Trump Bashes Dems as Crazy,Unpatriotic 10/18 06:05

   President Donald Trump tried to turn impeachment rancor into a political 
rallying cry Thursday, using a Texas rally to bash Democrats as "crazy" and 
unpatriotic as they push forward with their investigations.

   DALLAS (AP) -- President Donald Trump tried to turn impeachment rancor into 
a political rallying cry Thursday, using a Texas rally to bash Democrats as 
"crazy" and unpatriotic as they push forward with their investigations.

   Setting a dire tone, Trump told his supporters, "At stake in this fight is 
the survival of American democracy itself."

   "Don't kid yourselves," he said of the Democrats, "I really don't believe 
anymore that they love our country."

   A day after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats walked out of 
a White House meeting that had devolved into an insult-fest, Trump denounced 
her as "crazy Nancy."

   "She's nuts," he told the crowd at a packed stadium in Dallas.

   The comments come as the House continues its quickly unfolding inquiry into 
Trump's dealings with Ukraine, deposing witness after witness as they build 
their case. But Trump and his campaign have tried to turn the inquiry his way, 
accusing Democrats of using the Constitutional process to try to overturn the 
results of the 2016 election.

   "They're coming after and fighting you and we never lose," he said, 
predicting the 2020 election will be "a landslide" for Republicans, despite 
polling showing him lagging behind.

   Trump also continued his attacks on former Vice President Joe Biden, and his 
son, Hunter's work for a Ukraine energy company. Trump's efforts to pressure 
Ukraine to investigate the Biden family are at the heart of the Democrats' 
inquiry into whether Trump compromised national security and used his office to 
try to bolster his 2020 chances by pushing foreign governments to investigate 
one of his Democratic rivals.

   Trump's day included a tour of a new Louis Vuitton leather workshop in north 
central Texas and a fundraiser in Fort Worth that, combined with a pre-rally 
reception in Dallas, brought in $5.5 million, according to the Republican 
National Committee.

   Texas is a crucial state for Republicans, both in terms of money and votes.

   Trump carried the GOP stronghold and its 38 Electoral College votes by 9 
points in 2016. But Democrats have pointed to demographic changes --- as well 
as the fact that Republican Sen. Ted Cruz won reelection by less than 3 points 
last year --- as evidence that the second-most-populous state could soon be in 
play. But Trump rejected that thinking, as he urged his supporters to re-elect 
Cruz and John Cornyn, the state's other Republican senator.

   As he campaigns for a second term, Trump's team has tried to focus attention 
on economic gains over the last three years, including the low unemployment 
rate. Pressing that message, Trump cut the ribbon at a new production facility 
for the luxury brand Louis Vuitton in Alvarado with his elder daughter, Ivanka.

   Trump joked that the company, which is known for its logoed handbags and 
luggage, has cost him "a lot of money over the years." His wife, first lady 
Melania Trump, has repeatedly been spotted traveling with the brand.

   "This workshop will soon employ 500 of the most highly skilled workers 
anywhere in the world," Trump said. "No one can match the precision and 
perfection of an American artisan."

   The Texas visit comes at a treacherous time for Trump, whose dealings with 
the president of Ukraine are under fire. While Republicans have largely rallied 
around him, they sounded alarms over his decision to pull U.S. troops out of 
northeast Syria --- a move that paved the way for Turkey to invade and assault 
the Kurds, who'd fought alongside the U.S. in its campaign against Islamic 
State militants.

   At his rally, Trump credited his "unconventional" approach for the 
announcement of a cease-fire Thursday. And he repeatedly painted the Turkish 
assault on the Kurds as something that had its benefits.

   "Sometimes you have to let them fight, like two kids in a lot," he said. 
"You got to let them fight and then you pull them apart."

   Trump's campaign and the RNC have been raking in record money, raising $125 
million in the third quarter of 2019 and smashing the just over $70 million 
former President Barack Obama and the Democratic National Committee raised in 
the third quarter of 2011.

   Meanwhile, Trump's would-be challengers are deep in an increasingly 
contentious race for the Democratic nomination.

   One of those candidates, former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke, was holding a 
counter-rally protesting Trump's appearance in nearby Grand Prairie Thursday 
evening. He did the same when Trump held a rally in El Paso in February and 
drew a substantial crowd, but his standing in the race has since fallen.

