News on Youtube Nov 27 2018

President Donald Trump returned to Washington, D.C. on Sunday night with First Lady Melania

Trump and their 12-year-old son, Barron, after spending the holiday weekend in Florida.

The young Trump appeared to be preoccupied with his cell phone as he was chauffeured

by the Secret Service to the airport in West Palm Beach.

Young Barron also appears to have undergone a tremendous growth spurt.

Pictures from Sunday indicate that the 12-year-old easily towers over his mother while approaching

the lofty heights of his President dad.

The Trump family appears to be genetically wired to literally reach heights.

The First Family boarded Air Force One and arrived in the capital on Sunday night.

Before the President's departure on Sunday, he played golf for the fifth day in a row.

Trump marked time at the links every day of his Thanksgiving trip at Mar-a-Lago - after

going more than a month without his favorite game.

Trump went to his Trump International Golf Course early Sunday morning here, where he

was sported by a DailyMail.com photographer in his motorcade sporting a white golf shirt

and hat, giving a thumbs up sign.

President Donald Trump said he's thankful for himself and the difference he made in

this country along with his family, most of whom he enjoyed turkey dinner with at his

Mar-a-Lago estate on Thursday evening.

Asked on Thanksgiving Day to reflect on what he's 'most thankful for,' the president responded:

'For having a great family and for having made a tremendous difference in this country.'

Trump spent his holiday speaking on the phone with U.S. soldiers, visiting a local Coast

Guard station and then heading to his Trump International Golf course.

He had dinner with his family at in the ballroom at Mar-a-Lago that evening.

The president sat in between Barron, in a suit, and Melania, who wore a floor length

black dress with long black lace sleeves at a table in the center of the room.

Other members of the Trump family were also seated at the same table - Tiffany, in a mint

green dress; Ivanka, in a strapless floral white dress, with her children; and Eric Trump

and his wife Lara.

The president and his family are spending the Thanksgiving holiday at his estate of

Mar-a-Lago.

First lady Melania Trump and his son Barron, last seen in August, boarded Air Force One

with the president on Tuesday when he left the White House.

Also traveling on the presidential plane were Ivanka Trump and her three children, and Tiffany

Trump.

Eric Trump, his wife Lara and their son - who are based in New York - arrived separately

to join the family for the holiday.

Ivanka Trump and her children were spotted outside of Mar-a-Lago while Trump was on the

phone with troops who are stationed overseas.

Outside the residence, servers were setting up tables for the first family's holiday dinner.

After Trump spoke to the troops and the press, delivered a tray of giant sandwiches to a

Coast Guard troops inFlorida on Thanksgiving Day and warned them to watch out as they could

gain 'five pounds' from one.

There was no sign of first lady Melania Trump at the president's stop at the Coast Guard

Station Lake Worth Inlet in Palm Beach, Florida.

She had joined him last year in the sandwich delivery.

The president noted he'd come to the same station last year but added he hoped the food

was better this year.

'You gain about five pounds when you eat one of those,' he said of the giant submarine

sandwiches.

He offered to take questions from the troops but no one asked.

He wished the crowd a 'Happy Thanksgiving' and praised Coast Guard members for their

work in hurricane responses, saying they had saved thousands of lives since he became president.

He also shook hands and met with kitchen staff.

For more infomation >> Barron easily towers over Melania as they returned to Washington after Thanksgiving in Mar a Lago - Duration: 4:03.

-------------------------------------------

The most recent clash between Ukraine and Russia, explained - Duration: 2:52.

For more infomation >> The most recent clash between Ukraine and Russia, explained - Duration: 2:52.

-------------------------------------------

3-Ingredient Cookies |Mary Beth Albright's Food Hacks - Duration: 4:13.

For more infomation >> 3-Ingredient Cookies |Mary Beth Albright's Food Hacks - Duration: 4:13.

-------------------------------------------

Migrant caravan crisis escalates with tear gas at border fence - Duration: 1:15.

For more infomation >> Migrant caravan crisis escalates with tear gas at border fence - Duration: 1:15.

-------------------------------------------

Washington wine-poached pears - Duration: 5:01.

I am here with Laurent Zirotti.

He is the chef and owner of Fleur De Sel artisan creperie

here in Spokane and also another restaurant called Fleur De Sel.

Yes.

We are in the kitchen at Second Harvest Food Bank.

I know. What a great spot. It's a great place.

It's a huge distribution center for over 200 food banks.

Food banks in the area.

