Trump to lift ban on importing elephant trophies from Africa

Foreign tourists in safari riverboats observe elephants along the Chobe river bank near Zimbabwe.

The Trump administration on Wednesday announced that it will issue permits for elephant trophies from Zambia and Zimbabwe, reversing a 2014 ban under President Obama.

A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service official told ABC News that the agency received new information from the countries that the move would benefit conservation in the area.

“Legal, well-regulated sport hunting as part of a sound management program can benefit the conservation of certain species by providing incentives to local communities to conserve the species and by putting much-needed revenue back into conservation,” the FWS statement said.
The same department, under Obama, determined in 2015 that importing the trophies would not benefit the species in the area.
The National Rifle Association praised the FWS decision Wednesday, the New York Post reported. The paper reported that elephants — valued for their tusks — have been on the “threatened” species list since 1978.
“By lifting the import ban on lion trophies in Zimbabwe and Zambia, the Trump administration underscored the importance of sound scientific wildlife management and regulated hunting to the survival and enhancement of game species in this country and worldwide,” said Chris Cox, executive director of the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action.
Wayne Pacelle, president of the Human Society of the United States, called the Trump administration’s decision jarring, the Post reported.
“Remember, it was Zimbabwe where Walter Palmer shot Cecil, one of the most beloved and well-studied African lions, who was lured out of a national park for the killing. Palmer paid a big fee even though it did irreparable damage to the nation’s reputation.”
Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump have been known to hunt for big game. Several years ago, Trump Jr. was criticized for posting a photo of himself with a dead elephant’s severed tail.
“Reprehensible behavior by the Trump Admin,” tweeted the Elephant Project.
“100 elephants a day are already killed,” the group said. “This will lead to more poaching.”

Papa John's NFL Cartoons

Papa John's issues Twitter apology for 'divisive' NFL, anthem remarks

Papa John's Pizza is the fourth largest take-out and pizza delivery restaurant chain in the United States.

 Taking Supporting NFL Kneeling?

The Papa John’s pizza chain apologized Tuesday for comments made by CEO John Schnatter, who had blamed the NFL and protesting players for its sales struggles during football season.
In a three-tweet mea culpa, the Louisville-based company did a reversal and said it now supports players’ right to protest.
During an earnings call two weeks ago, Schnatter lashed out at kneeling players and league officials for not solving the controversy.
“The statements made on our earnings call were describing the factors that impact our business and we sincerely apologize to anyone that thought they were divisive. That was definitely not our intention,” Papa John’s tweeted.
“We believe in the right to protest inequality and support the players’ movement to create a platform for change. We also believe, as Americans, we should honor our anthem. There should be a way to do both.”
The pizza powerhouse ended with, “We will work with the players and league to find a positive way forward. Open to ideas from all. Except neo-nazis.”
The chain then used an emoji for the middle finger, “those guys.”
Some on Twitter weren’t buying Papa John’s apology.
“You don’t need to `work with’ them. They want to protest. They don’t need your permission or to compromise to benefit you,” according to Hollywood writer Rachel Kiley.
One Twitter user wanted to know if Schnatter had any role in flipping off Nazis.
Papa John’s responded: “He helped write this post – yes.”
In a conference call with investors, Schnatter – who appears in many TV ads for his company – blamed NFL leadership for not taking decisive action.
“Leadership starts at the top, and this is an example of poor leadership,” Schnatter said. “The NFL has hurt Papa John’s shareholders.”
He said NFL brass has had plenty of time to get ahead of the protests.
“This should have been nipped in the bud a year and a half ago,” Schnatter said. “The controversy is polarizing the customer, polarizing the country.”

House passes $700B defense bill amid North Korea threat

WASHINGTON –  House Republicans and Democrats joined forces Tuesday to decisively approve a defense policy bill that authorizes $700 billion to restock what lawmakers have described as a depleted U.S. military and counter North Korea's advancing nuclear weapons program.

Lawmakers voted 356-70 to pass the legislation, with 127 Democrats backing the measure. Once the defense bill clears the Senate, which is expected this week, the bill will be sent to President Donald Trump for his signature.

The defense bill for the 2018 fiscal year allots some $634 billion for core Pentagon operations and nearly $66 billion for wartime missions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and elsewhere. The funding boost pays for more troops, jet fighters, ships and other weapons needed to halt an erosion of the military's combat readiness, according to the bill's backers.

Trump's 2018 request sought $603 billion for basic functions and $65 billion for overseas missions. But securing the higher amounts remains contingent upon Congress reaching an agreement to roll back a 2011 law that set strict limits on most federal spending. That's a lot harder than it sounds, however. Lifting the budget caps will face resistance from Democrats who also are seeking to increase the budgets for domestic agencies.

Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, voted for the bill while also criticizing Congress for refusing to come to grips with its out-of-control approach to budgeting. Smith said it's inconsistent for Republicans to push for billions of dollars more in defense spending while also advocating tax overhaul legislation that will deepen federal deficits over the next decade.

Even if Congress had a "fit of fiscal responsibility" and decided to raise revenue instead of cutting it, Smith said, "we're still looking at needs within the national security budget ... that are wildly beyond the amount of money that we have."

Republicans insist tax cuts will essentially pay for themselves by spurring economic growth. But the Armed Services Committee chairman, Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, urged his colleagues to focus on the military's immediate and substantial needs.

"It is morally wrong to send men and women out on missions with our military, for which they are not fully supported, fully trained, (and) equipped with the best equipment our country can provide," he said.

The defense legislation includes $12.3 billion for the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency and orders a more rapid buildup of the nation's missile defenses as Pyongyang has refused to back away from developing nuclear missiles capable of striking the United States.

The bill includes money for as many as 28 additional Ground-Based Interceptors, which are anti-missile missiles that would be launched from underground silos in Alaska in the event the U.S. decided to try to shoot down a North Korean missile heading toward the United States. The interceptors are designed to directly hit the enemy missile outside the Earth's atmosphere, obliterating it by the force of impact.

Lawmakers also have required Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to develop a plan for increasing the overall number of so-called GBIs from 44 to 104. The bill also directs the Pentagon to procure more ship-based interceptors and missiles for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, a U.S. mobile anti-missile system.

North Korea's U.N. ambassador, Ja Song Nam, said in a letter Monday to Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres that the unprecedented deployment of three U.S. aircraft carrier groups "taking up a strike posture" around the Korean peninsula has made it impossible to predict when nuclear war will break out. The carriers are participating in joint naval exercises with North Korea.

"The large-scale nuclear war exercises and blackmails, which the U.S. staged for a whole year without a break in collaboration with its followers to stifle our republic, make one conclude that the option we have taken was the right one and we should go along the way to the last," Ja's letter reads.

The policy bill also grants U.S. troops a 2.4 percent pay raise, which is slightly higher than the wage increase the Pentagon had proposed.

Lawmakers also approved an increase of more than 20,000 active-duty and reserve troops from last year's level. The Army gets the largest boost and will receive 7,500 more active-duty Army soldiers and 1,000 additional reserve troops.

The defense bill provides money for 90 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, 20 more than Trump asked for, as well as 24 F/A-18 Super Hornet jet fighters, 10 more than requested. The budget also includes three Littoral Combat Ships, two beyond the budget request. The ships are new to the fleet and operate in congested areas near the shore against small boats and mines.

China sending top envoy to North Korea, week after Trump visit pushing for action

China is sending a high-level special envoy to North Korea. The move follows President Donald Trump’s visit to China last week, where he pushed Beijing to use its influence to pressure Kim Jong Un into stopping his nuclear war threats.

China's official Xinhua News Agency reported Wednesday that Song Tao, director of the ruling Communist Party's International Liaison Department, would travel to North Korea on Friday.

The announcement did not mention Trump or the U.S.
China remains the sole protector of the North Korean regime, a relationship that has been a source of friction between officials in Washington and Beijing. Trump has previously criticized China, saying its leaders were not using their influence in Pyongyang to help the U.S. convince North Korea to tone down its rhetoric and end its pursuit of nuclear weapons.
“North Korea is a rogue nation which has become a great threat and embarrassment to China, which is trying to help but with little success,” the president said in September.
Following last week's meetings -- which were part of Trump's five-nation Asia tour -- the president sounded optimistic in a Twitter message.
“President Xi of China has stated that he is upping the sanctions against #NoKo. Said he wants them to denuclearize. Progress is being made,” the president tweeted.
Song would become the first high-level Chinese official to visit North Korea since October 2015, when a member of the Communist Party Politburo committee met with Kim.
The International Liaison Department, in charge of the Chinese communist party’s relations with foreign political parties, has effectively taken the lead in conducting China's diplomacy with North Korea, Reuters reported.