   Still, Trump made sure to call him out, pointing to his plan to confiscate 
assault-style rifles and his support for rescinding the tax-exempt status for 
churches and charities that are anti-LGBTQ.

   "No religion and no guns. I think that's not good," Trump said.

   O'Rourke's campaign has said that, if he's elected president, he would not 
challenge the tax-exempt status of religious organizations that oppose same-sex 
marriage.


(KR)

EU Leaders Focus on Climate, Budget    10/18 06:08

   BRUSSELS (AP) -- After agreeing on terms for a new Brexit deal, European 
Union leaders are meeting again on Friday to discuss other thorny issues, 
including the bloc's budget and climate change.

   No decision is expected on the next long-term budget for 2021-2027, though, 
a topic more divisive than Brexit.

   Leaders need to find a compromise that satisfies countries in favor of 
minimal spending, those arguing that it must at least be maintained at the 
current level and others fighting for increased contributions from members 
states to compensate for Britain's planned departure.

   The Finnish presidency of the council is expected to present a draft 
including a proposal on the overall level of financing. A top French diplomat 
said the draft will be contested, insisting it's crucial to keep a high level 
of funding in order to maintain the same level for agriculture and increase 
money for climate, innovation and migrations issues.

   Some other big net contributors, including Germany, disagree and are trying 
to limit spending from 2021.

   The diplomat, who was not authorized to be identified publicly, said that to 
keep the next budget at its current level, member states will need to 
contribute at least 1.16% of their gross national income. The European 
Commission has set an objective of 1.11% for an overall budget of 1.113 
trillion euros, while the European Parliament has proposed 1.30%.

   In the wake of the United Nations' climate change summit, the Council will 
continue talks on its goal of a climate-neutral Europe by 2050 and leaders will 
also discuss the agenda of priorities set up by incoming European Commission 
president Ursula von der Leyen.

   In June, EU leaders failed to agree on a plan to make the bloc's economy 
carbon neutral by 2050. Several large European countries --- including Britain, 
France and Germany --- have backed the target, but coal-reliant countries in 
the east, such as Poland, blocked consensus on the proposal, which entails an 
almost complete phase-out of fossil fuel use.

   Meanwhile, after winning the support of European Union leaders for his new 
Brexit deal, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has returned to London to try 
to secure backing from his fractious Parliament.

   Johnson will now need to convince lawmakers who rejected the previous deal 
sealed by his predecessor Theresa May three times to vote for the divorce deal 
he negotiated.

   "We all hope that what we decided yesterday will also be accepted in 
Westminster," Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel said.


(KR)

US, Turkey Deal Has Spurs Questions    10/18 06:09

   President Donald Trump hailed it as a great day for civilization, but the 
agreement hammered out in Ankara, Turkey, between U.S. and Turkish leaders 
spawned more questions than answers.

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump hailed it as a great day for 
civilization, but the agreement hammered out in Ankara, Turkey, between U.S. 
and Turkish leaders spawned more questions than answers.

   Thursday's deal called for a five-day pause in fighting between Turkish and 
Kurdish fighters and put a temporary halt to the battle along the Syrian 
border. It also gave the Turks the 20-mile-deep (32-kilometer-deep) safe zone 
in Syria that leaders in Ankara had sought for months. But what it meant for 
U.S. forces withdrawing from Syria remained unclear, and some fighting 
continued Friday morning in a northeast Syrian border town.

   A look at the key provisions of the deal and remaining uncertainties:

   ___

   THE AGREEMENT

   A U.S. delegation led by Vice President Mike Pence met with Turkish leaders, 
including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for more than four hours Thursday and 
agreed to the five-day cease-fire in the Turkish assault on Kurdish fighters in 
northern Syria. The arrangement said the Syrian Kurdish fighters would withdraw 
from what has been called a safe zone that is about 20-miles deep into Syria 
and stretches across about 78 miles (125 kilometers) of the central portion of 
the border between the two countries.

   But almost immediately there were disagreements over what to call the deal 
and what it meant. Pence and Trump routinely referred to it as a cease-fire. 
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu rejected that term and called it a 
"pause" in fighting, because, he said, cease-fires are only possible between 
"two legitimate sides." Cavusoglu also said that the Turks would halt their 
operation only "after the terrorist elements depart" from northeast Syria.