And you have used this kitchen before.

You get to teach some classes here.

Yes I do.

On a regular basis.

Once a month.

That is so awesome.

I give a class.

Simple food.

Whatever is in the warehouse we pick.

We improvise.

Sure.

Simple family dinner or lunch.

I bet they love you!

And so today we're going to be

working with some great looking Washington pears, right?

Pears. Yeah. Those are Bartlett pears

from the beautiful orchards of Washington.

You taught me something about how...

Well I learned from a pear farmer

that to tell if a pear is ripe,

is that you just gently push by the stem

and if it has a little bit of a give...

It's ready to go.

You don't want it to be mushy. But yeah. There we go.

I learn something...we learn something everyday.

I know!

I wanted to do a dessert with a pear.

Something traditional, not so traditional,

poached pear in red wine with a Crème anglaise, an english cream

Okay. That sounds hard.

No it's not.

It's not?

No. It's not.

Are you sure?

Yes!

And with a little coconut cookie.

So we are going to start by poaching the pear.

Our first step is to create a poaching liquid.

We started off with a bottle of red wine.

A whole bottle of red wine?

Well why not?

Why not?

You know, we...

I like you, Laurent.

Put that sugar in.

We're going to make a syrup.

Then we add a cinnamon stick, vanilla bean,

and some orange peels.

Then we are going to peel those beautiful pears,

remove the core with the knife.

You make it look so easy.

I've been doing that since I was 15 years old and I'm an old man.

And you're an old man.

While our pears cook in the poaching liquid,

we start to make coconut cookies.

So we're going to make the coconut tuile, cookies.

Okay.

Very easy.

I have coconut, shredded, unsweetened, powder sugar.

Lots of powder sugar.

Lots of powder sugar.

Okay. Dump those in there.

We're going to put 5 eggs in it.

We're going to mix it.

One of the easiest cookies you can make.

Yeah. So far, really easy.

And it's not, "so far."

This is it.

This is it?

And then you have some butter.

Butter. That I'm melting.

So does that go in there?

Yeah. I'm going to put some butter in there and this is it.

Laurent mixes in the melted butter

and then places small dollops of dough onto a silicone baking pad

We bake our cookies for about seven minutes,

until they're golden brown and crispy.

And those look beautiful!

And look how they... and they're beautiful!

Now we're making our Crème anglaise.

The third part of this.

Yes.

English cream.

Crème anglaise.

Yes. Crème anglaise. Oh, good accent!

You like that!

That's good.

Crème anglaise.

To start our Crème anglaise

we boil a pot of milk and vanilla bean

and whisk together egg yolks and sugar.

You drank this as a kid just kind of as a little treat?

Was it a treat?

Have you ever had Crème anglaise.

No. I don't think I have.

Okay. It's like... okay you like eggnog?

Yeah.

It's better than eggnog.

It's better than eggnog.

We add the boiling milk to the eggs and sugar.

After it's all mixed in,

Laurent adds it back into the pot

and continues to whisk until the cream gets to 182 degrees.

We're going to let it sit a little bit

and then we're going to transfer it and put it in the fridge.

Yum.

Okay?

Okay.

After all of our elements have cooled,

it's time to put it all together.

All right. We have all the elements.

We do.

To build our dessert.

We have our pear.

So this is something that needs to be cold?

Yes.

You eat it cold so the pears are...

Yes. Are cooked.

When they are poached, you leave them in the poaching liquid.

Do you put it in the fridge?

Yeah. In the fridge.

Okay. And then the cream.

The Crème anglaise.

The Crème anglaise.

Is cold also.

Is also cold.

And the cookies are cold as well, okay?

Awesome. Okay.

So we're do a little... we're gonna fan those pears.

Oh pretty.

Little bit of this. Put that. You see how beautiful they are?

I love how they absorb the color.

Oh the color is beautiful.

Yeah. It's beautiful.

That's a full color, right?

It is.

We add a bit of Crème anglaise and drizzle on a syrup

that Laurent made from the leftover poaching liquid.

We top it off with a coconut cookie

and then our beautiful dessert is ready to try.

Ladies first.

Merci.

De rien.

I could drink a gallon again of that Crème anglaise

but I don't think I would...

I really taste the spices in the pear.

Yep.

Laurent, you're the best.

You're the best!

We're the best!

To get the recipe for Laurent's poached pear dessert

head over to wagrown.com.

For more infomation >> Washington wine-poached pears - Duration: 5:01.

