North Korea nuclear threat: Defiance on display in Pyongyang

Amid new reports the North might be preparing for another nuclear test or missile launch to mark the anniversary Saturday of the birth of the country’s founder Kim il Sung, the grandfather of current leader Kim Jong Un, the regime organized a mass turn-out of residents and soldiers to mark the opening of a new government-backed building complex in the capital.
North Korean Prime Minister Pak Pong Ju said the project was a sign North Korea would not be cowed by America and international sanctions adding the achievement had the symbolic impact of a 100 thermonuclear bombs
Kim Jong Un, in fact, happily officiated at the ribbon-cutting for the new complex, but he no doubt has other things on his mind. Like President Trump and his talk about ally China helping in the dispute, as well as that still-possible U.S. military option, and reports of the Trump administration planning more sanctions.
One resident angrily rejected those.
“We really don’t care,” one man told me. “We’ve lived under the sanctions of the U.S. since the very first day. We don’t give a damn.”
As for that new building complex? Despite the fact that no one lives or works there yet, and the shops looked decidedly “un-shopped,” this addition to the showcase capital seemed to please at least one person:
“Our future looks bright,” a woman told me, “thanks to Kim Jong Un.”
And what do the officials think about all the tough talk coming from the Trump administration? To sum up the reaction of one?  Bring it on.

Carter Page: 'All of the lies ... are finally coming out into the open'

Former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page decried what he called "false allegations" against him on Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor" Thursday.
Page reportedly was the target of a so-called FISA order issued last summer that permitted investigators to monitor his communications as part of an ongoing investigation into ties between Russia and Trump campaign officials. He told Fox News Wednesday that the warrant would have been based on "false evidence" and has denied any wrongdoing.
CARTER PAGE SAYS SURVEILLANCE ORDER WOULD HAVE BEEN BASED ON 'FALSE EVIDENCE'
"I’m very encouraged by all this new information that’s coming out about some of these unethical practices and potentially illegal practices," Page told host Eric Bolling Thursday. "When you introduce false evidence in a court of law, including the FISA court, that is illegal."
"Do you think there was some false evidence about you introduced to the FISA court to obtain that warrant so they could surveil you?" Bolling asked.
"Well, there's certainly a lot of indications," answered Page, who referred to information about him in the so-called "dodgy dossier," which contained salacious allegations about Trump and members of his campaign team and was compiled by a former British intelligence officer.
CONGRESS EXPANDS 'UNMASKING' PROBE AMID QUESTIONS OVER RICE ROLE
Page told Bolling the information about him in the dossier was "completely false [and] based on a private investigator people associated with the [Hillary ]Clinton campaign hired."
"I’m very encouraged that all of the lies that have been a drag on this administration are finally coming out into the open," Page added. "So many people have lied against me from the Clinton campaign and many of their surrogates ... let's see what actually comes out."

'Mother of all bombs' kills 36 Islamic State militants, Afghanistan officials say

Afghanistan officials said 36 Islamic State militants were killed when the U.S. dropped the “mother of all bombs” on a tunnel complex Thursday.
The Afghanistan Ministry of Defense added in a statement Friday that there were no civilian casualties and that several Islamic State caves and ammunition caches were destroyed.
The GBU-43B, a 21,000-pound conventional bomb, was deployed in Nangarhar Province close to the Afghanistan/Pakistan border. The MOAB -- Massive Ordnance Air Blast -- is also known as the “Mother Of All Bombs.” It was first tested in 2003, but hadn't been used in combat before Thursday.
President Trump told media Thursday afternoon that "this was another successful mission" and he gave the military total authorization.
Pentagon spokesman Adam Stump said the bomb had been brought to Afghanistan "some time ago" for potential use. The bomb explodes in the air, creating air pressure that can make tunnels and other structures collapse. It can be used at the start of an offensive to soften up the enemy, weakening both its infrastructure and morale.
"As [ISIS'] losses have mounted, they are using IEDs, bunkers and tunnels to thicken their defense," Gen. John Nicholson, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said in a statement. "This is the right munition to reduce these obstacles and maintain the momentum of our offensive against [ISIS]."
The MOAB had to be dropped out of the back of a U.S. Air Force C-130 cargo plane due to its massive size.
"We kicked it out the back door," one U.S. official told Fox News.
Ismail Shinwari, the governor of Achin district, said the U.S. attack was carried out in a remote mountainous area with no civilian homes nearby. He said there has been heavy fighting in the area in recent weeks between Afghan forces and ISIS militants.
 Hakim Khan, 50, a resident of Achin district where the attack took place, welcomed the attack on ISIS, saying: "I want 100 times more bombings on this group."
The strike came just days after a Green Beret was killed fighting ISIS in Nangarhar, however, a U.S. defense official told Fox News the bombing had nothing to do with that casualty.
“It was the right weapon for the right target, and not in retaliation,” the official said.
The U.S. estimates that between 600 to 800 ISIS fighters are present in Afghanistan, mostly in Nangarhar. The U.S. has concentrated heavily on combatting them while also supporting Afghan forces battling the Taliban.
In August, a company of nearly 150 Army Rangers killed "hundreds" of ISIS fighters in Nangarhar, though five of the Rangers were shot. Some weapons and equipment, including communications gear and a rocket launcher, were also left behind following the operation.

