We should try to have every type of respectful dialogue that we possibly can. Where I come from in West Virginia, we just don’t act this way.”

Lawmakers of both parties are wary of the shutdown’s impact on their home states and constituencies. Georgia Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper he fears a lack of Transportation Security Administration airport screeners will make it impossible for travelers to come for next month’s American football Super Bowl.

“We’ve got a Super Bowl coming to Atlanta in about three weeks, the biggest tourism event in the world this year,” Isakson said. “What if the largest airport in the world, that’s going to bring people to the largest football game in the world, goes out of business because the TSA strikes? Then you’ve just cost millions of dollars to the United States of America, my home city of Atlanta and others.”

Trump has called for more than $5 billion in taxpayer funding for the wall, while Democrats have offered $1.3 billion in new money for border security, but none specifically for a wall.

VOA’s Michael Bowman and Ken Bredemeier contributed to this report.

Report: North Korea’s Top Envoy Arrives in Beijing

North Korea’s top envoy involved in talks with the United States arrived in Beijing Thursday and is thought to be en route to Washington, South Korean news agency Yonhap said.

U.S. and South Korean media previously quoted unidentified sources as saying U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and North Korean official Kim Yong Chol were expected to meet in the U.S. capital Friday to discuss a second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Kim arrived at Beijing airport Thursday on an Air Koryo flight from Pyongyang and was met by North Korea’s ambassador to China, Yonhap said. He is expected to board a flight to Washington in the evening, the news agency said.

Pompeo had planned to meet his North Korean counterpart to discuss a second summit last November, but the meeting was postponed.

Kim Yong Chol was last in Washington in June, when he delivered a letter from Kim Jong Un to Trump that opened the way for an unprecedented meeting between the leaders of the two countries in Singapore June 12.

CNN quoted a source familiar with U.S.-North Korea talks as saying that Kim Yong Chol would be carrying a new letter from Kim Jong Un to Trump in Washington.

Chinese and South Korean envoys on Korean Peninsula affairs are meeting in Seoul Thursday, the South’s foreign ministry said. Kong Xuanyou and Lee Do-Hoon are expected to discuss ways to achieve complete denuclearization and peace on the peninsula, as well as an expected second summit of U.S. and North Korean leaders.

In Singapore last year, Kim Jong Un pledged to work towards denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, but there has been little significant progress since.

Contact was resumed after the North Korean leader delivered a New Year speech in which he said he was willing to meet Trump “at any time,” South Korea’s ambassador to the United States, Cho Yoon-je, told reporters last week.

Four Americans Killed in Islamic State Attack in Syria

At least four Americans were killed in a suicide blast in the northern Syrian city of Manbij Wednesday, doubling the number of American troops killed in action in Syria since the U.S. first entered in 2014. The attack also claimed the lives of a civilian and contractor working for the Defense Department, and more than a dozen others. VOA Pentagon Correspondent Carla Babb has the latest.

Rights Groups Worry Barr Will Continue Sessions’ Policies

A day after reassuring members of Congress that he’d allow the special counsel to complete his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, attorney general nominee William Barr drew fresh criticism Wednesday over his support for the controversial policies of his ousted predecessor, Jeff Sessions.

A parade of character witnesses and subject matter experts appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee to offer sharply divergent views of the nominee, a tough-on-crime former attorney general who has praised Sessions. While friends and associates lauded Barr’s integrity and commitment to the rule of law, civil rights leaders worried that he would carry on Sessions’ policies.

“For the past two years, the Justice Department has been led by an attorney general intent on restricting civil and human rights at every turn,”  said Marc H. Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League, a leading civil rights advocacy organization. “The nation needs an attorney general who will dramatically change course and enforce federal civil rights laws with vigor and independence. Based on his alarming record, we are convinced that William Barr will not do so.” 

NAACP opposition

Other major civil rights organizations, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the nation’s oldest, have opposed Barr’s nomination, which is widely expected to be approved by the Senate, where Republicans hold a majority.

Although Sessions was praised by many for cracking down on violent crime and illegal immigration, he was criticized by the NAACP and others for undoing key Obama-era Justice Department policies, including reform agreements with police departments involved in shootings and rights violations, as well as protections for LGBTQ students.

