EMAIL DETAILS

Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing


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


*Click to access
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=000-d2e&t=c>
mobile-optimized online version, including download options and an audio
reader.*


[image: Image removed by sender. Office of Vice President Biden
Intelligence Briefing]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=001-f00&t=c>

*To: Vice President Joe Biden*

*Friday, November 9, 2018 8:00 AM EST*
Today's Table of Contents

*Biden in the News <#SECTION_1>*

• Strong Performance In Midwest Bodes Well For Centrist Democratic
Candidates In 2020. <#S1>

• Biden To Visit Missoula, Montana On Book Tour. <#S2>

*Leading the News <#SECTION_2>*

• Sources: Whitaker Will Not Recuse Himself From Mueller Probe. <#S3>

*Foreign Policy <#SECTION_3>*

• Haley: North Korea Postponed Pompeo Meeting. <#S4>

• Saudis Ignoring US Ceasefire Calls As Fighting Threatens Hundreds Of
Thousands Of Yemenis. <#S5>

• US Reportedly Considering Designating Houthis A Terrorist Organization.
<#S6>

• US Announces More Sanctions Over Russia’s Actions In Ukraine. <#S7>

• Reuters Analysis: US Isolation Will Soften Impact Of Renewed Sanctions On
Iran. <#S8>

• Democrats Set To Demand To Know What Trump Has Said To Putin And Kim.
<#S9>

• US Destroyer Nearly Collided With A Chinese Warship In September. <#S10>

*Domestic Policy <#SECTION_4>*

• Afghanistan Veteran Kills 12 In California Bar Before Killing Himself.
<#S11>

• Ginsburg Hospitalized As Kavanaugh Is Welcomed To Supreme Court. <#S12>

• Media Analyses: Sanders Posted Altered Video Of Acosta Incident. <#S13>

• Administration Moves To Require Asylum Seekers To Go To Designated Ports
Of Entry. <#S14>

• Ninth Circuit Rules Trump Cannot End DACA. <#S15>

• Canada: US Attempting To Change Texts Of Trade Deal. <#S16>

• Reuters Poll: Both Democrats And Republicans Want Congress To Prioritize
Healthcare. <#S17>

*Cancer Research <#SECTION_5>*

• Cigarette Smoking Hits All-Time Low Among Adults, Report Says. <#S18>

• Research Confirms Patients With Low-Risk Thyroid Cancer Can Be Safely,
Effectively Treated With Low Doses Of Radiotherapy After Surgery. <#S19>

*Editorials/Op-Eds <#SECTION_6>*

• New York Times. <#S20>

• Washington Post. <#S21>
Biden in the News
Strong Performance In Midwest Bodes Well For Centrist Democratic Candidates
In 2020.

NBC News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=002-c08&t=c>
(11/9) reports that Democrats “made gains and held critical seats in the
Midwestern and Rust Belt states that Donald Trump flipped in 2016, raising
hopes that the party can still compete in 2020 and beyond.” Democratic
victories in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and in Ohio,
where Sen. Sherrod Brown won re-election by 6.5 points, suggest “there’s
room for a Democrat to win with the right brown.” According to NBC News,
the results “could bolster the case for potential presidential contenders
who have an established appeal with rural and blue-collar voters, like
Brown,” Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, “or former Vice President Joe Biden,
over more progressive rivals.”

BBC World News (UK)
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=003-4d4&t=c>
(11/8) reports on discussions in the Democratic Party “as to whether the
party should focus in 2020 on trying to win back the Midwest or trying for
a ‘Sunbelt strategy’ that instead built an electoral college majority with
the help of states like Florida, North Carolina and Arizona.” The 2018
results support the Midwest strategy, which may cause the party to “cast
their eyes is the pride of Scranton in Pennsylvania, Joe Biden.” The former
Vice President would be a “serious frontrunner if he decides to enter the
race,” considering his “ability to appeal to the Midwest working class –
his ability to speak their language and understand their concerns.”

The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=004-c09&t=c>
(11/9, Parnes) reports Tuesday’s results “gave conflicting information to
Democrats strategizing over whether the party is better off nominating
someone like former Vice President Joe Biden, a more centrist candidate
with a reputation for appealing to Rust Belt voters, or a progressive
firebrand in the mold of Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) or Elizabeth Warren
(D-Mass.).” One Democratic strategist argued “the more centrist Biden was
the more compelling candidate to win Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and
Ohio.” The strategist explained, “The people who won statewide this week
were all able to leave the progressive bubble and put on their moderate
hats. ... They ran their campaigns from the political center. That’s why
they were successful, full stop.”

In a piece highlighting Sen. Sherrod Brown’s successful re-election
campaign in Ohio, Yahoo! News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=005-f87&t=c>
(11/9, Correspondent) columnist Andrew Romano notes the “usual suspects”
expected to run for president in 2020 include Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders,
Elizabeth Warren, and Kamala Harris.

*Democrats Expected To Begin Declaring Presidential Bids In “Coming
Weeks To Months.” *AFP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=006-84d&t=c>
(11/8, Cuzin) reports that now that Democrats have reclaimed the House and
flipped several governorships, multiple Democrats are expected to “declare
their presidential bids in the coming weeks to months,” said Democratic
strategist Dena Grayson. The list includes “septuagenarians” such as former
Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Sen. Elizabeth
Warren (D-MA), as well as “new faces” like Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke,
California Senator Kamala Harris, and New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, among
others.
Biden To Visit Missoula, Montana On Book Tour.

The Missoula Current (MT)
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=007-b7b&t=c>
(11/8) reports former Vice President Joe Biden, “an oft-mentioned potential
Democratic presidential candidate in 2020,” announced he is coming to
Missoula, Montana on Monday, Dec. 3 as part of his “American Promise” tour.

Montana Kaimin
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=008-00d&t=c>
(11/8, Ryan OConnell /, Kaimin) reports that according to the event’s
Facebook page, Biden will discuss his book “Promise Me Dad: A Year of Hope,
Hardship and Purpose.” Missoula will be the first of three stops for Biden,
who will visit Grand Prairie, Texas on Dec. 4 and Burlington, Vermont on
Dec. 9.

