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Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing


*From:* Bulletin Intelligence <Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com>
*Sent:* Wednesday, December 5, 2018 8:00 AM
*To:* Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com
*Subject:* Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing for
Wednesday, December 5, 2018


*Click to access
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=000-6d7&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=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=001-f17&t=c>

*To: Vice President Joe Biden*

*Wednesday, December 5, 2018 8:00 AM EST*
Today's Table of Contents

*Biden in the News <#SECTION_1>*

• Media Analyses: With “Most Qualified” Remarks, Biden Edges Closer To 2020
Run. <#S1>

• WPost’s Rubin: Biden Decision On 2020 Looms Large For Democrats. <#S2>

• Biden Foundation Highlights Stories Of Acceptance, Rejection By Families
Of LGBTQ Youth. <#S3>

*Leading the News <#SECTION_2>*

• White House’s Mixed Signals On China Trade Truce Blamed For Stock Selloff.
<#S4>

*Foreign Policy <#SECTION_3>*

• After Haspel Briefing, Senators More Convinced MBS Responsible For
Khashoggi’s Murder. <#S5>

• Pompeo: US To Withdraw From INF Unless Russia Returns To Compliance. <#S6>

• Bolton: Trump To Meet With Kim Despite North’s Failure To Denuclearize.
<#S7>

• Pakistani FM Assures US Of Support For Afghan-Taliban Peace Talks. <#S8>

• US Urges EU To Consider Economic Sanctions On Iran. <#S9>

• Israel Moves Against Hezbollah In Lebanon After Netanyahu-Pompeo Meeting.
<#S10>

• Macron Suspends Fuel Tax Hike In Bid To Quell Violent Protests. <#S11>

*Domestic Policy <#SECTION_4>*

• Citing Cooperation, Mueller Recommends No Prison For Flynn. <#S12>

• Trumps Meet With George W. And Laura Bush. <#S13>

• EPA To Roll Back Obama-Era Restriction On New Coal-Burning Plants. <#S14>

• Hoyer: Democrats Open To Trump’s Infrastructure Plan If Can Be Paid For.
<#S15>

• Louisiana Auditor Finds 82 Of 100 Using ACA Medicaid Expansion Are
Ineligible. <#S16>

• Senators Say They’ve Met McConnell’s Threshold For Vote On Criminal
Justice Bill. <#S17>

• NRCC Says It Was Hacked During Midterms. <#S18>

*Cancer Research <#SECTION_5>*

• Multiple Myeloma Drug Reduces Risk Of Death, Late-Stage Data Suggest.
<#S19>

• Novel Blood Test Detects Cancer With 90% Accuracy In 10 Minutes,
Researchers Say. <#S20>

*Editorials/Op-Eds <#SECTION_6>*

• New York Times. <#S21>

• Washington Post. <#S22>
Biden in the News
Media Analyses: With “Most Qualified” Remarks, Biden Edges Closer To 2020
Run.

Former Vice President Joe Biden’s Monday night remark that he considers
himself “the most qualified person in the country to be president,” first
reported by CNN
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=002-84c&t=c>
early Tuesday morning and covered in yesterday’s briefing, drew widespread
media coverage in the latest news cycle. Tuesday evening, ABC World News
Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=003-5e8&t=c>
(12/4, story 7, 0:15, Muir) reported that Biden “is making news tonight
after what he said about running for president in 2020. Biden saying he
believes he’s ‘the most qualified person in the country to be president.’
He said he would make a decision on whether to run in the next two months.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=004-bd9&t=c>
(12/4, Wagner) reports that Biden’s remarks “came during a book-tour stop
at the University of Montana,” where the former Vice President “also
acknowledged he has some liabilities, including being a ‘gaffe machine,’
but said none of those would scare him from running.” Said Biden, “I’ll be
as straight with you as I can. I think I’m the most qualified person in the
country to be president. The issues that we face as a country today are the
issues that have been in my wheelhouse, that I’ve worked on my whole life.”
The Post adds, “Those issues, he said, include ‘the plight of the middle
class and foreign policy.’”

On its website, ABC News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=005-18b&t=c>
(12/4, Cunningham) reported, “Biden’s aides confirmed to ABC News that he
thinks the most pressing issues the nation faces now – foreign policy and
helping the middle class – are ‘in his wheelhouse.’” Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=006-2af&t=c>
(12/4, Rodriguez) reported that with his remarks, Biden “is fueling more
2020 speculation.” Biden “has been flirting with another presidential run
after deciding not to seek the highest office in 2016.” However, his latest
comments “suggested the wheels of a White House bid may already be in
motion.” In an online article, CNBC
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=007-f56&t=c>
(12/4, Pramuk) reported, “The comments are the clearest signal yet that
Biden could challenge President Donald Trump in 2020.”

Business Insider
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=008-1e6&t=c>
(12/4, Haltiwanger) reported that Biden, with the comments, “provided
perhaps the strongest indication yet he is leaning toward running for
president in 2020.” The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=009-b61&t=c>
(12/4, Axelrod) reported that Biden’s remarks “fueled speculation he might
make a 2020 bid for the White House.” The Daily Mail (UK)
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=00a-948&t=c>
(12/4, Earle) reported that with the remarks, Biden “hinted at how
seriously he was considering a presidential run.” The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=00b-9b4&t=c>
(12/4) reports that of a potential 2020 run, Biden “says he’ll decide
within two months.”

On its website, NBC News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=00c-631&t=c>
(12/4, Memoli) reported that Biden “said his decision on whether to enter
the 2020” contest “will rest on a whether he and his family are ‘ready,’
even as he argued that his strengths as a potential candidate far outweigh
any perceived liabilities.” The former Vice President “was asked about
factors that may hurt him if he runs – his reputation for gaffes among
them. ‘I may be a gaffe machine, but my God, what a wonderful thing
compared to a guy who can’t tell the truth,’ he said” in a reference to
Trump.

