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Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing


*From:* Bulletin Intelligence <Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com>
*Sent:* Thursday, September 6, 2018 8:01 AM
*To:* Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com
*Subject:* Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing for
Thursday, September 6, 2018


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<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=000-05d&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=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=001-eb9&t=c>

*To: Vice President Joe Biden*

*Thursday, September 6, 2018 8:00 AM EDT*
Today's Table of Contents

*Biden in the News <#SECTION_1>*

• Stumping For Sherrill, Biden Blasts Trump, GOP. <#S1>

• Biden Backs Kohl’s Bid To Unseat WI6 Rep. Grothman. <#S2>

• Instinct Magazine Highlights Biden’s Efforts To Boost LGBTQ+ Community.
<#S3>

• Video Said To Show Biden Calling Tracker A “Prick.” <#S4>

*Leading the News <#SECTION_2>*

• Op-Ed Another Bombshell For White House; Trump Says “Swamp Is Trying To
Fight Back.” <#S5>

• Trump, Administration Continue To Dispute Veracity Of Woodward Book. <#S6>

*Foreign Policy <#SECTION_3>*

• UK Charges Two Russian Intelligence Officers With Poisoning Former Spy.
<#S7>

• Trump Open To Meeting With Rouhani At UNGA. <#S8>

• Trump Warns Syria Against “Slaughter” In Idlib. <#S9>

• Paraguay Moves Embassy In Israel Back To Tel Aviv. <#S10>

• Pompeo, Khan “Optimistic” After Talks. <#S11>

• South Korean Envoys: Kim Reiterates Denuclearization Pledge. <#S12>

• Bipartisan Senate Bill Would Require US To Develop Strategy To Support
Taiwan. <#S13>

• Trump: US, Canadian Officials Engaged In “Intense” Trade Negotiations.
<#S14>

*Domestic Policy <#SECTION_4>*

• Questions On Presidential Powers Dominate Second Day Of Kavanaugh
Hearings. <#S15>

• Graham Says Next AG Will Have To Pledge To Allow Mueller To Finish Probe.
<#S16>

• Trump Leaves Door Open To Government Shutdown Over “Border Security.”
<#S17>

• Trump Says Nike “Getting Killed” After Kaepernick Ad Campaign. <#S18>

• Federal Judge Skeptical ACA Can Stand Without Individual Mandate. <#S19>

• Lawmakers Threaten Facebook, Twitter Executives With Regulation. <#S20>

• Sanders-Khanna BEZOS Bill Targets Big Companies Over Worker Benefits.
<#S21>

• Media Analyses: Today’s Carper Primary May Be Next To Shake Establishment
Democrats. <#S22>

*Cancer Research <#SECTION_5>*

• Startup Aims To Connect Cancer Patients With Novel Therapies. <#S23>

• Chi-Med’s Colorectal Cancer Drug Wins Chinese Approval. <#S24>

*Editorials/Op-Eds <#SECTION_6>*

• New York Times. <#S25>

• Washington Post. <#S26>
Biden in the News
Stumping For Sherrill, Biden Blasts Trump, GOP.

Former Vice President Joe Biden’s Wednesday appearance in New Jersey in
support of attorney Mikie Sherrill’s (D-NJ) bid to succeed retiring NJ11
Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ) generated significant media coverage.
Reports focused on Biden’s criticism of President Trump and Congressional
Republicans. The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=002-88c&t=c>
(9/5) reports, “Shouting at points during a 40-minute speech for” Sherrill,
Biden “made it clear that he was unhappy with the direction of the country
under President Donald Trump.” Speaking at Montclair State University,
Biden said, “I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired of what’s going on
in this country.” In addition, Biden emphasized “to the crowd that the
upcoming November midterm elections are ‘the most important election any of
us have voted in so far.” The AP adds that Biden “didn’t focus much of his
attention on Sherrill during his speech, taking a more national tone at
times.”

NJ News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=003-3e1&t=c>
(9/5, Johnson) reports Biden “gave New Jerseyans a (sometimes loud) taste
Wednesday of what his speeches might sound like if he” takes on “Trump in
two years.” Biden “tore into Trump’s handling of America” and criticized
Trump’s “fellow Republicans who lead Congress for ‘staying silent.’”
The Morristown
(NJ) Daily Record
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=004-fc8&t=c>
(9/5, Pugliese, Martin) reports that Biden “laid into the Trump
administration’s ‘naked nationalism’ and asserted that ‘we’re in a battle
for the soul of America.’ Biden urged the hundreds of students and
supporters” at the event “to ‘build up a bulwark against the erosion of
American values by winning back the Congress.’” The Morristown (NJ) Green
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=005-972&t=c>
(9/5, Coughlin) reports that Biden blasted “Trump’s ‘phony populism’” and
“urged young Americans to ‘get off your rear ends’ this November to vote in
what he said could be the most important election of their lifetimes.”

Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=006-84e&t=c>
(9/5, Friedman) quoted Biden as saying, “If we don’t build up a bulwark
against the erosion of our American values by winning back the Congress,
God forbid what happens in 2020.” Politico added that Biden “said Democrats
need to take control of the House in order for Republicans to stand up
to...Trump. ‘What has become of us? My Republican colleagues know better,
but they’re silent. They’re afraid,’ Biden, who referred to” Sherrill’s
general election foe, Assemblyman Jay Webber (R-NJ), “as a ‘Trump acolyte,’
told the crowd. ‘This is not who we are as a country. Where are they? Where
are they?’”

In an online article, NBC News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=007-951&t=c>
(9/5, Memoli) reported that Biden said “that as a young senator more than
four decades ago, he saw as Republican senators like Barry Goldwater helped
push Richard Nixon to ultimately resign during the Watergate scandal. But
too many in the GOP are silent today, afraid of the backlash that would
inevitably come if they spoke out about what they believed was wrong.” Said
Biden, “You’ve got to give these Republicans who know better – and most of
them do – the courage to stand up.” On its website, CNBC
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=008-894&t=c>
(9/5, Pramuck) reported that Biden’s address “embodies the middle
class-focused message he will take around the country as he tries to boost
House, Senate and gubernatorial candidates in tight midterm races this
year. It also previews the ways in which Biden could rebut Trump if he
chooses to challenge the president in 2020.”