KECI-TV[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=009-756&t=c>
Missoula, MT (11/8, 5:34 a.m. MST) also reported on this story in its
morning news broadcast
Leading the News
Sources: Whitaker Will Not Recuse Himself From Mueller Probe.

Amid worries from President Trump’s critics that Acting Attorney General
Whitaker could undermine Robert Mueller’s investigation, reports indicate
that he has no intention of recusing himself from the probe. For example,
the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=00a-e46&t=c>
(11/8, Dawsey), citing “people close to” Whitaker, says he “has no
intention of recusing himself from overseeing the special counsel probe.”
Moreover, the same sources “do not believe he would approve any subpoena of
President Trump as part of that investigation.” The Post goes on to report
that while serving as Jeff Sessions’ chief of staff, Whitaker “questioned”
Deputy AG Rosenstein’s “ability to give Mueller such wide latitude and
wanted to explore the bounds of what Mueller was examining.” Townhall
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=00b-1a8&t=c>
(11/8, Vespa) similarly indicates that “despite recusal calls, Whitaker is
pretty much telling the Democrats to shove it,” and the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=00c-c35&t=c>
(11/8, Kellman, Tucker) that he has in the past “warned that...Mueller’s
Russia investigation risks ‘going too far’ and supported limits on the
prosecutor’s power.”

NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=00d-9b2&t=c>
(11/8, story 8, 1:40, Williams) reported, “Justice Department ethics
lawyers will now advise Whitaker whether he should recuse from the Russia
investigation, but there is no sign he intends to.” The CBS Evening News[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=00e-3d9&t=c>
(11/8, story 6, 2:10, Reid) also reported “sources tell CBS News [that]
Whitaker has no plans to recuse himself, despite calls from Democrats to do
so,” and ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=00f-4a2&t=c>
(11/8, story 6, 2:05, Muir) referred to “a growing outcry over the
President’s appointment of a political loyalist to run the Justice
Department,” and added that “multiple sources tell ABC News [that] Matt
Whitaker will not recuse himself from overseeing the Russia investigation.”

The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=010-a1a&t=c>
(11/8, Viswanatha, Gurman, Ballhaus) runs a similar analysis, and Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=011-305&t=c>
(11/8, Gibson, Harte) reports that Walter Shaub, “who was director of the
U.S. Office of Government Ethics for four years before resigning in July
2017,” believes Whitaker ought to recuse himself from overseeing the
Mueller investigation because Whitaker “is a close friend of Trump’s 2016
election campaign co-chair,” Sam Clovis, who has “testified before the
grand jury in the Mueller investigation.” Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who is
expected to become chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=012-7b3&t=c>,
“Acting AG Whitaker’s relationship with Sam Clovis, an important witness in
the Russia probe, and his past prejudicial comments about the investigation
warrant his recusal. Congress must determine whether Whitaker made any
promises to Trump about his recusal or impeding Mueller.”

Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=013-77c&t=c>
(11/8, Pettypiece) reports, however, that Jay Sekulow, one of Trump’s
attorneys, says Sessions’ exit “won’t change the course of...Mueller’s
investigation.” According to Bloomberg News, Sekulow, “speaking Thursday on
his radio show, said there will be ‘no effect day-to-day’ on Mueller
with...Whitaker, Sessions’s former chief of staff, in charge.” Bloomberg
News adds that Sekulow said “the main difference...will be that Mueller’s
confidential report goes to the attorney general now, not...Rosenstein.”
Along similar lines, the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=014-50d&t=c>
(11/8, Sonmez) reports Senate Majority Leader McConnell “said Thursday that
he doesn’t believe...Trump will stop” Mueller’s investigation. McConnell
told Kentucky radio station KVLK, “The President has said on multiple
occasions the Mueller investigation should be completed. ... He [wishes] it
would happen sooner. But I don’t think there’s any chance that the Mueller
investigation will not be allowed to finish.”

Asked on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=015-644&t=c>
(11/8) what surprised the White House most about the reaction to Whitaker,
senior White House correspondent Pamela Brown said, “Really, it’s the
negative reaction to...Whitaker being appointed by the President as the
acting attorney general. This is according to my sources...who say they’re
sort of caught off guard by some of the coverage and the fact that he had
made these comments publicly on CNN, as well as op-eds where he called the
Mueller probe ridiculous, and suggested it could be a fishing expedition,
suggested that Mueller was overstepping his bounds. Some officials are
saying that they didn’t know he had made these comments, which is ironic,
because it was those kinds of comments where Matt Whitaker was saying that
he was critical of the Mueller probe that caught the attention of Donald
Trump. That’s exactly what Donald Trump liked.”

House Minority Leader Pelosi said on CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=016-c4c&t=c>
(11/8) that the President has been “outspoken in saying he wanted to
curtail the Mueller investigation, that it should be curtailed. Article II,
Section Two, clause two of the Constitution says that principals in our
government like the Attorney General have to be confirmed by the Senate.
The President appoints with the confirmation of the Senate. That didn’t
happen. You’ve seen some of the quotes today that this appointment makes a
mockery of the Constitution and the vision of our founders.” Pelosi added
that Whitaker “should not be there because of the statements he’s made
already.”

On CBS’ Late Show[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=017-a91&t=c>
(11/9, Colbert), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) said she does not think the
Whitaker appointment was constitutional. She said, “Because he is in such a
senior position, you need advice and consent of the Senate. ... There was a
succession plan; it should have been Rosenstein, and they not only
disregarded that, they then put someone in place who had not had hearings
and approval by the Senate. ... He’s a lackey of the President. He’s been
chosen because he is a political pawn.”

Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) said on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=018-baf&t=c>
(11/8), “The President could have avoided even any of these questions if he
had simply appointed the Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to be in
this temporary position. Instead, he picked this individual, Mr. Whitaker,
who, the best asset I can see is he’s a big-time Trump loyalist.” Warner
added that Whitaker “has a clear conflict of interest in terms of
overseeing any part of the Mueller investigation.”