Writing in an “analysis” on the website of CNN
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=00d-bad&t=c>
(12/4), political analyst Chris Cillizza said that Biden “sounds like he is
running – no, sprinting – toward the presidential starting line.” Citing
Biden’s “most qualified” remarks, Cillizza added, “That is not something
you say right before you decide not to make a run for national office.
Biden said Monday that he is still six weeks to two months away from making
a final decision, but like, come on man. We know the deal!”

And appearing on CNN’s At This Hour[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=00e-1eb&t=c>
(12/4), Cillizza said of Biden’s remarks that “the message he is trying to
send [to the rest of the field] is, ‘Look, come at me. I’m the frontrunner.
I’m the guy who has been there and done that. I have been the Vice
President. I’ve been in the Senate. I’ve been in this cauldron for a very
long time. I’m a guy who knows how to appeal to those Midwestern, white
voters that we lost when we lost the presidency to Donald Trump.’ So, I
think all of this is sort of a marker Biden is laying down, less than a
‘Maybe I’ll run.’ This is more about what the run is going to look like,
rather than if he’s running.”

*Waldman: “Qualifications Aren’t Going To Be Enough” For
Biden. *Writing
in the “Plum Line” blog on the website of the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=00f-3f4&t=c>
(12/4), Paul Waldman said, “On first blush, Biden is probably correct that
he’s the most qualified person in the country” to be president. However,
“qualifications don’t actually get you elected, which was true even before
46 percent of the voters made Donald Trump the president.” Waldman said
that “now more than ever, qualifications seem beside the point. Barack
Obama demonstrated that if you’re compelling enough, you don’t need to have
logged a certain number of years in the legislative or executive trenches
to be a serious candidate.” Waldman added, “The primaries will reveal
things about all these candidates, things impossible to predict at this
early stage. But unfortunately for Joe Biden, qualifications aren’t going
to be enough.”

*Graham Offers Biden Backhanded Compliment. *Meanwhile, the Washington
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=010-4a5&t=c>
(12/4, Richardson) reports that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Tuesday
concurred that “Biden may be the most formidable 2020 Democratic
presidential prospect, but only because the bar is so low. ‘The candidates
on the Democratic side range from sort of crazy to just ‘let me tell you
how much I hate Trump,’’ said Mr. Graham” during an appearance on Fox News.
Of Biden’s Monday remarks, Graham said, “He’s the one guy with actually
some experience. So compared to [Sen.] Elizabeth Warren, he’s the most
qualified. But if you’re looking for a president who’s going to take the
country in a new direction, he is absolutely your worst choice because
he’ll take us backward.”

The Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=011-34b&t=c>
(12/4, Brest) further quoted Graham as saying, “I’m not underestimating Joe
Biden. I personally like him, but he has been wrong about every major
foreign policy event. He was the biggest champion of the Iranian agreement
where we gave $150 billion to the Ayatollah. I like Trump’s chances, but
don’t take anything for granted.”

Among the other media outlets reporting on Biden’s remarks are Yahoo!
News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=012-44e&t=c>
(12/4, Stableford), the Huffington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=013-aa1&t=c>
(12/4, Vagianos), Fortune
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=014-d99&t=c>
(12/4, Reisinger), the Wilmington (DE) News Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=015-4bd&t=c>
(12/4, Bies), WDEL-AM
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=016-bff&t=c>
Wilmington, DE (12/4, Loudell), the Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=017-340&t=c>
(12/4, Muñoz), Newsweek
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=018-3e2&t=c>
(12/4, Moritz-Rabson), Fox News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=019-461&t=c>
(12/4, Schallhorn), the New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=01a-0b1&t=c>
(12/4, Moore), the Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=01b-0e7&t=c>
(12/4, Enjeti), Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=01c-f78&t=c>
(12/4, Lee), and People
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=01d-771&t=c>
(12/4, Hohman).
WPost’s Rubin: Biden Decision On 2020 Looms Large For Democrats.

Writing on the website of the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=01e-413&t=c>
(12/4), Jennifer Rubin said that if former Vice President Joe Biden enters
the 2020 race for president, “it would be hard slogging for someone
pitching the same working-class message (e.g., Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio)
and those who are more moderate (e.g., Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota,
Michael Bloomberg). In that case the race may boil down to Biden vs. the
winner of the progressives’ mini-primary.” However, should Biden opt
against running, “candidates of all ideological shades will flood into the
race,” which may complicate Democrats’ efforts to defeat President Trump.
Rubin said, “In short, in the next few months, Biden’s decision is about
the only critical factor. On his decision, the nomination and the future of
the country may well turn. He should, for the sake of his party and the
country, decide sooner rather than later.”
Biden Foundation Highlights Stories Of Acceptance, Rejection By Families Of
LGBTQ Youth.

The Windy City Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=01f-ba8&t=c>
(12/4) reports that the Biden Foundation on Tuesday “announced it has
collected almost 500 stories of family and community acceptance and
rejection as part of its ‘As You Are’ campaign, many of which can now be
read on a new online story map. In August, the Foundation launched ‘As You
Are,’ a family and community acceptance campaign to raise awareness of the
importance of family acceptance in the lives of LGBTQ young people.” The
article adds, “In addition to viewing these stories, interested parties can
visit the Foundation’s growing resource library and share information on
additional resources or organizations doing good work on behalf of the
LGBTQ community and those who love them.”
Leading the News
White House’s Mixed Signals On China Trade Truce Blamed For Stock Selloff.

