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Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing


*From:* Bulletin Intelligence <Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com>
*Sent:* Monday, April 23, 2018 7:55 AM
*To:* Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com
*Subject:* Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing for Monday,
April 23, 2018


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<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=000-bef&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=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=001-69b&t=c>

*To: Vice President Joe Biden*

*Monday, April 23, 2018 8:00 AM EDT*
Today's Table of Contents

*Leading the News <#SECTION_1>*

• Trump Signals Caution On North Korea, Mocks Media Reaction To Talks. <#S1>

*Foreign Policy <#SECTION_2>*

• Schumer Backs Trump’s “Squeezing” Of China On Trade. <#S2>

• Ahead Of State Visit, Macron Touts “Special Relationship” With Trump.
<#S3>

• G7 Foreign Ministers Seek To Put Pressure On Russia, Iran. <#S4>

• Zarif: If US Pulls Out Of Deal, Iran Ready To Resume Nuclear Activities.
<#S5>

• Israel, Iran Downplay Prospects Of War Over Syria. <#S6>

• Dozens Killed In ISIS Attack On Kabul Voter Registration Center. <#S7>

• Mnuchin Expected To Lead Delegation To Opening Of US Embassy In Jerusalem.
<#S8>

*Domestic Policy <#SECTION_3>*

• Conway Defends Trump’s Cohen Tweets; Short Says No Probe-Related Firings
Coming. <#S9>

• Senate Panel To Vote Today On Pompeo Nomination. <#S10>

• AP: Despite Denials, Lobbyist Met With Pruitt. <#S11>

• Supreme Court To Hear Travel Ban Arguments On Wednesday. <#S12>

• Short Urges Congress To Pare Back Bipartisan Spending Deal. <#S13>

• Gunman Kills Four In Tennessee Restaurant Shooting. <#S14>

• Data Show Largest Level Of Teacher Dissension Since 1993. <#S15>

*Cancer Research <#SECTION_4>*

• NCI Director Announces $100M Increase In Research Budget. <#S16>

• Ex-Aveo CFO Denied Summary Judgment In SEC’s Cancer Drug Lawsuit. <#S17>

*Editorials/Op-Eds <#SECTION_5>*

• New York Times. <#S18>

• Washington Post. <#S19>

*Biden in the News <#SECTION_6>*

• Addressing Salk Institute, Biden Pleads For More Cooperation On Cancer
Research. <#S20>

• Fox News Highlights Efforts Of Biden Cancer Initiative. <#S21>

• In Video, Biden Touts South Carolina Gubernatorial Hopeful Smith. <#S22>

• NBC: Stumping For Democrats, Biden Gathering Chits For Potential 2020 Run.
<#S23>

• CNN: In Potential 2020 Field, Biden May Be “Outlier” On Legalizing
Marijuana. <#S24>

• Salon’s Masciotra: Biden Wrong Person To Rally Progressives In 2020 Race.
<#S25>

• Chozick Book: Biden Wanted To Run In 2016, But Said “Clintons Will Try To
Destroy Me.” <#S26>
Leading the News
Trump Signals Caution On North Korea, Mocks Media Reaction To Talks.

President Trump yesterday urged caution about the fate of his diplomatic
efforts toward North Korea, and mocked media commentators for their
criticism of his approach. Trump wrote on Twitter
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=002-7b9&t=c>,
“Funny how all of the Pundits that couldn’t come close to making a deal on
North Korea are now all over the place telling me how to make a deal!”
Trump also wrote
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=003-453&t=c>,
“We are a long way from conclusion on North Korea, maybe things will work
out, and maybe they won’t – only time will tell...But the work I am doing
now should have been done a long time ago!” Trump’s tweets follow a stream
of skeptical media coverage, as well as his own comments last week, when he
told reporters, “I hope to have a very successful meeting. If we don’t
think it’s going to be successful, we won’t have it. If I think it’s a
meeting that is not going to be fruitful, we’re not going to go. If the
meeting when I’m there is not fruitful, I will respectfully leave the
meeting.”

Last night, [image: Image removed by sender. Video]NBC Nightly News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=004-102&t=c>
(4/22, story 5, 2:15, Snow) referred to “more upbeat and cautious reaction
from” Trump, while Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=005-1c3&t=c>
(4/22) describes him as “striking a cautious note a day after the North’s
pledge to end its nuclear tests raised hopes,” the New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=006-d83&t=c>
(4/22, Steinbuch) says he “tempered his enthusiasm” and Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=007-5a4&t=c>
(4/22, Krasny) that he “tempered his optimism.” USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=008-284&t=c>
(4/22, Jackson) reports “Trump said...he is still hoping for an
unprecedented meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, but many
details remain and it may not happen.” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=009-823&t=c>
(4/22, Perlez) says Trump “apparently wants to claim a place in history as
the American leader who formally ended the Korean War – even though he
tweeted on Sunday morning that he was not rushing into a deal,” and
the Washington
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=00a-285&t=c>
(4/22, Miller) that he “cautioned that the talks on denuclearizing the
Korean Peninsula remained in the early stages.”

The Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=00b-41c&t=c>
(4/22, White) reports Trump’s tweets “came less than a week after” Kim
“agreed to the ‘complete denuclearization’ of the Korean Peninsula without
preconditions.” The Daily Caller adds that “the communist country has
repeatedly demanded the withdrawal of US troops, yet the Kim regime could
accept the US military presence in Korea if a peace treaty was signed.”
Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=00c-076&t=c>
(4/22, Griffiths) also reports “North Korea announced Friday that it is
immediately halting nuclear and missile tests,” but adds “experts say the
toughest obstacles to a peace deal remain.” Yahoo! News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=00d-d72&t=c>
(4/22, Walsh) notes Kim also “announced the closure of a nuclear testing
site in the northern region of the country.”