Rep. Schiff said on CNN’s The Lead[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=019-718&t=c>
(11/8) that is Whitaker “recuse himself...any decision he makes in the
Mueller investigation is going to have a taint about it. It’s going to
cause a profound question among the public about whether these decisions
are being made by the new Attorney General, acting Attorney General in the
interest of justice or purely in Donald Trump’s legal liability interests.
This is exactly why he ought to recuse himself, and one question that we
have here in Congress right now is did he, was he forced somehow to make a
commitment to the President to ignore the advice of ethics lawyers at the
Justice Department or not seek out their advice? Was that part of his
getting the job because this President is guided by one thing alone and
that’s what’s good for Donald Trump. The country doesn’t matter that much.”

Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) said on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=01a-f17&t=c>
(11/8) that Whitaker “is not an independent, unbiased person who is
supposed to be meting out justice here. This is someone who has a strong
position. ... I also think we should ask the Office of Government Ethics to
do an evaluation as to whether or not he is appropriate to hold that
position. He should recuse himself. He’s now saying he won’t, but we should
demand that that evaluation be done.”

Rep. Nanette Barragán‏ (D-CA) tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=01b-cbc&t=c>,
“Whitaker has a record of partisanship and has even suggested the special
counsel’s investigation is a ‘witch hunt.’ Congress must take immediate
action to protect the Mueller investigation.” Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI)
tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=01c-99c&t=c>,
“Matt Whitaker needs to recuse himself now.” Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY)
tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=01d-f2f&t=c>,
“Given these past prejudicial comments and conflicts of interest, Acting AG
Whitaker must recuse himself from the Mueller investigation. Period.”

Rep. Pramila Jayapal‏ (D-WA) tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=01e-876&t=c>,
“To @realDonaldTrump and Matt Whitaker: Americans of all backgrounds will
resist any attempt to obstruct justice, and you are #NotAboveTheLaw! My
colleagues and I on the Judiciary Committee are now in the majority, and we
will do everything in our power to #ProtectMueller.” Rep. Alan Lowenthal
(D-CA) tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=01f-a5f&t=c>,
“The Mueller probe must be allowed to continue without interference. Trump
loyalist and acting AG Whitaker must immediately recuse himself. The new
House of Representatives will take all necessary action to uphold the
Constitution and prevent obstruction of justice.”

In an editorial, the Weekly Standard
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=020-dbe&t=c>
(11/8) writes that “a president has every right to fire his attorney
general and hire one more to his liking, of course,” but “in this instance”
Whitaker “has not recused himself from the Mueller probe and has repeatedly
questioned its legitimacy.” DOJ “has announced that Whitaker will now
oversee the Mueller investigation,” and “there are real questions about
whether he can do this – or how.”

Harry Litman, US attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania
from 1998 to 2001 and deputy assistant attorney general from 1993 to 1998,
writes in the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=021-09a&t=c>
(11/8), “Whitaker is a fundamentally political actor,” and “it’s not hard
to envision that in some general way, he will have Trump’s back, even
though it would be a stark dereliction of duty.” While “it’s a safe bet
that he will not seek to fire Mueller or bring the investigation to an
immediate close...that leaves a long list of possible mischief that could
cripple the probe. ... The threat to Mueller’s ability to complete a
comprehensive investigation is material and might yet be mortal.”

Max Boot tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=022-a3d&t=c>,
“If R’s cared about their oath of office (I know, an implausible
assumption) they would join with Dems to pass legislation protecting
Mueller’s independence and threaten Whitaker – and Trump – with impeachment
should they attempt to impede the investigation.” Erick Erickson tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=023-82f&t=c>,
“Just to be clear, you can have an acting Attorney General. See e.g. Sally
Yates. But you cannot have an acting AG who had not been through a
confirmation process for an AG position. Yates was confirmed as a Deputy
AG. Whitaker has not.”

Politico’s Blake Hounshell tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=024-6c3&t=c>,
“It does not seem like Whitaker was vetted.” Marc Ambinder tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=025-957&t=c>,
“If Trump is getting queasy about Whitaker with a presumed R+5 [Senate]
majority... it ain’t gonna get any easier for him in two weeks.”

*Conway: Mueller Probe “Will Continue.” *Kellyanne Conway was asked
on Fox News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=026-b10&t=c>
(11/8) when the decision to fire Sessions was made. Conway said, “The
President obviously asked for his resignation yesterday. He tendered it. It
has been a fraught relationship that you have covered on your program and
also on your network for many months if not the better part of a year and a
half. It has been a long time coming. I think many people including the
President yesterday commended general sessions for his years of service.”
Conway added, “I think it is very commendable and notable that the
President is auguring for a continuum by having the chief of staff to the
Attorney General, who has been there for over a year on the job, be the
acting Attorney General, quote, ‘until a permanent replacement can be
nominated,’ and keeping in his job the Deputy Attorney General, Mr.
Rosenstein. So this is a continuum. The Mueller investigation will
continue.”

*Conway’s Husband Claims Whitaker’s Appointment Is
“Unconstitutional” And “Illegal.” *Former acting solicitor general Neal
Katyal and attorney George Conway, who is married to Kellyanne Conway,
argue in an op-ed for the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=027-d6f&t=c>
(11/8) that the President’s “installation of Matthew Whitaker as acting
attorney general of the United States after forcing the resignation of Jeff
Sessions is unconstitutional,” and “illegal.” According to Katyal and
Conway, “anything Mr. Whitaker does, or tries to do, in that position is
invalid.” Katyal and Conway continue, “Constitutionally, Matthew Whitaker
is a nobody. His job as Mr. Sessions’s chief of staff did not require
Senate confirmation,” and “for the president to install Mr. Whitaker as our
chief law enforcement officer is to betray the entire structure of our
charter document.”

The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=028-2c3&t=c>
(11/8, Yilek) reports that “one argument in support of the appointment
relies on the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, which says a person may
serve ‘no longer than 210 days beginning on the date the vacancy occurs,’
or ‘once a first or second nomination for the office is submitted to the
Senate, from the date of such nomination for the period that the nomination
is pending in the Senate.’” The Examiner adds that “if the Senate rejects a
president’s nominee, then the temporary replacement can serve for another
210-day period.” However, “Conway and Katyal said that argument is flawed,
citing the Supreme Court ruling last year that Lafe Solomon improperly
served as the general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board because
he was not confirmed by the Senate.” USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=029-24b&t=c>
(11/8, Cummings) notes that “Conway, a self-described conservative, has a
history of being openly critical of his wife’s boss.”