   What also remained unclear is what the Turkish-backed militias of Syrian 
fighters will do and how much control the Turkish military will have or try to 
exert over them.

   ___

   WHAT THE TURKS GET

   In return for the cease-fire, the Turks will get what they have wanted all 
along: control of the safe zone in Syria and, if the cease-fire holds, a halt 
to the economic sanctions that Trump announced Monday when he warned that he 
could obliterate Turkey's economy.

   ___

   THE U.S. WITHDRAWAL

   There were mixed signals Thursday over what the agreement means for U.S. 
forces that began a withdrawal from Syria earlier this week as fighting between 
the Turkish and Kurdish forces escalated and began to threaten the safety of 
American troops. U.S. officials said the ongoing withdrawal was continuing and 
would probably take a couple of weeks.

   Pence reiterated that, as Trump has said, the U.S. will not have "military 
personnel on the ground" but other diplomatic and humanitarian aid would go on. 
He also said that the U.S. will "facilitate" the orderly withdrawal of the 
Kurdish forces from the safe zone that is already beginning. And Trump said 
that the U.S. will continue to watch the Islamic State and that the Kurdish 
fighters will control that monitoring with U.S. supervision. Pentagon officials 
did not provide an explanation of how that would work.

   ___

   ISLAMIC STATE GROUP

   As the U.S. withdraws, a fundamental question is what the battle to prevent 
a reemergence of the Islamic State will look like. U.S. officials have provided 
little guidance, but they note that the U.S. can, if needed, launch strikes 
from bases in Iraq near the Syria border. In addition, the U.S. is leaving, at 
least for now, 200 to 300 troops at the Al Tanf base in southern Syria.

   ___

   ISLAMIC STATE PRISONERS

   One of the biggest threats in the conflict has been the potential that 
thousands of imprisoned Islamic State group fighters could escape. Kurdish 
forces have been guarding the prisons, but some fighters have left to join the 
battle along the border. And shelling in some areas may have led to the escape 
of fewer than 100 detainees.

   Trump said that the detained will be controlled by "different groups." But 
he added that the U.S. "will be watching. We will be in charge. And they will 
be under very, very powerful and strict control." That may be difficult to do 
if U.S. troops are not in Syria.


(KR)

Perry to Resign by Year's End          10/18 06:11

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- Energy Secretary Rick Perry announced Thursday that he 
will leave his job by the end of the year, saying that under President Donald 
Trump the nation is nearing energy independence.

   Perry's long-rumored departure comes as he is under scrutiny over the role 
he played in the president's dealings with Ukraine, the focus of an ongoing 
impeachment inquiry.

   In a letter to Trump, Perry made no mention of Ukraine and exalted policy 
successes that have led to increased production and exports of oil and natural 
gas.

   "The U.S. private sector is leading the world in energy production, 
exploration and exports," Perry said. "Today, when the world looks for energy, 
they can now think of America first."

   Trump said Perry "has done a fantastic job" at Energy, "but it was time" for 
him to leave.

   Perry, 69, a former Texas governor, has been energy secretary since March 
2017, making him one of the longest-serving members of Trump's Cabinet, which 
has seen huge turnover.

   He was traveling with Trump to Texas when he notified the president of his 
decision aboard Air Force One.

   Trump told reporters he "knew six months ago" that Perry wanted to leave by 
the end of the year. "He's got some ideas for doing something else. He's a 
terrific guy," Trump said.

   Trump said he already knows who will succeed Perry, but declined to identify 
the person.

   House Democrats have subpoenaed Perry for documents related to a Ukrainian 
state-owned energy company as well as his involvement in a July call between 
Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. The lawmakers set a Friday 
deadline.

   Trump has said Perry teed up the July 25 call, in which Trump pressed 
Ukraine to investigate his Democratic rival Joe Biden and his son, who was 
employed by a Ukrainian gas company.

   A spokeswoman for Perry has said he wanted Trump to speak with the Ukrainian 
leader on energy matters related to U.S. efforts to boost Western energy ties 
to Eastern Europe. It is part of a long-term effort to lessen the political 
control Russia wields through its dominance of the fuel supply.

