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Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing


*From:* Bulletin Intelligence <Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com>
*Sent:* Tuesday, February 5, 2019 7:58 AM
*To:* Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com
*Subject:* Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing for
Tuesday, February 5, 2019


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[image: Image removed by sender. Office of Vice President Biden
Intelligence Briefing]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=001-a6d&t=c>

*To: Vice President Joe Biden*

*Tuesday, February 5, 2019 8:00 AM EST*
Today's Table of Contents

*Biden in the News* <#SECTION_1>

• 2020 Poll: Democratic Voters Prioritize Electability; Biden Atop Field.
<#S1>

• CNN: A Biden Run Could Complicate Obama Vow Not To Endorse In Primary.
<#S2>

• WPost’s Waldman: Team Biden Off Base With Thinking On Possible Path To
Nomination. <#S3>

• Toronto Star Analysis: “Popular” Biden Would Face Obstacles In Democratic
Primary. <#S4>

• Author Criticizes Biden For Hitting Northam Over Photo, But Not
“Late-Term Abortion” Stance. <#S5>

• Mulling 2020 Run, O’Rourke To Sit For Interview With Oprah Today. <#S6>

• Divide Over “Medicare-For-All” An “Early Flashpoint” In 2020 Democratic
Race. <#S7>

• Booker Campaign Hires Pair Of High-Profile Democratic Operatives In South
Carolina. <#S8>

• Warren Explains Why She Apologized To Cherokees. <#S9>

• Bloomberg Mulls A 2020 Run As Democratic Party Veers “Sharply To The
Left.” <#S10>

*Leading the News* <#SECTION_2>

• Trump Mulls National Emergency Declaration As Border Wall Talks Stall.
<#S11>

*Foreign Policy* <#SECTION_3>

• US Envoy To Meet With North Korean Counterpart On Wednesday. <#S12>

• Leading EU Nations Join US In Recognizing Guaidó As Interim Venezuelan
President. <#S13>

• Senate Easily Approves Nonbinding Measure To Keep Troops In Syria,
Afghanistan. <#S14>

• Pentagon Report Warns ISIS Could Reorganize In Six To 12 Months. <#S15>

• Iraqi President: Trump Did Not Ask Permission To “Watch Iran.” <#S16>

• Taliban To Meet With Afghan President’s Rivals In Moscow. <#S17>

• Islamic Terrorists Linked To Two Attacks In Somalia. <#S18>

*Domestic Policy* <#SECTION_4>

• Leaked Trump Schedules Dominated By “Executive Time.” <#S19>

• DOJ, Congressional Democrats Could Soon Be At Odds Over Release Of
Mueller Report. <#S20>

• Trump Expected To Announce Plan To Stop Spread Of HIV In US By 2030.
<#S21>

• Trump Misses Deadline To Submit FY 2020 Budget Request. <#S22>

• Trump Nominates Acting Interior Secretary To Serve In Post Permanently.
<#S23>

• Ex-Koch Industries Official Now In Key EPA Post. <#S24>

• Trump Expected To Name Malpass To Lead World Bank. <#S25>

*Cancer Research* <#SECTION_5>

• NCI Awards $3.2M To Case Comprehensive Cancer Center To Study Health
Disparities. <#S26>

• Report Ranks Countries By Cancer Rate. <#S27>

*Editorials/Op-Eds* <#SECTION_6>

• New York Times. <#S28>

• Washington Post. <#S29>
Biden in the News
2020 Poll: Democratic Voters Prioritize Electability; Biden Atop Field.

Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=002-19e&t=c>
(2/4) reports that in a Monmouth University poll
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=003-9d7&t=c>
of 313 Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters, taken Jan. 25-27, those
surveyed said that in the 2020 race for the Democratic presidential
nomination, “all they want is someone who can beat Donald Trump, not
someone they agree with on most issues.” In the poll, 56% said “they’d back
a strong contender against Trump. even if they disagreed with the candidate
on most points,” while “just 1-in-3 of those tallied said they’d like to
see a candidate they always side with even if it means losing to Trump.” In
the poll – including leaners – former Vice President Joe Biden leads a
hypothetical 2020 Democratic field with 29%, followed by Sen. Bernie
Sanders (I-VT) at 16%, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) at 9%, ex-Rep. Beto
O’Rourke (D-TX) at 7%, and a raft of other contenders lagging further
behind.

The New Jersey Globe
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=004-c25&t=c>
(2/4, Wildstein) reported that Biden’s “strongest support comes from
Democrats who consider themselves moderate or conservative (39%), those age
50 and older (38%), white voters without a college degree (36%), and men
(35%).” In an online article, CNN
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=005-ee8&t=c>
(2/4, Sparks) reported, “Biden, Sanders, and Warren all have the highest
favorability as more Democrats know who they are than other candidates.
Eight-in-10” of those surveyed “have a favorable opinion of Biden, 68% of
Sanders, and 57% of Warren.” CNN said the survey “was conducted a week and
a half ago, before CNN hosted” Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) “for a town hall
in Iowa and” prior to Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) launching his White House
bid.

The Huffington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=006-8f6&t=c>
(2/4, Robillard) quoted Monmouth’s Patrick Murray as saying of the poll
results, “In prior elections, voters from both parties consistently
prioritized shared values over electability when selecting a nominee. It
looks like Democrats may be willing to flip that equation in 2020 because
of their desire to defeat Trump. This is something to pay close attention
to when primary voters really start tuning in to the campaign.”

*Media Outlets Highlight Iowa Poll Showing Biden As Only Democrat
Leading Trump. *Several media outlets highlight the results of an Emerson
College poll
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=007-ae7&t=c>
of Iowa Democratic likely caucusgoers (covered in yesterday’s briefing)
that shows Biden both atop a hypothetical field of Democratic presidential
hopefuls and also as the only Democratic contender leading Trump in
hypothetical 2020 general election matchups. Newsweek
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=008-d17&t=c>
(2/4, Kwong) reported that while the survey showed Biden leading Trump
51%-49%, the President “would beat seven other Democrats the poll
presented.” The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=009-af2&t=c>
(2/4, Muñoz) reported that the poll shows “Biden is the strongest
Democratic contender for the Iowa caucuses.” Under the headline “Joe To The
Rescue! Biden Is A Mile In Front Of Other 2020 Democrats In New Poll And Is
Their Only Hope To Beat Trump In Iowa,” the Daily Mail (UK)
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=00a-e32&t=c>
(2/4, Goodin) reports on both the results of the Emerson poll and the
Monmouth survey. The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=00b-e81&t=c>
(2/4, Burke) also reported on the results of the Emerson poll.