-------------------------------------------

The Good Life - Ruth Schofield of The Washington Report and Music by Pastor Moses Brown - Duration: 58:31.

For more infomation >> The Good Life - Ruth Schofield of The Washington Report and Music by Pastor Moses Brown - Duration: 58:31.

-------------------------------------------

Obama Alumni Return to Washington, This Time as House Freshmen - Duration: 5:55.

Obama Alumni Return to Washington, This Time as House Freshmen

WASHINGTON — Their previous jobs have taken them to the Oval Office, the Situation Room and the Senate floor. One met with a Saudi king and plotted strategy to fight the Islamic State. Another cracked down on human rights abuses in North Korea. Their Rolodexes are flush with former cabinet members and current Pentagon officials who are happy to take their calls.

Nearly a dozen members of the House's incoming class are far from being gawky freshmen, stumbling wide-eyed through the strange corridors of Capitol Hill, but are instead experienced policymakers who have worked in previous presidential administrations — seven of them for former President Barack Obama. Their return to Washington is, in part, a way to undo what they see as the unspooling of the values and legacy of the nation's 44th president.

"We have just won a very fragile foothold in one institution in Washington at a time when all the institutions and norms are under attack," said Tom Malinowski, who served Mr. Obama as assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor. "This election is not about changing the country. It's about saving the country."

But in a freshman class where confrontation, not cooperation, could be most prized, it is not clear whether the Washington veterans will assume leadership roles or take a back seat to younger, brasher freshmen like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.

The group brings not only experience, "but a philosophy of government," said David Axelrod, Mr. Obama's former senior adviser, adding: "They're progressive but they're pragmatic. They're results-oriented. They measure success more by what they do than whether they can score a win for the blue team."

House Democrats have promised real progress on an agenda that includes lowering prescription drug prices, expanding health insurance coverage and increasing infrastructure investment, as well as investigating President Trump. And these freshmen — who include a cabinet secretary to President Bill Clinton and former key policy players at the White House and Pentagon — provide significant heft.

"This is a group that has really seen it all," said Eric Lesser, a former Obama White House aide who is now a state senator in Massachusetts. "They're just not going to be intimidated."

A pair of them, Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Mr. Malinowski of New Jersey, have previously tussled with Congress. Ms. Slotkin, a former C.I.A. officer who served three tours of duty in Iraq and informed the nation's strategy against the Islamic State, appeared before the Senate for her confirmation hearing as a nominee for assistant secretary of defense to Mr. Obama. (She also served under George W. Bush.)

Mr. Malinowski, who helped levy sanctions against North Korean officials for human rights abuses, was confirmed as assistant secretary of state after receiving lavish praise from Senator John McCain. Another incoming member, Haley Stevens of Michigan, was once in charge of Mr. Obama's Senate confirmations and cabinet designations.

Joining them is a former Clinton health and human services secretary, Donna Shalala of Florida, who dealt with the rising cost of health care long before the passage of the Affordable Care Act, and Lauren Underwood of Illinois, a former senior adviser on health issues under Mr. Obama. Andy Kim of New Jersey served on Mr. Obama's National Security Council.

Incoming members are already leveraging one of the perks of their veteran status: an easy familiarity with prominent movers and shakers. Ms. Slotkin was in the green room at MSNBC, waiting to be interviewed, when she bumped into a lawyer she knew from her days working on Mr. Bush's National Security Council, John B. Bellinger III.

"I sort of said, Hey, I just want to reintroduce myself, I was a young staffer when you were the senior lawyer at State," she said. "He couldn't have been more lovely, and we were reconnecting on people we knew in common."

Mr. Malinowski said he intended to reach out to Republican senators with whom he has worked, and Ms. Slotkin's stack of congratulatory notes looks like a who's who of Washington.

"A lot of my national security community from both sides of the aisle have been reaching out and saying, 'Anything we can do,'" she said in an interview.

On the other side of the aisle, Michael Waltz, Republican of Florida, is a former Green Beret officer who served as Vice President Dick Cheney's counterterrorism adviser and as the Pentagon's director for Afghanistan policy.

In significant ways, the Washington that the Obama alumni are returning to is a different place, ruled by people who rose to power by explicitly repudiating Mr. Obama.

In many cases, that compelled them to run. Ms. Underwood, a nurse and former Obama health adviser, was spurred on by Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, backed by the incumbent she ultimately defeated. "I got mad," she said.

