March 2, 2017


News and Views


THERE ARE SO MANY SHOES DROPPING THAT I THINK WE MUST BE DEALING WITH A CENTIPEDE – OR A “VAST RIGHT-WING CONSPIRACY,” AND THIS IS FROM “OFFICIALS” AT THE DOJ.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/jeff-sessions-spoke-twice-with-russian-envoy-during-presidential-campaign/
Jeff Sessions spoke twice with Russian envoy during presidential campaign: Department of Justice
CBS NEWS March 1, 2017, 11:19 PM
Last Updated Mar 2, 2017 2:34 AM EST

Attorney General Jeff Sessions had two contacts with Russian envoy Sergey Kislyak during the presidential campaign, Justice Department officials confirmed. The Washington Post first reported the meetings Wednesday.

When he was asked in his confirmation hearing what he would do if there was evidence anyone associated with Donald Trump’s presidential campaign had communicated with the Russians, Sessions replied that he wasn’t aware of any such “activities,” and added, “I did not have communications with the Russians.” A questionnaire he filled out for the committee also asked whether he had had contact with the Russians, to which Sessions, according to the Post, wrote, “No.”

AG Sessions not recusing himself from Trump-Russia investigations
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AG Sessions not recusing himself from Trump-Russia investigations

Attorney General Sessions has provided the following statement: “I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false.”

Sessions spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores told CBS News’ Andres Triay in a statement that “[t]here was absolutely nothing misleading about his answer.” It was, she explained, in his capacity as a senator, and not as a campaign surrogate, that he had spoken with Kislyak, and dozens of other foreign ambassadors, as well.

“Last year, the Senator had over 25 conversations with foreign ambassadors as a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, including the British, Korean, Japanese, Polish, Indian, Chinese, Canadian, Australian, German and Russian ambassadors,” Flores wrote. “He was asked during the hearing about communications between Russia and the Trump campaign--not about meetings he took as a senator and a member of the Armed Services Committee.”

While he served on Armed Services, Sessions “discussed relations between the two countries and any positive or negative issues they were facing,” a Justice Department official said. Many of the ambassadors, given the fact that it was a heated election year, would make “superficial comments about election-related news,” but it wasn’t the substance of the discussions, the official said.

Impact of AG Sessions' contacts with Russian ambassador
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Impact of AG Sessions' contacts with Russian ambassador

The other incident took place when Sessions addressed a group of over 50 ambassadors at a Heritage Foundation event. After his speech, a small group of ambassadors approached him, and Kislyak was among them. Sessions, according to an official, spoke to them as a group, and they thanked him for speaking and invited him to events they were sponsoring. But Sessions, the official said, made no commitments.

Sessions may have thought he was talking with Kislyak in his capacity as a Senate Armed Services Committee member and not as a prominent Trump supporter, but the Post contacted all 26 members of the 2016 Senate Armed Services Committee to check on whether anyone else met with Kislyak in 2016. Twenty responded, including Chairman John McCain, and none met with him last year.

At a CNN town hall, GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham said he didn’t know yet whether “there’s anything between the Trump campaign and the Russians.”

“[I]f there’s something there...the FBI believes is criminal in nature, then, for sure, you need a special prosecutor,” Graham said. “If that day ever comes, I’ll be the first one to say it needs to be somebody other than Jeff.”

This story has prompted House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to call on Sessions to resign, CBS News’ Nancy Cordes reports.

Mass. Sen. Elizabeth Warren tweeted, “ ... we need Attorney General Jeff Sessions – who should have never been confirmed in the first place – to resign. We need it now.”

And several other top Democrats – including Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on House Intelligence and Elliott Engel, the top Democrat on House Foreign Affairs are calling on Sessions to recuse himself from any investigation into contacts between Trump associates and the Russians.


PLAUSIBLE DENIABILITY

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/jeff-sessions-says-hell-recuse-himself-when-its-appropriate/
Jeff Sessions under increasing pressure over Russia contact to recuse himself
By REBECCA SHABAD CBS NEWS
March 2, 2017, 8:26 AM
Last Updated Mar 2, 2017 8:42 AM EST


Republicans on Capitol Hill are ramping up pressure on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to recuse himself after revelations that he had contact with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. despite sharing contradictory information in his confirmation process.

On Twitter, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, called on Sessions to recuse himself.