*Writer: In Polls, Biden “A Placeholder” For Undecided Democratic
Voters. *Writing for Washington Monthly
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=00c-960&t=c>
(2/4), Nancy LeTourneau downplays the results of polls showing Biden
leading a hypothetical Democratic field, saying, “I would suggest that
Biden is a placeholder for respondents who are being asked to chose a
candidate, but haven’t made up their minds yet. Rather than being an
indication of support for his history as a senator or the platform he ran
on in 1988 or 2008, it is very likely that it is his history as vice
president that voters are responding to.” LeTourneau says that with former
President Barack Obama having exited the White House “with a 95 percent
approval rating among Democrats, Biden’s support among primary voters makes
sense. If that assumption is correct, all we know at this point is that the
Democratic field is pretty wide open for candidates to garner the support
of voters who are naming Biden as their placeholder until they make up
their minds.”
CNN: A Biden Run Could Complicate Obama Vow Not To Endorse In Primary.

In an online report for CNN
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=00d-1d2&t=c>
(2/4), Jeff Zeleny focused on former President Barack Obama’s role in the
2020 race for the Democratic presidential nomination, saying that his said
that his vow “to not endorse a candidate in the primary could be
complicated by whether his former vice president, Joe Biden, decides to
join the race. Biden and Obama have not had a detailed conversation about
his plans, two people familiar with the matter say, but are expected to
speak about it before Biden makes a decision” on the race. David Axelrod
“described [the Biden-Obama] relationship as ‘exceptionally close.’
‘Whether that would encourage President Obama to intervene in the race, I
don’t know. I doubt it,’ Axelrod said. ‘I think he’s going to allow the
candidates to make their own case.’”
WPost’s Waldman: Team Biden Off Base With Thinking On Possible Path To
Nomination.

Writing in “The Plum Line” blog on the website of the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=00e-640&t=c>
(2/4), Paul Waldman wrote that former Vice President Joe Biden “is
apparently homing in on the worst possible understanding of the 2020
primary race in order to decipher a plausible path for him to become the
Democratic nominee.” Waldman cited a report
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=00f-cff&t=c>
(2/4) from The Atlantic’s Edward-Isaac Dovere (covered in yesterday’s
briefing) that read in part, “In a primary, Biden and his advisers believe,
all [the] left-tilting candidates would divide support and leave him with a
sizable number of more moderate voters.” However, Waldman dismissed that
notion, saying that as liberal candidates drop out of the race, their
voters would back other liberal candidates, and Biden also “would have to
spend his time arguing against liberalism when the entire party has become
more liberal.”
Toronto Star Analysis: “Popular” Biden Would Face Obstacles In Democratic
Primary.

The Toronto (CAN) Star
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=010-539&t=c>
(2/4, Dale) reports that if former Vice President Joe Biden enters the 2020
battle for the White House, “he would begin the crowded race as the most
popular Democratic candidate in the country, a man personally beloved by
much of the party base.” However, Biden “is a man, a 76-year-old white man,
at a time many Democrats are clamouring for new faces. He is a gaffe-prone
campaigner whose long Senate record, which includes a vote for the Iraq War
and a flawed handling of” the Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas “hearing, has not
been subjected to sustained attacks since his last solo campaign in 2008.”
In addition, Biden advocates bipartisanship “at a time many Democrats have
come to believe Republicans are too unreasonable to work with.”
Author Criticizes Biden For Hitting Northam Over Photo, But Not “Late-Term
Abortion” Stance.

Writing for the American Spectator
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=011-779&t=c>
(2/5), author William Murchison focuses on former Vice President Joe Biden
having said that Gov. Ralph Northam (D-VA) lost his “moral authority” after
“a photo from his 1984 medical school yearbook page came to light and he
couldn’t clearly say whether or not it depicted him in blackface or Klan
costume.” Murchison says, “Moral authority is anything that political
expediency obliges politicians to say it is,” adding that Biden hit Northam
over “a 35-year-old photo,” but “ignored the governor’s” support for a
measure “that would loosen present safeguards against infanticide of a baby
born alive during a late-term abortion.” Murchison adds, “One thing we must
admit about Joe Biden, in contrast with a mere Virginia governor: He knows
what makes the modern world go round. And it’s not morality.”
Mulling 2020 Run, O’Rourke To Sit For Interview With Oprah Today.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=012-309&t=c>
(2/5, Weissert) reports that ex-Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s (D-TX) “weeks of
near-silence end on a massive stage when he sits down for an interview with
Oprah Winfrey” today “on ‘Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations from Times
Square.’” Aides to O’Rourke “say he is still making up his mind on a White
House run and isn’t expected to announce a decision during Tuesday’s
taping. Still, his association with Winfrey could be helpful if O’Rourke
decides to pursue a campaign.”

*McClatchy: O’Rourke Would Face Tough Task In Competing Against
Seasoned Democrats. *McClatchy
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=013-e39&t=c>
(2/4, Glueck) reports that “as the contours of the Democratic presidential
field emerge and O’Rourke faces growing scrutiny, some Democrats say the
early excitement” about a possible White House run by him “is dissipating.”
If he runs, O’Rourke would face “a growing list of credentialed Democratic
candidates. ... Whether O’Rourke – who as a Senate candidate eschewed a
pollster, and for the most part, negative campaigning – could compete with
those contenders without losing the energy and authenticity that powered
his Senate bid is his central challenge if he runs for president, according
to more than a dozen Democratic operatives, activists and strategists from
early-voting presidential primary states and Washington DC.”
Divide Over “Medicare-For-All” An “Early Flashpoint” In 2020 Democratic
Race.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=014-9dd&t=c>
(2/4, Alonso-Zaldivar) reports that early in the 2020 Democratic
presidential race, “‘Medicare-for-all’ is quickly becoming a rallying cry
for many” contenders, “but there are growing questions about how to pull
off such a dramatic switch to a government-run health care system. The
debate over scrapping private insurers has heated up in recent days” in the
wake of Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), “a supporter of ‘Medicare-for-all,’”
suggesting their elimination. Her “rivals have pointedly spoken about their
plans to work toward universal health care in more pragmatic, incremental
ways. Those Democrats portray the single-payer health care proposal they’ve
backed as only one strategy to achieve universal coverage, while
emphasizing the importance of other, less sweeping paths.”