   The Associated Press reported this month that a circle of businessmen and 
Republican donors touted their connections to Trump and his personal lawyer, 
Rudy Giuliani, as they sought to install new management at the top of Ukraine's 
state-owned gas company last spring.

   The plan hit a snag after Zelinskiy's election, but Perry took up the effort 
to install a friendlier management team at the company, Naftogaz. Perry 
attended Zelinskiy's May 2019 inauguration as the administration's senior 
representative and met privately with Zelinskiy. He has denied any wrongdoing.

   Perry had disputed published reports that he was planning to leave the 
administration. He told a news conference in Lithuania earlier this month: "One 
of these days they will probably get it right. But it's not today, it's not 
tomorrow, not next month. Keep saying it and one day you'll be right."

   Perry, who twice ran for president before taking the job at Energy, has kept 
a relatively low-profile in his 2 -year tenure. He has supported Trump's call 
for "energy dominance" around the world and pushed to bolster struggling 
coal-fired and nuclear power plants. He said last year that a rash of coal and 
nuclear retirements was "alarming" and posed a looming crisis for the nation's 
power grid.

   "If unchecked, (the plant closures) will threaten our ability to recover 
from intentional attacks and natural disasters," Perry said at a speech in 
Texas.

   Trump, who has frequently promised to bring back coal jobs, directed Perry 
in June 2018 to take "immediate steps" to bolster struggling coal-fired and 
nuclear power plants to keep them open, calling it a matter of national and 
economic security.

   No definitive action has been taken since then. A regional transmission 
organization that oversees the power grid in 13 Eastern and Midwestern states 
said there's no immediate threat to system reliability.

   Perry has won plaudits from lawmakers for an easygoing style that reflects a 
life in politics, and he has frequently distanced himself from severe budget 
cuts to energy programs sought by the White House. He has toured Energy 
Department sites around the country, represented the Trump administration at 
meetings overseas and begun a years-long process to revive a shuttered nuclear 
waste dump at Nevada's Yucca Mountain.

   Before taking the Energy job, Perry had been subjected to widespread 
ridicule after forgetting the name of an agency he pledged to eliminate as 
president. That agency was the Energy Department. Despite that, Perry has 
emerged as a strong defender of the department's work, especially the 17 
national labs that conduct cutting-edge research on everything from national 
security to renewable energy.

   "I'm telling you officially the coolest job I've ever had is being secretary 
of Energy ... and it's because of these labs," Perry told employees at the 
Idaho National Laboratory in 2017.

   Trump denied reports that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott or Alaska Gov. Mike 
Dunleavy could replace Perry, but said, "They would both be very good."


(KR)

Envoy: Giuliani Given Role in Ukraine  10/18 06:12

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. ambassador to the European Union told House 
impeachment investigators Thursday that President Donald Trump instructed him 
and other envoys to work with his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, on Ukraine 
policy and that he was "disappointed" by the directive. Gordon Sondland spoke 
to lawmakers for around 10 hours.

   Lawmakers leaving the closed-door deposition said there were gaps in his 
testimony, and said Sondland responded "I don't know" and "I don't recall" many 
times. But they said it was enlightening and damning as the political appointee 
and Trump donor described Giuliani's takeover of U.S. policy toward Ukraine.

   "It is clear you have a shadow shakedown going on by Giuliani," said 
California Rep. Eric Swalwell, a Democratic member of the House intelligence 
panel. "I think it is just important for the American people to understand Rudy 
Giuliani is Donald Trump and Donald Trump is Rudy Giuliani. If Rudy Giuliani is 
doing something it is because he's the lawyer for Donald Trump, and lawyers 
don't take actions that are not authorized by their clients."

   Sondland's closed-door testimony to three House committees was aimed at 
distancing himself from Trump and Giuliani's efforts to pressure Ukraine into 
investigating Democratic rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter. Sondland said he 
was concerned that the president delegated to Giuliani foreign policy 
responsibilities that he thought belonged to the State Department, but Sondland 
followed Trump's instructions anyway. He insisted that he played no role in 
encouraging investigations of Biden, telling lawmakers that he thought it 
improper to invite a foreign government to conduct criminal probes to influence 
American elections.