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Jason Chaffetz ✔ @jasoninthehouse
AG Sessions should clarify his testimony and recuse himself
8:14 AM - 2 Mar 2017
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Freedom Caucus hardliner Raul Labrador also said Thursday that Sessions should recuse himself as well as GOP Reps. Justin Amash of Michigan and Leonard Lance of New Jersey.

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Justin Amash ✔ @justinamash
AG Sessions must recuse himself from the Russia investigation.
9:52 AM - 2 Mar 2017
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House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-California, on Thursday morning commented on the situation.

“I think, the trust of the American people, you recuse yourself in these situations,” he said in an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “I just think for any investigation going forward, you want to make sure everybody trusts the investigation, that there’s no doubt within the investigation.”

Asked if that requires Sessions’ recusal, McCarthy said, “I think it would be easier from that standpoint, yes.”

But an hour later, he walked that statement back on Fox News’ “Fox and Friends.”

“I’m not calling on him to recuse himself. I was asked on ‘Morning Joe,’ if he needs to recuse himself as going forward. As you just heard, Attorney General Sessions said he would rescue himself going forward - appropriate, and that’s all my answer was. It’s amazing how people spin things so quickly,” he said.

On Thursday morning, Sessions said that he would recuse himself from investigations when it’s “appropriate.”

“Well, I have said that whenever it’s appropriate I will recuse myself, there’s no doubt about that,” Sessions told NBC News, following revelations that he had contact with Russian ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak during the presidential campaign despite not sharing that at his confirmation hearing.

“Well, I have not met with any Russians at any time to discuss any political campaign,” said Sessions, a former Republican senator from Alabama. “And those remarks are unbelievable to me and are false. And I don’t have anything else to say about that.”

Some Democrats like House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, are now calling on Sessions to resign from his post while others are saying he should recuse himself.

“Now, after lying under oath to Congress about his own communications with the Russians, the Attorney General must resign,” Pelosi said in a statement late Wednesday. “Sessions is not fit to serve as the top law enforcement officer of our country and must resign. There must be an independent, bipartisan, outside commission to investigate the Trump political, personal and financial connections to the Russians.”

At his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee last month, Sessions was asked whether anyone associated with Mr. Trump’s campaign had communicated with the Russians. He said that he wasn’t aware of any such “activities” and said, “I did not have communications with the Russians.” On a questionnaire for the committee, he also said he did not have contact with the Russians.

Sessions’ spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores told CBS News’ Andres Triay in a statement that “[T]here was absolutely nothing misleading about his answer.”

Flores said Sessions spoke to Kislyak in his capacity as a senator and not as a campaign surrogate.

“Last year, the Senator had over 25 conversations with foreign ambassadors as a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, including the British, Korean, Japanese, Polish, Indian, Chinese, Canadian, Australian, German and Russian ambassadors,” Flores wrote. “He was asked during the hearing about communications between Russia and the Trump campaign--not about meetings he took as a senator and a member of the Armed Services Committee.”


IS IT POSSIBLE THAT RUSSIA CAN BE OUR FRIEND? I DON’T THINK SO. I’M GLAD TO SEE ESTONIA READYING THEMSELVES FOR A POTENTIAL ASSAULT. IF THERE’S ONE THING I BELIEVE ABOUT PUTIN IS THAT HE CAN’T BE TRUSTED. DIPLOMATIC CONTACT, YES. ALLOWING HIM INTO OUR ELECTORAL PROCESS, ABSOLUTELY NOT.


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/estonias-civilian-militia-builds-up-in-the-face-of-russian-aggression/
By ELIZABETH PALMER CBS NEWS
March 1, 2017, 7:02 PM

TALLINN, Estonia -- They may look like soldiers, but they’re actually ordinary men and women with day jobs who volunteer in the Estonian Defence League, a kind of citizen’s militia.

There are more than 13,000 of them, a civilian resistance force ready to rise up if Estonia were attacked.

Right now, they believe their aggressive neighbor to the east -- Russia -- is enemy number one, especially after its invasion of Ukraine.

Estonia has a professional military too; It was on display in this weekend’s Independence Day parade.

palmer-estonia-russia2.jpg
American soldiers march in Estonia’s Independence Day parade CBS NEWS

This small country spends big on defense. It’s a fully paid-up member of NATO, and that buys it powerful friends.

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Estonian Defense Minister Margus Tsahkna CBS NEWS

This year, U.S. soldiers deployed to Estonia were part of the parade, and for the first time they brought tanks.

American tanks on the streets of Estonia’s capital send a powerful message to the people; that the U.S. will stand by its NATO allies. They also send a clear signal to the Kremlin.