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Fast and Furious scandal: Suspected triggerman in border agent's murder arrested

Agent Brian A. Terry, 40, was killed on Dec. 14 near Rio Rico, Ariz., according to a statement released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials. (FNC)

The cartel member suspected of shooting and killing Border Patrol agent Brian Terry in 2010 with a gun supplied by the U.S. government was arrested in Mexico Wednesday, senior law enforcement, Border Patrol, and congressional sources told Fox News. 
The suspect, Heraclio Osorio-Arellanes, was apprehended by a joint U.S.-Mexico law enforcement task force that included the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Marshals and the Border Patrol Tactical Unit (BORTAC).
A $250,000 reward had been sought for information leading to the arrest of Osorio-Arellanes, who was captured at a ranch on the border of the Mexican states of Sinaloa and Chihuahua. U.S. authorities have said they will seek his extradition.
Terry was killed on Dec. 14, 2010 in a gunfight between Border Patrol agents and members of a five-man cartel "rip crew," which regularly patrolled the desert along the U.S.-Mexico border looking for drug dealers to rob.
The agent's death exposed Operation Fast and Furious, a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) operation in which the federal government allowed criminals to buy guns in Phoenix-area shops with the intention of tracking them once they made their way into Mexico. But the agency lost track of more than 1,400 of the 2,000 guns they allowed smugglers to buy. Two of those guns were found at the scene of Terry's killing.
The operation set off a political firestorm, and then-Attorney General Eric Holder was held in contempt of Congress after he refused to divulge documents for a congressional investigation.
Four members of the "rip crew" already been sentenced to jail time in the U.S. Manual Osorio-Arellanes was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to first-degree murder in February 2014.
In October 2015, Ivan Soto-Barraza and Jesus Sanchez-Meza were convicted by a federal jury of nine different charges, including first-degree murder and attempted armed robbery.
Rosario Rafael Burboa-Alvarez, accused of assembling the "rip crew," was sentenced to 27 years in prison after striking a plea agreement with prosecutors.
The last remaining member of the "rip crew," Jesus Rosario Favela-Astorga, is believed to still be at large.

Lansing, Michigan rescinds 'sanctuary' status after criticism from businesses

The city council in Lansing, Mich. voted Wednesday to rescind its decsion to deem itself a "sanctuary" city for illegal immigrants after concerns from the businesses that the status would draw unwelcome attention to the city.
The term "sanctuary city" generally refers to jurisdictions that do not cooperate with U.S. immigration officials. Under Lansing city policy, police don't ask for people's immigration status, except as required by U.S. or Michigan law or a court order.
Council members voted 5-2 to reverse last week's 6-0 vote to give the city "sanctuary" status. Immigration advocates in the crowd called called council members "spineless" and said "you're all losing your seats."
The dispute comes as several cities are battling President Donald Trump's promised crackdown on places that block cooperation between their police departments and U.S. immigration authorities. The Trump administration has warned that sanctuary cities could lose federal money for refusing to cooperate with immigration authorities.
After last week's vote, council members received a letter from the Lansing Regional Chamber and Michigan Chamber of Commerce urging them to remove references to "sanctuary city" from its resolution.
"Lansing is a diverse community, rich with history and culture. It's what makes our city a welcoming destination to live, work and thrive," the business groups' letter says. "Recent actions of City Council, whether intended or not, have placed an unnecessary target on the City of Lansing while jeopardizing millions of dollars in federal funding that impacts the city budget."
"The term 'sanctuary' in the resolution has become very problematic and distracting — so distracting in my opinion that's it's taken away from the intent of our resolution, which is to protect individuals," said Councilwoman Judi Brown Clarke. "It's basically a 'don't ask' policy, which was outlined by the mayor's executive order and what we had in our policy complements that."
That was already the policy in Lansing before last week's vote, but Lansing called itself a "welcoming city," rather than a "sanctuary city." Neither the welcoming city resolution nor the sanctuary city resolution called for Lansing to prohibit workers from providing information on a person's immigration status with U.S. immigration officials — a ban that's at the heart of some urban sanctuary cities disagreements with the Trump administration.
Mayor Virg Bernero has said he is confident Lansing's policies don't violate federal law, but "we are also prepared to take legal action to protect the prerogatives and powers of local government and local law enforcement."
Michigan Chamber President and CEO Richard Studley said the group's members want city officials "to stop wasting time on costly political statements and focus on real economic issues."
"I have no problem with the earlier resolution that affirmed the city's status as a welcoming city," Studley said. "The challenge is with the language declaring the city a 'sanctuary city' — adopted hastily with little debate. I think that it is easily misinterpreted or misunderstood."
The issue also has touched off debate in the Republican-controlled Michigan Legislature, which is considering banning local governments from enacting or enforcing rules that limit communication and cooperation with federal officials concerning people's immigration status. Similar legislation died in the last session.
Clarke believes that the term "sanctuary" could be getting in the way of helping constituents.
"I think ultimately what we learned is ... we thought we could define what 'sanctuary city' meant, and in actuality it has its own negative connotation," she said. "The only way to take that away is to take that word away."