   The ambassador was the latest in a series of witnesses to be privately 
interviewed by three House committees conducting the impeachment investigation. 
He was one of several current and former Trump administration officials who 
have provided new information --- and detailed diplomats' concerns --- about 
Trump and Giuliani and their attempts to influence Ukraine.

   White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney defended Giuliani's 
involvement in foreign policy, saying, "That's the president's call." Even if 
some people don't like it, he added, "it's not Illegal. It's not impeachable. 
The president gets to use who he wants to use."

   The investigators will continue apace next week, when they have tentatively 
scheduled multiple additional interviews with a mix of State Department 
diplomats and White House aides. Among them is the current top official at the 
U.S. embassy in Ukraine, William Taylor, who exchanged text messages with 
Sondland this summer and fall as diplomats attempted to navigate Trump's 
demands.

   Sondland's attempts to stand apart from Trump and Giuliani are notable 
since, unlike other career civil servants who have testified in the impeachment 
inquiry, he is a hand-picked political appointee of the president who 
contributed $1 million to Trump's inaugural committee. His appearance was 
especially anticipated since the text messages and other witness testimony 
place him at the center of a foreign policy dialogue with Ukraine that 
officials feared circumvented normal channels and that is now at the center of 
the House impeachment inquiry of Trump.

   In prepared remarks obtained by The Associated Press, Sondland aimed to 
untether himself from any effort by the Republican president or Giuliani to 
have a political rival investigated, joining other current and former 
administration officials who have communicated to Congress misgivings about the 
administration's backchannel dealings with Ukraine.

   But Sondland's pivotal role in the dialogue, including discussions about a 
quid-pro-quo in which Ukraine's president would get a coveted White House visit 
in exchange for satisfying Trump's push for corruption-related investigations, 
made some Democrats skeptical that he wasn't more closely involved.

   "For purposes of the impeachment inquiry, it really doesn't matter whether 
Sondland was a knowing participant in this scheme or if he was an unwitting 
pawn," said California Rep. Ted Lieu as he left the deposition. "He was still 
executing the policies of Rudy Giuliani and Rudy was following the orders of 
the president."

   Sondland said he was disappointed by a May 23 meeting with Trump, who 
rejected calls by the ambassador and others to arrange without preconditions a 
phone call and White House visit for the new Ukraine leader, Volodymyr 
Zelenskiy.

   The president was skeptical that Ukraine was serious about reform and 
curbing corruption and, instead of arranging the meeting his envoys wanted, 
directed them to talk to Giuliani, Sondland said.

   "We were also disappointed by the President's direction that we involve Mr. 
Giuliani," Sondland said in the remarks. "Our view was that the men and women 
of the State Department, not the President's personal lawyer, should take 
responsibility for all aspects of U.S. foreign policy towards Ukraine."

   The envoys, he said, had a choice: They could abandon the goal of a White 
House meeting with Zelenskiy, something they saw as important in fostering 
U.S.-Ukraine relations, or they could do as Trump asked and work with Giuliani. 
He said he did not know until much later that Giuliani intended to push for the 
Biden probe.

   When the phone call finally did occur, on July 25, Trump repeatedly prodded 
Zelenskiy to investigate the Bidens at the same time as the U.S. was 
withholding hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid from Ukraine. 
Sondland said he was not on the call.

   "Let me state clearly: Inviting a foreign government to undertake 
investigations for the purpose of influencing an upcoming U.S. election would 
be wrong," Sondland said. "Withholding foreign aid in order to pressure a 
foreign government to take such steps would be wrong. I did not and would not 
ever participate in such undertakings."

   The Democrats asked Sondland, whose name surfaced in a whistleblower 
complaint in August that helped spur the impeachment inquiry, about text 
messages that were provided to the committees earlier this month by former 
Ukrainian envoy Kurt Volker.

   The messages show Sondland, Volker and Taylor discussing an arrangement in 
which Zelenskiy would be offered a White House visit in exchange for a public 
statement by Ukraine committing to undertake investigations into the 2016 U.S. 
presidential election and into Burisma, the gas company linked to Hunter Biden.

   One text exchange that has attracted attention involves Taylor telling 
Sondland he thought it was "crazy" to withhold military aid from Ukraine "for 
help with a political campaign." Sondland replied that Trump had been clear 
about his intentions and that there was no quid pro quo.

