August 17 and 18, 2017


News and Views


IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T SUCCEED, TRY, TRY AGAIN. GO, DEMS!

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/democratic-congressman-to-introduce-articles-of-impeachment/
By BLAIR GUILD CBS NEWS August 17, 2017, 4:49 PM
Democratic congressman to introduce articles of impeachment

Photograph -- speaks to reporters after a security briefing at his golf estate in Bedminster, New Jersey, on Aug. 10, 2017. REUTERS

Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tennessee, announced Thursday that he plans to introduce articles of impeachment against President Trump.

Cohen cited potential obstruction of justice and violations of the Constitution's Foreign Emoluments Clause as the reasons for impeachment while also addressing his own strong moral opposition to the president's words and actions relating to the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend.

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After comments on #Charlottesville , I'll be introducing Articles of #Impeachment against #Trump. No good Nazis or Klansmen! #ImpeachTrump
9:57 AM - Aug 17, 2017
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"In response to the horrific events in Charlottesville, I believe the President should be impeached and removed from office," Cohen said in a statement released by his office. "Instead of unequivocally condemning hateful actions by neo-Nazis, white nationalists and Klansmen following a national tragedy, the President said 'there were very fine people on both sides.' There are no good Nazis. There are no good Klansmen."

The congressman's call to remove Mr. Trump from office comes after the president blamed the Charlottesville disruption on "both sides"-- both the white supremacists leading the "Unite the Right" rally, and their counter-protesters, who Mr. Trump labeled the "alt-left."

"Well, I do think there's blame," Trump said in a press conference from Trump Tower in New York on Tuesday. "Yes, I think there is blame on both sides. You look at both sides. I think there is blame on both sides. And I have no doubt about it. And you don't have doubt about it either. And if you reported it accurately, you would say.

Cohen also serves as a Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice. A move to impeach Mr. Trump from the White House will likely not pick up speed in a Republican-controlled Congress.

"As a Jew and as an American and as a representative of an African American district, I am revolted by the fact that the President of the United States couldn't stand up and unequivocally condemn Nazis who want to kill Jews and whose predecessors murdered 6 million Jews during the Holocaust, and could not unequivocally condemn Klansmen whose organization is dedicated to terrorizing African Americans," Cohen's statement reads.

Cohen is not the first of his colleagues to call for Mr. Trump's impeachment. In July, Rep. Brad Sherman, D-California, and Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, co-sponsored an article of impeachment.

Sherman filed the article one day after the president's eldest son Donald Trump Jr. acknowledged that he met with a Kremlin-connected lawyer during the campaign. Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump's son-in-law, and Paul Manafort, a former Trump campaign manager, were also present at the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting. The lawyer promised potentially damaging information on the Trump campaign's Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.



“.... HIS IMAGINATION MUST NOT BE MARRIED TO REAL POWER."

FORMER GOV. ROMNEY’S FACEBOOK POST IS ELOQUENT, CONCERNED AND THOROUGH. HE SEES THE PROBLEM, AND IS RECOMMENDING THAT TRUMP APOLOGIZE TO AMERICA. I DON’T SEE HIM DOING THAT, UNLESS HE HAS A HIDDEN SIDE TO HIM. OF COURSE, HE MAY HAVE A SPEECH WRITER WRITE SOMETHING UP FOR HIM TO SAY, BUT I’M SURE HIS HEART WON’T BE IN IT. HE WILL HAVE TO BE IMPEACHED, OR AS ONE REPUBLICAN HAS SUGGESTED LAST WEEK, THAT CONGRESS MAY CONSIDER A NEW PRIMARY TO ELECT SOMEONE ELSE, WITH OR WITHOUT IMPEACHMENT, I’M NOT SURE. REMEMBER, EVEN IF TRUMP IS NOT CHARGED AND CONVICTED OF CRIMES, IMPEACHMENT CAN BE PUT THROUGH FOR A GENERAL INADEQUACY TO PERFORM THE OFFICE. MANY PEOPLE, NOT JUST US ANGRY SANDERS PEOPLE, SEE DONALD TRUMP AS BEING A VERY POOR EXCUSE FOR A PRESIDENT. I DON’T KNOW HOW A SPECIAL ELECTION LIKE THAT WOULD WORK. THE NEW ELECTION SHOULDN’T BE COMPOSED ONLY OF REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES, THOUGH. THAT ISN’T FAIR, ESPECIALLY SINCE TRUMP CHEATED TO WIN OVER CLINTON. THEY SHOULD RUN ONE OF THEIR OWN AGAINST, IDEALLY, OUR BERNIE SANDERS!

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/romney-blasts-trump-there-may-be-an-unraveling-of-our-national-fabric/
By REBECCA SHABAD CBS NEWS August 18, 2017, 10:05 AM
Romney blasts Trump: There may be "an unraveling of our national fabric"

Former Gov. Mitt Romney on Friday slammed President Trump for how he has handled Charlottesville and warned that there may be "an unraveling of our national fabric" if he doesn't apologize.

In a lengthy post on Facebook, the 2012 GOP presidential nominee wrote that the "potential consequences are severe in the extreme" and he must take extreme action in response.

"He should address the American people, acknowledge that he was wrong, apologize. State forcefully and unequivocally that racists are 100% to blame for the murder and violence in Charlottesville," wrote Romney, who served as governor of Massachusetts from 2003 until 2007.

He continued that the president should, "Testify that there is no conceivable comparison or moral equivalency between the Nazis--who brutally murdered millions of Jews and who hundreds of thousands of Americans gave their lives to defeat--and the counter-protesters who were outraged to see fools parading the Nazi flag, Nazi armband and Nazi salute."

W.H. works to control damage after Trump's Charlottesville comments
Play VIDEO
W.H. works to control damage after Trump's Charlottesville comments

Romney said that the president must disavow former KKK grand wizard David Duke, who has celebrated Mr. Trump's comments this week.

"And once and for all, he must definitively repudiate the support of David Duke and his ilk and call for every American to banish racists and haters from any and every association," Romney wrote.

Romney said that what Mr. Trump communicated on Tuesday "caused racists to rejoice, minorities to weep and the vast heart of America to mourn."

"This is a defining moment for President Trump. But much more than that, it is a moment that will define America in the hearts of our children," Romney said. "They are watching, our soldiers are watching, the world is watching. Mr. President, act now for the good of the country."

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Romney blasted Mr. Trump and said that he was unfit to serve as president.

"Let me put it plainly, if we Republicans choose Donald Trump as our nominee, the prospects for a safe and prosperous future are greatly diminished," he said in a speech at the University of Utah. "His is not the temperament of a stable, thoughtful leader. His imagination must not be married to real power."