The [image: Image removed by sender. Video]CBS Weekend News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=00e-cc7&t=c>
(4/22, story 3, 2:15, Brennan) reported that all of “this was what the
White House already expected North Korea to do ahead of that summit,”
though “the addition of that nuclear site...was news.” CBS added, however,
that “just because you’re not firing off missiles or testing doesn’t mean
you’re not running computer models or enriching different kinds of
weapons-grade material that could be used in the future. It also doesn’t
mean you’re not selling that knowledge elsewhere.” To Stars And Stripes
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=00f-b8a&t=c>
(4/22, Gamel), “North Korea’s declaration that it will freeze nuclear and
intercontinental ballistic missile tests throws the ball in Washington’s
court as the sides prepare for a historic summit.” At any rate, “experts
noted the North can likely afford to take a break from testing after
demonstrating alarming progress with dozens of missile launches and its
sixth and most powerful nuclear test last year.”

Trump also called out NBC’s Chuck Todd yesterday, tweeting
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=010-099&t=c>,
“Sleepy Eyes Chuck Todd of Fake News NBC just stated that we have given up
so much in our negotiations with North Korea, and they have given up
nothing. Wow, we haven’t given up anything & they have agreed to
denuclearization (so great for World), site closure, & no more testing!” CNN
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=011-fc5&t=c>
(4/22, Sullivan) notes Trump “was responding to comments by...Todd on NBC’s
‘Sunday Today’ show in which he said North Korean leader Kim...’seems to be
giving very little but making it seem like he’s giving a lot.’” Todd “said
the tone of cooperation was a positive development but added, ‘there’s not
many preconditions the United States is asking for.’” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=012-99b&t=c>
(4/22, Rogers) recounts that “on the show, Marc Short, the White House
legislative affairs director, had an answer teed up” for Todd: “that the
North Koreans had given the United States ‘an agreement to stop testing’
nuclear weapons.” Short also “said the administration had ‘cautious
optimism’ about the North Korea talks, which are expected in the next month
or two,” but he added Trump “would not relent on his ‘maximum pressure’
campaign against the North until it denuclearized.”

Sen. Tom Cotton told [image: Image removed by sender. Video]CBS’
Face the Nation
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=013-70b&t=c>
(4/22, Brennan), “I think this announcement on Friday is better than
continued testing but it’s not much better than that. As you say it’s
easily reversible decision” and he “made no announcement about medium or
short range ballistic missiles that threatened hundreds of thousands in
Korea and Japan, but they show that the President has put Kim Jong-un on
the wrong foot.” Sen. Dianne Feinstein, also on [image: Image removed by
sender. Video]CBS’ Face the Nation
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=014-604&t=c>
(4/22, Brennan), cast the weekend developments as “a beginning,” and added,
“I very much welcome this approach and the fact that the two presidents
will have an opportunity to meet and hopefully establish the new perimeter
of a relationship.”

*US Official: “Not A Nickel” For North Korea Till They
“Substantively Dismantle Their Nukes.” *The Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=015-8dc&t=c>
(4/22, Wilkinson) reports “a senior US administration official, who spoke
on condition of anonymity, said North Korea would not receive any economic
assistance unless it takes steps to remove or destroy the weapons.” The
“senior US administration official” said, “We are not to give them a nickel
until they substantively dismantle their nukes.” On its front page, the Wall
Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=016-42c&t=c>
(4/22, A1, Gordon, Cheng, Bender) also quotes an unnamed official who says
the Administration will only offer US aid once the North Korean regime has
dismantled its nuclear program.

*Media Analyses, Corker: Complete Denuclearization Not Realistic
Goal. *[image: Image removed by sender. Video]NBC Nightly News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=017-484&t=c>
(4/22, story 5, 2:15, Snow) showed Short addressing the US goal in the
negotiations, “I think from our perspective, it means full
denuclearization, no longer nuclear weapons to be used in warfare against
any of our allies.” To the Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=018-a1b&t=c>
(4/22, Wilkinson), however, “the more realistic goal now is to freeze,
reduce or contain North Korea’s bellicose capabilities, but not eliminate
them.” Yet “the US goal remains a ‘complete, irreversible and verifiable’
ending of North Korea’s nuclear program, as unlikely as many experts here
and in Asia believe that to be.” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=019-fc5&t=c>
(4/22, Rogers) says “experts inside and outside the American government
believe that Mr. Kim’s ultimate goal is to have his country recognized as a
nuclear power even as he offers enough concessions – some potentially
largely symbolic – to press the United States into easing crippling
economic sanctions.” The Times also reports that “some officials worry that
Mr. Trump may be so eager to reach a historic deal that he will be lured
into an agreement that falls short of the denuclearization of the Korean
Peninsula that global powers have demanded.”

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=01a-3e4&t=c>
(4/22, Howell) reports “Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee said Sunday it is
unrealistic to think the US can ‘charm’ North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un
into giving up his nuclear ambitions.” Corker told [image: Image removed by
sender. Video]ABC’s This Week
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=01b-d60&t=c>,
“He views having deliverable nuclear weapons as his ticket to dying as an
old man in his bed. ... He saw what happened with [Libyan President
Muammar] Qaddafi. Qaddafi’s a dead man now because he gave up his nuclear
weapons.” Corker also told [image: Image removed by sender. Video]CNN’s
State of the Union
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=01c-658&t=c>
(4/22, Bash), “This is a great public relations effort by” Kim and “I think
people recognize that. I think everyone within the Administration and
Congress approaches this with skepticism and caution” but “I’m glad the two
leaders are talking and – we’ll see what happens.”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=01d-18c&t=c>
(4/22, Tong-Hyung) also casts doubt on Trump’s chances for success, “Bill
Clinton offered oil and reactors. George W. Bush mixed threats and aid.
Barack Obama stopped trying after a rocket launch.” The AP adds, “While
Seoul and Washington welcomed Pyongyang’s declaration on Saturday to
suspend further intercontinental ballistic missile tests and shut down its
nuclear test site, the past is littered with failure.”