Early Tuesday morning, the President posted a series of tweets in which he
held out the possibility of an extension of the 90-day trade truce with
China, but also warned that he would revert to tariffs if the two sides
could not resolve their differences. Trump wrote
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=020-2b6&t=c>,
“The negotiations with China have already started. Unless extended, they
will end 90 days from the date of our wonderful and very warm dinner with
President Xi in Argentina. Bob Lighthizer will be working closely with
Steve Mnuchin, Larry Kudlow, Wilbur Ross and Peter Navarro.....
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=021-e24&t=c>
on seeing whether or not a REAL deal with China is actually possible. If it
is, we will get it done. China is supposed to start buying Agricultural
product and more immediately. President Xi and I want this deal to happen,
and it probably will. But if not remember,.....
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=022-bce&t=c>
I am a Tariff Man. When people or countries come in to raid the great
wealth of our Nation, I want them to pay for the privilege of doing so. It
will always be the best way to max out our economic power. We are right now
taking in $billions in Tariffs. MAKE AMERICA RICH AGAIN ....
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=023-40f&t=c>
But if a fair deal is able to be made with China, one that does all of the
many things we know must be finally done, I will happily sign. Let the
negotiations begin. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

With the morning tweets, Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=024-82a&t=c>
(12/4, Chiacu) says the President sought to ease fears of “an escalating
trade war” that has “loomed large over financial markets and the global
economy,” but “following Monday’s rally, markets on Tuesday sold off as
doubts over what could realistically get accomplished in the tight
negotiating window.” Reuters says that while Trump hailed the agreement
with Xi as “an incredible deal,” the “lack of detail from the Chinese side
has left investors and analysts wondering if Trump’s exuberance is
warranted.” The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=025-361&t=c>
(12/4, Miller) says Trump “warned China to make a trade deal – or else.”

To the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=026-eef&t=c>
(12/4, Rappeport), Trump’s tweets “only further deepened the murkiness
surrounding the trade truce that the two leaders said they had reached on
Saturday,” and markets, “which rallied Monday on the potential for a pact,
began a downward spiral on Tuesday as confusion set in about whether an
agreement had truly been reached.” The days since the agreement have “been
marked by confusion over the timetable to reach a deal,” and “members of
Mr. Trump’s economic team continued to temper optimism about a deal on
Tuesday.” Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, for example, said China had agreed to
buy $1.2 trillion of American products, “but he could not offer specifics
on what would be bought and when.” Mnuchin told Fox Business[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=027-eaf&t=c>
(12/4), “They have said that these are targets and that that is their
expectation. And that in the short term there would be some very specific
commitments.” Meanwhile, NEC Director Kudlow, speaking to the WSJ CEO
Council
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=028-2e8&t=c>,
“was careful to downplay suggestions that the Trump administration was
really seeking a full overhaul of America’s trade relationship with China
through the talks.” Said Kudlow, “I don’t think these trade talks are
designed to completely change the system. These talks are centered on a
variety of specific issues.”

Also pointing confusion coming from the Administration about the
deal, Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=029-6de&t=c>
(12/4, Dopp, Curtis, Donnan) says “Trump suggested...he could extend a
90-day truce,” Kudlow “backtracked from the president’s announcement that
Beijing had agreed to reduce tariffs on US-made cars.” Kudlow told Fox
News, “I think it’s coming. ... It hasn’t been signed and sealed and
delivered yet.” Asked on Fox News’ Fox & Friends[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=02a-bcf&t=c>
(12/4) why there wasn’t a joint statement issued following the meeting over
the weekend, Kudlow said, “Actually, a number of documents and cables were
passing forth between the two teams, in the two-week run up or the
three-week run-up. But this was never meant as a lengthy trade agreement
document. We are not there yet.”

Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=02b-e9a&t=c>
(12/4, Palmer, O'Donnell) reports Commerce Secretary Ross “said it was too
early to tell if trade talks with China will be a success,” despite “very
good assurances” Trump had received from Xi. Ross said the two presidents
only discussed details at “the 40,000-foot level” and that it was up to
negotiators from both sides to fill in the details. Ross told CNBC’s Squawk
Box[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=02c-59e&t=c>
(12/4), “When presidents get together, you’re at a very, very high level,
very broad principles of understanding. Now comes the hard part, which is
translating that into a definitive agreement. Our hope is that in the 90
days we’ll pin down real ways to implement the broad principles that were
discussed. ... But it’s too early to tell how serious they are.”

Business Insider
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=02d-659&t=c>
(12/4, Bryan) says that while “the two sides left talks in Buenos Aires,
with an upbeat attitude, confusion and a lack of clarity around what
exactly Trump and Xi agreed to has left many experts skeptical that a
concrete deal can be reached in such a short window.” In addition, the two
countries issued “wildly different statements, and Trump administration
officials have offered changing accounts of the deal’s details in the days
since the meeting.”

Under the headline “Trump Team Set To Take Tough Stand In 90-Day
Trade Talks With China,” the Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=02e-3fb&t=c>
(12/4, Salama) reports that Administration officials have indicated they
planned to take a tough stand in negotiations with China or impose further
tariffs. National Security Adviser Bolton told the Journal’s CEO Council,
“Is there a path forward in which we can have fair and reciprocal trade?
Sure,” but “we need to see some major changes in their behavior.” Bolton,
the Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=02f-179&t=c>
(12/4, Williams) reports, also suggested that the White House “could seek
to bar any imports from China that employ stolen intellectual property from
American businesses.” Said Bolton, “It’s an idea that should be considered.
We may have some authority in that area already, we may need some
legislation.”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=030-cd9&t=c>
(12/5, Rugaber), in a piece titled “White House Intensifies Confusion And
Fear On US-China Deal,” similarly says “White House aides have struggled to
explain the details of what the two countries actually agreed on. And China
has not confirmed that it made most of the concessions that the Trump
administration has claimed.” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=031-f9d&t=c>
(12/4, Ruwitch) reports the Chinese Foreign Ministry, “the only government
department that holds a daily briefing foreign media can attend, has
repeatedly referred questions on details to the commerce ministry, which
has yet to say anything.” The “lack of detail from the Chinese side,”
Reuters says, “has left investors and analysts wondering if Trump’s
exuberance is warranted, and if details touted by the White House but left
out of Chinese reporting on the agreement are in question.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=032-efb&t=c>
(12/4, Phillips) reports that after “Trump sowed confusion over the status
of a truce in the trade war between the United States and China,” US
markets fell sharply, “while the bond market, often considered a safe haven
for investors, sent a stark warning about expectations for an economic
slowdown.”

The CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=033-d72&t=c>
(12/4, lead story, 2:00, Glor) reported that “stocks soared yesterday, but
today, investors lost confidence in the US-China trade war time-out after
President Trump’s tweet this morning, calling himself ‘a tariff man.’” Fox
News’ Special Report[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=034-060&t=c>
(12/4) likewise said stocks fell “on concerns there may be less progress in
the US-China trade relationship than President Trump first indicated.” To ABC
World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=035-703&t=c>
(12/4, story 2, 1:30, Muir), the US stock market “plunge[d]” almost 800
points amid “concerns about the trade war with China.” After Trump’s
meeting with Xi, ABC said the White House had “sounded optimistic about a
deal on tariffs,” but “in a series of tweets today, the President saying
he’s a tariff man, and his team of advisers is working to see if that deal
is actually possible.”

NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=036-c8a&t=c>
(12/4, lead story, 1:40, Holt) said “Wall Street tonight is apparently not
buying President Trump’s rosy talk of a truce of the US-China trade war.”
Mnuchin was shown saying, “I think the market is now in a wait and see, and
the market’s trying to figure out is there going to be a real deal at the
end of 90 days or not.” NBC (Costello) reported that while “Mnuchin says
China has agreed to address over 100 areas of concern, the lack of a signed
deal or a concrete timetable has investors fearing the trade war could heat
up again.”

CNBC
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=037-219&t=c>
(12/4) reports the Dow Jones Industrial Average “fell 799.36 points, or 3.1
percent, to close at 25,027.07 and posted its worst day since Oct. 10.” The
S&P 500 “declined 3.2 percent to close at 2,700.06,” and the Nasdaq
“dropped 3.8 percent to close back in correction territory at 7,158.43.”
According to Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=038-317&t=c>
(12/4, Krauskopf), investors were “focused on US Treasury yields, where the
benchmark 10-year yield fell to its lowest point since mid-September. The
spread between the 10-year yield over its two-year counterpart also shrank
to the smallest in over a decade, a closely watched signal.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=039-50c&t=c>
(12/4, Lynch) says that as the deal reached over the weekend “showed signs
of unraveling Tuesday,” investors, “who had applauded the deal on Monday,
turned sharply negative Tuesday,” and the Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=03a-205&t=c>
(12/4, Boyer, Miller) reports “skepticism mounted” about the deal, and
“stock markets plummeted.” To the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=03b-777&t=c>
(12/5, Veiga), “investors’ confidence in the US-China agreement faltered
after a series of confusing and conflicting comments from... Trump and some
senior officials.” In a report headlined “Trump Whipsaws Markets Again With
Habit of Overstating Success,” Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=03c-0d9&t=c>
(12/4, Gallu, Donnan) says “Trump turned to a familiar playbook after his
high-stakes dinner with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday: boast of
a big victory first, and let a more nuanced reality sink in later.” The Wall
Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=03d-1c8&t=c>
(12/4, Wursthorn, Hodari), among other outlets, also report Tuesday’s
market losses.

Christina Wilkie writes for CNBC
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=03e-fdd&t=c>
(12/4), “It’s been just three days since” Trump’s meeting with Xi, “but in
that time, a steady stream of vague and conflicting messages from White
House economic advisers has tamped down early optimism among US investors.”
As the Dow plunged nearly 800 points on Tuesday, Wilkie says the White
House “appeared helpless to staunch the bleeding. With no clear message or
discernible strategy from the president on the China trade talks, what had
seemed just a few days ago like it could be a shot in the arm to the US
economy, by Tuesday only added to the grim uncertainty facing investors.”

A Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=03f-a73&t=c>
(12/4, Rucker) analysis says that “once again this week, world leaders, US
lawmakers and jittery investors have been reminded that Trump’s words
cannot always be trusted. The whiplash nature of Trump’s economic policies
and pronouncements bore tangible consequences on Tuesday, when US stock
markets cratered amid investor skepticism of Trump’s China talks.” The Post
adds, “Global markets demand consistency and reliability, but Trump
delivers neither. Instead, he makes knee-jerk announcements that surprise
investors, lawmakers and even some of his own aides and advisers.”

A Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=040-74e&t=c>
(12/4) editorial says Tuesday’s selloff may have been an overreaction, but
given the lack of details on the agreement reached over the weekend is
understandable. On its editorial page, the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=041-d9f&t=c>
(12/4) writes, “Truce or not, the two sides remain far apart,” and “the
clock is now ticking on the 90-day truce. That still leaves the tariffs in
place, even as costs to the economy are rising and the benefits become less
clear.”

*Hassett: US Recession Risk “Very, Very Low.” *The Washington
Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=042-6fe&t=c>
(12/4, Wilhelm) reports Kevin Hassett, chairman of the President’s Council
of Economic Advisers, “said Tuesday that the odds of a recession in the US
are low, but that there are higher chances of economic slowdowns in Europe
and Asia in the near term.” Speaking to the Wall Street Journal’s CEO
Council, Hassett said, “I think the big changes is that the Asian economies
are slowing, the European economies are slowing. ... I think the [US]
recession risk right now is very, very low.”

*Navarro: Tariffs Have Worked Well For US. *National Trade Council
Director Navarro, asked on Fox News’ Special Report[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=043-80b&t=c>
(12/4) about Trump calling himself a “tariff man,” replied, “Some of the
tariffs work great. Steel and aluminum tariffs have brought in a tremendous
amount of investment. Those tariffs should stay. ... Some of the threats of
tariffs have brought the Europeans to the table. For example, today in the
Oval Office, we had manufacturers from Germany promising to relocate
facilities here, and not just assembly plants here but build engines and
transmissions here.”

*Trump Vows Pause On Tariffs During Meeting With German Automakers.
*The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=044-fdd&t=c>
(12/4, Superville) reports President Trump met Tuesday with executives from
Germany’s largest automakers “amid US-European trade tensions focused on
car exports and the threat of tariffs.” In a statement, the White House
said Trump “shared his vision of all automakers producing in the United
States and creating a more friendly business environment.” The statement
did not mention whether Trump raised tariffs with the automakers, but the New
York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=045-dda&t=c>
(12/4, Ewing, Thrush) reports Trump “reassured German auto executives that
he had no immediate plans to impose tariffs on their cars” during a
“hastily organized meeting” that included representatives of BMW, Daimler
and Volkswagen. A “White House spokeswoman,” however, “said that no
long-term decisions had been made,” describing the meeting as a discussion
of how to create “a more friendly business environment.”