I THINK PERHAPS CHIEF OF STAFF KELLY IS GOING TO BE A BOON NOT ONLY TO THE PRESIDENT, BUT TO THE COUNTRY. I HOPE HE CAN STAND UP AGAINST TRUMP STRONGLY ENOUGH TO REIN HIM IN, AS WELL. THE NEOCON KARL ROVE WAS THE MASTERMIND OF GEORGE W BUSH’S PRESIDENCY, OR AS MANY PUT IT, “BUSH’S BRAIN.” BANNON WAS TRUMP’S “BRAIN,” AND LIKE ROVE, ULTRACONSERVATIVE, TO PUT IT KINDLY. I AM RELIEVED TO SEE BANNON OUT, BECAUSE THE COUNTRY WILL PROBABLY BE A SAFER PLACE TO LIVE IN WITH HIM GONE. EVEN WITHOUT HIM, THOUGH, TRUMP IS A VERY “LOOSE” CANNON. BANNON’S DARING TO CONTRADICT TRUMP ON NORTH KOREAN POLICY IS SUGGESTED IN THE DAILY CALLER AS BEING THE REAL REASON FOR HIS OUSTER. GO TO: HTTP://DAILYCALLER.COM/2017/08/18/REPORT-TRUMP-WAS-FURIOUS-WITH-BANNON-FOR-CONTRADICTING-HIM-ON-NORTH-KOREA/


https://www.yahoo.com/news/report-trump-wants-part-ways-steve-bannon-170026442.html?soc_trk=gcm&soc_src=dd114874-7083-393e-8bf1-0ac1f74868c1&.tsrc=notification-brknews
Steve Bannon is leaving the White House
Hunter Walker Yahoo News August 18, 2017

WASHINGTON — Friday will be controversial White House chief Strategist Steve Bannon’s final day working in the West Wing. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders issued a statement to the press pool describing the move as a mutual decision between Bannon and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly on Friday.

“White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and Steve Bannon have mutually agreed today would be Steve’s last day. We are grateful for his service and wish him the best,” Sanders said.

The official word from the White House came after a slew of reports about Bannon’s departure. According to a New York Times report published shortly before Sanders’ statement, President Trump “told senior aides that he has decided to remove” Steve Bannon, the controversial White House chief strategist. ABC News and other outlets reported that Bannon had already resigned.

Both the White House and Bannon did not immediately respond to multiple requests for comment from Yahoo News.

Prior to the Times report, the conservative journalist Matt Drudge, who enjoys a close relationship with the White House, declared that Bannon’s time in the West Wing was coming to an end. Axios also reported that a review conducted by new White House chief of staff John Kelly was expected to conclude with an “imminent” announcement of Bannon’s departure.

Trump’s White House had been infamously volatile with a series of high profile departures. Bannon had regularly been involved in infighting with other top aides and rumors of his potential dismissal swirled at multiple points. The reports of a Bannon exit intensified “after an he gave” an extensive interview to the liberal American Prospect that was published on Wednesday. In it, Bannon described some of his disagreements with other top officials and appeared to undermine the president’s position on North Korea.

Bannon was a key figure in Trump’s shocking upset victory in last year’s presidential election. Prior to joining Trump’s campaign, he ran the conservative news site Breitbart News, which he once proclaimed was the “platform for the alt-right.” At Breitbart, Bannon found a base for his philosophy of economic nationalism and staunch opposition to immigration and political correctness. His ideology led many to see him as a key architect of Trump’s victory, but it also drew criticism from liberals who saw him as a dangerous zealot.



ONE OF THE UNFAIR THINGS THAT BERNIE SANDERS HAS BEEN PORTRAYED AS IS BEING ANTI-BLACK. HOPEFULLY THIS AND SIMILAR EVENTS WILL PUT HIM IN THE SPOTLIGHT OF THE WORLD IN A BETTER LIGHT ON THAT. IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN CLEAR TO ME THAT, LIKE MOST JEWS, HE IS BENIGN TOWARD OTHER CULTURAL GROUPS, BUT HIS PRIMARY FOCUS IS ECONOMIC ISSUES, AND IN THE CASE OF THE GRAND CANYON SEPARATING THE MEGA-RICH AND EVERYBODY ELSE, ECONOMICS IS THE WORST AND MOST DAMAGING PROBLEM. THIS ISSUE OF SKIN COLOR IS ALWAYS GOING TO BE THERE, BUT A GOOD ECONOMY IN WHICH COAL MINERS AND FACTORY WORKERS WON’T BE SO POOR WOULD HELP ABOUT THEIR NEED TO SCAPEGOAT BLACKS, JEWS AND NOW – JOY OF JOYS – ISLAMIC PEOPLE AND SIKHS. THE SIKHS AREN’T ANTI-AMERICAN AT ALL, BUT THEY WEAR TURBANS, AND THAT’S QUITE ENOUGH!

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2017/08/16/bernie-sanders-john-conyers-detroit-town-hall/104665602/
Bernie Sanders to join Conyers for town hall in Detroit
Melissa Nann Burke, Detroit News Washington Bureau Published 5:14 p.m. ET Aug. 16, 2017

Photograph -- Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks to supporters outside the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, July 25, 2017, after the Senate voted to start debating Republican legislation to tear down much of the Obama health care law. Sanders will join U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr. for a town hall meeting in Detroit next week to discuss healthcare and jobs.
(Photo: Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP file)

“Excuse me: why is the United States the only major country on earth not to guarantee health care to all people? Why are we spending far, far more per capita on health care than any other nation? Why do we pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs?” he told NPR last week.

Sanders was in Michigan in January to speak at a rally at Macomb Community College in Warren protesting the possible repeal of the Affordable Care Act and other elements of President Donald Trump’s agenda.

The town hall is planned for 7 p.m. Tuesday at Fellowship Chapel Church, 7707 W. Outer Drive in Detroit. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and admission is “first come, first served.”

Tickets are not required, but RSVPs are strongly encouraged at events.berniesanders.com.



DOWN SYNDROME IS SOMETIMES SEVERE, AND OTHER TIMES BARELY THERE. THERE ARE SOME HALF DOZEN PROFESSIONAL ACTORS WHO ARE DOWN SYNDROME PEOPLE, AND I WENT THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL WITH A BOY WHO GRADUATED. I DON’T KNOW WHAT HIS GRADES WERE. IN THOSE DAYS THERE WAS A PHILOSOPHY IN EDUCATIONAL THOUGHT THAT CHILDREN WITH PROBLEMS OF ANY KIND, INTELLECTUAL OR OTHER, SHOULD BE KEPT WITH THEIR CLASS AND “MAINSTREAMED.” I PRETTY MUCH AGREE WITH IT, IF WHATEVER SPECIAL HELP FROM TUTORS IS AVAILABLE COULD BE GIVEN AT A COST THAT WOULDN’T BANKRUPT THE PARENTS OR THE SCHOOL. THE PROBLEM IS WHETHER OR NOT THEY WILL BE ABLE TO GET ANY KIND OF WORK RELATED EDUCATION AND LAND A JOB. HOW WILL THEY FARE AFTER THE PROTECTION OF THE K-12 YEARS IN OUR SOCIETY?