   Now, Sondland told lawmakers that Trump told him by phone before he sent the 
text that there was no quid pro quo and that he was simply parroting those 
reassurances to Taylor.

   "I asked the President: 'What do you want from Ukraine?'" Sondland said. 
"The President responded, 'Nothing. There is no quid pro quo.' The President 
repeated: 'no quid pro quo' multiple times. This was a very short call. And I 
recall the President was in a bad mood."

   Sondland testified three days after Fiona Hill, a former White House aide, 
said that his actions so unnerved then-national security adviser John Bolton 
that Bolton said he was not part of "whatever drug deal Sondland and Mulvaney 
are cooking up."

   But Sondland said that neither Hill nor Bolton personally raised concerns 
about the Ukraine work directly with him.


(KR)

Pompeo Seeks to Reassure Israel        10/18 06:17

   JERUSALEM (AP) -- Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Israel's prime 
minister on Friday to reaffirm the countries' close ties at a time when many in 
Israel fear the Trump administration intends to cut and run from the Middle 
East.

   The meeting came a day after a U.S. delegation led by Vice President Mike 
Pence and Pompeo reached an agreement with Turkey to halt its week-old 
offensive against Kurdish forces in northern Syria. Turkey invaded after the 
U.S. moved its troops aside, abandoning the Syrian Kurdish fighters America had 
partnered with against the Islamic State group. Turkey views the Kurdish 
fighters as terrorists because of their links to an insurgency inside its 
borders.

   Israel has strongly condemned the offensive, with Prime Minister Benjamin 
Netanyahu warning of "ethnic cleansing." Others have expressed fear that 
President Donald Trump's stated desire to get out of "stupid endless wars" in 
the Middle East makes him an unreliable ally as Israel confronts threats from 
Iran.

   In brief remarks after their meeting, Pompeo said "the remarkable, close 
relationship between our two countries is as strong as it has ever been." He 
said they discussed ways to push back against Iran, and "efforts to jointly 
combat all the challenges that the world confronts here in the Middle East."

   Netanyahu thanked America for its "consistent support" and said they 
discussed ways of making the alliance "even stronger."

   When asked about the agreement to halt the fighting in northern Syria, 
Netanyahu said "we hope things will turn out for the best," without 
elaborating. Pompeo declined to comment.

   Netanyahu has portrayed his close relationship with Trump as a godsend for 
Israel, pointing to the American president's decisions to withdraw from the 
Iranian nuclear deal and to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

   But Israelis have expressed alarm over a series of recent decisions, 
culminating in the Syria pullout, that they fear portend an American withdrawal 
from the region. Trump's expressed willingness to open negotiations with Iran, 
which nearly resulted in talks with President Hassan Rouhani, raised fears that 
the U.S. would back away from tough sanctions on the Islamic republic. Trump's 
refusal so far to retaliate for an attack on Saudi oil facilities, which the 
U.S. blamed on Iran , sparked further concern.

   "The United States' abandonment of the Kurds has raised great concern in 
Israel: Trump abandons allies without blinking and Israel is liable to be 
next," the popular daily Yediot Ahronot newspaper said in an article earlier 
this week. "The entire balance of power in the Middle East is built on a very 
delicate web of supports, pressures, understandings and agreements_and Trump is 
unraveling that web."

   Rapid advances by Turkish forces this week forced the Kurds to turn to 
Syrian President Bashar Assad for protection, and Syrian and Russian forces 
have already fanned out across the vast swathes of northeastern Syria held by 
the Kurds. That could allow Iran, a close ally of Assad, to further expand its 
presence, which already stretches across the Middle East to Israel's northern 
frontier.

   The questions about the U.S. alliance come at a sensitive time for 
Netanyahu, who made his relations with Trump and other top world leaders a 
major plank of his campaign ahead of last month's elections. The vote left him 
deadlocked with his main opponent, with no clear path for either to form a 
government.

   On Wednesday, a Yediot Ahronot columnist accused Netanyahu of placing all 
his eggs in "Trump's basket," saying the American president has become a 
"flimsy crutch."