Trump says China took 'big step' in sending coal ships back to North Korea

President Trump: I will work to enhance NATO

President Trump said Wednesday that China took a “big step” in easing tensions between the two nations by turning away North Korean coal ships the day before and returning them to their home port of Nampo.
At a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday, Trump described his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping as one with “good chemistry” and praised China’s apparent commitment to banning coal imports from North Korea.
“We have a very big problem in North Korea and as I said, I really think that China is going to try very hard, and has already started—a lot of the coal boats have already been turned back—you saw that yesterday and today—they’ve been turned back,” Trump said.
“The vast amount of coal coming out of North Korea going to China, they’ve turned back the boats—that’s a big step and there are many other steps I know about so we’ll see what happens, it may be effective, it may not be effective—if it’s not effective, we will be effective—I can promise you that.”
Reuters first reported the North Korean ship movement Tuesday. According to Reuters, China banned all imports of North Korean coal on February 26—cutting off the country’s most important export product—after repeated missile tests from the isolated nation that drew criticism from around the globe.
A senior defense official told Fox News on Wednesday that the Reuters report was “credible.”
While the White House said it would not comment on the Reuters report, State Department spokesman Mark Toner told Fox News that all UN Member States are required to implement sanctions resolutions in good faith, and that the U.S. “expects them to do so.”
“Full implementation of this resolution will demonstrate global consensus in imposing stronger sanctions on North Korea’s sources of revenue for its UN-proscribed nuclear, ballistic missile, and proliferation programs,” Toner said in an email to Fox News.
The report also suggested that China’s ban of North Korean coal could be beneficial to the U.S. economy, if the U.S. makes up the difference and considers selling coal to China.
According to Reuters data, there was no U.S. coking coal exported to China between late 2014 and 2016, but shipments rose to over 400,000 tons by late February, amid Trump’s repeated commitment to restoring the U.S. coal industry and rolling back Obama-era coal regulations.
Under the Obama administration, the coal mining industry lost approximately 36,400 jobs, and between 2009 and 2015, the number of coal mines in the U.S. declined by 554, leaving 853 mines in the U.S.  by 2015, down from the 1,407 in 2009.
Last month, the president signed an executive order to “end the war on coal” and lift the ban on federal leasing for coal production, as well as the “job-killing restrictions” on the production of clean coal and other energy sources.
“We’re going to have clean coal—really clean coal,” Trump said at the signing of the Executive Order to Create Energy Independence.”

North Korea preparing for sixth nuclear test, monitoring group says

North Korea may soon conduct its sixth nuclear test in the face of the United States' decision to move a carrier group toward the region.
Satellite imagery shows activity at the Punggye-ri testing site, analysts from 38 North, a U.S. research institute that monitors North Korea, wrote on its website Wednesday.
Foreign journalists inside the country were told to prepare for a "big and important event" Thursday, Reuters reported.
The analysts added that there was movement around one of the portals and in the main administrative area of the site as well as personnel seen at the command center.
South Korean officials downplayed any news signs that a test was coming, Bloomberg reported. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman Roh Jae-cheon told reporters that Seoul saw no signs that North Korea was preparing any sort of provocative actions. Officials added that Pyongyang has maintained such readiness that it could conduct a missile test without warning, according to Reuters.
Chinese President Xi Jingping told Trump in a phone call Wednesday that he wants a peaceful solution to ending North Korea’s nuclear weapons program and would be willing to work with Washington on the matter.
"China insists on realizing the denuclearization of the peninsula ... and is willing to maintain communication and coordination with the American side over the issue on the peninsula," Xi was quoted as saying by state media.
Trump had warned North Korea Tuesday that he vowed to get Kim Jong –Un’s regime under control with or without China’s help.
Meanwhile, North Korea said Monday it would “hold the U.S. wholly accountable for the catastrophic consequences” if there was any further military action after the USS Carl Vinson arrives in the area of the Korean Peninsula.

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Sessions: 'The border is not open. Please don't come'

Attorney General Jeff Sessions told Fox News' "Hannity" Tuesday night that the Trump administration is trying to send a strong message to anyone thinking of trying to enter America illegally.
"The border is not open. Please don't come." Sessions said in an interview with host Sean Hannity. "You will be apprehended if you do come and you will be deported promptly. If you’re a criminal, you will be prosecuted, and if you assault our officers, we’re going to come at you [like] a ton of bricks."
Sessions said President Trump's rhetoric was having an effect, citing a recent Department of Homeland Security report indicating that fewer people are attempting to cross America's southern border illegally.
ARRESTS AT MEXICO BORDER REACH LOWEST LEVEL SINCE 2000
"I knew strong Presidential leadership, unlike the wishy-washy-ness we’ve seen in the past, would impact the flow, but not as much as we’ve seen already," Sessions said. "The numbers are down 70 percent since President Obama left office. So it’s really a remarkable achievement."
The attorney general spoke after wrapping up a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border, where he urged federal prosecutors to focus on immigration-related crimes, such as human trafficking.
Sessions also responded to reports that GOP lawmakers were dropping funds for Trump's proposed border wall from a spending bill being prepared for later this month.
SESSIONS VOWS TO CONFRONT CARTELS, GANGS ON VISIT TO US-MEXICO BORDER
"I believe he will get funding for the wall. I can’t imagine Congress to deny him that," said Sessions, before adding, "It doesn’t have to be every foot of the entire 1,700-mile border ... But a wall, a barrier, multiplies the ability of our border patrol and customs officers to be effective ... So, this is the way to go."