Barr has supported many of the initiatives enacted by Sessions. In an opinion piece he co-authored with two other former Republican attorneys general after Sessions’ ouster in November, he praised Sessions for “[restoring] law and order” by reinstituting tough sentencing guidelines for drug dealers, cracking down on illegal immigration, overseeing a record number of prosecutions of violent crime defendants and “refocusing” the Justice Department’s efforts to protect freedoms of expression and religion.

Asked whether he’d continue Sessions’ policies, Barr told lawmakers on Monday that he supported ending the police department reform agreements known as consent decrees and opposed a controversial decision by Sessions to enforce federal anti-marijuana laws in states where marijuana use is legal. But he was noncommittal on other initiatives, saying he’d have to examine their legal bases before deciding which to keep.

Barr also offered strong support for enforcing civil rights statutes and laws against hate crimes, which have been on the rise in recent years. 

“We must have zero tolerance for such crimes,” he said. 

‘Prisons work’

Barr has drawn scrutiny in recent weeks for his past opposition to criminal justice reform. In 1992, he said “our system is fair and does not treat people differently.” Also in 1992, the then-attorney general wrote the preface to a Justice Department report, The Case for More Incarceration, that argued “prisons work” and “we need more of them.”  As recently as 2015, he opposed bipartisan legislation on sentencing reform.

Under questioning, Barr defended his position, saying he advocated for incarcerating violent and chronic offenders at a time of rising crime in the country. He also acknowledged that heavy penalties for crack offenses had “harmed the black community.”

Barr also pledged to “diligently” enforce the First Step Act, a sweeping new criminal justice reform law that lowers some mandatory sentences and gives prisoners added opportunities to earn reductions in jail time.

Trump to Sign Back Pay for Workers as Shutdown Persists

U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to sign a bill Wednesday that would guarantee federal workers will eventually be paid for the duration of the ongoing partial government shutdown, but when those paychecks may come is still a mystery as he and Democrats remain far from resolving the crisis.

Some 800,000 government employees have either been working without being paid or told to stay home since December 22. If the shutdown lasts another week, they will miss a second paycheck this year. Meanwhile, the Trump administration said Tuesday it has called tens of thousands of federal employees back to work without pay to process tax refunds, maintain flight safety, inspect food and drug supplies and other vital tasks to soften the impact of the shutdown. 

Financial companies have put in place programs to help those workers deal with a sudden loss in income, while a number of restaurants are giving away meals to federal workers.

The charity World Central Kitchen, which is known for its work feeding people in disaster zones such as Puerto Rico after a hurricane devastated the U.S. territory in 2017, is opening a popup stand Wednesday in Washington to feed federal employees. 

The site is on Pennsylvania Avenue, about halfway between the Capitol and the White House, and the group’s founder, chef José Andrés, said the location is symbolic of the need for Americans to come together.

“We’re going to be open for any federal family that needs food. We will have food for you to eat or food to take home. But also I hope it will be a call to action for our senators and congressman and especially President Trump to make sure that we end this moment in the history of America where families are about to go hungry,” Andrés said in a Twitter video announcing the project.

The shutdown goes on as Trump remains committed to getting congressional approval for $5.7 billion to fund his desired wall at the U.S.-Mexico border. Democratic leaders have offered $1.3 billion for other border security efforts, saying adding more border patrol agents and technology upgrades would be more efficient and effective.

The Democrats want Trump and their Republican colleagues to agree to reopen the closed government agencies before the two sides continue the debate over what to do at the border, but so far Republicans have shown no interest in that path.

Trump invited rank-and-file Democrats for a lunch meeting Tuesday at the White House to discuss the situation, but none accepted. The White House schedule for Wednesday shows Trump having a meeting with a bipartisan group of members from the House of Representatives who call themselves the Problem Solvers Caucus.

In addition to federal workers not receiving paychecks, the effects of the shutdown are being felt in a number of ways throughout the country.

Some airport security screeners have not been showing up for work, leading to longer lines at airports. Some inspectors from the Food and Drug Administration are not conducting their usual checks to make sure food products are safe. A number of national parks and museums are closed, and the federal court system is warning it will soon run out of operating funds.

​The Internal Revenue Service is also calling 46,000 previously furloughed workers back to their offices so they can process income tax returns. The Trump administration has promised the shutdown would not affect tax refunds that many people are expecting.

While Trump and Democratic leaders blame each other for the situation dragging on, a number of recent polls have put more of the responsibility on the president.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll released Tuesday indicated 51 percent of respondents blame Trump and 34 percent blame congressional Democrats. In the same poll, 62 percent of people said they support adding more border patrol agents, and there was a roughly even split of 43 percent of people both supporting and opposing additional fencing at the border.