(KR)

WH: Ukraine Aid Held Over Probe        10/18 06:18

   The White House acknowledged that President Donald Trump's decision to hold 
up military aid to Ukraine was linked to his demand that Kyiv investigate the 
Democratic National Committee and the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, a 
shifting new explanation about events at the heart of the impeachment inquiry.

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House acknowledged that President Donald 
Trump's decision to hold up military aid to Ukraine was linked to his demand 
that Kyiv investigate the Democratic National Committee and the 2016 U.S. 
presidential campaign, a shifting new explanation about events at the heart of 
the impeachment inquiry.

   The Thursday admission from acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney undercut the 
president's position that there was no quid pro quo during Trump's phone call 
with the Ukraine president that sparked the House investigation.

   The sudden turn of events had immediate fallout. Trump's lawyer distanced 
the Republican president from Mulvaney's account. The Justice Department said 
the explanation was news to them. And Democrats cast Mulvaney's remarks as 
further evidence of wrongdoing as Trump sought a "favor" from Ukraine.

   Trump, traveling in Texas, appeared to stand by his top aide, calling 
Mulvaney a "good man."

   "I have a lot of confidence" in him, Trump said.

   But Mulvaney's initial remarks, made during a rare appearance by an 
administration official in the White House briefing room, spun open a new phase 
of the impeachment inquiry.

   He indicated that a quid pro quo was at play for the military aid --- but a 
different one than Democrats initially highlighted as they probed Trump's 
efforts to have Ukraine investigate a company linked to the son of his 
Democratic rival Joe Biden.

   Trump, as shown in a rough transcript of the July call with Ukraine 
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, sought help in investigating not only the firm 
tied to Biden but also a security company hired by the DNC that discovered that 
Russian agents had broken into the committee's network. The stolen emails were 
subsequently published by WikiLeaks ahead of the 2016 election.

   "The look back to what happened in 2016 certainly was part of the thing that 
he was worried about in corruption with that nation," Mulvaney told reporters, 
delivering the White House's most granular explanation yet of the decision to 
withhold military assistance.

   "Did he also mention to me in the past the corruption that related to the 
DNC server? Absolutely, no question about that," Mulvaney continued. "That's 
why we held up the money."

   Trump's personal lawyer Jay Sekulow issued a pointed statement distancing 
the president's legal team from Mulvaney's comments.

   "The President's legal counsel was not involved in acting chief of staff 
Mick Mulvaney's press briefing," it said.

   Within hours, Mulvaney issued a separate statement claiming his remarks were 
misconstrued.

   "Let me be clear, there was absolutely no quid pro quo between Ukrainian 
military aid and any investigation into the 2016 election," he said. "The 
president never told me to withhold any money until the Ukrainians did anything 
related to the server."

   But it may be difficult to erase what Mulvaney said as House Democrats dig 
into their investigation.

   Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the chairman of the Intelligence Committee 
leading the impeachment probe, said, "I think Mr. Mulvaney's acknowledgment 
means that things have gone from very, very bad to much, much worse."

   Mulvaney, who has already received a subpoena for documents in the 
impeachment probe, will now likely be asked by investigators to appear for a 
deposition.

   "I believe that they're getting closer to basically admitting a crime," said 
Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, who said Mulvaney should testify. "Where he talks 
about politics being attached to foreign policy. I mean, you're going up to the 
water's edge there."

   Mulvaney during the press briefing defended Trump's request to Ukraine by 
casting it as part of an ongoing Justice Department investigation looking into 
the origins of the investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 
election.

   He said the investigation was one of several reasons Trump held up nearly 
$400 million in military aid to Ukraine, including a desire for European 
nations to increase their own assistance to Kyiv. Funding was eventually 
released.

   A senior official at the Justice Department said if the White House was 
withholding aid in regard to cooperation with any investigation at the 
department, it was news to them. The official was not unauthorized to discuss 
the situation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

   Trump's request to Ukraine for an investigation into the 2016 election 
appears linked to unfounded conspiracy theories about a Ukraine link to the DNC 
hack that began circulating almost immediately after the breach was discovered. 
Some were propagated in stories online and by Russian media and included 
mention of a supposed "hidden DNC server," which acolytes of the Republican 
political operative Roger Stone picked up and circulated.

   The sudden development punctuated another fast-moving day in the impeachment 
inquiry.

