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Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing


*From:* Bulletin Intelligence <Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com>
*Sent:* Monday, April 9, 2018 7:59 AM
*To:* Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com
*Subject:* Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing for Monday,
April 9, 2018


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<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=000-541&t=c>
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[image: Image removed by sender. Office of Vice President Biden
Intelligence Briefing]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=001-1fc&t=c>

*To: Vice President Joe Biden*

*Monday, April 9, 2018 8:00 AM EDT*
Today's Table of Contents

*Leading the News <#SECTION_1>*

• Trump Warns “Big Price To Pay” For Chemical Attack; Criticizes Putin,
“Animal Assad.” <#S1>

*Foreign Policy <#SECTION_2>*

• Media Analyses: Administration Seeks To Calm Fears Of Trade War With
China. <#S2>

• US Officials: North Korea Tells US It Is Prepared To Discuss
Denuclearization. <#S3>

• US Lawmakers Applaud Latest Sanctions Targeting Russian Oligarchs. <#S4>

• White House: Iraq’s PM Thanked Trump For Support In Fight Against ISIS.
<#S5>

• ICC Says Israel, Hamas May Have Committed War Crimes On Gaza Border. <#S6>

• Hungary’s Orban, Right-Wing Coalition Sweep Vote. <#S7>

• Rights Groups Raise Concerns About Thousands Of Missing Rohingya Refugees.
<#S8>

*Domestic Policy <#SECTION_3>*

• Three Republican Senators Voice Concern About Pruitt’s Conduct. <#S9>

• Trump: WPost Report On Kelly “Just Another Hit Job.” <#S10>

• DHS: Attempted Border Crossings In March Rose By 200% Compared To 2017.
<#S11>

• Kudlow: White House Planning Budget Rescission. <#S12>

• School Shooting Survivors Hold Town Hall Meetings Across Country. <#S13>

• USA Today: Gorsuch “Confirms Conservatives’ Hopes, Liberals’ Fears.”
<#S14>

• Meadows: Rosenstein Could Be Impeached Over Failure To Release Documents.
<#S15>

*Cancer Research <#SECTION_4>*

• Epacadostat Fails To Slow Melanoma Progression, Improve Survival In Phase
3 Trial. <#S16>

• FDA Approves Clovis Oncology’s Ovarian Cancer Drug. <#S17>

*Editorials/Op-Eds <#SECTION_5>*

• New York Times. <#S18>

• Washington Post. <#S19>

*Biden in the News <#SECTION_6>*

• In FaceTime Call, Biden Encourages Cancer-Stricken Teenager. <#S20>

• Local TV Newscasts Continue To Highlight Coming Stops On Biden’s Book
Tour. <#S21>

• Newsweek’s Marcin: Polls Show Biden In Strong Position For A 2020 Run.
<#S22>

• MSNBC’s Fouhy: Biden Has “Played His Politics Quite Well This Year.”
<#S23>

• Broadcasts Highlight Report Biden May Run In 2020, But Only Against Trump.
<#S24>

• New York Columnist: Biden “Would Have Been Excellent” President. <#S25>
Leading the News
Trump Warns “Big Price To Pay” For Chemical Attack; Criticizes Putin,
“Animal Assad.”

Media reports on the latest chemical attack in Syria highlight the
possibility that, as he did last year, President Trump may take military
action to retaliate against Bashar Assad. The coverage notes a series of
Trump tweets criticizing Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Iran for their support
for the Syrian regime, as well as of former President Obama for not taking
action after publicly threatening Assad over his use of chemical weapons.

[image: Image removed by sender. Video]NBC Nightly News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=002-89c&t=c>
(4/8, lead story, 2:10, Leitner) led its broadcast with footage of the
victims of the attack after warning its viewers that “some of the images
are disturbing,” and reported on “the sound of a child’s cry, alive and
being treated after dozens of Syrians [were] choked to death.” The [image:
Image removed by sender. Video]CBS Weekend News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=003-01a&t=c>
(4/8, lead story, 2:40, Quijano) reported the “horrifying scenes, not
verified by CBS News, were posted on social media, showing corpses, and
children gasping and chocking,” the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=004-804&t=c>
(4/8, Karam, Issa) that “Syrian opposition activists and rescuers” said the
attack “killed at least 40 people,” and the Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=005-a5e&t=c>
(4/8, Racke) that witnesses say “the patients showed...the ‘emission of
chlorine-like odor.’” [image: Image removed by sender. Video]ABC World News
Tonight
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=006-b2e&t=c>
(4/8, lead story, 3:00, Llamas) also warned the footage was “difficult to
look at,” and reported in a [image: Image removed by sender. Video]follow-up
segment
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=007-2a0&t=c>
(4/8, story 2, 2:00, Palmieri) that “faced with the graphic images of dead
families and suffering children,” Trump “didn’t wait for verification
before declaring Syria’s actions a chemical attack.”

Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=008-51a&t=c>
yesterday, “Many dead, including women and children, in mindless CHEMICAL
attack in Syria. Area of atrocity is in lockdown and encircled by Syrian
Army, making it completely inaccessible to outside world. President Putin,
Russia and Iran are responsible for backing Animal Assad. Big price...
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=009-17d&t=c>
to pay. Open area immediately for medical help and verification. Another
humanitarian disaster for no reason whatsoever. SICK!” Trump also wrote
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=00a-bc5&t=c>,
“If President Obama had crossed his stated Red Line In The Sand, the Syrian
disaster would have ended long ago! Animal Assad would have been history!”
Vice President Pence also weighed in on Twitter
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=00b-f10&t=c>,
writing, “The Assad regime & its backers MUST END their barbaric behavior.
As POTUS said, big price to pay for those responsible!”