Republican holds on in closely-watched Kansas special House election

Kansas state Treasurer Ron Estes held off a stronger-than-expected challenge from Democratic civil rights attorney James Thompson Tuesday night as the GOP won the first special congressional election since President Trump's inauguration.
The election was held to fill the House seat vacated by CIA Director Mike Pompeo, a former three-term representative of Kansas' 4th district.
Estes won 53 percent of the vote to 46 percent for Thompson. The Republican's margin of victory was just over 8,000 votes. By contrast, Pompeo won re-election in November by 31 percentage points and 85,000 votes.
In a speech to supporters in Wichita, Thompson vowed that he would run for the seat again in 2018 and argued that the result was evidence that no Republican district is safe.
The race had been closely watched nationally for signs of a backlash against Republicans or waning support from Trump voters in a reliably GOP district. Trump won 60 percent of the votes cast in the 17-county congressional district this past November.
The president himself entered the fray Monday with a recorded get-out-the-vote call on Estes' behalf and tweeted his support on Tuesday morning.
Other nationally known Republicans pitched in over the final days of the race. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas campaigned for Estes Monday in Wichita, while Vice President Mike Pence also recorded a get-out-the-vote call. The National Republican Congressional Committee spent roughly $90,000 in last-minute TV and digital ads.
Thompson reckoned that the high-profile support for Estes helped push him over the top, and claimed he could have won had national Democrats rallied to him sooner. Readers of the liberal blog Daily Kos donated more than $200,000 to Thompson in the final days of the race. Thompson was also backed by Our Revolution, the group that grew out of Sen. Bernie Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign.
"You fight," Thompson said when asked what the results should show Democrats. "You play every game."
All those GOP calls prompted Charlene Health, a 52-year-old homemaker and Republican in Belle Plaine, to cast a ballot for Estes.
"I wasn't even going to vote," she said as she left her polling site Tuesday morning. "I finally did. I realized this was important."
Alan Branum, 64, a retired construction worker is a Wichita Democrat who voted for Estes and plans to change his party affiliation to Republican since he leans more conservative. He thinks Trump has been been doing fine so far.

"I don't think it is fair people condemn him," he said of the president. "He hasn't been in long enough to make a judgment. People need to give him some time."
Estes supported Trump last year and backs the president's policies. He supports the repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act, backs funding for a wall on the border with Mexico, opposes funding for Planned Parenthood, and does not believe an independent investigation into Russian hacking of the election is needed.
Lucy Jones-Phillips, a 31-year-old insurance representative and Democrat, acknowledged she doesn't vote in every election, but said she voted for Thompson because she wanted to ensure supporters of Gov. Sam Brownback are not in office. She was especially upset when the Republican governor recently vetoed Medicaid expansion.
"I can't stand Brownback," she said as she left her polling site in Belle Plaine.
Thompson tried to tap into voter frustration with Brownback throughout the campaign, tying the state treasurer to the unpopular Republican governor. Thompson has called the Kansas congressional election more of a referendum on Brownback than on Trump.

But Thomas Hauser, 67, of Belle Plaine, a Republican who works in the information technology industry, said he crossed party lines in Tuesday's election to vote for Thompson. He also didn't vote for Trump in the last year's general election. Thompson appealed to Hauser in part because both men are ex-military but also because "I don't believe in the (GOP) line."
Republicans have represented the south-central Kansas district since 1994. The district has been hard hit by the downturn in the agricultural economy and the loss of hundreds of well-paying, blue-collar jobs in aircraft manufacturing plants.
With Estes' victory, Republicans are now defending three GOP-leaning seats in upcoming special elections in Georgia, Montana and South Carolina. Democrats are protecting a seat in a liberal California district.