Many who ran viewed their campaigns as an answer to the call to action that Mr. Obama issued in his farewell address delivered in Chicago, where he implored his supporters to take up the mantle of his legacy.

"Who better to offer that accountability than people who have seen an administration from the inside and understand how to hold it accountable?" asked Julián Castro, a secretary of housing and urban development under Mr. Obama.

Colin Allred of Texas, a former White House fellow and special assistant to the general counsel of the Department of Housing and Urban Development under Mr. Castro, has expertise that will be in high demand: congressional oversight. One of his tasks at HUD was fielding oversight requests from Capitol Hill.

Mr. Allred, a former N.F.L. linebacker and civil rights lawyer who ousted a veteran Texas Republican, said Democrats must strike a careful balance between oversight and legislation.

"I ran for Congress, and now I am planning to go there to get things done," he said. "I think there are certainly times when we need to be a check on this president, but there are also things that we can work with him on."

For some alumni who heeded Mr. Obama's call to service, the rewards were rich. Funded personally by Mr. Obama, an infrastructure emerged to help former administration officials capture office.

Officials, like Eric H. Holder Jr., the former attorney general, Samantha Power, the former United Nations ambassador, and Valerie Jarrett, the former senior White House adviser, headlined fund-raisers in seven major cities across the nation — in one instance tickets started at $44 and went up to $10,000. Joseph R. Biden Jr., the former vice president, campaigned for Ms. Underwood, and when Mr. Obama headlined a rally in his home state of Illinois, she was there.

Jim Hagedorn, a newly elected Republican from Minnesota and former Treasury Department official, and Mr. Waltz did not have all that at their disposal. But they did market their experience. Mr. Waltz featured a snapshot of himself in Mr. Cheney's office shaking the vice president's hand.

Mr. Waltz said he saw room to work with the Obama alumni, noting their shared experiences in national security and overseas service.

"On the ship, in the foxhole, no one cares about your political affiliation. It's about mission. It's about getting results," he said in an interview. "I pray we keep that ethos."

For more infomation >> Obama Alumni Return to Washington, This Time as House Freshmen - Duration: 5:55.

-------------------------------------------

Border unrest stokes Washington tensions ahead of perilous month for Donald Trump - Duration: 6:59.

Border unrest stokes Washington tensions ahead of perilous month for Donald Trump

An attempt by 500 migrants to rush the southern border is likely to pour fresh fuel on Donald Trumps inflammatory rhetoric on immigration as he tries to bolster his presidency at a perilous political moment.

The President spent weeks ahead of the midterm elections warning that the United States was about to experience an invasion from a migrant caravan trekking north across Mexico, and sent troops to the border in what critics branded a political stunt.

Given that strategy, the President is almost certain to highlight reports that a group of migrants overwhelmed both Mexican federal and local police blockades and rushed towards the border at one of the busiest crossings between Tijuana in Mexico and San Diego, California. Border crossings were closed in both directions for several hours, and it did not appear that any migrants breached the frontier.

Sundays events will further electrify political tensions in Washington as it gets to work after the Thanksgiving holiday and ahead of a month of transition and increasing vulnerability for the President.

Trump and Congress are already facing a two-week deadline to fund the government or risk a partial federal shutdown. Trumps White House is on edge as he mulls the fate of key players ahead of a staff reshuffle. The President is also keen to make the most of his final month of a GOP monopoly on power in Capitol Hill, and finally win funding for his border wall. He is also pushing an apparently reluctant Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to act on a criminal justice bill -- one of the few bipartisan initiatives this year.

Trump is also set to travel to another big international summit this week -- the G20 in Argentina -- that carries the habitual possibility that he could again fall out with other world leaders. The trip will also bring him face-to-face with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the most contentious moment in US-China relations for decades as a trade war rages between the two powers.

Democrats lining up investigations

Most ominously for Trump, Democrats are positioning themselves to unleash an unprecedented regime of investigation and oversight against his White House as soon as they take the reins of power in January, while special counsel Robert Mueller grinds away ever closer to the Presidents inner circle.

Just how miserable things could get next year for the President were revealed by incoming House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff on CNNs "State of the Union" on Sunday. The California Democrat vowed to bring acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker before Congress to probe whether he was appointed with the express purpose of disrupting the Mueller investigation.

He said the President was not being honest in casting doubt on the CIAs conclusion that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was responsible for the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

Schiff also said the new Democratic House would investigate whether the Presidents response to this and other foreign policy questions was being influenced by a "hidden hand" of investments or past or business ties.

