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Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing


*From:* Bulletin Intelligence <Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com>
*Sent:* Thursday, January 3, 2019 7:57 AM
*To:* Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com
*Subject:* Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing for
Thursday, January 3, 2019


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[image: Image removed by sender. Office of Vice President Biden
Intelligence Briefing]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=001-7cc&t=c>

*To: Vice President Joe Biden*

*Thursday, January 3, 2019 8:00 AM EST*
Today's Table of Contents

*Biden in the News* <#SECTION_1>

• Cuomo: Among 2020 Democratic Contenders, Biden “Has The Best Case.” <#S1>

• Daily Beast Examines Biden’s “Strengths And Weaknesses.” <#S2>

• CNN Examines “Fundraising Picture” For Biden, Other Potential 2020
Candidates. <#S3>

• States’ Change From Caucuses To Primaries May Hurt Sanders, Boost Biden.
<#S4>

• Sanders Says He Didn’t Know About Harassment Claims In 2016 Campaign.
<#S5>

• Warren To Visit Iowa This Weekend. <#S6>

• The Atlantic: Inslee Is “Going To Run For President” On The Issue Of
Climate Change. <#S7>

*Leading the News* <#SECTION_2>

• Media Analyses: Little Progress Made At White House Meeting On Border
Security. <#S8>

*Foreign Policy* <#SECTION_3>

• Trump Says He Plans To Meet With Kim Again, But Is “Not In Any Rush.”
<#S9>

• Trump Again Says US Withdrawal From Syria Will Not Be Immediate. <#S10>

• Pompeo Demands Answers On Marine Veteran Held In Russia. <#S11>

• Pompeo, Bolsonaro Discuss Working Together On Venezuela, Cuba, And
Nicaragua. <#S12>

• Shanahan: Pentagon’s Focus Should Be On China. <#S13>

• Xi: Taiwan Can Become Part Of China Without Giving Up Its “Different
System.” <#S14>

• AP Analysis: Israeli Settlement Building Has Accelerated Since Trump Took
Office. <#S15>

*Domestic Policy* <#SECTION_4>

• Trump To Romney: “Be A TEAM Player & WIN.” <#S16>

• Trump On Mattis: “Obama Fired Him, And Essentially So Did I.” <#S17>

• SCOTUS Could Rule Any Time On Mueller Subpoena For Information From
Foreign Company. <#S18>

• Nadler Reiterates Threat To Subpoena Whitaker. <#S19>

• Trump Predicts Stocks Will Soar “Once We Settle Trade Issues.” <#S20>

• Trump Predicts Supreme Court Will Strike Down ACA. <#S21>

• Senate Approves 77 Trump Nominees On Final Day Of 115th Congress. <#S22>

*Cancer Research* <#SECTION_5>

• Cancer Moonshot Initiative Aims To Improve Smoking Cessation At
NCI-Designated Cancer Centers. <#S23>

• Biomedical Researchers, Companies Lament Impact Of Government Shutdown.
<#S24>

*Editorials/Op-Eds* <#SECTION_6>

• New York Times. <#S25>

• Washington Post. <#S26>
Biden in the News
Cuomo: Among 2020 Democratic Contenders, Biden “Has The Best Case.”

On the CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=002-b5d&t=c>
(1/2, story 3, 0:40, Glor), Ed O’Keefe reported that former Vice President
Joe Biden, who is mulling a 2020 White House bid, “seemed to get an
endorsement of sorts [on Wednesday] from New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D),
who said he thinks Biden has the best case to make among Democrats. Cuomo
said he is not running.” The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=003-347&t=c>
(1/2) reported that in an interview with WAMC, Cuomo said, “The problem for
the Democrats is going to be this: It’s going to be credibility. Of all the
names that are out there, I think Joe Biden has the best case. ... He
brings the most of the secret ingredient you need to win for a Democrat,
which is credibility.”

Newsday (NY)
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=004-abe&t=c>
(1/2, Gormley) reports that Cuomo “said [President] Trump was elected
because voters don’t believe any politicians and were asking: ‘What have
you done to help me in my life? ... Where is the credibility in you
argument? ... Joe Biden can say, ‘I was there.’” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=005-9a6&t=c>
(1/2, Wagner) quoted Cuomo as saying, “You don’t hire an airline pilot who
has never flown a plane. Joe Biden can say ‘I was there – I was not the
president, but I was the second seat.’” Biden, “a longtime friend of Cuomo,
offered a high-profile endorsement last year during Cuomo’s reelection
campaign, in which he faced a Democratic primary challenge from Cynthia
Nixon, the liberal activist and actress best known for her role in ‘Sex and
the City.’”

POLITICO New York
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=006-03c&t=c>
(1/2, Mahoney) reported that Biden “has compared Cuomo to Abraham Lincoln
and praised the governor in a television advertisement that ran in the
weeks before the 2018 primary. Asked whether he’d be open to being Biden’s
running mate, Cuomo responded: ‘I am not even focusing on any of that. What
I’m doing is what I believe I need to do for this state.’” The New York
Daily News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=007-8d9&t=c>
(1/2, Lovett) reports that Cuomo “deflected a question about whether he’d
be interested in being Biden’s 2020 running mate, though he didn’t rule it
out.”

In an online article, CNN
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=008-5d8&t=c>
(1/2, Saenz) reported that Cuomo’s remarks “came after he was asked about
the prospects of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who launched an
exploratory committee on Monday ahead of an expected presidential run. ‘I
think there’s going to be a big field. I think the problem for the
Democrats is going to be this: it is going to be credibility,’ Cuomo said.
‘I think that the main issue for the Democrats is not going to be the
articulation of the negative. It is going to be the articulation of the
positive and...credibility.’”