That signal: a Russian attack on Estonia backed by NATO would be dangerous.

“We are sending the message to Russia very clearly that” we are able to speak the same language as Mr. Putin does, and it’s language that we are ready to fight,” said Defense Minister Margus Tsahkna.

And staying ready means constant training.

On Saturday near the town of Voru, local women of the Defense League were learning to use GPS equipment.

palmer-estonia-russia.jpg
Members of the Estonian Defense League prepare for an annual excercise CBS NEWS

For Ruth Maadla, it’s about learning new skills. She doesn’t really expect the Russian to invade, but “ I think it’s good to have the message,” she said.

That message to Russia is loud and clear: Estonia is spending record amounts on its military, and the Defence League had never had more volunteers.

© 2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Elizabeth Palmer

Elizabeth Palmer has been a CBS News correspondent since August 2000. She has been based in London since late 2003, after having been based in Moscow (2000-03). Palmer reports primarily for the "CBS Evening News."



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/reports-dhs-has-only-identified-20-million-to-fund-construction-of-border-wall/
Report: DHS has only identified $20 million to fund border wall construction
By REBECCA SHABAD CBS NEWS
March 2, 2017, 8:05 AM

Photograph -- Artist Ana Teresa Fernandez (in black) and members of cultural organization “Border/Arte” paint the border fence to give it the illusion of transparency during “Borrando la Frontera” (Erasing the Border) art project, at the border between Mexico and the U.S. in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, April 9, 2016. “Erasing the Border” took place during this day in Baja California, Sonora and Ciudad Juarez, according to the group. JOSE LUIS ONZALEZ / REUTERS

The Department of Homeland Security has identified only $20 million in funding that could be shifted to President Trump’s plan to build a wall along the southern border, significantly less than the more than $21 billion price tag, according to Reuters.

The money was included in a document obtained by Reuters and prepared by DHS to distribute to congressional staff last week. It would only be enough to cover a handful of contracts for wall prototypes, the report said, but not enough to start building a physical wall.

In order to move forward, Congress would need to approve new funding to pay for the wall, but there’s been little movement on such action on Capitol Hill. Last month, Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, said in an interview with MSNBC’s Greta Van Susteren that congressional leaders were considering legislation to fund the border wall, drawing on taxpayer dollars despite promises that Mexico would finance the project.

“First off, we’re going to pay for it and front the money up,” Ryan said at the time. “But I do think that there are various ways -- as you know, I know your follow-up question is, is Mexico going to pay for the wall? There are a lot of different ways of getting Mexico to contribute to doing this. And there are different ways of defining how, exactly they pay for it.”

“We agree with that goal and we will be working with him to finance construction of the physical barrier, including the wall, on the southern border,” Ryan added.

Earlier this month, Reuters obtained a DHS report that was to be presented to Secretary John Kelly that said building the border wall would cost $21.6 billion. The report detailed how the U.S. could build a barrier -- including both walls and fences -- along 1,250 miles of the border over the next three years. And the report said the first phase of construction would target the areas near San Diego, California, El Paso, Texas and the Rio Grande Valley in Texas.



LISTEN TO STEVE BESHEAR’S EXCELLENT COMMENTS ON VIDEO. HE SOUNDS LIKE A DEMOCRAT I COULD SUPPORT, UNLESS HE HAS A BAD VOTING HISTORY, THAT IS.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/steve-beshear-democratic-response/
Former Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear rips Trump in Democratic response
CBS/AP
February 28, 2017, 10:21 PM

Former Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear took a populist tenor in Democrats’ formal response to President Donald Trump’s speech to Congress on Tuesday, accusing him of planning to “rip affordable health insurance” from Americans and being “Wall Street’s champion.”

He addressed President Trump directly in his address at one point, reminding him, “Mr. President, as a candidate, you promised to be a champion for people struggling to make ends meet … and I hope you live up to that promise.”

Beshear went on to note, though, that “one of your first executive orders makes it harder for those families to afford a mortgage.” On Mr. Trump’s first day in office, he signed an order that rolled back a discount on the fees for a federal mortgage program that helps middle-class homebuyers.

Beshear also criticized Trump’s verbal assaults on “the loyalty and credibility” of intelligence agencies, federal courts, the press and others. By such attacks, Beshear said in excerpts of his prepared remarks, Trump is “eroding our democracy. And that’s reckless.”