*Media Analyses: Trump Incorrect In Claiming North Agreed To
Denuclearization. *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=01e-c50&t=c>
(4/22, Colvin) reports that in a tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=01f-ac8&t=c>
yesterday, Trump “claimed North Korea has agreed to ‘denuclearization’
before his potential meeting with Kim,” but “that’s not the case.” In fact,
adds the AP, “the North has stopped short of saying it has any intention of
abandoning its nuclear arsenal, with Kim making clear that nukes remain a
‘treasured sword.’” The AP continues, “Being committed to the concept of
denuclearization...is not the same as agreeing to it, as Trump claims.” The New
York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=020-de2&t=c>
(4/22, Rogers) also reports “North Korea has not in fact agreed to
denuclearization,” though “it has told the South Koreans that it is willing
to discuss the issue.” To the Daily Intelligencer (NY)
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=021-739&t=c>
(4/22, Danner), meanwhile, Trump “seemed to indicate that he does not fully
understand what has been happening during negotiations.”

On [image: Image removed by sender. Video]NBC Nightly News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=022-374&t=c>
(4/22, story 5, 2:15, Snow), Kelly O’Donnell accused Trump of “declaring
inaccurately” that North Korea has “agreed to denuclearization” when in
fact it “has not gone that far.” The [image: Image removed by sender. Video]CBS
Weekend News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=023-ae5&t=c>
(4/22, story 3, 2:15, Brennan) reported that “in the past, when North Korea
has said they used the term ‘denuclearization’ they also meant the removal
of US forces and the removal of South Korea, our ally, from underneath
America’s nuclear umbrella, basically giving up our protection of them.
It’s not clear what Kim...means this time or if the White House has
anything more that they know that they haven’t shared publicly at this
point.” However, “to declare victory before these direct talks have
happened is a bit too quick in the view of many analysts, and even many
within the White House.”

*NYTimes: China Fears Talks Could Lead To Stronger US Influence In
Region. *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=024-9c3&t=c>
(4/22, Perlez) reports that as Kim “prepares for his meetings with the
presidents of South Korea and the United States, China has found itself in
an unaccustomed place: watching from the sidelines,” and “many Chinese
analysts” fear “North Korea could pursue a grand bargain designed not only
to bring the isolated nation closer to its two former Korean War opponents,
but also diminish its reliance on China for trade and security.” The Times
adds “China fears the outcome” of the talks “could be either a North Korea
or a unified Korean Peninsula leaning toward the United States.”

*South Korea To Halt Border Propaganda Ahead Of Inter-Korean
Summit. *The Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=025-72c&t=c>
(4/22, Stiles) reports “the South Korean military on Monday announced it
would muffle its high-decibel propaganda loudspeakers along the highly
fortified border with North Korea as a gesture of goodwill ahead of this
week’s summit between the two nations’ leaders.” The Times adds “the
devices made headlines in November when they blasted out positive details
about the health of a North Korean soldier shot by his comrades during a
daring defection. Their presence has in the past angered North Korean
officials.” The South Korean defense ministry said in a statement “it
ordered the speakers turned off ‘to mitigate military tensions between
North and South Korea and create an atmosphere of peaceful talks on the
occasion of the 2018 Inter-Korean Summit.’”
Foreign Policy
Schumer Backs Trump’s “Squeezing” Of China On Trade.

The New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=026-4f1&t=c>
(4/22, Lapin) reports Senate Minority Leader Schumer on Sunday said he
agrees with President Trump’s “squeezing” of China on trade issues. In an
interview with “The Cats Roundtable” host John Catsimatidis, Schumer said,
“China is not helpful to the United States, they’re happy to see us in
trouble. And the way to get at them is by what is the motherload for China
– their trade with us.” He added, “They take advantage of American workers
of American wealth, of American companies regularly, I call them
rapacious.” The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=027-21b&t=c>
(4/22, Lim) quotes Schumer as saying, “I’m closer to him on trade than I
was to either Obama, a Democrat, or Bush, a Republican, because we’ve got
to get tougher on China.”

*Mnuchin Optimistic Trade Standoffs Can Be Resolved. *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=028-c36&t=c>
(4/22, Wiseman, Crutsinger) reports the IMF and World Bank “repeatedly
warned at their meetings this week that intensifying trade tensions could
jeopardize a healthy global economic expansion.” But Treasury Secretary
Mnuchin “expressed cautious optimism Saturday that countries could settle
their differences without a trade war.” Mnuchin, who met “during the past
three days with financial officials from China, Japan and Europe over a
series of punitive tariffs unveiled by the Trump administration against
China and other trading partners,” told reporters, “We are cautiously
optimistic.” Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=029-7ed&t=c>
(4/21, Mayeda) reports Mnuchin also “said he’s considering a trip to China”
to discuss trade. Said Mnuchin, “A trip is under consideration. I’m not
going to make a comment on timing, nor do I have anything confirmed.”
Bloomberg says such a trip “could signal a breakthrough in the spat between
the world’s two-biggest economies.” The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=02a-c2c&t=c>
(4/22, Wei, Davis) also reports on Mnuchin’s remarks.

*Mnuchin: US Backs $13B Funding Increase For World Bank. *The Wall
Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=02b-c33&t=c>
(4/21, A1, Zumbrun, Fidler) reports on its front page that the US is
backing a $13 billion increase in funding for the World Bank as a
counterweight to China’s growing international influence. Treasury
Secretary Mnuchin said Saturday, “There are reforms that they’re making
that we think are quite significant along with the increased funding
request.”

*NYTimes: Transshipments Likely To Be Major Part Of Negotiations. *The
New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=02c-666&t=c>
(4/22, Bradsher) reports President Trump has used so-called transshipments
to “justify the trade fight he has picked with a number of countries,” and
they “could also take on new relevance should the United States and China
carry out their threats to levy a total of more than $200 billion in
tariffs against each other.” While the “scale of such tariff-dodging isn’t
clear,” the Times says “based on available data, many economists don’t
believe that it plays a major role in American trade.” Still,
transshipments “are likely to be a major part of any negotiations between
China and the United States aimed at settling their trade dispute.”

*US Ban On ZTE Poses Challenge To Google Expansion In China. *The Wall
Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=02d-921&t=c>
(4/22, Macmillan, Lin) reports the US’ ban on Chinese telecom manufacturer
ZTE has posed a challenge for Google’s planned expansion in China. The
Journal says partners like ZTE are increasingly important to Google as it
competes with Apple and Samsung.
Ahead Of State Visit, Macron Touts “Special Relationship” With Trump.

USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=02e-e84&t=c>
(4/22, Shesgreen) reports that ahead of his “highly anticipated visit to
the US this week,” French President Emmanuel Macron touted his strong
relationship with President Trump. Macron told Fox News Sunday[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=02f-514&t=c>
(4/22, Wallace), “We have a very special relationship because both of us
are probably the maverick of the systems on both sides. I think President
Trump’s election was unexpected in your country, and probably my election
was unexpected in my country. And we are not part of the classical
political system.” The New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=030-273&t=c>
(4/22, Schultz) also reports Macron’s comments to Fox News, and says he
“has the distinct honor this week of being feted as Trump’s first state
visit guest.” ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=031-245&t=c>
(4/22, story 3, 2:20, Llamas) briefly reported that Trump this week “has
his first state visit” with Macron, and NBC Nightly News[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=032-1cb&t=c>
(4/22, story 6, 0:25, Snow) also reported that Trump’s first state dinner
with Macron is said to be “more intimate...than those held in the Obama
White House, with about 150 guests.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=033-f75&t=c>
(4/22, Rubin, Nossiter), meanwhile, says Macron, “almost alone among
Europe’s leaders...has struck an apparent rapport with the mercurial
American president, who has taken pride in testing, even alienating, some
of the United States’ oldest and truest allies.” Macron, says the Times,
“has made a gamble, given Mr. Trump’s unpopularity, that he can court him
but not be tarnished by him – or even that he can burnish his own
reputation as a leader who is so psychologically astute that he can gain
the ear of an American president who is in many respects his polar
opposite.” An AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=034-734&t=c>
(4/22, Charlton, Corbet) analysis similarly says Macron has a “tough-love
friendship” with Trump. According to the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=035-dd7&t=c>
(4/22, DeYoung), the last time the two leaders met, at the UN in September,
Macron “was puzzled when President Trump and his delegation seemed to have
no agenda, carried no papers and took no notes.” An unnamed French official
said now that Trump has been in office longer, “maybe the process is
different.” The Post writes that “at the very least...following their joint
attack, with Britain, on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s chemical
weapons facilities early this month, there is a Syria strategy to figure
out. Trade, climate change, Russia, North Korea and counterterrorism are
all on the to-do list.” However, “no issue looms larger than Iran,” and the
fate of the 2015 nuclear agreement.

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=036-d7a&t=c>
(4/22, Muñoz) reports that behind this week’s state visit “lies a
calculated and hard-nosed campaign to position Paris as the White House’s
best friend in Europe.” The Post says the three-day visit will be “a
high-profile test of Mr. Macron’s studied charm offensive with the
unpredictable American president, weighing whether the young leader can
parlay his personal rapport with Mr. Trump into White House moderation on
issues such as the Iran deal and Washington’s new skepticism over such
internationalist causes as climate change and free trade.”

ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=037-313&t=c>
(4/22, story 3, 2:20, Llamas) briefly reported that Trump “ends the week
with a visit from the German chancellor, Angela Merkel.” NBC Nightly
News[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=038-26e&t=c>
(4/22, story 5, 2:15, Snow) reported that both Macron and Merkel are
“expected to urge” Trump to stay in the Iran nuclear deal “in part to
signal North Korea that the US would keep its word making another nuclear
agreement.”

*Macron Urged To Bring Up Expat Tax Issue With Trump. *In another
segment, NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=039-335&t=c>
(4/22, story 7, 2:10, Snow) reported that some people are pressing Macron
to bring up with Trump a “little-known” tax issue that “involves the
requirement that people in France pay US taxes if they were born here, even
if they only lived in the United States for a matter of days.” NBC
(Leitner) added, “The US and Eritrea are only two countries to collect
taxes based on citizenship rather than residency. Depending on income,
people could pay double the taxes.”
G7 Foreign Ministers Seek To Put Pressure On Russia, Iran.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=03a-a36&t=c>
(4/22) reports G7 foreign ministers on Sunday “discussed ways to pressure
Russia on conflicts in Syria and Ukraine” during their first high-level
meeting since the US, France and Britain launched missiles targeting
chemical weapons facilities in Syria. The US, meanwhile, “said its
priorities also included Iran’s ‘malign’ regional activities and ending
North Korea’s nuclear programs.” The foreign ministers’ meeting in Toronto,
due to end on Monday, “will help prepare for a G7 leaders’ summit in Canada
in early June.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=03b-13c&t=c>
(4/22, Morello) reports the G7 diplomats “spent Sunday discussing recent
events in the Middle East, the Korean Peninsula, Ukraine and Venezuela and
the fate of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran,” and Acting Secretary of State
Sullivan held a separate meeting with his counterparts from France, Britain
and Germany to discuss European efforts to craft a supplemental agreement
to the Iran deal.

*Amid Visa Delays, Russians Taking Fewer American Vacations.
*The Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=03c-ddd&t=c>
(4/22, Ferris-Rotman) reports that “escalating tensions between Moscow and
Washington are putting a damper on Russians’ vacation plans, catching
ordinary people in a diplomatic crossfire that has distinct Cold War
overtones. A year ago, obtaining a US tourist visa could take less than a
week. Now, it comes with an eight-month delay.” Hoping to avoid the 250-day
wait, “hundreds of Russians have been flooding neighboring former Soviet
countries such as Latvia in recent weeks” to apply for visas US embassies
there. However, “not all Russians have the time, or can afford, an
additional holiday in a nearby country in their quest to get an American
visa, and the actual numbers of Russians visiting the United States have
plummeted.”

*Khodorkovsky: Putin Has Mafia Roots. *Mikhail Khodorkovsky,
founder of Open Russia, writes in the Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=03d-023&t=c>
that President Vladimir Putin comes from a mafia background and has
surrounded himself with those of similar origins. Understanding this,
Khodorkovsky says, will help the US and its allies better to understand his
aims and vulnerabilities.
Zarif: If US Pulls Out Of Deal, Iran Ready To Resume Nuclear Activities.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, asked on CBS’ Face The Nation[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=03e-f4a&t=c>
(4/22, Brennan) about a possible US withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear
agreement, said, “If the benefits of the deal for Iran start to diminish,
there is no reason for Iran to remain in the deal, because it’s not
acceptable for us to have a one-sided agreement.” He added, “What is
important is for Europeans to bring the United States into compliance,
because Iran has been in compliance.” He added, “Obviously, this would be
very bad precedent if the United States sends the message to the
international community that the length or duration of any agreement would
depend on duration of the presidency. That would mean people will at least
think twice before they start negotiating with the United States.” Zarif
said Iran has options in place if the deal falls through, including
“resuming at much greater speed our nuclear activities.”