According to Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=046-bc9&t=c>
(12/4, Shepardson), Administration officials pressed the executives “to
expand their investments in the United States.” The Administration aims “to
discuss investment opportunities in the US, which includes manufacturing
and other forms of investment (including) R&D in new generation
technologies,” White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said. The Washington
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=047-144&t=c>
(12/4, Boyer) reports Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess “emerged from the
meeting to tell reporters that Volkswagen would announce investments in the
US in January or February, including the possible construction of a plant
to make electric vehicles.”

Diess, USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=048-45a&t=c>
(12/4, Bomey) reports, told reporters following the White House meeting
“that the automaker could use some of Ford’s spare factory capacity to make
the vehicles.” Said the Volkswagen CEO, “The President has a point in
trying to convince us to invest more into America, and we are prepared to
invest more.” Diess added, “We might use Ford capacity here in the US to
build cars for us.” Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=049-59d&t=c>
(12/4, Beene, Rauwald, Coppola) and Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=04a-7b8&t=c>
(12/4, Shepardson), among other outlets, also report Diess’ comments.
Foreign Policy
After Haspel Briefing, Senators More Convinced MBS Responsible For
Khashoggi’s Murder.

NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=04b-6ba&t=c>
(12/4, story 3, 1:20, Holt) reported, “Senators from both sides of the
aisle emerged more certain than ever that the Saudi crown prince was behind
the murder of a Washington Post journalist,” Jamal Khashoggi, after
receiving a briefing from CIA Director Haspel on Tuesday. Martha Raddatz
reported on ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=04c-8ed&t=c>
(12/4, story 6, 2:10, Muir) that it took Haspel “only one hour to lay out
the evidence, and senators at the closed-door briefing just minutes to
offer jaw-dropping condemnation of Saudi’s crown prince, Mohammed bin
Salman.” The CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=04d-d64&t=c>
(12/4, story 4, 0:45, Glor) reported that while “President Trump has said,
‘maybe he did, make he didn’t,’ Republican Bob Corker said if the crown
prince were put on trial, a jury would find him guilty in about 30
minutes.” CBS also showed Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) saying, “There’s not a
smoking gun. There’s a smoking saw. You have to be willfully blind not to
come to the conclusion that this was orchestrated and organized by people
under the command of MBS.”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=04e-da0&t=c>
(12/4, Jalonick, Mascaro) reports Graham, “who demanded the briefing with
Haspel,” said there is “zero chance” the crown prince wasn’t involved in
Khashoggi’s death. The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=04f-d88&t=c>
(12/4, Demirjian) says he “made clear that business as usual with the
Saudis had come to end, and said the United States should come down on the
government in Riyadh like ‘a ton of bricks,’ adding that he could no longer
support arms sales to the Saudis as long as Mohammed was in charge.”
Following yesterday’s hearing, the Post says senators “put themselves in
direct opposition to the White House, making clear that the evidence they
heard had convinced them beyond the shadow of a doubt.” To Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=050-066&t=c>
(12/4, Zengerle), Graham’s comments were part of “his bid to pressure the
Trump administration to condemn the crown prince.”

Graham said later Tuesday on Fox News’ The Story[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=051-f37&t=c>
(12/4), “It’s crystal clear beyond any doubt it could not have happened
without the Crown Prince knowing about it. ... It’s not in our interest to
give the Crown Prince who is 33, 34-years-old a pass for murder of an
American resident with three American children because then you have open
season on Americans everywhere. So I’m going to come down hard like a ton
of bricks on the Crown Prince and try to salvage the relationship with
Saudi Arabia.” Graham added, “I would advise the President that people are
sizing you up. The Iranians are looking at you. The Russians are looking at
you. ... What I would caution the President is that Obama was weak in the
eyes of our friends and our enemies. In the Mideast, if you give this guy a
pass after he disrespected you, you will look weak. You don’t want to look
weak.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=052-40d&t=c>
(12/4, Schmitt, Fandos) reports that “in attendance were the top
Republicans and Democrats on the Armed Services, Foreign Relations,
Appropriations and Intelligence committees, as well as other Senate
leaders. But there was already grumbling on Tuesday about the arrangement
before the briefing began.” Corker said he “wished Ms. Haspel was briefing
the full Senate, rather than a select group,” while Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY),
“a leading Republican proponent for ending American involvement in Yemen,
said the arrangement epitomized the ‘deep state.’” McClatchy
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=053-fd9&t=c>
(12/4, Clark, Dumain) says Graham and Paul, “two of President Donald
Trump’s closest allies on foreign policy, broke sharply” with the
Administration Tuesday.

Senate Minority Whip Durbin said on CNN’s Situation Room[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=054-874&t=c>
(12/4) that “a jury would not need a lunch break to reach a guilty verdict”
against the crown prince “based on the evidence that we heard today.”
Durbin added, “I suspect that as most everyone who entered the room that
the crown prince, if he did not orchestrate the assassination, clearly was
well aware of it from start to finish. The evidence that we were given by
our intelligence agencies confirm that.”

Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=055-6a0&t=c>
(12/4, Litvan, Dennis, Flatley) reports senators in the coming week “are
likely to consider a resolution that would restrict US support for the
Saudi military campaign in Yemen,” but the debate “could become a virtual
trial over Prince Mohammed’s responsibility for Khashoggi’s murder.”
According to Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=056-b47&t=c>
(12/4, Everett, Levine), “Lawmakers said they were still trying to figure
out what to do next, but they vowed to take action in the absence of
tougher action from...Trump, who has declined to blame Salman
specifically.” Corker, for example, said the Administration “puts Congress
in a place where now we feel like we need to speak out, that this cannot
stand. I would much rather…the Administration speak to this.”