The Montclarian
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=009-e5f&t=c>
(9/5, Caraballo) reports Biden “believes that Sherrill is the type of
person America needs at the moment. ‘The reason I’m here is because Mikie
gets it,’ Biden said. ‘We need men and women of character.’” On its
website, NJTV Trenton (NJ)
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=00a-778&t=c>
(9/5, Aron) reported that Biden “spoke at length about American values and
lambasted Republicans for wanting to cut Medicare, he said, by $650
billion.” Among the local TV stations offering broadcasts on Biden’s
appearance were 12-TV[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=00b-597&t=c>
New Jersey (9/5), NJTV Trenton (NJ) News with Mary Alice Williams[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=00c-390&t=c>
(9/5), WABC-TV[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=00d-342&t=c>
New York (9/5), and a second broadcast from 12-TV[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=00e-890&t=c>
New Jersey (9/6). In addition, MSNBC’s First Look[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=00f-e35&t=c>
(9/6) this morning also broadcast a segment on Biden’s appearance.

*Fallon Jokes About Biden Decision On Running. *Jimmy Fallon said
during his opening monologue last night, “I read that Joe Biden will decide
whether he’s running for president in 2020 by this January. He said he’s
going to take a coin and say, ‘Heads, I run. Tails, I flip again until I
get heads.’”
Biden Backs Kohl’s Bid To Unseat WI6 Rep. Grothman.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=010-ba6&t=c>
(9/5) reports that former Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday endorsed
attorney Dan Kohl’s (D-WI) bid to oust Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI) in the
WI6. Biden said “in a statement that Kohl is an ‘independent voice’ who can
‘create an economy that works for every Wisconsin family.’”
Instinct Magazine Highlights Biden’s Efforts To Boost LGBTQ+ Community.

Writing for Instinct Magazine
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=011-ab5&t=c>
(9/6), Victor Rocha highlighted a Politico story
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=012-b82&t=c>
– covered in yesterday’s briefing – that reported former Vice President Joe
Biden “has agreed to keynote the Human Rights Campaign’s annual dinner
which helps the nation’s biggest and most politically active LGBTQ+
advocacy organization continue its push into the midterms.” Rocha says
Biden “is no stranger to being an ally for the LGBTQ+ community,” having
“previously appeared at the dinner in 2015 while he and Obama were still in
office. During their presidency,” Biden “was the first to speak out in
favor of legalizing gay marriage and was responsible for pressing...Obama
to speak out himself.” In addition, Biden in August launched “an LGBTQ+
family acceptance campaign.” Rocha adds that Biden’s “help to the LGBTQ+
community is a small ripple in the river but it is always refreshing to see
a politician who puts his money where his mouth is.”
Video Said To Show Biden Calling Tracker A “Prick.”

In a very brief item, Politico Playbook
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=013-e91&t=c>
(9/6, Palmer, Sherman, Lippman) reports, “WELCOME TO 2020, VEEP … AMERICA
RISING has a clip in which it says JOE BIDEN called his tracker a ‘prick.’
Decide for yourself. 15-second clip
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=014-af6&t=c>.”

Leading the News
Op-Ed Another Bombshell For White House; Trump Says “Swamp Is Trying To
Fight Back.”

Yesterday afternoon, the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=015-9a1&t=c>
(9/5) published an op-ed titled, “I Am Part Of The Resistance Inside The
Trump Administration” purportedly written by a “a senior official in the
Trump administration,” who claims that “many Trump appointees have vowed to
do what we can to preserve our democratic institutions while thwarting Mr.
Trump’s more misguided impulses until he is out of office.” The anonymous
official adds, “The root of the problem is the president’s amorality.
Anyone who works with him knows he is not moored to any discernible first
principles that guide his decision making.” The fallout from the op-ed led
all three major network newscasts last night and generated extensive cable
and print coverage, most of which cast the Administration in an extremely
negative light. Typical of the tone of the coverage is the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=016-c60&t=c>
(9/5, Baker, Haberman) itself, which refers to a “surreal struggle between
Mr. Trump and at least some members of his own team” that “has
characterized his tenure from the beginning” and now simply has “spilled
into public view.” To the Times, it has done so “in a way that raised
questions about the president’s capacity to govern.”

Late last night, Trump wrote on Twitter
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=017-3a9&t=c>,
“I’m draining the Swamp, and the Swamp is trying to fight back. Don’t
worry, we will win!” Trump initially tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=018-45c&t=c>
video of his response to the controversy, which showed[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=019-21e&t=c>
him saying during an event with law enforcement officers, “Someday when I’m
not President, which hopefully will be in about six-and-a-half years from
now, the New York Times, CNN, and all these phony media outlets will be out
of business, folks.” He added, “So they don’t like Donald Trump. I don’t
like them because they are very dishonest people. ... Remember this also
about the New York Times. When I won, they were forced to apologize to
their subscribers. They wrote a letter of apology. It was the first time
anybody has ever done it because they covered the election incorrectly. So
if the failing New York times has anonymous editorial, can you believe it?
Anonymous. Meaning gutless. A gutless editorial.”

Trump later had a cryptic message for the anonymous official,
tweeting
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=01a-aa6&t=c>,
“TREASON?” In a third tweet
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=01b-bcb&t=c>,
Trump wrote, “Does the so-called ‘Senior Administration Official’ really
exist, or is it just the Failing New York Times with another phony source?
If the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for
National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once!”