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=03f-0f7&t=c>
(4/22) reports Zarif, who is in New York to attend a UN General Assembly
meeting, told reporters Sunday, “America never should have feared Iran
producing a nuclear bomb, but we will pursue vigorously our nuclear
enrichment. If they want to fear anything its up to them.” The Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=040-bd2&t=c>
(4/22, Deyoung) reports Zarif also told CBS that “his government is willing
to meet with the United States to discuss the fate of US citizens
imprisoned in Iran, provided Washington showed respect and treated Iran as
a sovereign nation, rather than making ‘demands.’” Zarif said his country
“also wants the release of several Iranian citizens who have been convicted
and imprisoned, largely for financial crimes and sanctions violations, in
the United States.”
Israel, Iran Downplay Prospects Of War Over Syria.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=041-7bc&t=c>
(4/22) reports that “Iran and Israel traded blame on Sunday for an
unprecedented, weeks-long surge in hostilities between their forces over
Syria but played down prospects of a spillover into war.” In an interview
with CBS News, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said he does
“not believe that we are headed towards regional war,” but thinks “that
unfortunately, Israel has continued its violations with international law,
hoping to be able to do it with impunity because of the US support and
trying to find smokescreens to hide behind.” Meanwhile, “Israeli Defense
Minister Avigdor Lieberman reiterated his government’s policy of preventing
Iranian entrenchment in Syria.” Intelligence Minister Israel Katz similarly
stressed the nation is “not interested” in escalation. Reuters notes the
Israel-Iran “face-off” over Syria “comes as the Trump administration mulls
reimposing” sanctions against Tehran by May 12.

*Syrian Army Intensifies Assault On ISIS-Held Areas In Bid To
Enforce Evacuation Deal. *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=042-638&t=c>
(4/22, Karam) reports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces “used
warplanes, helicopters and artillery on Sunday to pound” Damascus districts
still harboring hundreds of ISIS militants “in a bid to enforce an
evacuation deal reached with the militants earlier in the week.” The
militants still control parts of the Yarmouk refugee camp “and nearby area
of Hajar al-Aswad,” but they “have yet to begin surrendering to government
forces and relocating to IS-held areas elsewhere in the country.” United
Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA) spokesman Chris Gunnes “said that
since the start of fighting four days ago, most of the six thousand
civilians in Yarmouk camp have been forcibly displaced to the neighboring
area of Yalda.” He “added that the camp’s last functioning hospital,
Palestine Hospital, is now completely unable to operate and called on all
sides to allow for the safe evacuation of civilians wishing to leave the
area.”

*Syria Says Chemical Attack “Made Up” By “Western Powers.” *NBC
Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=043-93b&t=c>
(4/22, story 2, 2:00, Snow) reported that more than two weeks after the
“suspected poison gas attack on civilians in Douma,” Syrian Deputy Foreign
Minister Faisal Mekdad claims the attack was “a big lie.” He said the
attack “was made to be used by the Western powers to launch such an attack
against Syria. I think the bodies may be imported from somewhere else.” NBC
(Mackey Frayer) said that despite Syria’s “controversial claim, the US and
its allies have no doubt this was a poison attack.” Ambassador Haley: “The
pictures of dead children were not fake news. They were the result of the
Syrian regime’s barbaric inhumanity.” Mekdad’s claim comes as chemical
weapons experts “finally got access to Douma, now under Syrian and Russian
control,” and as Syrian troops continued their offensive to retake
Damascus.
Dozens Killed In ISIS Attack On Kabul Voter Registration Center.

The [image: Image removed by sender. Video]CBS Weekend News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=044-9fe&t=c>
(4/22, story 5, 0:20, Quijano) briefly reported that almost 60 people were
killed and more than 100 others wounded in a suicide bombing at a voter
registration center in Kabul, Afghanistan – the “deadliest attack so far in
the lead-up to October’s parliamentary elections.” [image: Image removed by
sender. Video]NBC Nightly News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=045-1e2&t=c>
(4/22, story 3, 0:20, Snow) reported that “many of” the victims were women
and children. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack. [image: Image
removed by sender. Video]ABC World News Tonight
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=046-1c6&t=c>
(4/22, story 4, 1:20, Llamas) reported ISIS is “saying it targeted Shiite
apostates, but Afghanistan’s fight for democracy [is] also under assault.”

According to the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=047-96c&t=c>
(4/22, Mashal, Sukhanyar), the attack is “raising new concerns about the
potential for violence to undermine Afghanistan’s long-delayed
parliamentary elections.” The vote’s legitimacy is already threatened by
“alarmingly low” public interest “because of voter fatigue after successive
fraudulent elections and concerns about the threat to safety at polling
stations posed by suicide bombers and other violence from groups opposing
the government.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=048-ad3&t=c>
(4/22, Salhuddin, Constable) reports officials did not indicate “whether
the bombing, by a pedestrian who detonated explosives amid the waiting
crowd, would have any effect on hopes to register 14 million voters” by the
October election. Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=049-77f&t=c>
(4/22) notes “Afghanistan’s international partners have insisted that the
elections should be held this year before a presidential vote due in 2019.”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=04a-ad3&t=c>
(4/22, Faiez) reports a statement released “by the president’s office
condemned Sunday’s attack and quoted President Ashraf Ghani as saying such
‘terrorist attacks’ won’t prevent people from participating in upcoming
parliamentary elections.” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also
“condemned the attack and called for those responsible to be brought to
justice, in a statement from his spokesman in New York.” Separately, “at
least five people were killed when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in
the northern Baghlan province,” and “four other people were wounded in
Sunday’s blast in Puli Khomri, the province’s capital.”