Aaron Blake writes in a Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=057-bb2&t=c>
(12/4) analysis that senators’ remarks Tuesday were “completely contrary to
the narrative that has been put forward by President Trump and his
secretary of state, Mike Pompeo.” Blake adds, “To be clear, these senators
aren’t just accusing the administration of missing the point on Khashoggi;
they’re saying they feel misled and that the administration has obscured
the truth.”

Jim Sciutto said on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=058-19a&t=c>
(12/4), “At a minimum, it appears that the Administration is coloring
intelligence to the Saudis’ benefit here. Keep in mind, the Administration
– Pompeo, President Trump – have stuck to this ‘no smoking gun’ line, as
somehow exonerating the Crown Prince. The fact is, intelligence assessments
rarely have a smoking gun. They take a preponderance of evidence, they take
intelligence intercepts. They take clues and create an assessment, make a
judgment on what they’re confident happened. And by all descriptions, this
is a confident assessment by the CIA that this happened either with the
Crown Prince’s knowledge or direction.”

*Pompeo, Mattis To Brief House Next Week. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=059-9b4&t=c>
(12/4, Zengerle) reports that “Administration officials,” including
Secretary of State Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mattis, will brief House
members on the murder of Khashoggi on December 13.

*Perry To Visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=05a-0f8&t=c>
(12/4, Gardner) reports Energy Secretary Perry said Tuesday he would soon
visit Qatar and Saudi Arabia, a trip Reuters says is expected to occur
after this week’s OPEC meeting. Said Perry, “I’m headed to the Middle East
later here to Qatar and then to the kingdom.” He added that the trip would
come during “interesting times,” but “did not give specific dates.” Reuters
notes that Qatar said this week it would leave OPEC next month.

*Saudi Arabia Invites Qatar To GCC Summit. *Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=05b-31d&t=c>
(12/4, Sabah, Wainer) reports Saudi King Salman invited Qatar’s ruler to
attend a regional summit in Riyadh this month “in a sign of a potential
thaw between the nations as the Saudis struggle to overcome international
condemnation for the killing of columnist Jamal Khashoggi and its conduct
in the Yemen war.” However, it “wasn’t yet clear if the Qatari Emir Tamim
Bin Hamad Al Thani accepted the offer” to attend the Dec. 9 Gulf
Cooperation Council summit.
Pompeo: US To Withdraw From INF Unless Russia Returns To Compliance.

At a NATO meeting in Brussels on Tuesday, Secretary of State Pompeo issued
a 60-day ultimatum to Russia to start complying with the 1987
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, or face US withdrawal from the
pact. Reporting cast Pompeo’s threat as generally well-received by NATO
allies, but suggested the ultimatum may heighten tension between the
alliance and Russia.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=05c-15b&t=c>
(12/4, Cook, Lee) reports Pompeo accused Russia of “cheating at its arms
control obligations” under the treaty, and “said in 60 days, Washington
would activate a six-month notice period for leaving the pact.” Pompeo told
reporters, “Our nations have a choice. We either bury our head in the sand
or we take common sense action in response to Russia’s flagrant disregard
for the expressed terms of the INF Treaty.” He added that the US “‘would
welcome a Russian change of heart’ but that he has seen no indication that
Moscow is likely to comply.”

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=05d-778&t=c>
(12/4, Emmott) reports that Pompeo said the US has raised Russia’s alleged
treaty violations with Moscow at least 20 times since 2013, “but had faced
what he said were denials and counter-actions.” Said Pompeo, “In the light
of these facts, the United States declares Russia in material breach of the
treaty and will suspend our obligations ... effective in 60 days unless
Russia returns to full and verifiable compliance.” During the talks, “NATO
allies led by Germany pressed” Pompeo “to give diplomacy one last chance
before Washington pulls out” of the treaty, and “in turn, NATO foreign
ministers agreed to formally declare Russia in ‘material breach’ of the INF
treaty in a statement in support of the United States.”

Fox News’ Special Report[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=05e-dd5&t=c>
(12/4) reports NATO allies “supported Washington’s contention that Russia
has, indeed, cheated.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=05f-120&t=c>
(12/4, Hudson) reports that the US “termination plan was set to go into
effect Tuesday, but German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other European
leaders persuaded the president to delay the move to allow for additional
consultations with allies and to try to pressure the Kremlin one last time
to comply with the treaty, according to diplomats and officials familiar
with the discussions.” Merkel’s “last-ditch effort, which she advanced in a
meeting with Trump in Buenos Aires on Saturday, came up against a
determined drive” by National Security Adviser Bolton “to withdraw from the
landmark accord.” The Administration ultimately “tabled the action after
Merkel and other European officials told Trump that the rapid withdrawal
schedule did not give them enough time to explain the policy change to
domestic audiences.”

The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=060-700&t=c>
(12/4, Donati, Michaels) says that Pompeo’s ultimatum raised the prospect
of an intensified US-Russia arms race at a time of tension between the two
nations. At a press briefing after the talks, NATO Secretary-General Jens
Stoltenberg stressed that NATO allies “don’t want a new arms race” and
support the US move, and that it is now “up to Russia now to preserve the
INF treaty.”

Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=061-15b&t=c>
(12/4, Stearns, Wadhams, Jacobs) says that “Pompeo’s effort builds on
increasing frustration in the West over Russian behavior following its
firing on Ukrainian ships in the Sea of Azov near Crimea last week, which
resulted in the capture of Ukrainian sailors who the U.S. says should be
freed immediately.” Bloomberg News adds that Russia’s action against
Ukraine “was just the latest in a long list of issues widening the divide
between Russia on the one hand and Europe and the U.S.,” and “there’s been
less support” among European leaders “for abandoning the INF agreement.”

According to the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=062-74c&t=c>
(12/4, Harris), “While the Trump administration pointed to years of treaty
violations by Russia, there is another reason it wants to scrap the deal:
The pact constrains the United States from deploying new weapons to respond
to China’s growing militarization of the South China Sea.” The Times adds,
“Because China is not a signatory to the treaty, it faces no limits on
developing intermediate-range nuclear missiles, which can travel thousands
of miles.”