The Buffalo (NY) News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=009-f6b&t=c>
(1/2, Precious) reports that Cuomo “did not mention, by name, any of the
other Democrats looking at a 2020 White House run, including” Sen. Kirsten
Gillibrand (D-NY). The New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=00a-1b9&t=c>
(1/2, Campanile) says, “Cuomo’s pitch for” Biden “is a slap
at...Gillibrand, who is also mulling a run for the White House.” Among the
other media outlets reporting on Cuomo’s remarks about Biden are the
Poughkeepsie
(NY) Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=00b-efc&t=c>
(1/2, Campbell), The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=00c-033&t=c>
(1/2, Bowden), the Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=00d-8da&t=c>
(1/2, Rodgers), National Review
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=00e-940&t=c>
(1/2, McArdle), and the Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=00f-029&t=c>
(1/2, Vielkind).
Daily Beast Examines Biden’s “Strengths And Weaknesses.”

The Daily Beast
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=010-e97&t=c>
(1/3, Resnick) says it “spoke with opposition researchers and operatives in
both parties to get a sense of” the “strengths and weaknesses” of various
potential 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls. Those interviewed “say
that, among all the possible” contenders, former Vice President Joe Biden
“has the clearest set of strengths and weaknesses – a byproduct of his
extended time in politics.” As strengths, those interviewed cited Biden’s
experience, his ties to former President Obama, and his ability to raise
cash. As weaknesses, the article says Biden’s “experience is what could
turn off a lot of Democratic primary voters, particularly younger ones.”
Other weaknesses include Biden’s votes in favor of “the 1994 crime bill”
and “the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act in 1999”; his “handling of the
Anita Hill hearings”; and his previous failed White House runs.
CNN Examines “Fundraising Picture” For Biden, Other Potential 2020
Candidates.

In an online article, CNN
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=011-ca8&t=c>
(1/2, Schouten) offered “a look at the early fundraising picture for some
of the possible” 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls. CNN said that
former Vice President Joe Biden is able to “draw on extensive ties to
Democratic fundraisers forged during a Senate career that began in 1973 and
as part of an Obama-Biden team that raised a combined $1.5 billion over two
presidential elections. Since leaving office in January 2017, Biden also
has built a network of nonprofits and academic institutions staffed by
former aides and close allies, likely enabling him to quickly assemble a
campaign infrastructure.” And Biden’s PAC, “American Possibilities, raised
more than $2.5 million since it was launched in 2017 and doled out more
than $500,000 to Democratic candidates and committees during the 2018
midterms.”
States’ Change From Caucuses To Primaries May Hurt Sanders, Boost Biden.

Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=012-b81&t=c>
(1/3, Otterbein) reports that Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) “surprise
performance against Hillary Clinton in 2016 was fueled by his dominance in
a slate of states that voted by caucus, a format that allowed” him “to
capitalize on his smaller but more fervent base of supporters.” However,
some “states that caucused in 2016 will hold primaries instead in 2020,
potentially dealing a blow to Sanders and other Democratic hopefuls with
zealous followings.” Ex-DNC chief Ed Rendell cited Sens. Kamala Harris
(D-CA) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) “as others who could ‘suffer’ from the
change,” and mentioned former Vice President Joe Biden as among those who’d
benefit from the change. Said Rendell, “I think it helps Biden a lot.
Although he’s very popular among Democrats, he doesn’t produce the same
kind of frantic dedication as some of the most active progressives.”
Sanders Says He Didn’t Know About Harassment Claims In 2016 Campaign.

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=013-46a&t=c>
(1/2, Ember, Benner) reports that as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) prepares
for a possible 2020 run for president, allegations “of sexual harassment
and demeaning treatment as well as pay disparity in” his “2016
campaign...have circulated in recent weeks in emails, online comments and
private discussions among former supporters.” Sanders’ “perceived failure
to address this issue has damaged his progressive bona fides, delegates and
nearly a dozen former state and national staff members said in interviews
over the last month. And it has raised questions among them about whether
he can adequately fight for the interests of women, who have increasingly
defined the Democratic Party in the Trump era, if he runs again for the
presidential nomination in 2020.”

USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=014-72a&t=c>
(1/2, Lam) reports that in the wake of the Times’ story, Sanders said
during a Wednesday appearance on CNN “that he did not know about sexual
harassment and pay disparity allegations during his 2016 presidential
campaign.” Sanders also “apologized to ‘any woman who feels like she was
not treated appropriately.’ When asked if he had been aware of the
complaints, Sanders said, ‘I was little bit busy running around the country
trying to make the case (to be elected as president).’”

The Huffington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=015-bd1&t=c>
(1/2, Visser) reported that Sanders said his 2016 campaign “exploded in
size over several months as his team hired more than 1,200 employees.
Sanders suggested that disorganization may have led to instances of
inappropriate behavior within his campaign.” Said Sanders, “I’m not going
to sit here and tell you that we did everything right in terms of human
resources, in terms of addressing the needs that I’m hearing from now, that
women felt disrespected, that there was sexual harassment which was not
dealt with as effectively as possible.” The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=016-116&t=c>
(1/2, Daugherty) reported that Sanders said “that if he ran for president
again in 2020, he would ‘do better next time.’” Sanders also “said that in
his recently successful re-election campaign for Senate, he put several
principles and policies in place, including training programs and reporting
procedures that he called the ‘gold standard.’”
Warren To Visit Iowa This Weekend.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=017-ab7&t=c>
(1/2, Leblanc) reports that Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) “is preparing to
bring a populist message to Iowa voters just days after taking her first
major step toward launching a campaign for president.” Warren is planning
“to start her swing through Iowa on Friday with a stop at an organizing
event in Council Bluffs followed by similar events on Saturday in Sioux
City and Des Moines and a roundtable discussion in Storm Lake.”

*Warren’s Iowa Hires Include Key Aide Who Worked On Sanders’ 2016
Campaign. *The Des Moines (IA) Register
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=018-1fd&t=c>
(1/2, Pfannenstiel) reports that Warren “is staffing up in Iowa ahead of a
presumed 2020 presidential run. A spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday that
Warren” has “hired Kane Miller, Emily Parcell, Janice Rottenberg and
Brendan Summers. Parcell was Barack Obama’s political director during his
2008 caucus campaign and went on to act as his state director in Indiana
during the general election.” Miller served as “a regional field director
for Hillary Clinton” during the 2016 campaign “and later worked as her
state director in the general election.” Rottenberg “has served as the
coordinated campaign director for the Iowa Democratic Party in 2018, and in
2016 she worked for Clinton in Iowa.” And Summers worked on “Bernie
Sanders’ 2016 run as his Iowa and national caucus director.”

Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=019-894&t=c>
(1/2, Korecki) reported that Summers is “a notable recruit for Warren given
Sanders’ unexpected success in the state and the perception that both
Sanders and Warren are likely to draw from a similar progressive-minded
base. ‘I think he knows caucus math better than anybody else in the
country,’ Pete D’Alessandro, Sanders’ former state director, said of
Summers. ‘Basically, he wrote the caucus rules 10 years ago when he was the
state’s caucus director.’” In an online article, CNN
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=01a-1a8&t=c>
(1/2, Lee, Krieg) reported, “By hiring Summers, who is held in high regard
by Sanders allies, Warren is sending a powerful early message to
progressive activists and political strategists closely watching how the
Democratic field takes shape.”

*NBC News: Warren Instagram Video Is Being Called “Inauthentic
Pandering.” *On NBC’s Today[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=01b-2a4&t=c>
(1/2), reporter Kristen Welker said that Warren is now “the biggest name in
the Democratic field to signal she is running for president,” and “is
already a political foil for President Trump.” Welker said that Trump “has
repeatedly ridiculed Warren over her claims of Native-American ancestry,
using language that’s offensive.” Welker said that Warren got “mixed
reviews in October” when she “releas[ed] a DNA test, reporting strong
evidence she had a Native-American relative, dating back six to ten
generations.” Welker added that Warren’s Instagram video of her drinking a
beer has been dismissed as “inauthentic pandering to young voters.”

On NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=01c-325&t=c>
(1/2, story 3, 0:30, Holt), Welker offered a similar report, saying that
Warren received “mixed reviews over this Instagram the day of her
announcement.” Warren was shown saying, “Hold on a sec, I’m going to get me
a beer.” Welker added, “Critics calling it inauthentic pandering to younger
voters.”

*CNN Political Analyst Enten Says Warren “Below Average” In
Electability. *The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=01d-2f7&t=c>
(1/2, Birnbaum) reported that CNN political analyst Harry Enten on
Wednesday “wrote
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=01e-b78&t=c>
that [Warren] is ‘below average’ in electability based on an analysis of
her Senate race performance in 2018 compared to House Democrats in her
state. Enten analyzed the ‘electability’ of six possible presidential
candidates” based on the same analyses, writing, “Sens. Amy Klobuchar of
Minnesota and Sherrod Brown of Ohio are above-average candidates on the
question of electability, while Sen. Elizabeth Warren...is below average.”
While Brown and Klobuchar overperformed in their respective races, said
Enten, Warren “underperformed by 12 points.”

*Warren Supports Withdrawing Troops From Syria, Afghanistan. *Axios
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=01f-689&t=c>
(1/2, Britzky) reports that during a Wednesday appearance on MSNBC’s Rachel
Maddow Show[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=020-ca1&t=c>,
Warren “voiced support for the idea of withdrawing troops from Syria and
Afghanistan.” Warren “said that the answer from the foreign policy
establishment to the situation in the Middle East” appears to be, “Stay
forever. That is not a policy. We can’t do that.” However, Warren said the
plan should be coordinated with allies and that she disagrees with the
President conducting “foreign policy by tweet.”
The Atlantic: Inslee Is “Going To Run For President” On The Issue Of
Climate Change.

Writing for The Atlantic
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=021-ccd&t=c>
(1/2), Edward-Isaac Dovere said that Gov. Jay Inslee (D-WA) is convinced
that climate change is an extreme global threat – but one that President
Trump dismisses and that the field of potential 2020 Democratic
presidential candidates hasn’t done enough to address. “And that’s why he’s
going to run for president. The question is whether he can convince anyone
else that he’s a big-enough player to be a serious candidate. ‘When you’ve
been working on something for over a decade, and now seeing people
awakening to that, it’s just really gratifying and heartening,’” Inslee
said in an interview. Dovere added, “If there is a new Democratic president
come 2021, he or she will get pulled in all sorts of policy directions.
Inslee says he has one priority: global warming.”
Leading the News
Media Analyses: Little Progress Made At White House Meeting On Border
Security.

Coverage of the ongoing partial shutdown of the federal government agrees
that little progress was made at a Wednesday White House meeting with
incoming congressional leaders, with both President Trump and top Democrats
refusing to budge from the positions on border security funding they have
held since the standoff began. Trump rejected a compromise previously
worked out with Democrats by Vice President Pence, and Democrats vowed to
pass funding measures without border wall funding immediately after taking
control of the House Thursday.

The President tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=022-7e2&t=c>
after the meeting, “Important meeting today on Border Security with
Republican and Democrat Leaders in Congress. Both parties must work
together to pass a Funding Bill that protects this Nation and its people –
this is the first and most important duty of government. ...
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=023-517&t=c>
I remain ready and willing to work with Democrats to pass a bill that
secures our borders, supports the agents and officers on the ground, and
keeps America Safe. Let’s get it done!” He later tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=024-460&t=c>,
“Sadly, there can be no REAL Border Security without the Wall!”

The story led all three broadcast network newscasts. David Muir
opened ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=025-a9e&t=c>
(1/2, lead story, 3:00) by calling it “a new year, but the same ugly
showdown. And tonight, it is only worsening. ... As this government
shutdown now reaches Day 12, 800,000 American workers [are] affected. So
many of them waiting to go back to work; thousands more may not get back
pay. The President making it clear today that he is not budging. He wants
that $5.6 billion to build his border wall, vowing to keep the government
closed ‘as long as it takes.’” ABC’s Mary Bruce: “The President publicly
rejected a $2.5 billion compromise proposed to Democrats by his own Vice
President. Would you accept anything less than $2.5 billion?” Trump: “No,
not 2.5, no. We’re asking for 5.6 and you know, somebody said 2.5. Ah, no,
look – this is national security we’re talking about.” Bruce: “Democrats
made clear they aren’t budging, either.” Senate Minority Leader Schumer:
“They are now feeling the heat. It’s not helping the President, it’s not
helping the Republicans to be the owners of this shutdown.” Incoming House
Speaker Pelosi: “We’re asking the President to open up government. We are
giving him a Republican path to do that. Why would he not do it?”