[image: Image removed by sender. Video]ABC World News Tonight
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=00c-be0&t=c>
(4/8, story 2, 2:00, Palmieri) said “Trump attacked...Putin for the first
time on Twitter,” the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=00d-2ab&t=c>
(4/8, Davis) that it was “the first time since his election” that Trump
“has criticized the Russian leader by name on Twitter,” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=00e-992&t=c>
(4/8) that he “took the rare step of directly criticizing” Putin, and CQ
Roll Call
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=00f-906&t=c>
(4/8, Bennett) that “until recently,” Trump “had refused to publicly
criticize the Russian leader.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=010-00f&t=c>
(4/8, Morello, Johnson), meanwhile, highlights what it terms “a rare direct
criticism of...Putin” on Trump’s part, and Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=011-3cb&t=c>
(4/8, Nussbaum) refers to his “most direct criticism yet” of the Russian
president. To the Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=012-829&t=c>
(4/8, Bulos), “Trump’s condemnation of what he termed a ‘mindless CHEMICAL
attack’ raised the prospect of US military retaliation.” The Times adds
Trump’s homeland security advisor Tom Bossert “said in [image: Image
removed by sender. Video]a television interview
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=013-7b6&t=c>
Sunday that he ‘wouldn’t take anything off the table’ regarding a US
response.” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=014-1f8&t=c>
(4/8, Davis) reports “it was not clear on Sunday whether his tweets
reflected serious planning for a military strike, or if the suspected
chemical attack had changed the president’s calculation about the necessity
for a rapid wind-down of American military involvement in Syria.” A “White
House official said he could provide no guidance beyond what the president
had said on Twitter.”

The [image: Image removed by sender. Video]CBS Weekend News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=015-6ad&t=c>
(4/8, story 2, 1:00, Brennan), however, reported Trump “is leaning hard
into the idea of taking action,” and even as “as senior administration
officials” wait “on intelligence to confirm exactly what substance was used
and exactly who used it in Syria...they are near certain that this was an
attack carried out by the Assad regime, and near certain that the President
will decide to take action.” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=016-99d&t=c>
(4/8) indicates “Trump threatened action, although it was unclear what he
had in mind,” while the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=017-a20&t=c>
(4/8, Lemire) notes that “just over a year ago, Trump ordered dozens of
cruise missiles to be fired at a Syrian air base after declaring there was
no doubt Assad had ‘choked out the lives of helpless’ civilians in an
attack that used banned gases.”

USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=018-fd1&t=c>
(4/8, Dorell) says the alleged attack this weekend “would be at least the
eighth since...Trump took office and the worst since he launched a military
strike at Syrian government forces” in April of 2017, and The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=019-e19&t=c>
(4/8, Shelbourne) reports “Trump has previously responded militarily to
reported chemical weapons use,” but says the President “has sent mixed
signals about his likely response to Syria, advocating getting the US out
of the conflict there but also on Sunday tweeting criticism” of his
predecessor’s “hands-off response to a similar situation.”

The New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=01a-74b&t=c>
(4/8, Moore) notes that “in 2012, Obama warned Syria that any use of
chemical weapons would cross a ‘red line,’ but failed to retaliate after
Assad carried out another attack when Russia said it would intervene and
force Syria to destroy his chemical arsenal.” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=01b-1fe&t=c>
(4/8, Hubbard) also reports Obama “declined to respond militarily to
evidence that the Syrian government had gassed its own people,” and a
second New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=01c-f68&t=c>
(4/8, Joseph, Caron) says that particular attack “killed more than 1,400
and shocked the world’s conscience,” leading then-Secretary of State John
Kerry to call it a “moral obscenity.”

The Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=01d-eff&t=c>
(4/8, Enjeti), Townhall
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=01e-11e&t=c>
(4/8, Meads) and the Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=01f-c82&t=c>
(4/8, Nissenbaum), among other news outlets, run similar reports on Trump’s
tweets, while the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=020-34e&t=c>
(4/8, Morello, Johnson) reports Trump’s “sentiments were shared around the
world.” British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson “called the attack an
example of the Assad government’s brutality. “The EU “issued a statement
appealing to Assad’s allies Russia and Iran to ‘use their influence to
prevent any further attack and ensure the cessation of hostilities and
de-escalation of violence.’” The Post adds that “Turkey, which has been
cooperating with Assad allies in talks for a political solution, called for
international action to prevent what it called war crimes and crimes
against humanity.”

USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=021-4d3&t=c>
(4/8, Bacon) notes, meanwhile, that “a statement from UN spokesman Stéphane
Dujarric said the UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on all
parties to cease fighting.” Said Dujarric, “The Secretary-General is
particularly alarmed by allegations that chemical weapons have been used
against civilian populations in Douma. ... While the United Nations is not
in a position to verify these reports, the Secretary-General notes that any
use of chemical weapons, if confirmed, is abhorrent, and requires a
thorough investigation.”

The New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=022-b82&t=c>
(4/8, Moore) reports that the State Department had said in a statement
Saturday that “if the reports are confirmed it would ‘ demand an immediate
response by the international community.’” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=023-4e2&t=c>
(4/8, Loveluck) notes the State Department also “said it was monitoring
mass casualty reports, describing them as ‘horrifying.’”

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=024-786&t=c>
(4/8, Boylan, Sherfinski) reports that “in a statement posted on the
state-run news agency SANA, the Syrian government strongly denied the
allegations,” calling the claims “‘fabrications’ by the Army of Islam” and
“a ‘failed attempt’ to impede government advances.” [image: Image removed
by sender. Video]NBC Nightly News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=025-00b&t=c>
(4/8, lead story, 2:10, Leitner) also noted the Syrian regime is “claiming
terrorist groups planned the attack.” Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=026-cd1&t=c>
(4/8, Sergie, Hamilton) reports, meanwhile, that “the Foreign Ministry in
Moscow warned that any foreign military strike against Syria over
‘fabricated’ reports of chemical warfare may lead to the ‘gravest
consequences.’”

