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Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing


*From:* Bulletin Intelligence <Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com>
*Sent:* Wednesday, December 12, 2018 7:56 AM
*To:* Biden@BulletinIntelligence.com
*Subject:* Office of Vice President Biden Intelligence Briefing for
Wednesday, December 12, 2018


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[image: Image removed by sender. Office of Vice President Biden
Intelligence Briefing]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=001-9b1&t=c>

*To: Vice President Joe Biden*

*Wednesday, December 12, 2018 8:00 AM EST*
Today's Table of Contents

*Biden in the News* <#SECTION_1>

• AP: Biden To Meet With Family Over The Holidays On Possible 2020 Bid.
<#S1>

• Veteran GOP Operative Floats Biden-Romney “Unity Ticket” In 2020. <#S2>

• Klain Decries Critics’ Targeting Of 2020 “Older Potential Candidates.”
<#S3>

• O’Rourke Edges Out Biden For Top Spot In MoveOn 2020 Straw Poll. <#S4>

• Hollywood’s Female Heavyweights List Their Favorites For 2020 Democratic
Ticket. <#S5>

• Media Analyses: Potential 2020 Democrats Scrambling To Woo Campaign
Operatives. <#S6>

• University Of Delaware Renames School Of Public Policy After Biden. <#S7>

*Leading the News* <#SECTION_2>

• Trump Says He Would Be “Proud” To Shut Down Government Over Border
Security. <#S8>

*Foreign Policy* <#SECTION_3>

• Trump Reiterates Support For Saudi Crown Prince. <#S9>

• WPost Report: Trump Rejects US Intelligence On Russia, North Korea, Iran
And More. <#S10>

• Four Dead, Several Wounded In Attack On French Christmas Market. <#S11>

• Media Reports: Protests And Macron’s Capitulation Slow French GDP Growth,
Add To Budget Deficit. <#S12>

• UK Conservatives Trigger Confidence Vote For May Over Brexit. <#S13>

• Perry In Baghdad As Iraq Seeks Iran Sanctions Waiver Extension. <#S14>

• State Department Launches Anti-Propaganda Initiative Targeting Iran,
China, Russia. <#S15>

*Domestic Policy* <#SECTION_4>

• Trump Says He Has 10 To 12 Chief Of Staff Contenders “That Want It Badly.”
<#S16>

• Trump Says He Is “Not Concerned” About Being Impeached. <#S17>

• Trump Hails “Very Productive” China Trade Talks. <#S18>

• Trump Says He Might Intervene In Case Of Huawei CFO. <#S19>

• Senate Passes Farm Bill Compromise With House Expected To Vote Thursday.
<#S20>

• McConnell Says Senate Will Vote On First Step Act This Month. <#S21>

• EPA Releases Looser Restrictions On Waterways, Paring Back Obama
Administration Rules. <#S22>

*Cancer Research* <#SECTION_5>

• Advocates Worry Funds For 9/11 Cancer Victims Running Out As Diagnoses
Rise. <#S23>

• Baptist Memorial Selected For Cancer Moonshot Program To Improve Patient
Symptom Reporting. <#S24>

*Editorials/Op-Eds* <#SECTION_6>

• New York Times. <#S25>

• Washington Post. <#S26>
Biden in the News
AP: Biden To Meet With Family Over The Holidays On Possible 2020 Bid.

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=002-9fa&t=c>
(12/11, Beaumont, Kinnard) reports that former Vice President Joe Biden is
completing “a busy stretch of events this week before stepping out of the
public eye to hold family deliberations over the holidays on whether to
launch another campaign for president, according to multiple people
familiar with his thinking.” The AP says that Biden “would likely enter a
presidential contest a top-tier candidate, if not the front-runner,” which
“is creating intense focus around his every move as he approaches a
decision.”

Under the heading “Joe Biden Is Going to Take His Sweet Time
Deciding Whether to Run for President,” Gabriel Debenedetti writes for
the Daily
Intelligencer (NY)
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=003-452&t=c>
(12/11) that according to “over half a dozen Democrats who’ve spoken with
him recently,” Biden has “never been more convinced that he’s the man for
our time.” Even so, “the man who’s grown notorious among his friends for
taking his time to make big decisions is moving even more deliberately than
usual, weighing whether the personal toll of yet another campaign is worth
it, for him and for his family, which has endured a brutal few years.”

Similarly, The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=004-349&t=c>
(12/12, Parnes) reports this morning that Biden “is taking his time making
a decision about entering the 2020 race.” After having “said he expected to
make a decision on” the race “by the end of the year,” Biden “is extending
his timeline. During an appearance in Montana last week,” Biden “said a
decision would come in the next two months. Compared to other prospective
2020 candidates,” Biden “has time on his side, allies say, because he has
all the mechanics in place if he decides to” run. The Hill quotes a
“longtime ally” as saying of Biden, “He has the machinery in place in a
turn-key way more than anyone else. He feels like he can take his time to
make a decision as the one truly established person running.”
Veteran GOP Operative Floats Biden-Romney “Unity Ticket” In 2020.

In her “Inside the Beltway” column for the Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=005-1fa&t=c>
(12/11), Jennifer Harper highlights a Politico Magazine piece
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=006-f5b&t=c>
written by Juleanna Glover – “who worked as an adviser to former President
George W. Bush, former Vice President Dick Cheney, the late Sen. John
McCain, and former presidential hopefuls Jeb Bush and Rudy Giuliani – and
now serves on the Biden Institute Policy Advisory Board.” In the piece,
Glover writes that former Vice President Joe Biden “should run on a unity
ticket with Mitt Romney.” Glover adds that Biden should choose a GOP
“running mate in a ‘trans-party’ third-party run for the White House.
Should [President] Trump run again, this could be a ‘break-the-glass’
moment for many Americans, creating an opening for a radical departure from
our malfunctioning two-party political system.”