*ISIS Spokesman Calls On Supporters To Attack Arab Nations. *The New
York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=04b-e15&t=c>
(4/22, Callimachi) reports that in “a nearly hourlong audio recording”
released on the messaging app Telegram, ISIS spokesman Abu Hassan
al-Muhajir “called on fighters to redirect their ire toward the leaders of
Arab nations in the region, whom he described as ‘apostates.’” He also
“mocked the United States, taunting President Trump” and describing him as
an “evildoer, confused and lost, and with your goals scattered.” The Times
says Al-Muhajir’s message was “a departure from the last pronouncement” he
made 10 months ago that “aimed to incite attacks against Europe and North
America.” Its release “comes as the group is retrenching in its core
territory after losing all but 3 percent of the area it once held in Iraq
and Syria,” suggesting ISIS is mitigating territorial losses by “returning
to its roots as a regional insurgency.”

*WPost: Rapid Growth Of Pakistan’s Pashtun Movement Raises Fears Of
Uprising. *A Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=04c-cae&t=c>
(4/19, Constable, Khan) analysis says Pakistan’s Pashtun Protection
Movement (PTM) was once “a tiny group that denounced abuses in the
northwest tribal area,” but “it burst onto the national scene in January”
after the fatal shooting of a young Pashtun man, Naquibullah Mehsud, “in a
police anti-terrorism operation.” The movement “has grown rapidly” under
the leadership of Manzoor Pashteen, “raising the specter of a nationalist
uprising” and arousing “suspicion and concern in some quarters, especially
in the powerful state security apparatus, which has been startled and
angered by Pashteen’s accusations.” Publicly, the “military has responded
with mixed signals” to PTM’s demands, but “critics allege that security
agencies have pressured mainstream Pakistani media not to report on the
movement’s events, which have received almost no television coverage.”
Meanwhile, PTM has “received an outpouring of support from Afghans,
including a strong endorsement from President Ashraf Ghani, an ethnic
Pashtun,” which “has only made the movement more controversial.”
Mnuchin Expected To Lead Delegation To Opening Of US Embassy In Jerusalem.

According to the Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=04d-7f8&t=c>
(4/22, Quinn), Treasury Secretary Mnuchin is “reportedly believed to be
leading the US delegation to Israel for the opening of the US embassy in
Jerusalem next month.” The ceremony will take place May 14, according to
Israel’s Channel 10 news. In addition to Mnuchin, senior White House
adviser Jared Kushner will be also member of the delegation, as will
special envoy Jason Greenblatt. According to Axios
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=04e-e1c&t=c>,
Ivanka Trump “may also attend the opening of the embassy in Jerusalem,
though her attendance is not confirmed.”
Domestic Policy
Conway Defends Trump’s Cohen Tweets; Short Says No Probe-Related Firings
Coming.

On ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=04f-0fa&t=c>
(4/22, story 3, 2:20, Llamas), Tara Palmeri reported that Michael Cohen,
“the President’s personal attorney and fixer, under criminal investigation,
signaling complete loyalty to Trump. A source telling ABC News, quote,
‘Michael Cohen will never flip.’ The source, who was with Cohen last night,
says Trump’s long-time confidante rejects a New York Times story that Cohen
may cooperate with investigators since the FBI raided his home, hotel, and
office. The President lashing out against the Times and defending Cohen,
tweeting
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=050-140&t=c>,
‘Sorry, I don’t see Michael doing that despite the horrible witch hunt and
the dishonest media!’” Kellyanne Conway: “You have to look at everything
the President said about Michael Cohen and the FBI raid. He is defending
someone who has worked with and known for a dozen plus years, who he thinks
is being treated unfairly.” Palmeri: “The turmoil over Cohen spreading
throughout the White House. ABC News confirmed Attorney General Jeff
Sessions threatened to resign if the President axed his deputy, Rod
Rosenstein, who signed off on the raid. The White House, indicating that
right now, neither Sessions, Rosenstein, or Special Counsel Robert Mueller
are in danger.” White House Director of Legislative Affairs Marc Short: “As
far as I know, the President has no intention of firing these individuals.”

On the CBS Weekend News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=051-ecf&t=c>
(4/22, story 2, 2:05, Quijano), Errol Barnett reported, “Conway explained
why Mr. Trump sent tweets about Cohen, who is currently under criminal
investigation.” Barnett: “Mueller’s probe is also on the President’s mind.
Mr. Trump is accusing [ex-FBI Director James] Comey, who is on a book tour,
of illegally sharing classified memos to trigger the DOJ’s investigation,
which Comey denies. And Attorney General Sessions, who recused himself from
the inquiry, reportedly told the White House he would resign if Rosenstein,
his deputy overseeing the matter, was fired. ... Despite the President’s
anger, [Short] says no one is losing their job.” Short: “Okay, ‘When’s he
going to fire Rosenstein? When’s he going to fire Mueller?’ We’ve had the
same conversation. As far as I know, the President has no intention of
firing these individuals.” Short said on NBC’s Meet The Press[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=052-aed&t=c>
(4/22, Todd), “I think [Trump is] responding to a lot of the coverage that
mainstream media is putting on this, but I think the Administration remains
focused on doing the things that we promised.” The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=053-413&t=c>
(4/22, Howell), Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=054-fc0&t=c>
(4/22, Kullgren), and The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=055-cd9&t=c>
(4/22, Shelbourne) also cover Short’s remarks.