Treasury Secretary Mnuchin said on [image: Image removed by sender.
Video]CBS’ Face The Nation
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=027-2d9&t=c>
(4/8, Brennan), “I expect to get an update from the national security team
and, as you’ve pointed out with the President’s tweet, this appears to be
another horrible example of the Assad regime, just incredibly targeted.”
Mnuchin said he couldn’t “comment on what our response will or won’t be,”
but “I expect to get an update later.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=028-5a5&t=c>
(4/8, Hubbard, Davis) reports that “images of dead families sprawled in
their homes threatened to change Mr. Trump’s calculus on Syria, possibly
drawing him deeper into an intractable Middle Eastern war that he hoped to
leave.” To the Times, “the reported chemical attack...seems to have
squeezed Mr. Trump between conflicting impulses, and raised the political
and military stakes as he charts the United States’ future in Syria.”

*McCain Says Trump “Emboldened” Assad, Urges Him To Act
“Decisively” As In 2017. *Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=029-128&t=c>
(4/8, Griffiths) reports Sen. John McCain “blasted...Trump on Sunday over
an apparent chemical weapons attack in Syria, saying the regime was
‘emboldened’ after the US president suggested that it was time to reduce US
involvement in the country.” McCain said in a statement, “President Trump
last week signaled to the world that the United States would prematurely
withdraw from Syria.” The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=02a-f2e&t=c>
(4/8, Cohen) notes McCain added, “The President responded decisively when
Assad used chemical weapons last year. ... He should do so again, and
demonstrate that Assad will pay a price for his war crimes.”

*Graham Calls On Trump To Follow Through, Says Crisis “Defining
Moment” For Trump. *Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=02b-ba9&t=c>
(4/8, Niquette) reports that Sen. Lindsey Graham said on [image: Image
removed by sender. Video]ABC’s This Week
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=02c-077&t=c>
that Trump “must follow through on his threat of a ‘big price to pay’ after
a suspected chemical attack in Syria, or risk losing credibility in
dealings with North Korea and other US adversaries.” Said Graham, “If it
becomes a tweet without meaning, then he has hurt himself in North Korea.
... If he doesn’t follow through and live up to that tweet, he’s going to
look weak in the eyes of Russia and Iran. So this is a defining moment, Mr.
President.” The New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=02d-a81&t=c>
(4/8, Moore) notes Graham went on to call the crisis “a defining moment in
his presidency.”

*More Congressional Commentary. *Sen. Susan Collins said on [image:
Image removed by sender. Video]CNN’s State Of The Union
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=02e-9cf&t=c>
(4/8, Tapper) that “the last time this happened the President did a
targeted attack to take out some of the facilities,” and “that may be an
option that maybe we should consider now,” but “it is further reason why it
is so important that the president ramp up the pressure and the sanctions
on the Russian government because without the support of Russia I do not
believe that Assad would still be in office.”

Sen. Ben Cardin told [image: Image removed by sender. Video]CBS’
Face The Nation
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=02f-8a1&t=c>
(4/8, Brennan), “Congress returns tomorrow, I hope that we will get a full
briefing on the use of these chemical weapons.” Sen. Mike Rounds, also
on [image:
Image removed by sender. Video]CBS’ Face The Nation
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=030-f26&t=c>
(4/8, Todd), said, “I think we wait until the Secretary of Defense puts
together his proposals and lays them in front of the President and the
President needs to have the good advice and needs to know what his options
are and then he should act decisively and he will hold not just Syria, but
I think he will make it very clear that Russia is also responsible.”

Rep Michael McCaul said on [image: Image removed by sender. Video]Fox
News Sunday Morning Futures
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=031-6d0&t=c>
(4/8, Bartiromo), “There has to be a consequence to this, and I think the
President is absolutely right is that President Obama drew the red line,
[but when] the red line was crossed, he did nothing and then he negotiated
through John Kerry. ... I remember John Kerry saying we took all their
chemical weapons away. ... Obviously, not.”

Rep. Mac Thornberry told [image: Image removed by sender. Video]Fox
News Sunday Morning Futures
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=032-ac5&t=c>
(4/8, Bartiromo) , “I think a limited military strike against those units
that carry out these attacks should definitely be considered just as he did
a year ago, but this is part of a broader pattern when you look at Russia.”

*US Denies Being Behind Strike On Syrian Base; Israel Declines To
Comment. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=033-166&t=c>
(4/8) reports “Syrian state TV said there were casualties in what it said
was a suspected US missile attack on a major air base in central Syria but
the United States denied it had launched any air strikes against the
country.” The Pentagon “said it was not conducting air strikes in Syria ‘at
this time,’ formally denying the Syrian state television report.”
Meanwhile, “asked about the explosions, an Israeli spokeswoman declined to
comment.” The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=034-1d5&t=c>
(4/9, Issa) runs a similar report.
Foreign Policy
Media Analyses: Administration Seeks To Calm Fears Of Trade War With China.

NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=035-78e&t=c>
(4/8, story 3, 1:15, Snow) reported that if “the growing trade dispute
between this country and China...is in fact a war, President Trump tried to
give the impression today that it could still be a friendly war.” NBC
(Mackey Frayer) added, “President Trump appears to be trying to ease fears
of a full blown trade war with China.” The CBS Weekend News[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=036-216&t=c>
(4/8, story 3, 0:55, Quijano) too said the Administration “is trying to
calm fears of a trade war with China. ... After a week of threatening China
with tariffs on imports that total $160 billion and accusing China of
stealing US intellectual property, President Trump softened his tone on
twitter Sunday morning.”

As part of a series of tweets, USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=037-e93&t=c>
(4/8, Jackson) reports Trump “vowed friendship” with Chinese President Xi
Jinping “despite their trade differences,” as he and his top aides “sought
to tamp down market fears of a trade war” between the two countries. The
President tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=038-85d&t=c>,
“President Xi and I will always be friends, no matter what happens with our
dispute on trade.” He also predicted, “China will take down its Trade
Barriers because it is the right thing to do. Taxes will become Reciprocal
& a deal will be made on Intellectual Property. Great future for both
countries!” Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=039-e7a&t=c>
(4/8, Krasny, Chandra) says Trump “predicted China will be first to buckle”
after “a week of rising tensions on trade,” but the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=03a-048&t=c>
(4/8, Lemire) says he “did not explain why, amid a week of economic
saber-rattling between the two countries that shook global markets, he felt
confident a deal could be made.”

