President
Trump said that the suspect responsible for killing and injuring
multiple people and police officers at a Pittsburgh synagogue Saturday
“should get the death penalty,” saying the suspect should “pay the
ultimate price.”
Speaking to reporters ahead of boarding Air Force
One, Trump addressed the “devastating” shooting that occurred Saturday
morning at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill
neighborhood, which is predominantly Jewish.
Multiple fatalities were reported, and there were also injuries, including four police officers.
"People
who do this should get the death penalty,” Trump said. “I think they
should stiffen up laws and I think they should very much bring the death
penalty to anybody who does a thing like this to innocent people.”
He
added: “They should really suffer the ultimate price — pay the ultimate
price. I’ve felt this way for a very long time. People disagree with
me, and I can’t imagine why.”
Later Saturday, the president
ordered that flags be flown at half-staff at federal buildings in
"solemn respect" for the synagogue shooting victims.
Earlier this month, the president called for the death penalty to be brought against “criminals” who kill police officers. The president has issued calls for a stricter death penalty policy since the 2016 presidential campaign.
The
death penalty is legal in Pennsylvania, though current Gov. Tom Wolf
halted the process when he took office in 2015. The last person executed
under the death penalty in Pennsylvania was in 1999--the first since 1962.
Trump was asked about tighter gun laws, which he discounted, saying they had “little to do with it.”
“If
they had protection inside, the results would have been far better. If
they had some kind of protection inside the temple, maybe it could have
been a very much different situation,” Trump said. “They didn’t have
protection. They had a maniac walk in and they didn’t have any
protection.”
He added: "If there was an armed guard inside the temple they would have been able to stop him."
"Maybe
there would have been nobody killed except for him, frankly," Trump
continued. "Isn't it a shame that you have to think of that inside a
temple or inside a church? But certainly, the result would have been far
better."
The president's comments were among the multitude of
reactions from leaders on Saturday, as the story continued to develop.
Those reactions ranged from solemn expressions of sympathy to angry
denunciations of divisive rhetoric and urgent calls for action.
House
Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said he was "horrified" by the
shooting, but criticized the president's suggestion to have armed guards
in houses of worship.
“The President’s suggestion that Americans
need to worship under armed guard is absurd," Hoyer said in a statement.
"We must address the ease by which someone can obtain the most
dangerous weapons of war and use them to commit mass violence in this
country.”
First responders were seen near the Tree of Life Synagogue in
Pittsburgh, Pa., where a shooter opened fire Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018.
(AP)
The president added that “the world is a violent world.”
“You think when you’re over it, it just goes away,” Trump said. “But then it comes back in the form of a madman—a whacko.”
Trump added that prior to taking office he “watched instances like this,” calling it a “shame.”
“But
it’s even tougher when you’re the president of the United States,”
Trump said. “You have to watch this kind of a thing happen, and it’s so
sad to see.”
Trump tweeted earlier Saturday morning, saying the
events in Pittsburgh were "far more devastating than originally
thought," adding that he "spoke with Mayor and Governor to inform them
that the Federal Government has been, and will be, with them all the
way."
The president's daughter, Ivanka Trump, who converted to the
Orthodox Jewish faith with her husband Jared Kushner, condemned the
events.
"America is stronger than the acts of a depraved bigot and
anti-semite. All good Americans stand with the Jewish people to oppose
acts of terror & share the horror, disgust & outrage over the
massacre in Pittsburgh. We must unite against hatred & evil. God
bless those affected," Ivanka Trump tweeted.
Vice President Pence
also tweeted, "praying for the fallen," while counselor to the
president, Kellyanne Conway, called the event "horrifying."
White
House press secretary Sarah Sanders also reacted, saying she is
"Saddened and appalled by the cowardly act of evil committed at Tree of
Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. We stand in total solidarity with the
victims and all of the Jewish community against bigotry and hate."
First lady Melania Trump also tweeted, saying that "the violence needs to stop."
"My
heart breaks over the news out of #Pittsburgh. The violence needs to
stop. May God bless, guide & unite the United States of America."
Also
issuing a strongly worded condemnation of the shooting Saturday
afternoon was House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., who, like so many others,
voiced disgust and dismay over the bloodshed and racist overtones.