The Senate and House were both due to be on recess next week with members going back to their home districts, but leaders in both chambers have said that break will be canceled if the shutdown is still in effect. That outcome seems likely.

“We’re going to stay our for a long time, if we have to,” Trump told supporters in a conference call Tuesday.

In Congress, the House has passed several bills that would follow Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s plan to reopen the government for now and debate the border later, while Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he will not bring up any legislation that Trump would not support.

McConnell on Tuesday called on Senate Democrats to make “an important choice.”

“They could stand with common sense, with border experts, with federal workers, and with their own past voting records by the way, or they could continue to remain passive spectators complaining from the sidelines as the speaker refuses to negotiate with the White House,” McConnell said.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Trump should “see the pain” the shutdown is causing.

​”He’d benefit from listening to the stories of federal civil servants who were working without pay, locked out of their jobs, maybe then President Trump will understand the damage he’s causing by holding these people hostage until he gets what he wants. Meanwhile, Leader McConnell, Senate Republicans are hiding in the shadows as if they have some kind of aversion to doing their job when it involves the slightest break with the president,” Schumer said.

While leaders have been more prominent faces of the divide, there is no shortage of lawmakers on both sides advocating for something to change.

“Hundreds of thousands of Americans aren’t getting paid because the president won’t give up his vanity project,” said Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris. “They’re forgoing insulin, borrowing money, or selling their cars — just to stay afloat. Let’s vote to reopen the government.”

​Republican Rep. Mark Meadows said all members of Congress should remain in Washington without pay until they agree on border wall funding.

“No excuses. If Democrats are ready to take border security seriously, there’s a compromise to be had,” Meadows said.

Democratic Rep. Cheri Bustos accused McConnell and Trump of holding the House-passed spending bills “hostage to score political points.”

“By prolonging this shutdown and rejecting bill after bill to fund our government, the president is making us less safe by not paying for our border patrol and TSA agents,” Bustos said.

Republican Rep. Paul Gosar faulted the Democrats who did not agree to Tuesday’s White House meeting.

“Each day they refuse to find a solution — thousands are put in danger. I encourage my Dem colleagues to join Republicans in putting American priorities first,” Gosar said.

​Meanwhile, Trump called attention to the latest group of Central American migrants who are traveling in hopes of reaching the United States, citing them as evidence of the need for a border wall.

The group of several hundred people left from Honduras and made it into Guatemala on Tuesday.

About 6,000 migrants traveled to Tijuana, Mexico late last year after traveling from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. Many said they left home because of poverty and fears over gang violence. Some are trying to seek asylum in the United States, while other accepted humanitarian visas in Mexico and others returned home.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has called on the United States to be part of a group of nations working to solve the underlying reasons people are leaving their countries.

Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador have been working on the issue since reaching a cooperation agreement in December and representatives met again Tuesday with a focus on addressing four parts of the migration cycle — origin, transit, destination and return, with an emphasis on the protection of human rights for the migrants.

When Mom’s Paychecks Stop, Kid Starts New Business

When Bella Berrellez learned her mother was furloughed, she looked for ways help the family.

Political bickering in Washington means Bella’s mom and hundreds of thousands of other U.S. federal employees won’t get paid until the dispute is resolved. Some federal workers have been sent home, while others work without pay.

Entrepreneur Bella, 11, created homemade body scrubs with various scents and sold them for $7 each to neighbors and online communities. In just two weeks, she has sold more than 400 jars.

“Some of them are from the area. Some are from all over the world. And some are from different parts of the country,” she said of her customers.

Many of them, including 16-year-old Lataija Bonner, are buying the products to show their support during the government shutdown.

“I send kudos to her, because I know a few young kids that are doing what she’s doing, and I’m really proud of her because I know me being 16 and Bella just turned 11 or 12, I know I probably wouldn’t have done it,” Bonner said. “I probably would have been like, ‘Oh sorry Mom. Sorry Dad.’ Like, I don’t know what to do.”

​Bella’s mother works for the Food and Drug Administration and is currently furloughed. She is among the 800,000 federal workers who missed a paycheck on Jan. 11.

“My family is OK, and now I felt really, really happy and really good,” Bella said. “And now I’m putting my money back into the business and also donating my money to Nourish Now.”