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=03b-9ea&t=c>
(4/8, Price) reports that while Administration officials “have stressed
that the tariffs are not yet in place and the dispute could be resolved
through talk,” there “has been no indication that Trump and Xi have had any
conversations since the trade conflict erupted last week and no formal
trade talks between the United States and China have been scheduled yet.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=03c-312&t=c>
(4/8, Lee, Sullivan, Johnson) says that in interviews on Sunday morning
talk shows, “administration officials defended the president’s trade
approach.” USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=03d-930&t=c>
(4/8, Jackson) similarly says the Administration officials “hit the Sunday
news shows to downplay fears of a trade war with China.” The Wall Street
Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=03e-336&t=c>
(4/8, Nicholas) has a similar report under the headline “Trump Officials
Soften Tone On Trade Dispute With China.” USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=03f-619&t=c>
(4/8, Jackson) reports Larry Kudlow, the new director of the National
Economic Council, “said the tariff threats are part of a negotiating tactic
designed to pressure China to end unfair trade practices.” Kudlow said on
Fox News Sunday, “It’s a long process. So far, no tariffs and no action
have been enacted.” Kudlow told CNN’s State Of The Union[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=040-05f&t=c>
(4/8, Tapper), “No president has had the back bone to take it up publically
before. I think [Trump] is exactly right,” and “I say to everybody on this
the problem here is China...not President Trump.”

Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=041-f42&t=c>
(4/8, Krasny, Chandra) reports Treasury Secretary Mnuchin said the US
objective “is to continue to have discussions with China.” Mnuchin told CBS’
Face The Nation[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=042-bc1&t=c>
(4/8, Brennan), “We’re just looking for our companies and our workers to
have a level playing field.” He noted that Trump “has a close relationship”
with the president of China and that negotiations would continue. Mnuchin
said, “I don’t want to comment on specific discussions and where they
stand,” but “what I will emphasize is that this is really our objective is
free and fair trade.”

Trump’s chief trade adviser, Peter Navarro, said on NBC’s Meet the
Press[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=043-70d&t=c>
(4/8, Todd), “Basically, what we have here is a situation where every
American understands that China is stealing our intellectual property,
they’re forcing transfer of our technologies when companies go to China,
and by doing that, they steal jobs from America and they steal factories
from America. We run an unprecedented $370 billion a year trade deficit in
goods.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham said on ABC’s This Week[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=044-727&t=c>
(4/8, Raddatz), “We’re trying to get China to act better and if you get
into a contest with China you’re going to have to see this thing through.”
He added, “I support President Trump pushing back against commodity dumping
and intellectual property theft, currency manipulation and got to see this
thing through.”

Sen. Susan Collins, however, said on CNN’s State Of The Union[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=045-4b0&t=c>
(4/8, Tapper), “I think we need a more nuanced approach, but I give the
President credit for levying the tariffs against the Chinese with whom
we’ve talked for a decade about their unfair trade practices and
intellectual property from American firms.” She added, “It is a very
delicate balancing act that we have to undertake, but we cannot ignore the
looming trade deficit with China.”

*In Tweet Today, Trump Denounces “Stupid Trade” With China, Citing
Auto Tariffs. *Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=046-180&t=c>
this morning, “When a car is sent to the United States from China, there is
a Tariff to be paid of 2 1/2%. When a car is sent to China from the United
States, there is a Tariff to be paid of 25%. Does that sound like free or
fair trade. No, it sounds like STUPID TRADE – going on for years!”

*WPost : US Farmers Fear Potential Trade War With China. *The
Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=047-003&t=c>
(4/8, Weigel) reports that “many of the farmers who helped propel Donald
Trump to the presidency fear becoming pawns in his escalating trade war
with China, which threatens markets for soybeans, corn and other lifeblood
crops in the Upper Midwest.” The Post says Trump’s “aggressive, lurching
attacks on China over trade are putting Republicans...in a difficult spot —
torn between siding with Trump while acknowledging the economic peril to
many of their constituents.”

*WSJournal: Today’s Trade Fight With China Differs From That With
1980s Japan. *The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=048-6f9&t=c>
(4/8, Davis) reports that as trade tensions escalate with China, the
Administration is looking at the US trade fight against Japan in the 1980s
and 1990s for lessons. The Journal, however, says the two cases have few
similarities, and China is fighting back.
US Officials: North Korea Tells US It Is Prepared To Discuss
Denuclearization.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=049-550&t=c>
(4/8, Spetalnick) reports a US official said Sunday that North Korea has
told the Administration “for the first time that it is prepared to discuss
the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula” when leader Kim Jong Un meets
with President Trump. The official told Reuters that US and North Korean
officials “have held secret contacts recently in which Pyongyang directly
confirmed its willingness to hold the unprecedented summit.” The New York
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=04a-210&t=c>
(4/8, Schultz) reports CNN
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=04b-0d0&t=c>
said Saturday that outgoing CIA Director Pompeo is “leading the back
channel communications.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=04c-77e&t=c>
(4/8, Nakamura) says the confirmation “offers the administration greater
assurances that...Kim Jong Un is committed to a potential meeting” with
Trump by the end of next month. “The US has confirmed that Kim Jong Un is
willing to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” an
“Administration official” said. The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=04d-df3&t=c>
(4/8, Gordon, Cheng) cautions that North Korea’s willingness to discuss the
issue does not guarantee the talks will succeed.

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=04e-9a9&t=c>
(4/8, Davis) reports Administration officials said Sunday the US “had been
working to lay the groundwork for the meeting, but would offer no details
about it, such as where it might take place.” The Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=04f-54f&t=c>
(4/8, Bierman) and the Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=050-449&t=c>
(4/8, Boyer), among other sources, also report the official’s comments.

*Hundreds Of Foreigners Participate In Pyongyang Marathon. *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=051-ea9&t=c>
(4/8) reports that roughly 400 foreigners participated in Sunday’s annual
Pyongyang marathon, “less than half the number that came last year.”
US Lawmakers Applaud Latest Sanctions Targeting Russian Oligarchs.