Reporting Trump’s comments, White House Correspondent Kaitlan
Collins said on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=01c-93a&t=c>
(9/5) that he was “going after the New York Times...and then listing off,
in a bizarre sense, his list of accomplishments so far in the time he’s
been in office and then going on to say that he’s going to win re-election
in 2020.” Wolf Blitzer said Trump was “exploding in anger” and “ranting. It
sort of underscored that he was saying all sorts of wild things, several of
those things clearly not true.” CNN Political Director David Chalian said
on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=01d-075&t=c>
(9/5), “This is a big one. Don’t just trust me when I say that, look at the
President’s reaction, himself. When the President in the White House...went
and stared right into the camera, not only could you see his visible anger,
but you see the unraveling, you see a President who sort of is losing it
right before the American people.”

The CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=01e-201&t=c>
(9/5, lead story, 3:10, Glor) reported, meanwhile, that Press Secretary
Sarah Sanders “said the author is a selfish coward who should resign.” USA
Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=01f-3c6&t=c>
(9/5, Cummings) notes Sanders also said in a statement that “the
administration was ‘disappointed, but not surprised’ that The Times ‘chose
to publish this pathetic, reckless, and selfish op-ed. This is a new low
for the so-called “paper of record”’ and it should issue an apology.’”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=020-a38&t=c>
(9/5, Dawsey) cites “two people familiar with his private discussions” who
said Trump “reacted to the column with ‘volcanic’ anger and was ‘absolutely
livid,’” and “told confidants he suspects the official works on national
security issues or in the Justice Department.” Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=021-9e5&t=c>
(9/5, Restuccia, Johnson, Cadelago, Karni) quotes “one senior
administration official” as describing “a White House in ‘total meltdown’
by Wednesday evening.”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=022-626&t=c>
(9/5, Miller, Lucey) reports “the essay immediately triggered a wild
guessing game as to the author’s identity on social media, in newsrooms and
inside the West Wing, where officials were blindsided by its publication.”
The New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=023-f32&t=c>
(9/6, Li) says that “as soon as the bombshell article was published, West
Wing officials huddled behind closed doors to work up a list of roughly a
dozen theories – and names – of the potential Trump traitor,” and that
“speculation ran rampant from even the smallest of clues.” The Post adds
that “one was when a New York Times tweet of the piece called the Trump
insider ‘he.’” Vice President Pence also “drew some attention because the
author used the word ‘lodestar’ – a rarely used term that Pence has used in
speeches.” The Post adds that “Lynne Patton, a HUD official and former
Trump party planner, wrote on Instagram that the leak will easily be
found.” Wrote Patton, “It’s hardly breaking news to anyone with half a
brain that ‘Never Trumpers’ have been employed within our walls from the
outset. ... And yes, we know who they ALL are, including this author.”

The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=024-d00&t=c>
(9/5, Bender) also reports on White House efforts to identify the official,
while USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=025-af0&t=c>
(9/5, Hayes) says “it’s a true whodunit case and it seems like the entire
nation is hot on the trail.”

White House Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway said on Fox
News’ The Ingraham Angle[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=026-fbd&t=c>
(9/5), “The President said something...that really rang true. The New York
Times apologized to its readers because they got the election story wrong.
But he said he many people don’t understand how he got here and what he’s
done since he got here and what it all means to people. And that’s
incredibly important.” Conway also said on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle[image:
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<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=027-100&t=c>
(9/5), “I’m not sure it matters, there are op-eds like that every day in
the New York Times.”

Rudy Giuliani said on CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=028-542&t=c>
(9/5), “Well, number one, I don’t know how much of it to believe. Is it a
Trump appointee? Is he in the White House? Is he phonying it up? How much
is the ‘Times’ complicit?” He added, “I don’t trust anything I read
anymore, not after the stuff that’s been done to me.” The writer of the
op-ed “is obviously an unhinged guy. A guy without many morals, without any
principle.” He added, “The guy, in my book, is a weasel.” Giuliani said,
“If the guy would do this to protect the country in his estimation, who
gives him the right to decide that? He could leak – easily leak national
security information. Easily.”

Asked on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=029-b63&t=c>
(9/5) about Trump tweeting “TREASON?” Sen Lindsey Graham said, “This is not
treason under the Constitution. This is not a treasonous act against the
nation. It’s a disloyal and cowardly act against the President.” Graham
said on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=02a-255&t=c>
(9/5), “Mr. President, if you are watching here tonight, if I were you I
would ignore the article and ignore the book and how the American people
what I’ve done and what I’m going to do.” Graham also told Fox News’ The
Ingraham Angle[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=02b-73b&t=c>
(9/5), “Bottom line if this person says Trump is not serving the Republic
well. Where I live in South Carolina, people are extremely pleased. ... So
this person’s view of the President he is serving is out of sync with the
people who elected him.”

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said on Fox News’ The Ingraham
Angle[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=02c-0cf&t=c>
(9/5), “This man is a coward.” He added that “he or she is such an elitist
that they know better than the voters, that they are protecting the voters
in some way? I agree with the President, I think he should come clean.”

Sen. Ted Cruz said on Fox News’ Hannity[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=02d-10a&t=c>
(9/5), “At one level this is nothing new, with every Republican
administration there are Democrats burrowed in the Administration that have
fought against good and positive policy for the country. ... There are
people throughout the administration burrowed in that are fighting against
all of that but the American people are seeing the results of these
victories.”

Sean Hannity said in his opening monologue on Fox News’ Hannity[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=02e-a21&t=c>
(9/5), “Once again, the disgusting underbelly of the Washington, DC, swamp
and a sewer and a deep state is being exposed. ... As we speak, we have
unelected bureaucrats all over our nation’s capitol. They have been and
continue to work actively to undermine your 2016 vote.”

Tucker Carlson, in a monologue on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson
Tonight[image:
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<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=02f-0e8&t=c>
(9/5), said that the op-ed’s two main points were first that “the President
is unpredictable and mercurial boss who is light on policy detail and given
to saying outrageous things. That is true. Sorry, it is true. ... The other
point of the piece is Trump’s view on policy differ from those who permeate
Washington – therefore the presidency is illegitimate.” Carlson added,
“Trump’s attempts to do what he promised to do on the campaign are not a
travesty. They are a sign the system is working as designed,” but “in
Washington, that is considered shocking. That is the real problem with this
piece.”