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=056-393&t=c>
(4/22, Howell) reports that Conway “tried Sunday to defend President
Trump’s strident tweets” about Cohen, “saying the president was expressing
loyalty to a close friend and not concern that his so-called fixer would
aid federal agents investigating the president’s circle.” Conway said on CNN’s
State Of The Union[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=057-00b&t=c>
(4/22, Bash), “I’m telling you, the President’s concerns have been for
Michael Cohen and the way he has been treated.” USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=058-9be&t=c>
(4/22, Shesgreen) reports that Conway also “dodged questions Sunday about
Trump’s tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=059-061&t=c>
deriding an unnamed person as a ‘drunk/drugged up loser’” in response to a
New York Times story examining whether Cohen might cooperate with federal
investigators. Conway told CNN, “I don’t know who he’s referring to there.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=05a-876&t=c>
(4/22) editorializes that Mueller “has not yet presented evidence that the
Trump campaign conspired with Russian agents to subvert the 2016 election.
But he has already provided an instructive guide to the swampy world of
corporations, law firms and Washington lobbying shops, and to how a tough
prosecutor can bring some measure of justice to bear. ... Amid all the
tawdry allegations” surrounding Michael Cohen, Trump “would have us believe
he is holding high the banner of a sacred principle – attorney-client
privilege. ... In the world of white-collar crime, though, business as
usual has meant that the attorney-client privilege has often been a means
to keep the law at bay.”

*Trump Quotes WSJournal Columnists In Tweets. *The Washington
Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=05b-68d&t=c>
(4/22, Lim) reports that in a series of tweets on Sunday, Trump “quoted
opinion writers from the Wall Street Journal...to defend himself amid
mounting pressure from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia
investigation and the release of fired FBI Director James Comey’s memos
detailing his conversations with the president.” The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=05c-cf5&t=c>
(4/22, Quinn) additionally reports that Trump “appeared to reiterate his
belief the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election is a
‘witch hunt’” in another tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=05d-3b5&t=c>.


*Daily Caller: Papadopoulos Has Privately Denied Collusion. *The Daily
Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=05e-43c&t=c>
(4/22, Ross) reports that since Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos
pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and began cooperating with Mueller’s
investigation two months ago, he “has not spoken publicly about the case
against him. But two sources familiar with his thinking say that he has
privately denied that he was involved in any collusion scheme.”

*Veselnitskaya Says Mueller Has Not Contacted Her. *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=05f-c13&t=c>
(4/22, Vasilyeva) reports that Natalia Veselnitskaya, the “Russian lawyer
who discussed sanctions with Donald Trump Jr.” at a Trump Tower meeting in
June 2016, said in an interview that Mueller’s team has not contacted her.
Veselnitskaya said, “If Mueller’s team is not working to discover the
truth, they will never question me.”

*Collins Says Bill To Protect Mueller Should Be Debated. *Sen.
Susan Collins, asked on NBC’s Meet The Press[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=060-8a1&t=c>
(4/22, Todd) asked about a bill to protect Mueller and his investigation,
said, “I believe it’s important to have a debate on the bill in order to
send a clear message to the President that Congress does not support his
taking any action with regard to Mr. Mueller’s investigation. ... I don’t
think there’s any chance in the world that the President is going to sign
the bill, and there are some legitimate constitutional issues that have
been raised, but I think that message is an important one.”

*DNC’s Perez Defends Lawsuit Over Russian Collusion. *The Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=061-b35&t=c>
(4/22, Weigel) reports that Democratic National Committee Tom Perez
“defended a new multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the Russian government,
the Trump campaign and WikiLeaks” in two Sunday morning interviews. Perez
said on ABC’s This Week[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=062-061&t=c>
(4/22), “I don’t know when Director Mueller’s investigation is going to
end, so we need to file now to protect our rights. ... We’ve got elections
coming up in November. It’s hard to win elections when you have
interference in elections. They’ve done it with impunity, and I’m concerned
that it’s going to happen again.” Perez said on NBC’s Meet The Press[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=063-ea9&t=c>
(4/22, Todd), “We have seen a mountain of evidence of collusion between the
campaign and the Russians to basically affect our democracy and so we did
our homework and we brought our civil case.”

*WTimes: Steyer’s Impeachment Push “Falls Flat.” *The Washington
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=064-2e8&t=c>
(4/22, Barrow, Mascaro) writes under the headline “Tom Steyer’s
Multimillion-Dollar Mission To Impeach Trump Falls Flat” that while Steyer
“is on a multimillion-dollar mission to impeach” the President, “Democrats
whose campaigns the California billionaire is helping bankroll aren’t keen
to follow his lead.” With elections looming, Democrats want to “maximize
liberal anger” against Trump without “alienating Trump Country independents
and moderate Republicans who are unhappy with him but often detest his
critics even more.”

*WPost Editorial: US “Unprepared For Another Russian Attack On The
Vote.” *In an editorial, the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=065-548&t=c>
(4/22) warns that “as this year’s midterm elections approach, the country
is still unprepared for another Russian attack on the vote,” and Trump
“continues to send mixed signals – at best – about what he would do if the
Kremlin launched an even more aggressive interference campaign than the one
that roiled the 2016 presidential race.”

*In Speech, Clinton Avoids Direct Reference To Comey, Slams Trump. *The
New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=066-b14&t=c>
(4/22, Deb) reports that in a Sunday night speech in New York, “her first
public appearance” since ex-FBI Director James Comey “began his book tour,
Hillary Clinton made only a glancing reference to him in a speech on Sunday
night and instead focused most of her attacks on President Trump.”
Delivering the Arthur Miller Freedom to Write Lecture at PEN America’s
World Voices Festival in New York, Clinton said, “Today, we have a
president who seems to reject the role of a free press in our democracy.
Although obsessed with his own press coverage, he evaluates it based not on
whether it provides knowledge or understanding, but solely on whether the
daily coverage helps him and hurts his opponents.” The Hill
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(4/22, Sanchez) reports that Clinton also “took a dig at the press,” citing
“a professor specializing in the relationship between the press and the
president to argue that the media’s false equivalency in its coverage of
the 2016 election was ‘corrosive’ and had a ‘leveling effect that opens the
door to charlatans.’”

*AP: Clinton “Central Villain” In GOP Midterms Strategy. *The AP
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(4/22, Peoples) writes that though Clinton “holds no position of power in
government” and is “not expected to run for office again,” she is “starring
in the Republican Party’s 2018 midterm strategy. With control of Congress
up for grabs this fall, the GOP’s most powerful players are preparing to
spend big on plans to feature Clinton as a central villain in attack ads
against vulnerable Democrats nationwide.”
Senate Panel To Vote Today On Pompeo Nomination.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=069-85e&t=c>
(4/22) reports the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will vote today on
CIA Director Pompeo’s nomination to be Secretary of State. Pompeo “could be
the first nominee for the position not to win support from the panel,” but
“would not stop his Senate confirmation.” Reuters notes that “those who
oppose him for the State Department job say he is too hawkish and socially
conservative – he opposes gay marriage and has had ties to anti-Muslim
groups – to be the country’s top diplomat.”