David Glor said on the CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=026-241&t=c>
(1/2, lead story, 2:35), “They were looking for a breakthrough. They did
not find one.” CBS’ Major Garrett: “The impasse will continue until at
least Friday, when the President has asked congressional leaders back to
the White House. He offered no clues on when government will reopen.”
Trump: “Could be a long time, or it could be quickly. It could be a long
time.” Garrett: “Publicly, the President is sticking to his demand for $5
billion for a wall on the southern border. Democrats have offered roughly a
fifth of that amount for border security, but not wall construction. ...
After meeting with Mr. Trump in the situation room for about 90 minutes,
top Democrats said polls show the country is on their side.”

Lester Holt said on NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=027-c28&t=c>
(1/2, lead story, 2:25) reported, “There was movement today in the effort
to fully reopen the government. Unfortunately, none of it seemed to be the
direction of a deal. President Trump met with congressional leaders, but
first making it clear he is not budging from his demand for $5 billion in
border wall funding. Democrats holding their own, too.” In a clip of an
interview with Pelosi to air on NBC’s Today on Thursday, Savannah Guthrie
asked, “If you and the Democrats can’t meet halfway, if you don’t
compromise, then why isn’t the shutdown partially your responsibility, as
well?” Pelosi: “It has nothing to do with us. It has the President saying,
‘I will hold six agencies of government hostage to my campaign promise that
I was going to build a wall, and that Mexico was going to pay for it.’”

On CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=028-217&t=c>
(1/2), Kaitlyn Collins reported Trump sent signals the government shutdown
“could drag on for many more days or even weeks.” Trump spent the morning
“claiming Mexico is paying for the wall through the recently renegotiated
trade deal with Canada and Mexico, an idea that has stumped lawmakers and
aides alike since it hasn’t even passed Congress yet.” Collins added that
Trump “falsely [claimed] most of the wall has been built, when in fact none
of it has.”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=029-685&t=c>
(1/3, Miller, Mascaro) reports, “No one budged” at the Wednesday meeting
“so the partial government shutdown persisted. ... They’ll all try again
Friday. In public, Trump renewed his dire warnings of rapists and others at
the border. But when pressed in private by Democrats asking why he wouldn’t
end the shutdown, he responded at one point, ‘I would look foolish if I did
that.’” The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=02a-dd7&t=c>
(1/2, A1, Andrews) reports Schumer asked Trump three times why he would not
support bills to reopen all of the government except DHS, reportedly
prompting Trump’s comment.

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=02b-167&t=c>
(1/2, Davis, Tackett) reports the President “torched a compromise that his
own vice president floated.” The Times says Trump “also rejected
suggestions from Republican senators that negotiators revive a compromise
that would twin border-wall money with legislation to shield young
immigrants brought to the country illegally as children from deportation
and grant them legal work permits.” According to the Times, Trump’s
comments constituted “a remarkable public rejection of a plan” that Vice
President Pence “broached with Democrats behind closed doors 12 days
ago...and which his team has quietly continued to push in the days since.”

USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=02c-52c&t=c>
(1/2, Jackson) reports incoming House Minority Leader McCarthy said of the
shutdown, “It doesn’t have to last much longer at all.” But Senate Majority
Leader McConnell “struck a less optimistic note: ‘I don’t think any
particular progress was made’ at the White House session.” The Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=02d-b2f&t=c>
(1/2, A1, Werner) reports, “Trump rejected a plan from Democrats on
Wednesday to reopen key parts of the federal government” as “the shutdown’s
effects are spreading, particularly in the Washington region.”

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=02e-808&t=c>
(1/2, Mason, Becker) reports, “The White House convened the meeting to try
to convince Democrats that funding a wall on the southern border with
Mexico was a pressing security need. Instead, Democratic leaders cut off”
DHS Secretary Nielsen’s presentation “and tried to no avail to press Trump
to accept their offer.” The New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=02f-1c1&t=c>
(1/2, Schwab, Fredericks) reports McCarthy said of the Democrats, “I think
they wanted to go on without going through the briefing, they wanted to go
on with their bill that they were bringing up tomorrow.” The Washington
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=030-1dd&t=c>
(1/2, Dinan) reports Democrats vowed to “plow ahead with spending bills
this week that have already been rejected by the GOP.” Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=031-c1f&t=c>
(1/2, Ferris, Everett) calls the briefing “the Trump administration’s
attempt to lecture Democrats on border security issues,” while the Daily
Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=032-141&t=c>
(1/2, Enjeti) says the Democrats brought the briefing “to a screeching
halt” by “refusing to even listen” to Nielsen. Nielsen later tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=033-9b8&t=c>,
“At today’s Cabinet Meeting, @POTUS again reiterated his strong commitment
to border security. During this shutdown the men and women of DHS remain on
duty doing their jobs. Congress should do theirs & fund the wall and revise
outdated laws (TVPRA & Flores) to secure the border.”

Incoming House Minority Whip Scalise said on Fox News’ Hannity[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=034-c0b&t=c>
(1/2), “What you saw today with the meeting in the White House with the
President is an example what we have saw for a long time. A lot of these
Democrats who, as Chuck Schumer did in 2006, voted for a wall, voted for,
by the way, $25 billion for the wall. Now the President is saying we need
$5 billion next year and they are opposing it because of Donald Trump, not
because of any policy issues.”

Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) said on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=035-9ed&t=c>
(1/2), “Two weeks ago, the United States Senate unanimously passed a
funding bill because Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had heard from the
White House that President Trump would sign it. He then changed his mind,
and the next day reversed position and said he would only sign a funding
bill if it had full funding for his $5 billion for border wall. That’s
where we stand now a dozen days later.”

Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA) said on CNN’s Situation Room[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=036-a2c&t=c>
(1/2), “[Democrats] are going to pass legislation tomorrow, moments after
we begin the new session, after we have a new Speaker, after we have the
majority...to fund all of government for the remainder of this fiscal
year.” Garamendi added, “We will leave the Department of Homeland
Security...open for further negotiation until February 8 with a continuing
resolution for that.”