I WILL SAY, THOUGH, THAT THE BOY I AM REFERRING TO HAD TO ENDURE BEDEVILING FROM HIS CLASSMATES, IN SOME CASES, ESPECIALLY. CERTAIN KIDS THEN WERE BULLIES IN GENERAL, AND WHO BETTER TO MISTREAT THAN SOMEONE WHO CAN’T FIGHT BACK! AS FOR WHETHER OR NOT A WOMAN WITH A HIGH-RISK PREGNANCY SHOULD ABORT, THAT DEPENDS MAYBE ON WHAT SHE WANTS FROM A CHILD. TOP GRADES AND ATHLETIC SKILLS? PROBABLY NOT. IF WE WERE A KINDER SOCIETY THAT WOULDN’T BE SUCH A BIG DEAL, BUT IF WISHES WERE HORSES, BEGGARS WOULD RIDE.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/behind-the-lens-disappearing-down-syndrome/
By KACEY CHERRY CBS NEWS August 11, 2017, 4:00 PM
Behind the Lens: Iceland's Down syndrome dilemma

It's 10:00 p.m. in downtown Reykjavik, and the sun is just starting to set. The light grey hue that has stamped the sky all day now has soft streaks of orange. The summer solstice in Iceland is in full swing. An 18-hour day recedes, and in less than 6 hours the sun will begin to rise again. I am walking back to my hotel. I zip my fleece, stuff my hands into my pockets and my chin into my chest. I guess one would expect a country named Iceland to still be chilly in May. I step out of the street as a rare car crawls past. The sidewalk, like the street, is pristine. Clean, well-paved. It mirrors some of the best attributes of the country: orderly, efficient and equal.

This landmass, straddling the continental plates of both Europe and North America, is interesting. Only slightly larger than the state of Maine, it has a largely homogenous population. Just 6 percent of Icelanders are foreign-born and it's reported that more than 90 percent can trace their ancestors back to the original Viking settlers. More than half of of the country's population lives in the capital, Reykjavik. Our interviewees laugh at the everybody-knows-everybody experience that my crew and I encounter regularly. And it feels true: Reykjavik, the capital city equivalent to a small town. It makes me wonder if these minor, societal anecdotes somehow contribute to the purpose of our journey: understanding why nearly all pregnant women in Iceland whose fetuses have been diagnosed with Down syndrome are ending their pregnancies.

cbsn-oa-selljalandsfoss.jpg
Iceland is a volcanic island full of glaciers and waterfalls, including Seljalandsfoss, seen here, a two-hour journey from the capital city of Reykjavik. The entire nation has a population of about 330,000 people -- a little more than Pittsburgh. CBS NEWS
It is a loaded query, similar to the question of why any person embarks on the decision to end a pregnancy, varied and discrepant for each individual woman and man, regardless of nationality. However, Iceland does stand apart. In Denmark, termination rates for fetuses with Down syndrome stand at 98 percent; the figure in France is 77 percent; and in the U.S., studies suggest about 67 percent. Iceland is the only country to have reached a consensus: from 2007 to 2015 every single pregnant woman in Iceland terminated a fetus with Down syndrome following a positive diagnosis. That number could be skewed by its small population -- the entire country is home to fewer residents than midtown Manhattan. Even so, while local citizens know the statistic, they find it relatively shocking. Should that come as a surprise? Prenatal screenings can now more easily and accurately test the risk of having a child with Down syndrome. Additionally, the government of Iceland mandates that every expectant mother here be informed about the option of getting a screening test. It goes like this: a midwife asks a pregnant Icelander at the country's main hospital, Landspitali, "Would you like to have information on screening for Down syndrome?" The majority -- a whopping 90 percent -- will answer "Yes."

cbsn-oa-landspitali-hospital.jpg
This laboratory at Landspitali University Hospital, the country's main medical center, is where the majority of Icelandic women's prenatal blood tests are processed. CBS NEWS
Therein lies the slippery slope, according to Thordis Ingadottir, the mother of a 7-year-old girl with Down syndrome and the president of the Icelandic Downs Association. That question alone, according to Ingadottir, pushes women to view Down syndrome negatively, as something to be screened out. She says it influences a woman who previously might not have been considering Down syndrome as a possibility for their unborn child and creates a crossroads. Has the woman in question considered what she would do if she tests 'high risk'? What type of mental strain does this inflict?

However, is the alternative not to know?

This is a new dilemma in modern society, one that women and their partners in the past never faced, because the technology simply did not exist. Now, in Iceland's socialized health care system, it is information that must be presented. When we speak to staff members at Landspitali Hospital who perform the prenatal screenings and provide counseling for women if the results indicate Down syndrome in the fetus, their objective seems unified: to educate, share information and offer the woman the choice, without bias.

cbsn-oa-agusta-drone.jpg
Agusta, age 7, is one of two children with Down syndrome at her school in Iceland. In this behind-the-scenes shot, Agusta shows her curiosity with our drone while filming at the Bruarfoss Waterfall. CBS NEWS

It is a complex discussion, one that stretches beyond the pro-choice and pro-life debates in Washington. In Iceland, there is no comparable abortion debate. It is legal, set to stay and widely accepted. Icelanders are genuinely accepting of advancing technology, receive substantial health care support and largely embrace women's rights. Yet, the termination of a Down syndrome fetus provokes an intricate ethical, scientific and societal web of issues -- even more, the age-old clash of nature versus science. Is more knowledge more power? And if so, is that a good thing? Down syndrome is not the only disorder that can be screened for, it is just the primary one being done right now. What will be next? Where do we draw the line -- or do we? While Iceland is face to face with these dilemmas, the questions ripple across other developed nations as well.

As I near my hotel, I unravel my hands from my jacket pocket and untuck my chin from my chest. I grasp the crisp air in my palms and I look up. Night has finally arrived on this volcanic rock in the icy North Atlantic. All seems serene in this safe, quiet and isolated land. The future medical and ethical implications that lie ahead feel so human, in this ancient place filled with grandiose waterfalls and enormous glaciers. I open the door to my hotel and inhale a final scent of the moonlight. Wherever this debate leads us, it is ever more likely that we'll soon hold greater power over future generations of humanity, and the diseases and disorders they may -- or may not -- face.



THIS IS A VERY SUGGESTIVE AND INSIGHTFUL ARTICLE ON THE ISSUE OF THE “TRIGGER” OF THE CHARLOTTESVILLE RIOT. OF COURSE, WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT IS LEFT UP TO THE PARTICULAR CITY IN QUESTION. THE QUESTION OF WHETHER OR NOT TO ABOLISH SLAVERY WAS BROUGHT UP IN THE VERY BEGINNING OF WRITING THE CONSTITUTION, AND THE POWERS THAT WERE AT THE TIME DECIDED NOT TO. IT WAS A CONSIDERABLE PART OF THE SOUTHERN ECONOMY FROM THE BEGINNING. IF YOU DON’T HAVE FIELD HANDS YOU SIMPLY COULDN’T HAVE RUN A FARM OF ANY SIZE IN THOSE DAYS. THERE WERE NO TRACTORS, AND EVEN WHEN FAMILIES HAD LOTS OF KIDS (WHICH THEY ALL DID BECAUSE THERE WAS NO BIRTH CONTROL EITHER), THE MANY ACRES OF LAND THAT THEY HAD IN THOSE DAYS IS JUST TOO MUCH PHYSICAL WORK. OF COURSE, THEY COULD HAVE DECIDED IN THEIR CONSCIENCE TO PAY EVERY LABORER A FAIR WAGE, AS MOST OF THE PEOPLE IN THE NORTH DID. THE CONSTITUTION COULD HAVE SPECIFIED THAT BLACK PEOPLE ARE CITIZENS, TOO. MAYBE THAT WAS TOO MUCH TO ASK.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/maine-gov-paul-lepage-says-removing-confederate-statues-like-taking-down-911-memorial/
By REBECCA SHABAD CBS NEWS August 17, 2017, 5:23 PM
Maine Gov. says removing Confederate statues like taking down 9/11 memorial

Maine Gov. Paul LePage said Thursday that he condemns "both sides" of the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville last weekend and suggested that taking down Confederate statues is the equivalent of taking down a 9/11 memorial.