   Lawmakers met for hours behind closed doors with the U.S. ambassador to the 
European Union, Gordon Sondland, who testified that he disagreed with Trump's 
decision to have envoys work with the president's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani 
on Ukraine policy, rather than through traditional government channels.

   The ambassador was the latest in a series of witnesses, many of them career 
State Department and foreign policy officials, providing new and detailed 
concerns about Trump and Giuliani and their attempts to influence Ukraine.

   Sondland's attempt to stand apart from Trump is remarkable since, unlike 
other career civil servants, he is a hand-picked political appointee of the 
president who contributed $1 million to Trump's inaugural committee.

   Mulvaney defended Trump's decision to tap Giuliani to help lead Ukraine 
policy, saying it was the president's prerogative.

   "You may not like the fact that Giuliani was involved," he told reporters. 
"It's not illegal, it's not impeachable."

   "The president gets to set foreign policy, and he gets to choose who to do 
so, as long as it doesn't violate any law," Mulvaney added.

   As for complaints about mixing politics with foreign policy, Mulvaney had a 
blunt rejoinder: "I have news for everybody: Get over it. There is going to be 
political influence in foreign policy."

   Democrats plodding their way through hours of witness testimony during a 
week of closed-door hearings said Mulvaney's admissions were game-changing in 
the impeachment inquiry.

   Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., a member of the House Intelligence Committee, 
said Mulvaney "co-signed the president's confession."


(KR)

US Stocks Slip                         10/18 09:48

   Stocks are dropping on Wall Street Friday, weighed down by lossed in tech 
firms.

   NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks are slipping in early trading on Wall Street Friday, 
weighed down by losses in technology companies. The market is still on track 
for its second weekly gain after three straight losing weeks.

   Investors are also absorbing the latest economic data showing that growth in 
China sank to a new multi-decade low.

   Some stocks rose following solid earnings reports. ETrade climbed 4.7% after 
reporting surprisingly good third-quarter profit. Oilfield services company 
Schlumberger rose 3% and lifted energy stocks.

   KEEPING SCORE: The S&P 500 index fell 0.2% as of 10:24 a.m. Eastern time. 
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 93 points, or 0.3%, to 26,932. The Nasdaq 
lost 0.5%. The Russell 2000 index of smaller stocks fell 0.4%.

   The yield on the 10-year Treasury held steady at 1.75%. 

   WINNING WEEK: The market has been choppy all week as investors shift their 
focus to the latest round of corporate earnings. Stocks are still higher for 
the week thanks to a big gain on Tuesday, when several major banks released 
impressive results, including JPMorgan Chase.

   The S&P 500 is on track for a 0.8% gain this week following last week's 0.6% 
rise.

   Smaller stocks are once again set to outpace the broader market in a sign 
that investors are growing more confident. The Russell 2000 is on track for a 
1.7% gain this week after rising 0.8% last week.

   OVERSEAS: Markets in Asia fell. China's economic growth sank to a 26-year 
low in the latest quarter and shoved the Shanghai Composite index 1.3% lower. 
The world's second-largest economy is dealing with a slowdown in consumer 
demand and economic growth brought on partly by the damaging trade war with the 
U.S.

   European markets were flat. Britain's Parliament is preparing for a vote on 
the latest proposed deal covering its exit from the European Union. Britain is 
set to leave the trading block on Oct. 31. The vote is expected to take place 
at a rare sitting of Parliament on Saturday.

   EARNINGS: Investors mostly applauded the opening round of company earnings 
this week and temporarily brushed aside worries over the ongoing U.S.-China 
trade war. Health insurer UnitedHealth Group reported solid earnings, as did 
Netflix.

   The early round of mostly good results could help calm investors' fears 
about another dismal forecast for earnings growth. Analysts expect profit to 
contract by nearly 5% for companies within the S&P 500, according to FactSet. 
But, forecasts for declines in the first and second quarters were tempered as 
reporting progressed and companies finished those earnings seasons with tiny 
contractions instead.

   SATISFYING SODA: Coca-Cola rose 1.6% after the company edged out Wall 
Street's third-quarter revenue forecasts on improved sales of Coca-Cola Zero 
Sugar and other drinks. 


(CZ)