North Korea decries US carrier dispatch as parliament meets

PYONGYANG, North Korea –  North Korea's parliament convened Tuesday amid heightened tensions on the divided peninsula, with the United States and South Korea conducting their biggest-ever military exercises and the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier heading to the area in a show of American strength.
North Korea vowed a tough response to any military moves that might follow the U.S. decision to send the carrier and its battle group to waters off the Korean Peninsula.
"We will hold the U.S. wholly accountable for the catastrophic consequences to be entailed by its outrageous actions," a spokesman for its Foreign Ministry was quoted as saying by the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
The statement followed an assertion by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that U.S. missile strikes against a Syrian air base in retaliation for a chemical weapons attack carry a message for any nation operating outside of international norms. He didn't specify North Korea, but the context was clear enough.
"If you violate international agreements, if you fail to live up to commitments, if you become a threat to others, at some point a response is likely to be undertaken," Tillerson told ABC's "This Week."
Pyongyang is always extremely sensitive to the annual U.S.-South Korea war games, which it sees as an invasion rehearsal, and justifies its nuclear weapons as defensive in nature. It has significantly turned up the volume of its rhetoric that war could be on the horizon if it sees any signs of aggression from south of the Demilitarized Zone.
"This goes to prove that the U.S. reckless moves for invading the DPRK have reached a serious phase of its scenario," the North's statement said, referring to the country by its formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "If the U.S. dares opt for a military action, crying out for 'pre-emptive attack' ... the DPRK is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the U.S."
In Washington, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said President Donald Trump has been very clear that it's "not tolerable" for North Korea to have nuclear-armed missiles.
"The last thing we want to see is a nuclear North Korea that threatens the coast of the United States, or, for that matter, any other country, or any other set of human beings," Spicer said at the Tuesday news briefing.
Trump spoke last week with China's President Xi Jinping about the "shared national interest" in stopping its close ally, North Korea, from having nuclear capabilities, Spicer said, adding that it would be helpful if China was more outspoken on the matter.
"He would welcome President Xi weighing in on this a little bit more," Spicer said.
Earlier Tuesday, Trump also said that he tried to persuade Xi to put pressure on North Korea in exchange for a good trade deal with the U.S.
"I explained to the President of China that a trade deal with the U.S. will be far better for them if they solve the North Korean problem!" Trump tweeted.
In a second tweet he wrote: "North Korea is looking for trouble. If China decides to help, that would be great. If not, we will solve the problem without them! U.S.A."
North Korea's parliament, the Supreme People's Assembly, nominally the highest organ of government, opened Tuesday with the country's leader, Kim Jong Un, taking the center seat.
Foreign media are not allowed to attend parliamentary sessions. Initial reports from state media said the meeting went through domestic issues, with Premier Pak Pong Ju making a speech about the latest five-year economic plan, which was announced last year. Another closely watched category on the official agenda is organizational issues, which can mean new appointments to senior positions.
Like other attendees, Kim Jong Un was shown on the North Korean news late Tuesday holding up his assembly membership card to vote on state business.
This year's meeting kicks off what are expected to be major celebrations, including a large-scale military parade and fireworks, to mark the 105th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung, North Korea's first leader and "eternal president," and Kim Jong Un's late grandfather.
Though the details of the April 15 anniversary — known as the "Day of the Sun" — have not been officially confirmed, Pyongyang residents have been out every day diligently practicing in the city's squares and parks for the mass event.
The North Korean parliament is often dismissed as rubberstamp because it tends to approve, rather than formulate, policies and laws, but its role is a bit more complex than the facade and spectacle presented to the nation by state-run media.
For one thing, the regularity of its meetings — it usually meets once or twice a year — is, in itself, a sign of stability.
"The SPA gatherings completely undercut any analysis or prognostications that the country is going to collapse. If they failed to convene an SPA session, that would be an indication that there is a fundamental problem among DPRK elites," said Michael Madden, editor of the North Korea Leadership Watch website.
"If there was an existential problem with the (ruling) Workers' Party of Korea and the political culture, then they wouldn't be convening so many people at one time in Pyongyang," Madden said.

China's Xi tells Trump he wants peaceful solution to North Korea

Chinese President Xi Jinping told President Trump in a phone call Wednesday that Beijing is willing to work with Washington on ending North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, but wants to do so through peaceful means.
Xi told Trump that China insists on peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula in the wake of the deployment of the USS Carl Vinson to the area and the conducting of the biggest-ever U.S.-South Korea military drills.
"China insists on realizing the denuclearization of the peninsula ... and is willing to maintain communication and coordination with the American side over the issue on the peninsula," Xi was quoted as saying by state media.
TRUMP WARNS CHINA ON NORTH KOREA: HELP SOLVE THE PROBLEM OR ‘WE WILL’
The call came after Trump warned in a pair of tweets Tuesday that North Korea “is looking for trouble” and vowed to get Kim Jong-Un’s regime under control with or without China’s help.
“I explained to the President of China that a trade deal with the U.S. will be far better for them if they solve the North Korean problem!” Trump tweeted.
He added in a second tweet: “North Korea is looking for trouble. If China decides to help, that would be great. If not, we will solve the problem without them! U.S.A.”
Trump and other U.S. officials have repeatedly called on China to leverage its status as North Korea's biggest economic partner and source of food and fuel aid to force Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons program.
China has said that it is in full compliance with sanctions enacted under U.N. Security Council resolutions and in February, suspending imports of coal from North Korea — a key source of foreign currency for Kim.
However, Beijing also said it will not countenance measures that could bring about a collapse of the regime that could release a flood of refugees across its border, destabilize northeast Asia and result in a U.S.-friendly government taking power in Pyongyang.
North Korea has drawn U.S. ire recently following a series of ballistic missile tests. There is also fear the country’s nuclear program is progressing.
Pyongyang said Monday it would “hold the U.S. wholly accountable for the catastrophic consequences” if there was any further military action after the USS Carl Vinson arrives in the area of the Korean Peninsula.
Adding to tensions, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that activity appeared to be taking place at a North Korean nuclear test site ahead of the April 15 anniversary of the communist country's founding.

Kim Jong Un Cartoons

Spying on North Korea: US Air Force keeps eye on Kim Jong Un

OSAN AIR BASE, SOUTH KOREA –  The U.S. Air Force is busy in the skies over the Korean Peninsula, a range of aircraft including F-16’s running around the clock missions and exercises. The increase in provocations from North Korea focusing minds more.
“It keeps us on a heightened sense,” says US Air Force Col. James Brotree, “ There’s always something going on so we always have to make sure we do the right things.”
NORTH KOREA, SYRIA AND DECADES OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS
Many of these flights come from the Osan air base south of Seoul. And all those operations are run from an air operations center manned by U.S. and South Korean Air Force personel.
Osan is the base for updated U-2 spy planes that prowl the skies over the Korean peninsula. Most days ‎two planes will go on missions lasting some 10 hours, as high as 14 miles up.
EXPERT: WATCH TO SEE IF KIM JONG UN GOES INTO HIDING AFTER SYRIA STRIKE
All weight has been stripped away to get the plane down to its basics so it can always be “locked in” via signals and image intelligence on the conventional and unconventional doings of the Pyongyang regime.
“It can be a very tense time but that’s kind of what we do here,” U-2 squadron commander Lt. Col. Todd Larsen, “We do our daily mission but we’re always maintain our readiness.”
If trouble is spotted, other planes at the base, including F-16 jet fighters, could be called into action, as well as the A-10 “Warthog” or “Tank-killer” aircraft which has seen a lot of combat action in other hot spots.
It provides close air support for ground forces with missiles strapped to its wings and a very nasty nose cone machine gun.
“We go to the same air space that we’d be going to in a wartime situation just 30 miles to the north of us,” Major Jordan Hrupeck told me about his combat exercises. “We’re going there in defense of South Korea.”
None of the U.S. Air Force officers who spoke with us said they expected to be called upon to execute a “preemptive strike,” the so-called “military option.” But they did tell us, if provoked by the North, which is happening more these days, they are ready.