*CBS: Whitaker “Criticized” Trump During 2016 Campaign. *On CBS
This Morning[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=02a-304&t=c>
(11/8), Major Garrett reported that during the 2016 campaign, Whitaker
“criticized” Trump. Whitaker was shown saying, “Doesn’t seem right now that
anything sticks to him, even being a misogynist.”

*Whitaker Questioned High Court Rulings, Judiciary’s Power. *The New
York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=02b-547&t=c>
(11/8, Savage) reports Whitaker “once espoused the view that the courts
‘are supposed to be the inferior branch’ and criticized the Supreme Court’s
power to review legislative and executive acts and declare them
unconstitutional, the lifeblood of its existence as a coequal branch of
government.” The Times adds that “in a candidate Q. and A. when he sought
the Republican nomination for senator in Iowa in 2014, Mr. Whitaker
indicated that he shared the view among some conservatives that the federal
judiciary has too much power over public policy issues.” Whitaker
“criticized many of the Supreme Court’s rulings, starting with a
foundational one: Marbury v. Madison, which established its power of
judicial review in 1803.”

Under the headline “Matthew Whitaker Is A Crackpot,” Ruth Marcus
writes in the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=02c-a9f&t=c>
(11/8), “Reasonable people can differ over the constitutionality of the
Affordable Care Act,” and “maybe there’s some space to debate the New
Deal-era cases that cemented the authority of the regulatory state. But
Marbury? This is lunacy.”

*In 2014 Debate, Whitaker Appeared To Advocate “Biblical View Of
Justice.” *The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=02d-120&t=c>
(11/8, Boorstein) reports, “In a 2014 debate when he was running for the US
Senate,” Whitaker “said judges should have a Christian worldview, and that
a judge with a ‘secular worldview’ would be problematic, according to
reports from that time.” Whitaker said, “If they have a secular worldview,
where this is all we have here on Earth, then I’m going to be very
concerned about how they judge. ... I’d like to see things like their world
view, what informs them. Are they people of faith? Do they have a biblical
view of justice? – which I think is very important.”

*Reports: Whitaker Worked For “Scam Firm” That Threatened Victims
With Violence. *In a story titled “Trump’s New A.G. Worked For Scam Firm
That Threatened Victims With Krav Maga-Style Beatdowns,” Vanity Fair
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=02e-58e&t=c>
(11/7, Levin) reports that “it turns out that...in 2014 Whitaker started
serving on the advisory board of a company called World Patent Marketing,
which bilked inventors out of millions they thought were going toward
patents and licensing deals, and was shut down by the Federal Trade
Commission last year.” According to Vanity Fair, “Whitaker’s most crucial
role was arguably in using his prior work as a federal prosecutor to
intimidate people when they realized the company was a scam.” Moreover,
“the F.T.C. complaint adds that ‘Defendants also cultivate a threatening
atmosphere’ by sending its victims e-mails describing a company ‘security
team’ of ‘all ex-Israeli Special Ops and trained in Krav Maga, one of the
most deadly of the martial arts.’”

The story was initially broken by the Miami New Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=02f-649&t=c>
(11/8, Shammas), which said “those who lost money in the scam are still
waiting to receive any kind of compensation,” and “some were stunned by the
choice of Whitaker.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=030-11c&t=c>
(11/8, Leonnig, Helderman, O'Harrow) reports “Whitaker’s sudden elevation
this week to replace...Sessions has put new scrutiny on his involvement
with the shuttered company, whose advisory board he joined in 2014, shortly
after making a failed run for US Senate in Iowa.” The Post adds that “at
the time, he was also running a conservative watchdog group with ties to
other powerful nonprofits on the right and was beginning to develop a
career as a Trump-friendly cable television commentator.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=031-507&t=c>
(11/8, Goldman, Robles) reports, “Court documents show that when frustrated
consumers tried to get their money back, Scott J. Cooper, the company’s
president and founder, used Mr. Whitaker to threaten them as a former
federal prosecutor. Mr. Cooper’s company paid Mr. Whitaker nearly $10,000
before it closed.” The Times adds “Whitaker’s role in the company would
complicate his confirmation prospects should...Trump nominate him as
attorney general,” and that “it is not clear if Mr. Trump was aware of Mr.
Whitaker’s involvement with the patent marketing company before naming him
as a replacement for...Sessions.”

Catherine Rampell writes in the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=032-f90&t=c>
(11/8, Rampell) that “maybe Whitaker really was picked because he has
experience advising con artists.” For his work for Petent Marketing,
Whitaker “received $9,375 between 2014 and early 2016,” plus “the company’s
chief executive also donated $2,600 to Whitaker’s Senate campaign, and the
company owed him an additional $7,500 at the time the FTC moved to seize
it.” Rampell conceded that “Whitaker is not personally named in the FTC
complaint, and we don’t know the extent of his day-to-day involvement with
the company,” but adds, “Given all this, why was Whitaker chosen for an
(acting) Cabinet post? Presumably because a Nigerian prince wasn’t
available.” Trump “clearly loves to surround himself with fellow hucksters,
snake-oil salesmen and others accused of questionable business behavior.”

The Washington Post’s Matea Gold tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=033-d16&t=c>,
“Said one former World Patent Marketing customer who lost $77,000 of
Whitaker: ‘It’s really upsetting to know that guy will be attorney general.
It’s so offensive. It’s like a stab in the back.’”

*Sessions Stands By Decision To Recuse Himself But Calls Duration
Of Mueller Probe “Unhealthy.” *Interviewed by Judith Miller in the Wall
Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=034-27e&t=c>
(11/8, Miller), Sessions expressed confidence that Mueller’s probe will be
handled “appropriately and with justification,” and said that it he had to
do it over he would still recuse himself from the investigation because “no
one is above supervision.” Sessions also said he did not expect Mueller’s
activities to last this long, something he called “unhealthy.”