*Kilgore, Pierce Pan Glover’s Notion. *Writing for the Daily
Intelligencer (NY)
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=007-4af&t=c>
(12/11), Ed Kilgore pans Glover’s suggestion, saying that in the piece,
“she admits: ‘I know: It sounds crazy.’ That’s true, and not just because
of one or two or three problems with the scenario, but because the whole
thing is a house of cards built on a moving train crossing an unstable
fault line. America’s party system, with all its faults, reflects real and
durable differences of opinion about the purpose of self-government and its
values and procedures. Even in the age of Trump, it’s a better bet than
government by cocktail party.”

And writing for Esquire Magazine
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=008-a2d&t=c>
(12/11), Charles P. Pierce similarly pans Glover’s piece, saying, “Every
time the Democrats win enough elections actually to enact an agenda, we get
a deluge of these pieces from ‘concerned Republicans’ – and, it must be
said, too damn many ‘concerned Democrats’ – that this agenda cannot go too
far, there being an impenetrable barrier to progressive issues whereby the
right side of the spectrum apparently extends to infinity.” Pierce adds, “I
have my own idea. Let’s all get together and break the one political party
that worked for four decades to make a politician like Donald Trump not
only possible, but inevitable. Let’s try that first.”
Klain Decries Critics’ Targeting Of 2020 “Older Potential Candidates.”

In a piece for the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=009-0a2&t=c>
(12/11), Ronald Klain, former chief of staff to ex-Vice President Joe
Biden, says that Democrats’ desire to field “an ‘ideal’ candidate” to
battle President Trump in 2020 “is producing an unhealthy desire to rule
out some candidates before the race has even begun. ... Since the midterm
elections, the biggest thrust has been against some of the older potential
candidates: Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.” Klain adds,
“The idea that Biden, Sanders and Warren lack appeal to younger voters is
ridiculous. Biden – my former boss and personal favorite for 2020 – has
devoted his career to actually fighting for the struggling young workers
for whom Trump offers only hate-filled appeals.” Klain concludes that
voters, not pundits or critics, should decide the Democratic nominee.

*Columnist Wonders Whether Biden, Sanders Are “Too Old To Run In
2020.” *Under the heading “Are Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden Too Old To Run In
2020?”, Aki Soga writes in his Burlington (VT) Free Press
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=00a-5e2&t=c>
(12/12) column, “This is a question that has to be asked: Is Vermont Sen.
Bernie Sanders too old to run for president in 2020? Sanders, 77, along
with former Vice President Joe Biden and former New York Mayor Michael
Bloomberg, both 76, make up a trio of 70-somethings considered among the
top contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination.” Soga says the
2020 race for the Democratic nomination is expected to provide “voters a
choice of several younger candidates who depart from the white, male
paradigm and embrace parts of the Sanders agenda such as universal health
care access, climate change and living minimum wage.” The primary will
likely feature “well-recognized older Democrats such as Sanders and Biden
potentially vying with the vanguard of generational change in the party.”
O’Rourke Edges Out Biden For Top Spot In MoveOn 2020 Straw Poll.

In an online article, NBC News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=00b-514&t=c>
(12/11, Seitz-Wald) reported, “An early straw poll of members of the
progressive group MoveOn.org shows a wide-open competition for liberal
voters in the forthcoming 2020 Democratic presidential contest, with” Rep.
Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) holding a narrow edge over former Vice President Joe
Biden for the top spot. Among the potential candidates listed in the straw
poll, O’Rourke led with 15.6%, followed by Biden at 14.9%, Sen. Bernie
Sanders (I-VT) at 13.1%, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) at 10%, Sen. Elizabeth
Warren (D-MA) at 6.4%, and Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sherrod Brown (D-OH),
and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and ex-New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (D)
each at “about” 3%; 29% “either said they did not yet know whom they would
support or wanted someone else not listed among the group’s more than 30
potential candidate choices.”

The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=00c-59c&t=c>
(12/11, Greenwood) reported, “The results bolster O’Rourke’s growing clout
in the field of would-be Democratic challengers to President Trump,
especially among progressive and liberal voters, who are seen as crucial to
winning the party’s nomination.” The Hill added, “MoveOn endorsed Sanders
in 2016 after he took 78 percent in the group’s straw poll to beat out
Hillary Clinton.” However, “unlike in 2016, the Democratic field is
expected to be far more crowded this year.” Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=00d-d21&t=c>
(12/11, Caplan) also reported on the poll results.
Hollywood’s Female Heavyweights List Their Favorites For 2020 Democratic
Ticket.

The Hollywood Reporter
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=00e-d22&t=c>
(12/11) reported that it asked “dozens of women featured on the annual
Women in Entertainment Power 100 this year” who they think “has the best
shot of beating [President] Trump in 2020?” The article added,
“Predictably, Oprah ranked as a favorite among the industry insiders, as
presidential buzz has engulfed the mogul and star ever since her memorable
2017 Golden Globes speech. ... Other top mentions lean Democratic,
including Texan superstar Beto O’Rourke and California’s own Kamala
Harris.” Of the over 40 responses published in the article, seven mention
former Vice President Joe Biden. For example, CBS Films President Terry
Press said, “Joe Biden, because he is the only sure thing to beat Trump.
Look at any poll. My ticket is Joe Biden and LeBron James, who is
everything and a slice of pie.” Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=00f-27e&t=c>
(12/11, Caplan) reported on the Hollywood Reporter story.
Media Analyses: Potential 2020 Democrats Scrambling To Woo Campaign
Operatives.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=010-21a&t=c>
(12/11, Scherer) reports that among the field of potential 2020 Democratic
hopefuls, “the race to build a presidential campaign team is already well
underway, even though most candidates have not yet created legal vehicles
for hiring staff. Potential candidates have been crisscrossing the country
to gut-check operatives.” The Post says that a raft of Democrats “have said
publicly that they plan to spend the holidays talking over a run with their
families, and two or more are still expected to hint at their intentions
before the holidays.” Democratic pollster John Anzalone, “who has spoken
with representatives of multiple potential presidential efforts, including
advisers to former vice president Joe Biden,” told the Post, “Every
presidential candidate apparently is only going to be strategizing with
their families over the Christmas holiday. Apparently, there is going to be
a conference table instead of a dinner table, and they are going to be
showing PowerPoints.”