In its lead story, ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=030-134&t=c>
(9/5, lead story, 5:40, Karl) called it “an historic act of defiance from
somebody who works for the President,” a “devastating attack from within”
that “comes just 24 hours after a first look at a Bob Woodward book that
paints a similar portrait.” To NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=031-a46&t=c>
(9/5, lead story, 3:05, Holt), meanwhile, “Trump is confronted...with what
may be the most daunting opposition he’s faced yet,” and “this time it’s
coming from within his own ranks.” NBC (Jackson) called the op-ed “an
extraordinary alarm” that “sounded from the inside out,” with “jaw dropping
charges against the President by someone who says they work for him.”

On NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=032-e49&t=c>
(9/5, story 2, 1:00, Holt), Chuck Todd said, “The portrait that’s being
painted is a President that is not fit to run the country. That’s what this
senior administration official is saying. Let me emphasis a couple things.
I think it matters how senior this person is. I think it matters that they
need to answer why they chose to do it now. Did something happen recently
that makes them think they need to do this now? Is this timed on purpose
with the Woodward back to say ‘hey, I’m just here to confirm everything
you’re saying about the Woodward book’? I think a lot of things need to be
known about the person.” Todd added that “Congress at a minimum needs to
get some answers as to why that happened.” The CBS Evening News[image:
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<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=033-136&t=c>
(9/5, lead story, 3:10, Glor) reported that “everyone, of course, wonders
who wrote this op-ed,” and added (Garrett) that “we don’t know, and it is,
for the moment, Washington’s central obsession, lots of speculation around
it. One problem” is “the elastic definition here in Washington of who
qualifies as a senior administration official. Hundreds upon hundreds might
fit that bill.”

The Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=034-95d&t=c>
(9/5, Bierman) reports “the latest attack on his fitness for office offered
twin targets to Trump, a man who is prone to telling supporters he is a
victim of a conspiracy between a ‘deep state and media ‘enemies of the
people’ to destroy his presidency.” However, “the published indictment from
an official within his administration was an all but unprecedented act
against an incumbent president.”

Sen. Dick Durbin said on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=035-d11&t=c>
(9/5), “Many of us are hoping that there are steady hands in the White
House and throughout this Administration that will stop this President, if
he does something that is really the best interest of the United States.
... But it basically says that when it comes to this President, it’s like
the basic rule that parents follow: don’t leave sharp objects near small
children.” He added, “We don’t have to rely on whispered secrets. We just
read his tweets on a day-to-day basis. We know the workings of his mind. We
know how he thinks and how he quickly reacts and overreacts. And I can
imagine if you are in the White House, close to the President, and see him
in action on a day-to-day basis, there’s a genuine, real concern.”

Former Secretary of State John Kerry said on CNN’s Anderson Cooper
360[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=036-9b9&t=c>
(9/5), “We have a presidency which is off the rails. We have a presidency
in which the President is clearly now, according to this op-ed, which ‘The
New York Times’ knows who the author is, we have a President who is not
capable of doing the job, who clearly has these temper tantrums, doesn’t
know enough to be making many of the decisions he makes.” He added, “This
is a genuine constitutional crisis, and the crisis is heightened by the
fact that my former colleagues in the United States Senate on the
Republican side who have taken an oath of office to defend the Constitution
and the institutions of our country as a whole, which are embraced in that
oath are defending instead not the Constitution, not the institution in the
Senate.”

Ohio Gov. John Kasich said on CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=037-6bb&t=c>
(9/5), “It’s like there’s a tornado every day. Now, that’s fine if that’s
the way he wants to run it. But what I can tell you is when you have all
that chaos how do you solve the biggest problems? When everybody’s trying
to put out fires and there’s this happening and that happening. ... So
that’s what I’m really concerned about, is that things aren’t getting
done.”

*Trump Tweets “Deep State...The Left, And Their Vehicle, The Fake
News Media, Are Going Crazy.” *Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=038-258&t=c>
this morning, “The Deep State and the Left, and their vehicle, the Fake
News Media, are going Crazy – & they don’t know what to do. The Economy is
booming like never before, Jobs are at Historic Highs, soon TWO Supreme
Court Justices & maybe Declassification to find Additional Corruption.
Wow!”

*Democrats Call On Cabinet To Remove Trump Via 25th Amendment.
*The Daily
Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=039-4e2&t=c>
(9/5, Hasson) reports “some Democrats in Congress quickly used” the op-ed
“to demand his cabinet remove him from office via the 25th Amendment.” Rep.
Jackie Speier “wrote on Twitter that the anonymous official and ‘colleagues
of like mind must come forward to Congress,’” adding, “We cannot afford to
allow [Trump] to use his impulsive instincts and send us to another war!
Your duty is to the country, not an unfit and unstable [president].” In a
statement, Rep. Jamie Raskin “touted a bill he previously introduced that
would establish a body of ‘elder statesmen’ to determine the president’s
fitness for office in coordination with the vice president.” Rep. Pramila
Jayapal “similarly used the Times’ op-ed to tout Raskin’s legislation.”

*MyBookie Gives 2-To-3 Odds Pence Penned Op-ed. *The New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=03a-f84&t=c>
(9/5, Li) reports “Pence – and ‘the field’ – lead offshore bookmaking picks
as the White House mole behind the anonymous bombshell New York Times
op-ed.” Pence “was listed at 2-to-3 odds on the site MyBookie as the fifth
column official who claims to be working behind the scenes to stop some of
Trump’s policies that they find wrongheaded.”