In an online article, CNN
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=015-415&t=c>
(2/4, Krieg, Luhby) reported that “the future of health care in America has
emerged as an early flashpoint” in the 2020 Democratic race. CNN added,
“What had recently been passed off as minor or, given the Republicans’ grip
on government, academic differences, are now opening up like seismic rifts
– offering insights for voters not only into the candidates’ visions for
health care, but on how they might act as president.”

In her Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=016-edb&t=c>
(2/4) column, Catherine Rampell writes, “The left-wing die-hards sometimes
argue that supporting Medicare-for-all should be a litmus test for anyone
seeking the 2020 nomination because it’s not only good policy but good
politics, too,” citing polls that “suggest it is mainstream.” However,
Rampell says, “The things Americans are apparently envisioning when they
tell pollsters they support Medicare-for-all turn out to be a different,
vaguer and more varied set of ideas than the specific thing that” those “in
the progressive base are proposing.” Rampell adds, “Rather than insisting
that ‘there’s no viable path to the Democratic nomination for someone who
does not support single-payer health care,’ as one progressive writer put
it, Democrats should start with principles and objectives, and figure out
the most effective and feasible route to them.”
Booker Campaign Hires Pair Of High-Profile Democratic Operatives In South
Carolina.

The Charleston (SC) Post and Courier
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=017-aa0&t=c>
(2/4, Lovegrove) reports, “Three days after launching his 2020” White House
run, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) has landed “two of the most coveted Democratic
operatives in South Carolina for his campaign in the crucial early primary
state. Christale Spain will serve as Booker’s South Carolina state
director, the campaign announced Monday morning, and Clay Middleton will
serve as a senior political adviser.” With the hirings, Booker “now has top
2016 South Carolina staffers from both the Hillary Clinton and Bernie
Sanders campaigns on his 2020 team. Middleton was Clinton’s South Carolina
state director and Spain worked as political outreach director in the state
for Sanders.” The pair “have also worked for South Carolina’s most
influential Democratic politician, US Rep. Jim Clyburn.”

*In SC Democratic Primary, Booker’s Friendship With Scott May Be
Double-Edged Sword. *McClatchy
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=018-e00&t=c>
(2/4, Dumain) reports that Booker “could have a secret weapon in the SC
Democratic presidential primary election: A Republican. But as Booker tries
to make inroads with Democrats in an increasingly polarized political
environment, touting his longstanding friendship with conservative” Sen.
Tim Scott (R-SC), a fellow African American, could prove to be a drawback.
As a White House hopeful, Booker “is expected to tout his record of working
across the aisle as he campaigns in the pivotal early primary state of
South Carolina. One of Booker’s strongest bipartisan relationships is with
Scott.”
Warren Explains Why She Apologized To Cherokees.

In an online article, CNN
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=019-ed8&t=c>
(2/4, Raju) reported that Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) on Monday said “she
had apologized to Cherokee leaders for sparking ‘confusion’ by her use of a
DNA test to prove Native American ancestry, adding that she didn’t mean to
cause any ‘harm’ to the tribe by citing her heritage ‘decades ago.’”
Speaking with CNN, Warren “said she’d had a ‘good conversation’ with the
Cherokees’ Principal Chief Bill John Baker last week. ‘I told him I’m sorry
for adding confusion about tribal citizenship and tribal sovereignty and
for harm caused to native tribes – and also for not being more mindful of
that decades ago,’ Warren said.” Last year, Warren “announced the results
of a DNA test that showed ties in her ancestry to Cherokees,” hitting back
at President Trump, “who lampoons her as ‘Pocahontas.’”
Bloomberg Mulls A 2020 Run As Democratic Party Veers “Sharply To The Left.”

The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=01a-c48&t=c>
(2/4, Hagen) reported, “A key question looms as” ex-New York City Mayor
Michael Bloomberg (D) mulls a 2020 run for president: “whether a centrist
and a billionaire Democrat has room in a party that has veered sharply to
the left.” Bloomberg is “an outspoken critic of President Trump and has
touted his long record on advocating for gun control and combating climate
change, both issues that could win over base voters. But those same voters
might be turned off by his hard-charging criticism of progressive policies
such as ‘Medicare for all,’ a wealth tax and free college tuition.”
Leading the News
Trump Mulls National Emergency Declaration As Border Wall Talks Stall.

With a February 15 deadline looming, media reports cast congressional
negotiators as struggling to reach a deal on border security funding to
avert another partial government shutdown. As the President prepares to
give his State of the Union address tonight, reports also say it is unclear
whether he plans to use the speech to declare a national emergency along
the nation’s southern border. Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=01b-42c&t=c>
(2/4, Cornwell, Cowan) reports that “with little time remaining,
congressional negotiators...have not settled the hot-button issues they
hope to resolve, as some liberal Democrats potentially complicated their
work by pressing for cuts in homeland security spending.” Congressional
aides on Monday “said that while constructive negotiations were held by
staffers over the past weekend, it is now up to the lawmakers themselves to
tackle the thorniest disagreements” – including the “type of new physical
barriers.”

Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=01c-44c&t=c>
(2/4, Wasson, Litvan, Edgerton) similarly says “Congress has only a few
days left to come up with an agreement on border security spending to
prevent a government shutdown and may yet see the process upended” after
the President delivers his State of the Union address. Bloomberg News says
“Trump in recent days has repeatedly declared the negotiations a waste of
time” and said tonight’s speech “would reveal more of his own plans,”
including a possible “emergency declaration to circumvent Congress to begin
building a border wall.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=01d-82f&t=c>
(2/4, Demirjian) also reports that “Congress is bracing” for Trump to
declare a national emergency, which “would give him authority to tap some
$20 billion from a wide array of military construction projects approved by
Congress but not yet under way.” In anticipation, lawmakers have “begun
raising alarms” with their constituents about “their home-state projects
getting targeted.”

Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=01e-81b&t=c>
(2/4) columnist Scott Martelle writes that “whatever conditions are on the
border, they do not rise to the level of a national emergency. At best,
it’s a political emergency – for the president, whose oft-promised border
wall has failed to get sufficient support from Democrats and Republicans in
Congress to make it into the Department of Homeland Security’s annual
spending bill.” On its editorial page, the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=01f-05d&t=c>
(2/4) argues that “there was not – and is not – a border emergency meriting
the infliction of such pain and damage, or the waste of billions on a
futile wall.” The Times argues that the nation is facing some “truly urgent
problems,” including healthcare, opioids, economic inequality, the cost of
education and gun safety.

Joe Scarborough writes in his Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=020-b45&t=c>
(2/4) column that “Trump is hinting strongly that he will build his wall by
declaring a national emergency.” While “it seems safe to assume the Supreme
Court would rule that Trump’s declaration is unconstitutional,” Scarborough
said “rational Republicans and conservative columnists understand that even
after the court rules Trump’s move to be invalid, such an emergency
declaration would still set a dangerous precedent for Republicans to fear
coming from future Democratic presidents.”

The CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=021-486&t=c>
(2/4, story 2, 1:00, Glor) reported that at the State of the Union, “aides
say Mr. Trump...will argue it’s time for bipartisanship.” Kellyanne Conway:
“This President is going to call for an end to the politics of resistance,
retribution, and call for more comity.” CBS’ Chip Reid added, “Yet the
President continues to carve new divisions on immigration. Sunday night, he
tweeted, ‘Dems do nothing. If there is no wall, there is no security.’ In
an interview with CBS News, the President signaled if he doesn’t get money
for a wall, he may circumvent Congress by declaring a national emergency.”
The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=022-02c&t=c>
(2/4, Nakamura) similarly says that “dynamic suggests that any attempt from
the usually truculent president to proffer a nod to bipartisanship and
cooperation during his prime-time remarks is almost certain to be
short-lived and viewed as duplicitous by his critics.”

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=023-6b0&t=c>
(2/4, Howell) reports Conway “did not say whether Mr. Trump will use his
speech to declare an emergency to begin construction of a wall on the
US-Mexico border,” but NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=024-f6b&t=c>
(2/4, story 2, 1:15, Holt) said that when asked “how can President Trump
strike a unifying note at his State of the Union address with the threat of
a national emergency on the table,” Conway said, “The two are not the same.
The national emergency, if he were in fact to execute on that, which he has
not so far, is because he believes that we have a crisis on the southern
border.”

Conway said later Monday on Fox News[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=025-b38&t=c>
(2/4), “He certainly will address the border wall, but also national
security and border security [and] immigration overall. This is an address
to the nation, but he’s in the chamber in front of the Congress that has
failed to do its job for any number of years, if not decades, on getting us
an immigration plan in this country that of course secures our southern
border, but also tackles the chain migration, the visa lottery system, TPS,
DACA, all the things of this President has put forward. But most
importantly, in this State of the Union, the President is calling for an
end to resistance and retribution politics and calling for cooperation and
compromise. He really wants to unify the nation as its Commander-in-Chief
and its President.”

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said of Democrats on Fox
News’ Hannity[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=026-f9d&t=c>
(2/4), “It’s complete and total hypocrisy. I wish that I could say I’m
surprised, but I’m not. The Democrats have been for a number of things –
not just on immigration, but across the board – whether it’s trade,
infrastructure, and the question is will they decide at some point they
love our country more than they hate this President and will they be
willing to actually focus on what they were elected to do.”

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) writes in USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=027-509&t=c>
(2/4), “Congress must quickly develop comprehensive border security
legislation. America is waiting. But first, Democrats must realize
something simple – something the American people already understand: We
need a wall.” Gaetz argues that “this is not a left or right issue, nor
even a political issue. It is a commonsense issue.”

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) said on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=028-cdb&t=c>
(2/4), “If the President would leave the conference committee alone, let
them do their work, I am very confident that they’ll reach a compromise on
border security. We’ve been able to do that during the normal budget cycle
and appropriations cycle. We’ve reached agreements on border security. We
can reach agreement. The problem is the President interferes and keeps
changing the goalposts, making it difficult for us to reach an agreement.
So, yes, I am confident we can reach an agreement on border security that
will satisfy what we need on our southern border.”

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said on CNN’s Situation Room[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=029-1c9&t=c>
(2/4), “I have the highest degree of confidence that the appropriators who
are on the conference committee are going to try as hard as they can to
find a bipartisan resolution working with Republicans in the House, as well
as Republicans and Democrats in the Senate. We support 21st Century border
security. ... We are hopeful our colleagues on the other side of the aisle
will engage in this evidence-based discussion. If that, in fact, is the
case, we can come to an agreement that I think the President would be hard
pressed not to sign into law.”

Washington Post conservative blogger Jennifer Rubin tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=02a-027&t=c>,
“Mr. Trump’s call for bipartisanship on Tuesday contrasts with his recent
assertions that bipartisan efforts on border security are a ‘waste of
time.’”

With the February 15 deadline looming, the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=02b-aaa&t=c>
(2/4, Pace) reports Trump “is expected to use his address to outline his
demands, which still include funding for a wall along the US-Mexico
border.” USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=02c-902&t=c>
(2/4) editorializes that “Trump is expected to make yet another pitch for
his southern border wall, having failed to secure $5.7 billion in funding
despite partially shutting down the government for five weeks.” USA Today
says it is “hard to understand the subject, however, when so many key
details are lacking.”

An AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=02d-aca&t=c>
(2/4, Yen, Woodward) analysis, meanwhile, cautions ahead of the address
that “Trump likes to describe the state of the union as he wants it to be,
not how it really is.” On the subject of immigration, the AP writes “Trump
likes to say there’s a crisis...and only a wall can fix it,” cautioning
Americans to “take it all with a grain of salt.”

A USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=02e-0e8&t=c>
(2/4, Collins) analysis says that “if Trump and Congress need a template
for how to get things done after a nasty partisan confrontation, they could
look to the example set by then-President Bill Clinton and then-House
Speaker Newt Gingrich in the mid-1990s.” After a 21-day government
shutdown, “Clinton and the GOP Congress still managed to pass several
pieces of major legislation, including welfare reform and a
health-insurance modernization bill.”