Alabama Live
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=035-280&t=c>
(11/8, Gattis) reports, meanwhile, that Sessions used a letter to DOJ staff
to tout “some of the DOJ’s achievements during his tenure.” The letter “was
reported Thursday in a tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=036-455&t=c>
by Buzzfeed reporter Dominic Holden.” Wrote Sessions, “To have led a
department like this goes beyond anything I ever would have thought
possible. ... If you had told me when I was starting out as a young
assistant United States attorney that I would ever serve as attorney
general, I don’t think I would have believed you.”

*Christie, Giuliani, Bondi, Barr, Brown, Azar Among Those Mentioned
For AG Post. *CBS News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=037-6e9&t=c>
(11/8, Garrett) reports on its website that Trump is considering picking
former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to serve as attorney general. CBS
News adds, “No decisions are expected soon, and the list of those being
considered – which also includes Rudy Giuliani, outgoing Florida Attorney
General Pam Bondi, and former Attorney General William Barr, who served
under President George H. W. Bush – is likely to grow in the coming days.”

The North Jersey (NJ) Media Group
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=038-2b4&t=c>
(11/8, Pugliese, Jackson) reports “Christie visited the White House on
Thursday as several news outlets reported that...Trump is considering him.”
Christie “said during an interview on Fox News last year that he likely
would have resigned as governor had Trump originally offered him the job of
attorney general.” According to CNBC
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=039-177&t=c>
(11/8, Mangan), Christie’s White House visit was not related to the AG
position, but rather it was to meet with Jared Kushner about prison reform.

CNN
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=03a-924&t=c>
(11/8, Diamond, Westwood) says on its website that “other potential
contenders have cropped up in Trump-friendly circles in recent months,
including...Solicitor General Noel Francisco, Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas,
former Judge John Michael Luttig, Judge Edith Jones, former Judge Janice
Rogers Brown, retiring Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-South Carolina and Sen. Lindsey
Graham, R-South Carolina.”

McClatchy
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=03b-4f0&t=c>
(11/8, Kumar, Hall) reported “Trump is seriously considering
naming...Brown” to the position, while The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=03c-070&t=c>
(11/8, Wheeler) cites HHS Secretary Azar as a possible nominee and notes
Barr responded “no comment” when asked if he’s interested in the position.
HHS spokeswoman Caitlin Oakley said of Azar’s future, “He plans to continue
serving President Trump as his HHS secretary.”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=03d-b90&t=c>
(11/8, Hanna) reports that Kris Kobach’s “hard-line, in-your-face approach
could help him land his next political position, possibly in the Trump
administration.” Kobach’s “name immediately popped up Wednesday,
after...Sessions was forced to resign,” and “if Trump picks someone else to
replace Sessions, Kobach’s name is almost certain to surface again when
Trump has another big post to fill.”

*Mueller Team Reportedly Drafting Final Report. *The Washington
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=03e-1df&t=c>
(11/8, Mordock) reports that according to CNN, Mueller’s team “has begun
writing its final report on its 18-month Russia investigation.” The probe
“has entered its final stages, but federal prosecutors reportedly still
have some final pieces to put into place.” The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=03f-0dd&t=c>
(11/8, Yilek) reports that one of those loose ends is Mueller’s seeking of
call and visitor logs related to Roger Stone from Trump Tower. Mueller “is
investigating whether Stone had advance knowledge of WikiLeaks’ plans to
release hacked emails stolen from Democrats.”

*Giuliani Says Trump, Legal Team Will Meet Next Week To Discuss
Responses To Mueller. *Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=040-edf&t=c>
(11/8, Samuelsohn) reports that President Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani
said in an interview that the President and his legal team “are planning to
meet next week to decide whether to submit any of their written responses”
to Mueller. Giuliani said, “I think the only thing that throws us off a
little, which we explained to [Mueller], is that the President’s going to
be away for about three, four days. ... We really want the President to
have a day home where he can just think about it, make sure he’s
comfortable with it, and then we’ll tell [Mueller] what the decision is.”

*Federal Court Hears Case Over Mueller Appointment. *The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=041-3e7&t=c>
(11/8, Day) reports that a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for
the District of Columbia heard arguments Thursday in a case brought by
former Stone aide Andrew Miller about whether Mueller’s “appointment to
lead the Russia investigation was constitutional. ... At issue is whether
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had the authority to appoint
Mueller. The special counsel’s office says yes. But lawyers for Miller say
no.” Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=042-3e8&t=c>
(11/8, Gerstein, Meyer, Samuelsohn) reports that one of the judges, George
H.W. Bush appointee Karen Henderson, said the court would not immediately
consider the departure of Jeff Sessions as attorney general in the case,
but “signaled that the developments might well impact the legal issues
around Mueller’s authority.”

Laurence Tribe tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=043-b9a&t=c>,
“So strange to see the legality of Mueller’s mandate argued in the DC
Circuit the day after the legally dubious installation of Matt Whitaker to
oversee Mueller after he publicly called Mueller’s probe a Lynch mob.”
Foreign Policy
Haley: North Korea Postponed Pompeo Meeting.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=044-f74&t=c>
(11/8, Nichols) reports UN Ambassador Haley said that North Korean
officials postponed a meeting with Secretary of State Pompeo previously
scheduled for this week “because they weren’t ready.” Haley added,
“Secretary Pompeo was ready to come. We continue to stand ready to talk but
I don’t think that there was some major issue.” The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=045-ba9&t=c>
(11/9, Lederer) reports Haley also said that she believes the talks between
Pompeo and Kim Yong Chol are going to be rescheduled, and added, “And it
doesn’t change the fact that that summit is still scheduled for the
President and Kim to meet after the first of the year.”