"I condemn both sides. I think they're disgusting -- both sides. They went there with the intent of inciting violence," the Republican said in a radio interview on WGAN, a local station. "There's no place for either of these groups in this country."

LePage said that people calling for the elimination of Confederate monuments and statues are "trying to erase history."

More states challenge display of Confederate monuments, symbols
"How can future generations learn if we're going to erase history?" he said. "Whether we like it or not, this is what our history is. To me, it's like going to New York City right now and taking down the monument of those who perished in 9/11. It will come to that."

LePage said that he receives letters every day saying he supports the KKK, but he said, "I have been against the KKK before you knew they existed."

He added that he didn't find out about the terror attack and violence in Charlottesville last weekend until Tuesday because he said, "I don't watch TV and I don't read newspapers."

President Trump, meanwhile, has been criticized for defending Charlottesville rally attendees during a press conference at Trump Tower on Tuesday in which he reiterated his comment from Saturday that there was blame "on both sides."


THIS WAS ONE OF THOSE TRULY SHOCKING NEWS STORIES. THAT YOUNG MAN WHO “WANTED TO START A RACE WAR,” WAS PERHAPS THE TRICKLE BEFORE THE FLOOD. THANK GOODNESS, CONGRESS IS BEGINNING TO WAKE UP AND SEE THE DISASTER FOR WHAT IT IS; I THINK TRUMP WILL BE OUT OF OFFICE, AND LAWS AGAINST HATE GROUPS WILL BE MADE. WE MUST GET AROUND THE IDIOTIC ARGUMENT THAT ENDANGERING A SEGMENT OF SOCIETY BECAUSE OF OUR PHILOSOPHICAL OR POLITICAL VIEWS IS ABSOLUTELY NOT ONE OF OUR GUARANTEED RIGHTS UNDER THE CONSTITUTION.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mother-emanuel-church-charleston-reflects-on-charlottesville-violence/
CBS NEWS August 17, 2017, 8:41 AM
Charleston church members reflect on Charlottesville violence, forgiveness

The Emanuel AME Church in Charleston is the oldest African Methodist Episcopal church in the Southern United States. Although this church, its parishioners and this community know heartache -- they also know how to forgive.

Here, the healing will never stop. But the open dialogue and message of forgiveness may help heal the wounds that were ripped open more than two years ago when the church was attacked by white supremacist Dylann Roof. He killed nine people, including the pastor.

Following the violent Charlottesville protests, the congregation is praying and showing support for the latest victims of race-inspired violence, reports CBS News correspondent Chip Reid.

"I think what the world forgets is that each time we come back here, we come back to a crime scene. We have to get through that every day," said Willie Glee, one of the church's parishioners.

Charleston shooting
50 PHOTOS
Charleston shooting

Glee has been a parishioner at Mother Emanuel for years, as has Cynthia Amos.

Glee said, "I think there is a lesson in Charlottesville that should come to all Americans: You have a nation that does a lot of talk about race, does a lot of talk about social justice, but very few people are doing anything about it."

Amos added, "Some people just get crazy and they don't realize that what they're doing to their brother or their sister, and it bothers me."

Earlier this week, President Trump was criticized for equating the white nationalists who marched on Charlottesville with the counter-protesters.

"Leadership is everything," said Pastor Eric Manning.

Manning has been leading Mother Emanuel church since last June -- one year after Roof's horrific attack.

"It is hard to forgive, but aspire to forgive. Aspire to love. Because if you continue to carry hatred in your heart, it will become cancerous and it will begin to tear the community further apart," Manning said.

Asked if those spewing hate could ever embrace love, Manning said, "I would have to believe they can. We think about the song 'Amazing Grace,' right? Penned by a former slave trader."

"And sung by – everyone. Right? And President Obama, of course, sang it at the eulogy as well. So, surely, people can change. The question is: Are we going to be an agent for that change or are we going to further spew the negative hatred that we know does not do anyone any good?" Manning said.

To fight that kind of hatred, Manning said, "We have to continue to pray one for another" and "forgive them."

Manning said that while Bible study always begins with a discussion of biblical text, the conversation eventually moves to current events. On Wednesday night, it was Charlottesville that weighed heavily on their minds.



“CBS NEWS REPORTER PAULA REID WAS ON THE GROUND IN CHARLOTTESVILLE DURING THE DEMONSTRATIONS, AND TOLD ANCHOR ANTHONY MASON THAT SHE HAS A DIFFERENT VIEW OF WHAT HAPPENED.” THIS IS A GOOD ARTICLE TO READ BECAUSE UNTIL THIS ONE I HAD ONLY NEWS FOOTAGE TO MAKE SENSE OF WHAT IT WAS REALLY LIKE.

THE ANTIFA FIGHTERS ARE ON THE SCARY SIDE, BECAUSE THEY DID TAKE ON THE WHITE NATIONALISTS FIERCELY. I FELT LIKE CHEERING WHEN I SAW THEM. THE KKK, ETC. WERE THERE TO LOOK SCARY WITH THEIR TORCHES AND UNLIKE WHAT TRUMP SAID, THEY ALSO CARRIED WEAPONS, BUT I THINK THEY BELIEVED FEW WHITES WHO OPPOSE THEM WOULD BE THERE. THE ANTIFA THAT I SAW WERE FOR THE MOST PART NOT BLACK MEN. THEY ARE DRESSED IN BLACK, WHICH HAS A DEFINITE PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECT.

I AM OF MIXED FEELING ABOUT THIS WHOLE THING. I, BEING SOUTHERN, UNDERSTAND THE SOUTHERN HISTORY; ONLY I UNDERSTAND ALL OF IT. THE KKK WAS ACTIVE WELL WITHIN MY MEMORY, AND SO WERE THE EARLY CIVIL RIGHTS BATTLES – BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT THEY WERE. DO YOU KNOW WHAT “BLOOD SUNDAY” IN SELMA ALABAMA WAS? IT WAS A BLOODBATH. SEE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE: HTTP://WWW.HISTORY.COM/NEWS/SELMAS-BLOODY-SUNDAY-50-YEARS-AGO.