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) writes in the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=037-6ce&t=c>
(1/2), “Democrats should recognize now, as I did with Obama in 2015, that
if an elected president has a legitimate objective, they should bend over
backward to accommodate it – if they want a result. As for President Trump,
he should be specific and reliable, as [President] Obama was in 2015 when
he told us he needed three things, and, after Congress passed legislation
that included the president’s requests, he signed the bill into law.”

USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=038-6b5&t=c>
(1/2) says in an editorial that “this shutdown is both destructive and
inane.” Democrats “are happy to finally be in the position of being able to
say no to Trump and want to display that power to their rank-and-file
voters,” while the President “has spent his first two years catering to his
base and ignoring or insulting just about everyone else. He does not appear
inclined to change that now. This leaves much of the country wondering when
this desultory fight over a relatively small matter will come to an end.”
In a responding USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=039-0a5&t=c>
(1/2) op-ed, James Jay Carafano of the Heritage Foundation writes, “There
is never a good time for a desperate fight. But sensible border security is
worth it. Time for both sides to put the politics aside and come up with
solutions that deal with the magnitude of the impending problem.”

Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=03a-149&t=c>
(1/2, Wasson, Olorunnipa), the Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=03b-229&t=c>
(1/2, Ferrechio), and Axios
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=03c-7fe&t=c>
(1/2, Vavra) also have reports, while Susan Page of USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=03d-d97&t=c>
(1/2) writes that the meeting previewed the “standoff” between the
President and Pelosi “that will define Washington for the next two years.”

*WPost Analysis: Trump Made Multiple False Statements Wednesday. *The
Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=03e-5b3&t=c>
(1/2, A1, Werner) reports that “in one of a series of false or unsupported
assertions” on Wednesday, the President “said that there were between 30
million and 35 million undocumented immigrants in the United States,
roughly three times larger than the estimate of most experts.” Earlier on
Twitter
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=03f-2e0&t=c>,
“Trump made two other false claims about the wall. He wrote that Mexico
would be paying for the wall along the U.S. border under the parameters of
a trade deal he has tentatively inked with Mexico and Canada. This is not
true. ... The second false point in Trump’s Twitter post Wednesday is his
statement that ‘much of the Wall has already been fully renovated or
built.’ This is also not true.”

*Trump Says Court Ruling Led Democrats To Abandon DACA Talks. *
Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=040-3f3&t=c>
(1/2, Kullgren) reports the President blamed the Ninth Circuit Court of
Appeals “for killing a nascent deal last year between Republicans and
Democrats to codify the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.”
During the Wednesday Cabinet meeting, Trump “said he’d been nearing a deal
with Democrats in November to protect DACA legislatively in exchange for
heightened border security – but that Democrats walked away” after the
Ninth Circuit ruled in their favor. The President said, “We had a deal
pretty close to being done, and a lot of people say I backed away from that
deal. I didn’t back away. The minute the judge overruled the case and they
allowed DACA, they didn’t talk to us – and I don’t blame them – they didn’t
answer the calls.”

*Acting ICE Chief Says Border “Barrier” Needed. *Acting ICE
Director Ron Vitiello said on Fox News Special Report[image: Image removed
by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=041-b2e&t=c>
(1/2), “I was very disappointed to see in that room today that there were
people who were in this discussion that were saying a wall doesn’t work. I
can tell you that through 33 years of my experience, half of which was on
the line, those agents need an enduring capability to slow people down as
they come across that border. ... You always have a safer border where you
have that barrier. There is no question in my mind about that.”

*Shutdown Hampering Immigration System. *The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=042-25b&t=c>
(1/2, A1, Miroff) reports, “Tens of thousands of U.S. immigration officers
and agents are showing up for work each day to guard the Mexico border,
where President Trump insists on putting a wall. But the government is shut
down, so no one is getting paid.” In immigration courts, “new filings are
piling up on dockets already backlogged by nearly 1 million cases, but many
of the judges and clerks who process them have been sent home.” The
E-Verify website is also not in service.

Rep. Val Demings (D-FL) tweeted
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=043-364&t=c>,
“Immigration officers and agents are working without pay. Cases are piling
up. The E-Verify system is offline. The #TrumpShutdown is breaking our
immigration system, all because Trump, the ‘deal maker’, won’t sign an
EXISTING bipartisan compromise.”

*NYTimes, WPost: Shutdown Hurting Government Workers. *The New York
Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=044-0f8&t=c>
(1/2) says in an editorial that the President should take time to “learn
much about the legions of government employees and contractors who spent
the holiday season agonizing over how to cover their next mortgage payment
or electric bill or trip to the grocery store if this political charade
drags on much longer. Let’s be clear: This fight is not about security. ...
There is no flood of savage foreigners pouring across the border,” and
“Congress, on a bipartisan basis, has already been allocating more money
for border security.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=045-428&t=c>
(1/2) similarly editorializes, “Like civil servants, hourly workers for
government contractors do not collect their pay during shutdowns; unlike
civil servants, however, they do not get back pay when the shutdown ends.
How many low-wage workers face this predicament is difficult to ascertain,”
but “the number could be approximately 2,000, based on estimates from the
union that represents many such employees. ... The standoff continues, and
yet another vulnerable population pays the price.”
Foreign Policy
Trump Says He Plans To Meet With Kim Again, But Is “Not In Any Rush.”

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=046-bc7&t=c>
(1/2, Mason) reports that President Trump said he has “received a letter
from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and expected to meet him again soon as
part of the U.S. administration’s efforts to press Pyongyang to give up its
nuclear weapons program.” According to Reuters, Trump also “defended his
negotiations with Kim and said he had never emphasized the speed of
Pyongyang’s denuclearization.” Reuters says Trump told reporters that Kim’s
letter “was great and that he would love to read it out loud, but did not
do so.” Reuters adds that the President “has said previously that a second
summit with Kim was likely in January or February, though he wrote on
Twitter last month that he was ‘in no hurry.’”

Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=047-3f9&t=c>
(1/2, Olorunnipa) reports that Trump said, “We’ve really established a very
good relationship” one day after Kim “threatened to backtrack on promises
to give up his nuclear arsenal if the U.S. doesn’t relax sanctions against
the country.” Bloomberg News adds that Trump also said “there would have
been a ‘big fat war in Asia’ if he hadn’t met with Kim in Singapore last
year, and that ‘they really want to do something’ to reduce tensions
between the countries. But he added that he’s ‘not in any rush’ to hold a
second meeting.” The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=048-a67&t=c>
(1/2) reports that “earlier in the day, Trump tweeted that Kim has pledged
not to make or test nuclear weapons, or give them to others.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=049-f57&t=c>
(1/2, Landler, Haberman) reports President Trump “was at it again,
brandishing his latest letter from” Kim in Trump’s “favorite parlor trick.”
Trump “delights in sharing with visitors the correspondence he has received
from” Kim. The Times adds this behavior is part of Trump’s “long history of
showing off to visitors.”
Trump Again Says US Withdrawal From Syria Will Not Be Immediate.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=04a-253&t=c>
(1/2) reports that during Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting at the White House,
President Trump said the US will “get out of Syria ‘over a period of time’
and wants to protect the U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters in the country as
Washington draws down troops.” According to Reuters, Trump “did not provide
a timetable for the planned military exit from Syria,” and “said he had
never discussed a reported four-month timetable for the withdrawal of 2,000
American troops stationed in Syria.” Reuters says that “in recent days,
Trump appeared to back off from any hasty pullout and stressed that the
operation would be slow.”

*Romney Troubled By “Precipitous” Withdrawal From Syria. *Sen.-elect
Mitt Romney (R-UT) was asked on CNN’s The Lead[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=04b-0a4&t=c>
(1/2) why he believes the President is making a mistake by pulling US
troops out of Syria. Romney said, “The reason that we’re in involved is to
make the world safer, which is good for the world and good for us. ... And
so we’re in Syria with a very small footprint, about 2,000 people to help
our allies there, the Kurds. And in some respects, to provide some
stability to that region so that Assad or Erdoğan or the Russians or the –
you know, the Iranians don’t rush in and slaughter people. Slaughter our
allies. So pulling out on a precipitous basis without interacting with them
and coordinating this with them and getting the input, for instance, from
Secretary Mattis, is something which I think is very troubling to me and to
a number of others.”

*WPost: Trump Should Be More Clear About Syria, Afghanistan Plans. *A
Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=04c-df9&t=c>
(1/2) editorial says the President’s plan for withdrawing US troops from
Syria are “anything but transparent” and his “Afghanistan plans are even
more opaque.” Trump “continues to defend the withdrawals, though without
offering substantive arguments.” The Post argues he “owes those soldiers,
and the country as a whole, a better explanation. If he believes the United
States should no longer fight the Islamic State in Syria, or the Taliban
and Islamic State in Afghanistan, he should deliver a substantive address
to the country laying out why.”
Pompeo Demands Answers On Marine Veteran Held In Russia.

Martha Raddatz reported on ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=04d-fad&t=c>
(1/2, story 3, 1:50, Muir), “Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wants answers”
about why Russia is holding American Paul Whelan on accusations of
espionage. Pompeo was shown saying, “If the detention is not appropriate,
we will demand his immediate return.” Raddatz added that Whelan, who was
kicked out of the Marine Corps, “has visited Russia multiple times” and was
there to attend a friend’s wedding.

Similarly, the CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=04e-58a&t=c>
(1/2, story 4, 2:05, Glor) reported, “Pompeo is demanding answers on this
arrest.” Pompeo was shown saying, “We’ve made clear to the Russians our
expectation that we will learn more about the charges, come to understand
what it is he’s been accused of, and if the detention is not appropriate,
we will demand his immediate return.” CBS (Crawford) added, “State
Department officials and Ambassador Jon Huntsman met with Whelan five days
after his arrest.” Meanwhile, the “Russians have offered no evidence
Whelan, now head of corporate security for a Michigan autoparts company, is
a spy.” There is “speculation that Whelan got caught up in a diplomatic
tit-for-tat after the US arrested Maria Butina on espionage charges,” and
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that “the law of retaliation states
an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth.”

On CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=04f-6cd&t=c>
(1/2), Matthew Chance reported, “the timing...looks most suspicious,” with
Whelan “detained just weeks after Russian gun-enthusiast Maria Butina, held
in the US, pleaded guilty to conspiracy after US prosecutors accused her of
trying to infiltrate the NRA and the Republican Party.” Chance added that
Huntsman “personally called the family of Paul Whelan to discuss his
condition with them, a sign of just how seriously the United States is
taking this case.”

Hans Nichols reported on NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=050-08c&t=c>
(1/2, story 4, 1:00, Holt) that Whelan is “getting the first visit from US
embassy officials in a Moscow jail.” Meanwhile, “questions remain about why
he was arrested for espionage.” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=051-fe5&t=c>
(1/1, Milliken, Tétrault-Farber) reports, “The United States wants an
explanation for why Russia detained a former U.S. Marine on spying charges
in Moscow and will demand his immediate return if it determines his
detention is inappropriate,” Pompeo said on Wednesday.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=052-0c7&t=c>
(1/2, Ferris-Rotman) reports Huntsman meet with “Whelan at Lefortovo
Detention Facility, a notorious prison that has held many spies and
political prisoners in spartan conditions.” Meanwhile, “many details of
Whelan’s arrest and condition since then remain unknown,” and he may not
have been formally charged with espionage. Meanwhile, “U.S. officials are
concerned about the delay between his arrest and the consular visit,
believing it violates the time frame dictated by the Vienna Convention.”

Sen.-elect Mitt Romney (R-UT) said on CNN’s The Lead[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=053-705&t=c>
(1/2), “I think it’s important to be clear-eyed with regards to Vladimir
Putin. And Russia has a real problem. Their population is shrinking. Their
work force is shrinking. ... And they’re in trouble. And as a result, Putin
is looking for more of an economic industrial base. So he’s looking at the
former satellite states of the Soviet Union. And America has to make it
very, very clear in our communication and in the things we do that that’s
not acceptable to us and to the world.” Romney added, “I think it’s very
important for this President to make it clear to Vladimir Putin, we will
not accept forays.”