"This
morning, a solemn celebration of life and faith turned to horror and
chaos. We are deeply devastated by this tragedy, the roots of which
appear to be especially repulsive," Ryan said in his statement. "The
sickening reality is that anti-Semitism in America continues to rear its
ugly head. It is an ideology of hate that must be eradicated wherever
it may surface. This is a time to mourn and heal, but also to reaffirm
that we will not tolerate this bigotry."
Others, like U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., chided politicians for feeding divisions in society with their rhetoric.
"We
cannot continue down this path -- something must change,” his statement
read. “Certainly, our loose gun laws are to blame, but we are also
dealing with a much more insidious problem. Access to online cesspools
of racial and religious hatred comes too easily today, and too often,
political leaders are trading in the kind divisive rhetoric that caused
people to fear those that look, or worship differently than them, and
then act on those fears.”
FILE
– In this March 13, 2018, file photo, President Donald Trump speaks
during a tour as he reviews border wall prototypes in San Diego. (AP
Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
President Trump is again calling on Congress to pass legislation addressing illegal immigration to secure the nation’s borders.
The president said the U.S. spends billions of dollars a year on
illegal immigration, but that will not continue adding Democrats must
vote to pass strong, but fair laws.
The United States has been spending Billions of
Dollars a year on Illegal Immigration. This will not continue. Democrats
must give us the votes to pass strong (but fair) laws. If not, we will
be forced to play a much tougher hand.
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen echoed his comments,
while touring the first completed section of the president’s 30 foot
high border wall in Southern California.
“This should not be a partisan issue,” said Nielsen. It seems that
many in Congress are currently suffering from amnesia. In 2006, Congress
passed the Secure Fence Act with broad bipartisan support. Border
security is national security and it is vital to our mission of
protecting the homeland.”
She also commented on a possible executive order to address the
migrant caravan, saying the administration is reviewing all legal
options and everything is on the table.
This comes as two migrant caravans, totaling nearly 10,000 people, are currently advancing through Mexico to the U.S.
President
Donald Trump talks with reporters on the South Lawn of the White House
in Washington, Friday, Oct. 26, 2018, before boarding Marine One for the
short trip to Andrews Air Force Base. Trump is traveling to North
Carolina for a rally. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
President Trump says he deserves no blame in the recent threats made to Democrats.
The president said he heard that the suspect was one of his
supporters, however that doesn’t mean he should take the wrap over the
bomb threats made against a number of prominent Democrats.
The president said threats have nothing to do with party affiliation.
“There’s no blame,” said the president. There’s no anything. If you
look at what happened to Steve Scalise. That was from a supporter of a
different party. You look at what happened in numbers of these
incidents, they were supporters of others.”
The president has condemned the acts and said threats against politicians should not happen in our country.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen speaks
in front of a newly fortified border wall structure on Friday.
(Associated Press)
Republican
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said
"everything is on the table" with regard to border security during the
unveiling of a border wall project in California on Friday.
Nielsen's remarks came as the Trump administration considers ways to slow immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border and as a caravan of migrants -- mostly made up of thousands fleeing violence and poverty in Central America -- are making their way north through Mexico.
The caravan covered more than 60 miles Friday and was roughly 990 miles from McAllen, Texas, and over 2,300 miles from San Diego.
"We
are looking at every possible way within the legal construct that we
have to make sure that those who don't have the legal right to come to
this country do not come in," Nielsen said from the El Centro Sector
near Calexico in front of a newly constructed 30-foot, two-mile fence.
"Looking at this, I would not attempt to climb it," she added.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen,
center, embraces Gloria Chavez, Border Patrol chief of the El Centro
sector, as the look at a plaque adorning a newly fortified border wall
structure Friday.
(Associated Press)
In
an effort to enhance security, the Pentagon recently approved a request
for 800 additional troops at the southern border. The White House is
looking at other measures, including blocking migrants from seeking
asylum in the U.S., which would almost assuredly result in court
challenges.
Around 2,000 National Guard troops already serve on
the border. The additional troops ordered will operate in areas in
California, Arizona and Texas from next Tuesday until Dec. 15, a
Pentagon official said.