*Russia: Putin Not “Hurt” By Trump’s Cancellation Of G20 Meeting. *The
AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=063-7fe&t=c>
(12/4) reports that “Russian President Vladimir Putin is unruffled by the
refusal” of President Trump to have a meeting “on the sidelines of the
weekend Group of 20 summit, the Kremlin insisted Tuesday.” Yuri Ushakov,
Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, told reporters that “we didn’t feel hurt”
by the cancellation, “but we express our regret.” He “noted that Putin and
Trump spoke informally for about 10-15 minutes during a G-20 dinner,
discussing the Nov. 25 naval incident and the broader situation in
Ukraine,” and “added that the possibility of Putin’s future trip to
Washington wasn’t discussed.” Ushakov said Moscow “is ready for dialogue
and considers the high-level contact very important, but we aren’t going to
beg the U.S. side and obtrude,” so it is up to the Administration to plan a
possible future meeting.

Fred Pleitgen reported on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=064-f5a&t=c>
(12/4) that Russian media outlets, however, are “absolutely lashing out” at
Trump, “mocking” him and saying he “is essentially a rock around Russia’s
neck” following the President’s decision to cancel the one-on-one meeting.
Pleitgen said that state-run Russian TV has “mostly followed the Kremlin’s
line, saying they believe...Trump is keen to improve US-Russian relations
but is hampered by Congress, the media, and the Mueller investigation.”
However, there’s now been “a possible fundamental shift, both in the
Kremlin and in the Russian media, portraying the US president as weak.”
While Trump briefly spoke with Putin on the sidelines of the G20 summit,
“the Russians are clearly annoyed.”
Bolton: Trump To Meet With Kim Despite North’s Failure To Denuclearize.

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=065-bee&t=c>
(12/4, Wong) reports National Security Adviser Bolton said Tuesday that
President Trump plans to hold a second summit meeting early next year with
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, even though Pyongyang has failed to follow
through with promises to start dismantling its nuclear weapons program.
Said Bolton, “They have not lived up to the commitments so far. That’s why
I think the President thinks another summit is likely to be productive.”
Bolton said the second meeting “would probably take place in January or
February,” and the two would “look at the commitments that were made in
Singapore and have a discussion about how they’re going to accomplish those
commitments, and until that happens there’s not going to be any release of
the economic sanctions.”
Pakistani FM Assures US Of Support For Afghan-Taliban Peace Talks.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=066-19a&t=c>
(12/4, Shahzad) reports US special representative Zalmay Khalilzad met with
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi in Islamabad on Tuesday, “a
day after Pakistani officials confirmed that [President] Trump had written
to Prime Minister Imran Khan seeking assistance in moving peace talks
forward.” Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that during the
talks, Qureshi “assured the U.S. side of Pakistan’s steadfast support for a
negotiated settlement” with the Taliban to end the war in Afghanistan.
According to Reuters, “Islamabad has promised in the past to work to help
bring the Afghan Taliban to the negotiation table, but this will be the
first attempt for Khan’s new government, in power since August.”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=067-efd&t=c>
(12/4, Gannon) reports that as Khalilzad “met Tuesday with Pakistani
officials,” a “Taliban official said four members from the group’s
political office in...Qatar were also in the Pakistani capital.” The
official clarified, however, that “the visit by the Taliban leaders, which
included...a former governor who is also on a United Nations sanctions
list, is ‘private.’” The AP adds, “There was no indication who the four
might meet or how long they would stay in Pakistan but it was expected
their visit would be a prelude to further discussions in Qatar when
Khalilzad visits later this month.” According to the AP, Khalilzad “has
accelerated efforts to find an Afghan peace pact that would allow for the
eventual withdrawal of the United States from its longest war, which has
already cost Washington nearly $1 trillion.”

*Centcom Nominee Says Afghan Security Forces’ Losses Are
Unsustainable. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=068-3d4&t=c>
(12/4, Ali) reports Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, who has been nominated to be
the next commander of US Central Command, on Tuesday said in a Senate Armed
Service Committee hearing that “the high casualty rate of Afghan security
forces would not be sustainable even with the stalemate in the fight
against Taliban militants.” McKenzie is quoted as saying, “Their losses
have been very high. They are fighting hard, but their losses are not going
to be sustainable unless we correct this problem.” Reuters notes that
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said in November that since 2015, “more than
28,000 members of the Afghan security forces had been killed.”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=069-db6&t=c>
(12/4, Baldor) reports McKenzie warned “against an abrupt withdrawal of
American forces or change in strategy despite frustration over the status
of the 17-year conflict,” saying that “he doesn’t know how long it will
take to develop an Afghan force capable of defending its own country.” He
told lawmakers, “If we left precipitously right now, I do not believe they
would be able to successfully defend their country.” According to the AP,
“McKenzie’s grim assessment comes amid growing frustration among Congress
over lack of progress in the 17-year Afghan conflict.”
US Urges EU To Consider Economic Sanctions On Iran.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=06a-917&t=c>
(12/4, Emmott, Irish) reports the Administration “is pressing the European
Union to consider economic sanctions on Iran over its ballistic missiles, a
senior U.S. official,” Brian Hook, “Washington’s special representative for
Iran, told Reuters after meetings with European powers in Brussels.” Said
Hook, “We would like to see the European Union pass sanctions that would
designate the people and the organizations that are facilitating Iran’s
missile testing and missile proliferation.” Hook added that Iran’s missile
tests violate United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231, and
constitute “a grave and escalating threat and we need to restore deterrents
against Iran’s missile program. Otherwise I think we are aggregating, we
are accumulating risk of a regional conflict if we don’t.” Reuters says
“diplomacy with Iran is highly sensitive for the EU because Brussels
considers” the 2015 nuclear deal “as the bloc’s biggest foreign policy
achievement in decades,” and new “EU sanctions on top of renewed U.S.
measures could risk that, European diplomats say.”