*Markey Urges Trump To Stop Keeping American Aid Workers From North
Korea. *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=046-ddd&t=c>
(11/8, Wong) reports Sen. Edward Markey (D-MA) wrote to President Trump,
Pompeo, and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin saying he is “deeply troubled” that
the Administration is reportedly barring aid workers “from shipping
supplies or traveling to North Korea as they seek to provide the most basic
humanitarian assistance.” Markey said in a statement to the Times that
American interests “are best served when our moral and global leadership
are in lock step.”
Saudis Ignoring US Ceasefire Calls As Fighting Threatens Hundreds Of
Thousands Of Yemenis.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=047-0c3&t=c>
(11/8, Raghavan) reports that “despite U.S. calls for a cease-fire,
fighting is escalating in a strategic Yemeni port city, threatening the
lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians and deepening a humanitarian
crisis in which millions are at risk from a looming famine.” According to
the Post, “The clashes in Hodeida, pitting a U.S.-backed regional coalition
led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates against northern Houthi
rebels, have caused numerous civilian casualties over the past week,” and
“the violence is also edging closer to medical facilities, threatening the
safety of patients and medical workers.” The Post says “the fighting has
particularly intensified near Hodeida’s port, through which passes more
than 70 percent of all food, fuel, medicine and other essential supplies
destined for the northern part of the country, where the large majority of
Yemenis live.”

*Johnson: Saudis’ War In Yemen Is Actually Strengthening Iran’s
Influence In The Region. *Former British foreign minister Boris Johnson, in
an op-ed for the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=048-7f3&t=c>
(11/8), writes, “The war in Yemen is turning out to be bad for Saudi Arabia
– and, alas, is boosting, not reversing, Iranian influence.” Johnson says
the Iranian government “had virtually no influence in Yemen at all, and no
real strategic interest, until the Saudi-led coalition began its ill-fated
campaign of aerial bombardments against the Houthi rebels.” Johnson adds,
“In the three years since the Saudis launched their offensive, Yemen has
been brought to the brink of starvation – and the Houthis have been driven
so far into the arms of Iran that in the past year they have actually
started firing Iranian-built missiles at Saudi Arabia.” According to
Johnson, “That is why it was right that last week” both Defense Secretary
Mattis and Secretary of State Pompeo “decided to increase the pressure on
Saudi Arabia. We need a cease-fire.”

*US-Backed Sunni “Security Alliance” In Jeopardy Amid Infighting
And Concern About Khashoggi Murder. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=049-a42&t=c>
(11/8, Landay, Bayoumy) reports that President Trump’s “strategy to contain
Iranian power in the Middle East by forging Arab allies into a U.S.-backed
security alliance was in trouble even before the murder of Saudi journalist
Jamal Khashoggi,” and “now...the plan faces fresh complications.” Reuters
says the Middle East Strategic Alliance “aims to bind Sunni Muslim
governments...to counter Shi’ite Iran,” but “feuds among Arab allies,
especially a Saudi-led economic and political boycott of Qatar, have
hampered the founding of the alliance since Riyadh proposed it last year.”
According to Reuters, “a summit meeting in the United States where Trump
and the Arab leaders would sign a preliminary accord on the alliance was
expected in January,” but now “meeting now looks uncertain.”
US Reportedly Considering Designating Houthis A Terrorist Organization.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=04a-4b9&t=c>
(11/8, Ryan) reports people familiar with the discussions said that “as
part of a campaign to end” the Yemen civil war and put pressure on Iran,
the Administration “is considering designating Yemen’s Houthi rebels a
terrorist organization,” as part of “an array of potential actions against
the rebels, including lesser measures to sanction the group.” Going forward
with a terrorist designation “would be seen as a major escalation of U.S.
pressure against the group” and “would inject an unpredictable new element
into fragile diplomatic efforts to initiate peace talks.” Some US officials
have resisted such a mvoe believing it “might complicate U.N. negotiators’
efforts to get peace discussions off the ground.” It also could “worsen
already dire humanitarian conditions without pushing the conflict closer to
a conclusion.”
US Announces More Sanctions Over Russia’s Actions In Ukraine.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=04b-2c2&t=c>
(11/8) reports the US “slapped sanctions on three individuals and nine
entities over what it said was Russia’s ‘malign’ activity in Crimea and
eastern Ukraine.” In a statement, Treasury Department Undersecretary for
Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Sigal Mandelker said those affected
were targeted “for serious human rights abuses” and furthering the “Russian
occupation of Crimea and use of force” in eastern Ukraine. Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=04c-340&t=c>
(11/8, Ahmann, Brice, Wroughton) reports Russian Deputy Foreign Minister
Sergei Ryabkov called the sanctions unacceptable and predicted they would
not influence Russia, TASS news agency reported. The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=04d-704&t=c>
(11/8, Boylan) also covers this story.

*Bipartisan Group Of Foreign Policy Experts Urge Trump Not To Scrap
US-Russia Nuclear Deal. *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=04e-ff0&t=c>
(11/8, Gladstone) reports that “a bipartisan array of American
nonproliferation experts” who are “alarmed at what they see as
disintegrating curbs on nuclear weapons” have “urged President Trump to
salvage a Cold War-era treaty with Russia that he has vowed to scrap.”
According to the Times, “In letters sent to the White House this week...the
experts said the pact, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, had
reduced the risk of nuclear war,” and made the case that, “despite the
treaty’s flaws...the United States should work to fix the accord, not walk
away from it.” Among those who signed the letter are former secretary of
state George Schultz and former Sens. Richard Lugar and Sam Nunn.

*WPost Condemns Russian Move Against Magazine. *In an editorial,
the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=04f-a8e&t=c>
(11/8) condemns a Russian court’s “unprecedented” fine on the New Times, “a
rare oasis in a sea of state-controlled pablum.” The magazine, which “looks
critically at the Kremlin and its web of power,” could have to stop
operations should the fine be enforced. The Post condemns the move as “a
pretext for an attack on independent journalism. “
Reuters Analysis: US Isolation Will Soften Impact Of Renewed Sanctions On
Iran.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=050-18a&t=c>
(11/8, Hafezi, Saul) reports that “officials and analysts” believe that the
Iranian economy “is likely to ride out the storm from U.S. oil sanctions,
suffering recession but no economic meltdown, thanks to rising crude prices
and deepening divisions between the United States and other major powers.
... ‘Iran’s situation is better than pre-2016 because of high oil prices
and the fact that the U.S. is isolated this time,’ said a European diplomat
who asked not to be further identified.” Reuters says “the other
signatories to the nuclear deal – Germany, France, Britain, the European
Union, Russia and China – have condemned Trump’s walkout from the pact,”
and the EU is “preparing a special mechanism to enable payments for Iranian
oil and other exports without U.S. dollars.”