They will not be authorized to detain
migrants. Instead, they will assist Border Patrol personnel on erecting
barricades and fencing, conducting helicopter and airplane transport and
providing assistance to medical teams and patients.
Central American migrants rest on the train tracks where the
freight train known as "The Beast" has for decades carried migrants
north, as a thousands strong caravan travel on foot and by road stops
between Pijijiapan and Arriaga, Chiapas state in Mexico.
(Associated Press)
But
the Trump administration's policies have drawn sharp criticism from
advocates for immigrants. The efforts to curtail migrants seeking asylum
could have "disastrous practical implications for our asylum
obligations, for our moral and legal obligations," said Andrea Guerrero,
executive director Alliance San Diego.
"We know that civil rights
attorneys are preparing to litigate right now," she said. "They're
preparing to litigate right away. I don't know if (Trump) cares if he
wins the litigation. He wants to score political points ... it's all
part of the same political ploy to stoke fear for political reasons and
build more walls."
The two-mile section of fencing will go a long way in keeping immigrants out of the country, Nielsen said.
"Let me be clear: Walls work," Nielsen said.
In
March, Trump hailed the project in Calexico as the start of his
proposed border wall -- the central promise of his 2016 presidential
campaign, the Hill reported.
Former President Barack Obama speaks during a rally in Detroit on Friday.
(Associated Press)
Republican
Former
President Barack Obama leveled his most direct criticism of President
Donald Trump on Friday in speeches in Detroit and Milwaukee while
stumping for Democratic candidates.
Not mentioning Trump by name,
Obama said the “character of our country is on the ballot” in November’s
midterm elections. He also cited Trump’s promise to pass a tax cut
before voters go to the polls.
“Congress isn’t even in session before the election!,” Obama said. “He just makes it up!”
In Milwaukee, Obama said: “Here’s the thing. Everything I say you can look up.”
In
Michigan, he credited gubernatorial candidate Gretchen Whitmer for
helping to expand Medicaid, saying, “Few people fought against it
harder” than her Republican challenger, state Attorney General Bill
Schuette, the Detroit News reported.
In 2016, the state supported Trump over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
“I’m
hopeful, Michigan,” Obama told the crowd in a 5,000-seat gymnasium.
“I’m hopeful that despite all the noise, despite all the lies, we’re
going to come through all that. We’re going to remember who we are, who
we’re called to be. I’m hopeful because out of this political darkness,
I’m seeing a great awakening."
In Milwaukee, Obama criticized
Republican Gov. Scott Walker -- who is being challenged by Democrat Tony
Evers -- for claiming that he wants to protect health care for those
with pre-existing conditions, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported.
“What
we have not seen before in our public life is politicians just
blatantly, repeatedly, baldly, shamelessly, lying. Just making stuff
up,” Obama said. “Calling up, down. Calling black, white. That’s what
your governor is doing with these ads, just making stuff up,”
Obama held up Clinton’s email scandal as an example of the Republican Party’s hypocrisy.
“In
the last election, it was Hillary’s emails. ‘This is terrible’ ...
‘This is a national security crisis,’” he said. “They didn’t care about
emails and you know how you know? Because if they did, they’d be up in
arms right now that the Chinese are listening to the president’s iPhone
that he leaves in his golf cart.”
He also took aim at Trump’s promise to “drain the swamp.”
“In
Washington they have racked up enough indictments to field a football
team,” he said. “Nobody in my administration got indicted.”
Trump and Obama have escalated the level of criticism of each other in recent months.
Trump has criticized his predecessor for trying to downplay his economic record, boasting that he had a magic wand to expedite the economic recovery.
"I
opened up our beautiful economic engine with Regulation and Tax Cuts.
Our system was choking and would have been made worse. Still plenty to
do!” Trump once tweeted.
Regarding immigration, which Obama and
Democrats have criticized Trump's stringent policies, Trump cited a 2005
video featuring Obama making a statement against illegal immigration,
accompanied by the comment "I agree with President Obama 100%."
Additionally, Trump has defended his foreign policy record,
which he claims has made America stronger, such as his tough stance
with China and pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal and other agreements
viewed by some as not being in America’s best interests.