Nourish Now is a nonprofit organization that collects food from donors like restaurants and cafeterias and distributes it to families in need. The organization also accepts financial contributions from the community.

“It’s amazing to see people from all ages, especially as young as Bella, trying to step forward and help her family out,” said David Joffee, chief program officer at Nourish Now. “It’s just admirable what she is doing. And as you can see in social media and the news, there are so many businesses and organizations out there that are willing to lend a hand. It’s great to see community members of different ages, types, sizes, etc., are willing to do this. It’s a really nice effort that we’ve seen so far.”

Recently, the organization set up a dinner for hundreds of people in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area impacted by the shutdown.

And Bella says she is happy that her effort is helping her family and others.

Nominee for US Attorney General Vows to Protect Russia Probe

William Barr, who was nominated by U.S. President Donald Trump to be the next attorney general says Russia is a “potent rival of our country,” but not as dangerous as China. Barr was questioned by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday at the first of his confirmation hearings. He said Russia is less powerful than it was during the Cold War, but its president, Vladimir Putin, is working to increase Moscow’s influence in the world. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke has more.

Mueller Not Ready for Trump Aide’s Sentencing, Filing Says

Former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates will have to wait at least another two months for his sentencing date in the Russia investigation.

That’s according to a new court filing from special counsel Robert Mueller’s team. Prosecutors say they’re not ready for Gates’ sentencing because he is continuing to cooperate with “several” ongoing investigations.

Aside from the Russia probe, Gates is involved in probes of foreign lobbying and reportedly of Trump’s inaugural committee. It’s unclear if the delay is an indication of Mueller’s Russia probe timeline or a reflection of the status of the other investigations.

Gates pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy and false statement charges related to Ukrainian lobbying and political consulting. Mueller’s team is asking for another 60 days to update the judge in his case.

AP Sources: Gillibrand Moving Toward 2020 Bid in Coming Days

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is expected to move toward launching a 2020 presidential campaign within days by forming an exploratory committee, according to several people familiar with her plans.

The New York Democrat will likely announce her intentions ahead of a trip to Iowa this weekend, one person said. She will be a guest Tuesday night on CBS’ “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”

The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak on Gillibrand’s timing. Gillibrand’s representatives didn’t comment Monday on her plans.

Gillibrand would become the fifth Democrat — and second senator — to jump into a presidential primary that could ultimately feature dozens of candidates. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts along with former Obama Cabinet member Julian Castro and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii are among those who have taken steps toward a 2020 run. Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California could also enter the race soon.

While Gillibrand’s prominence as a face of her party has grown, she faces a tough battle to capture the attention of Democratic voters in a crowded field that’s expected to include multiple women. Several of her potential rivals have spent more time in critical primary states while Gillibrand has visited one — New Hampshire — in October to stump for the Democratic candidate for governor.

She’s expected to move quickly this week to make connections in the leadoff caucus state of Iowa. She’s scheduled to headline a meeting with Democratic activists in Sioux City on Friday evening. The event is to be held at a private home with top donors to the Woodbury County Democratic Party.

Gillibrand has been in touch with some Iowa Democrats and enlisted the help of Lara Henderson, who was finance director for Fred Hubbell, the 2018 Democratic candidate for governor. But she hasn’t built up a network in the state to the degree of prospective rivals, including Booker and Harris.

She was appointed to the Senate in 2009 to succeed Hillary Clinton, who became secretary of state, and she easily won re-election, most recently in November. She has $10.6 million in her campaign fund, which can be used to jump-start a presidential bid.

During her time in the Senate, Gillibrand has been a central figure in Washington’s reckoning with the #MeToo era.

In 2017, she was the first Senate Democrat to call on Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota, a fellow Democrat, to resign amid multiple sexual misconduct allegations. She has said President Bill Clinton should have stepped down after his relationship with a White House intern was revealed and has also called on President Donald Trump to resign over sexual assault allegations.

And before #MeToo, Gillibrand spent several years pushing for legislation addressing sexual assault in the military and on college campuses.

In recent weeks, Gillibrand has worked to expand her fundraising network and improve her standing among key voting blocs, including African-American voters.

 

 

Trump: New Honduras Migrant Caravan Justifies Need for Border Wall

U.S. President Donald Trump contended Tuesday that a new migrant caravan leaving Honduras justifies his demand for a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border to keep them from surging into the United States.

