Leader of Oregon Armed Standoff Released From Nevada Jail

LAS VEGAS — 

A rancher’s son at the center of an armed standoff with government agents near his family ranch in Nevada in 2014 and a takeover of an Oregon wildlife refuge in 2016 was released Thursday from federal custody in Las Vegas.

Ammon Bundy, 42, was greeted by his wife and six children while friends cheered as he walked out of the federal courthouse.

His first words after 22 months behind bars were about family and American freedoms and his reasons for opposing federal power.

“It’s about people, and life, and trying to do the best we can to promote and benefit the enjoyment of life,” he said. “That’s all we’ve tried to do.”

Surprise ruling

Bundy’s brief comments to reporters quickly shifted to the surprising order on Wednesday by Chief U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro to release him, his father, Cliven Bundy, and a co-defendant from jail to house arrest with friends during their ongoing trial on charges in the armed standoff that stopped a federal roundup of Bundy cattle from public land.

Navarro didn’t specify why she reversed previous detention rulings. Her decision followed a four-hour, closed hearing amid questions from defense teams about whether federal prosecutors have turned over complete evidence records, and about the conduct of FBI and other government agents during the standoff.

“I want to give Judge Navarro some credit here,” Ammon Bundy said outside the courthouse. “She saw something, and she did with her power what she had authority to do.

“It shows where the evidence is taking this case, and what the truth is,” Bundy said.

Elder Bundy refuses release

Cliven Bundy, 71, refused the offer and remains in custody.

“There are still a lot of people that are incarcerated right now that he feels a little bit of responsibility for,” Ammon Bundy said of his father. “He wants to make sure they’re not forgotten ... that they get out as well.”

Two other Bundy sons, Dave and Mel Bundy, also remain in federal detention awaiting a trial next year with co-defendants Brian Cavalier, Micah McGuire, Joseph O’Shaughnessy and Jason Woods.

Navarro ruled that Ryan Payne could be released once a federal judge in Portland, Oregon, approves. Payne’s defense attorney, Ryan Norwood, said that authorization could come in several days.

Payne, Ammon Bundy and Ryan Bundy were among a group of people arrested in January 2016 following an occupation of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon.

Payne pleaded guilty to a felony conspiracy charge before a trial at which Ammon Bundy and his elder brother, Ryan Bundy, were acquitted of all charges. Payne is now fighting to withdraw his plea that is expected to bring a sentence of more than three years in prison.

Ryan Bundy is also standing trial in Las Vegas. Navarro on Wednesday relaxed release restrictions she set earlier this month when she allowed him to live at a halfway house while serving as his own attorney.

Ryan Bundy, 45, still has a GPS monitor. But he can split time between a friends’ home the Las Vegas area and his own home in Mesquite.

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Trump’s Retweets of Anti-Muslim Videos Spark Discussion of Safety of Americans Abroad

STATE DEPARTMENT — 

The State Department said it has ongoing conversations with the White House on issues concerning the safety of American diplomats abroad, hours after several media reported the department had warned that the president’s retweeting of several anti-Muslim videos could spark unrest in the Muslim world or put U.S. embassies at risk.

The White House, however, said the videos “elevate the conversation to talk about a real issue and a real threat, and that’s extreme violence and extreme terrorism.”

When asked if the State Department warned the White House that the retweets might have repercussions, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert told VOA Thursday in a briefing, “When it comes to specific conversations, you know all too well that I can’t comment on our sort of private internal conversations, but it wouldn’t be unusual for us to have those kinds of conversations about any matter in the world.”

“One of the things we will always say is the safety and security of our American personnel and of U.S. citizens abroad is our top concern,” Nauert said. “The State Department has continuous conversations with the White House and the National Security Council about anything that could affect any Americans’ safety and security abroad.”

​Retweeting unverified videos

Earlier this week, President Donald Trump retweeted three unverified videos that allegedly show Muslim acts of violence that were posted on Twitter by far-right British politician Jayda Fransen, deputy head of the anti-immigrant Britain First party.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said Thursday that Trump was wrong to retweet unverified videos purporting to show a Muslim migrant beating up a Dutch boy on crutches, a Muslim destroying a statue of the Virgin Mary, and an Islamist mob pushing a teenage boy off a roof and beating him to death.

But the “special relationship” between the U.S. and Britain is not changed, according to the State Department.

“Our relationship with many countries are stronger than a tweet,” said a senior State Department official.

Conversation starter

At the White House, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump’s intention was to bring up important issues through social media platforms.

Sanders acknowledged Trump likely did not know these anti-Muslim videos came from far-right British politician Fransen.

“I think what he’s done is elevate the conversation to talk about a real issue and a real threat, and that’s extreme violence and extreme terrorism,” said Sanders, adding it’s “something the president feels strongly about” and the administration is “looking at the best ways to protect Americans” every day.

Foreign policy experts said Trump’s tweets speak volumes and reinforce the widespread international perception of anti-Muslim bigotry.

“I would assume that embassies in many already volatile areas will be reviewing security postures in preparation for protests and possible violence,” Laura Kennedy, former deputy assistant secretary for European and Eurasian affairs, told VOA on Thursday.

“Surely, any sensible foreign policy or security professional would be concerned about the potential consequences of such inflammatory rhetoric from such a high level ricocheting around the world,” Kennedy added.

Retired Ambassador Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, former deputy assistant secretary for counterterrorism, told VOA that while Twitter can be tricky and it’s possible for individuals to make mistakes, President Trump’s tweets of anti-Muslim videos leave the international community confused.

“Withdraw the videos and let’s all move on,” Abercrombie-Winstanley said. “I don’t believe these videos should spark anti-America sentiment.”

A distraction?

Daniel Serwer, a professor at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, said “the Islamophobic tweets” distracted press and public attention away from imminent national security issues, including North Korea’s success in developing an intercontinental ballistic missile that can reach the United States, something President Trump had said would not happen.

British Ambassador to the U.S. Kim Darroch said he had raised concerns about anti-Muslim videos with the White House on Wednesday.

“British people overwhelmingly reject the prejudiced rhetoric of the far right, which seeks to divide communities & erode decency, tolerance & respect. British Muslims are peaceful and law-abiding citizens,” Darroch said in a tweet.

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Trump to Donate Part of Salary to Fight Opioid Epidemic

WASHINGTON — 

President Donald Trump is donating his third-quarter salary to the Department of Health and Human Services to help fight the opioid epidemic.

The White House did not immediately announce the amount of the check that acting Health Secretary Eric Hargan accepted Thursday. Trump previously donated salary in the amounts of $78,333 and $100,000 to the National Park Service and the Education Department, respectively.

Hargan says the donation will be put toward the planning and design of a large-scale public awareness campaign about the dangers of opioid addiction.

Trump announced the ad campaign in October, the same time he declared opioid misuse a national public health emergency. The declaration included no new federal funding to combat the epidemic.

Hargan says 175 people die every day from drug overdose.

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Senate Republicans Postpone Vote on US Tax Overhaul

CAPITOL HILL — 

Senate Republicans delayed a final vote on an overhaul of the U.S. tax code late Thursday amid furious, behind-the-scenes efforts to fine-tune the legislation to satisfy a small group of fiscal hawks whose support is needed to pass one of President Donald Trump’s core campaign promises.

"Senators will continue to debate the bill tonight," Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said, adding that further votes pertaining to the tax bill would occur later Friday.

Only hours earlier, Republicans appeared poised to pass a massive restructuring of federal taxes and deal a stinging defeat to Democrats. Several wavering Republicans had signaled support for the bill, including John McCain of Arizona.

Late in the day, however, three Republicans, led by Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, clung to a demand that proposed tax cuts would be pared back if future U.S. economic performance did not meet projections.

Republicans have a two-seat Senate majority. Three defections from their ranks would torpedo the bill, given unified Democratic opposition.

With time needed to rewrite portions of the bill to satisfy the Corker contingent, Republican leaders opted to postpone further votes.

Details of plan

The underlying proposal would permanently cut corporate taxes, temporarily cut taxes on wages and salaries, boost some tax deductions Americans can claim while eliminating others, and increase the U.S. national debt, which currently is more than $20 trillion.

The nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation issued a report Thursday estimating the Republican plan would sap federal coffers by more than $1 trillion over a decade, even taking into account more than $400 billion in new revenue generated by a projected increase in economic activity.

"The [JCT] score ends the fantasy about magical growth, about unicorns and growth fairies showing that tax cuts pay for themselves," Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon said.

Republicans insisted a vibrant economy was necessary for fiscal health, and that tax cuts would promote growth.

"If this legislation is signed into law, we are going to have a smaller deficit in future years than we are on the path to have now," Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania said. "The right incentives lead to stronger growth."

Democrats shot back that the federal deficit and income inequality both expanded after every tax cut enacted in recent decades.

"Trickle-down economics did not work under Ronald Reagan, did not work under George W. Bush," independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who caucuses with Democrats, said. "It is a fraudulent theory."

"All we are doing is shifting the tax to our kids," Maine Senator Angus King, another independent who also caucuses with Democrats, said. "If 5-year-olds knew what we were doing and could vote, none of us would have a job."

Corporate tax rate

The tax plan would cut corporate taxes from a maximum rate of 35 percent to 20 percent.

"Other countries have learned how to use their tax codes to entice U.S. businesses overseas, businesses around the globe, to their country — to move away from the United States to their countries’ more competitive tax code," Republican Senator Cory Gardner of Colorado said. "That disparity between the U.S. tax code and foreign tax rates has literally chased jobs and wages out of this country."

Some Democrats agreed that U.S. corporate taxes should be lowered, but insisted the Republican plan goes too far and would eventually trigger painful cuts to federal programs that benefit the poor and elderly in the future.

Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey accused Republicans of mounting a "con game" in which they tout tax breaks but gloss over "their brutal, vicious cuts to programs for the poorest, the sickest, the elderly, neediest in our country."

In a sign that Republicans were confident of passing the bill, House Speaker Paul Ryan laid the groundwork for creating a bicameral committee to reconcile differences between the Senate’s legislation and a House version that was approved several weeks ago.

A unified tax plan would have to pass both chambers before it could go to the White House for Trump’s signature.

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Jury Finds Mexican Man Not Guilty in San Francisco Shooting

SAN FRANCISCO — 

The man, facing his sixth deportation, was found guilty of a gun charge in a case highlighted in the 2016 presidential campaign

A jury on Thursday found a Mexican man not guilty of murder in the killing of a woman on a San Francisco pier that touched off a national immigration debate two years ago.

Jose Ines Garcia Zarate had been deported five times and was wanted for a sixth deportation when Kate Steinle was fatally shot in the back while walking with her father on the pier.

Garcia Zarate did not deny shooting Steinle but said it was an accident.

Presidential campaign

The shooting came in the middle of the presidential campaign in July 2015 and touched off a fierce debate over the country's immigration policies. It spotlighted San Francisco's “sanctuary city” policy, which limits local officials from cooperating with U.S. immigration authorities.

Politics, however, did not come up in the month-long trial that featured extensive testimony from ballistics experts. Defense attorneys argued that Garcia Zarate was a hapless homeless man who killed Steinle in a freak accident. Prosecutors said he meant to shoot and kill her.

Garcia Zarate was found guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Court arguments

San Francisco Deputy District Attorney Diana Garcia said during the trial that she didn't know why Garcia Zarate fired the weapon, but he created a risk of death by bringing the firearm to the pier and twirling around on a chair for at least 20 minutes before he fired.

“He did kill someone. He took the life of a young, vibrant, beautiful, cherished woman by the name of Kate Steinle,” she said.

Defense attorney Matt Gonzalez said in his closing argument that he knows it's difficult to believe Garcia Zarate found an object that turned out to be a weapon, which fired when he picked it up.

But he told jurors that Garcia Zarate had no motivation to kill Steinle and that as awful as her death was, “nothing you do is going to fix that.”

​The shooting

The bullet ricocheted on the pier's concrete walkway and fatally struck Steinle in the back.

The gun was stolen from the SUV of a U.S. Bureau of Land Management ranger that was parked in San Francisco. The city has been plagued by car burglaries in recent years.

Before the shooting, Garcia Zarate had finished a federal prison sentence for illegal re-entry into the United States and had been transferred to San Francisco's jail in March 2015 to face a 20-year-old charge for selling marijuana.

The sheriff's department released him a few days later after prosecutors dropped the marijuana charge, despite a request from federal immigration officials to detain him for deportation.

President Donald Trump said during the presidential campaign that Steinle's death was another reason the United States needed to build a wall on its southern border and tighten its immigration policies.

Trump signed an executive order to withhold funding from sanctuary cities, but a federal judge recently blocked it in a lawsuit from two California counties, San Francisco and Santa Clara. The administration has appealed.

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Congressional Movement Grows to Save DACA by Year's End

CAPITOL HILL — 

A group of House Republicans is preparing a letter asking Speaker Paul Ryan to find a legislative fix by December for almost 800,000 undocumented young people brought to the U.S. as children. Their eligibility to remain in the country hangs in the balance as part of an end-of-year legislative pileup on Capitol Hill.

President Donald Trump rescinded the Obama administration's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program earlier this year, calling on Congress to pass legislation that would provide DACA recipients with a path to permanent status in the U.S. before the program phases out in March 2018.

The effort to gather signatures for the letter is being led by Virginia Republican Scott Taylor, according to Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairwoman Michelle Lujan Grisham, a New Mexico Democrat, who spoke with reporters in a background briefing Thursday morning. Taylor's office did not respond to a VOA request for comment.

Grisham said she did not have the text of the letter, but her sense of it was that if a legislative option was not offered, members would sign on to a discharge petition that would force a vote on a DACA bill. That petition was introduced by Republican Mike Coffman earlier this year.

Coffman told VOA he was "certainly optimistic something is going to be done before March." He said he would have to consider any letter that sought a more immediate solution.

For their part, Democrats "are still very clear as a caucus," Grisham said. "We have to do it by the end of the year."

The DACA program does not confer legal status but does give recipients temporary protection from deportation and permission to legally work. Grisham said 122 recipients "are negatively impacted every single day" because their protection expires.

Link sought to budget bill

Democrats have tried to tie DACA legislation to the government budget bill. Funding for the government runs out next Friday, so either the bill or a temporary extension must be passed by then to avoid a government shutdown.

Democrats, whose votes will be needed to pass a budget in the Senate, have vowed to vote against any spending bill that does not include a DACA fix.

Representative Carlos Curbelo, a Republican from Florida and the sponsor of the Recognizing America's Children Act, one of the possible legislative fixes for the DACA program, said he would not "support any appropriations bill that funds the government beyond December 31st unless we get this DACA issue resolved."

"It doesn't have to be included in the spending bill, but it has to get done. Again, as long as it gets done, I'm OK with a stand-alone bill. If it's part of another package, let's just get it done," Curbelo said.

Ryan has said the fix to the DACA program should "be considered on its own merits" and not as part of a larger spending bill.

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Possible Deal for Flynn? Washington Reading Tea Leaves

WASHINGTON — 

The few public signs emanating from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation increasingly raise the prospect that former national security adviser Michael Flynn is looking to cut a deal.

But many questions remain about what charges, if any, Flynn would face and whether Mueller’s prosecutors are focused on his private business dealings and truthfulness with federal agents, or if they’re looking for a bigger fish like the president himself or those who remain in his inner circle.

A plea would certainly be a Washington bombshell, putting a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general and close friend of the president in a criminal courtroom and planting the sprawling investigation led by the no-nonsense former FBI director squarely in the White House.

In recent days, White House lawyers have downplayed the significance of Flynn’s legal troubles for the president, drawing a clear line between Flynn’s personal baggage and his work on the Trump campaign and the administration.

The extreme secrecy of Mueller’s investigation — including the ability to keep the lid on the arrest of a Trump campaign foreign policy adviser for months — has left even those who regularly interact with his prosecutors reading tea leaves. And it’s made sorting out the significance of recent events surrounding Flynn an amorphous — and at times partisan — exercise.

A critical person in Trump’s campaign and national security team, Flynn was present for consequential decisions during the formative days of the administration and functioned as a main conduit for contacts with Russian officials. He could be an essential witness for Mueller, if he chose, as he investigates potential coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia.

The feeling of suspense around the Mueller investigation only deepened this week with the cancellation of grand jury testimony, an ABC News report that Flynn’s attorney was meeting with Mueller’s team and the revelation Wednesday that Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, had been questioned by special counsel prosecutors about Flynn in recent weeks.

Outside observers are urging caution in reading too much into the moves, while acknowledging that some are more significant than others.

“You get so few scraps of information that it’s awfully tempting to unpack what little information you have and see what’s there,” said Andrew Leipold, a professor at the University of Illinois College of Law.

Contact with Trump team ceases

Leipold said he would be careful attaching too much meaning to the recently postponed grand jury testimony. But he said it is potentially a telling sign of cooperation with Mueller’s team that Flynn’s attorneys have broken off communication, or information-sharing, with the Trump legal team.

“It means something,” he said. “If you and I are cooperating and you say all of a sudden, ‘I'm not cooperating anymore,’ there’s probably a pretty good reason,” he said.

The cutting of contact with Trump’s legal team came last week after Kushner was questioned by Mueller’s investigators, which occurred earlier this month.

The questioning was brief — 90 minutes or less — and tightly focused on Flynn. It was in part aimed at determining whether Kushner had any exculpatory information on Flynn, according to a person familiar with Mueller's investigation. Kushner and Flynn were both prominent figures in the Trump campaign, the presidential transition and the early days of the Trump administration.

The two also took part in discussions during the presidential transition with Sergey Kislyak, Russia’s ambassador to the United States at the time, about establishing a backchannel between the two countries, a possible indication of prosecutors’ interest given Mueller’s mandate to probe contacts between Trump associates and the Kremlin.

Flynn resigned in February

Flynn was forced to resign from the White House in February after officials concluded that he had misled them about his contacts with Kislyak during the transition period. Weeks before he was fired, he was interviewed by the FBI about that communication, and former FBI Director James Comey has said Flynn was under investigation for potentially lying to federal agents.

Mueller’s grand jury also had planned to hear testimony from an employee of a public relations company that worked with Flynn's firm on $530,000 worth of lobbying and investigative research for a Turkish businessman.

The testimony had been scheduled for the coming days and was slated to focus on Flynn’s firm’s interactions with congressional staff. But it was abruptly postponed this week.

The details of Kushner’s questioning and the postponement of the grand jury testimony were confirmed by people familiar with Mueller’s investigation. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to publicly discuss the ongoing investigation.

Kushner 'has voluntarily cooperated'

Asked about the meeting with Mueller, Kushner’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, did not elaborate on the nature of the question, saying only in a statement his client “has voluntarily cooperated with all relevant inquiries and will continue to do so.”

For his part, Flynn has stayed quiet.

His attorney, Robert Kelner, has not responded to multiple media inquiries, even as headlines about his client have piled up. Kelner also did not respond to emails, texts and calls from The Associated Press this week.

Mueller’s spokesman, Peter Carr, has yet to comment on the special counsel’s ongoing investigation that has now stretched into its seventh month.

Instead, the special counsel has decided to speak in indictments and plea agreements. In the meantime, Washington — and the country — wait for the next one.

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US Putting Off Planned Ban on Its Use of Cluster Bombs

The Pentagon has put off indefinitely a planned ban on using certain cluster bombs, which release explosive sub-munitions, or bomblets. The U.S. military considers them a legitimate and important weapon, although critics say they kill indiscriminately and pose hazards to civilians.

A 2010 international treaty outlaws the use of cluster bombs, but the U.S. is not a signatory.

The George W. Bush administration declared in 2008 that after Jan. 1, 2019, the United States would continue its use of cluster bombs only if they met a performance standard of failing to detonate 1 percent or less of the time. That standard is important because armed and unexploded cluster munitions left on the battlefield pose a long-term hazard to civilians.

Tom Crosson, a Pentagon spokesman, said that despite efforts to develop more reliable, and thus safer, cluster munitions, the U.S. military has been unable to produce bombs with failure rates of 1 percent or less. He said it's unclear how long it might take to achieve that standard, and thus the Pentagon concluded in a months-long policy review that it should set aside the 2019 deadline and allow commanders to authorize the use of the weapons when they deem it necessary.

The new policy drew immediate criticism. Mary Wareham, arms division director for Human Rights Watch, said there is no compelling reason for the use of cluster munitions.

"The U.S. says it can't produce 'safe' cluster munitions, so it has decided to keep using 'unsafe' ones," she said. "We condemn this decision to reverse the long-held U.S. commitment not to use cluster munitions that fail more than 1 percent of the time, resulting in deadly unexploded sub-munitions." Her organization is chair of the Cluster Munition Coalition, an international campaign seeking to eliminate cluster bombs.

A new Pentagon policy approved Thursday erases the 2019 deadline and asserts that the weapons are legitimate, not necessarily a humanitarian hazard, and important for wartime attacks on "area targets" like enemy troop formations.

The new policy authorizes commanders to approve use of existing cluster bombs "until sufficient quantities" of safer versions are developed and fielded. "Safer" means meeting the 1 percent failure standard or developing bombs equipped with a self-destruct mechanism or that can be rendered inoperable in 15 minutes or less by the exhaustion of their power source.

The policy does not define what qualifies as "sufficient quantities" of safer weapons, and it sets no new deadline.

U.S. arguments

In practice, the U.S. rarely uses cluster bombs. The Pentagon says its last large-scale use was in the 2003 Iraq invasion. They could be considered important for use in a large-scale conflict such as a ground war against North Korea.

In a memorandum signed Thursday, Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said the U.S. remains committed to fielding weapons that are effective in war and that "minimize unintended harm" to civilians and U.S. and partner forces.

"Although the [Defense] Department seeks to field a new generation of more highly reliable munitions, we cannot risk mission failure or accept the potential of increased military and civilian casualties by forfeiting the best available capabilities," Shanahan wrote.

"Cluster munitions are legitimate weapons with clear military utility," Shanahan wrote. He also asserted that cluster munitions "may result" in less unintended harm to civilians and others than if other types of weapons have to be used instead against certain targets like massed formations of enemy troops and time-sensitive or moving targets.

By law, the U.S. cannot provide cluster munitions to other countries unless they meet the 1 percent failure standard.

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Initially Praised, CIA Director Mike Pompeo Has Drawn Criticism

Since taking charge at the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, Director Mike Pompeo has earned a reputation as a strong ally of President Donald Trump, despite breaking with the American leader on some key issues.

When asked Thursday about media reports of Pompeo's possible nomination as U.S. Secretary of State, both the CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence had no comment.

Upon nominating Pompeo to lead the CIA last November, Trump said the graduate of the U.S. Military Academy "has served our country with honor and spent his life fighting for the security of our citizens. … He will be a brilliant and unrelenting leader for our intelligence community to ensure the safety of Americans and our allies."

Since then, the 53-year-old former three-term congressman from the Midwestern state of Kansas apparently has continued to win Trump's favor while giving him the CIA's daily intelligence briefings in person at the White House, rather than delegating that responsibility to a staff aide.

Known for his tough views on terrorism, torture and Iran, Pompeo previously served on the House Intelligence Committee, and quickly won praise from former intelligence officials and lawmakers alike.

And in his first public comments after being sworn-in, Pompeo seemed to cement additional support, backing conclusions by U.S. intelligence agencies about the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks and its connections to Moscow.

"It's time to call out WikiLeaks for what it really is — a non-state, hostile intelligence service often abetted by state actors like Russia," he told a forum this past April.

"It overwhelmingly focuses on the United States while seeking support from anti-democratic countries and organizations," he added, calling the celebration of WikiLeaks in some circles "perplexing and deeply troubling."

Pompeo on Russia

But at other times, Pompeo has garnered criticism for expressing views that seemed more in line with those of the White House, sometimes contradicting the CIA's own findings.

"The Russian meddling that took place did not affect the outcome of the election," Pompeo told an audience in Washington in October.

But an unclassified report by the top U.S. intelligence agencies issued in January made no such claim.

"We did not make an assessment of the impact that Russian activities had on the outcome of the 2016 election," the report said.

Later, the CIA sought to clarify Pompeo's comments.

"The intelligence assessment with regard to Russian election meddling has not changed, and the director did not intend to suggest that it had," a CIA spokesman said.

At other times, Pompeo has publicly refused to rule out working with Russia in areas such as counterterrorism.

"If Russia has information that can help us fight the CT [counterterror] fight around the world, it's my duty" to work with them and "the right thing to do," he said.

Pompeo also was criticized following a report by The Intercept that at the request of the president, he met with a former intelligence official who has been arguing U.S. intelligence officials are unfairly blaming Russia for the leak of Democratic National Committee emails.

Iran, North Korea and counterterror

At the same time, the CIA director has been applauded by some for what they have called a clear-eyed view of U.S. adversaries like Iran, continuing his criticism of the Iran nuclear deal, and North Korea.

"We ought to behave as if we are on the cusp of them [North Korea] achieving that objective," Pompeo said last month when asked about Pyongyang's pursuit of missile technology that could launch a warhead to targets in the United States.

"They are so far along in that it's now a matter of thinking about how do you stop the final step?" he added.

Before his confirmation as CIA director, some critics also voiced concerns about his stance on the use of torture.

Those involved in the CIA interrogation program "are not torturers, they are patriots," Pompeo said in 2014, adding that the programs were "within the law, within the Constitution and conducted with the full knowledge" of appropriate lawmakers.

During his confirmation hearing, Pompeo told senators he would "absolutely not" bring back such interrogation techniques.

Pompeo, a graduate of Harvard Law School, also drew criticism in 2013 after he suggested Muslim leaders who didn't publicly condemn terror attacks were "potentially complicit" in the attacks.

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Britons React Angrily to Trump's Retweets of Anti-Muslim Videos

British lawmakers and officials have reacted angrily to President Donald Trump's retweeting of anti-Muslim videos initially posted by a far-right British leader who has been convicted of hate speech. Trump remains unrepentant for the tweets, and the situation has escalated with members of parliament. VOA's Jeff Custer reports from Washington.

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US Attorney General Meets With House Intelligence Panel

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions met behind closed doors on Thursday with members of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee as it investigates possible Russian efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

He was expected to spend at least two hours in the interview.

The panel is among several congressional committees, along with the Justice Department's special counsel Robert Mueller, investigating alleged Russian interference in the campaign and potential collusion by President Donald Trump's campaign.

Moscow has denied any meddling and Trump has said there was no collusion.

When he was a Republican U.S. senator, Sessions was an early supporter and close adviser to Trump during his run for the White House.

Later on Thursday, the intelligence committee said it was meeting with Erik Prince, who founded the private military contractor Blackwater and also was a supporter of Trump's presidential campaign.

Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Bill Trott.

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NYT: White House Has Plan to Replace Tillerson With CIA Chief

WASHINGTON — 

The White House has developed a plan to replace Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with Mike Pompeo, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, within weeks, the New York Times reported on Thursday, citing senior officials.

Under the plan, Republican Senator Tom Cotton would be tapped to replace Pompeo at the CIA, the New York Times said.

The Times said it was not immediately clear whether President Donald Trump had given final approval to the plan.

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British Fury as Trump Retweets Extreme Right Group's Videos

British lawmakers have reacted with anger after U.S. President Donald Trump retweeted videos posted by an extreme right-wing anti-Muslim group. The tweets, originally posted by the deputy leader of the group Britain First, appear to show acts of violence carried out by Muslims, although doubt has been cast on the reliability of at least one of the videos. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.

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House Panel Offers Overhaul to NSA Spy Program

WASHINGTON — 

The U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee said it had introduced a bill Wednesday to overhaul a National Security Agency surveillance program to better protect Americans’ privacy.

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act allows the NSA to collect vast amounts of digital communications from foreign suspects living outside the United States. The program incidentally gathers communications with Americans and the government can search them without a warrant.

Section 702

U.S. intelligence officials consider Section 702 among the most vital of tools at their disposal to thwart national security threats.

“This bill updates the rules on Section 702 and other collection by strengthening privacy protections and transparency without hindering the ability of our intelligence professionals to monitor terror suspects, analyze collected data and keep us safe,” the committee’s Republican chairman, Representative Devin Nunes, said in a statement introducing the bill.

The top Democrat on the panel, Representative Adam Schiff, said earlier Wednesday he had proposed a compromise that would let intelligence agencies query a database of information on Americans in national security cases without a warrant, but would require a warrant to use the information in other cases, such as those involving serious violent crime.

“This would prevent law enforcement from simply using the database as a vehicle to go fishing, but at the same time it would preserve the operational capabilities of the program,” Schiff told reporters.

Classified details of the program were exposed in 2013 by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

Congress must renew Section 702 in some form by Dec. 31 or the program will expire.

Deep divides

Schiff said he believed the compromise would be acceptable to many lawmakers, as well as the intelligence community and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is similar to legislation backed by the House Judiciary Committee.

However, there are still deep divides in both the Senate and the House over what to do about Section 702, as lawmakers balance demands for privacy protections with spy agencies’ desire to preserve what they see as a valuable tool. There are different renewal proposals in the House and Senate.

It was unclear whether lawmakers will vote on a standalone 702 bill or whether it would be part of a broader bill, such as a spending measure Congress must pass next month to keep the government open.

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House Panel Backs Bill Expanding Gun Owners' Rights

WASHINGTON — 

A key House committee on Wednesday approved a Republican bill to expand gun owners' rights - the first gun legislation since mass shootings in Las Vegas and Texas killed more than 80 people.

On a party-line vote, the Judiciary Committee backed a bill that would allow gun owners with a state-issued concealed carry permit to carry a handgun in any state that allows concealed weapons. Republicans said the reciprocity measure would allow gun owners to travel freely between states without worrying about conflicting state laws or civil suits.

The bill was approved 19-11 and now goes to the House floor.

The Judiciary panel also approved legislation to strengthen the FBI database of prohibited gun buyers after the Air Force failed to report the criminal history of the gunman who slaughtered more than two dozen people at a Texas church.

The Air Force has acknowledged that the Texas shooter, Devin P. Kelley, should have had his name and domestic violence conviction submitted to the National Criminal Information Center database. The Air Force has discovered ``several dozen'' other such reporting omissions since the Nov. 5 shooting.

Democrats said the bill making it easier to carry concealed weapons across state lines - a top priority of the National Rifle Association and other gun-rights groups - would endanger public safety by overriding states with strict gun laws, forcing them to comply with states that have far looser laws on guns.

"You want to wipe out our state law'' that places tight restrictions on who can carry a concealed weapon, Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland told Republicans.

The GOP bill "lowers everybody's standards to the lowest in the union,'' Raskin said. "It is the agenda of the NRA, but it should not be the agenda of Congress.''

State law

Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., said the bill would override his state's law barring people under 21 from getting concealed carry permits, while other Democrats noted that restrictions on drunken drivers and convicted stalkers could be overridden.

But Rep. John Rutherford, R-Fla., said the bill would increase public safety by allowing more law-abiding citizens to carry guns, regardless of where they live or travel.

"I don't believe my right to defend myself should end at the state line,'' Rutherford said. "My constitutional rights do not end at the Florida line.''

Rutherford and other Republicans said a "good guy with a gun'' is often the best way to counter a gun-wielding criminal. They cited the June shooting of House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., who was seriously wounded at a congressional baseball game practice. Capitol police on Scalise's security detail fired back at the gunman, saving the lives of other lawmakers.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., called the argument misleading, noting that police are trained to respond to an active shooter, while most civilians are not.

"Let's be honest: We are endangering public safety to cozy up to one of the biggest interest groups in the U.S. - the NRA,'' Lofgren said.

Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte of Virginia said Democrats were misconstruing the legislation.

"This bill will not arm criminals,'' he said. "Nothing in this bill would allow (a convicted criminal) to purchase or possess a firearm, let alone carry one in a concealed fashion.''

Numerous police and law enforcement groups oppose the bill, including the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Major Cities Chiefs Association and the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys.

Despite calls by Democrats for tighter gun control, Congress has taken no steps on guns in the weeks following the Oct. 1 shooting in Las Vegas that killed 58 people and the Nov. 5 shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas.

John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, a group that supports stricter gun laws, called the GOP bill the wrong response to the Las Vegas and Texas shootings.

"After two of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history, Americans expect Congress to work in a bipartisan way to strengthen - not weaken - our gun laws,'' he said.

The bill on background checks would require that federal agencies certify twice a year that they have submitted required records to the federal database. It also rewards states that comply by providing them with federal grant preferences. The measure was approved 17-6 and now goes to the House floor.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., has co-sponsored a companion bill in the Senate with Texas Republican John Cornyn. Murphy, a leading advocate of stricter gun control, said the measure is based on a simple idea: "If we can't agree on new laws, let's at least make sure that the laws that are on the books today work and are being enforced.''

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Chicago Congressman Hints He’ll Run for President

WASHINGTON — 

U.S. Democratic Representative Luis Gutierrez, who has announced he will not seek re-election to Congress in 2018, said Wednesday he wanted to concentrate his energies “on the national level” and indicated he might be interested in a presidential run in 2020.

Fox News reported earlier Wednesday that Gutierrez was weighing such a bid. When asked by Reuters if he planned to run, Gutierrez, who has represented Chicago in the U.S. House of Representatives for the past quarter century, said he wanted to spend the first six months of 2018 touring the country “talking with as many people as possible.”

“Does it mean going to Iowa? I certainly hope so,” Gutierrez said in an interview.

Iowa traditionally holds the first Democratic and Republican party nominating contests for president. Candidates weighing presidential candidacies typically pay visits to the state well before they formally enter the race.

“But it also means going to California and visiting farm workers there and visiting with farm workers in Florida ... and in Oregon and in Washington (state) and visiting with immigrant communities,” Gutierrez said.

“I’m not retiring. I want to change my focus. I want to take my energy on a national level,” he said. “I can tell you that very, very clearly.”

Republican President Donald Trump has expressed his intention to seek re-election in 2020. While incumbent presidents often are favored to win, Democrats see Trump as particularly vulnerable given his low approval ratings in opinion polls. That has spurred speculation that many candidates could weigh challenging him.

Former Democratic Vice President Joe Biden, for example, has signaled he may run.

Gutierrez, a 63-year-old lawmaker of Puerto Rican descent, has made immigration reform a signature issue. In August, he was arrested outside the White House while taking part in a protest against Trump’s decision to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the Obama-era program that protects young people brought to the United States illegally as children.

Gutierrez has sharply criticized the Trump administration’s response to the devastation in Puerto Rico from Hurricanes Maria and Irma.

‘Not talking to DNC’

Gutierrez said he would explore possible campaign fundraising efforts. Although he would run as a Democrat, he would not seek the blessing of the Democratic Party establishment.

“I’m not talking to DNC (Democratic National Committee) officials. I’m not going to talk to anybody within the Democratic Party structures because what I want to do is create a party structure independent of the Democratic Party,” he said.

Regardless of whether he seeks the White House, Gutierrez said he wanted to play a big role in 2020 helping to encourage voting and political activism among Hispanics, a growing demographic group that leans strongly Democratic.

When it became known that he was retiring from Congress, there was speculation Gutierrez might be planning a run for governor of Puerto Rico.

On Wednesday, Gutierrez rejected the idea.

“If it was president of the Republic of Puerto Rico, it would certainly be different,” said Gutierrez, who favors independence for the U.S. territory.

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Facebook Suspends Ability to Target Ads by Excluding Racial Groups

SAN FRANCISCO — 

Facebook Inc. said on Wednesday it was temporarily disabling the ability of advertisers on its social network to exclude racial groups from the intended audience of ads while it studies how the feature could be used to discriminate.

Facebook's chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, told African-American U.S. lawmakers in a letter that the company was determined to do better after a news report said Facebook had failed to block discriminatory ads.

The U.S.-based news organization ProPublica reported last week that, as part of an investigation, it had purchased discriminatory housing ads on Facebook and slipped them past the company's review process, despite claims by Facebook months earlier that it was able to detect and block such ads.

"Until we can better ensure that our tools will not be used inappropriately, we are disabling the option that permits advertisers to exclude multicultural affinity segments from the audience for their ads," Sandberg wrote in the letter to the Congressional Black Caucus, according to a copy posted online by ProPublica.

It is unlawful under U.S. law to publish certain types of ads if they indicate a preference based on race, religion, sex or certain classifications.

Facebook, the world's largest social network with 2.1 billion users and $36 billion in annual revenue, has been on the defensive for its advertising practices.

In September, it disclosed the existence of Russia-linked ads that ran during the 2016 U.S. election campaign. The same month it turned off a tool, also reported by ProPublica, that had inadvertently let advertisers target based on people's self-reported jobs, even if the job was "Jew hater."

Sandberg said in the letter that advertisers who use Facebook's targeting options to include certain races for ads about housing, employment or credit will have to certify to Facebook that they are complying with Facebook's anti-discrimination policy and with applicable law.

Sandberg defended race- and culture-based marketing in general, saying it was a common and legitimate practice in the ad industry to try to reach specific communities.

U.S. Representative Robin Kelly of Illinois, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, said Facebook's action was appropriate.

"When I first raised this issue with Facebook, I was disappointed," Kelly, a Democrat, said in a statement. "When it became necessary to raise the issue again, I was irritated. Thankfully, we've been able to establish a constructive pipeline of communication that's resulted in a positive step forward."

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Russian Network RT Loses US Capitol Hill Credentials

WASHINGTON — 

Broadcast reporters for Russian state-funded TV channel RT will no longer be able to report daily from the U.S. Capitol.

A committee that governs Capitol Hill access for broadcast journalists has withdrawn credentials for RT after the company complied earlier this month with a U.S. demand that it register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The law applies to people or companies disseminating information in the U.S. on behalf of foreign governments, political parties and other “foreign principals.”

The action also comes just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed legislation allowing Russia to register international media outlets as foreign agents, an act seen as the Kremlin’s retaliation for the Trump administration decision on RT. The new rules require disclosures to the Russian government and are seen as stigmatizing the news outlets as promoters of American propaganda.

In Washington, C-SPAN’s Craig Caplan informed RT that its credentials were being withdrawn after a unanimous vote of the executive committee of the Congressional Radio and Television Correspondents’ Galleries.

Caplan, the chairman of that committee, wrote that gallery rules “state clearly that news credentials may not be issued to any applicant employed by ‘any foreign government or representative thereof.’ ” He said the FARA registration made the network ineligible to hold news credentials, and their withdrawal is effective immediately.

Many news outlets with ties to foreign governments are required to similarly register. English-language newspaper China Daily is registered due to its affiliation with the Chinese government, for example. But the pressure on RT has angered Russian officials, who have said they will retaliate with restrictions on U.S. news outlets.

The letter was sent to Mikhail Solodovnikov of RT’s U.S.-based production company, T & R Productions. RT did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

U.S. intelligence agencies have alleged RT served as a propaganda outlet for the Kremlin as part of a multi-pronged effort to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Russia denies interfering.

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Undocumented Youths Wait on Government Funding Battle in Congress

CAPITOL HILL — 

The future of almost 800,000 undocumented young people in the United States is hanging in the balance in an end-of-year legislative pileup on Capitol Hill that could result in the shutdown of the federal government.

The government will run out of money December 8 unless Congress approves a new budget or budget extension. While the focus this week has been largely on the Senate's approval of its tax cut bill, the budget bill could have greater short-term ramifications. The Republican-dominated Senate cannot pass it alone; Democratic votes will be needed.

But both houses of Congress will have to vote on a spending measure before it can go into effect.

And underlying all the discussions of spending priorities is finding a permanent solution for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which gave temporary protection from deportation, and permission to legally work, to undocumented young people brought to the U.S. as children.

Trump calls for legislation

President Donald Trump rescinded the Obama administration measure earlier this year, calling on Congress to pass legislation that would provide DACA recipients with a path to permanent status in the U.S. before the program phases out in March 2018.

Democrats initially pushed for stand-alone legislation to address the problem, but given the country’s contentious immigration debate, they have instead tried to tie DACA legislation to the spending bill.

Some Democrats have vowed to vote against any budget bill that does not include a DACA fix, threatening a government shutdown when the funding runs out.

But House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin has said the fix to the DACA program should “be considered on its own merits” and not as part of a larger spending bill.

Action stalled

Moves toward any bipartisan agreement stalled before a planned meeting Tuesday when Trump tweeted that he “didn’t see a deal” with Senate and House Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer of New York and Nancy Pelosi of California, respectively.

Trump tweeted a claim that a deal was being held up, in part, because Schumer and Pelosi “want illegal immigrants flooding into our Country unchecked.”

House Democratic Minority Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland responded to Trump's tweet in a background briefing with reporters Tuesday morning, saying, “That is absolutely false. That has nothing to do with reality — he is pandering to his angry base. DACA kids are here. They're not flooding across the border. They're here."

Hoyer reiterated a Democratic claim that if brought up for a floor vote, DACA legislation would pass by 300 votes.

Schumer and Pelosi responded by withdrawing from the meeting with Trump, asking to work instead with Senate and House Republican leaders Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Ryan, respectively. The White House meeting continued with all Republicans present and no Democrats.

On the face of it, the March 2018 deadline for the program gives lawmakers room to maneuver if Congress were to pass a short-term spending bill and kick DACA down the road. The budget could be extended to Christmas to give Democrats and Republicans more room to work on a compromise.

But some DACA recipients have already lost their status.

Renewal failures

The Department of Homeland Security said in October that about 22,000 DACA recipients had failed to renew their two-year permits before an October 5 deadline. That number may come down after a review of renewal applications that may have been lost in the mail.

And while support for DACA is bipartisan, it may not be enough. Both parties are reluctant to risk the political blowback that would occur if either side appears responsible for a government shutdown.

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Poll: Nearly Half of Americans Oppose Republican Tax Bill

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK — 

Opposition has grown among Americans to a Republican tax plan before the U.S. Congress, with 49 percent of people who were aware of the measure saying they opposed it, up from 41 percent in October, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday.

Congressional Republicans are trying to rush their tax legislation to a vote on the Senate floor before the end of the week. President Donald Trump strongly backs the bill and wants to sign it into law before the end of the year.

In addition to the 49 percent who said they opposed the Republican tax bill, 29 percent said they supported it and 22 percent said they "don't know," according to the Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll of 1,257 adults conducted from Thursday to Monday.

When asked "who stands to benefit most" from the plan, more than half of all American adults surveyed selected either the wealthy or large U.S. corporations. Fourteen percent chose "all Americans," 6 percent picked the middle class and 2 percent chose lower-income Americans.

The tax bill being crafted in the Senate would slash the corporate tax rate, eliminate some taxes paid only by rich Americans and offer a mixed bag or temporary tax cuts for other individuals and families.

As congressional discussion on the bill has unfolded, public opposition to it has risen, on average, following Trump's unveiling of a nine-page "framework" on September 27 that started the debate in earnest, Reuters/Ipsos polling showed.

On October 24, for example, among adults who said they had heard of the "tax reform plan recently proposed by congressional Republicans," 41 percent said they opposed it, while 31 percent said they "don't know" and just 28 percent said they supported it.

Trump and his fellow Republicans are determined to make a tax code overhaul their first major legislative win since taking control of the White House and Congress in January.

The House of Representatives on November 16 approved its own tax bill. The Senate is expected to decide on Wednesday whether to begin debating its proposal, as the measure moves toward a decisive floor vote later this week.

The two chambers would need to reconcile differences between their plans before legislation could be sent to the White House for Trump's signature.

In the November 23-27 poll, 59 percent of Republicans supported the tax bill, 26 percent said they did not know and 15 percent opposed it. Among Democrats, 82 percent opposed it, 11 percent said they did not know and 8 percent supported it.

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US Congress Moves Toward Mandatory Anti-Sexual Harassment Training

The U.S. Congress, confronting allegations of sexual misconduct by several lawmakers, is moving toward requiring all 535 members and their staffs to undergo mandatory anti-sexual harassment training.

The Senate approved the training earlier this month and the House of Representatives was set to vote Wednesday amid a wave of accusations in recent weeks against prominent executives in the U.S. film industry, corporate chieftains, political figures and well-known journalists. Numerous men have been fired or forced to resign their high-profile positions, while others have apologized or denied the accusations.

"Sexual harassment has no place in any workplace, let alone in the United States Congress," House Speaker Paul Ryan said ahead of the House vote.

"The fact that some people [who] end up walking these halls are subjected to a threatening or hostile work environment when they came here to serve their country, to serve their ideals — that’s wrong, that’s a disgrace," Ryan said. "We cannot and we will not tolerate that kind of behavior.”

Some members of the Congressional Black Caucus, according to news accounts, are pressuring the longest-serving House member, Representative John Conyers of Michigan, to resign after former members of his staff accused him of sexual misconduct.

Settlement acknowledged

The 88-year-old Democrat last week acknowledged reaching a $27,000 settlement with one woman, but continued to deny her allegation of an unwanted advance. Conyers said he settled the case to avoid protracted litigation over the claim, but the House Ethics Committee is investigating whether he used taxpayer money from his congressional office accounts to pay the settlement. Since then, two other former staffers have accused Conyers of inappropriate sexual conduct.

Facing condemnation of his behavior, Conyers relinquished his position as the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee.

Two other lawmakers have apologized for their actions.

Democratic Senator Al Franken of Minnesota offered an apology for groping broadcaster/model, Leeann Tweeden, who had performed with him on a 2006 tour to entertain U.S. troops in the Middle East before he was elected to the Senate. Subsequently, other women accused him of unwanted advances when they posed for pictures with him.

Republican Representative Joe Barton of Texas last week apologized after a nude photo of him surfaced on social media.

Republican Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington state said, "Like many Americans, I’m troubled by the reports of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior in the workplace. It’s rocking Capitol Hill as well as elsewhere across the country. This is not who we are. We can and we must do better."

'Larger issue of civility'

She called for Americans "to take a step back to the larger issue of civility and how we treat each other in this country. Each one of us must be doing our part to lead by example and rebuild the moral fabric in our country.”

Democratic Representative Joseph Crowley of New York said that requiring the training was a good start for reforms.

"I believe that Congress should be not the gold standard, but the platinum standard," Crowley said. "We should be a beacon on a hill to say that sexual harassment or harassment of any kind is not acceptable in the workplace anywhere."

In addition to moving toward mandatory anti-sexual harassment training, Congress is considering an overhaul of its antiquated process to handle such complaints.

Currently, accusers are required to sign nondisclosure agreements if they file a complaint, and any financial settlement reached is kept secret and paid for by U.S. taxpayers.

Some lawmakers are supporting legislation that would end such requirements, forcing lawmakers who settle claims to reimburse the government.

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Health Groups Urge Congress Not to Allow AIDS Fight to Wane

A coalition of nearly 40 advocacy groups said Wednesday they're concerned about the Trump administration's commitment to the global fight against AIDS so they're urging senior members of Congress to make sure money for key prevention programs isn't cut back.

The groups wrote in a letter sent to Wednesday to congressional leaders that they have "profound concern" about the direction the Trump administration appears to be taking in the response to AIDS.

"We are writing to sound the alarm," said the letter, delivered just ahead of World AIDS Day on Friday.

In a news release accompanying the letter, the groups said the Trump administration had called for an $800 million cut in the 2018 budget from efforts to combat HIV and AIDS. Those proposed cuts led the State Department to develop a new strategy for a program known as the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR.

While the groups credited Congress for moving to dismiss the administration's proposed reductions, they said they are still worried about the trajectory of PEPFAR and other programs to combat the disease. The 2018 government budget isn't law yet, however.

"By focusing on achieving control of the epidemic in 13 'priority' countries, while only maintaining life-saving treatment in other countries, this strategy runs the risk of forfeiting gains in some of the highest burden countries in the world," according to the letter.

The advocacy groups warned that there will be millions more AIDS-related deaths and HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa over the next 15 years if Congress doesn't head off the proposed budget cuts.

"At a moment when we're finally getting ahead of the disease and its impact on communities, a reduction in funding like the administration proposed — and implementation of PEPFAR's new strategy, which aligns with those budget cuts — would directly result in cuts to the number of people accessing HIV prevention, care, and treatment, and likely trigger a resurgence of the global epidemic."

The letter was sent to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California.

One the groups that signed the letter, The ONE Campaign, also issued a report Wednesday that said for the first time in 15 years the United States is "showing signs of retreat" from the campaign against HIV and AIDS.

"The Trump administration appears ready to unilaterally trade the iconic red ribbon for a white flag of surrender in the global fight against AIDS," according to the report.

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British Lawmakers React with Fury to Trump Tweets

British lawmakers reacted angrily Wednesday to President Donald Trump's retweeting of anti-Muslim videos initially posted by a far-right British leader who's been convicted of hate speech.

Several lawmakers called on Prime Minister Theresa May to cancel a "working visit" by the president scheduled for next year.

"He is no ally or friend of ours," said Labour lawmaker David Lammy, adding that the U.S. president is not welcome in Britain.

Prime Minister May's spokesman said Trump was "wrong" to retweet the videos. "British people overwhelmingly reject the prejudiced rhetoric of the far right, which is the antithesis of the values that this country represents — decency, tolerance and respect. It is wrong for the president to have done this," he said.

Even normally pro-Trump British politicians criticized Trump for sharing three Twitter posts by Jayda Fransen, the deputy leader of the far-right anti-immigrant group Britain First, which calls for a return of "traditional British values" and an end to "Islamization."

Trump's retweets came Wednesday morning with the first unverified video claiming to show Muslim migrants beating up a Dutch boy on crutches.
Moments later the president shared a second video, also initially posted by Fransen, which claimed to show a Muslim destroying a statue of the Virgin Mary.

A third post carried the message: "Islamist mob pushes teenage boy off roof and beats him to death!"

Fransen and Britain First

Fransen has had several run-ins with police for hate speech, as have other leaders of Britain First who have been accused of religious harassment and incitement. Earlier this month, Fransen was found guilty of religiously aggravated harassment after she verbally abused a Muslim woman for wearing a hijab.

Fransen was charged in September with religiously aggravated harassment along with Britain First's leader, Paul Goldings, for the distribution of inflammatory leaflets in the southern English town of Canterbury. Fransen is awaiting trial. In December, she is due in court in Northern Ireland to face charges of using threatening and abusive language during a speech she made at an anti-terrorism protest in Belfast.

Britain First's ideology is thought to have inspired the assassin of British lawmaker Jo Cox. Thomas Mair, Cox's killer, shouted "Britain first" just before slaying her during the Brexit referendum campaign last year. At his trial, no formal link was found between Mair and the group Britain First, which was founded in 2011 by former members of the British National Party. The group claims to have 6,000 members and has almost two million "likes" on its Facebook page.

The murdered lawmaker's widower, Brendan Cox, also responded Wednesday to the Trump retweets, tweeting back: "Trump has legitimized the far-right in his own country, now he's trying to do it in ours. Spreading hatred has consequences and the president should be ashamed of himself."

Politicians, Muslims react

Consequences were immediately apparent on the floor of the House of Commons. "I hope our government will condemn far-right retweets by Donald Trump. They are abhorrent, dangerous and a threat to our society," said Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

As Labour lawmaker Stephen Doughty questioned government ministers on the floor of the House of Commons over the tweets, other lawmakers, including Conservatives, could be heard interjecting and calling them "absolutely disgraceful."

Labour's Yvette Cooper, a former government minister, urged the ruling Conservatives to condemn the "significant and serious" posts, saying, "the woman in question has already been convicted of hate crime in this country." She added that Trump had given her a "huge platform." Several lawmakers called for Trump's planned 2018 invitation to visit to be withdrawn.

Among them was Chuka Umunna, an opposition lawmaker. "At some point, you've got to draw a line," he said.

British Muslim groups joined the criticism of the U.S. president. A Muslim Council of Britain spokesperson said: "It is outrageous that the president of the USA is sharing anti-Muslim content from a renowned far-right extremist group in the UK. We hope our prime minister and home secretary will distance ourselves from Mr. Trump and his comments, and will reiterate the government's abhorrence to all forms of extremism."

Dilemma for May

While the backlash grew, Britain First supporters celebrated the presidential retweets. Fransen herself tweeted: "God bless you Trump! God bless America!", signing off with the abbreviation OCS, meaning Onward Christian Soldiers.

Some British populists who are normally supportive of Trump question the wisdom of the retweets. Paul Joseph Watson, a Britain-based editor of the far-right conspiracy website Infowars, said: "Yeah, someone might want to tell whoever is running Trump's Twitter account this morning that retweeting Britain First is not great optics."

Steven Wolfe, a British lawmaker in the European Parliament, was highly critical of the president's sharing of the Britain First videos, but said Trump should still visit Britain next year as it would provide an opportunity for "people to talk some sense to him about immigration and culture."

For Prime Minister May, the retweets pose a dilemma. She has been critical of Trump publicly before for his tweets, notably in connection with terror attacks in Britain. But at the same time, her government is desperate to make progress in talks on a free trade deal with the U.S. to help make up for the economic impact of Brexit.

Opinion polls have consistently shown disapproval for a Trump visit. Last month, British and U.S. officials revealed that a scaled-down "working" trip was being planned for next year, most likely January, that would not include the U.S. president meeting the queen or staying at Buckingham Palace.

Shortly after his inauguration, Theresa May invited Trump for a state visit to Britain. But lawmakers from across the political spectrum criticized the invitation, including John Bercow, the Commons Speaker, who announced he would oppose Trump being allowed to make an address to the British Parliament. Amid an unprecedented backlash among lawmakers and the threat of mass protests, the trip was delayed.

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Senators of Both Parties Quiz Trump Health Pick on Drug Cost

President Donald Trump's pick to be the next health secretary faced skepticism from senators of both parties Wednesday over his commitment to work for lower drug prices.

Alex Azar acknowledged at a Senate hearing that prices are too high and the current system "is not working for the patients who are paying out of pocket." He said his combination of government and drug industry experience uniquely positions him to find answers.

But members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee questioned whether Azar, a former pharmaceutical executive, would put the public would first if he is confirmed as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., put Azar on notice that his vote isn't guaranteed. Paul demanded a written explanation from Azar on why allowing consumers to import prescription drugs from other advanced countries would not be safe.

"You've got some convincing to make me believe you're going to represent the American people, not big pharma," said Paul.

Pressed for specifics, Azar, a former executive of Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly Co., said one of his priorities will be to crack down on drug companies "gaming" the patent system by making superficial changes in branded medications to stave off generic competition.

He also said there should be increased competition between generic and brand name drugs.

Azar also addressed the Obama-era health care law, saying the government must help people who risk being priced out of the insurance market by rising premiums. Several million consumers who buy their own health insurance policies aren't eligible for subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. But their premiums have gone up because of the health law.

Legislation to help stabilize premiums is pending in Congress. But he said he doesn't believe that "is a long-term solution to problems inherent in the Affordable Care Act.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., quizzed Azar about the "conscience exemption," which allows employers to opt out of providing certain health care services to women. He said very few employers have invoked it, and signaled that he supported their ability to do so.

All sides agree that Azar, 50, is headed for Senate confirmation, which would be his third after appointments to senior positions at the Department of Health and Human Services in the George W. Bush administration.

The Senate Finance Committee will hold another hearing on Azar soon and formally decide whether to send the nomination to the full Senate.

If confirmed, Azar would be Trump's second HHS secretary, replacing Tom Price, who resigned under pressure after using private charter flights at taxpayer expense.

Azar's career path could prove a challenge given Trump's vow to "drain the swamp" of Washington.

During his decade-long stint as an executive Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co., patient advocacy groups criticized Lilly for price increases to one of its biggest products: insulin.

In speeches while at the company, Azar questioned whether the government's regulatory machinery has kept up with the pace of scientific change, and he warned that price controls could stifle innovation — standard industry arguments.

"Will he carry pharma's water? I don't think so, based on my interactions with him," said former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Republican from Tennessee. Like Daschle, he is active in the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington think tank.

Before resigning from Eli Lilly earlier this year, Azar built a financial portfolio now worth $9.5 million to $20.6 million, according to disclosure records filed with the Office of Government Ethics. He also was paid nearly $2 million in his final year at the company, received a $1.6 million severance and sold off more than $3.4 million in Lilly stock. He also declared $100,000 to $1 million in capital gains from the sales, along with millions more in stock and bond holdings.

Azar is an Ivy League-educated lawyer with conservative credentials. Early on he built connections in Republican circles — he clerked for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, worked under Kenneth Starr during the Whitewater probe of President Bill Clinton's land deals and raised campaign cash for GOP presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush.

His previous posts at HHS allowed him to build relationships with Democrats, too. Daschle said he worked most closely with Azar in 2001, when Daschle was a South Dakota senator and anthrax was found in his office. Azar was then the HHS general counsel. Four years later, he was confirmed as deputy secretary of the agency.

Dan Mendelson, president of the consulting firm Avalere Health and a Clinton administration veteran, said Azar's credibility comes from an understanding of federal programs and HHS divisions like Medicare, Medicaid and the Food and Drug Administration.

"He has policy wonk credentials," said Mendelson, a Democrat who has known Azar for about 20 years and considers him a friend. "I can't think of a better person to tackle the opioids crisis, for example, because he understands all the different levers."

Associated Press writers Tom Murphy and Brian Slodysko in Indianapolis and Stephen Braun in Washington contributed to this report.

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Haqqani Network Remains Primary Source of Pakistan-US Tensions

ISLAMABAD — 

Just days before U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is scheduled to visit Pakistan for crucial talks, the top American general in Afghanistan has alleged the Pakistani spy agency continues to maintain ties with the Haqqani terrorist network and allows Taliban leaders to operate out of havens in the country.

Pakistani officials have promptly rejected as "nothing new" the charges made by General John Nicholson, who commands U.S. troops and NATO's Resolute Support Afghan mission.

Speaking via video phone Tuesday from his Kabul base, the general told Pentagon reporters while "tactical-level" leadership of the Taliban is in the field in Afghanistan, "senior leadership" of the insurgency still resides in Pakistan. It is believed the leadership is in Quetta and Peshawar.

"They [Pakistanis] identified certain steps that they were going to take. We have not yet seen those steps play out ... we have not seen those changes implemented yet," Nicholson said. He was referring to talks U.S. officials have held with Pakistani counterparts since President Donald Trump announced his strategy for Afghanistan and South Asia.

Trump denounced Pakistan for what he said was its support of terrorist groups and urged the country to enhance cooperation with U.S. efforts to stabilize Afghanistan.

A senior Pakistani military official, when contacted by VOA for his reaction, said Pakistan "has been rejecting such allegations and some have been leveled again." The official requested anonymity, saying an official government response is being formulated.

A spokesman for the provincial government in Quetta, capital of southwestern Baluchistan province, while responding to the U.S. general's allegations asserted they are based on "conjectures" and are not helpful in achieving regional peace.

"Any actionable intelligence if shared with authorities on Pakistan side, our security forces will promptly act, as it is primarily in our interest to fight menace of terrorism," Anwar-ul Haq Kakar told VOA.

Nicholson replied Tuesday, when asked whether Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has ended its support for the Haqqani network.

"The chairman of the joint chiefs and the secretary of defense were asked these questions on the Hill recently. I think they affirmed that those relationships still exist. So, I would leave at that and I concur with their assessment," the general said.

The assertions, analysts say, show Washington is not "satisfied" with Islamabad's claims of dismantling terrorist infrastructure linked to Afghan war on Pakistani soil, and Haqqani network's activities are expected to dominate discussions Mattis will hold with Pakistani leaders.

U.S. officials have not yet announced dates for his visit, but Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif said last week Mattis will be in Islamabad on December 3.

The United States designated the Pakistan-based Haqqani network as a terrorist organization in 2012 after the then-top U.S. military officer, Navy Admiral Mike Mullen, told Congress the network was a "veritable arm" of the ISI directorate.

Pakistan military and civilian officials maintain the country has no links to insurgent groups in Afghanistan, saying "neither Haqqanis nor Taliban need sanctuaries" on Pakistani soil when more than 40 percent of Afghan territory has been "rendered ungoverned" after militant advances in recent years.