Similarly, Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=011-fe5&t=c>
(12/12, Korecki) reports, “Local phones are buzzing with personal phone
calls from national politicians,” as allies “on the ground recruiting
operatives” and possible 2020 hopefuls jockey “to land prized speaking
slots at holiday parties. It’s a mad, end-of-the-year rush of political
traffic in the early presidential states, where” potential candidates “are
scrambling to hire top-flight talent before it’s picked clean, and hoping
to make an impression before an expected explosion of campaign
announcements in January.”
University Of Delaware Renames School Of Public Policy After Biden.

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=012-811&t=c>
(12/11, Press) reports that the University of Delaware on Tuesday announced
that it “has named its school of public policy in honor of former vice
president Joe Biden.” The former Vice President “is a 1965 graduate of the
university. The Biden Institute at UD’s School of Public Policy and
Administration is already named for him.” It “is a research and domestic
policy center focused on issues including the economy, the environment,
civil rights and criminal justice. Biden told trustees in brief remarks
that having the school itself named for him was ‘a truly great honor.’”

On its website, Delaware Public Media
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=013-023&t=c>
(12/11, Byrne) reports, “The University of Delaware’s School of Public
Policy and Administration now bares a very familiar name.” UD “announced
it’s changing the name to the Joseph R. Biden Jr. School of Public Policy
and Administration at its Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday.” The report
added, “The Biden Institute will remain within Biden School of Public
Policy and Administration.” The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=014-112&t=c>
(12/11, Anapol) reported, “The newly-renamed school will ‘grow programs in
specialty areas that include urban and social policy; energy and
environmental policy; health policy and management; and disaster science
and management,’ according to a release from the university. ‘Biden’s
lifetime of public service and policymaking is now officially woven into
the academic fabric of his alma mater,’ the university said in a
statement.”
Leading the News
Trump Says He Would Be “Proud” To Shut Down Government Over Border Security.

In a series of tweets before his Oval Office meeting with Senate Minority
Leader Schumer and House Minority Leader Pelosi Tuesday, the President
praised the efforts of ICE, Border Patrol, and the military to secure the
southern border, saying the caravans that had been heading to the country
are staying in Mexico or returning to their home countries. However, Trump
made a case for the border wall, arguing it would be an easier and less
expensive solution, and indicated that he intended to raise the issue in
the meeting. Trump wrote
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=015-e61&t=c>,
“Despite the large Caravans that WERE forming and heading to our Country,
people have not been able to get through our newly built Walls, makeshift
Walls & Fences, or Border Patrol Officers & Military. They are now staying
in Mexico or going back to their original countries” ...
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=016-487&t=c>
“Ice, Border Patrol and our Military have done a FANTASTIC job of securing
our Southern Border. A Great Wall would be, however, a far easier & less
expensive solution. We have already built large new sections & fully
renovated others, making them like new. The Democrats,” ...
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=017-620&t=c>
“however, for strictly political reasons and because they have been pulled
so far left, do NOT want Border Security. They want Open Borders for anyone
to come in. This brings large scale crime and disease. Our Southern Border
is now Secure and will remain that way” ...
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=018-d0a&t=c>
“I look forward to my meeting with Chuck Schumer & Nancy Pelosi. In 2006,
Democrats voted for a Wall, and they were right to do so. Today, they no
longer want Border Security. They will fight it at all cost, and Nancy must
get votes for Speaker. But the Wall will get built...”

Media coverage of Trump’s Oval Office meeting with Schumer and
Pelosi is generally negative for the President, casting it as a victory for
Schumer and Pelosi because the President clearly stated that he would be
“proud to shut down the government” in order to secure $5 billion in
funding for the border wall he promised during his campaign. A number of
reports and commentators suggest Schumer and Pelosi were able to goad Trump
into taking ownership of a potential shutdown, which could be politically
problematic for the President and Republicans.

The New York Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=019-a5b&t=c>
(12/11, Fredericks) reports that “during a remarkable, tense exchange” in
front of television cameras, Trump said, “I am proud to shut down the
government for border security, Chuck. The people of this country don’t
want criminals and people that have lots of problems pouring into our
country. ... I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down. I’m
not going to blame you. I’m going to shut it down for border security.” The
Post says the Vice President “was also in the room but appeared to say
nothing during the time the press was present.” According to Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=01a-63e&t=c>
(12/11, Bade), “Congressional Democrats are feeling smug – and actually a
little excited – for the looming shutdown fight with the president after
Tuesday’s Oval Office meeting.” Politico says Democrats believe Trump “fell
into a trap the minute he took ownership of what Pelosi has dubbed ‘the
Trump shutdown.’”

Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=01b-a8b&t=c>
(12/11, Sink, Wasson) reports Pelosi later “privately bragged to other
Democrats about the outcome of the meeting.” According to “an aide in the
room,” she said, “The fact is we did get him to say, to fully own that the
shutdown was his. ... That was an accomplishment.” The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=01c-87a&t=c>
(12/11, Debonis) says Pelosi “described Trump’s admission during the
17-minute on-camera tete-a-tete that he would be ‘proud’ to shut the
government as a political triumph.”

David Swerdlick of the Washington Post said on CNN’s Situation
Room[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=01d-608&t=c>
(12/11) that Pelosi and Schumer “good copped/bad copped President Trump
into saying exactly what they wanted him to say, which was that he was all
about having a shutdown. That’s their opening bid. There may or may not be
a shutdown, but now they have got that in their hip pocket and they can use
it.” A CQ Roll Call
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=01e-b61&t=c>
(12/11, Bennett) analysis says Trump “pre-emptively took ownership over the
possible closure of the Homeland Security Department and a handful of other
federal entities unless a deal is reached by 11:59 p.m., Eastern time, on
Dec. 21.” A “former GOP congressional aide” said, “Schumer got what he
needed: On any partial shutdown, POTUS is willing to take the heat.” Jake
Tapper said on CNN’s The Lead[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=01f-b25&t=c>
(12/11), “President Trump, in the heat of the showdown, delivered a line
that could haunt him and the Republican Party, saying that he will proudly
own the shutdown if it happens.”