*New US Sanctions Don’t Cover Half Of Firms Under Control Of
Iranian Security Forces. *The Washington Free Beacon
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=051-8ce&t=c>
(11/8, Kredo) reports that a Foundation for Defense of Democracies analysis
found that the US sanctions on Iran that came into effect on Monday do not
cover “half of the publicly listed firms under the principal control of the
regime’s security forces.” The Free Beacon predicts, “The failure of the
new sanctions to hit these key sources of funding for the hardline Iranian
regime is likely to provide further grist to Iran hawks in Congress and
their allies who have expressed frustration over what they say is the Trump
administration’s failure to uphold its vow to fully sanction Iran and choke
off the regime’s primary funding sources.”
Democrats Set To Demand To Know What Trump Has Said To Putin And Kim.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=052-ba0&t=c>
(11/8, Morello) reports that House Democrats say they intend to “take a
closer look at” President Trump’s “private conversations with world
leaders, overseas business entanglements and the purge of diplomats from
the State Department.” According to the Post, “The Democrats’ wish list
includes hearings advancing alternatives to White House policies on climate
change, refugees and migration.” In addition, the Post says Democrats “want
to find out what Trump said to Russian President Vladimir Putin at a July
meeting in Helsinki unattended by any White House aides, and what he told
North Korea’s Kim Jong Un when they met with only interpreters present
during a summit in Singapore.”
US Destroyer Nearly Collided With A Chinese Warship In September.

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=053-495&t=c>
(11/8, Perlez, Myers) reports that on September 30, a Chinese warship
“raced up alongside” the Decatur, an American destroyer, “getting
perilously close.” Only a sharp turn by the Decatur “avoided a disaster,”
and “the ships came within 45 yards of each other, marking the closest call
yet as the United States Navy contests China’s military buildup in the
South China Sea.” With China deploying more planes and ships in an effort
“to challenge American dominance in the region, such encounters may become
more frequent.” Analysts say that “the lack of an agreement between China
and the United States on the rules of the game in the South China Sea
raises the risk of a deadly mishap.” Defense Secretary Mattis and Chinese
Defense Minister Wei Fenghe “are expected to make an effort to calm those
rising tensions and reduce the risks of miscalculation when they meet in
Washington on Friday.”

*Rogin: US Needs Funds To Back Efforts To Challenge Chinese
Economic Regional Dominance. *Josh Rogin, in column in the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=054-f9d&t=c>
(11/8), writes Vice President Pence’s Asia trip “comes at a crucial
juncture,” with “economics...emerging as the key battleground in the
greater competition between China and the world’s democracies over who will
decide the regional and world order for the next decades.” At the upcoming
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders meeting, “Pence will lay
out the next phase of the Trump administration’s ever evolving Asia
strategy” in an effort “to put meat on the bone of” Trump’s Asia strategy
and argue “that the United States and its allies can offer them better
options than capitulation to Chinese economic regional dominance.” However,
US “counterproposals have been light on actual resources,” and many
Southeast Asian nations remain “sore about Trump exiting the Trans-Pacific
Partnership.” Rogin concludes, “the United States must put its money where
its mouth is.”
Domestic Policy
Afghanistan Veteran Kills 12 In California Bar Before Killing Himself.

All three broadcast networks devoted significant time on their Thursday
evening newscasts to the mass shooting at a bar in Thousand Oaks,
California, where a 28-year-old Marine veteran who served in Afghanistan
killed 12 people before killing himself. On Thursday morning, President
Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=055-b5f&t=c>,
“I have been fully briefed on the terrible shooting in California. Law
Enforcement and First Responders, together with the FBI, are on scene. 13
people, at this time, have been reported dead. Likewise, the shooter is
dead, along with the first police officer to enter the bar.” The President
then tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=056-7e1&t=c>,
“Great bravery shown by police. California Highway Patrol was on scene
within 3 minutes, with first officer to enter shot numerous times. That
Sheriff’s Sergeant died in the hospital. God bless all of the victims and
families of the victims. Thank you to Law Enforcement.”

David Muir opened ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=057-b3d&t=c>
(11/8, lead story, 4:00) by saying, “You probably woke up this morning like
so many in this country, saying, ‘not again.’ We are here in Thousand Oaks,
California, the scene of the nation’s newest mass shooting. ... The shots
ringing out, people hiding wherever they could...carrying the injured as
they ran. Police rushing to the scene, heavily armed officers, including a
police sergeant who was among the first to go in. That sheriff’s sergeant
did not survive.” Lester Holt opened NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=058-c44&t=c>
(11/8, lead story, 1:30) with a similar tone, saying, “America, here we are
again, seeking answers to the same old questions after lives are stolen in
another senseless rampage. ... Families once again grieving the sudden,
unimaginable loss of their loved ones, and before we get to anything else,
we want you to hear from a father in the kind of gut-wrenching anguish no
parent should ever know.” On the CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=059-353&t=c>
(11/8, lead story, 4:00), Jeff Glor reported, “The shooter was a Marine
combat veteran who is believed to have killed himself after taking 12
lives.”

The Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=05a-57b&t=c>
(11/8, Greene) reports that the gunman, Ian David Long, was “a former U.S.
Marine machine gunner who may have suffered from post-traumatic stress
disorder.” He entered the Borderline Bar and Grill, “tossed a smoke bomb
into the crowd and opened fire, authorities said.” The bar “was hosting
line-dancing lessons for college students as young as 18 on Wednesday
night. Crowds of young people, including parties for two women celebrating
their 21st birthdays, were drinking and dancing when the crack of gunfire
echoed through the cavernous room about 11:20 p.m.” The Thousand Oaks (CA)
Acorn
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=05b-54c&t=c>
(11/8, Jorrey) reports that “an estimated 175 people” were inside the bar,
“including students from surrounding colleges Cal Lutheran University,
Pepperdine University, Cal State Channel Islands and Moorpark
College.” The Malibu
(CA) Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=05c-032&t=c>
(11/8, Shivani Patel /, Writer) reports that Long’s gun, “legally
purchased, was identified as a .45-caliber Glock 21 designed in California
to hold 10 rounds. The gunman had illegally purchased and added an extended
magazine for more rounds.”