Gerald Seib writes in his Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=02f-45f&t=c>
(2/4) column there several reasons why no deal has been reached, and one of
them is Trump keeps changing the goal.

*Emergency Declaration Could Split GOP, Spark First Trump
Veto. *According
to Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=030-e09&t=c>
(2/4, Everett, Levine), “many Senate Republicans are deeply opposed” to
Trump declaring a national emergency, “with enough resistance that the
president might ultimately be forced to veto a measure intended to block
him.” Interviews with “a dozen GOP senators on Monday revealed broad
efforts to wave Trump from” declaring a national emergency. Sen. John
Cornyn (R-TX) said, “The President’s going to get sued and it won’t succeed
in accomplishing his goal. … Pelosi will introduce a resolution of
disapproval that will pass the House and come over here and divide
Republicans. It strikes me as not a great strategy.”

CNN’s Manu Raju tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=031-4bd&t=c>,
“Senate GOP anxious over Trump emergency declaration at border. ‘There are
lot of reservations in the conference about that and I hope they don’t go
down that path,’ Senate Majority Whip John Thune says of emergency
declaration by Trump, warning of ‘the precedent that it sets.’”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=032-76a&t=c>
(2/4) says Trump’s “fallback plan to circumvent Congress by declaring a
state of emergency could yield a major rupture in his own party.” Ahead of
tonight’s address, the Times says Trump “appeared to be in an increasingly
precarious position, unable to sway the wider public to his cause and
unwilling, at least so far, to apply the persuasion and compromise that
have gotten previous presidents out of political jams.”

*Democratic Bill Would Bar Trump From Building Wall Though
Emergency Declaration. *The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=033-73c&t=c>
(2/4, Carney) reports that “Senate Democrats introduced legislation on
Monday to prevent President Trump from using military and disaster relief
funds to construct the US-Mexico border wall should he declare a national
emergency.” The legislation would prevent Trump from using funding from the
US Army Corps of Engineers civil works funds and military construction
funding “for the construction of barriers, land acquisition, or any other
associated activities on the southern border without specific statutory
authorization from Congress” if he declared a national emergency.

*Media Analysis: Trump’s Guest List Hits At Expected Talking
Points. *USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=034-7e0&t=c>
(2/4) reports the White House announced who will attend tonight’s State of
the Union as guests of the President and First Lady. The list, it says,
“includes people who represent different topics Trump is expected to speak
on during his national address” – immigration, border security, the
economy, the military and criminal justice reform.

Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=035-263&t=c>
(2/4, Spiering) reports the guest list features “family members of an
elderly couple killed by illegal immigrants and the father of a seaman
killed in the USS Cole attack,” as well as “Americans released from prison
as a result of the First Step Act, a woman recovering from opioid
addiction, and a border enforcement official.”

Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=036-23b&t=c>
(2/4, Griffiths) reports also invited is a Delaware sixth-grader named
Joshua Trump, who says he has been bullied over his name. The Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=037-b64&t=c>
(2/4, Rosenberg) profiles the boy, who is not related to the President.

*Media Analyses: Democrats Make Statements With SOTU Guests.
*The Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=038-b91&t=c>
(2/4, Kane) reports that “rank-and-file lawmakers now get strategic advice
about how to use their one guest ticket as a political message to show
their opposition to the opposing party.” The House Democratic Policy and
Communications Committee wrote to lawmakers in mid-January, advising them
“to find guests who would illustrate how Trump is hurting average Americans
and ‘highlight how we are fighting’ the GOP agenda.”

Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=039-6fc&t=c>
(2/4, Galioto) reports that “more than a handful of those sitting in the
House chamber Tuesday evening” for the President’s State of the Union
address “hope to replace him in two years’ time. And these Democratic 2020
hopefuls are making statements of their own by who will be joining them for
the primetime event.” In what Politico calls a “pointed dig at Trump,” Sen.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) invited transgender Navy Lieutenant Commander
Blake Dremann, “an act of protest against the president’s ban on
transgender military service.” Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) has invited Trisha
Pesiri-Dybvik, “an air traffic control specialist who was furloughed for
more than a month during the government shutdown after losing her home in a
California wildfire in 2017.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=03a-bd5&t=c>
(2/4, Stolberg) reports Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is “bringing a
sexual assault survivor who cornered a Republican senator in an elevator,
demanding to know if he was going to vote to confirm Justice Brett M.
Kavanaugh.” Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) is bringing “a Liberian refugee who is
threatened with deportation.”

*NYTimes Analysis: Trump Revels In Attention To Address. *The New
York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=03b-d4b&t=c>
(2/4, Karni, Haberman) reports that “for all of the president’s fabled
norm-busting, there are aspects of the conventional presidency that appeal
to him, none more so than standing in the hallowed halls of Congress, with
all eyes on him speaking to the nation.” In fact, the Times says the “venue
and the history of the address appeal so much to Mr. Trump that his
reluctance to deliver the speech in an alternative venue – something that
was briefly discussed in the White House after Speaker Nancy Pelosi
initially canceled the speech because of the partial government shutdown –
was part of Mr. Trump’s calculus for reopening, at least temporarily, the
government.”

*DHS Preparing To Begin Construction Of Border Fence In Texas. *The
AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=03c-29f&t=c>
(2/4, Merchant) reports that DHS is “preparing to begin construction of
more border walls and fencing in South Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, likely on
federally owned land set aside as wildlife refuge property.” According to
the AP, “Heavy construction equipment was expected to arrive starting
Monday, US Customs and Border Protection said.” In March, Congress
“approved more than $600 million for 33 miles (53 kilometers) of new
barriers in the Rio Grande Valley.” Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=03d-4ca&t=c>
(2/4, Ortiz) reports that several “activist groups are protesting” the
construction, which “is expected to cut through various wildlife refuges
like a butterfly center.”

*Nielsen To Appear Before House Panel Next Month. *The Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=03e-69b&t=c>
(2/4, Wagner) reports House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson
announced Monday that DHS Secretary Nielsen “has agreed to testify next
month about border-security issues following a threatened subpoena.”
According to the Post, “In a blistering letter to Nielsen last week,
Thompson said it was ‘outrageous’ that she was pointing to the shutdown as
an ‘excuse’ not to voluntarily appear before the committee.”