Beshear’s words and tone seemed a direct Democratic attempt to recapture the loyalties of some working-class voters who helped power Trump’s election upset last November. His very selection by Democratic party chiefs to deliver their response seemed aimed at the same goal, since the 72-year-old is best known for expanding health care coverage in his deep red state under former President Barack Obama’s health care law.

Trump used his first address to Congress as president to urge lawmakers to revamp the nation’s health care system, embracing tax credits, health savings accounts and other elements of a plan being pushed by House GOP leaders. While erasing Obama’s 2010 overhaul and replacing it is a long-time Republican goal, conservatives have rebelled against the developing GOP package and other internal disputes still simmer, though leaders say they will push ahead with legislation in March.

Beshear said emerging GOP plans would reduce health care coverage after 20 million Americans gained coverage under Obama’s law.

“You and your Republican allies in Congress seem determined to rip affordable health insurance away from millions of Americans who most need it,” Beshear said.

“This isn’t a game, it’s life and death for people,” Beshear said. He said those relying on Obama’s statute for coverage “aren’t aliens from a distant planet. They’re our friends and neighbors.”

The backdrop for Trump’s speech was an initial five weeks in office that have seen persistent questions about his campaign’s relationship with Russia, a mishandled order barring refugees and the firing of his first national security adviser, Michael Flynn.

There have been massive demonstrations against Trump’s policies in cities around the country, and GOP lawmakers have been greeted at town hall meetings by activists angry at his attempt to erase Obama’s health care statute. Trump’s popularity in public opinion polls has set record lows for new presidents.

Emboldened by the energy of their party’s voters, Democratic lawmakers were flashing their own brands of rebelliousness.

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., was boycotting Trump’s speech, and Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., was ending his near three-decade streak of snagging an aisle seat to clasp the president’s hand as he enters the House chamber for his speech. The visitors’ galleries were stuffed with immigrants and recipients of health benefits under Obama’s law invited by congressional Democrats, and numerous female Democratic lawmakers were wearing white as a symbol of support for women’s suffrage.

Beshear said that while Trump campaigned as “a champion for people struggling to make ends meet,” he’s taken executive action as president to roll back consumer protections against giant financial institutions and has stocked his Cabinet with wealthy financial executives.

“That’s not being our champion. That’s being Wall Street’s champion,” Beshear said.

Giving the Democrats’ response in Spanish was Astrid Silva, a so-called Dreamer brought to the U.S. illegally as a 4-year-old.

In her prepared comments, Silva, now 28, said Trump is “taking us back to some of the darkest times in our history.”

She said Trump is “criminalizing anyone who is different, pitting us against each other, and sending the wrong message to the rest of the world, helping to breed anger and hate from terrorist groups to our country.”



SEXUAL ABUSE VICTIM ON THE POPE'S PANEL "WAS FORCED OUT," SO COLLINS HAS COME TO THE PUBLIC FORUM TO TALK ABOUT THE ISSUE OF PRIEST ABUSES.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/pope-francis-catholic-church-sex-abuse-commission-marie-collins-quits-stonewalling/
Sex abuse survivor Marie Collins quits Pope Francis' commission to protect minors
CBS NEWS
March 2, 2017, 6:32 AM

ROME -- A founding member of a three-year-old commission set up by Pope Francis to protect minors from sexual abuse in the Catholic Church has quit, accusing the Vatican of “stonewalling” the commission.

As CBS News correspondent Seth Doane reports, it is a very public blow to the Vatican on a very sensitive issue, and at the center of it all is a victim of sex abuse who says there’s cultural resistance to change in the church.

Pope Francis meets U.S. clergy sex abuse victims
Play VIDEO
Pope Francis meets U.S. clergy sex abuse victims

“My feeling was, at this point, it was better for me to come out and speak about it because these men thrive on silence and cover-up,” Marie Collins told CBS News on Thursday morning at her home in Dublin, Ireland. “I felt I could do more outside than inside.”

Collins, who was sexually abused by a priest at the age of 13, had grown tired of what she says were “constant setbacks” in her work on the panel set up by Francis to protect minors.

“To find that there’s still a group of men in this level of the church who do not see child protection as a priority, that do not get it in 2017, is just unacceptable,” she said.

In her resignation letter Collins said she believes Pope Francis is “sincere” in his efforts, but the “resistance by some members of the Vatican Curia (the central administration), “has been shameful.”

Monseigneur Anthony Figueiredo is a CBS News consultant on the Catholic Church, and asked by Doane whether Americans might hear in Collins’ resignation letter a message that the Catholic Church still is not serious about dealing with this issue of sex abuse, he was adamant: “It’s very, very serious -- perhaps more than any other organization in the world the Catholic Church has taken this on board.”