The Detroit Free Press
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=054-1b6&t=c>
(1/2, Howard) reports Hermitage Capital Management Bill Browder, who was
expelled by Vladimir Putin in 2005, said that Whelan is being held
“hostage,” as the standard protocol is to deport suspected spies. Browder,
“an outspoken critic of Russian corruption and Putin specifically,”
suggested the move is a “desperate” attempt by Putin “to disrupt the
investigation led by Robert Mueller into alleged corruption of the U.S.
election system.” Browder called for the US to “respond extremely
aggressively,” warning, “if Americans can be grabbed by corrupt dictators
for political purposes, you can be assured more Americans will be taken
hostage in other countries.”

Also covering this story are USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=055-1bf&t=c>
(1/2, Shesgreen) and the Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=056-a7c&t=c>
(1/2, Berry, Heintz).
Pompeo, Bolsonaro Discuss Working Together On Venezuela, Cuba, And
Nicaragua.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=057-2b3&t=c>
(1/2) reports that the State Department says that while in Brazil,
Secretary of State Pompeo “discussed supporting a return to democracy in
Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua with Brazil’s new right-wing government...in
a joint effort against what he called authoritarian regimes in Latin
America.” According to Reuters, Pompeo and Brazilian Foreign Minister
Ernesto Araujo “considered deepening cooperation in the region at a meeting
in Brasilia following Tuesday’s inauguration of far-right President Jair
Bolsonaro.” State Department Deputy Spokesman Robert Palladino said Pompeo
“later met with Bolsonaro and also broached the question of ‘reinforcing
democratic governance and human rights’ in those three countries.”
Shanahan: Pentagon’s Focus Should Be On China.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=058-2a1&t=c>
(1/2, Stewart, Ali) reports that acting Defense Secretary Shanahan “told
civilian leaders of the U.S. military on Wednesday to focus on ‘China,
China, China.’” According to Reuters, “The comments came during Shanahan’s
first meeting with secretaries of the U.S. military branches since taking
over for Jim Mattis.” Reuters says Shanahan has been “described...as an
advocate of the Pentagon’s toughening stance toward Beijing,” and “played a
critical role in developing the strategy, which singled out China and
Russia as top threats, saying they wanted to ‘shape a world consistent with
their authoritarian model.’”

Citing an unnamed “defense official,” the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=059-114&t=c>
(1/2, Burns) reports that Shanahan “told the Pentagon gathering that he is
focused on the strategy as developed and put in place under Mattis.”
According to the AP, Shanahan’s “views on strategic issues such as U.S.
alliances and the wars in Afghanistan and Syria are largely unknown to the
public.”

*Former Treasury Secretary Calls For Joint US-China Action On
Climate Change, Nuclear Weapons. *Former Treasury Secretary Robert E.
Rubin, in an op-ed in the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=05a-e61&t=c>
(1/2), calls for creating “a climate that encourages elected officials to
pursue a constructive relationship” with China, due to “our imperative
self-interest in working together on hugely consequential transnational
issues,” especially climate change and the spread of nuclear weapons, which
will require the two countries to work together if they are to be slowed.
In the US, “structural trade issues” and “aggressive geopolitical moves,”
which are “legitimate concerns,” have created “a vicious cycle” of negative
developments increasingly sapping support for a cooperative relationship
with China. However, “the best chance for successfully dealing with these
overarching issues” and with more traditional issues for the US and China
“to catalyze global action.” Rubin concludes, “For the future of humanity,
not to mention our immediate economic interests, our two countries must
recognize our mutual self-interest in a constructive relationship and act
accordingly.”
Xi: Taiwan Can Become Part Of China Without Giving Up Its “Different
System.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=05b-3bb&t=c>
(1/2, Buckley, Horton) reports that in a speech, Chinese President Xi
Jinping “declared...that he wants progress on China’s decades-long quest to
win control of Taiwan,” and “stressed how vital unification with Taiwan is
to his vision of Chinese national rejuvenation.” The Times says this was
Xi’s “first major speech about the disputed island.” According to the
Times, Xi “did not lay down a timetable for absorbing Taiwan, which is
something more hawkish voices in Beijing have urged,” but “he indicated
that his patience had limits and that he wanted to bring Taiwan into
ever-closer political, economic and cultural orbit around China.” Xi’s
“proposal appeared unlikely to win over” the Taiwanese, according to the
Times, “who have seen Hong Kong’s freedoms in rapid retreat under a similar
deal.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=05c-954&t=c>
(1/2, Shih) reports that Xi said that while his government “seeks the
‘peaceful unification’ of Taiwan,” he “will not rule out the threat of
military action.” However, the Post says Xi also “reiterated an appeal to
the 23 million citizens of the island democracy: If Taiwan submits to
Chinese rule, he said, it would enjoy lasting peace and its own system of
governance under a ‘one country, two systems’ model, much like Hong Kong.”
Xi is quoted as saying: “Different systems are not an obstacle to
unification, and even less are they an excuse for separatism. ... The
private property, religious beliefs and legitimate rights and interests of
our Taiwanese compatriots will be fully assured.”

The Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=05d-018&t=c>
(1/2, Dixon) reports Xi “warned Taiwan that independence would be
disastrous” in a speech that served as “a rebuttal to” Taiwanese President
Tsai Ing-wen’s New Year’s speech calling for China to respect Taiwan’s
existence and democratic heritage. The Times adds that “Xi’s speech aimed
to entice young Taiwanese with the hopes of joining China’s economic
advance,” but it also “underscored the gulf between the governments.”

Taking a different tone, the Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=05e-42a&t=c>
(1/2, Taylor) reports that Xi “stated outright on Wednesday that Beijing’s
goal is to absorb Taiwan and that China could use ‘force’ to achieve the
goal if necessary,” a reference that “drew rousing applause from the
crowd.” The Times predicts the speech will “elevate tension.”
AP Analysis: Israeli Settlement Building Has Accelerated Since Trump Took
Office.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=05f-47e&t=c>
(1/2, Federman) reports, “With little resistance from a friendly White
House, Israel has launched a new settlement push in the West Bank...laying
the groundwork for what could be the largest construction binge in years.”
The AP adds, “The figures, gathered from official government sources by the
anti-settlement monitoring group Peace Now, show an increase in building in
2018 and a sharp spike in planning for future construction.” According to
the AP, “This trend, highlighted last week when an Israeli committee
advanced plans for thousands more settlement homes on war-won lands, has
only deepened Palestinian mistrust of the Trump administration as it says
it is preparing to roll out a Mideast peace plan.”

