US vows it will 'never accept a nuclear North Korea' after new missile test

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson vowed Tuesday that the U.S. would "never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea" while U.S. and South Korean forces held joint ballistic missile drills after the Communist nation successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile.
Tillerson also called for all nations to fully implement United Nations sanctions against North Korea, saying "global action is required to stop a global threat."
Meanwhile, the U.S. military said it had conducted a "precision firing" demonstration off the coast of the Korean Peninsula in response to what it called North Korea's "destabilizing and unlawful actions."
Pentagon spokesman Dana White also condemned the missile test and reiterated that, "we remain prepared to defend ourselves and our allies and to use the full range of capabilities at our disposal against the growing threat from North Korea."
President Trump did not directly mention North Korea or the missile launch during his Independence Day remarks at a picnic for military families on the South Lawn of the White House. However, he did note that "we do have challenges, but we will handle those challenges. Believe me."
U.S., South Korean and Japanese officials say the North Korean missile flew for about 40 minutes and reached an altitude of 1,500 miles, which would be longer and higher than any similar North Korean test previously reported. It also covered a distance of about 580 miles.
A veteran North Korea watcher told Fox News Tuesday that the missile was fired from a mobile launcher, making such tests more difficult for the U.S. to track and disrupt.
"This is the big story we have all been waiting for,” Professor Bruce Bechtol of Angelo State University in Texas wrote in an email. “All of the paradigms have changed. It is now time to see what action the USA will take."
Bechtol added that the mobile launcher "nearly destroys our warning time and also means that the North Koreans have a real shot at launching this system at us without us being able to destroy it on the ground."
Shortly after news of the test broke Monday night, Trump tweeted, "North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!"
"This guy" presumably refers to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. China is North Korea's economic lifeline and only major ally, and the Trump administration is pushing Beijing to do more to push the North toward disarmament.
The U.N. Security Council was due to hold an emergency meeting Wednesday afternoon to discuss its response to the launch. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley tweeted her frustration at spending her Independence Day holiday in high-level meetings with the hashtag, "#ThanksNorthKorea."
The missile test could invite a new round of international sanctions, but North Korea is already one of the most sanctioned countries on Earth. U.N. