Thứ Bảy, 29 tháng 12, 2018

News on Youtube Dec 29 2018

Bad news for creeps: Starbucks has announced that it will soon block access to porn websites via the company's WiFi network

So pervs have only until the end of 2018 to get their jollies in public while sipping on a grande juniper latte

In January, Starbucks will introduce a content blocker that bans access to pornographic sites while using its free in-store WiFi

Viewing porn at Starbucks has long been banned, but there was no mechanism in place to prevent customers from doing so

Business Insider reports that the company has instituted the filter after pressure from an outside group that advocated for a porn site ban for years

Enough is Enough, a nonprofit dedicated to Internet safety for children, launched a petition encouraging Starbucks to ban porn

It received more than 26,000 signatures. [The new Starbucks juniper latte tastes like one too many gin and tonics] The group wrote in its petition: "Starbucks is keeping the doors wide open for convicted sex offenders and patrons to fly under the radar from law enforcement and use free, public WiFi services to view or distribute graphic or obscene pornography, child pornography (an illegal crime), or engage in sexual predation activity

" "To ensure the Third Place remains safe and welcoming to all, we have identified a solution to prevent this content from being viewed within our stores and we will begin introducing it to our U

S. locations in 2019," a Starbucks spokesman told Business Insider. The company has not elaborated on the content blocker

 Starbucks had previously announced it would block porn in 2016 but did not immediately follow through on its promise

In 2014, the Starbucks WiFi helped the Hillsboro, Ore., police capture a child predator

A registered sex offender was caught downloading child pornography on the Starbucks network there

In 2012, a Sacramento man on the sex offender registry was arrested for viewing child pornography on the Starbucks WiFi

Starbucks already filters pornography from WiFi at its British locations, and McDonald's began filtering out porn in 2016

Other restaurant chains with content-restricted free WiFi include Chick-fil-A, Subway and Panera Bread

 Public libraries have also waged war against the public viewing of porn — it's banned in some and widely available in others

In 2o14, Motherboard reported that some librarians were fighting for patrons' rights to view porn, seeing it as an information access rights issue

Studies have found that content blockers designed to filter out porn also disproportionately block non-pornographic sites related to LGBT issues and abortion

Watching porn in public, by the way, not only makes bystanders deeply uncomfortable — which may be why some people do it to begin with — but it's also considered sexual harassment in certain settings and may result in a disorderly conduct citation

Chipotle rehires manager who asked African American men to prepay for burritos I tried McDonald's new Triple Breakfast stacks, and now I'm full of syrup, butter and shame He's ready for his 'Top Chef' spotlight

And he wants to use it to talk about African food

For more infomation >> Washington Post: Breaking News, World, US, DC News & Analysis - Duration: 4:47.

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Trump to spend New Year's in Washington D.C. amid partial gov't shutdown - Duration: 0:44.

While the partial government shutdown continues over in the U.S., President Donald Trump will

reportedly remain in Washington D.C. for the New Year.

In an interview with Fox News on Friday, White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said Trump

has canceled his plans to spend New Year's at his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago.

This comes after the standoff over funding for the U.S. leader's proposed Mexico border

wall led to a federal government shutdown last week.

Around 800-thousand workers have been affected by the partial closure,... which marks the

longest shutdown since *2013 when the U.S. government closed for 16 days over the Affordable

Care Act.

For more infomation >> Trump to spend New Year's in Washington D.C. amid partial gov't shutdown - Duration: 0:44.

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Washington Grown Season 6 Episode 1 Promo - Duration: 0:31.

This week on Washington Grown,

we're learning how our potatoes are exported

all around the world, from Seattle to Singapore.

We'll make Aloha fries at Marination.

Just keeps getting better and better and better.

and taste some Moroccan potato Samosas at Chewaya food truck.

I have never tasted anything like that. That's really good.

And we'll tag along as international chefs

learn to grow and cook with the versatile Washington potato.

For more infomation >> Washington Grown Season 6 Episode 1 Promo - Duration: 0:31.

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A look ahead to the 2020 election - Duration: 11:24.

ROBERT COSTA: Hello. I'm Robert Costa. And this is the Washington Week Podcast. On our

last show of 2018 we're taking a look at the Democratic Party and where it's going in 2019.

Joining me, Shawna Thomas, Washington bureau chief for Vice News; Brian Bennett, White

House correspondent for TIME Magazine; Lisa Desjardins, congressional correspondent for

the PBS NewsHour; and Erica Werner, congressional correspondent for The Washington Post.

President Trump has transformed the Republican Party over the last two years, and in

just a few days the Democrats are going to take control of the House of Representatives

and the composition of power in Washington will certainly change. And the 2020

presidential campaign season will soon gear up. There are a lot of names out there.

Some of the most talked about are current and former lawmakers: Joe Biden, Beto O'Rourke,

Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Julian Castro, Amy Klobuchar, Cory Booker,

and Mike Bloomberg, and that's just to name a few. How this potential crop of candidates

and the new Congress reshape the Democratic Party, well, that's the question for 2019.

Shawna, a lot of names. SHAWNA THOMAS: So many.

ROBERT COSTA: We talked about Mitch Landrieu on the broadcast, the former mayor of New

Orleans. How do you see this field developing in the presidential race?

Is it the mayors like Garcetti of Los Angeles, Landrieu of New Orleans, Pete Buttigieg of

South Bend, versus the governors, versus the lawmakers? Or is it -

SHAWNA THOMAS: The John Hickenloopers or -

ROBERT COSTA: Or John Hickenlooper, the governor of Colorado.

SHAWNA THOMAS: Or the men with money: Tom Steyer, who's showing up in places like South

Carolina where my team covered him recently; Michael Bloomberg, is he going to think

about running for president - does he think he can run as a Democrat, does he need the

party infrastructure, or does he go rogue and run as an independent.

I think the thing is there are so many Democrats who all look like they're going to run,

we're going to start to see this shake out pretty fast because people have to hire staff.

People have to get Iowa chairs onboard.

People have to start to think about how much money they're raising.

And as, you know, I said in the broadcast, if California is successful, really, in moving

up their primary - and I think they have been - then you need a lot of money to run in

California. It's not the door-knocking of Iowa or New Hampshire, which people are still

going to have to do. It is literally getting on television, which is expensive there.

So I think as we see who is able to actually raise that money, who is actually able to

pick up those big fundraisers and people are saying I'm working for this person or this

person or this person, that will start to winnow the field a little bit.

But right now everyone sees this as their chance.

ROBERT COSTA: What do you think about Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota? She had a moment

challenging then-Supreme Court nominee, now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh in the fall; her back

and forth went viral, as they say, got a lot of attention. Could she get some traction?

LISA DESJARDINS: Absolutely. You know, I was there in that hearing room when that happened,

and she definitely had commanded attention in a room that was already very dramatic, and you

could tell that was really kind of the first very clear misstep that we'd seen from Justice Kavanaugh.

You know, I think she also has a difficult path, though, in a way, being from the - she's

not well known nationally. She has not established herself as sort of owning any particular

issue or any particular perspective. People like her as someone who can respond to Trump

potentially, but she hasn't shown yet that she can really land a punch on an opponent.

So she - and I think many Democrats are in that same category.

ROBERT COSTA: Well, some Democrats would say she landed a punch on Kavanaugh.

LISA DESJARDINS: Well, I guess that's fair, that's true. But I think - I think that it's

a different level when you're talking about having to go up against President Trump himself.

You know, I think Democrats, what's interesting to me is they're actually a little bit

behind of where Republicans were or where - in the 2016 cycle or where Democrats

themselves were in the 2008 cycle. 2008 cycle, two years previously we already had an

Obama-Clinton - we already knew that they were among the frontrunners.

They weren't the only ones, but they were really clear. Now we don't know who it is.

And, you know, the first announcements for Republican candidates in the last cycle were

in March of the previous year.

So March is only a couple months away, and it's really not clear where things stand.

BRIAN BENNETT: It's going to be really interesting to see how Trump influences the

Democratic primary because you know he's going to weigh in. He's going to weigh in on

candidates, and in some cases that's going to give jet fuel to that candidate; it's

going to bring more attention to that candidate. Or, you know, he has a way of penning

things and coming up with nicknames that can stick, so it could be a liability.

LISA DESJARDINS: I could see him spending the shutdown, like, thinking of nicknames of

Democrats, you know? (Laughter.)

BRIAN BENNETT: Yeah, maybe he's - maybe he's taking your list and making a list of nicknames.

ROBERT COSTA: Well, he's already made fun of Beto O'Rourke.

BRIAN BENNETT: That's right, that's right. He, like -

ROBERT COSTA: He hasn't come up with a nickname yet.

BRIAN BENNETT: Right, but he's said that, you know, I thought you pick a winner, someone

- you don't pick someone who lost a race to run. So that's one of his talking points now

about O'Rourke; I'm sure we'll hear more about him and about other candidates from the president.

ROBERT COSTA: When you talk to people inside of the White House, maybe leave the names

aside, get some candid answers, having a real talk about 2020, does anyone give them a

little bit of a scare?

BRIAN BENNETT: Well, Trump himself has talked about - he thinks that the only person who

can challenge him is someone we don't talk - we don't talk about now, like a nobody, kind

of like Bill Clinton coming out of left field in 1992.

So I think in his own mind he feels like a Mitch Landrieu or someone that doesn't right

now have a huge national profile could be someone that could challenge him.

ERICA WERNER: And we've seen that it can really be very difficult for Democrats to

navigate how to respond to Trump and how to parry with him.

For a while we thought that Senator Warren was doing a pretty good job of that.

They would get in Twitter fights. She was very aggressive, really stood up to him.

But then she kind of took the bait on the whole issue of her Native American heritage,

put out that DNA test that really seems to have backfired, and now she's not kind of seen

at the top of the heap.

So Democrats really have to be careful, and it really is hard to do battle with Trump.

ROBERT COSTA: What about Vice President Biden? Where is his decision-making process,

based on your conversations with Democrats? It seems like he hasn't made a decision.

SHAWNA THOMAS: It's been a very long decision-making process, is what we know.

He is definitely talking to people around him about it. And he's trying to figure out,

does he really want to go through this process? He knows pretty intimately what it's

like, since he's actually run for president, as well as vice president, multiple times.

ROBERT COSTA: Going back to the 1980s.

SHAWNA THOMAS: Exactly. But it - to me, it's still unclear whether he is going to

actually pull the trigger or not. So we will see. I mean, I think there's a lot of people

out there who would say, you know, is this the new blood and face of the Democratic Party

we want to see running? And I think that's a question he's probably considering himself.

ROBERT COSTA: Is that really - the Beto O'Rourke, is that about a generational debate in

the Democratic Party? You look at the Democratic leadership in the House, they're all

over the age of 77. And people like Bernie Sanders, senator from Vermont,

77 years old, I believe. How's that younger generation going to assert itself?

LISA DESJARDINS: That is a huge sort of shifting of tectonic plates that's happening

slowly for Democrats. And you feel that frustration from younger generations that they're

having trouble moving up. I think as far as Joe Biden goes, what he brings - what he

lacks in sort of generational energy is he's great with unions. He's great with, like,

white working-class voters, the voters that a lot of Democrats think they lost and that's

why President Trump is in office. You know, but there is an issue with history.

The thing I think the most about when I think about these presidential candidates, going

all the way back to the '80s, every time a party nominates someone who should have gotten

the nomination an earlier time, it never works. Think about Hillary Clinton. You can go

back, you can talk about Bob Dole. That didn't work. All of these candidates that sort

were, like, you know, runner ups. Romney was the same way, McCain was the same way.

This, oh, he could have won last time, let's nominate him now. It never works.

ROBERT COSTA: What about Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio? He was able to win in 2018,

a tough year. The Republicans won the gubernatorial race in Ohio.

Yet, Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, shares in some ways the instincts of President Trump on

trade, a protectionist. Could he get some oxygen in this political atmosphere?

ERICA WERNER: Yeah. I mean, I think that he does have a strong argument to make,

that he's shown how a Democrat can win in a state like Ohio - and win big.

He has a lot of populist tendencies and can make the case that he's had achievements for

unions and working-class people. I do think there is a question, as you were raising as

regards to Mitch Landrieu, as to whether it can be or is going to be a white man - another

white man this time around, with the diversity and the energy from young people -

ROBERT COSTA: Senator Harris, Senator Booker -

ERICA WERNER: Right, that we're seeing Democrats want and gravitate towards.

And Brown also can't really claim to be, you know, a new face or part of a new

generation. So I think he definitely has a case to make, though.

BRIAN BENNETT: One topic that's made the White House nervous going into 2020 is health

care. And they know that their moves on the Affordable Care Act have been popular with

their base and Republicans, but when it comes to general voting public it's not as

popular. And there's more and more anxiety about Trump's moves on Obamacare. And so they

have - they know they have a struggle to make a case for health care going into 2020.

ROBERT COSTA: Could you see the White House - I know there's an immigration shutdown now

- but could they move to try to do something on health care to reassure those voters on

that issue? Maybe do something on infrastructure to try to move toward the center?

Because sometimes you wonder with President Trump, not grounded in ideology, even as he

fights down - on the shutdown, could he actually try to pivot at some point to the center?

BRIAN BENNETT: So I haven't seen any indication of that even though, you're right,

that's a possibility for the president. He's said in the past he wants to work on

infrastructure. And he's also said in the past he wants to deal with something on

health care. But we haven't seen any good faith efforts to do either of that. And we

haven't heard of anything inside the White House on active policy ideas to accomplish that.

SHAWNA THOMAS: I would expect to see Nancy Pelosi make some move on the Affordable Care

Act, because of the - because of the court case where, you know, a judge said it was

unconstitutional, basically, to sort of shore up, like, here is congressional intention.

Now, does that get through the Senate? I can't tell you. There are Republican senators

who are also worried about a judge trying to dismantle the ACA and it's going to get appealed.

But I think one interesting thing about the ACA, and 2020, and elections, and how all

this fits together, is there were multiple Republican states this past time around, in

2018, that expanded Medicaid. Idaho. I went out and covered it. They expanded Medicaid,

which is a part of Obamacare. People don't want to lose some of the perks of the

Affordable Care Act. And no one is saying it works perfectly, and I get that.

But that is also something that the Republicans have to think about.

ROBERT COSTA: That's a great place to end it, because as much as this 2020 conversation

is often about personality, it also comes down to policy, as Shawna laid out for us right

there. That's it for this edition of the Washington Week Podcast.

You can listen wherever you get your podcast or watch on our Washington Week website.

I'm Robert Costa. Have a happy new year and we'll see you next time.

For more infomation >> A look ahead to the 2020 election - Duration: 11:24.

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Government shutdown and a look ahead to 2019 - Duration: 25:10.

ROBERT COSTA: The government remains shut down. I'm Robert Costa. Welcome to Washington Week.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: (From video.) I can't tell you when the government's going to be

open. I can tell you it's not going to be open until we have a wall, a fence,

or whatever they'd like to call it.

ROBERT COSTA: The government shutdown extends into 2019 as President Trump and Congress

battle over funding for a border wall. And Washington uncertainty comes amid volatility on

Wall Street. Plus, the president makes his first trip to a combat zone and defends

his decision to draw down troops in Syria.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: (From video.) We're not the suckers of the world.

We're no longer the suckers, folks. We're respected again as a nation.

ROBERT COSTA: We cover it all next.

ANNOUNCER: This is Washington Week. Once again, from Washington, moderator Robert Costa.

ROBERT COSTA: Good evening. The federal government shutdown heads into the new year,

with President Trump demanding 5 billion (dollars) for a border wall. The president's

standoff with Democrats has consequences, as hundreds of thousands of federal employees

work without pay. About 380,000 federal employees have been furloughed and have not yet

been guaranteed their back pay; that's according to the Associated Press.

Another 420,000 employees, including air traffic controllers, have been deemed essential

and are working without pay for now but will eventually be paid once the government reopens.

Joining me tonight, Shawna Thomas, Washington bureau chief for Vice News; Brian Bennett,

White House correspondent for TIME Magazine; Lisa Desjardins, congressional correspondent

for the PBS NewsHour; and Erica Werner, congressional correspondent for The Washington

Post. On Friday this war of words, it took another turn: President Trump threatened to

close the border if his demands are not met. And the acting White House chief of staff,

Mick Mulvaney, blamed incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for the impasse.

ACTING WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF MICK MULVANEY: (From video.) This all comes down to

Mrs. Pelosi's speakership. I think left to his own devices that Chuck Schumer and the

Senate Democrats probably would cut a deal, but they're protecting Mrs. Pelosi. She does

not have the votes, and if she cuts a deal with the president of any sort before her election

on January 3rd she's at risk of losing her speakership. So we're in this for the long haul.

ROBERT COSTA: "We're in this for the long haul." The rains over Washington, Erica, the

shutdown continues. The acting chief of staff is there on the White House Lawn talking

to reporters. But where are the talks right now? Where is the urgency?

ERICA WERNER: Isn't that interesting? There is no urgency. There are no talks.

The Capitol is completely deserted. All of the congressional leaders are at home.

UK and Louisville are playing each other in basketball tomorrow; Senator McConnell is

going to be there, in all likelihood. It's very unlike past shutdowns, where you had

negotiations that were ongoing, you know, moment by moment until it was resolved. That is

not the case this time. There's just kind of an understanding that this doesn't get resolved

until Democrats take over the House on January 3rd, and so we'll wait and see what happens then.

ROBERT COSTA: Why is that, Brian? You were on the ground with President Trump in

Iraq this week. Is he playing toward the base here? Is that why he's digging in?

BRIAN BENNETT: President Trump wants to be talking about border security.

He wants to be talking about the wall. That's what he wants to talk about all next year.

He really thinks it's winning with his base, and he wants to put the Democrats on the

spot on it. So he's very comfortable having this fight right now. There are certain

people in the White House who have advised him to do this; it's not a hundred percent.

So this is something that he wants to do, and he seems like he wants to dig in and try to

make a point. He hasn't made any plans to go down to Mar-a-Lago at this point.

He may miss the big annual Mar-a-Lago New Year's Eve party.

ROBERT COSTA: Lisa, when you think about the political cost, the base may love the

president fighting for this border wall, but what about the federal employees?

What's their reality at this moment?

LISA DESJARDINS: I've spent the last couple of days talking and tweeting with and

emailing with many, many federal employees. Right now you're in a situation where kind

of the worst-case scenario is for most federal employees they could miss - the next

paycheck would be January 11th. And we just got some news, Coast Guard employees were

different, active duty. There was some news. They had thought they might be missing

their paycheck Monday; I just - the Coast Guard just told me there's an update that

they will get that paycheck on Monday. That's a big deal. But overall, I talked to

people who have delayed surgeries because they're worried about not getting enough money to pay

for copays, people who have delayed closing on homes. That's where we are. Nobody's missing

mortgage payments yet, but they're nervous that could happen in the next couple of weeks.

SHAWNA THOMAS: And those are the stories that are going to start to maybe change this

conversation. As people miss paychecks, people who live month - paycheck to paycheck,

month to month, those are the stories that media people like us are going to start to tell.

We're going to go find those people in the middle of the country - outside of Washington,

D.C., where lots of government workers work - and that is going to get - that's going to

increase the pressure on the president, as well as Nancy Pelosi.

ROBERT COSTA: Shawna, so what does the incoming House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, do when she

likely wins the gavel this week in a House floor vote?

Does she move immediately to reopen the government without border funds?

SHAWNA THOMAS: Yes, she definitely moves immediately to do some kind of combination of

things, whether that's try to put the bill on the floor that the Senate passed a version

of before they left that funds the government through February 8th with no border funds or

try to move a continuing resolution to just fund the rest of the government through sort

of October 1st. One of those options, Nancy Pelosi is going to move to do that to show

that she can pass it and punt it over to the Senate. What does Mitch McConnell do?

Well, when I talked to, you know, some people in the Senate and the House, Mitch

McConnell and Nancy Pelosi also haven't talked.

We know the president hasn't really spoken with Nancy Pelosi any time lately.

Mitch McConnell also has not spoken with Nancy Pelosi.

ROBERT COSTA: How hard is that $5 billion number for the White House, Erica?

Are the - I know that talks are pretty nonexistent, but has the White House given any

private signal to Democrats that they'd be willing to ask for a lower number?

ERICA WERNER: Yeah, well, the last thing that kind of happened before things stopped

happening was on Saturday there were talks on the Hill. Vice President Pence was up

there, along with Mulvaney and others, and the White House did come down substantially.

They came down to 2.5 (billion dollars), so they cut that figure in half.

The problem, though, from Democrats' perspective is they don't want to be negotiating

with Pence or Mulvaney or anyone but Trump because they feel like any deal they strike

with anyone that's not Trump, Trump could turn around and pull the rug out from under.

We saw that happen when Mitch McConnell forced the Senate to pass a short-term bill to

February 8th that did not have that border wall funding.

That was done on the understanding that Trump would support that bill.

The very next morning he did a turnaround under pressure from conservative press and

lawmakers, and he withdrew his support. And here we are.

ROBERT COSTA: Why is the White House acting like it has leverage, Brian?

They keep moving in an aggressive way to talk about militarizing the border or shutting

down the border. Do they actually believe that Democrats will break for that?

BRIAN BENNETT: Well, I think Trump has sent mixed signals.

He's created some openings for negotiation where he's said things like, you know, you

could call it a fence or a wall, you could have slats.

So that does create an opening for a discussion about the definition of a wall.

But then, in his most recent tweet when he talked about shutting down the border, that,

from his perspective, is trying to create leverage; like, I'm going to make the stakes

even higher here if Democrats don't come to the table.

SHAWNA THOMAS: Well, but here's the problem, right, that it's really not about $5

billion. This federal government could find $5 billion if it wanted to find $5 billion.

It's about the fact that the wall is a symbol of something. For Democrats, the wall is

a symbol for keeping others out. It's a symbol of racism.

It's a symbol of all the things that they supposedly ran against especially in 2018, that

Nancy Pelosi has to hold the line on, and I think some of which Nancy Pelosi believes

herself. For the president, it is a campaign promise. It is a symbol of America first.

And how you argue around a symbol, when it really isn't about the money - because 5

billion (dollars) just isn't a lot in our government.

ROBERT COSTA: Is that symbolism important? Because you think about, the Congress just

passed an $867 billion farm bill, and yet the thing that's shutting down the government

is 5 billion (dollars), or 1.6 billion (dollars), or 2 billion (dollars) over a border

wall. Does this tell us a lot about divided government next year, how it's going to look?

LISA DESJARDINS: Yeah, Shawna nailed it. It's not just symbols, it's also semantics,

right? Because think about it, the bill that the Senate passed unanimously -

Republicans and Democrats - actually did have money in it for border security.

It could have gone to, I think - it looks - senators will tell you, it could have

gone to a potential steel slat fence, which is what the president says now that he wants.

But that's the exact deal he rejected. So there's a problem of shifting messages

from the president but also semantics in a divided Congress, that is - they're

both trying to find their way with voters on a very big issue.

ROBERT COSTA: So what's so interesting about all this is that we have the semantic

debate, the political debate, but this is real world stuff.

And while this debate was unfolding in Washington this week Homeland Security Secretary

Kirstjen Nielsen traveled to Texas on Friday to inspect detention centers following the

death of a second migrant child in Border Patrol custody. An 8-year-old boy died just

hours after he was treated at a hospital on Christmas Eve earlier this month.

A 7-year-old girl also died while in U.S. custody. Nielsen announced that the agency

would be expanding health screenings for children and may request further aid in medical care.

Erica, talking about divided government next year, House Democrats, they're positioning

in the shutdown fight, to be sure, but also looking about at hearings and investigations

into the Trump administration on immigration.

ERICA WERNER: Yeah. This is disturbing stuff, obviously, with what's going on with

these two kids in particular, and the separated families more broadly, and definitely

something Democrats will look at, hold hearings, et cetera.

And when you talk to Republicans, those that support the president, they generally feel

like immigration is a winning issue for them and they support the president, except when

it comes to - when the spotlight is on the kids and the family separations.

That's when it gets very difficult politically for Republicans. And Democrats, not just

because it's politics but it is good politics for Democrats, will definitely be focusing on that.

ROBERT COSTA: When you think about divided government in the past, when presidents have

been humbled at the ballot box, they sometimes move toward the center. Is this White House

moving more toward the right rather than toward the center, in particular on immigration?

BRIAN BENNETT: Definitely on immigration they're moving towards the right.

And I think that Trump feels like this is an animating issue for 2020, for his race.

And he's probably not going to give up much on this.

I mean, it's a - they're in a very difficult spot on the border right now because the

Trump administration's policy has been to hold children and families longer to try to

create a deterrent, when what's happening is more and more families and children trying

to cross the border illegally, and it's jamming up the system.

LISA DESJARDINS: And in truth this is something Republican senators have been saying

privately since we started seeing these family separations. They have been very

uncomfortable with this, but they have not been able to figure out how to deal with it.

Ron Johnson, the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, told me personally he - at

one point, he was thinking of having hearings. He ended up not going that direction.

They're very nervous about that. So in some sense, Democrats in the House taking over this

issue is a relief to some Republicans, especially in the Senate, who are uncomfortable with it.

ROBERT COSTA: And how are we seeing the incoming Speaker Nancy Pelosi deal with the new

dynamics in the House Democratic conference? You have a lot more progressives, younger progressives.

Are they trying - are they preventing her from maybe cutting a deal on this shutdown?

SHAWNA THOMAS: I'm not - I don't actually think that's one of the things preventing her

from cutting a deal. I think Nancy Pelosi believes that in this immigration issue that

her base, the Democratic base, wants to be inclusive in a certain way, that she can't

lose that immigration issue. And that isn't because of these new members.

That's because Nancy Pelosi understands Democratic politics.

ROBERT COSTA: Let's talk about the other big issue this week. The president and first

lady made a surprise visit to Iraq. It was Mr. Trump's first visit to a combat zone while in office.

It also came just a week after he rejected recommendations from military commanders and

announced that he would be withdrawing all U.S. troops from Syria. His decision prompted

Defense Secretary James Mattis to resign. Brian, you were on that trip, a surprise trip to Iraq.

With the Syria decision looming over it, how did that shape the president's remarks and the whole trip?

BRIAN BENNETT: Well, I think the Syria decision was one of the reasons he really wanted

to do this trip. He's been under pressure for months to visit a combat zone, which he

hadn't done in his first two years in office. And then he made this big decision without

really consulting the national security apparatus to precipitously start withdrawing U.S.

troops from Syria. So I think he felt like he wanted to go, he wanted to show himself in

Iraq, and he wanted to show that he was going to double down in Iraq to offset what he

was doing in Syria. And so I think that really informed his decision to do it.

ROBERT COSTA: What was it like to be in the room, President Trump, his first trip in

this kind of setting?

BRIAN BENNETT: So President Trump was really focused on the visuals.

So he really wanted his first appearance there in Iraq to be at this table with some of

the military leadership, surrounded by people in uniform, and he looked like he was

running a meeting. He came out of there and said: We came up with a great plan for victory.

We're going to - even though we're pulling out of Syria, we have plans to be really

successful. And then he went into the dining hall, and there were about more than

100 soldiers there in uniform. And they cheered him as he walked in.

Some of the soldiers had brought red MAGA hats - make America great again hats - and

asked him to sign them, which created its own controversy and discussion about whether

the military was allowing itself to be politicized. And then he spoke to a hangar full of

hundreds of uniformed troops. And in that, he broke with convention and made political remarks

about Nancy Pelosi, and saying the Democrats don't support border security, which usually

when our commander in chief goes overseas, past presidents, they don't bring politics into it.

ROBERT COSTA: Erica, you look at Capitol Hill and you have Senator Bob Corker, the chair

of Foreign Relations retiring. You have Jim Mattis, the secretary of defense, heading to the

exit. Who's going to fill the void for Republicans on foreign policy in Congress next year?

ERICA WERNER: Well and, of course, Senator McCain was a very strong voice on these

issues. And with Corker leaving, there really is going to be a void.

As far as a senator with gravitas who will be challenging the president and the

administration on foreign policy you have Senator Risch of Idaho, who's not very well

known outside of his state - former governor of Idaho - who will be replacing Corker as

chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. He's someone who is a Trump supporter, even

though he was kind of a skeptic before the election.

But he's actually criticized Corker for the way Corker has been critical of Trump and

said that he'll air any disputes he's had - he'll have with the administration behind

closed doors and not out in public. So I think it's going to be a Senate that follows

the administration rather than challenging it.

ROBERT COSTA: Lisa, Brian brought up the signing of the make America great again hats,

the militaristic language from President Trump. At the same time, he's removing troops

from Syria. Is this president militaristic, a hawk, or is he a non-interventionist?

LISA DESJARDINS: Wow, that is a very big question. I see Ph.D. thesis for the next 20

years on this topic, if not longer, and books. I think - I think it really - he is situational.

And I think that he certainly cares about his military posture, how he's perceived as a

commander. But I think it has yet to be seen what type of information about America's

military is he reacting to. Is he thinking strategically? And how? It's really not clear.

And a problem for congressmen in particular is he's not communicating with them at all.

They were completely surprised by the Syria withdrawal. And these are senators who spend

their lives, have enormous staff, expertise on these issues. And yet - and

oversight of them. And yet, they were not involved. So it's tricky.

ROBERT COSTA: That gets at a key point, that some Republicans may actually like the

policy, but they don't like the process.

SHAWNA THOMAS: Yeah. And they're still struggling with how do you communicate that?

And I think you're going to continue to see them struggle more.

And I think in terms of, like, foreign policy voices, we will still be asking Lindsey

Graham to tell us how he feels about these things, when the president's going to pull out

without - you know, without telling anyone beforehand.

Lindsey Graham is probably still going to speak up to a certain extent.

The Marco Rubios of the world will speak up to a certain extent. But they're

never going to actually know what the president is going to do before he does it.

ROBERT COSTA: Let's get into that a little bit, because as we say goodbye to 2018 and we

look ahead to the new year and the stories you'll be following, the Trump administration

has quite a few staff changes.

And the president begins the year with a number of people serving in acting positions,

including the attorney general, defense secretary, and the White House chief of staff.

Let's go around the table just for the final few minutes.

Brian, you think about that White House, the upheaval there, all these concerns in the

party - both parties - about process, how is President Trump dealing with this flux?

BRIAN BENNETT: So he's a guy for decades who's managed through chaos, and he's written

about that, so I think he likes that, and he likes people to feel on edge who are working

for him. And certainly he's lit a fire under Chief of Staff Mulvaney, who now has to

prove himself in his position, and others. So I think he's used to that.

And we're going to see more turnover, I think, in the new year.

ROBERT COSTA: And the big issue for you in 2019?

BRIAN BENNETT: I'm going to be watching how Trump reacts to the stock market and its

continued volatility. And I'll also be watching, of course, more revelations coming

out of the Mueller investigation, and whether that prompts Trump to take more actions

in the Justice Department.

ROBERT COSTA: Is the Fed Chairman Jerome Powell safe?

BRIAN BENNETT: You know, you would hope that, yes, he would be safe and that we'd

continue this longtime approach which has preserved our stability in the markets of

having a political separation between the Fed chairman and politics, but we don't know.

This is a - this is a new president. We've never had a president like this in recent memory.

So we hope that he is able to respect those norms that have led to market stability for that reason.

ROBERT COSTA: Erica, we talked earlier about the House Democratic conference.

I know you're such a student of the House and the incoming speaker, Pelosi.

I'm fascinating by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, this new member from New York, really part

of this new left, the rising left in the country. How does Leader Pelosi,

incoming Speaker Pelosi, deal with these dynamics? How do you see it?

ERICA WERNER: Yeah, I think that's going to be one of the most fascinating storylines to

watch next year. You referenced Ocasio-Cortez, who of course is a big star, but a lot of

the newly elected Democrats, most of them come from red-to-blue districts, moderate

districts. Some of them had to pledge not to vote for Pelosi. So you have intense cross

pressures there that are already creating problems on issues like taxes, climates where

she's not finding agreement. So she's a master at managing her members.

We'll see how she does it, but it's going to be interesting to watch.

ROBERT COSTA: What about 2020? We don't even get much time to talk about presidential

politics on this show, Shawna, but we know about Beto O'Rourke, the Texas congressman

who's getting a lot of buzz. We know about Vice President Biden, Senator Sanders.

But are there other names out there we should keep an eye on?

SHAWNA THOMAS: I mean, there are so many names - (laughter) - on the Democratic side, like -

ROBERT COSTA: Who are you - who are you watching?

SHAWNA THOMAS: You know, here's my one weird thing, who hasn't announced and doesn't

have an exploratory committee. I'm still watching Mitch Landrieu, the former mayor of

New Orleans, because he is a, you know, late-50s-something mayor who helped New Orleans

out after Katrina. He's not afraid to talk about race.

He brought the Confederate statues down in New Orleans.

And in some ways I'm looking at him because he's a white male and there's a question of,

like who can bring some of the, basically, white suburbans who left the Democratic Party

and voted for President Trump back in, and that's also why people are looking at Biden

and other people. I think there's something interesting about Mitch Landrieu.

He's also personable, and he's good on the stump.

ROBERT COSTA: Is there a path, though, for a Mitch Landrieu, or a Michael Bloomberg, or

even a Vice President Biden in a Democratic Party that sees a lot of energy on the left?

SHAWNA THOMAS: Well, with Michael Bloomberg there's a lot of - money creates paths, so -

(laughs) - there I think there is a path for the Michael Bloombergs of the world.

And Joe Biden's the former vice president.

Mitch Landrieu has a little bit more of a problem with money than Michael Bloomberg does,

but I think - I think what the path is - politics is different now because of President

Trump. And with it could be 40 people running for the Democratic nomination, the path

may be through California. If you have enough money to show up there, since their

primary is going to move up, maybe that's the path now.

ROBERT COSTA: And, real quick, Beto O'Rourke; a year from now, will we still think

there's buzz around this Texas congressman? I know we don't like to predict too much, but -

SHAWNA THOMAS: I think so because there's a world where maybe we're talking about Beto

O'Rourke also for a vice presidential spot. I think we're still talking about him a year from now.

ROBERT COSTA: The shutdown is dominating this holiday week, but what else should we have

on our calendar for next year in terms of standoffs, shutdowns, showdowns, whatever they are?

LISA DESJARDINS: I think we should expect more shutdown showdowns. I think that's

very likely in the cards. We've seen three this year, and shutdowns seem to come in clumps.

Ronald Reagan had eight of them. But it's notable that this one in particular is the

first time that we've seen workers sent home from the federal government when one party

was in control of all branches. And I get the Senate and 60 votes, yadda, yadda, but

it's significant. I think also we need to watch spending.

Right now the interest on our deficit - I'm going to get a little nerdy - the interest

that we're paying right now is about $370 billion a year. That could double in 10 years.

And to give some perspective, because that's a number that doesn't make any sense to me -

almost $400 billion - that's more than half of the Pentagon's budget. So we're paying

a lot of money in interest. It's going to get worse. It's going to be a really big

problem for this country, and it's starting to show up on polls of Republicans as

a concern. They need to deal with spending this year as budget cuts are slated.

ROBERT COSTA: What happens with the debt limit?

LISA DESJARDINS: Yeah, that's something that the president is going to have to make a

decision. Is he going to use that -

ROBERT COSTA: Is that in the spring, or?

LISA DESJARDINS: - he has a choice - or not? And Mitch McConnell has repeatedly said

he does not want to play games with the debt limit, but with this president he may not

have that choice. We'll see.

SHAWNA THOMAS: The debt limit's leverage. LISA DESJARDINS: Debt limit leverage, right.

ROBERT COSTA: But, as Brian was saying, the economy's volatility may push some members,

even hardline Republicans, away from using it as leverage, or no?

SHAWNA THOMAS: I mean, it hasn't really stopped them from using it as leverage before on

both sides, so I think - I think if the president sees that as another leverage point

that he may very well use it.

ERICA WERNER: I mean, McConnell said he didn't want to shut down the government and

wouldn't shut down the government, and here we are, so.

LISA DESJARDINS: That's right, right.

ROBERT COSTA: Who's actually going to stand up to President Trump in the Republican

Party next year?

ERICA WERNER: I don't know. I mean, we'll find out if anyone does. Senator McConnell

is in cycle. Shawna mentioned Rubio, who, you know, occasionally speaks out.

ROBERT COSTA: What about Senator-elect Mitt Romney? ERICA WERNER: Could be.

SHAWNA THOMAS: I mean, I think people are watching to see who Mitt Romney is going to be

in the Senate because he's -

ROBERT COSTA: Who is he going to be?

SHAWNA THOMAS: Well, Mitt Romney I don't think is necessarily scared of President

Trump's base. I think Mitt Romney knows who his base is. I think he feels pretty confident.

It may be that everyone looks to Romney, also because he has a name and people want to interview him.

ROBERT COSTA: And we haven't even mentioned Robert Mueller.

BRIAN BENNETT: Yes, that's a whole 'nother thing that's going to come out next, is more Mueller.

ROBERT COSTA: It's more than a whole 'nother thing. (Laughter.)

LISA DESJARDINS: Sometimes I think the biggest counterdirectional force to the president

is the same person who is his number-one counselor: himself. You know, so if he

changes direction, I think it's something to do with his own instincts.

ROBERT COSTA: We'll see. Divided government, and you never know what happens in

divided government. But before we go tonight, we'd like to pause and remember a

talented leader in the WETA family: Anne Harrington, who passed away this week.

Anne was a gifted and creative colleague who set high standards as vice president for

national engagement and interactive media. She worked on many national productions,

including documentaries by Ken Burns and Skip Gates. Our thoughts are with her husband,

Simon, and her two teenage daughters, Sydney and Sally.

I'm Robert Costa. We'll see you next week and next year.

For more infomation >> Government shutdown and a look ahead to 2019 - Duration: 25:10.

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Trump to spend New Year's in Washington D.C. amid partial gov't shutdown - Duration: 0:41.

U.S. President Donald Trump will reportedly remain in Washington D.C. for the New Year,...

as the partial government shutdown continues.

In an interview with Fox News on Friday, White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said Trump

has canceled his plans to spend New Year's at his Florida estate.

This comes after the standoff over funding for the U.S. leader's proposed Mexico border

wall led to a federal government shutdown last week.

Around 800-thousand workers have been affected by the partial closure,... which marks the

longest shutdown since 2013 when the U.S. government closed for 16 days over the Affordable

Care Act.

For more infomation >> Trump to spend New Year's in Washington D.C. amid partial gov't shutdown - Duration: 0:41.

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Opinion | There is reason to hope. Seriously. - Duration: 2:25.

For more infomation >> Opinion | There is reason to hope. Seriously. - Duration: 2:25.

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House GOP releases findings from probe of FBI, Justice Department The Washington Post - Duration: 3:15.

House GOP releases findings from probe of FBI, Justice Department The Washington Post

The outgoing Republican committee chairmen in charge of a year long probe of how the FBI and Justice Department handled investigations into the Trump campaigns alleged Russia ties and Hillary Clintons emails once again called for a second special counsel to look into such matters in a letter to top administration and congressional officials summing up their work.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte R Va. and Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy R S.C. sent their letter to acting attorney general Matthew G. Whitaker, Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell R Ky. . In it, they encouraged them to pick up where the House panels left off and continue to identify and eliminate bias at the federal law enforcement agencies so the public can trust the institutions to make decisions solely on the facts and the law and totally devoid of political bias or consideration.

Our 2016 presidential candidates were not treated equally, Goodlatte and Gowdy wrote in a statement accompanying the release of the letter. The investigators in both investigations were biased against President Trump.

The House GOP leaned heavily on details in an inspector general report released earlier this year to make their arguments about bias having infected the FBI and DOJs proceedings. The IGs report found that while certain individuals, such as former top FBI counterintelligence officer Peter Strzok, displayed clear personal bias against Trump, there was no evidence that the conclusions of the investigations themselves were biased.

Nonetheless, Republicans and Democrats have openly warred over the implications of the IG report and their own investigation for months. Democrats have frequently charged that the GOP used the congressional investigation as a means of discrediting the work that provided the foundation for special counsel Robert S. Mueller IIIs ongoing probe of Russian meddling. Republican leaders denied that charge in their letter, arguing that whatever product is produced by the Special Counsel must be trusted by Americans and that requires asking tough but fair questions about investigative techniques both employed and not employed.

But after dozens of mostly closed door interviews and months of high profile partisan clashes, the seven page letter comes as a remarkably quiet ending — with lawmakers offering no discernibly new insights or recommendations for how the federal law enforcement agencies erred or might improve their work.