O'Reilly: 'A Damn Shame' No Countries Will Help US Fight Global Threats

In his Talking Points Memo on Monday, Bill O'Reilly said it was a "damn shame" that western nations won't help the United States combat threats like Syria, Iran or North Korea.
O'Reilly said the United Kingdom, France, Canada and Australia offer only limited assistance in "policing the world."
He said President Trump's strike against a Syrian airfield after a civilian gas attack is proof America will make sure world order is kept.
"It is a damn shame we are the only country to take that stance," he said.
O'Reilly questioned why Russia insists on being friendly with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and why China seems to allow North Korea to operate as it wishes.
He pointed to a CBS News poll that showed Trump's approval rating rising slightly, and added that the upward trend is likely to continue.

Tillerson faces biggest challenge yet in upcoming meeting with Russian counterpart

Gingrich on the foreign policy challenges facing Trump

Russian President Vladimir Putin will not meet with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson when the former Exxon Mobil CEO visits Moscow on Wednesday, a move that could signal tensions between Washington and the Kremlin.
The Kremlin’s decision to avoid the meeting is notable. In 2013, Putin personally awarded Tillerson  the Order of Friendship- which is a top state award in the country, Reuters reported.
A Russian spokesman did not indicate why the two will not meet.
Tillerson is emerging from the shadows with a leading public role in shaping and explaining the Trump administration’s missile strikes in Syria. And, he’s set for an even higher-profile mission, heading to Moscow under the twin clouds of Russia’s U.S. election meddling and its possible support for a Syrian chemical weapons attack.
SUSAN RICE'S CLAIM ON SYRIA GETS FOUR PINOCCHIOS
Tillerson was visible during last week’s announcement of the response to the gruesome chemical attack, fielding questions from reporters on and off camera, and then captured in an official White House photo seated next to President Trump as they heard the result of the 59 cruise missiles that struck a Syrian military base.
Tillerson was a prominent fixture during the most important foreign policy period in Trump’s young presidency: a two-day summit with Chinese President Xi that coincided with the strikes against Syria. He was by Trump’s side during his meetings with Xi and spoke publicly multiple times to address both issues.
It was Tillerson who delivered the Trump administration’s first blistering condemnation of Russia in the hours after the strikes. Standing in a cramped conference room alongside national security adviser H.R. McMaster, Tillerson said Moscow had “failed” to live up to its obligations under a 2013 agreement to strip Syria of its chemical weapons stockpiles. “Either Russia has been complicit or Russia has simply been incompetent in its ability to deliver on its end of that agreement,” he said.
On Sunday, he made his first network television interview appearances. In one interview, Tillerson said he sees no reason for retaliation from Russia for the U.S. missile strikes. Russia maintains a close political and military alliance with President Bashar Assad’s government and has been accused of supporting its attacks against Syrians opposed to Assad’s rule — something Moscow adamantly denies.
Tillerson said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that Russians were not targeted by the strikes. He also said the top U.S. priority in the region hadn’t changed and remained the defeat of Islamic State militants.
Then he headed to Europe to gather with the foreign ministers of the other major industrialized nations before venturing on eastward to become the first Trump Cabinet member to visit Moscow — and possibly meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The criticism from the foreign policy establishment’s left and right that has dogged Tillerson’s tenure is dying down.
Tillerson had faced questions about whether he understood that his new position meant he was now the face of the United States to the world, that he had to answer no longer to a small group of top shareholders but to more than 320 million Americans.
The secretary of state must be “the spokesman for American foreign policy,” said Eliot Cohen, a senior State Department official during George W. Bush’s presidency. “This is the administration’s first crisis but it won’t be their last by a long shot, so he’s going to have to get used to this.”
Joining Trump at the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, Tillerson was supposed to focus on the informal summit with Xi. Instead, he was thrust to the forefront after photos of the bodies piled in heaps in Idlib, Syria, dramatically altered the agenda.
Only a week earlier, Tillerson had alarmed U.S. allies by indicating the U.S. was no longer interested in pushing for Assad’s removal from power.
In the hours leading up to Trump’s decision to order the strikes, Tillerson was among the most forward-leaning of Trump’s top aides in suggesting the U.S. would deliver an “appropriate response.” He challenged Russia publicly in a way Trump appeared scrupulously to avoid and said of Assad early Thursday: “It would seem that there would be no role for him to govern the Syrian people.”
After the cruise missiles crashed down in Syria, Tillerson was calm and commanding in a question-and-answer session with journalists.
Cohen, a conservative critic of Trump’s foreign policy who has chided Tillerson for his reticence, said he saw Tillerson growing into the job. “I suspect you’ll see more of him as he grows more comfortable in dealing with the press and in his relationship with the president and the administration’s national security team,” Cohen said.
Beyond Syria are disputes over Russia’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region and support for pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
At the same time, Tillerson carries to Moscow the weight of FBI and congressional investigations into Russia’s interference in last year’s presidential election. The Trump campaign’s possible ties to the presumed Russian meddlers are also under scrutiny.
“This is going to be Tillerson’s biggest test to date,” said Julianne Smith, a National Security Council and Defense Department official under President Obama.