*Op-Ed Sparks Debate Within NYTimes. *ABC World News Tonight[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=03b-daa&t=c>
(9/5, lead story, 5:40, Karl) reported that the NYTimes “says the official
wanted to remain anonymous, and they believed publishing the essay
anonymously was quote, ‘the only way to deliver an important perspective to
our audience.’” According to the CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=03c-eca&t=c>
(9/5, story 2, 1:20, Glor), however, “the Times is also dealing with sharp
reactions to the article from inside and outside the newspaper.” CBS
(Duncan) added, “We are outside of the headquarters here in Manhattan,
where people on the inside are reacting to ‘The New York Times’ decision to
publish this anonymous piece, and it’s sparking immediate reaction within
the newsroom. ... Investigative reporter Jodie Cantor, maybe best known for
her work on Harvey Weinstein, said, ‘So basically, ‘Times’ reporters now
must try to unearth the identity of an author that our colleagues in
opinion have sworn to protect with anonymity.’” CBS added that “the
internal feud within the paper again has compelled former ‘Times’ public
editor Margaret Sullivan to tweet, ‘It’s a good day not to be the public
editor of ‘The New York Times.’ She was asked by a colleague on Twitter,
‘What would you say?’ She replied, ‘I would carefully talk to all parties
and then come to a tough but fair conclusion. Silly.’ We did reach up on
the to ‘The New York Times’ for comment on this and have not heard response
yet.”

Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=03d-c81&t=c>
(9/5, Calderone, Schwartz) reports “one Times reporter said colleagues were
already volleying back and forth with sources, trying to guess the writer’s
identity.” But “for others, a sense of annoyance quickly set in, with some
journalists frustrated about the position the Times’ editorial page had put
the news section in.” Adds Politico, “Ethical questions aside, there might
also be strategic concerns for reporters,” because “news and opinion
sections operate separately,” and “that point could be lost on potential
sources, who could be spooked by Times news reporters working to reveal a
Times editorial source.”
Trump, Administration Continue To Dispute Veracity Of Woodward Book.

President Trump tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=03e-016&t=c>
yesterday, “Isn’t it a shame that someone can write an article or book,
totally make up stories and form a picture of a person that is literally
the exact opposite of the fact, and get away with it without retribution or
cost. Don’t know why Washington politicians don’t change libel laws?” Trump
went on to tweet emphatic denials by Chief of Staff John Kelly
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=03f-81f&t=c>
and Defense Secretary Mattis
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=040-c5e&t=c>
of comments derisive of Trump that Bob Woodward cites in his new book,
“Fear.” USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=041-3b2&t=c>
(9/5, Jackson) describes Trump as “stung by the latest tell-all book to hit
his White House” and “suggesting Wednesday that the government tighten
libel laws – though the president’s role in doing that is probably
nonexistent.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=042-b5d&t=c>
(9/5, Wagner) casts Trump’s tweet as “part of an aggressive effort by the
White House to discredit Woodward’s...book,” which “paints a harrowing
portrait of the Trump presidency, based on in-depth interviews with
administration officials and others.”

Axios
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=043-9a9&t=c>
(9/5, Kight) notes, meanwhile, that “following a meeting with the emir of
Kuwait,” Trump “told reporters on Wednesday that...Woodward’s upcoming book
is ‘a work of fiction,’ saying ‘if you look back at Woodward’s past, he had
the same problem with other presidents. He likes to get publicity, sell
some books.’” The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=044-d1a&t=c>
(9/5, Boyer) points out Trump also said the book was “timed to mess foul up
the [Brett] Kavanaugh confirmation this week in the Senate Judiciary
Committee.” Said Trump, “It was put out to interfere, in my opinion, with
the Kavanaugh hearings.” Trump, Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=045-95c&t=c>
(9/5, Holland) reports, also said “he did not discuss assassinating Syrian
leader Bashar al-Assad.” Trump said, “That was never even contemplated, nor
would it be contemplated.”

White House Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway said last
night on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=046-135&t=c>
(9/5), “The one thing I don’t see in the Woodward book is Russia collusion.
Why is that relevant? ... The media spent more time on that story, and in
other words if you are a journalist who took down Richard Nixon, if you are
deeply respected in many corners in Washington, DC, wouldn’t someone who
had evidence of that come to you? But that’s important, because they are
going to say why did she talk about that? Because when they have nothing to
say they move to the next.” She added, “so much of the book is not new,
it’s a fourth consecutive book that I can see where certain people are
trying to feed their own emotions and egos about how brilliant they were on
the campaign.”

On the major network newscasts last night, the Woodward book was
largely overshadowed by the publication of the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=047-0b5&t=c>
op-ed purportedly written by a “senior administration official.” Woodward’s
book was, however, a major topic of discussion on most – but not all –
morning TV shows. While the book received extensive coverage form the
networks and the other cable news channels, Fox News’ Fox & Friends[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=048-af7&t=c>
(9/5) only mentioned it in passing a few times during the first 90 minutes
of its broadcast before having White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders on
to refute its allegations. Sanders said, “We have seen...the things that
have come out...from General Mattis, General Kelly pushing back on these
fictitious claims that this book seems to be filled with. ... You have the
accounts from people first hand...and they are on the record, which is very
different than what this book is filled with. It’s full of anonymous quotes
from disgruntled former employees versus people who have been in the
administration from day one.”

Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=049-a82&t=c>
(9/5, Oprysko) refers to “an increasingly aggressive pushback campaign
against...Woodward’s new book,” while on ABC’s Good Morning America[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=04a-94e&t=c>
(9/5), meanwhile, George Stephanopoulos said Woodward portrays Trump’s
aides as “struggling constantly, sometimes secretly, to rein trump in.” In
an interview with Stephanopoulos, Sanders said Woodward “may have hundreds
of hours of tapes, but I think most of those probably come from disgruntled
former employees. It’s a lot of anonymous sources.” In reference to Mattis
and Kelly, Sanders said, “I would certainly rather take the word of those
two individuals than a couple of disgruntled former employees that are
anonymously attacking the President, trying to make him look bad for no
other reason other than to build themselves up.”

On NBC’s Today Show[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=04b-f92&t=c>
(9/5), on the other hand, Chuck Todd said the book shows that “maybe there
was a good reason” for capable people who had been critical of Trump to
nevertheless “go into the White House and be a guardrail.” Todd added, “Say
what you will about whether these people are ‘enablers’ or not, at least
according to the Woodward book, Gary Cohn, Jim Mattis, John Kelly,
all...stopped the President from doing something crazy.”