I EMPATHIZE WITH THE POOR SOUTHERN FARMERS, BUT NOT WITH THE WEALTHY SLAVE OWNERS. WE SHOULD NEVER HAVE HAD SLAVERY AT ALL. THAT’S THE ROOT OF THE WHOLE PROBLEM. HUMANS, BLACK WHITE OR PURPLE SHOULD NEVER BE OWNED. IT IS IN THIS TIME PERIOD WHEN THE KOCH-BACKED FAR RIGHT IS TRYING TO MAKE ITS’ PLAY FOR COMPLETE TAKEOVER OF THE US TO BE USED AS THEY SEE FIT, THAT THIS ISSUE IS GOING TO BE RE-LEGISLATED, I THINK. I DON’T BELIEVE THEY WILL MAKE IT. I THINK THAT MANY OF THEM WILL END UP IN PRISONS ACROSS THE COUNTRY, IF THEY DON’T STOP THIS PUSH TO TAKE OVER THE LAND OF THE FREE AND THE BRAVE, AND MAKE IT THE LAND OF THE WEALTHY AND THE POWERFUL.

REPUBLICANS SHOULDN’T TRY TO PRETEND THAT THEY DON’T HAVE A HAND, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN WHAT IS OCCURRING. I AM SEEING REPUBLICANS COMING FORWARD TO CHALLENGE THE WHITE SUPREMACISTS, AND THAT’S VERY IMPORTANT, BUT IF WE DON’T GET ACTION, TOO, SOME OF US ARE GOING TO BE REALLY ANGRY. I THINK, PERHAPS. THAT THE REPUBLICAN TOWN MEETING WILL DISAPPEAR LIKE THE DINOSAUR.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/analysis-breaking-down-the-facts-and-the-politics-of-trumps-both-sides-remarks/
CBS NEWS August 15, 2017, 8:57 PM
Analysis: Breaking down the facts and the politics of Trump's "both sides" remarks

WASHINGTON -- President Trump blamed "both sides" for the weekend violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Tuesday while taking questions from reporters.

"I watched this very closely, much more closely than you people watched it and you have, you had a group on one side that was bad and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent. And nobody wants to say that, but I'll say it right now. You had a group on the other side that came charging in without a permit and they were very, very violent," Mr. Trump said.

Who are the members of white supremacist groups in America?

CBS News reporter Paula Reid was on the ground in Charlottesville during the demonstrations, and told anchor Anthony Mason that she has a different view of what happened.

Dickerson: Trump "repeated and made worse his moral failure" from the weekend
Play VIDEO
Dickerson: Trump "repeated and made worse his moral failure" from the weekend

"Pretty much every white supremacist demonstrator they saw had some sort of weapon, either a helmet, a shield, a firearm, a baton. As for the counter-protesters, I would say most of them were unarmed. Many of them were members of the clergy or they were students," Reid said on the "CBS Evening News."

"Now, there were certainly some people who were there as counter-demonstrators who were there to cause trouble, but overwhelmingly, the counter-protesters were unarmed," she continued.

Reid also noted that the counter-demonstrators were the only ones she saw providing medical aid to people who were hit with chemical agents.

According to Reid, it was also clear that most of the objects being thrown into the crowd of counter-demonstrators were coming from the park containing Robert E. Lee's statue, which the white supremacists had been holding throughout the day.

reid-charlottesville-analysis-2017-8-15.jpg
Violent clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia. CBS NEWS

"It was clear that for every one counter-demonstrater flag you could see, there were 10 Confederate, or white supremacist flags," Reid said.

While the protests had been scheduled to start Saturday, they actually began on Friday night, which almost helped to embolden them, Reid said. "They got to the rally several hours early and were already pretty ramped up," Reid said.

Also on the "CBS Evening News," John Dickerson, CBS News chief Washington correspondent and "Face the Nation" moderator said he felt that Mr. Trump's comments were more about assigning blame to those on the left than showing a "moral disgust" to the neo-Nazi demonstrators. That, Dickerson said, "repeated and made worse his moral failure from Saturday."

"Presidents are supposed to rush into these moments and unify Americans," Dickerson said. "But the president, by bringing that statement and continuing to try to defend himself, was continuing an argument and saying both sides were to blame. He wanted to make sure he was right about the details, but then when he characterized the protesters, he totally overlooked the Nazi slogans and flags and salutes."

Moving forward, Dickerson said that Mr. Trump's comments will likely do him political harm.

"The president won office and was heralded by many of his supporters by speaking bluntly, by speak truths, by not bothering with the niceties, so his reluctance to do that here, to speak the essential truth about the neo-Nazi protesters who were chanting those Nazi slogans, that is a failing that he has now repeated twice," Dickerson said.

Mr. Trump had a moment like this during the primaries that rattled Republican leaders, Dickerson said, and now "Republican leaders will now have to distance themselves from the president, and the question is how they get back together again."


THIS IS WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN AROUND THE COUNTRY. APPARENTLY, THERE ISN’T A FEDERAL LAW THAT COVERS ALT-RIGHT AND OTHER CONSERVATIVE MILITANTS SUCH AS THE INFORMAL “MILITIAS,” “SOVEREIGN CITIZENS,” ETC. AS BEING CRIMINAL ORGANIZATIONS. WE NEED TO LOOK AT THAT LESS POLITICALLY AND MORE LEGALLY. OUR LAWS, AS PRACTICED, SEEM TO ALLOW WHITES TO HAVE A “GET OUT OF JAIL FREE” CARD, AND BLACKS JUST CAN’T HAVE ONE. WHITE POWER ADVOCATES, UNTIL CHARLOTTESVILLE, HAVE BEEN IGNORED. WHEN TWO BLACK LEADERS STOOD UP AND SAID OUT LOUD SOME YEARS AGO, “BLACK POWER” AND RAISED THEIR RIGHT FISTS IN THE AIR, WHITES WERE HORRIFIED, FURIOUS, AND AFRAID. VERY AFRAID. IF STATES AND “THE FEDS” WILL ENFORCE LAWS AGAINST WHITE RACISM AS TERRORISM, THERE WILL BE SOME PROGRESS HERE. THERE ISN’T ANY PENALTY FOR WHITE RACISM – OR BLACK RACISM – BECAUSE OF OUR OVERLY SANCTIFIED “FREEDOM OF THOUGHT AND SPEECH” AND THE FREEDOM TO BEAR ARMS. PROPAGATING AND ENCOURAGING RACIAL AND ETHNIC VIOLENCE AND HATRED IN ANY WAY AND IN ANY VENUE, SHOULD BE A CRIME, NOT A CIVIL RIGHT. ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS FOR THE RECURRENCE OF IT TIME AFTER TIME IS THAT THERE IS NO [EXPLETIVE] PENALTY FOR IT.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/346436-illinois-senate-calls-for-neo-nazis-to-be-classified-as-terror
Illinois Senate passes measure calling for neo-Nazis to be classified as terror groups
BY ROBIN EBERHARDT - 08/14/17 08:38 AM EDT

Video -- Charlottesville Suspect 'big into Nazism'

The Illinois Senate on Sunday approved a resolution calling for police to categorize neo-Nazi groups as terrorist organizations, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The measure came as a response to Saturday's violence at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., during which one person died and scores more were injured.

“It is vital that we stand in total opposition to the hatred, bigotry and violence displayed by the white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups in Charlottesville this past weekend,” said state Sen. Don Harmon (D), who sponsored the measure.

“They are the heirs to the Ku Klux Klan and the Nazis. We fought two bloody wars in opposition to their ideologies. We must continue to fight those same twisted ideologies today,” he added.