On the CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=05d-61f&t=c>
(11/8, story 4, 2:00, Glor), John Blackstone reported, “Hours after the
mass shooting, ATF and FBI investigators raided the house where Ian Long
lived with his mother, on a suburban street about five miles from the
Borderline Bar. In his mother’s neighborhood, those who lived nearby say he
seemed to be frequently angry and unfriendly.” Gareth Crites, neighbor: “He
wouldn’t come out of the house that much, and when I did see him drive by,
I’d wave at him, he would not wave back.” On NBC Nightly News[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=05e-cff&t=c>
(11/8, story 5, 1:30, Holt), Tom Costello reported, “The first indications
police had that Ian Long might be violent came last April when his family
reported a domestic disturbance. ... Though deemed not to be a threat,
deputies thought he might be suffering from PTSD.” The Ventura County (CA)
Star
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=05f-732&t=c>
(11/8, Stanglin, Curley, Woodyard, Kisken) reports, “Often, neighbors could
hear Long, his mother and sometimes a third person yelling in arguments
that erupted at all times of the day, sometimes ‘in the middle of night.’”
One neighbor said, “No question in my mind that the guy was troubled.”
Another said, “Everyone knew he had PTSD.”

Other national media framed the story in the context of what Glor
on the CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=060-06b&t=c>
(11/8, stroy 10, 1:40) called “an American epidemic” of mass shootings.
Holt said on NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=061-226&t=c>
(11/8, story 6, 1:30), “Less than two weeks ago, we were reporting from the
scene of another mass shooting in Pittsburgh. In fact, folks, there has
been a mass shooting almost every day this year.” On ABC World News
Tonight[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=062-666&t=c>
(11/8, story 10, 0:40), Muir referred to “the images seen far too often
across America, from Las Vegas to Parkland to the Pittsburgh synagogue,
less than two weeks ago. And now, here in Thousand Oaks.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=063-6b8&t=c>
(11/8, Real, Medina, Arango) reports, “The attack is only the latest in a
wave of mass shootings that have plagued the country this year. A man
opened fire at a Pittsburgh synagogue late last month, killing 11 people in
an attack that officials said was motivated by anti-Semitism and
anti-immigrant rage. This week, the nation paused for one day to vote, and
then, more violence.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=064-d36&t=c>
(11/8, Fahrenthold) writes that “for many of those inside” the bar, “there
was a grim benefit to being young in America during an age of massacres:
They knew exactly what this was, and they knew exactly what to do, in the
way that past generations knew how to hide from tornadoes or nuclear
bombs.” The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=065-9f2&t=c>
(11/8, Fauria) and Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=066-6d3&t=c>
(11/8, Dobuzinskis) also report.

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=067-572&t=c>
(11/8) editorializes, “Americans are watching – and now some are even
experiencing – versions of this same horror over and over, hoping that
someone will eventually figure out how to break the cycle. Could that hero
be President Trump and the House Democrats? Perhaps.” The Times calls Trump
“the ideal president to tackle the issue. He enjoys the adoration of his
party’s culturally conservative base to a degree few politicians even
approach. If inclined, he could burn just a small fraction of that capital
on promoting some of the common-sense gun measures desired by a majority of
the electorate.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=068-728&t=c>
(11/8) editorializes, “Gun violence is a national emergency and a
public-health crisis – a crisis that could be ameliorated, without
depriving anyone of their constitutional rights, if the nation chose to
take it seriously. Hopefully – if Tuesday’s midterm elections are any
indication – that finally may begin to happen. There has been a shift in
the politics of gun control; no longer is it a third rail to be avoided at
all costs.”

USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=069-ecd&t=c>
(11/8, Board, Today) editorializes, “Politicians, particularly at the
federal level, could respond to these killings with common-sense gun laws
that establish universal background checks and ban assault-style rifles and
high-capacity magazines. ... But Congress remains paralyzed when it comes
to sensibly limiting the nation’s growing arsenal of firearms and
mass-killing accessories.” Gun Owners of America Executive Director Erich
Pratt writes in a responding USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=06a-522&t=c>
(11/8) op-ed, “Once again, we see the failure of gun control in preventing
a horrible tragedy. Wednesday’s California bar shooting was in a gun-free
zone, where good guys cannot legally carry firearms.”
Ginsburg Hospitalized As Kavanaugh Is Welcomed To Supreme Court.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=06b-83a&t=c>
(11/8, Sherman) reports that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 85,
“fractured three ribs in a fall in her office at the court and is in the
hospital.” Ginsburg “called Supreme Court police to take her to George
Washington University Hospital in Washington early Thursday after
experiencing discomfort overnight.” The AP adds, “In her absence, the court
went ahead Thursday with a courtroom ceremony welcoming new Justice Brett
Kavanaugh, who joined the court last month.” The AP notes that President
Trump and acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker were at the ceremony.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=06c-dc6&t=c>
(11/8, Barnes) says that “in a reminder of the controversy surrounding
Kavanaugh’s nomination, he skipped the traditional walk down the Supreme
Court steps with the chief justice, where new members for decades have had
their photos taken by a waiting throng of news photographers.” The Post
says a court spokeswoman “cited security concerns.” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=06d-193&t=c>
(11/8, Landler) describes Kavanaugh’s formal welcome as “solemn, dignified
and brief – the antithesis of the prolonged, bitter, circuslike spectacle
that preceded it,” but adds “there were still echoes of the rancor his
nomination to the court ignited.”

According to the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=06e-3a9&t=c>
(11/8, Sullivan), “The next sitting of the Supreme Court begins Nov. 26,
and...Ginsburg’s history suggests the injuries are not likely to keep her
away.” The CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=06f-bae&t=c>
(11/8, story 7, 1:55, Crawford) said “liberals for years have worried about
her health and retirement,” and NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018110901biden&r=email-bac8&l=070-1