Obama’s criticism wasn’t just directed at Trump. He also scorned Republicans for trying to distract voters from critical issues.
Instead of talking about water in Flint, Mich., Trump is firing up his base by talking about "impoverished refuges 1,000 miles away," he said about the Honduran migrant caravan making its way toward the U.S.
But Obama has faced criticism over the Flint water crisis as well. Some accused the Environmental Protection Agency under his watch of not displaying a sense of urgency the situation demanded.
Many Obama supporters also criticized Obama after he took a sip of the city's filtered tap water, to convince residents that it was safe to drink.
"It was such a disappointing thing to see," filmmaker Michael Moore said, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Government
officials confirm the investigation into the suspicious devices used
postal markings to narrow its focus, describing Florida as a region of
interest. Catherine Herridge goes in-depth for 'Special Report.'
Postal
markings on packages with explosive material sent to prominent
Democrats have helped federal investigators refine the focus of their
investigation, with Florida described as a “region of interest,” two
sources told Fox News on Thursday.
Later, during an appearance on
Fox News Channel, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen confirmed
that at least some of the packages originated in Florida.
But investigators would not say whether they believe the suspect or
suspects were still in the state.
"As you know some of the
packages went through the mail, they originated, some of them, from
Florida," Nielsen told Fox News "The president appropriately directed
everyone within the United States federal government to work on this as
quickly and expeditiously as possible to bring these people or person to
justice."
New York and Maryland were also in focus, Fox News learned.
A
government official noted what appeared to be thick, dark electrician's
tape on the pipe bomb sent to former CIA Director John Brennan, care of
CNN. The official said investigators are hopeful the black tape
captured DNA, fibers or fingerprints.
On the mock ISIS-style logo
on one mailing, two government officials said investigators believed it
was designed to create confusion, not to indicate a connection to a
known terrorist group.
Miami-Dade Police announced it was working with investigators as a "precautionary measure."
"Bomb Squad & K-9 Unit are currently providing assistance to our federal partners at the @USPS
Opa-Locka mail facility as part of the ongoing investigation into
suspicious packages located in other jurisdictions," the police tweeted. The Wall Street Journal was first to report the news.
Former
Vice President Joe Biden was the latest apparent target, with the FBI
confirming two suspicious packages similar to the ones that triggered
the original security scare were addressed to him in Delaware, along
with one to actor Robert De Niro.
Other prominent Democratic
figures including former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton, liberal billionaire George Soros and Rep. Maxine
Waters, D-Calif., all received similar packages. Another
package apparently was sent to former Attorney General Eric Holder with
the wrong address and then sent back to the return address, which was a
Florida office for Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla.
Brennan's package was sent to him via the CNN headquarters in New York City, although he's an analyst for NBC.
Holder called the threats "disturbing" in an interview Thursday.
"It’s
disturbing that political figures are having to deal with this issue.
You know it’s personal, obviously, to me since one was addressed to me.
But I’m also concerned about two former presidents who had things
directed at them," he said. "We need to figure out who did it, and then
figure out a way in which we can get beyond these kinds of things.”
President
Trump responded to news of the devices Wednesday, saying: “The safety
of the American people is my highest and absolute priority.” He
continued, “The full weight of government is being deployed to conduct
this investigation and bring those responsible for these despicable acts
to justice.” PACKAGE BOMBS TOUCH OFF WAR OF WORDS OVER POLITICAL RHETORIC
But
a joint statement from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.,
and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., slammed the
president’s words as “hollow.”
“Time and time again, the President
has condoned physical violence and divided Americans with his words and
his actions,” the statement read.
CNN president Jeff Zucker also
released a statement hours after the network’s Manhattan building was
evacuated. In it he condemned the administration for its “continued
attacks on the media.”
He continued, “The President, and
especially the White House Press Secretary, should understand their
words matter. Thus far, they have shown no comprehension of that.” FULL LIST OF RECIPIENTS OF PACKAGE BOMBS
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders fired back on “Fox & Friends”
Thursday, saying that Trump could not have been “more presidential” in
his handling of the apparent bomb threats. She said whoever is behind
the attacks is “ultimately the person that is responsible.”