Nicholson noted on Tuesday the Afghan government controls about 64 percent of the population, the Taliban controls about 12 percent of the population and the other 24 percent live in contested areas.

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Trump Promises 'Major Sanctions' in Response to North Korea ICBM Test

U.S. President Donald Trump says "major sanctions" will be imposed on North Korea, after Pyongyang tested an intercontinental ballistic missile that experts say is likely capable of hitting anywhere in the U.S. mainland.

In a tweet Wednesday, Trump said he spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping about the "provocative actions" of North Korea. He again vowed that the "situation will be handled," but did not elaborate.

"President Trump underscored the determination of the United States to defend ourselves and our allies from the growing threat posed by the North Korean regime," the White House said in a statement on the call with Xi.

WATCH: President reacts to Pyongyang's missile launch

The readout also said Trump "emphasized the need for China to use all available levers to convince North Korea to end its provocations and return to the path of denuclearization."

North Korea on Wednesday said it tested a Hwasong-15 missile "tipped with a super-large heavy warhead which is capable of striking the whole mainland of the U.S."

U.S. officials and independent experts said the test represents a key accomplishment for Pyongyang's missile program, and shows it can send rockets higher and further than ever before.

"It went higher, frankly, than any previous shot they have taken," said U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Tuesday. "It's a research and development effort on their part to continue building ballistic missiles that can threaten everywhere in the world, basically."

The United Nations Security Council is holding an emergency meeting Wednesday to discuss the incident. The body has imposed repeated rounds of sanctions on the North in response to its nuclear and missile tests.

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Who is Irwin Steven Goldstein?

Irwin Steven Goldstein, President Donald Trump's nominee for under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, is a communications and marketing executive with experience at large corporations as well as in government.

Goldstein is the senior vice president of BP Global Solutions, a New York consulting firm.

According to the bio on his company's website, Goldstein "has a passion for building compelling brands and developing and executing communications strategies that connect diverse audiences."

In a written statement to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee after his nomination, Goldstein wrote, "Those who seek to undermine America do so by spreading misinformation about our people and our objectives. We can fight these efforts by inspiring the world with our shared humanity and our great compassion."

Moira Whelan, who served as the deputy assistant secretary for digital strategy at the State Department during the Obama administration, said Goldstein would be a potential lead in the fight to combat Russia's dissemination of false information about the United States.

In an article last month in Foreign Policy magazine she wrote: "In September, U.S. President Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate Irwin Steven Goldstein as under secretary for public diplomacy at the State Department. He would be a key player in the effort to push back against Russian disinformation efforts around the world and in the United States."

Goldstein's qualifications do match those of his predecessors — former White House senior adviser Karen Hughes during George W. Bush’s administration and the former Time editor Richard Stengel during Obama’s.

His experience includes seven years as executive vice president and chief communications officer for TIAA, a Fortune 100 financial services firm providing retirement security to individuals in the not-for-profit sector.

Goldstein served as vice president and chief communications officer for Dow Jones/The Wall Street Journal during the period following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. In the administration of President George H.W. Bush, he was an assistant to the secretary and the director of public affairs at the U.S. Department of the Interior. He previously was a press secretary and chief of staff on Capitol Hill.

As senior vice president of BP Global Solutions, he advises start-up technology ventures in the transportation and health care spaces.

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FCC's Pai, Addressing Net Neutrality Rules, Calls Twitter Biased

WASHINGTON — 

The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Ajit Pai, accused social media company Twitter of being politically biased Tuesday as he defended his plan to roll back rules intended to ensure a free and open internet.

Pai, a Republican named by President Donald Trump to head up the FCC, unveiled plans last week to scrap the 2015 landmark net neutrality rules, moving to give broadband service providers sweeping power over what content consumers can access.

"When it comes to an open internet, Twitter is part of the problem," Pai said. "The company has a viewpoint and uses that viewpoint to discriminate."

He pointed to Twitter's refusal to let Representative Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican, advertise a campaign video with an anti-abortion message.

"To say the least, the company appears to have a double standard when it comes to suspending or de-verifying conservative users' accounts as opposed to those of liberal users," Pai said.

A spokesperson for Twitter said that at no time was Blackburn's video censored and that her followers would have been able to still see it.

"Because advertisements are served to users who do not necessarily follow an account, we therefore have higher standards for their content," the Twitter spokesperson said.

Twitter in October declined a campaign video advertisement by Blackburn, who announced she was running for the U.S. Senate, saying that a remark by Blackburn about opposing abortion was inflammatory. Twitter later reversed its decision.

Internet-based firms' letter

Pai's criticism came a day after Twitter and a number of other internet-based companies — including AirBnb, Reddit, Shutterstock, Tumblr and Etsy — sent a letter urging the FCC to maintain the net neutrality rules.

Trump is a prolific user of Twitter, often posting his thoughts on the news of the day. He used Twitter throughout his presidential campaign to circumvent traditional media and talk directly to voters.

Pai has also been a frequent user of the website — acknowledging during the speech, "I love Twitter" — to push his case in favor of the rule changes. On Tuesday afternoon, he even posted a link to his remarks critical of Twitter on his own Twitter account.

Following Pai's remarks on Tuesday, at an event organized by the libertarian-leaning R Street Institute, two other FCC commissioners said they would support his proposal when they vote on December 14.

Big internet service providers such as AT&T, Comcast and Verizon Communications have favored a repeal of net neutrality. On the other side, websites such as Facebook and Alphabet's Google have favored the rules.

The rules prohibit broadband providers from giving or selling access to speedy internet, essentially a "fast lane," to certain internet services over others.

"So when you get past the wild accusations, fearmongering and hysteria, here's the boring bottom line," Pai said. "The plan to restore internet freedom would return us to the light touch, market-based approach under which the internet thrived."

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Judge Rules in Trump's Favor on Consumer Agency Leadership

A U.S. District Court judge in Washington ruled Tuesday in favor of President Donald Trump in his bid to install White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney as acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

Judge Timothy Kelly declined to stop, on an emergency basis, the president from making Mulvaney the acting director of the CFPB.

In doing so, Kelly ruled against Leandra English, the CFPB's deputy director. English had requested an emergency restraining order to stop Mulvaney from becoming acting director, claiming the position was rightfully hers.

Mulvaney is a former small-business owner and congressman who once called the agency a "sick, sad" joke that should be abolished.

"This agency will stay open. Rumors that I'm going to set the place on fire or blow it up or lock the doors are completely false," he told reporters on Monday. "I am a member of the executive branch of government. We intend to execute the laws of the United States."

The battle over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau boiled over last week.

Former Director Richard Cordray, criticized by conservative Republicans and business interests in Washington, abruptly resigned and named English, his chief of staff, as deputy director, meaning she would be his successor.

Trump countered by appointing Mulvaney, who opposes government regulations on business as much as Cordray believes they are essential.

2011 law cited

English had argued that the law that created the agency in 2011 clearly spelled out that she should be acting director. Her lawsuit against Mulvaney asked the court to deny the Trump administration's claim that another law gave the president the power to name an acting director.

The White House and bureau lawyers, in turn, said there were precedents showing that Trump was authorized to fill temporary vacancies in federal agencies even when another law of succession might be on the books.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was founded after the global financial crisis of 2008. Its job is to protect consumers against predatory lending and and other questionable practices by banks, credit card companies, lenders and debt collectors.

Republicans, including Mulvaney, have said the agency has too much power and loads down banks with too much bureaucracy.

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Hawaii Urges Top US Court Not to Fully Allow Trump's Travel Ban

WASHINGTON — 

The state of Hawaii on Tuesday urged the U.S. Supreme Court not to allow President Donald Trump's latest travel ban, partly blocked by lower courts, to go into full effect.

The ban would bar U.S. entry to people from six Muslim-majority countries.

Lawyers for the Democratic-governed state, which filed a legal challenge to the ban, were responding to the Trump administration's request last week asking the conservative-majority court to allow the ban to go into effect completely.

Hawaii's lawyers wrote that the latest ban, Trump's third, discriminates against Muslims in violation of the U.S. Constitution and is not permissible under immigration laws.

On November 13, the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowed the ban to go partly into effect, lifting part of a district court judge's nationwide injunction.

The Republican president's ban was announced on September 24 and replaced two previous versions that had been halted by federal courts.

The ban currently applies to people from Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia and Chad who do not have connections to the United States. Those with family relationships and other formal connections with the United States, such as through a university, can enter the country.

In a separate case in Maryland spearheaded by the American Civil Liberties Union, a federal judge partly blocked the ban.

The administration has also asked the Supreme Court for that injunction to be lifted.

The ban also covers people from North Korea and certain government officials from Venezuela, and lower courts have allowed those provisions to go into effect.

Trump has said the travel ban is needed to protect the United States from terrorism by Muslim militants. As a candidate, Trump had promised "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States."

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