On the CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=020-7a0&t=c>
(12/11, story 2, 3:40, Glor), Major Garrett suggested the President and the
Democratic leaders were hoping for a confrontation in front of the cameras.
Garrett said, “The back-and-forth landed, it appears, where both sides
wanted it, a televised political standoff.” USA Today
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=021-7d5&t=c>
(12/11, Collins, Jackson, Collins) says Pelosi and Schumer “gave as good as
they got” in the “remarkable on-camera clash.” When Trump said Pelosi is
“in a situation where it’s not easy to talk right now” as she tries to
secure the votes to become House Speaker, Pelosi said, “Please don’t
characterize the strength that I bring to this meeting.” CNN special
correspondent Jamie Gangel said on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=022-194&t=c>
(12/11), “In the end, he did sort of have a meltdown or a temper tantrum.
He looked very unhappy at the end, because Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi,
they went toe-to-toe to him.”

The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=023-f7b&t=c>
(12/11, Donachie) says the meeting “started cordially, but it ran off the
rails after Pelosi warned that Trump’s hard-line position on the wall would
lead to a ‘Trump shutdown.’” Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=024-4c8&t=c>
(12/11, Rampton, Cornwell) says the comment “touch[ed] a nerve.” Similarly,
the Daily Caller
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=025-13a&t=c>
(12/11, Enjeti) says Pelosi “set the tone for the discussion at the
beginning of her statement noting that any shutdown would be known as ‘The
Trump Shutdown,’ prompting the president to immediately interrupt her.”

Breitbart
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=026-abd&t=c>
(12/11, Spiering) reports Pelosi “defied the idea that Trump had the votes
to get the wall funded, daring him to pass a wall funding bill in the House
of Representatives.” Trump “expressed frustration that he needed ten votes
in the Senate to get wall funding passed and insisted that he would not
keep the government fully funded unless it had more money for border
security.” The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=027-9ec&t=c>
(12/11, Boyer, Miller) says both Pelosi and Schumer “said if the government
does close up some agencies before Christmas, it will lie on the
president’s head.” They “repeatedly accused Mr. Trump of bending the truth
on his claims about border security and his intentions for the wall, and
said their chief goal was to keep the government open, while denying him
any additional money.”

Dana Milbank writes in the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=028-763&t=c>
(12/11) that with Special Counsel Robert Mueller “circling, recessionary
clouds...building, and Democrats...rising to power,” Trump has to
“fabricate a new crisis. And that’s exactly what he’s doing.” On Tuesday,
he used Schumer and Pelosi “as props in an impromptu, 17-minute reality-TV
show.” Trump “was practicing leadership as he knows it: deliberately throw
everything into turmoil, see what emerges – and then claim victory
regardless of outcome.”

The Hill
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=029-dbf&t=c>
(12/11, Fabian) says the televised meeting “appeared to be exactly what the
reality TV star-turned-president craved,” giving him a chance “to make a
show of strength in his first meeting with top Democrats following
Republican losses in the midterm elections and to demonstrate to his base
that he’s no squish.” However, Trump “appeared to be caught off-guard on
several occasions by his emboldened Democratic opponents, who were eager to
flex their own political muscles in front of Trump and the cameras.”
Jonathan Karl said on ABC World News Tonight[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=02a-2c7&t=c>
(12/11, story 3, 3:50, Muir) that Schumer “later described the President as
having a, quote, ‘temper tantrum.’”

Matt Vespa writes on Townhall
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=02b-6cf&t=c>
(12/11) that Trump pointed out that “the last time Schumer shut down the
government, it didn’t work. A not so subtle jab suggesting the president
knows he’s in it to win a shut down fight – and on this issue, he probably
would.”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=02c-538&t=c>
(12/11, Wagner) that the “stunning public spat...appeared to increase the
chances of a partial government shutdown at the end of next week, just
before Christmas.” McClatchy
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=02d-9d8&t=c>
(12/11, Ordoñez, Drusch) reports there is “no sign” the impasse will break
“as leaders on both sides have struggled to find a solution that their own
parties can agree on.” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=02e-ca9&t=c>
(12/11, Davis, Tackett) says the exchange “showcased the interplay of two
politicians playing to very different bases: Mr. Trump appealing to his
core anti-immigration supporters and Ms. Pelosi to the young liberal
lawmakers she needs to keep in her camp ahead of next month’s speaker
election.” The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=02f-2c8&t=c>
(12/11, Karni) says Pelosi’s exchange with Trump “seemed aimed at making
clear to Ms. Pelosi’s Democratic caucus that she can take on Mr. Trump and
brush off mansplaining,” and “it was Ms. Pelosi who may have benefited from
the negotiating-in-public style the president prefers.”

A Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=030-268&t=c>
(12/11, Rucker, Dawsey, Costa) analysis says that while Trump “operated
without a clear check on his power” for his first two years in office, that
“came to a crashing halt Tuesday” as “the combustible president confronted
for the first time the enormity of the challenge he will face over the next
two years: divided government.” Likewise, the AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=031-f36&t=c>
(12/11, Daly, Lucey) says the meeting “offered a grim preview of life in
Washington the next two years under divided government,” while the Los
Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=032-d29&t=c>
(12/11, Haberkorn) describes “a combative Oval Office meeting that
previewed what a divided government may look like,” adding that it was “all
the more extraordinary because much of it occurred in front of reporters.”
A Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=033-fa9&t=c>
(12/11) editorial dismisses the meeting as political theater that did not
accomplish anything,

Axios
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=034-143&t=c>
(12/11, Axios) says it is “unclear how much, if any, Democrats will work
with Trump – especially if the Senate doesn’t feel like cooperating with
the end result. It’s also unclear how often Chuck and Nancy will return to
the White House if Trump has these debates, without resolution, on camera.”
Axios adds, however, that “working with Republicans – which of course
includes Trump – is something most Democratic freshman are demanding.” In
an interview Tuesday morning before the meeting, Kellyanne Conway told Fox
News’ America’s Newsroom[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=035-451&t=c>
(12/11), “The Democrats have a central question in front of them: do they
want to keep the government open or do they want to keep the borders open?”

The Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=036-5f2&t=c>
(12/11, Nakamura) says that “with time running out to build it, the wall is
threatening to become something else for Trump – a drag on his presidency”
and his “increasing desperation to deliver on his core campaign promise
played out publicly” during Tuesday’s meeting. Trump “grew visibly
exasperated during the contentious 17-minute debate...and declared that he
would accept full responsibility for the fallout.” The Post says “the fight
over the wall has reached a moment of truth as he confronts the reality
that, with Democrats poised to control the House in January, this could be
his last chance to make good on a promise that has become an existential
part of his presidency.”

The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=037-117&t=c>
(12/11, Salama, Peterson) says Trump’s professed willingness to partially
shut down the government complicated Republicans plans to blame Democrats
should a shut down occur. Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=038-529&t=c>
(12/11, Everett, Bresnahan) says Trump “just made it nearly impossible for
Republicans to blame Democrats for an increasingly likely partial
government shutdown. But they’re going to try anyway.” Politico cites
“multiple GOP sources” who say House Republicans are considering a stopgap
measure “that provides $5 billion for Trump’s border wall, essentially
daring Senate Democrats to accept it or face the fallout of any funding
lapse next week.” A.B. Stoddard of Real Clear Politics said on Fox News’
Special Report[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=039-3da&t=c>
(12/11), “Republicans have dreaded this moment for months and they don’t
want a government shutdown. Yes, the Democrats did this last year and they
regretted it very quickly, as the President pointed out, they open it right
back up. Government shutdowns are a loser particularly when you proclaim
that you want one and you are the architect of the shutdown. You will get
blamed. Republicans still have a majority in the Senate and the House, they
don’t want to shut the government down on their watch.”

Nonetheless, Trump’s performance in the meeting drew praise from
Republicans. The Washington Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=03a-747&t=c>
(12/11, Lim) reports Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) praised the President
following Tuesday’s meeting, writing in a series of tweets
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=03b-8ed&t=c>,
“Great job sticking to your guns on border security, Mr. President! ... You
are right to want more border security funding including Wall money. They
are WRONG to say no. Put DACA on the table and make them say NO to the Wall
and DACA.”

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) said on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=03c-bba&t=c>
(12/11), “The President today made it pretty darn clear he is going to
stand firm and focus on doing what we were elected to do. I always say, we
make this job too complicated. That is a pretty basic thing to focus on.
Don’t get too complicated, just do what you were elected to do. We were
certainly elected to build a border security wall.”

*Pelosi: Wall Is A “Manhood Thing” For Trump. *The Washington Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=03d-4d0&t=c>
(12/11, Chasmar) reports that Pelosi “took a swipe” at the President’s
“manhood” following the meeting. Pelosi privately told House Democrats,
“It’s like a manhood thing for him. As if manhood could ever be associated
with him. This wall thing.”

The Los Angeles Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=03e-c34&t=c>
(12/11, Haberkorn) reports Pelosi “said Trump was obsessed with the wall.”
The Times adds, “Even as a seasoned House leader, Pelosi found the White
House meeting...remarkable.” She told Democrats, “The press is all there!
Chuck is really shouting out. I was trying to be the mom.” Politico
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=03f-425&t=c>
(12/11, Bade) quotes Pelosi as saying, “It goes to show you: you get into a
tinkle contest with a skunk, you get tinkle all over you.” The Washington
Examiner
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=040-53f&t=c>
(12/11, Thompson) also reports on Pelosi’s comments.

White House Director of Strategic Communications Mercedes Schlapp
was asked about Pelosi’s comment on Fox News’ The Story[image: Image
removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=041-abb&t=c>
(12/11). Schlapp said, “I’m disappointed with the comment, there’s no need
to belittle the President like she did. At the end of the day our focus is
to find a solution to the border crisis and this President has been
committed day one to ensuring that we are able to ensure we push forward
legal immigration, merit-based immigration, instead of having to deal with
700,000 cases in terms of illegal immigrants coming in and cases that we
need to deal with.”

*Blumenthal: Trump “Blew Up” Good Faith Negotiations. *Sen. Richard
Blumenthal (D-CT) said on CNN’s Situation Room[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=042-d72&t=c>
(12/11), “Even at a time when a lot of firsts are happening in the Oval
Office, this was certainly a very odd moment. And Donald Trump really blew
up negotiations that were proceeding in good faith over a vanity project,
which, by the way, the Mexicans were supposed to pay for, in case anyone
has forgotten. And the idea that the government would be shut down over
such a wasteful, unnecessary project is going to be an anathema to the
American people, and yet Donald Trump is trying to distort it in a way he
thinks is politically advantageous.”

*NYTimes, AP Fact Check Trump’s Border Wall Claims. *In an “Fact
Check” piece titled “Trump Makes Misleading Border Wall Claims Before
Meeting With Democrats,” Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=043-dc6&t=c>
(12/11) writes, “Mr. Trump has long charged that Democrats want open
borders, slinging accusations at a higher clip in the waning days of the
midterm elections campaign in November.” However, according to Sullivan,
“Democrats do not want open borders, evidenced in part by border security
legislative measures that Democrats have supported.” Sullivan adds, “What
Democrats do not want is Mr. Trump’s costly border wall.”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=044-b8d&t=c>
(12/11, Woodward) says Trump has claimed for months “that wall construction
is underway and he’s brought the matter to the forefront again as the White
House presses lawmakers to free up money for what he calls the ‘remaining
sections.’” While Trump said in Tuesday’s meeting, “Tremendous amounts of
wall have already been built,” the AP reports, “Tremendous portions of the
wall have not been built. Yes, some barrier renovation has happened, but
little wall construction has been completed under Trump.”