North Korea vows 'catastrophic consequences' for US aircraft carrier dispatch

North Korea is vowing tough counteraction to any military moves that might follow the U.S. move to send the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier and its battle group to waters off the Korean Peninsula.
The statement from Pyongyang comes as tensions on the divided peninsula are high because of U.S.-South Korea wargames now underway and recent ballistic missile launches by the North. Pyongyang sees the annual maneuvers as a dress rehearsal for invasion, while the North's missile launches violate U.N. resolutions.
"We will hold the U.S. wholly accountable for the catastrophic consequences to be entailed by its outrageous actions," a spokesman for its Foreign Ministry was quoted as saying by the state-run Korean Central News Agency late Monday.
The statement comes just after U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said U.S. missile strikes against a Syrian air base in retaliation for a chemical weapon attack carry a message for any nation operating outside of international norms.
He didn't specify North Korea, but the context was clear enough.
"If you violate international agreements, if you fail to live up to commitments, if you become a threat to others, at some point a response is likely to be undertaken," Tillerson told ABC's "This Week."
Gordon Chang, a Daily Beast columnist and author of “Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes On The World,” said in an emailed statement to Fox News Friday that the U.S. strike on the Syrian airfield “tells North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un that he must now heed American military power, something that he probably dismissed before.”
“Kim’s father, Kim Jong Il, disappeared from public view for about six weeks in 2003 at the time of the Iraq war. Kim Jong-Un loves the public spotlight, and it will be telling if he similarly goes into hiding,” the author said.
The airstrikes are “a warning to China’s People’s Liberation Army, which had grown dismissive of the U.S. Navy and Air Force.  Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader visiting Mar-a-Lago, almost certainly interpreted the strike as a sign of disrespect to him,” Chang said.
The North has long claimed the U.S. is preparing some kind of assault against it and justifies its nuclear weapons as defensive in nature.
"This goes to prove that the U.S. reckless moves for invading the DPRK have reached a serious phase of its scenario," the North's statement said. "If the U.S. dares opt for a military action, crying out for 'preemptive attack' and 'removal of the headquarters,' the DPRK is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the U.S."
North Korea's formal name is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
U.S. Navy ships are a common presence in the Korean region and are in part a show of force. On Saturday night, the Pentagon said a Navy carrier strike group was moving toward the western Pacific Ocean to provide more of a physical presence in the region.
President Donald Trump's national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, described the decision to send the carrier group as "prudent."

Tax Reform Cartoons

Russian compound in Nicaragua reportedly intrigues US officials

A new Russian compound in Nicaragua has reportedly intrigued U.S. officials who are skeptical of its intended use.
The outpost is located on the rim of a volcano and has a clear view of the U.S. Embassy in Managua, The Washington Post reported Sunday. The compound is littered with antennas and globe-shaped devices.
“I have no idea,” one woman who works at a telecom agency in Nicaragua said. “They are Russian, and they speak Russian, and they carry around Russian apparatuses.”
Current and former U.S. officials have expressed concerns that the Russian buildings could be used to spy on Americans and gather intelligence, while others see it as a countermove to the U.S. presence in Eastern Europe. Nicaragua has downplayed the concerns, telling the Post it is a tracking site of Russia’s GPS system.
“The United States and countries of the region should be concerned,” Juan Gonzalez, a former deputy assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, told the paper. “Nicaragua offers a beachhead for Russia to expand its intel capabilities and election meddling close to the United States.”
U.S. officials told the newspaper that there is no immediate alarm concerning the compound, but there are moves being made just in case. A State Department staffer at its Russian desk was named a desk officer in charge of Nicaragua, while diplomats with Russian expertise have gone to Nicaragua as well.
Russia’s influence in Latin America has increased over the last two years. Russia has sold military weapons and artillery to Venezuela, Peru, Argentina and Ecuador, while strengthening economic relations with Mexico and Brazil, the Post noted.
Security experts believe that Russia has nearly 250 military personnel in Nicaragua. Russia has been allowed to use Nicaraguan ports for its warships and Moscow gave 50 tanks to the country.