The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=03f-4e8&t=c>
(2/4, Giaritelli) reports Thompson “first asked Nielsen to face the
Democrat-controlled panel on Jan. 4,” but his request “was ignored by DHS,
prompting the top Republican in the committee to get involved and try to
wrangle a deal between the two.” Nielsen is now scheduled to appear before
the panel on March 6.

*USA Today Analysis: Administration Policies Aiding Immigrant
Smugglers. *USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=040-2d6&t=c>
(2/4, Jervis, Carranza) reports Trump Administration policies “have slowed
the flow of asylum-seekers into the U.S., leaving many migrants stranded
far from home, vulnerable to violence in dangerous border cities and unable
to request asylum.” Increasingly, migrants are “turning to criminal
smuggling rings to get to the U.S.” The “backlog in processing asylum
seekers is inadvertently bolstering the illicit and dangerous trade,
according to migrants, advocates and experts, creating an increased demand
for human smuggling and illegal border crossings.”
Foreign Policy
US Envoy To Meet With North Korean Counterpart On Wednesday.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=041-dd5&t=c>
(2/5) reports US Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun
“held talks with South Korean officials in Seoul on Sunday and Monday,” and
“will meet with his North Korean counterpart on Wednesday in Pyongyang to
prepare for a summit later this month” between President Trump and Kim
Jong-un, the State Department said on Monday. Biegun “said last week he
aimed in working-level negotiations with his new North Korean counterpart
Kim Hyok Chol to map out ‘a set of concrete deliverables’” for the summit.
On Tuesday, he said that Kim “had committed during an October visit by U.S.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to the dismantling and destruction his
country’s plutonium and uranium enrichment facilities in return for
‘corresponding measures’ from the United States.”

*Conway: Sanctions To Remain In Place During North Korea
Talks. *Kellyanne
Conway said on Fox News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=042-33c&t=c>
(2/4), “The second meeting with Chairman Kim is to move forward on the
President’s stated goal of complete and verifiable denuclearization in the
Korean Peninsula, which is everybody’s business. ... But nothing has
changed on the sanctions. The sanctions remain in place while these
conversations continue.”

*US-South Korea Reach Agreement Over Cost Of US Troops. *CNN
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=043-4d9&t=c>
(2/4, Atwood, Diamond, Liptak) reports on its website that the US and South
Korea have reached “a preliminary agreement on the cost of keeping nearly
30,000 troops in South Korea, two State Department officials said,
alleviating fears among President Donald Trump’s advisers that he could
move to withdraw US troops during his upcoming summit with North Korea’s
leader.” Under the revised Special Measures Agreement, South Korea “would
boost its financial contribution to nearly $1 billion, according to a State
Department official and South Korean media.” That represents “an increase
on the about $800 million South Korea had been paying per year during the
previous five-year commitment.”

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=044-1a6&t=c>
(2/4, Muñoz) reports Trump has “repeatedly complained of ‘rich nations’
that enjoy US military protection but fail in his mind to pay their fair
share of the bill.” South Korea, the Times says, “has been a particular
target of Mr. Trump’s ire in the past, and he has even hinted at pulling
out the roughly 28,000 American troops stationed there.”
Leading EU Nations Join US In Recognizing Guaidó As Interim Venezuelan
President.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=045-f8f&t=c>
(2/4, Rodríguez, Berwick) reports “major European nations” on Monday
“joined the United States...in recognizing opposition leader Juan Guaido as
Venezuela’s legitimate head of state, while a separate regional bloc
meeting kept up the pressure on socialist President Nicolas Maduro.”
According to Reuters, “The coordinated recognition by 11 nations – Britain,
Germany, France, Spain and seven more European Union members – followed the
expiration of an ultimatum for Maduro to call a new presidential election,
aligning them with Washington and against Russia and China.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=046-d92&t=c>
(2/4, Pérez-Peña) reports that “the group of European countries had given
Mr. Maduro until midnight Sunday to schedule a new, free and fair
presidential election, and several explicitly warned that they would
withdraw recognition if he did not.” British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt
“said on Twitter that Mr. Guaidó was being acknowledged as ‘interim
constitutional president until credible elections can be held.’”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=047-a00&t=c>
(2/4, Faiola) reports that in a statement issued Monday, Secretary of State
Pompeo “welcomed the E.U. nations’ move and called for the ‘Venezuelan
military and security forces to support their country’s constitution and
protect all Venezuelan citizens, including Interim President Guaidó and his
family, as well as U.S. and other foreign citizens in Venezuela.’”
Meanwhile, a USAID spokesman said the Administration “continues to work
with Guaidó and neighboring countries to deliver humanitarian aid to
Venezuela, which has been ravaged by shortages of food and medicine.”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=048-7da&t=c>
(2/4, Goodman, Hatton) reports that Maduro nevertheless “stood defiant,
rejecting a U.S offer of humanitarian aid that has shifted attention to
Venezuela’s western border with Colombia, where opponents were gearing up
to try to bring emergency food and medicine into the country. ‘We are not
beggars,’ Maduro said in a speech to troops broadcast on Venezuelan state
TV.” While Maduro “stopped short of breaking off diplomatic relations with
the 16 European countries that recognized his rival Monday,” he “showed no
signs of caving in and lashed out at the EU, accusing it of taking orders
from the Trump administration, who he has repeatedly accused of trying to
carry out a coup to get its hands on Venezuela’s oil reserves, the world’s
largest.”

Benjamin Hall of Fox News Special Report[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=049-dfe&t=c>
(2/4) said the “defiant” Maduro lashed out at President Trump in an
interview with Sky Italia, saying “the White House has been taken over by
an extremist” and that “it’s like Trump is the head of the KKK.” The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=04a-15e&t=c>
(2/4, Hatton) reports that in a separate interview with the Spanish
television channel La Sexta, Maduro asserted that Venezuela is being
“threatened by the biggest powers in the world,” and that “the military
option is on [President] Trump’s table.’” He also accused the US of wanting
“to return to the 20th century of military coups, subordinate puppet
governments and the looting of resources.”