*Trump’s Comments Blamed For Drop In US Stocks. *Peter Alexander
reported on NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=045-da6&t=c>
(12/11, story 2, 2:55, Holt) that “the markets immediately [took] a hit”
following Trump’s comments. Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=046-db4&t=c>
(12/11, Singh) reports that the S&P 500 “gave up most gains” and the Dow
“turned lower on Tuesday after...Trump’s threat to shut down the government
over funding for a border wall undid the boost to markets from optimism
over China-US trade talks.” Under the headline “US Stocks Sought Higher
Ground. Then Trump Detoured ‘To Crazy Town,’” the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=047-0df&t=c>
(12/11, Heath) reports that “tn the course of the meeting, stocks swung
into the red. The Dow sank more than 150 points in minutes. ‘The market was
looking good until Trump took a detour into crazy town during his meeting
with Pelosi and Schumer,’ said Ivan Feinseth, chief investment officer at
Tigress Financial Partners.”
Foreign Policy
Trump Reiterates Support For Saudi Crown Prince.

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=048-527&t=c>
(12/12, Holland, Rampton) reports President Trump “said on Tuesday that he
stood by Saudi Arabia’s crown prince despite a CIA assessment that he
ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and pleas from U.S.
senators for Trump to condemn the kingdom’s de facto ruler.” While the
President “refused to comment on whether Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
was complicit in the murder,” he delivered “perhaps his most explicit show
of support for the prince since Khashoggi’s death.” Asked whether “standing
by the kingdom meant standing by the prince, known as MBS, Trump responded:
‘Well, at this moment, it certainly does.’” Trump said he would meet with
senators as they weigh a joint resolution condemning MBS for the killing,
but “he hoped senators would not propose stopping arms sales to the
Saudis.” He added, “I’m much more open to” abiding by legislation ending US
support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, but “I’d want to see Iran
pull out of Yemen too.”

*Corker To Introduce Resolution Condemning MBS For Khashoggi
Murder. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=049-e24&t=c>
(12/11) reports that Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker says he
intends to “introduce...a joint resolution condemning Saudi Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which
could force President Donald Trump to decide whether to sign or veto.”
According to Reuters, Corker “said he expected the measure to pass the
Senate, noting that its co-sponsors include” Senate Majority Leader
McConnell. Reuters says aides to House Speaker Ryan “did not immediately
respond to a request for comment on whether the House planned to vote on
the measure if it passed the Senate.”

Fox News’ Special Report[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=04a-8be&t=c>
(12/11, Baier) reported Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said of the measure, “I
think it’s important for the Senate to get on the record that this is
unacceptable and we hold MBS responsible for the murder. That’s a big
deal.” According to correspondent Peter Doocy, “Progressive Democrats are
on the same page.” Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) commented, “I think we have to
act.” Doocy added that the resolution is sponsored by Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT)
and Bernie Sanders (I-VT), “who say at the time is long overdue for the
United States to stop following...a brutal regime that recently murdered a
dissident journalist and has no respect for human rights.”

*Kushner “Side-Steps” Questions About Khashoggi During Fox News
Interview. *NBC Nightly News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=04b-352&t=c>
(12/11, story 3, 2:10, Holt) reported Jared Kushner made “a rare move into
the spotlight overnight on Fox News, side-stepping a question about the
murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.” Kushner: “I think our intelligence
agencies are making their assessments, and we’re hoping to make sure
there’s justice brought where that should be.” NBC’s Hallie Jackson said
Kushner made “no mention of the Saudi crown prince, even though the CIA has
concluded he ordered the murder.” Jackson there are also “new questions now
about Kushner’s close relationship with Prince Muhammad bin Salman.” Sen.
Jeff Flake (R-AZ): “I don’t know about that relationship in particular, but
I think all of us are concerned about the Administration’s relationship,
and unwillingness to call him on the carpet.”

On ABC’s Good Morning America[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=04c-b9a&t=c>
(12/11), George Stephanopoulos said Kushner is “under fire” after the New
York Times reported that he “was counseling the Saudi crown prince after
the murder” of Khashoggi. ABC’s Terry Moran added, “That’s right. This is a
very serious issue. Jared Kushner and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in
Saudi Arabia...struck up a very close friendship...and Kushner apparently
continuing those contacts after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was
accused of masterminding the murder of that...Khashoggi.” Moran said the
Senate “wants to know more about those contacts.”

*Time Names Khashoggi Its “Person Of The Year.” *NBC’s Today[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=04d-db7&t=c>
(12/11) reported that Time has just named Khashoggi its “Person Of The
Year,” along with other journalists. Edward Felsenthal, Time’s editor in
chief, said, “This is the first time we have chosen someone no longer alive
as person of the year. But it’s also very rare that a person grows so
immensely in death. His murder has prompted a global reassessment of the
Saudi crown prince and a really long overdue look at the devastating war in
Yemen.”

*UN Proposes All Military Forces Withdraw From Yemeni Port. *Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=04e-0e7&t=c>
(12/11, El Yaakoubi) reports that at peace talks in Sweden on Tuesday, the
UN “proposed...[that] Yemen’s warring parties...withdraw from the contested
port city of Hodeidah, a lifeline for millions facing famine, and place it
under the control of an interim entity.” Reuters says “it was not clear if
the Iran-aligned Houthi movement and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government
would accept the proposal...to avert a full-scale assault on Hodeidah, now
a focus of the nearly four-year-old war.” According to Reuters, “After the
two sides agreed to exchange around 15,000 prisoners, the consultations
revolve around thornier issues such as the status of Hodeidah and the
reopening of Sanaa airport.”

*NYTimes Magazine: US Support Allows Saudis To Bomb Yemeni
Civilians. *Jeffrey Stern, in a piece for the New York Times Magazine
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=04f-332&t=c>
(12/11, Stern) writes that in Yemen, “the Saudis’ bombs have struck
factories, roads, bridges, hospitals, wells, funerals, weddings, gatherings
entirely of women and a school bus full of children.” The Times notes that
the UN “has documented about 18,000 civilian deaths and injuries that have
resulted from the fighting, almost 11,000 of them from airstrikes alone.”
According to Stern, the Saudis “have been drawing on help from other
Persian Gulf states,” but their “most important source of material support
is one faraway ally: America.” Stern says that “as the Saudis began running
sorties into Yemen, United States Central Command began flying American
Stratotankers on refueling missions every day,” and, “perhaps most crucial,
America has sold the Saudis billions of dollars’ worth of high-tech
weapons.”
WPost Report: Trump Rejects US Intelligence On Russia, North Korea, Iran
And More.