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=052-2d6&t=c>
(4/8, Miller, Sherfinski) reports that on Sunday, US lawmakers “applauded
the Trump administration’s most recent move to sanction Russian oligarchs
for the country’s ‘malign’ influence around the globe.” Sen. Benjamin
Cardin, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,
“said that although the president could have acted faster on the sanctions,
the targeting of oligarchs was ‘very important.’” In an appearance on CNN’s
“State of the Union,” Sen. Susan Collins “said that stepping up pressure on
Russia is particularly important after images shot around the world of a
suspected chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of people in Syria
over the weekend.” Meanwhile, the latest sanctions elicited “swift
condemnation from senior Russian officials, who accused the Trump
administration of lashing out to mask America’s own mounting problems.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said a “response will
be given,” and that officials are reviewing “an entire list of possible
measures.”
White House: Iraq’s PM Thanked Trump For Support In Fight Against ISIS.

The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=053-898&t=c>
(4/8, Cohen) reports a White House statement said that in a call on Sunday
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi, in the words of the Examiner,
“thanked President Trump for the ‘decisive support’ of the United States in
the fight against the Islamic State.” Trump previously said that the US
would be “coming out of Syria very soon.” The White House says the two also
discussed “accelerating the campaign to defeat remnants of ISIS and the
need to work together to counter other threats in the region,” reports of a
chemical attack near in Syria, and the “the importance of Iraqi unity in
advance of the upcoming elections.”
ICC Says Israel, Hamas May Have Committed War Crimes On Gaza Border.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=054-43a&t=c>
(4/8, Zion) reports the office of Fatou Bensouda, the International
Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor, released a statement Sunday raising
“grave” concerns “that Israel’s ‘violence against civilians – in a
situation such as one prevailing in Gaza’ may constitute war crimes.” In an
“apparent reference to Gaza’s Hamas rulers, she also said ‘the use of
civilian presence for the purpose of shielding military activities’ could
also be a war crime.” According to Palestinian health officials, “at least
31 people have been killed by Israeli fire, including 25 people killed
during protests.” Israel, however, maintains that “the protests are a smoke
screen for attacks on its troops and attempts to breach the border fence.”
The Israeli military also “said Sunday that it had located two explosive
devices near the border hours after three Palestinians from Gaza apparently
crossed briefly into Israeli territory.”
Hungary’s Orban, Right-Wing Coalition Sweep Vote.

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=055-fb7&t=c>
(4/8, Santora) reports Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, “who has set
about transforming this former Soviet bloc member from a vibrant democracy
into a semi-autocratic state under one political party’s control, appeared
to have won a sweeping victory in national elections on Sunday, with 93
percent of the vote counted.” His Fidesz party and allied Christian
Democrats also secured “two-thirds of the seats in Parliament,” meaning
Orban “now has the power to change the Constitution and further bend the
nation to his will.” While Sunday’s results “were not unexpected, given the
divisions of the opposition and the uneven playing field on which they were
forced to compete,” they “alarmed Western officials who view Mr. Orban’s
style of government as a threat to values such as the rule of law and a
free press.” Orban’s sweeping victory could also “embolden other leaders
who have used a similar playbook, including those in neighboring Poland,
where the governing party has openly emulated his tactics.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=056-aac&t=c>
(4/8, McAuley) says the vote “was widely seen as a reflection on the state
of democracy and the rule of law in a European Union member state that in
recent years has been sliding toward autocracy,” and the result “quashed
any hopes of an opposition presence in a country that has essentially been
a one-party state for nearly a decade.” Orban’s reelection also delivered a
victory “for the European far right,” as “his central message” since the
terrorist attacks of 2015 “has been the demonization of migrants.” In 2018,
Orban’s “anti-migrant tirades” also focused on “George Soros, the
Hungarian-born American billionaire and liberal philanthropist who has
funded Budapest’s Central European University and many of the
nongovernmental organizations the current prime minister seeks to close.”
Rights Groups Raise Concerns About Thousands Of Missing Rohingya Refugees.

The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=057-bbf&t=c>
(4/8, Emont) reports that since the Burmese military launched its campaign
against Rohingya villages in September, tens of thousands of the nearly
700,000 Rohingya Muslims who fled to Bangladesh remain unaccounted for or
missing. Questions about the fates of the missing and widespread
allegations by human rights groups that Burma has failed to help account
for them have heightened tensions as Burma and Bangladesh negotiate a plan
to begin repatriating the refugees.
Domestic Policy
Three Republican Senators Voice Concern About Pruitt’s Conduct.

The CBS Weekend News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=058-2bc&t=c>
(4/8, story 4, 0:50, Jiang) reported President Trump is “defending
embroiled EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt on Twitter, insisting Scott is
doing a great job. ... But calls for Pruitt’s resignation are growing for
racking up huge tabs on security detail and travel and renting a condo
linked to an energy lobbyist.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=059-cee&t=c>
(4/8, Sullivan) reports that during appearances on the Sunday morning
network talk shows, Sens. John Kennedy (R), Lindsey Graham (R), and Susan
Collins (R) expressed concern Sunday about Pruitt, hours after Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=05a-c83&t=c>
that Pruitt was doing “a great job.” According to the Post, the “sharpest
Republican criticism came from Kennedy,” who said Pruitt ought to hold a
“full-blown press conference” to address the concerns about his
performance. Said Kennedy on CBS’ Face The Nation[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=05b-90a&t=c>
(4/8, Brennan), “You represent the President of the United States, all of
this behavior is juvenile, it’s distracting from the business that we’re
frying to do for the American people.” As to whether he should keep his
job, Kennedy said that the decision is up to Trump.

On CNN’s State Of The Union[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=05c-fc2&t=c>
(4/8, Tapper), Collins said, “First of all, let me say that the actions
taken by Scott Pruitt in the environmental arena, whether it is trying to
undermine the clean power plant plan or weaken the restrictions on lead or
undermine methane rules, are reasons enough to validate my decision to
oppose his confirmation.” Collins added, “This daily drip of accusations of
excessive spending and ethical violations serve to further distract the
agency from accomplishing its very important mission.” She added that
whether he resigns or is fired is a decision for Trump, not Congress.