*Axios: White House Nervous Jackson Won’t Be Confirmed For VA
Chief. *The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=06a-4a1&t=c>
(4/22, Lim) reports that “White House officials and key senators are
worried Adm. Ronny Jackson – President Trump’s nominee to replace David
Shulkin as Veterans Affairs secretary, won’t be confirmed by the Senate –
according to a report by Axios
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=06b-fb4&t=c>.”
Despite aides “investing time and energy into preparing Jackson for his
confirmation hearing” Wednesday, there are “concerns he doesn’t have the
managerial experience to lead the second-largest federal government agency,
per Axios.” According to the Examiner, “similar fears have been expressed
by Republicans” on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, including Sen.
Jerry Moran and Sen. Mike Rounds.
AP: Despite Denials, Lobbyist Met With Pruitt.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=06c-304&t=c>
(4/22, Biesecker) reports EPA Administrator Pruitt “met in his office last
year with a veteran Washington lobbyist tied to the bargain-priced condo
where Pruitt was living. Both Pruitt and lobbyist Steven Hart had
previously denied Hart had conducted any recent business with EPA.” A
spokesman for Hart “confirmed Saturday that the lobbyist met with Pruitt at
EPA headquarters in July 2017 to discuss efforts to preserve the Chesapeake
Bay.”
Supreme Court To Hear Travel Ban Arguments On Wednesday.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=06d-f63&t=c>
(4/22, Hurley) reports that on Wednesday, the Supreme Court will have its
“first big showdown” over President Trump’s immigration policies, with “a
challenge to the lawfulness of his travel ban targeting people from several
Muslim-majority countries.” The case, which deals with some of the
President’s “most contentious” policies, “represents a test of the limits
of presidential power.” While the President argues the ban protects the
United States from terrorism, “the challengers have argued the policy was
motivated by Trump’s enmity toward Muslims,” and “some former Republican
senators and officials who served in Republican former President George W.
Bush’s administration have signed onto legal briefs asking the high court
to invalidate the ban.”

The Washington Post
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(4/22, Barnes) calls the case “one of [the Court’s] most important and
potentially far-reaching,” which “raises deep questions about the
judiciary’s role in national security issues usually left to the political
branches.” The Post adds that “a major issue for the court is separating
‘the president’ from ‘this president,’” in that, “if the president’s
comments and tweets were not a factor, many legal experts said the court
would likely extend the deference to the political branches it has shown in
the past when considering issues of immigration and national security.”

*San Diego County Pushes Back On Sanctuary Policies. *Kristin
Gaspar, chairman of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, asked on Fox
News’ Sunday Morning Futures[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=06f-a75&t=c>
(4/22, Bartiromo) about the board’s vote to support the federal lawsuit
against California sanctuary policies, said, “We have a governor who’s
rolling out the welcome mat for MS13 gang members,” and “who consistently
lets criminals walk out on our streets and pardons others, all packaged in
the interest of neighborhood and school safety. But in San Diego we’re
saying enough is enough to Gov. Brown and his unsafe policies.”

*WPost Editorial Blasts Suspension Of Program Offering Legal Advice
To Detained Immigrants. *In an editorial, the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=070-518&t=c>
(4/22) criticizes the Administration for “its relentless anti-immigrant
crusade” and efforts “to impede what limited access potential deportees are
granted to legal information.” The Justice Department announced it would
suspend a program Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials lauded just
months before “that provides detained immigrants with legal advice but not
representation.” The Post concludes, “the administration’s deportation
campaign has swept up huge numbers of immigrants who have no serious
criminal record. Providing them with due process and basic legal
information isn’t just fair; it’s smart, too.”
Short Urges Congress To Pare Back Bipartisan Spending Deal.

Reuters
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(4/22, Morgan) reports White House legislative director Marc Short on
Sunday urged Congress to consider rolling back the spending deal that
Republicans brokered with Democrats last month, “because lawmakers voted to
enact the $1.3 trillion legislation without reading it.” Short said the
spending bill, “which ran to more than 2,000 pages, was rushed into place
to avoid a government shutdown.” Said Short on NBC’s Meet The Press,
“Nobody saw the text of the bill within 24 hours, because the process in
Congress is broken. We would ask the Senate to have patience and look at
the package.”
Gunman Kills Four In Tennessee Restaurant Shooting.

NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
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(4/22, lead story, 2:25, Snow) reported that “the FBI and police in and
around Nashville are in the midst of a full-scale manhunt tonight, warning
residents to be on the lookout for a man who they believe is still armed.”
The FBI “also searching his home in Illinois after he allegedly opened fire
with an AR-15 rifle overnight at a Waffle House in Tennessee, killing four
people.” Police “say the man sat in his pickup truck for several minutes
watching customers inside before entering.” The suspect “has a criminal
history, and one customer praised as the hero for taking action and saving
lives.” The CBS Weekend News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
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(4/22, lead story, 2:35, Quijano) quoted Don Aaron of the Metropolitan
Nashville Police Department saying that the man “got out of his truck armed
with an AR-15 rifle and started shooting. He clearly came armed with a lot
of firepower intending to devastate the South Nashville area.” CBS
(Strassmann) added, “Three of the victims were killed at the restaurant,”
and “a fourth died later at the hospital.”

ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
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(4/22, lead story, 3:40, Llamas) reported that authorities said 29-year-old
Travis Reinking “was wearing nothing but a jacket when he opened fire
outside and then inside the busy restaurant.” ABC (Reshef) added that
“witnesses say the gunman paused to reload,” and “that’s when James Shaw
Jr. wrestled the gun away.” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018042301biden&r=email-5bb5&l=075-b37&t=c>
(4/22, Mele, Fortin) reports that Shaw “was in the restaurant when he heard
the shots and hid behind a door.” When he heard the shooting stop “and saw
M