Under the headline “Gap Continues To Widen Between Trump And Intelligence
Community On Key Issues,” the Washington Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=050-db0&t=c>
(12/11, Miller) reports that President Trump “continues to reject the
judgments of US spy agencies on major foreign policy fronts, creating a
dynamic in which intelligence analysts frequently see troubling gaps
between the president’s public statements and the facts.” According to the
Post, “The pattern has become a source of mounting concern to senior US
intelligence officials who had hoped that Trump would become less hostile
to their work as he settled into office.” The Post says “distrust that once
seemed confined mainly to...assessments about Russia’s interference in the
2016 election has spread across a range of global issues,” including “North
Korea’s willingness to abandon its nuclear weapons program, Iran’s nuclear
and regional ambitions, the existence and implications of global climate
change and the role of the Saudi crown prince in the murder of a dissident
journalist.”
Four Dead, Several Wounded In Attack On French Christmas Market.

All three networks led their broadcasts last night with the terrorist
attack on a Christmas market in Strasbourg, France. ABC World News
Tonight[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=051-376&t=c>
(12/11, lead story, 2:05, Muir) said the attack “is being investigated as
an act of terror” and the death toll is still “growing. After reports of
shots fired, heavily armed officers taking to the streets” where “a
manhunt” is underway for the gunman. ABC (Pannell) added French authorities
“were able to identify the gunman very quickly. He’s apparently a known
criminal who has been on their radar.” According to Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=052-822&t=c>
(12/11, Chee), French police “identified the suspect as Strasbourg-born
Cherif Chekatt.”

The CBS Evening News[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=053-942&t=c>
(12/11, lead story, 1:50, Glor) reported French police “say the gunman was
known to them and had a criminal record. One report claimed the attacker
had been wounded himself in an early exchange of gunfire with police, but
through the evening he remained on the run. Several security sources have
revealed French police raided the home of the suspected gunman earlier
today as part of a separate attempted murder investigation, but that he
wasn’t there. Sources have also said the man was on what the French called
the S-file security list for possible extremist sympathies.” Bloomberg News
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=054-8de&t=c>
(12/11, Ruitenberg, Stearns) also reports the “shooter was wounded by a
military patrol.”

France’s Ambassador to the US, Gérard Araud, said on Fox News’
Special Report[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=055-bb7&t=c>
(12/11, Baier), “The suspect has not been arrested. We know who he is. He
is an Islamist terrorist. There are three or maybe four people who have
been killed, but at least 12 have been wounded. We have been facing this
challenge for some time now unfortunately. Radical Islam, it’s still
there.”

The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=056-9e2&t=c>
(12/12, Corbet, Hinnant, Ganley) reports that it “was unclear if the market
– a popular gathering place that was the nucleus of an al-Qaida-linked plot
in 2000 – was the intended target.” Bill Neely reported on NBC Nightly
News[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=057-34e&t=c>
(12/11, lead story, 2:30, Holt) that the “historic Strasbourg market” is
“visited by millions each year,” and was “heavily guarded.” After Tuesday’s
attack, “authorities placed the city center on lockdown, warning people to
stay indoors.” Neely also reported that “two years ago, a truck was driven
into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 11 and injuring dozens.”
The Washington
Post
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=058-1e3&t=c>
(12/11, Birnbaum, McAuley) says that following the 2016 attack on the
Berlin market, “several arrests were made in...Strasbourg.”
Media Reports: Protests And Macron’s Capitulation Slow French GDP Growth,
Add To Budget Deficit.

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=059-07d&t=c>
(12/11, Alderman) says French President Emmanuel Macron “came into office
pledging to...improv[e] the country’s long-term prospects. But his halting
response to a month of violent demonstrations by the so-called Yellow Vest
movement over social inequality has clouded his efforts for a revival.” On
Monday, France’s central bank “trimmed its growth forecast for the fourth
quarter to 0.2 percent from 0.4 percent, well off the sluggish pace
expected for the year.” According to the Times, “Businesses have sustained
more than 10 billion euros, about $11.4 billion, in damages and lost sales,
a figure that will probably grow.” The AP
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=05a-a52&t=c>
(12/11, Leicester) reports that Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire “says the
fallout from the protests...will shave 0.1 percent off French economic
growth in the last quarter of 2018 and is ‘not good for the attractiveness
of our country.’”

Reuters
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=05b-0ee&t=c>
(12/11, Thomas) reports that France is now “on course to overshoot the
European Union’s budget deficit ceiling next year without new spending cuts
after...Macron caved in to anti-government street protests.” Reuters notes
that Macron “announced wage increases for the poorest workers and a tax cut
for most pensioners on Monday to defuse discontent, leaving his government
scrambling to come up with extra budget savings or risk blowing through the
EU’s 3 percent of GDP limit.” According to Reuters, “Any failure to respect
the EU deficit ceiling could shatter France’s fiscal credibility with its
European partners after flouting it for a decade before Macron took
office.”

The New York Times
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=05c-9f2&t=c>
(12/11, Rubin) says that Macron’s financial proposal was “intended to end
protests by France’s middle class and working poor,” but the “intended
beneficiaries” of the changes – the protesters – “said they were doubtful
about how helpful they would be, and local elected officials said their
constituents had mixed views of the president’s plan and his tone.” Many of
the protesters are “calling for new demonstrations this weekend.” According
to the Times, the “sense among voters of having been deceived is a problem
that has haunted Mr. Macron since his election victory last year, after he
had campaigned on promises to make France grow and reduce unemployment.”

*WSJournal: French Unrest Was Avoidable. *The Wall Street Journal
<http://mailview.bulletinintelligence.com/mailview.aspx?m=2018121201biden&r=email-94e7&l=05d-1d0&t=c>
(12/11) editorializes that French President Emmanuel Macron’s concessions
to the “Yellow Vest” protesters on Monday constituted an attempt to save
his presidency and his economic reform agenda. The Journal says Macron
could have avoided the unrest altogether if he cut taxes, faced down
national railroad unions, and reformed France’s labor laws – and abstained
from proposing the fuel-tax hike that incensed rural voters.