Heather Heyer, 32, was killed when a man with reported ties to the white supremacist movement drove his car into a crowd of counterprotesters in Charlottesville. The alleged driver, James Alex Fields Jr., 20, has been charged with second-degree murder in the crash.


NOTE: these two videos are separate from the article above, but excellent and informative, each being filmed from its’ own angle.

Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIWng-aK7gI – “What happened in Charlottesville,” Liam Hubbard. Published on Aug 11, 2017
Note- There is no intention to monetize off of or defame anyone anyone whose likeness was featured in this video

Video -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kerAy94eWLc – “Inside what happened at the Charlottesville protests,” ABC News, Published on Aug 15, 2017
A white supremacist saying he's ready to die for his convictions and a political activist saying he's exposing evil were at an event that ended with one woman dead and at least 19 injured.



MORE THAN A HUNDRED PEOPLE WERE INJURED BY THIS ONE VAN IN BARCELONA, AND 13 KILLED. THAT’S WHAT THEY WANT: A “HIGH BODY COUNT.” I NOTICED IN ANOTHER HEADLINE THAT NEW YORK CITY IS BEEFING UP ITS’ LOCAL ANTI-TERROR FORCE ON THE STREET. EVEN IF THERE IS NO SPECIFIC THREAT, THAT’S A GOOD THING. THERE IS ALWAYS COPYCAT BEHAVIOR.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/barcelona-terror-attack-van-plows-pedestrians-live-updates/
CBS/AP August 17, 2017, 12:41 PM
Barcelona terror attack: Van crashes into pedestrians in city center

BARCELONA, Spain -- Police in the northern Spanish city of Barcelona say a white van has jumped the sidewalk in the city's historic Las Ramblas district, killing at least 13 people and injuring more than 100 others.

Fifteen of the victims were seriously injured, another 23 were moderately wounded and 42 others were being treated for slight injuries. They are all being cared for at various hospitals.

Catalonia's regional president, Carles Puigdemont, told Barcelona broadcaster TV3: "Our priority is to save lives. And our second priority is the police investigation, to find the people responsible of this attack and anyone who has helped them directly or indirectly."

According to Puigdemont, two suspects have been arrested in connection with the attack. Police say one suspect is a Spanish national from Melilla and the other is Moroccan. Neither of the suspects drove the van. Police said the driver is still on the run.

According to police, the van attack is "connected" to an explosion that occurred Wednesday night in a town south of the city in which one person died and injured several more.

Police are treating Thursday's incident as a terror attack.

"We confirm the terrorist attack," Catalan police said. "The protocol for terrorist attacks has been activated."

Barcelona becomes latest city hit with vehicle attack
Play VIDEO
Barcelona becomes latest city hit with vehicle attack

Amaq News issued a statement on it's telegram channel that reads in part: "A security source to Amaq agency: The perpetrators of the Barcelona attack are soldiers of the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq (ISIS). They carried out the attack in response to the calls to target coalition countries."

In a photograph shown by RTVE, at least five people were lying on the ground in the street Thursday afternoon and were apparently being helped by police and others. Videos of the scene recorded people screaming as they fled.

On Twitter, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said he is in contact with authorities and the priority is to attend to the injured.

Reuters reports two armed men reportedly entered a restaurant following the crash. Police say they have located a second van connected to the attack in the town of Vic.

Spain's El Pais newspaper, citing police sources, says perpetrators of the van incident were holed up in a bar. Armed police ran down the streets and through a market, checking in stores and cafes, presumably in search of them.

Barcelona terror attack

Barcelona's TV3 reports police surrounded a bar called Rey de Istanbul. A man thought to be the driver of a van was surrounded by police. The Spanish passport of a person of Moroccan origin was found at the scene of the attack.

The police force for Spain's Catalonia region says troopers have shot and killed a man who was in a car that hit two officers at a traffic blockade in Barcelona. The Mossos d'Esquadra force did not indicate if the incident was related to the van attack in the city's Las Ramblas district on Thursday.

Police say a bomb squad is checking an area in the outskirts of Barcelona, near the site where the driver of car struck police officers.

Local media reports say a white Ford Focus ran over the officers and then was intercepted by police 1.9 miles away. That's where troopers shot one man dead.

Death toll rises in Barcelona terror attack
Play VIDEO
Death toll rises in Barcelona terror attack

Three days of mourning have been declared in response to the attack. A minute of silence will be held Friday in main square "to show that we are not scared," Barcelona's mayor, Ada Colau, said.

Catalan Emergency Services asked authorities to close train stations in the area close to the crash site.

Las Ramblas, a street of stalls and shops that cuts through the center of Barcelona, is one of the city's top tourist destinations. People walk down a wide, pedestrianized path in the center of the street, but cars can travel on either side.

Authorities are asking people not to go near the area.

Keith Fleming, an American who lives in Barcelona, was watching TV in his building just off Las Ramblas when he heard a noise and went out to his balcony.

"I saw women and children just running and they looked terrified," he said.

Deadly terror attack carried out in Barcelona
Play VIDEO
Deadly terror attack carried out in Barcelona

He said there was a bang -- possibly from someone rolling down a store shutter -- and more people ran by. Then police arrived and pushed everyone a full block away. Even people leaning out of doors were being told to go back inside, he said.

Fleming said regular police had their guns drawn and riot police were at the end of his block, which was now deserted.

"It's just kind of a tense situation," Fleming said. "Clearly people were scared."

Carol Augustin, a manager at La Palau Moja -- an 18th-century place on Las Ramblas that houses government offices and a tourism information center -- said the van passed right in front of the building.

"We saw everything. People started screaming and running into the office. It was such a chaotic situation. There were families with children. The police made us close the doors and wait inside," she said.

In the U.S., President Trump tweeted about the attack from his New Jersey golf club, where he is on a working vacation.

"The United States condemns the terror attack in Barcelona, Spain, and will do whatever is necessary to help. Be tough & strong, we love you!" the president wrote.

Follow
Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
The United States condemns the terror attack in Barcelona, Spain, and will do whatever is necessary to help. Be tough & strong, we love you!
2:00 PM - Aug 17, 2017
29,585 29,585 Replies 46,143 46,143 Retweets 132,630 132,630 likes

Vice President Mike Pence echoed Mr. Trump's message on Twitter by saying,"Sickened by horrific terror attack in Barcelona. U.S. will work w/allies to find those responsible & bring justice. Praying for victims."

Follow
Vice President Pence ✔ @VP
Sickened by horrific terror attack in Barcelona. U.S. will work w/ allies to find those responsible & bring to justice. Praying for victims. https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/898243270169563136 …
3:27 PM - Aug 17, 2017
496 496 Replies 1,454 1,454 Retweets 4,841 4,841 likes

He later delivered remarks from Panama, saying, "The latest scenes of carnage and mayhem sicken us all."

Follow
CBS News ✔ @CBSNews
"The latest scenes of carnage and mayhem sicken us all," VP Pence says of deadly #Barcelona attack: http://cbsn.ws/1UJwwDb
3:51 PM - Aug 17, 2017
39 39 Replies 58 58 Retweets 66 66 likes

"Whatever inspired today's terror attack, the United States stands ready to assist the people of Spain and find and punish those responsible. On this dark day, our prayers and prayers of all the American people are with the victims, their families and the good people of Spain," Pence said.