'If You Can't Do This Then Get Out': Hannity Gives Roy Moore 24 Hours To Explain 'Inconsistencies'

Sean Hannity said Tuesday that, in light of inconsistencies in his recollection of sexual misconduct allegations against him, Judge Roy Moore (R-Ala.) should be given 24 hours to fully explain the situations or bow out of his Senate race.
"You know I do not and will never rush to judgment, because we have seen the media and politicians get it wrong so many times," he said.
But, he said that in light of new information from an accuser of Moore's, the public should be troubled by a few things in the case.
Hannity said he had to ask Moore several times about whether he dated teenage girls as a man in his 30s, until the judge answered concisely.
Also, Hannity played tape of Moore saying an accuser who was flanked by attorney Gloria Allred made allegations about him that were "absolutely false," adding that he did not know the woman.
Hannity said a subsequent report showing the woman's old yearbook containing a note and signature from Moore appeared to corroborate the woman's allegation.

Liberal Safe Haven Cartoons

Politically motivated hotel opening in D.C. to be safe haven for liberals

The Trump International Hotel in D.C. is housed in the Old Post Office building down the street from the White House, has seen a burst of activity since opening its doors last fall.

An anti-Trump themed hotel marketing itself as a safe haven for liberals is planning to open in late spring 2018 in Washington, Bloomberg reported.

Boasting itself as the world’s first politically motivated hotel, the Eaton Workshop chain of hotels will be built around community engagement and integrating a liberal philosophy into every aspect of the guest experience. The Washington Hotel, Eaton’s flagship location, with subsequent sites planned in Hong Kong, San Francisco, and Seattle by 2019.

Katherine Lo, the founder of Eaton Workshop, told Bloomberg that the Washington location will include amenities that cater to public activism including TED Talks-inspired fireside chats and lectures, co-working space for progressive startups, activists, and artists, a writer’s residency, where investigative reporters can pursue stories and a multimedia studio where artists can create short films, podcasts, and other content in line with Eaton’s philosophy.
The lobby of the hotel will contain footage from the presidential elections of 2012 and 2016 posing the question: “How did our country get where it is today?” The minibar will include an activist toolkit that will include information on how to contact your congress member as well as material for making posters for demonstrations, Newsweek reported.
“And if we’d been open during this year’s Women’s March, I could have seen us putting poster boards and markers in the rooms,” Lo said.
Lo says that messages will be suited to each property. In Hong Kong, for instance, she wants to replace Bibles in nightstand drawers with copies of the U.N. Declaration for Human Rights.
Staff will be hired based not only for their experience in the service industry, but also for their track records in activism.
But despite proclamations of fostering diversity, Lo admits that Eaton Workshop isn’t for everyone. Lo told Bloomberg that, “the goal isn’t to bring together left and right.” Rather, the hotel will represent the antithesis of the Trump hotel, only a few blocks away from Eaton’s planned DC location.

Sessions directs prosecutors to 'evaluate certain issues' involving Uranium One and Clinton, leaves door open on special counsel

Attorney General Jeff Sessions directed senior federal prosecutors to evaluate “certain issues” requested by congressional Republicans, involving the sale of Uranium One and alleged unlawful dealings related to the Clinton Foundation, leaving the door open for an appointment of another special counsel.

In a letter first obtained by Fox News, the Justice Department responded to July 27 and September 26 requests from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and other committee members, who called for the appointment of a special counsel to investigate the matters in question.

The letter comes on the eve of Sessions’ testimony before the same committee, scheduled for Tuesday.
“The Attorney General has directed senior federal prosecutors to evaluate certain issues raised in your letters,” Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd wrote.
“These senior prosecutors will report directly to the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General [Rod Rosenstein], as appropriate, and will make recommendations as to whether any matters not currently under investigation should be opened, whether any matters currently under investigation require further resources, or whether any matters merit the appointment of a Special Counsel,” Boyd wrote.
The Justice Department does not ordinarily confirm or deny investigations, and Boyd wrote that “this letter should not be construed to do so.”
The Justice Department’s letter specifically said that some of the topics requested by Goodlatte and other committee members were already being investigated by the department’s Inspector General’s office.
The letter specifically mentioned allegations related to the FBI’s handling of the Clinton email probe, including allegations that DOJ and FBI “policies or procedures” were “not followed in connection with, or in actions leading up to or related to” then-FBI Director James Comey’s public announcement to close the Clinton email “matter” on July 5, 2016, or the letter he sent lawmakers on October 28, 2016, about newly discovered Clinton emails, and that those “investigative decisions were based on improper considerations.”
“The Department has forwarded a copy of your letters to the IG so he can determine whether he should expand the scope of his investigation based on the information contained in those letters,” Boyd wrote. “Once the IG’s review is complete, the Department will assess what, if any, additional steps are necessary to address any issues identified by that review.”
While the Justice Department did not confirm or deny an ongoing investigation into Clinton matters, administration officials pointed Fox News to the attorney general’s testimony at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee in January, raising questions over whether he would recuse himself from this investigation.
“With regard to Secretary Clinton and some of the comments I made, I do believe that that could place my objectivity in question,” Sessions said in response to committee Chairman Chuck Grassley’s, R-Iowa, asking whether he could approach a Clinton investigation “impartially.” Sessions added at the time, “I believe the proper thing for me to do would be to recuse myself from any questions involving those kind of investigations that involve Secretary Clinton and that were raised during the campaign or to be otherwise connected to it.”
Former FBI Director Robert Mueller was appointed in May as a special counsel to investigate accusations of collusion between Russia and officials close to President Trump.