A
former Obama administration diplomat both praised and criticized
President Trump's foreign policy during a forum Thursday at the
University of Minnesota.
Jake Sullivan, who served as former
national security adviser to Vice President Joe Biden and deputy chief
of staff to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, sat alongside former
Vice President Walter Mondale at the university's Humphrey School of
Public Affairs for the forum titled: "The Shrinking International
Relevance of Donald Trump," FOX 9 of Minneapolis reported.
The
discussion focused on the number of foreign policy initiatives enacted
by Trump since taking office, including pulling the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Iran nuclear deal.
Sullivan,
who now teaches international law at Yale Law School, credited Trump
with his handling of North Korea, the Islamic State group and getting
other nations to share more of the burden in policing the world.
“I
think that the way the administration built the maximum pressure
campaign against North Korea was a real positive," Sullivan said. "I
think carrying forward the work that President Obama did against ISIS to
the point now where we really have reduced ISIS’s capacity to threaten
the United States, the president’s team deserves some credit for that."
“I think that the way the [Trump] administration built the maximum pressure campaign against North Korea was a real positive." — Jake Sullivan, a former adviser to Joe Biden and former aide to Hillary Clinton,
“And
I think the president is on to some things when he says other countries
need to step up and share more of the burden," Sullivan added.
But
other moves by Trump have damaged America's standing on the
international stage, Sullivan said. He added that he has faith that the
world -- particularly western democratic nations that want to push back
against Russia and China -- will embrace American leadership once more
after Trump leaves office.
“That means an American president and
United States of America that is once again stepping up to be the leader
of the free world,” Sullivan said. "And I think if we have a president
who is committed to that, then absolutely there is huge hunger around
the world to rally to solve big problems."
In an extended
interview with the station, Sullivan said Trump has "come in sort of
like a hurricane and he's destroyed a lot of the basic institutions of
American leadership in the world" and "undermined our alliances and
harmed our position in international organizations that help solve big
problems like climate changes and nuclear weapons."
President
Trump is considering a sweeping executive order that would block
migrants, including asylum seekers, from entering the U.S. at the
southern border in a bid to stop the caravan traveling north through
Mexico.
The White House, if it goes ahead with the measure, would
issue new regulations restricting certain migrants from seeking asylum.
The rules would effectively block most if not all the migrants who are
taking part in the caravan, Politico reported.
The
order would be akin to Trump's previous aggressive immigration-blocking
executive orders, such as the travel ban aimed at halting people from
some Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S.
Any attempt
to block the entry of Central American migrants is likely to prompt
legal challenges, though Trump is likely emboldened following a Supreme
Court ruling earlier this summer that affirmed the president’s right to
bar the entry of migrants who “would be detrimental to the interests of
the United States.”
The plan for the executive order comes just in
the final stretch before the upcoming midterm elections, with Trump
trying to make the issue of caravan the defining topic as voters head to
the polls.
"Every time you see a caravan, or people illegally
coming, or attempting to come, into our country illegally, think of and
blame the Democrats for not giving us the votes to change our pathetic
immigration laws!" Trump wrote in a tweet Monday. "Remember the
midterms!"
Democrats, while previously outspoken regarding Trump’s
immigration policies, are staying largely silent on the issue, instead
preferring to remain focused on tackling the GOP on issues like health
care, saying it’s the winning issue this election cycle. DEMOCRATS AVOID SPARRING WITH TRUMP ON CARAVAN AS MIDTERM NEARS
Senate
Minority Leader Charles Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi,
the top Democrats in the country, slammed Trump in a statement earlier
this week regarding the caravan of migrants, saying the president is
“desperate” to change the conversation because “health care is the
number one issue Americans care about.”
According to a Kaiser
Family Foundation survey published last week, which surveyed people
since the beginning of the caravan earlier this month, the issue of
immigration isn’t the top concern for voters. It ranks below health
care, which has consistently been viewed as the most important issue.
Other key issues have been the economy, jobs and policies concerning gun
rights.
First responders were seen near the Tree of Life Synagogue in
Pittsburgh, Pa., where a shooter opened fire Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018.
(AP)