Play VIDEO
U.N. committee questions Vatican officials on sex abuse

“We all know that perhaps the hardest thing to change is not a structure of an organization, but it’s the very attitudes of certain people,” Figueiredo said. He suggested Collins might be speaking out now, “because she knows this Holy Father will now do something.”

Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley, who heads the commission, said in a statement: “We will certainly listen carefully to all that Marie wishes to share with us about her concerns.”

The only other sex abuse victim on the panel, Peter Saunders, also became critical of it and was forced out last year.



WHY DIDN’T HE EAT IT AFTER CLEARING CUSTOMS ??

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/white-soxs-jose-abreu-tells-jury-he-ate-fake-passport-on-way-to-us/
MLB star tells jury he ate fake passport on flight to U.S., washed it down with beer
CBS/AP
March 2, 2017, 7:01 AM

Photograph -- This is a Feb. 23, 2017, file photo showing Chicago White Sox’ Jose Abreu posed during the team’s photo day in Glendale, Ariz. MORRY GASH, AP

MIAMI -- Chicago White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu told a Miami federal jury Wednesday that he ate a chunk of a fake passport while flying to the U.S. to cover up his illegal travel as part of a Cuban ballplayer smuggling operation.

Abreu testified he ordered a beer on an Air France flight from Haiti to Miami and slowly consumed the page containing a false name and his photo. Abreu said he traveled illegally because he was worried he would miss an October 2013 deadline and lose the $68 million contract he later signed with Chicago.

“If I had not been there on that particular day, the deadline, then the contract would not be executed and would no longer be valid,” Abreu told jurors. “We had to be in Chicago to sign the contract.”

The testimony came in the trial of Florida-based sports agent Bartolo Hernandez and baseball trainer Julio Estrada, who are accused of alien smuggling and conspiracy. They allegedly operated a ring that took Cuban players from the communist-governed island to third countries where they could sign lucrative Major League Baseball contracts once they established residency.

Abreu, who was American League Rookie of the Year in 2014, testified under a grant of limited immunity for his illegal conduct - meaning he won’t be prosecuted if he tells the truth on the witness stand. Several other Cuban players have also testified. CBSSports.com reports that Miami Marlins shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria and Seattle Mariners outfielder Leonys Martin are two other ballplayers who have testified during the trial.

Abreu will return Thursday to complete his testimony.

Abreu told jurors that he got the fake passport in Haiti, where he had been taken along with his family from Cuba by speedboat in August 2013. His main contact and fixer there was Amin Latouff, he said, a man who was indicted along with Hernandez and Estrada but who has not been arrested.

It was Latouff, Abreu testified, who got him the passport and booked the Air France flight, telling the ballplayer to destroy the document on the plane. But instead of tearing it up and tossing it in the garbage, Abreu said he ordered a Heineken beer and chewed it up in his seat.

“Little by little I swallowed that first page of the passport. I could not arrive in the United States with a false passport,” he said.

Once in Miami, under the Cuban immigration policy at the time Abreu was allowed to remain in the U.S. because he had reached American soil despite having no travel documents. That “wet-foot, dry-foot” policy was rescinded recently by former President Barack Obama.

Abreu testified that Hernandez and his partners negotiated his deal with the White Sox and that Estrada oversaw his training, lodging and other needs while in Haiti and also in the Dominican Republic. Estrada’s company, Total Baseball, was to be paid 20 percent of Abreu’s contract and Hernandez was to receive 5 percent.

Later Wednesday, Abreu testified that he has paid more than $7 million to Estrada’s company under their agreement and began sending him $25,000 a month after Estrada’s assets were frozen following his indictment in 2016. Abreu also said he bought a $500,000 house in the Florida Keys for Estrada to live in, although it remains in Abreu’s name.

Estrada was also best man at Abreu’s wedding and became a close friend along with Estrada’s wife, the player testified.

“These were people who had helped me a lot in getting into this country, so I had a lot of trust in them,” Abreu testified. “In my case, I had the ability to perform that charitable work, you might call it.”

But Abreu said it was his idea alone to get the illegal Haiti travel document and asked Latouff for help.

“I trusted that he was someone who could help me and I confided in him that secret,” Abreu testified.

The trial, which has already lasted about a month, is expected to continue a few more weeks. Abreu, who hit 25 home runs and drove in 100 runs last season, was given time off from White Sox spring training in Arizona to testify in the Miami case.