Trump Pushing Hard on Tax Cuts, Deregulation: Chief Economic Advisor Gary Cohn

President Trump has gone back to the drawing board on is tax reform as he looks for wide-ranging Republican support behind legislation to overhaul the tax system.
White House officials have said that it is unlikely a tax overhaul will meet the August deadline set by Treasury Secretary Mnuchin. The White House is trying to learn from the failure of enacting a new health care law to replace ObamaCare and take a more active role in getting legislation passed.
White House aides told the Associated Press Monday that the goal is to cut tax rates sharply enough to improve the economic picture in rural and industrial areas of the U.S. However, the administration so far has swatted down alternative ways for raising revenues, such as a carbon tax, to offset lower rates.
Trump has not said which trade-offs he might accept and had remained noncommittal on the leading blueprint for reform from Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Tex., the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.
Brady has proposed a border adjustment system, which would eliminate corporate deductions on imports, to raise $1 trillion over 10 years that could fund lower corporate tax rates.
But that possibility has rankled retailers who say it would lead to higher prices and threaten millions of jobs, while some lawmakers have worried that the system would violate World Trade Organization rules.
Brady has said he intends to amend the blueprint but has not spelled out how he would do so.
Another option being floated around on Capitol Hill would change the House GOP plan to eliminate much of the payroll tax and cut corporate tax rates and possibly requiring a new dedicated funding source for Social Security.
The change, proposed by a GOP lobbyist with close ties to the Trump administration, would transform Brady's plan on imports into something closer to a value-added tax by also eliminating the deduction of labor expenses. This would bring it in line with WTO rules and generate an additional $12 trillion over 10 years, according to budget estimates. Those additional revenues could then enable the end of the 12.4 percent payroll tax, split evenly between employers and employees, that funds Social Security, while keeping the health insurance payroll tax in place.
This approach would give a worker earning $60,000 a year an additional $3,720 in take-home pay, a possible win that lawmakers could highlight back in their districts even though it would involve changing the funding mechanism for Social Security, according to the lobbyist.
Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, said that all of the trial balloons surfacing in public don't represent the work that's being done behind the scenes.
"It's not really what's going on," Portman said. "What's going on is they're working with on various ideas."
The White House has not officially commented on any plan, but said in a statement but said a value-added tax based on consumption is not under consideration "as of now.”

Trump administration back to square one on tax reform

President Trump has gone back to the drawing board on is tax reform as he looks for wide-ranging Republican support behind legislation to overhaul the tax system.
White House officials have said that it is unlikely a tax overhaul will meet the August deadline set by Treasury Secretary Mnuchin. The White House is trying to learn from the failure of enacting a new health care law to replace ObamaCare and take a more active role in getting legislation passed.
White House aides told the Associated Press Monday that the goal is to cut tax rates sharply enough to improve the economic picture in rural and industrial areas of the U.S. However, the administration so far has swatted down alternative ways for raising revenues, such as a carbon tax, to offset lower rates.
Trump has not said which trade-offs he might accept and had remained noncommittal on the leading blueprint for reform from Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Tex., the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.
Brady has proposed a border adjustment system, which would eliminate corporate deductions on imports, to raise $1 trillion over 10 years that could fund lower corporate tax rates.
But that possibility has rankled retailers who say it would lead to higher prices and threaten millions of jobs, while some lawmakers have worried that the system would violate World Trade Organization rules.
Brady has said he intends to amend the blueprint but has not spelled out how he would do so.
Another option being floated around on Capitol Hill would change the House GOP plan to eliminate much of the payroll tax and cut corporate tax rates and possibly requiring a new dedicated funding source for Social Security.
The change, proposed by a GOP lobbyist with close ties to the Trump administration, would transform Brady's plan on imports into something closer to a value-added tax by also eliminating the deduction of labor expenses. This would bring it in line with WTO rules and generate an additional $12 trillion over 10 years, according to budget estimates. Those additional revenues could then enable the end of the 12.4 percent payroll tax, split evenly between employers and employees, that funds Social Security, while keeping the health insurance payroll tax in place.
This approach would give a worker earning $60,000 a year an additional $3,720 in take-home pay, a possible win that lawmakers could highlight back in their districts even though it would involve changing the funding mechanism for Social Security, according to the lobbyist.
Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, said that all of the trial balloons surfacing in public don't represent the work that's being done behind the scenes.
"It's not really what's going on," Portman said. "What's going on is they're working with on various ideas."
The White House has not officially commented on any plan, but said in a statement but said a value-added tax based on consumption is not under consideration "as of now.”

Tillerson, G7 ministers look to pressure Russia to reconsider Assad support

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, along with six other Group of Seven foreign ministers, aim to send Russia a “clear and coordinated message” in the wake of the U.S.’ response to a gas attack that left scores dead.
Tillerson, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and the other ministers aim to pressure Russia to end its support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad after a tumultuous week, which included the nerve gas attack and the U.S.’ airstrikes on a Syrian air base.
The U.S. received broad support from Europe after the airstrikes. Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano, who is hosting the meeting, said the missile strike contributed to a “renewed harmony” between the U.S. and its partners ahead of the first meeting of G-7 foreign ministers since President Trump took office.
"'We need to remember that not 10 years ago, but 100 or 120 days ago, the concern in Europe was that the United States and the EU were moving apart," Alfano told Sky TG24 Sunday. "I welcome this renewed harmony."
With ties between the U.S. and Europe seemingly getting better, there has been no indication Russia and President Vladimir Putin was going to move from their position on the Assad regime in Syria.
Russia and Iran said in a joint statement Sunday that the countries would “respond to any aggression” in wake of the airstrikes in Syria.
“What America waged in an aggression on Syria is a crossing of red lines,” the countries said, The Sun reported. “From now on we will respond with force to any aggressor or any breach of red lines from whoever it is and America knows our ability to respond well.”
President Trump’s national security adviser H.R. McMaster said in an interview on “Fox News Sunday” that Russia should re-evaluate its support for Assad. He added that Russia will have to decide whether it wanted to continue backing a “murderous regime” as Trump weighed the next steps against Syria.
Tillerson is expected to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov after the G-7 meeting.

Russian Putin Syria Cartoons

Thanks for nothing Obama.