*Lima Group Convenes To Discuss Venezuela Crisis. *Also on Monday,
the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=04b-813&t=c>
(2/4, Hatton) reports, Western nations “were set to add to the pressure” on
Maduro’s regime “during a meeting in Canada of the Lima Group, which
includes 13 countries that have been vocal in denouncing Maduro.” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=04c-3ed&t=c>
(2/4, Rodríguez, Ljunggren) reports that while the US “has broached the
idea of an oil embargo on Venezuela, the Lima Group looked set to hold off
imposing more sanctions, sources briefed on the matter said.” Like Europe,
most Lima Group member-states “have said Maduro should quit in favor of
Guaido and have called for a new election.” According to Reuters, “The
challenge for the Lima Group is that Mexico opposes measures to oust
Maduro.”

*Russia, China Continue To Support Maduro. *The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=04d-431&t=c>
(2/4, Herrero) says despite the US-led pressure campaign, Maduro continues
to have the backing of Venezuela’s military and several foreign
governments. China “is an increasingly influential investor in Venezuela,
taking 240,000 barrels of oil a day from the country, much of it designated
as debt repayment.” Even though “China’s support is important for Mr.
Maduro’s ability to remain in power, it has been conspicuously low-key
regarding his struggle” with Guaidó, reflecting its “concern that it needs
to remain open to all possibilities in Venezuela.” Cuba, meanwhile, “has
provided intelligence support,” and Russia “has propped up Mr. Maduro’s
government with billions of dollars in loans.”

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=04e-19e&t=c>
(2/4, Arostegui) says “for a variety of reasons, the government of
President Vladimir Putin sees in Caracas an ally worth cultivating.” The
Times says that under the “anti-U.S. populist leader Hugo Chavez, Mr.
Maduro’s late predecessor and political mentor, Russia became one of
Venezuela’s strongest allies with economic ties including crude oil, loans
and arms sales.” More recently, Maduro “has been mortgaging part of the
country’s oil resources in exchange for financial and military support from
Moscow.” The Kremlin also “has managed to maintain a decades-long
relationship with Cuba’s communist regime, whose intelligence services have
worked closely with Russian advisers to make inroads into Venezuela’s
military and its reserve-rich oil sector.” According to US estimates,
“Russia’s total investment in Venezuela” is about $30 billion. To the
Times, “That helps explain why Moscow has emerged as one of Mr. Maduro’s
most vocal defenders and one of the biggest critics of the pressure
campaign waged by Washington and a number of countries in Latin America.”

*US Sanctions Push Venezuela’s Oil Industry Toward Collapse. *The Wall
Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=04f-336&t=c>
(2/4, Vyas, Olson) reports that new US sanctions are pushing Venezuela’s
oil industry toward collapse and threatening to disrupt global markets more
than many experts had expected, according to people familiar with the
matter. As Maduro’s government scrambles to find buyers for crude
shipments, the oil storage in Venezuela is filling up; tankers have been
delayed, redirected, or halted; and production is declining because of a
mass defection of laborers.

*Guaidó Calls Maduro’s Regime A “Dictatorship,” Accuses It Of
Stealing Public Funds. *In an exclusive interview with NBC Nightly News[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=050-df0&t=c>
(2/4, story 10, 1:30, Holt) on Tuesday, Guaidó reiterated that he is the
legitimate president of Venezuela, and called Maduro’s regime is “a
dictatorship.” NBC’s Kerry Sanders said that Venezuelan military “remains
under Maduro’s control,” but “Guaidó told us some low-level members of the
military have also defected to his side.”

In a separate televised speech before the Venezuelan National
Assembly on Monday, Guaidó, who “has repeatedly accused Maduro’s government
of stealing public funds,” alleged that the regime is “trying to move up to
$1.2 billion from state development bank Bandes to its subsidiary in
Uruguay,” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=051-7e8&t=c>
(2/4) reports. Reuters adds that Guaidó “did not present evidence.”
According to Venezuelan traders, “Maduro’s government has been using the
Bandes subsidiary in Uruguay to get around debilitating U.S. sanctions that
the administration of President Donald Trump has imposed in its bid to help
the opposition oust Maduro.”

*Maduro Sends 100 Tons Of Aid To Cuba. *The Miami Herald
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=052-621&t=c>
(2/4, Torres) reports that the “embattled” Maduro “sent 100 tons of aid to
Cuba for the reconstruction of homes damaged by a tornado that struck
Havana last week,” killing six people and damaging 3,513 homes. Meanwhile,
“the United States, most members of the Lima Group and several European
countries have asked Maduro to allow humanitarian aid to enter Venezuela,
where food and medicine is scarce.” According to the Herald, “The aid
shipment to Cuba is the latest example that Maduro and his allies are still
in control of resources and access to ports, a main obstacle for plans to
provide humanitarian aid to Venezuelans.” The Herald adds that the aid
shipment to Cuba, “in the midst of Venezuela’s humanitarian and political
crisis, also illustrates that the alliance between Maduro and Havana
remains strong, despite the growing international support for Guaidó and
the warnings from the U.S. government that it could impose more sanctions
on the Cuban government.”
Senate Easily Approves Nonbinding Measure To Keep Troops In Syria,
Afghanistan.

The New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=053-f8d&t=c>
(2/4, Perez) reports the Senate “has decided to break from President Trump
and his plans to pull out of Syria and Afghanistan – voting Monday in favor
of a non-binding amendment to stay.” Senators sided with Senate Majority
Leader McConnell, who sponsored the amendment, and “voted 70-26
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=054-0c4&t=c>
in favor of keeping US forces in both countries.” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)
“blasted McConnell’s amendment on Monday evening after the vote – accusing
him and other senators of forming a ‘war caucus.’”
Pentagon Report Warns ISIS Could Reorganize In Six To 12 Months.

The CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=055-0de&t=c>
(2/4, story 4, 2:25, Glor) reported that is “has obtained a Pentagon report
that warns without sustained pressure on ISIS, it could reorganize in Syria
within six to 12 months.”