Mika Brzezinski, on MSNBC’s Morning Joe[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=04c-74c&t=c>
(9/5), said Woodward’s book shows that at the White House “there are some
patriots hanging in there trying very hard to keep this thing together and
I guess we owe them a debt of gratitude.” Brzezinski added, “Sometimes you
really can’t imagine what you would do if you’re in that position, in the
position of Secretary Mattis, or in the position of Gary Cohn taking papers
away to try and prevent something from happening. They’re basically trying
to handle someone who is unhinged and not well, and not thinking in the
best interests of our country.” Willie Geist said the book is further proof
that “people inside the White House, in fact the people closest
with...Trump...believe he is not capable of handling this job and that they
are guardrails around the Presidency of the United States.”

*Despite News Reports, Trump Insists Mattis Is Staying. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=04d-524&t=c>
(9/5, Rampton) reports Trump said yesterday that Mattis “will remain in his
job, a day after a report, denied by Mattis, that he had made disparaging
remarks about the president.” Reuters adds that “asked by reporters at the
White House whether he was considering replacing Mattis, Trump said: ‘He’ll
stay right there. We’re very happy with him. We’re having a lot of
victories.’” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=04e-2d9&t=c>
(9/5, Ryan, Lamothe) reports that while “Mattis vigorously denied insulting
the president...the reporting from one of America’s most respected
journalists nevertheless adds urgency to a question that has been building
across Washington in recent months: How long will Trump remain comfortable
with a Pentagon chief with a reputation for keeping him in check?”

In his Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=04f-351&t=c>
(9/5) column, however, Josh Rogin writes that “well before this week’s
revelations about...Trump’s interactions with...Mattis in Bob Woodward’s
new book, officials inside the White House have been actively discussing
who will replace Mattis at the Pentagon – whenever he might step down.” A
“senior White House official” tells Rogin, “The speculation about who
replaces Mattis is now more real than ever. ... The president has always
respected him. But now he has every reason to wonder what Mattis is saying
behind his back. The relationship has nowhere to go but down, fast.” Rogin
adds that “at the top of the list:” of potential replacements “is retired
four-star Army Gen. Jack Keane.” The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=050-7fb&t=c>
(9/5, Correll) says “other potential candidates include former Treasury
Department official David McCormick and Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and
Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., although Graham has stated on multiple occasions he
is not interested in serving in the Cabinet.”

*CBS’ Martin: Woodward Did Not Interview Mattis For Book. *On CBS
This Morning[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=051-9bd&t=c>
(9/5), David Martin discussed Woodward’s methods at length, including his
practice of recording deep-background interviews, and getting access to
sources’ contemporaneous “diaries and notes.” Martin said Woodward “stands
by his reporting.” Asked if he thinks Mattis “spoke with...Woodward on deep
background,” Martin answered, “No. In fact, I know he didn’t speak with Bob
Woodward on any ground rules.” Martin added that Mattis “comes across here
as sort of the ‘Trump whisperer’ in this Administration – the one official
who somehow knows how to handle Trump, and he does that by essentially
agreeing with whatever the President says.”

*Giuliani Disputes Book, Says Woodward Never Contacted Him. *Addressing
events described in Woodward’s book, Rudy Giuliani said on CNN’s Cuomo
Prime Time[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=052-a97&t=c>
(9/5), “I’m telling you it never happened. I have at least up to eight
witnesses now who confirm it.” He added, “The word ‘diaper,’ the word
‘baby,’ criticism, no,” none of that happened. Giuliani added, “Woodward
never sought to contact me about this. He has some gutless wonder who told
him this lie. ... He never interviewed me or any of the other eight
witnesses who were there because he had a nice juicy little thing he could
use to promo his book, make money, and this is the Woodward scheme. ...He
doesn’t want to get it contradicted.”

*Graham Emerges As Trump Defender In Response To Woodward
Allegations. *The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=053-ef3&t=c>
(9/5, Wagner) reports that Sen. Lindsey Graham, “who once called...Trump
‘unfit for office,’ emerged as one of his staunchest defenders in Congress
in the 24 hours after the first reports about Trump’s harrowing portrayal
in...Woodward’s new book.” The Post says that “in a string of tweets and on
television, Graham sought to minimize the impact of the book and lavished
praise on Trump for a string of achievements.” The Post notes that Graham
“also distributed by Twitter an account of a television appearance of his
Tuesday night on Fox News in which he called Trump the ‘big winner’ at the
Senate hearing the day before on Kavanaugh’s nomination.” Tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=054-22a&t=c>
Graham, “President @realDonaldTrumps fate will be determined by the results
he achieves for the American people, not by a book about the process. ...
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=055-0cb&t=c>
By any reasonable measure we have one of the strongest economies in modern
history, President Trump has rebuilt a broken military, and we are pushing
back hard against America’s enemies.”

*WPost Editorial Calls Trump “Ignorant, Impulsive And Dishonest
Narcissist.” *In an editorial, the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=056-a67&t=c>
(9/5) says the book “does not paint a different picture of the early Trump
White House than the one that has already emerged from credible news
organizations,” but it does fill in “details of a presidency led by an
ignorant, impulsive and dishonest narcissist – and the people around him
who enable or restrain his worst instincts.” The Post adds that Trump and
his aides “will have trouble impugning” Woodward’s “credibility,” because
his “reputation precedes him. So does Mr. Trump’s.”

*Scarborough Says Trump Aides Told Him In 2015 He Was In “Early
Stages Of Dementia.” *On MSNBC’s Morning Joe[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=057-d26&t=c>
(9/5), Joe Scarborough alleged yesterday that in 2015, some of Trump’s
aides told him that Trump was “in the early stages of dementia.” In
his Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=058-02b&t=c>
(9/5) column, meanwhile, Scarborough does not repeat his allegation, but
says “every damning and depressing detail” in the book “is made more
damning and depressing by the fact that the abhorrent behavior chronicled
in crisp detail will come as no surprise to anyone who has served...Trump
in the West Wing, or carried his political water on Capitol Hill.”