Graham, appearing on ABC’s This Week[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=05d-2e7&t=c>
(4/8, Raddatz), said of Pruitt, “I think he’s done a good job, but I’m
looking to see what the Oversight Committee is going to say. ... The one
thing I can say, if you’re the EPA Administrator and two lobbyists change
the locks you’ve got a problem. ... The bottom line is it doesn’t look
good.”

Meanwhile, USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=05e-fc5&t=c>
(4/8, Slack) reports Sen. Mike Rounds (R) “defended” Pruitt on Sunday,
“saying much of the criticism of Pruitt is fueled by people upset by his
policies.” On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Rounds said, “I don’t know how much
of it is overblown and how much of it is accurate, to be honest. ... The
reason why all of the emphasis right now is on Mr. Pruitt is because he is
executing these policies and they’re not real popular policies with a lot
of people.”

Asked about the allegations against Pruitt, Treasury Secretary
Mnuchin said on CBS’ Face The Nation[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=05f-c74&t=c>
(4/8, Brennan), “I think, as the President said, Scott has just done a
fantastic job on policy and again. ... As it relates to the specifics of
Scott’s situation, I can’t comment on them, but I’m sure the President’s
reviewed it.”
Trump: WPost Report On Kelly “Just Another Hit Job.”

The CBS Weekend News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=060-df0&t=c>
(4/8, story 4, 0:50, Jiang) reported briefly that Trump is “defending his
relationship with his Chief of Staff John Kelly amid reports Kelly has
recently threatened to resign, frustrated with the President’s decision
making.” The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=061-914&t=c>
(4/8, Shelbourne) reports Trump on Sunday “ripped” the Washington Post,
calling the newspaper “fiction” and an article detailing Kelly’s decreased
power “another hit job.” Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=062-b49&t=c>,
“The Washington Post is far more fiction than fact. Story after story is
made up garbage – more like a poorly written novel than good reporting.
Always quoting sources (not names), many of which don’t exist. Story on
John Kelly isn’t true, just another hit job!” Townhall
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=063-134&t=c>
(4/8, Meads) says Trump “had some choice words” for the Washington Post
after a weekend report said tensions between the two “were at an all time
high.” On NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=064-ebe&t=c>
(4/8, story 4, 2:00, Snow), Jeff Bennett said, “Privately, he’s frustrated.
Mr. Trump considered firing [Kelly] last month and weighed acting as his
own chief of staff.”

White House chief trade adviser Peter Navarro said NBC’s Meet the
Press[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=065-2c2&t=c>
(4/8, Todd), “Every day of his adult life, John Kelly’s gotten up in the
morning to serve America. He’s a great man and courageous man. He has the
confidence of the president.” He added, “What you read in the Washington
Post is fake news.” Responding to reports of Kelly’s waning influence in
the West Wing, White House chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on CNN’s
State Of The Union[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=066-179&t=c>
(4/8, Tapper), “I have been on the job five days. John Kelly has been great
to me,” and “he is in charge. He is operating on a much improved process.”
Kudlow said, “Every time the President and I talk and that subject comes
up, the President has nothing but good things to say. I don’t think this is
a real story.”

*Summers Compares Trump’s Amazon Attacks To Italy Under
Mussolini. *Bloomberg
News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=067-a76&t=c>
(4/8, Niquette) reports former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers called
Trump’s attacks on Amazon “a ‘jihad’ akin to what happened in Benito
Mussolini’s Italy and other totalitarian states.” Summers suggested that
Trump is “singling out Amazon because Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos
owns the Washington Post.” On CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS,” Summers said,
“What is not the job of the president of the United States is to go on a
jihad against a company because he does not like the activities of a
newspaper that is privately owned by its CEO. It is something that should
be deeply concerning to business people everywhere.”

Responding to criticism of Trump’s comments about Amazon, Kudlow
said on CNN’s State Of The Union[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=068-54f&t=c>
(4/8, Tapper), “The issue here, as I understand it, is to have a level
playing field with regard to tax collection; that’s the issue.” Kudlow
added, “Let’s have a level playing field for all of the new Internet
retailing that is going on, the industry is changing fundamentally,” and
“it will continue to change like that. ... You should pay taxes in whatever
jurisdiction you are operating.”

*NYTimes: Bolton To Find “Kindred Spirit” In Trump. *In a
2,500-word analysis for the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=069-ac1&t=c>
(4/8, Baker), Peter Baker writes, “Combative, relentless and proudly
impolitic,” National Security Adviser Bolton, “the enfant terrible of the
Bush administration, has a kindred spirit of sorts in Mr. Trump, a fellow
practitioner of blowtorch politics. ... Some of Mr. Bolton’s harshest
critics are those who once worked with him. ... Some view his ascension to
the right hand of an already mercurial president with deep alarm.”
DHS: Attempted Border Crossings In March Rose By 200% Compared To 2017.

ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=06a-a6b&t=c>
(4/8, story 6, 1:30, Llamas) reported that as many as 4,000 National Guard
troops are heading to the US-Mexico border amid what DHS “is calling a
growing migrant crisis.” White House Homeland Security Adviser Bossert:
“We’ve got a leaking boat on our border, and we’re all quibbling with how
much water is in the boat, how fast we’re bailing it out.” ABC (Moore):
“DHS says attempted border crossings increased 200 percent in March
compared to last year, when illegal border-crossings were at historic
lows.” Bossert said on ABC’s This Week[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=06b-c84&t=c>
(4/8, Raddatz) that the reason for the National Guard deployment is because
“the seasonal uptick normally begins next month and what we’re doing is
taking action now at the appropriate time, instead of waiting, as others
have in the past, for that uptick to get in front of us.”