*Rouhani: US Attempted To Negotiate 11 Times Over Last Two Years. *“The
United States has made 11 attempts to begin negotiations with Iran in the
last two years, all rejected by Tehran, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani
was quoted as saying on Tuesday,” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=06b-ac2&t=c>
(12/4, Dehghanpisheh) reports. According to the Islamic Republic of Iran
Broadcasting (IRIB) news agency, Rouhani asserted, “If you think America is
victorious, know that today Iran is victorious and Trump has been
defeated.” He added, “Last year America requested negotiations eight times
directly and this year three times indirectly which we did not accept on
the basis of the dignity of the people.” The State Department “did not
immediately respond to a request for comment.”

*Rouhani Warns US Not To Attempt To Block Oil Shipments In Persian
Gulf. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=06c-f49&t=c>
(12/4) reports Rouhani “made an apparent threat on Tuesday to disrupt other
countries’ oil shipments through the Gulf if Washington presses ahead with
efforts to halt Iranian oil exports.” Rouhani is quoted as saying, “America
should know that we are selling our oil and will continue to sell our oil
and they are not able to stop our oil exports. ... If one day they want to
prevent the export of Iran’s oil, then no oil will be exported from the
Persian Gulf.”
Israel Moves Against Hezbollah In Lebanon After Netanyahu-Pompeo Meeting.

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=06d-5d0&t=c>
(12/4, Halbfinger, Kershner) reports that early Tuesday morning, Israel
“started a military operation...to expose and thwart offensive tunnels it
said Hezbollah had been building across the Lebanese border.” The Times
says this is “the first time that Israel has taken open action to combat
underground passageways in the north.” According to the Times, “None of the
tunnels were ready to be used...and the army was neither asking civilians
in the area to evacuate nor calling up reserves, though it declared an area
around Metula, in the northernmost reaches of the Galilee panhandle, a
closed military zone.”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=06e-92b&t=c>
(12/4, Federman) reports that “Israeli forces did not enter Lebanese
territory, and there was no immediate reaction from Hezbollah.” However,
the AP adds that “the Israeli announcement threatened to push the bitter
enemies closer to an open confrontation for the first time since a bruising
2006 war. ... ‘Hezbollah knows well that whoever attacks the state of
Israel will paid a very heavy price,’ Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
said in a nationally televised address in the evening. ‘What has been
revealed to you now is but a small part of the bigger picture of our
preparations and our activities and the activities we’re planning.’” The AP
also notes that “the Israeli operation began shortly after Netanyahu
returned from a surprise trip to Brussels to meet” Secretary of State
Pompeo.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=06f-5b1&t=c>
(12/4, Eglash) reports that the Israeli military “said it had exposed one
of the Lebanese militant group’s tunnels that crossed into Israeli
territory in what it dubbed ‘Operation Northern Shield.’ A military
spokesman, Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, said that ‘several’ tunnels had been
monitored for ‘quite a long period of time’ and that the operation had been
planned for a year and a half.” According to the Post, “Israel has
expressed deep concern about the buildup of Iranian proxies inside Syria in
recent years, but in the past few days there has been a renewed focus on
Lebanon.” The Post notes that last week, Israel “warned Lebanon to stop
allowing Iran to send weapons into the country for Hezbollah after an
Iranian cargo plane suspected of carrying a consignment landed in Beirut.”
Macron Suspends Fuel Tax Hike In Bid To Quell Violent Protests.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=070-76a&t=c>
(12/4, McAuley) reports, “French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe announced
Tuesday that the French government will temporarily suspend a carbon tax
plan that triggered weeks of often violent protests nationwide.” The French
government under President Emmanuel Macron, who “has ranked among the most
passionate advocates of curbing climate change by any and all available
means,” had proposed the taxes to combat climate change. Yet, “the price
increases those taxes represented led to social unrest unseen in recent
years that quickly became a full-blown crisis,” and “Macron became the
latest world leader to suffer at home for trying to impose green taxes.”
The Post says that “Tuesday’s announcement – a six-month suspension of the
proposed taxes – was a major reversal for a government that had initially
stood its ground.”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=071-47c&t=c>
(12/4, Petrequin) reports that despite the concession, the “demonstrations
continued around the country Tuesday,” and more “were expected this weekend
in Paris.” In last weekend’s demonstrations, “more than 130 people were
injured and 412 arrested in the French capital,” while shops “were looted
and cars torched in plush neighborhoods around the famed Champs-Elysees
Avenue.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=072-711&t=c>
(12/4, Nossiter) says whether Macron’s concession “was enough to appease
the Yellow Vests’ varied complaints about the declining living standards of
the French working class was far from clear,” but “there was little doubt
that the gesture was intended as a nod to widespread anger over perceived
economic injustice, and to blunt the momentum of a popular revolt that now
threatens Mr. Macron’s agenda.” To the protesters, “Macron is concerned
about the end of the world, while they are worried about the end of the
month.” Indeed, the Times says, “Macron’s long-term vision for the country
has collided sharply with the short-term needs of the working class, many
of whom already ridicule Mr. Macron – a 40-year-old former banker with no
political experience before he was elected – as the president of the rich.”

*Trump Says “Fatally Flawed” Climate Agreement Triggered French
Protests. *President Trump on Tuesday tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=073-1a1&t=c>,
“I am glad that my friend @EmmanuelMacron and the protestors in Paris have
agreed with the conclusion I reached two years ago. The Paris Agreement is
fatally flawed because it raises the price of energy for responsible
countries while whitewashing some of the worst polluters” in the world. He
added in a second tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=074-db9&t=c>,
“I want clean air and clean water and have been making great strides in
improving America’s environment. But American taxpayers – and American
workers – shouldn’t pay to clean up others countries’ pollution.”

The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=075-003&t=c>
(12/4, Samuels) says that in his Twitter remarks, Trump “cited recent riots
in France as justification for his decision to withdraw the U.S. from the
Paris climate deal.” The Hill adds that Trump “has long voiced skepticism
about the existence of climate change, and his administration has undone a
number of environmental regulations established during the Obama
administration.” The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018120501biden&r=email-eb75&l=076-1fe&t=c>
(12/4, Chaitin) says that “Trump appeared to comment on Macron tem