Blaming GOP establishment, Bannon speech warns of 'brutal 2018' race

In a blistering assault on the Republican establishment and President Donald Trump’s political adversaries, former White House advisor Steve Bannon predicted there will be an effort to impeach the president if Republicans lose the House.

“Donald Trump is a blunt force instrument,” Bannon said.

In a wide-ranging speech that touched on the rise of China, the dangers of Turkish President Recep Erdoğan and the threat from radical Islamic terrorism, the controversial political advisor said he thinks Trump’s opponents simply are working to throw him out of office.
“When I left the White House the very first thing I said is that I’m going after the Republican establishment, because they are trying to nullify this as much as the left.”
He warned that the political battle will play out through next year.
“The constitutional struggle that we are going to have in 2018 and the lead up to it, is going to be brutal, a brutal midterm election. It is going to be something unprecedented in American history,” Bannon predicted.
“If we get crushed, the first thing that they are going to do in the House of Representatives, they are going to impeach Donald J. Trump, I don’t care what they say.”
Bannon spoke at a New York City luncheon event sponsored by the Gatestone Institute, a “non-partisan, not for profit international policy council and think tank, dedicated to educating the public about what the media fails to report,” it says.
“Mr. Bannon seems concerned about international threats facing America,” said Gatestone’s President Nina Rosenwald, who invited him as part of the group’s fall lecture series. “We thought he might bring up topics that need addressing that nobody else is looking at.”
“We have the ability to put together a coalition that can govern for 50 years,” Bannon told the audience, but warned of a potential G.O.P. defeat because he believes that the ruling-party powers are not connected to average Americans.
“The establishment is not prepared, they don’t have a sense of urgency, and they don’t understand the working class people in Pennsylvania, in Wisconsin, in Michigan, in Minnesota and in Iowa and Ohio. What we did we can replicate. We can replicate it, though, with hard work, and wisdom. And if we blow this, we are never going to get it back. You have to understand, it is never coming back. We have the ability to change this country.”
Bannon, who is supporting some insurgent candidates in upcoming Republican primaries, did not delve into the growing sexual misconduct allegations surrounding Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore. Bannon supported Moore over President Trump’s primary pick, the incumbent Senator Luther Strange, and only mentioned the controversy briefly. He cited it as an example of what he considers the establishment’s panic. 
“They’re petrified of the opposition party. You know what my super power is? I don’t give a damn. I could care less what they say about me. I could care less. It’s about action. The Republican Party and the leaders of the Republican Party are cowards. You are writing your checks to cowards. Understand this. They are there for you when it’s easy. They are there to take your check. But when something comes up like the Iran situation, they will flip the Constitution of the United States so they can have some sort of conscience for voting for that — it’s outrageous.”
He said that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell “owes his job to Donald Trump,” noting that it was Trump’s wins that swept the G.O.P. into the Senate majority.
“Wisconsin, Missouri and North Carolina were all dead in the water. They were brought across the goal line by Donald Trump. Mitch McConnell had a terrible track record of picking people to run.”
Bannon also used his Gatestone appearance to remind the attendees of the Trump administration success against ISIS, both on the battlefield and squeezing the financial pipeline that supports terrorism.
“We crushed the Caliphate of ISIS ... in 2014, the ISIS Caliphate was eight million people. It had oil fields, it had wheat fields, it had taxation, and was recruiting actively in Europe and recruiting actively in the United States. He has physically destroyed the Caliphate. If you listen to the morning talk shows, you would think that all President Trump is doing is just following Obama’s plan. It couldn’t be farther from the truth. He told General Mattis, not a war of attrition, I want a war of annihilation. I want to physically destroy the Caliphate in Mosul, in Raqqa and other cities. He’s done that, and I don’t think he’s gotten the credit.”
“The region is starting to clean up the element in the region that works with, supports and finances exporting radical Islamic terrorism to Western Europe and the United States.”
He also warned that the U.S. has to face Iranian expansion in the Middle East.