*NBC News: Migrants Say They Are Undeterred By Border Deployment. *As
the US troops head toward the border, NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=06c-57d&t=c>
(4/8, story 5, 1:35, Snow) reported from Mexico on the caravan carrying
about 600 migrants toward the US – a caravan President Trump
“called...dangerous.” NBC (Atencio) said those in the caravan are “almost
all Hondurans” and are “mostly parents and children.” Atencio spoke to one
mother, Katherine, who is traveling with her one-year-old daughter. She
said, “I want to arrive in the United States because I want to give my
daughter a better future.” Atencio added, “Even with the National Guard
headed to the border, Katherine says they will press on, continuing down a
long road toward a home that they hope will offer safety.”

*Bossert Blames Democrats For Lack Of Progress On DACA. *White
House Homeland Security Adviser Bossert, asked on ABC’s This Week[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=06d-146&t=c>
(4/8, Raddatz) about DACA, “There is a Democratic leadership this Congress
that has chosen point blank that this is a better wedge issue for them to
run on than a problem for them to fix.” President Trump, he added, “is the
one that, in a shocking fashion, came out and did something I don’t think
any Republican president has ever done.”

*Axios: Nielsen Has Become Trump’s “Immigration Scapegoat.” *Jonathan
Swan writes for Axios
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=06e-714&t=c>
(4/8, Swan) that DHS Secretary Nielsen has “become Trump’s immigration
scapegoat – which generates friction between the president and his chief of
staff, John Kelly, who is extremely close with her and believes his
criticism of her is unwarranted and misplaced.” Swan says Trump “had
misgivings” about nominating Nielsen, and “even threatened to pull
Nielsen’s nomination in a heated Oval Office meeting the week after she was
nominated.” Swan adds that Kelly “stood by Nielsen, she got the job, and it
doesn’t seem to be in jeopardy.” Since her nomination, Nielsen has “taken
on an unforgiving role: having to shoot down the president’s frequently
unvetted immigration enforcement ideas.”
Kudlow: White House Planning Budget Rescission.

The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=06f-a69&t=c>
(4/8, Lim) reports White House chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on
“Fox News Sunday,” “We are looking at an rescission ‘enhanced’ package”
that would, in the Examiner’s words, “parts of the $1.3 trillion spending
bill passed by Congress in March.” Kudlow added, “I think the Republican
Party on the Hill has finally figured out it’s really not a bad idea to
trim some spending, because after all spending can lead to deficits, and
spending interferes with the economy, and President Trump is a deregulator
and a tax cutter.”

*House To Vote On Balanced Budget Amendment. *USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=070-4d1&t=c>
(4/8, Collins) reports that, in “an effort to quell anger from conservative
activists who say Congress presides over a ballooning debt and
out-of-control spending,” the House of Representatives will vote on a
balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. However, “the measure is not
popular with everyone on the right, and it’s unlikely to pass the Senate.”
Democrats case the move as “a political ploy” and “hypocritical,” given
that Republicans “passed a tax cut law projected to add $1.5 trillion to
the debt.” Some Republicans believe “the best way to win” in the November
elections “is to hold votes on GOP campaign promises, even if those
measures have little chance of becoming law.”

*Ex-White House Advisers, Yellen: Tax Cuts Primary Cause Of
Upcoming US Debt Problems. *Former White House Council of Economic Advisers
Martin Neil Baily, Jason Furman, Alan B. Krueger, Laura D’Andrea Tyson, and
former Fed Chair Janet Yellen, in an op-ed in the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=071-af7&t=c>
(4/8), write that “ever-rising debt and deficits will cause interest rates
to rise” increasing the amount the government has to pay to service the
growing debt. However, they add, “It is dishonest to single out
entitlements for blame” for the problem, when in fact “large tax cuts and
unfunded wars have been huge contributors to our current deficit problem,”
and “the primary reason the deficit in coming years will now be higher than
had been expected is the reduction in tax revenue.” Because the cause of
increasing costs in entitlement programs is the aging of the population,
there is little room for cuts in those programs. Instead, the authors call
for “a balanced approach” to dealing with the deficit issue, including
setting “tax policy to realize adequate revenue.”
School Shooting Survivors Hold Town Hall Meetings Across Country.

NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=072-5a0&t=c>
(4/7, story 4, 2:05, Snow) on Saturday reported, “Across the country today,
young people are again pressuring lawmakers to end gun violence, this time
in an effort they’re calling ‘Town Hall for Our Lives.’ Survivors of the
mass shooting in Parkland, Florida are attending many of these nationwide
events.” NBC (McCoy) added that the events are being held “in more than 100
cities across the country,” and are port of “an effort to move the gun
debate forward to the elections this November.” At most, Republicans did
not appear, so “empty chairs symbolized those invited but who did not show
up.”

*Student, Sharpton Plan New York City Gun Violence Protest Rally. *The
Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=073-468&t=c>
(4/7, Jeans) reported that Stoneman Douglas High School junior Aalayah
Eastmond “joined the Rev. Al Sharpton on Saturday to announce a June rally
in front of President Donald Trump’s Manhattan apartment to protest gun
violence eased by access to assault weapons.” The article provided further
detail on the planned rally, adding that Sharpton “said that young people
leading recent activism across the country has produced what he called ‘a
necessary marriage of dealing with gun violence as an American issue that
jumps over the boundaries of any community and deals with America from
every city.’”

*Wounded Parkland Student Blames Officials For School Shooting. *The
Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=074-659&t=c>
(4/7, Richardson) reported that Parkland student Anthony Borges, who was
“shot five times as he shielded about 20 students by blocking a doorway”
during February’s shooting, “has blamed the Florida mass shooting on the
sheriff and the school district.” Borges wrote in a letter to Broward
County Sheriff Scott Israel and superintendent Robert Runcie, “both of you
failed us students, teachers, and parents alike on so many levels,” adding,
“I want all of us to move forward to end the environment that allowed
people like Nikolas Cruz to fall through the cracks.” Borges’ attorney Alex
Arreaza read the letter at a press conference on Friday.