During a joint news conference with Japanese officials, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the U.S. stood ready to assist Spanish authorities in their probe of the attack. He stressed Washington's commitment to hunting down "terrorists around the world."

"I'd like to start by acknowledging the incident in Barcelona, which has the hallmarks, it appears, of yet another terrorist attack," Tillerson said. "Terrorists around the world should know the United States and our allies are resolved to find you and bring you to justice."

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a written statement in response to the attack that reads in part: "The Department is standing by to support our allies as they respond to and recover from this horrendous attack. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and those affected. We will not let terrorism become the new normal. Instead, such acts of violence only harden our resolve to fight back against violent extremists, bring them to justice and dismantle their networks."

Spain's royal palace has condemned the attack, calling the perpetrators "assassins, simply criminals who will not terrorize us." The royal palace's statement, which was posted on Twitter, said that "All of Spain is Barcelona. Las Ramblas will once again be for all."

Other world leaders -- including British Prime Minister Theresa May, Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel and French President Emmanuel Macron -- have condemned the attack.

Vatican spokesperson Greg Burke says Pope Francis is praying for the victims and expressing his closeness to their families. The Argentine pope was "greatly worried" about the attack and is following developments closely. The Vatican has greatly increased security for Francis' public events to prevent similar truck assaults on crowds that throng to his weekly audiences and Sunday blessings in St. Peter's Square.

Cars, trucks and vans have been the weapon of choice in multiple extremist attacks in Europe in the last year.

The most deadly was the driver of a tractor-trailer who targeted Bastille Day revelers in the southern French city of Nice in July 2016, killing 86 people. In December 2016, 12 people died after a driver used a hijacked trick to drive into a Christmas market in Berlin.

There have been multiple attacks this year in London, where a man in a rented SUV plowed into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, killing four people before he ran onto the grounds of Parliament and stabbed an unarmed police officer to death in March.

Four other men drove onto the sidewalk of London Bridge, unleashing a rampage with knives that killed eight people in June. Another man also drove into pedestrians leaving a London mosque later in June.



ACCORDING TO JOHN MCCAIN, THE SAME ALT-RIGHT PEOPLE, IN VIEWPOINT IF NOT INDIVIDUALLY, WHO MARCHED ON CHARLOTTESVILLE WITH THEIR KKK STYLE TORCHES AND CHANTS OF “BLOOD AND SOIL,” ARE THREATENING TRUMP’S NSC MEMBERS WHO WERE CHOSEN FOR THAT POSITION DUE TO THEIR EXPERTISE AND WORK BACKGROUND, RATHER THAN THEIR POLITICS. AS THE ARTICLE PUTS IT, “MEMBERS WHO COME FROM SECURITY-FOCUSED BACKGROUNDS, NOT POLITICAL ONES.” THE GROUP IS CALLED THE “NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL,” SO SECURITY SHOULD BE THE IMPORTANT THING, RATHER THAN A SPECIFIC LOYALTY TO A TITULAR HEAD; IT FITS, UNFORTUNATELY, WITH MY OVERALL IMPRESSION THAT HIS GOAL IS TO BE A DICTATOR LIKE DER FUHRER. AS JULIUS CAESAR SAYS IN SHAKESPEARE’S PLAY OF THAT NAME, “YON CASSIUS HATH A LEAN AND HUNGRY LOOK. HE THINKS TOO MUCH. SUCH MEN ARE DANGEROUS.”

LIKE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT TRUMP SAYS, THAT DESIRE TO OUST THE MOST COMPETENT SEEMS BIZARRE TO ME UNLESS THEY HAVE ACTUALLY MADE UNPOPULAR DECISIONS OF SOME KIND; AND YET IT IS FOLLOWED BY EVERY DICTATORIAL TAKEOVER AROUND THE WORLD AND DOWN THROUGH TIME. WHOEVER THE SCAPEGOAT OF THE TIME IS – JEWS, BLACKS, ISLAMIC PEOPLE – THE INTELLECTUALS WILL BE IMPRISONED ALONG WITH THEM, AND THE NEWS OUTLETS WILL BE REPLACED OR SHUTTERED. TRUMP HAS ALREADY STARTED THAT. HE HAS QUIETLY SET UP HIS OWN WHITE HOUSE NEWS OUTLET. PRESUMABLY THESE HONEST SECURITY PROFESSIONALS ARE CONSIDERED TO BE INSUFFICIENTLY IDEOLOGICAL AND “LOYAL” TO THE PRESIDENT. THAT WAS COMEY’S CRIME. HE WENT WITH THE LAW AND NOT WITH TRUMP. HONEST AND COURAGEOUS PEOPLE ARE DANGEROUS.

THE 8/15/17 NEWS ARTICLE BELOW IMPLIES THAT BANNON MAY HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE HARASSMENT OF THESE OFFICIALS. IT, PERHAPS DUE TO BANNON’S LONG RUNNING FEUD WITH MCMASTER.


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/white-house-officials-express-great-concern-about-threats-to-nsc-staff/
CBS NEWS August 15, 2017, 3:11 PM
White House officials express "great concern" about threats to NSC staff

Two White House officials, including one former official, say that there is "great concern" regarding the level of threats being made against U.S. officials who serve on the Trump Administration's National Security Council, CBS News' Margaret Brennan reports.

A White House official told CBS News that it is "disheartening" to see the uptick in verbal and online attacks on members who come from security-focused backgrounds, not political ones.

The unusual scrutiny has targeted individuals who are serving one to two year terms on loan from the Departments of Justice, Defense, State or other agencies. In past administrations, individuals in these positions often flew under the radar. There has been a noticeable uptick in threats for those who currently report to National Security Adviser General H.R. McMaster.

"McMaster is used to facing real bullets so verbal ones are not going to impact him," a White House official said in regard to a sustained online campaign against him. The official noted that a statement of support yesterday for McMaster from Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, was very much appreciated.

On Monday, McCain publicly called on President Trump to defend McMaster against similar virulent and personal attacks that originated from what he described as the same alt-right groups who precipitated the Charlottesville attack.

A White House official told CBS News that it takes security seriously and said there are measures in place if individuals feel personally threatened.

Is Steve Bannon's job in jeopardy?
Play VIDEO
Is Steve Bannon's job in jeopardy?

The pressure also may come from within the Trump administration. It is no secret that there is tension between McMaster and Mr. Trump's Chief Strategist Steve Bannon as the two often disagree on policy matters.

Trump allies outside the administration, including the recently departed communications director Anthony Scaramucci, have made clear that they also suspect Bannon of leaking damaging information to news sites. Bannon once described Breitbart, the site he previously ran, as a platform for the "alt-right" movement.

A third U.S. official told CBS News that the president's own public disparagement of the intelligence community had also made those working for the agencies think twice before being recruited to work directly in the Trump White House.

A White House spokesman told CBS News that the NSC continues to attract the best and the brightest career professionals from across U.S. agencies.

In July, Foreign Policy reported that online threats of violence and targeted attacks by right-wing blogger Mike Cernovich contributed to a recent departure of an assistant to McMaster.