*NYTimes Gives “Fear” Mixed Review. *Reviewing the book, Dwight
Garner writes in the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=059-f6a&t=c>
(9/5) that “Woodward has never been a graceful writer, but the prose here
is unusually wooden,” as though “he wants to make a statement that, at this
historical juncture, simple factual pine-board competence should suffice.”
Garner adds that “if this book has a single point to drive home, it is that
the president of the United States is a congenital liar. I wish ‘Fear’ had
other points to make. I wanted more context, more passion, a bit of irony
and certainly more simple history.” Ultimately, the book “picks up little
narrative momentum. It’s a slow tropical storm of a book, not a hurricane.
You turn the pages because Woodward, as he accumulates the queasy-making
details, delivers on the promise of his title.”

*New Book Titled “Commander In Cheat” Examines Trump’s Golf Game. *USA
Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=05a-cd9&t=c>
(9/5, Woodard) reports “longtime sportswriter Rick Reilly has a new book
set for release unlike anything he’s written before.” Commander in Cheat:
How Golf Explains Trump “will be released in May, Hachette Books announced
on Wednesday.” The book “is based off interviews with and observations from
former playing partners and caddies of President Trump over the years.”
Foreign Policy
UK Charges Two Russian Intelligence Officers With Poisoning Former Spy.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=05b-81d&t=c>
(9/5, Lawless) reports the UK “deepened its diplomatic feud with Moscow on
Wednesday, charging two men it says are Russian military intelligence
officers with the nerve-agent poisoning of Sergei Skripal, a double agent
who betrayed the service by spying for the West.” Prime Minister Theresa
May “said the use of a chemical weapon in the city of Salisbury, which left
a British woman dead and four people, including Skripal and his daughter,
seriously ill, was carried out by officers of the GRU intelligence service
and almost certainly approved ‘at a senior level of the Russian state.’”
The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=05c-b6b&t=c>
(9/5, Pérez-Peña, Barry) reports May “said the nerve agent attacks were of
a piece with a long string of Russian operations spearheaded by the G.R.U.,
including the seizure of Crimea, incursions into eastern Ukraine, the
downing of a civilian airliner in Ukrainian airspace, and an attempted coup
in Montenegro.” The Times says the allegation of “specific G.R.U.
involvement in the use of the nerve agent adds to the heightened tensions
between Moscow and the West.”

USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=05d-212&t=c>
(9/5, Onyanga-Omara) reports Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner
Neil Basu “said authorities were seeking to circulate Interpol red notices
about the two suspects, who he said are aged about 40 and likely to have
traveled under aliases,” and Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=05e-234&t=c>
(9/5, Holden, Faulconbridge) says police “released security camera images
of the two suspects and outlined a three-day mission that took them from
Moscow to London to Salisbury, where they sprayed poison on Skripal’s door
before flying back to Moscow hours later.” NBC Nightly News[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=05f-8bf&t=c>
(9/5, story 9, 1:30, Holt) reported that “despite evidence, including
surveillance video, it’s unlikely they will face justice” because “Russia
denies involvement. A top agent of Vladimir Putin said, ‘We saw those
names, they mean nothing to us’.” ABC World News Tonight[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=060-b4c&t=c>
(9/5, story 8, 0:20, Muir) likewise reported the “Russian government,
despite these photos, still denying it.”

According to the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=061-a34&t=c>
(9/5, Booth), “Russian officials on Wednesday denied any responsibility and
repeated assertions that the British were putting out false claims and
refusing to allow Russia to see evidence. ‘We believe this is a
provocation,’ Alexander Shulgin, Russia’s permanent representative to the
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, told state television
Wednesday.” The Post says “Britain will present its evidence that Russia
was behind the attack at a UN Security Council meeting Thursday.”

On its editorial page, the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=062-adc&t=c>
(9/5) says the two suspects “probably won’t be extradited to Britain, just
as the killers of former KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko escaped
punishment for fatally poisoning him in 2006 with polonium in his tea in a
London hotel cafe. Predictably, Russia is issuing blanket denials.” Still,
the Post says that after Litvinenko died, “Britain did not do enough to
make sure it would not happen again. Now it has, and the response must
measure up to this bald banditry.”
Trump Open To Meeting With Rouhani At UNGA.

USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=063-d1c&t=c>
(9/5) reports President Trump “suggested Wednesday that he would be open to
meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani later this month” on the
sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Speaking to reporters at the White
House, Trump said, “Whether they want to talk or not, that’s up to them,
not up to me. I will always be available. But it doesn’t matter one way or
the other. We’ll see what happens.” He also “seemed to argue that his
administration has helped to destabilize and weaken Iran’s regime,” saying,
“Iran is a very much different place from when I first took office. Iran is
in turmoil right now. They’re in total turmoil. When I took office, it was
just a question of how long until they took over the entire Middle East.
Now they are just worrying about their own survival as a country.” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=064-5ac&t=c>
(9/5, Holland) also briefly reports the remarks, which Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=065-077&t=c>
(9/5, Sink) says “echo[ed] comments” he made “in a Bloomberg interview last
week saying the Iranian regime may collapse because of his administration’s
policies.”

*Iran Sets November 4 Deadline For Europe To Offset US
Sanctions. *Bloomberg
News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=066-3cd&t=c>
(9/5, Nasseri) reports Iran has “given European parties to the nuclear deal
until Nov. 4 – the start of US sanctions against its vital oil industry –
to come up with ways to offset the impact, suggesting it may otherwise pull
out.” In remarks on state TV, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said
Tehran “has ‘clearly announced’ to European nations that if its ‘main
interests’ in the nuclear agreement are not served, ‘staying in the deal
will not benefit us anymore. ... They have a deadline of Nov. 4 and from
then on, any action by them would be useless.”

Meanwhile, the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=067-7d6&t=c>
(9/5, Gambrell) reports Iran’s “rial fell to a record low on Wednesday as
worried residents of Tehran lined up outside beleaguered moneychangers,
part of a staggering 140-percent drop in the currency’s value since America
pulled out of the nuclear deal only four months ago.”
Trump Warns Syria Against “Slaughter” In Idlib.

The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=068-910&t=c>
(9/5, Boyer) reports on Wednesday, President Trump warned Syria against a
“slaughter” in Idlib, saying, “If it’s a slaughter, the world is going to
get very, very angry and the United States is going to get very angry, too.
I am watching that very closely.” Trump added, “You have 3 million, at
least, innocent people there. And you have to be very, very careful.” The
Times also reports in that in his new book, Bob Woodward said that Trump
asked Defense Secretary Mattis “to kill Assad after a chemical-weapons
attack in Syria in April 2017,” but the President said Wednesday, “The book
is fiction. That was never even contemplated, nor would it be contemplated.
And it should not have been written about in the book.”

*Russia Continues Airstrikes Ahead Of Anticipated Syrian Offensive.
*The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=069-d93&t=c>
(9/5) reports Russia “says it has launched airstrikes targeting militant
infrastructure” in Idlib, where the Syrian government “is expected to
launch a major offensive against the rebels’ last major stronghold.” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=06a-63e&t=c>
(9/5, McDowall) reports the Russian Defense Ministry “said it had targeted
buildings used to store weapons and explosives including a facility used to
assemble explosive-packed drones that rebels have used to attack Russian
planes stationed at Hmeymim air base.” Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=06b-eda&t=c>
(9/5, Hacaoglu) says “Syrian troops are preparing an offensive” against
Idblib, “an assault that could draw in the US, displace hundreds of
thousands of civilians and cement President Bashar al-Assad’s hold over the
country after seven years of war.” The offensive, which “is expected soon,”
will “top the agenda on Friday, when Russian President Vladimir Putin meets
his counterparts from Iran and Turkey.”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=06c-3c2&t=c>
(9/5), meanwhile, says the “10 elected members of the UN Security Council
are calling for stepped up efforts to find a peaceful solution” in Idlib
province, issuing a “joint statement Wednesday expressing deep concern that
a full-scale military operation in Idlib will lead to ‘a humanitarian
catastrophe.’” Ambassador Haley, the current council president, also
“announced that an informal council meeting will be held Friday on Idlib’s
deteriorating humanitarian and security situation.”

*Mattis Rejects Claim Syrian Opposition Plans To Stage Chemical
Attack. *Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=06d-a26&t=c>
(9/5, Capaccio) reports Mattis said Wednesday that the US has “zero
intelligence” to support Russian charges that Syrian opposition groups
“possess chemical weapons that they are ready to use – a claim that could
be used to justify or cover up a chemical attack by President Bashar
al-Assad’s regime.” Mattis told reporters traveling with him to India that
the US has “fairly good penetration of many of the opposition groups,” and
that after previous evidence of chemical weapons use by Assad’s forces, “we
have made it very clear that by putting out innuendo that somehow any
chemical weapons use coming up in the future could be ascribed to the
opposition – well, we want to see the data.”
Paraguay Moves Embassy In Israel Back To Tel Aviv.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=06e-f6d&t=c>
(9/5, Servin) reports Paraguay announced Wednesday it “would immediately
move its embassy in Israel out of Jerusalem and back to Tel Aviv, less than
four months after opening the new mission.” The AP says the move “presents
an embarrassing diplomatic setback for Israel.” Paraguay’s Foreign Minister
Luis Alberto Castiglioni said at a news conference that he hoped “the
friends of Israel will not be bothered” by his nation’s reversal and
expressed hope for “excellent ties of friendship and cooperation” with both
“the states of Israel and Palestine.” However, Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=06f-d32&t=c>
(9/5, Sawafta) reports that in response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu ordered the closure of Israel’s embassy in Paraguay, highlighting
“its sensitivity over the status of Jerusalem.”
Pompeo, Khan “Optimistic” After Talks.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=070-209&t=c>
(9/5, Stewart) reports Secretary of State Pompeo met new Pakistani Prime
Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday, saying he was hopeful of “a reset of
relations.” Pompeo’s visit, “the first high-level US mission to the new
government,” was “aimed to smooth over tensions” after President Trump
“took a tough new line towards Pakistan over longstanding accusations it is
not doing enough to root out Afghan Taliban fighters on its territory.”
After talks with Khan, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Army Chief
Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, Pompeo told reporters, “We talked about their new
government, the opportunity to reset the relationship between our two
countries across a broad spectrum,” including business ties and ending the
war in Afghanistan. “And I’m hopeful that the foundation that we laid today
will set the conditions for continued success as we start to move forward.”
Calling it a “shift in tone,” AFP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=071-c32&t=c>
(9/5) likewise reports Pompeo said he was “hopeful” of resetting relations
with Pakistan.

Echoing Pompeo, the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=072-5ae&t=c>
(9/5, Gannon) reports, Khan said after the talks that he was “optimistic”
he could reset the relationship with Washington. Said Khan, “You know I’m a
born optimist. A sportsman always is an optimist. He steps on the field and
he thinks he’s going to win.” Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=073-50d&t=c>
(9/5, Wadhams, Dilawar) reports that the “US and Pakistan both said they
are pushing to ‘reset’ a fraught relationship that saw the Trump
administration cut security funding, citing a lack of progress in clamping
down on terrorist groups operating in Afghanistan.”

In less upbeat reporting, the Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=074-1e9&t=c>
(9/5, Shah, Youssef) reports Pompeo also told reporters that the nations
still have a long way to go to reset troubled ties. Pompeo said there were
“a lot more discussions to be had,” adding, “We need to begin to do things
that will actually on the ground deliver outcomes so that we can build
confidence and trust. That was the focus.” Along similar lines, the New
York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018090601biden&r=email-998a&l=075-122&t=c>
(9/5, Abi-Habib, Masood) says in a report headlined “Pompeo Offers Pakistan
A Reset, But Skepticism Is Rif