*CEO: Palestinians Should Become Citizens Of Jordan. *In an op-ed
in the Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=060-0d2&t=c>
(1/2), Xerion Investments CEO Daniel J. Arbess argues that the solution to
peace between Israel and Palestinians is a Jordan-Israel confederacy with
Jordan as the Palestinian state. Under such a deal, the Arabs in the West
Bank would become Jordanian citizens and that county would assume
administrative responsibility for them, while the land would be Israeli
territory. The deal would also enfranchise the Palestinian majority in
Jordan and remove power from the corrupt, illegitimate, and unpopular
leaders of the Palestinian Authority. Arbess argues that Jordan’s king
would agree to such a deal in exchange for protection for his precarious
rule.
Domestic Policy
Trump To Romney: “Be A TEAM Player & WIN.”

After Sen.-elect Mitt Romney (R-UT) criticized the President in an op-ed
for the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=061-af6&t=c>,
Trump took to Twitter
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=062-d73&t=c>
yesterday morning to write, “Here we go with Mitt Romney, but so fast!
Question will be, is he a Flake? I hope not. Would much prefer that Mitt
focus on Border Security and so many other things where he can be helpful.
I won big, and he didn’t. He should be happy for all Republicans. Be a TEAM
player & WIN!” The CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=063-9fd&t=c>
(1/2, story 2, 1:45, Glor) showed Trump saying during a Cabinet meeting,
“Well, I wish Mitt could be more of a team player. If he fought really hard
against President Obama, like he does against me, he would have won the
election.” With that comment, says Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=064-8d3&t=c>
(1/2, Spiering), “Trump further ridiculed” Romney for “continuing to
criticize him and his presidency.” NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=065-4a4&t=c>
(1/2, story 2, 0:55, Holt) points out Trump was “firing back after a
scathing attack from...Romney that leaves some to ask: could Romney
challenge the President in 2020?” NBC’s Kristen Welker added Romney is
“insisting he has no plans for a showdown against the President.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=066-0c9&t=c>
(1/2, Martin, Haberman, Burns) says White House officials “only got a brief
head’s up that the [op-ed] was coming,” and that it was RNC Chair Ronna
McDaniel, who is Romney’s niece, who “informed them about the piece.”
Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=067-db3&t=c>
(1/2, Okun) reports, “In the reinvigorated feud between her uncle...and her
boss,” McDaniel “has picked a side: the president’s.” Tweeted McDaniel,
“POTUS is attacked and obstructed by the MSM media and Democrats 24/7. ...
For an incoming Republican freshman senator to attack @realDonaldTrump as
their first act feeds into what the Democrats and media want and is
disappointing and unproductive.”

The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=068-057&t=c>
(1/2, Bender) similarly reports Trump’s comments under the headline “Trump
Predicts Romney Will Fall In Line Behind Him.” The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=069-d47&t=c>
(1/2, Freking) notes that in 2016, Romney “said there was plenty of
evidence that Trump was ‘a con man, a fake.’” The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=06a-f50&t=c>
(1/2, Bowden) reports, however, that “despite being a frequent critic of
Trump’s during the 2016 election, Romney thanked Trump for his support
during his 2018 Senate run,” and “was briefly considered to be in the
running to serve as Trump’s secretary of State in 2017.”

Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=06b-cb3&t=c>
(1/2, Okun) reports “many Trump opponents have hoped” that Romney “might
take up the mantle of Flake and other departing Republican critics in the
Senate,” and Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=06c-79a&t=c>
(1/2, Heavey, Cornwell) that “public criticism” of Trump “from Republican
lawmakers has been rare,” and “it was unclear whether any other prominent
members of the party would feel emboldened to criticize Trump ahead of his
presumed 2020 re-election bid.”

Romney was asked on CNN’s The Lead[image: Image removed by sender.
Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=06d-988&t=c>
(1/2) why he chose to write the Washington Post op-ed now. Romney said, “I
actually wrote a very similar op-ed before I got into the primary in Utah
and laid out my views with regards to the President and his presidency. And
noted that I will work with the President as I would, frankly, with any
President, which is on those areas where I’m in agreement, we’ll be able to
work together. Where I disagree, I’ll point that out. But in matters that
relate to the divisiveness that’s been part of our political environment,
I’ll speak out if I feel a need to, if there is something significant. And
I think it’s important, as I begin this new job, to make it very clear
where I stand.”

Sean Hannity said on Fox News’ Hannity[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=06e-8d3&t=c>
(1/2), “It’s sad he has more interest in cozying up to those people on the
left that hated him than sticking up for protecting American citizens,
record low unemployment, American energy independence, securing our
borders, issues he says he [cares] about.”

On CBS This Morning[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=06f-707&t=c>
(1/2), it was noted that Trump 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale
responded to Romney’s op-ed with the tweet: “The truth is Mitt Romney
lacked the ability to save this nation and President Trump has.” On Fox
News’ Fox & Friends[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2019010301biden&r=email-63ec&l=070-b19&t=c>
(1/2), David Bossie, who served deputy manager of President Trump’s 2016
campaign, said Romney’s op-ed is “a pathetic attempt...for relevancy.”
Bossie added, “Let’s talk about jealousy. let’s talk about how shallow this
person is. I’m sick and tired of Mitt Romney wanting Donald Trump’s help on
one hand, grovelling, trying to be the secretary of state in the transition
during 2016. Let’s note forget that pathetic attempt by Mitt Romney.”
Bossie added, “[Romney] has run for president and if he wasn’t so
incompetent he would have won that campaign, to be candid. ... Mitt Romney
failed in that campaign and he failed the American people who have made him
the nominee. He ran a terrible general election campaign.”