Alongside the call for a second special counsel — which Goodlatte and Gowdy first formally — the panel leaders recommended that others take a closer look at the process of securing warrants to conduct surveillance on individuals, and how much detail investigators are required to provide the secret court that approves such warrants about informant or source issues and the divulging of bias information. Sen. Lindsey O. Graham R S.C. , the incoming chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has already told reporters that he plans to take up this issue.

In the letter, GOP panel leaders criticize the decisions several of the witnesses testified to making during the investigations. In particularly, they focus on those of former FBI director James B. Comey, pitting his testimony against that of former FBI general counsel James Baker, whose comments, they said, suggested that Comey possibly erred in deciding not to prosecute Clinton over her use of a private email server.

The Republican chairmen also cite Bakers testimony to reiterate a criticism of Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, who they say should have returned to Capitol Hill for a closed door interview about his reported comments that he suggested recording Trump and then trying to invoke constitutional procedure to remove him from office. Such an interview was scheduled with panel leaders in late October, but abruptly canceled amid an outcry from rank and file panel Republicans, who felt they too should be allowed to pepper Rosenstein with questions. Some of those panel members, led by Reps. Mark Meadows R N.C. and Jim Jordan R Ohio , also sought to have Rosenstein impeached.

Jordan will take over as the top Republican on the Oversight and Government Reform panel in just a few days, at which point the Democrats taking over House leadership — and the chairmanship of the panels — are expected to dramatically alter, if not formally shutter, the probe.

The letter from Gowdy and Goodlatte was not accompanied by the release of any transcripts from interviews that have not yet been made public. A classified version of the panels findings is being made available to members.

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For more infomation >> House GOP releases findings from probe of FBI, Justice Department The Washington Post - Duration: 3:15.

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12/28/18 10:24 AM (Division @ Cozza, Washington 99208, USA) - Duration: 4:58.

For more infomation >> 12/28/18 10:24 AM (Division @ Cozza, Washington 99208, USA) - Duration: 4:58.

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Alamo Bowl: Minshew leads Washington State past Iowa State 28-26 - Duration: 2:54.

Gardner Minshew II threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score and No. 13 Washington State stopped No

20 Iowa State on a late two-point conversion in a 28-26 victory in the Alamo Bowl on Friday night

 Minshew passed for 299 yards to help Washington State (11-2) set a school record for wins in a season

Advertisement >  Minshew's biggest play came out of desperation and it set up the winning score

 Iowa State (8-5) rallied from down 21-10 at halftime to 21-20 early in the fourth quarter before running back David Montgomery fumbled on the Cyclones 30

 Minshew, who had been held in check in the third quarter, escaped a third-down pass rush to flip a shovel pass that went for 20 yards

The play stunned the Cyclones, and Max Borghi ran in from 10 yards on the next play to put the Cougars ahead 28-20

 Iowa State's last chance came after Brock Purdy scored from a yard out with 4:02 left

The Cyclones went for two, but a pass play was stopped well short of the goal line after a false-start penalty pushed the line of scrimmage back to the 7

 Purdy passed for 315 yards and Cyclones receiver Hakeem Butler caught nine passes for 192 yards

Montgomery rushed for 124 yards.

For more infomation >> Alamo Bowl: Minshew leads Washington State past Iowa State 28-26 - Duration: 2:54.

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Two men arrested after chase through Washington, Idaho - Duration: 2:03.

For more infomation >> Two men arrested after chase through Washington, Idaho - Duration: 2:03.

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12/28/18 9:17 PM (Francis @ Division, Washington 99208, USA) - Duration: 5:00.

For more infomation >> 12/28/18 9:17 PM (Francis @ Division, Washington 99208, USA) - Duration: 5:00.

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Why Congos election on Sunday will be a travesty The Washington Post - Duration: 1:56.

Why Congos election on Sunday will be a travesty The Washington Post

Opinion Interpretation of the news based on evidence, including data, as well as anticipating how events might unfold based on past events

FOR TWO years after the official expiration of President Joseph Kabilas term, the Democratic Republic of Congo failed to choose a successor. This was largely the fault of the , who lingered in office and dragged his feet on election preparations. This year, under strong domestic and international pressure, he and his coterie handpicked a loyal successor and promised balloting would be held Dec. 23. After another , a vote is set for Sunday in most of the country. But the whole two year farrago of phony promises, topped by and repression in recent weeks, amounts to a travesty. Congos people deserve better.

They deserve better because the country, of Western Europe, sits on huge deposits of mineral wealth that have not been used to benefit more than the ruling elite. They deserve better because this vast Central African expanse has yet to experience a peaceful democratic transfer of power since independence from Belgium in 1960, and has often been a cauldron of misery and death, marked by sexual violence, child soldiering and the bedlam of rebel militias.

Congos people need a chance to defy the and of a regime determined to avoid a true competitive election. have fought an uphill battle. The latest electoral flimflam came in the days before the scheduled Dec. 23 vote. A mysterious broke out in a warehouse holding thousands of voting machines. The electoral commission announced a one week in the vote, stirring uncertainty.

This week brought even more signs of subterfuge. The electoral commission that the voting would be postponed until March in three cities, Beni, Butembo and Yumbi, which account for more than 1.2 million of Congos approximately 40 million registered voters, and are of opposition to Mr. Kabila. The explanation that an ongoing Ebola outbreak near two of the cities would endanger voters was lame. The postponement taints the electoral process; voters in these three cities are being told they can cast their ballots after a new president is already sworn in.

On Dec. 10, European Union foreign ministers responsible for human rights abuses and obstruction of the electoral process in Congo, including former interior minister Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, who is Mr. Kabilas handpicked choice but hardly a popular one. The government expelled .

The Trump administration has imposed some targeted sanctions on the Kabila regime but has not been nearly forceful enough lately in speaking up for free and fair elections. By a wide and bipartisan margin, the House recently passed a with real teeth in it, providing for against officials who are standing in the way of democracy and human rights. The Senate should follow suit in January. Congos corrupt leaders must hear a strong and unambiguous message that rigged and stolen elections are not democracy.

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