“A big new Caravan is heading up to our Southern Border from Honduras,” Trump said on Twitter. He urged people to tell House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, the top Democratic leaders who oppose his demand that U.S. taxpayers pay for a wall, “that a drone flying around will not stop them. Only a Wall will work. Only a Wall, or Steel Barrier, will keep our Country safe!”

He told Pelosi and Schumer to “Stop playing political games and end the Shutdown!” — the record 25-day partial government closure spawned by the dispute over Trump’s demand for more than $5 billion to build a border barrier. Democrats have offered $1.3 billion for improved border security, but none specifically for a wall.   

About 800,000 federal workers have been furloughed or ordered to work without pay in the Trump stalemate with Democratic lawmakers, an impasse that has curtailed government services, such as airport security monitoring, and closed some museums and parks.

“Why is Nancy Pelosi getting paid when people who are working are not?” Trump tweeted.

The White House said that it invited Republican and Democratic lawmakers to lunch to discuss the shutdown, but only Republicans accepted. “It’s time for the Democrats to come to the table and make a deal,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said.

Trump said, “Polls are now showing that people are beginning to understand the Humanitarian Crisis and Crime at the Border. Numbers are going up fast, over 50%. Democrats will soon be known as the Party of Crime. Ridiculous that they don’t want Border Security!”

The Honduran caravan left the crime-ridden city of San Pedro Sula in the early hours Tuesday, with more migrants expected to join it later in the day. Thousands of other Hondurans and people from other Central American countries remain encamped in Tijuana, Mexico, just south of the U.S. border, blocked from entering the United States after walking thousands of kilometers as part of a caravan that started in October.

Although a majority of Americans blame the U.S. president and Republicans for the prolonged partial government shutdown, Trump on Monday said Democrats in Congress are squarely responsible. Trump last month, before the shutdown started, said he would be “proud” to “own” it in a fight over border security  

“They will not approve the measures we need to keep American safe,” Trump said of Democrats at a national convention of farmers in New Orleans.

“I will never ever back down” from efforts to keep America safe, Trump vowed in the speech to the 100th annual convention of the American Farm Bureau Federation. He accused Democrats of refusing to approve money for a wall because they want to use it as an issue for next year’s presidential campaign when Trump faces re-election.

Six major polls indicate that half of or more Americans hold the president and his Republican Party responsible for the shutdown. And 63 percent of American voters support a Democratic proposal to reopen parts of the government that do not involve border security while negotiating funding for a border wall, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released Monday.  

Earlier in the day, Trump told White House reporters he would not, at least for the moment, declare a national emergency to build the wall without congressional authorization.

“I’m not going to do that,” Trump said as he left the White House for the New Orleans trip.

“We are open to resolution and negotiation,” Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway told VOA News on Monday, indicating that communication is under way between the executive branch and Democrats, but she provided no details.  

Trump rejected a call by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, one of his staunchest congressional supporters, to reopen shuttered agencies for three weeks while he holds more talks with Democratic leaders about his plan for a wall along the 3,200-kilometer southern U.S. border.

Graham told the Fox News Sunday television program he would still support a presidential emergency declaration to build the border wall after giving talks another chance.

“I would urge him to open up the government for a short period of time, like three weeks, before he pulls the plug, see if we can get a deal. If we can’t at the end of three weeks, all bets are off,” Graham said.

“I’m not interested,” Trump replied to a reporter’s query on Monday about Graham’s suggestion, contending that top Democrats in Congress could quickly end the stalemate.

The Democrat-led House of Representatives has passed several measures that would reopen the shuttered agencies while border security talks continue.

Another such bill is up for consideration Tuesday that would reopen the agencies through Feb. 1, and another that would open them through Feb. 28 is expected to go before the House on Thursday.

Pelosi on Monday used Twitter to blame Republicans for starting the shutdown, and called for Trump to allow the Senate to vote to end it, arguing furloughed federal workers, who have already missed one paycheck, “are facing a life or death situation” just so the president “can try to force taxpayers to fund a border wall he promised Mexico would pay for.”

In a speech on the Senate floor Monday, Democratic Minority Leader Schumer called on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to allow a vote on legislation already approved by the House of Representatives to end the shutdown.

“How much more suffering must the president cause before leader McConnell realizes it’s time to move ahead without him? It seems clear to everybody but leader McConnell that Congress needs to move forward without the president,” Schumer said. “It’s time for leader McConnell to realize he has the power to break this impasse, passing the House legislation to reopen the government.”