*Stoneman Douglas Yearbook To Focus On Good Times. *NBC
Nightly News[image:
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<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=075-a9d&t=c>
(4/7, story 5, 2:15, Snow) reported, “While a lot of young people from
Parkland, Florida have been in the spotlight speaking out against gun
violence, they are also still students getting ready for proms and finals
and graduation. Another rite of passage? Yearbooks. And for the yearbook
committee at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, putting together this
year’s chronicle has been an emotional seesaw, balancing mentions of the
tragedy with memories of their loved ones.” NBC (Sanders) added, “Four
hundred and fifty-two pages, 40 more than usual, but students and their
advisers say they will not let the carnage define so many of their school’s
bright spots.”

*Concealed Weapons Training Numbers Increase In Wake Of Parkland. *The
Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=076-1de&t=c>
(4/8, Sherfinski) reports, “People are surging to sign up for training to
carry concealed weapons in the wake of the Parkland school shooting, as
analysts say sustained media coverage and calls for more gun control
encourage people to look for ways to protect themselves.” Federal
background check data also indicate that gun sales are on the rise.

*Federal Judge Dismisses Challenge To Massachusetts Assault Weapons
Ban. *The Boston Globe
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=077-0a6&t=c>
(4/6, Cramer) reported US District Judge William Young “dismissed a lawsuit
on Friday that challenged Massachusetts’ ban on assault weapons,” writing
that the ban does “not violate the right to bear arms under the Second
Amendment.” Young wrote, “The AR-15 and its analogs, along with large
capacity magazines, are simply not weapons within the original meaning of
the individual constitutional right to ‘bear Arms.’” Young added, “In the
absence of federal legislation, Massachusetts is free to ban these weapons
and large-capacity magazines. Other states are equally free to leave them
unregulated and available to their law-abiding citizens. These policy
matters are simply not of constitutional moment.”

*Georgia Sheriff’s Office Posts Controversial Sign Promoting
Concealed Carry Rights. *The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=078-495&t=c>
(4/6, Bever) reported that a sign was put up Tuesday outside the Harris
County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia that reads, “Welcome to Harris County,
Georgia. ... Our citizens have concealed weapons. If you kill someone, we
might kill you back. We have ONE jail and 356 cemeteries. Enjoy your stay!
– Sheriff Mike Jolley.” The sign was posted “amid a contentious national
debate over Second Amendment rights in the wake of recent mass shootings.”
The Post said that Jolley “doesn’t seem to mind a little controversy,” and
quoted him saying that, “I’ve been in office a long time...so I like to
stir the pot.”

*WPost Profiles AR-15 Buyer In Texas. *The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=079-002&t=c>
(4/8, Hauslohner) has a 2,100-word feature on one buyer of an AR-15 rifle,
a gun that he “has wanted for a couple of years now.” The Texas man “is
among the sprawling population of American gun enthusiasts who own or
aspire to own an AR-15, the semiautomatic weapon” that the NRA “has
designated ‘America’s rifle.’” While for some, “the weapon is useful for
hunting or protecting their home,” for a “loyal band of thrill-seeking
followers, the sleek, militaristic design and customizable features make
the high-powered rifle simply fun to own.”
USA Today: Gorsuch “Confirms Conservatives’ Hopes, Liberals’ Fears.”

USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=07a-450&t=c>
(4/8, Wolf) reports Neil Gorsuch “had been a member of the Supreme Court
for exactly 11 weeks when he made clear in a single day what type of
justice he would be” when he dissented in a decision that “struck down an
Arkansas law that treated same-sex couples differently than opposite-sex
couples on their children’s birth certificates.” USA Today says that “since
that declaration of independence, Gorsuch has receded from the headlines he
commanded as Trump’s first Supreme Court nominee. But he has not retreated
from his core beliefs that the court should favor the words contained in
the Constitution and federal laws over the supposed expertise of the
federal bureaucracy.”

*Trump To Nominate Replacement For “Liberal Lion” Reinhardt On
Ninth Circuit. *The Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=07b-a37&t=c>
(4/8, Daley) reports, “Fearing a conservative jurist would replace Judge
Stephen Reinhardt, the liberal lion of the Ninth US Circuit Court of
Appeals, a prominent progressive legal scholar quietly urged him to retire
in the spring of 2014.” Reinhardt “refused the overtures,” and died on
March 29 at age 87. Reinhardt, the DC says, “is but the latest prominent
appeals judge Trump will replace.” Trump has already named two other
nominees for the Ninth Circuit thus far: Assistant US Attorney Ryan Bounds
and former Hawaii Attorney General Mark Bennett. Neither has yet been
confirmed.
Meadows: Rosenstein Could Be Impeached Over Failure To Release Documents.

The Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=07c-82b&t=c>
(4/8, Ross) reports Rep. Mark Meadows warned over the weekend that Deputy
Attorney General Rod Rosenstein “could soon be held in contempt of Congress
or even impeached if he fails to produce Russia- and Clinton-related
records to Congress.” In an interview Saturday with Fox News’ Jeanine Pirro
said, “I think that if he does not turn over the documents, that there are
a growing number of us on Capitol Hill who believe that someone else needs
to do the job. And what happens there is, constitutionally, we have some
things that we can do.” According to the DC, Meadows identified Rosenstein
“as the main roadblock in producing the records.”

President Trump also weighed in on the matter Sunday morning on
Twitter
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=07d-875&t=c>,
writing, “‘The FBI closed the case on Hillary, which was a rigged
investigation. They exonerated her even before they ever interviewed her,
they never even put her under oath.....’ and much more. So true Jesse!
@WattersWorld.”

Rep. Trey Gowdy said on Fox News Sunday Morning Futures[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018040901biden&r=email-658c&l=07e-040&t=c>
(4/8, Bartiromo), “I think one of the requests is from Devin Nunes, that is
the document that kind of initiated the entire investigation.” He added,
“I’ve actually seen it, I saw a heavily-redacted version...and I need to
know what’s behind those black lines, because it’s really important how
this investigation began, when it began, and what is the weight, what is
the credibility of the evidence upon which this investigation was launched.
The Department of Justice and the FBI have that document, they won’t let us
see the clean version, and I’m struggling to understand why.”

*Sessions Taps US Attorney To Oversee Production Of Documents To
Congress. *The