REFRESHER COURSE ON THE NSC

https://www.bing.com/search?q=national+security+council+staff&form=PRUSEN&mkt=en-us&httpsmsn=1&refig=c1af72f4decc4008a8a38d52da5deb53&sp=1&qs=SC&pq=national+security+counsel+&sc=8-26&cvid=c1af72f4decc4008a8a38d52da5deb53
United States National Security Council
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The White House National Security Council (NSC) is the principal forum used by the president of the United States for consideration of national security and foreign policy matters with senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials and is part of the executive office of the president of the United States. Since its inception under Harry S. Truman, the function of the Council has been to advise and assist the president on national security and foreign policies. The Council also serves as the president's principal arm for coordinating these policies among various government agencies. The Council has counterparts in the national security councils of many other nations.

The predecessor to the National Security Council was the National Intelligence Authority (NIA) which was established by President Harry S. Truman's Executive Letter of 22 January 1946 to oversee the Central Intelligence Group, the CIA's predecessor. The NIA was composed of the Secretary of State, Secretary of War, Secretary of the Navy, and the Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief.

The National Security Council was created in 1947 by the National Security Act. It was created because policymakers felt that the diplomacy of the State Department was no longer adequate to contain the USSR in light of the tension between the Soviet Union and the United States.[1] The intent was to ensure coordination and concurrence among the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force and other instruments of national security policy such as the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), also created in the National Security Act. In 2004, the position of Director of National Intelligence (DNI) was created, taking over the responsibilities previously held by the head of CIA, the Director of Central Intelligence, as a cabinet-level position to oversee and coordinate activities of the Intelligence Community.[2]

On May 26, 2009, President Barack Obama merged the White House staff supporting the Homeland Security Council (HSC) and the National Security Council into one National Security Staff (NSS). The HSC and NSC each continue to exist by statute as bodies supporting the President.[3] The name of the staff organization was changed back to National Security Council Staff in 2014.[4]

On January 29, 2017, President Donald Trump restructured the Principals Committee (a subset of the full National Security Council), while at the same time altering the attendance of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Director of National Intelligence.[5] On April 5, 2017, President Trump removed Steve Bannon from the Security Council.[6]

According to a National Security Presidential Memorandum 2, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Director of National Intelligence were to sit on the Principals Committee as and when matters pertaining to them arise, but will remain part of the full National Security Council.[7][8] However, Chief of Staff Reince Priebus clarified the next day that they still are invited to attend meetings.[9] With National Security Presidential Memorandum 4 in April 2017, the Director of National Intelligence and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff “shall” attend Principals Committee meetings and included the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency as a regular attendee.[10] The reorganization also placed the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development as a permanent member of the Deputies Committee, winning moderate praise.[11]

As of 6 April 2017, the White House Chief Strategist has been removed from the National Security Council and the roles of the director of national intelligence, CIA director and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have been restored to the Principal's Committee.[12]

Authority and powers[edit]

The National Security Council was established by the National Security Act of 1947 (PL 235 – 61 Stat. 496; U.S.C. 402), amended by the National Security Act Amendments of 1949 (63 Stat. 579; 50 U.S.C. 401 et seq.). Later in 1949, as part of the Reorganization Plan, the Council was placed in the Executive Office of the President.

The High Value Detainee Interrogation Group also reports to the NSC.[13]

Kill authorizations[edit]
Main article: Disposition Matrix

A secret National Security Council panel pursues the killing of an individual, including American citizens, who has been called a suspected terrorist.[14] In this case, no public record of this decision or any operation to kill the suspect will be made available.[14] The panel's actions are justified by "two principal legal theories": They "were permitted by Congress when it authorized the use of military forces against militants in the wake of the attacks of September 11, 2001; and they are permitted under international law if a country is defending itself."[14]

National Security Advisor Susan Rice, who has helped codify targeted killing criteria by creating the Disposition Matrix database, has described the Obama Administration targeted killing policy by stating that "in order to ensure that our counterterrorism operations involving the use of lethal force are legal, ethical, and wise, President Obama has demanded that we hold ourselves to the highest possible standards and processes".[15]

Reuters has reported that Anwar al-Awlaki, an American citizen, was on such a kill list and was killed accordingly.[14]

On February 4, 2013, NBC published a leaked Department of Justice memo providing a summary of the rationale used to justify targeted killing of US citizens who are senior operational leaders of Al-Qa'ida or associated forces.[16]

Membership[edit]

The National Security Council is chaired by the President. Its members are the Vice President (statutory), the Secretary of State (statutory), the Secretary of Defense (statutory), the Secretary of Energy (statutory), the National Security Advisor (non-statutory), and the Secretary of the Treasury (non-statutory).



EVEN IF TRUMP DOESN’T WANT TO LISTEN TO THE CBO, THE PEOPLE WILL AND SO WILL THE LEGISLATURE. I HOPE THE “CONSERVATIVES” WON’T BE SUCCESSFUL IN TAMPERING WITH THE ECONOMIC STRUCTURE OF THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT AS THEY MODIFY IT AND RENAME IT TO MAKE IT SEEM TO BE THEIR OWN.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/premiums-and-deficit-would-rise-if-trump-ends-obamacare-payments-cbo-says/
By REBECCA SHABAD CBS NEWS August 15, 2017, 2:51 PM
Premiums and deficit would rise if Trump ends Obamacare payments, CBO says

Photograph -- Protesters demonstrate against U.S. President Donald Trump and his plans to end Obamacare outside the White House in Washington, U.S., March 23, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque KEVIN LAMARQUE/REUTERS

If President Trump decides to end an Obamacare insurance subsidy, premiums would go up 20 percent next year and some people would have no insurers in the nongroup market, according to a report published Tuesday by the Congressional Budget Office.

The nonpartisan budget scorekeeper analyzed the repercussions of what would happen if Mr. Trump decides to cut off cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments. These payments are made to health insurers to help low-income people enrolled under the health care law with out-of-pocket expenses.

Under that scenario, the federal deficit would grow by $194 billion over the next decade, the report estimates. It said that total federal subsidies would increase because more people would receive subsidies and the average amount of the subsidy per person would be greater.

While premiums would increase by an average of 20 percent for silver plans next year, they will be 25 percent higher by 2020.

The president has repeatedly said he might end the payments, which are currently slated to cost the government $7 billion during this fiscal year and $10 billion in 2018.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, told reporters last week that he'd consider a bipartisan effort to continue the payments. He said Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, is working on "some kind of bipartisan approach" that would involve subsidies for insurance companies.

CBS News' Emily Tillett contributed to this report.


https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/health-plan-categories/
Health Plan Categories

Levels of plans in the Health Insurance Marketplace: BRONZE, SILVER, GOLD, AND PLATINUM. Categories (sometimes called “metal levels”) are based on how you and your insurance plan split costs. Categories have nothing to do with quality of care. (“Catastrophic” plans are available to some people.)

For each plan category, you’ll pay a different percentage of total yearly costs of your care, and your insurance company will pay the rest. Total costs include premiums, deductibles, and out-of-pocket costs like copayments and coinsurance.

Each category may include several types of plans and provider networks, like health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and preferred provider organizations (PPOs).

Related content
Marketplace insurance categories
Types of plans and provider networks