"Is his personal financial interest driving US policy in the Gulf? Is it driving US policy vis-a-vis the Russians? We dont know, but it would be irresponsible not to find out," Schiff said.

On NBCs "Meet the Press," Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, who will head the House Oversight Committee, vowed proportionate investigations.

"The American people said to us through this election, We want accountability. We want to check on this President of the United States. But they also said something else. They said, We want you to solve our problems." Cummings said.

A glimpse of how Washington will change

The prospects of flying subpoenas and administration officials being hauled up to Capitol Hill points to crucial dynamics ahead of the 2020 elections.

How will the President react? Will Democrats overreach and play into McConnells warnings of "presidential harassment?" Can the President leverage Democratic opposition to court suburban voters who deserted him in the midterms? Or will any revelations either from congressional probes or Mueller prove to be so serious that they bury his White House in scandal and put his entire presidency at risk?

Trump could emerge from a period of retooling in his administration facing even fewer restraints from subordinates than has already been the case.

Key officials like Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and White House chief of staff John Kelly are waiting to see if they will be retained. And Trump denied a Wall Street Journal report that hes getting irked by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin over recent stock market losses.

Mnuchin is not currently thought to be threatened, but the report, and the Presidents frequent tweeting about oil prices and the markets, does appear to hint at some nervousness over the future of the economy, which in its currently roaring state is the best argument for his 2020 reelection hopes.

In a glimpse into the feudal nature of life in Trumps orbit, his former political aide Corey Lewandowski writes in his new book that enemies of the President are "embedded" in the White House and government agencies and trying to thwart his agenda, according to The Washington Post.

Trump has often embraced moments of converging threats and challenges to stoke an atmosphere of chaos in Washington that bolsters his standing with his political base and puts his opponents off balance.

But he now faces a test of his political strategy since his method -- for instance, using inflammatory rhetoric about immigration -- appears to have hurt Republicans in House races, even if it boosted Senate contenders.

For now, there is no sign of an adjustment: Trump broke convention in his Thanksgiving calls with troops by injecting political rhetoric about immigration and trade and boasting about his success.

His recent behavior, including a feud with Chief Justice John Roberts, either betrays an inability to rein in his relish for confrontation or a strategic decision that the wrecking ball approach is the best way to ensure his reelection.

Back on the border

Trump spent part of the weekend highlighting the migrant caravan.

"If for any reason it becomes necessary, we will CLOSE our Southern Border. There is no way that the United States will, after decades of abuse, put up with this costly and dangerous situation anymore!" Trump tweeted Saturday.

He may return to the topic on Monday in a pair of rallies for Mississippi Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, who is facing a runoff amid controversy over her past racially-tinged comments and actions.

The Washington Post reported that the incoming administration in Mexico has agreed to allow asylum seekers to remain south of the US border while their applications were processed, in what would be seen by Trump as a victory.

The new government however denied in a statement to CNN that a deal had been done.

The politics of immigration will bear watching in the weeks ahead since they are crucial to Trump, who tends to resort to extremes and Democrats who do not wish to come across as soft on border issues.

One Republican, Sen. Joni Ernst, who faces a potentially tricky Iowa re-election race in 2020, hinted at the delicate nature of an issue that electrifies Trump base but can alienate more moderate voters on "State of the Union."

She said she would prefer that Trump not follow through on his threat to close the US border, though pointed to the reports from Mexico to argue his rhetoric could be working.

"I certainly think the President sees results any time that he does bring up an issue, and he does lay down certain reasons why hes doing what hes doing," Ernst told CNNs Dana Bash on "State of the Union."

Ernst also said she hoped that Trump would not honor threats to partially shutter the government if he does not get his border wall funded.

Trump said last week that if there was ever going to be a shutdown over the border wall, now would probably be the time to do it.

Congress averted a shutdown in September by passing a massive spending bill to fund a large portion of the government. The package did not, however, include money for Trumps wall. Instead, lawmakers passed a shorter-term spending bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security, among other agencies, until December 7.

Its not clear either side really wants a shutdown. If precedent is any guide, its also possible the funding crunch could be put off by short-term deals that run until the end of the year or beyond.

The calculations could also influence other priorities in the mix, including disaster funding requests for fire-ravaged California, and a drive by Democrats and some Republicans to shield Mueller.

Bipartisan anger over Trumps approach to Saudi Arabia could also complicate deal making, with both sides conscious of how actions now could play out in the new political reality next year.