*NYTimes: Macron’s Choices Will Have Ripple Effect Across Western
Democracies. *A New York Times
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(12/11) editorial says a lot is riding on French President Emmanuel
Macron’s ability to “survive and respond” to the “Yellow Vest” uprising,
“not only for France but for all Western democracies in which the
deindustrialized hinterlands have fostered an angry sense of
marginalization and neglect.” The Times explains that the French protesters
“are cousins of the British who voted for Brexit, the Americans who voted
for Donald Trump, and the Poles, Hungarians and Italians who elected
populist, anti-democratic governments.” The Times says while “Macron has
done well to come down from the heavens to show contrition,” he “must not
stop there: He must prove that he really has understood the ‘anger and
indignation’” of his people, “and that from now on he and his government
are listening closely and sympathetically.”
UK Conservatives Trigger Confidence Vote For May Over Brexit.

Reuters
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(12/12, Maclellan, Faulconbridge) reports the UK Conservative Party has
triggered a confidence vote for Prime Minister Theresa May for late
Wednesday in response to her leadership on Brexit. If she were to lose the
vote, it would mean she would have to step down as Prime Minister, further
raising questions about plans for Brexit, which is due to happen on March
29.

The New York Times
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(12/11, Pérez-Peña) reports that “after an embarrassing setback in
Parliament,” May on Tuesday “toured European capitals...meeting with
leaders and looking for some way to shore up support back home for her
imperiled agreement on Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union.”
According to the Times, May’s “retreat undermined the tenuous hold on power
by a prime minister whose opponents, both inside and outside her party,
have been speaking openly about trying to topple her.”
Perry In Baghdad As Iraq Seeks Iran Sanctions Waiver Extension.

The Washington Post
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(12/11, El-Ghobashy) reports that during a “rare” visit from a member of
the Trump cabinet to Baghdad, Energy Secretary Perry on Tuesday said Iraq’s
“stability rests on revitalizing its energy sector and weaning itself off
importing natural gas.” According to the Post, “Perry’s visit comes as Iraq
faces a difficult challenge in balancing its allegiances to both the United
States and Iran” because “Iranian natural gas plants account for nearly 50
percent of Iraq’s electricity – an arrangement that is threatened by new US
sanctions.” The Post says Perry said he and Iraqi officials “discussed
sanctions on Iranian oil exports, but did not address whether the United
States will extend a 45-day waiver granted to Iraq last month.” Said Perry,
“Sanctions were mentioned. They are a reality, they are there.”

Also on Tuesday, Reuters
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(12/11, Davison, Rasheed) reports, Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said
that Iraq will “send a delegation to the United States seeking an exemption
from sanctions against Iran that would allow it to keep importing Iranian
gas. ... ‘The American side is cooperating with Iraq to find solutions that
would remove pressure on Iraq because the [Iranian] gas is linked to a very
sensitive issue which is electricity,’ Abdul Mahdi told a news conference.”
State Department Launches Anti-Propaganda Initiative Targeting Iran, China,
Russia.

The State Department Global Engagement Center (GEC), “which just received a
$40 million cash influx,” is launching “a new effort to counter propaganda
and disinformation campaigns launched across the globe by a host of rogue
nations, including Russia, China, and Iran, according to senior U.S.
officials” who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon
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(12/11, Kredo) on the matter, “which they say will put the United States
‘on the offense’ against these countries.” The GEC “is refocusing its
priorities on what senior Trump administration officials described as a
global battle against propaganda that undermines the U.S. role in the world
and its national security priorities.” The new initiative comes as the
Administration “undertakes efforts domestically to address Russian election
meddling as well as efforts by Iran and China to disrupt the American
political landscape.”
Domestic Policy
Trump Says He Has 10 To 12 Chief Of Staff Contenders “That Want It Badly.”

Reuters
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(12/12, Rampton, Mason) reports President Trump “said on Tuesday that he
has 10 to 12 candidates he is considering for the post of new White House
chief of staff and although he could move quickly to fill the job, he was
in no particular rush.” The President told Reuters, “I have at least 10, 12
people that want it badly. I’m making a decision. Great people. I could do
it immediately. I’m in no rush. A lot of people want it.” Trump said one
contender, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC), “‘is a great guy,’ as is former
campaign adviser Dave Bossie, who is also on the list – friend of mine.’
But he gave no indication who he was leaning toward.” The President
similarly said in a Tuesday morning tweet
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“Fake News has it purposely wrong. Many, over ten, are vying for and
wanting the White House Chief of Staff position. Why wouldn’t someone want
one of the truly great and meaningful jobs in Washington. Please report
news correctly. Thank you!” The New York Times
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(12/11, Karni, Haberman) reports that the President initially “told
reporters that he planned to announce a successor ‘over the next day or
two,’” but he “is back to square one.”

Bossie said on Fox News’ Fox & Friends[image: Image removed by
sender. Video]
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(12/11), “It is a humbling thing to be on a list. Whether the people take
the list seriously or whether that is actually a serious list of people the
President is considering, I have no idea. But the folks on it are all
friends of mine.” Asked if he believes he has the “chemistry” necessary to
work successfully with the President, Bossie replied, “I have certainly
known the President a long, long time. ... I do feel I understand the
movement that elected him and having been a conservative leader in this
town for a long time. ... So, yes. Do I understand this President?
Absolutely.” James Hohmann of the Washington Post tweeted
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that Bossie is “openly campaigning to be White House chief of staff.”

While most coverage, including reports on CBS This Morning[image:
Image removed by sender. Video]
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(12/11) and NBC’s Today[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
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(12/11), said the President’s list includes Bossie, Meadows, ex-New Jersey
Gov. Chris Christie, and Acting Attorney General Whitaker, on ABC’s Good
Morning America[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
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(12/11), Terry Moran added Kellyanne Conway, “the President’s staunch
defender and longtime counselor.” During an appearance on Fox News’
America’s Newsroom[image: Image removed by sender. Video]
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(12/11), Conway said, “I think there will be a very peaceful and pragmatic
transition to the next chief of staff. The President has many people who
want to serve h