*US Calls On Nations To Take Their Citizens Held As ISIS Prisoners
In Syria. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=056-87c&t=c>
(2/4, Wroughton, Landay) reports that the State Department has “called on
countries to take in foreign fighters captured by America’s Kurdish allies
in Syria, two days ahead of a meeting in Washington of dozens of coalition
partners fighting Islamic State to discuss the way forward in Syria.”
Reuters says State Department spokesman Robert Palladino “did not say how
many prisoners had been detained by the Syrian Democratic Forces...but US
officials believe they number about 850.” According to Reuters, the Trump
Administration “has long said it wants to see the fighters returned to
their countries of origin in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa to
face prosecution.”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=057-8e1&t=c>
(2/4, El Deeb, Lee) says “the question of what to do with the detained
foreigners has grown increasingly thorny since” President Trump’s “surprise
announcement in December that he intends to withdraw all American forces
from the country.” The AP adds that “very few countries have expressed
readiness to repatriate their citizens, posing a dilemma for the
Kurdish-led forces, particularly after the US said it plans to withdraw.”
Iraqi President: Trump Did Not Ask Permission To “Watch Iran.”

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=058-24b&t=c>
(2/4, Aboulenein, Davison) reports Iraqi President Barham Salih said Monday
that President Trump “did not ask Iraq’s permission for US troops stationed
there to ‘watch Iran.’” Asked about Trump’s comments Sunday that he wants
to keep US troops in Iraq to “watch” Iran, Salih said US troops in Iraq
“are there as part of an agreement between the two countries with a
specific mission of combating terrorism...and that they should stick to
that.” To the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=059-4c6&t=c>
(2/4, Salim), Salih “rejected a plan floated by...Trump that calls for
keeping US forces in Iraq to ‘watch’ neighboring Iran, saying the United
States should not burden Iraq with its own ‘policy priorities.’” On
Monday,” several Iraqi officials and politicians said the effort to expel
the US forces is gaining momentum following Trump’s comments” to CBS.
Speaking at a forum in Baghdad on Monday, Salih said, “We will not allow
this. ... Iraq does not want to be a party or axis to any conflict between
multiple countries.”

ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=05a-b1e&t=c>
(2/4, story 5, 0:35, Muir) reported the State Department, however, “says
the mission hasn’t changed, it’s to go after ISIS.” The CBS Evening News[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=05b-86f&t=c>
(2/4, story 4, 2:25, Glor) said Trump’s comments “drew a sharp response
overseas.” Margaret Brennan added, “This is something that the
President...really got ahead of himself on, because Iraq has not agreed to
do what the President laid out in that interview.”

On CBS This Morning[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=05c-f61&t=c>
(2/4), John Dickerson said, “Remember, for US troops to stay in Iraq, we
need Baghdad’s permission. The 5,000 troops who are already there are there
at the request of Iraq’s leadership to fight ISIS. But President Trump says
that fight has already been won. Now, he says he wants to keep troops there
in order to ‘watch’ Iran. That sounds a whole lot like a threat against a
country with a lot of influence in Iraq. So the President, with these
comments, may have endangered delicate diplomatic talks that were underway
and made it more politically difficult for Iraq to do what America wants it
to do.”
Taliban To Meet With Afghan President’s Rivals In Moscow.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=05d-252&t=c>
(2/4, Salahuddin) reports that in the wake of “negotiations between Taliban
members and U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad amid a renewed push by
President Trump to withdraw troops from Afghanistan,” Taliban
representatives and political rivals of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani “plan
to discuss the future of Afghanistan in Moscow on Tuesday.” The move is
widely seen in Afghanistan “as a further blow to the authority of Ghani’s
administration,” which was “excluded from those meetings because of the
Taliban’s objection to direct talks with an administration it regards as a
U.S. puppet.” Officials in “Ghani’s administration have spoken about their
frustration and anger over behind-the-scenes discussions between the
Taliban and Khalilzad,” who “has said that one of his main goals is to
facilitate direct talks between Ghani and the Taliban.”

*Miller: Political Talks With Taliban “Are Positive.” *Gen. Scott
Miller, the head of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, spoke with ABC World
News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=05e-269&t=c>
(2/4, story 3, 4:30, Muir), offering “rare access to what American Special
Forces are doing to help the Afghans fight the Taliban.” Regarding ongoing
negotiations with the Taliban, Miller said, “The political talks, I do
think, are positive. I’ve talked about this fight multiple times, and it is
a fight, neither side will win it militarily, so, if neither side is going
to win it militarily, you have to move towards a political settlement
here.” Miller also said there has been no order to withdraw US troops from
Afghanistan, although he “made it clear he’s a general, not a policymaker,”
and that “he will follow his chain of command and the President.”
Islamic Terrorists Linked To Two Attacks In Somalia.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=05f-811&t=c>
(2/4) reports that “gunmen shot and killed the head of the Dubai
government-owned P&O Ports’ operations in Somalia’s semiautonomous region
of Puntland on Monday,” and “the Islamist militant group known as the
Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack.” According to Reuters, the
Shabab are “also suspected to be behind the explosion of a car bomb at a
shopping mall in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, later in the day. The
blast killed 11 people and wounded 10 others, the police said.”
Domestic Policy
Leaked Trump Schedules Dominated By “Executive Time.”

All three broadcast networks reported on what ABC World News Tonight[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=060-b2d&t=c>
(2/4, story 4, 1:20, Muir) called “the blistering report citing information
reportedly from inside the White House: schedules raising questions about
President Trump’s work schedule. Axios obtaining the President’s private
schedule for the past three months, showing about 60 percent of the time is
made up of so-called ‘Executive Time.’” ABC’s Terry Moran said, “The real
shock is the level of disloyalty the leak represents. Madeleine Westerhout,
Trump’s executive assistant, tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=061-b3e&t=c>,
‘What a disgraceful breach of trust.’”

Chip Reid reported on the CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019020501biden&r=email-ea98&l=062-7d3&t=c>
(2/4, story 3, 0:50, Glor), “The State of the Union comes amid new
questions about how the President spend his time. Axios revealed that in
the three months since the midterms, he devoted nearly 60 percent of his
schedule to ‘Executive Time,’ unstructured hours in the day he may use for
watching television, making phone calls, or tweeting. CBS News compared
this to the corresponding period of Bill Clinton’s presidency and found he
devoted 28 percent of his schedule to unstructured time.” NBC Nightly
New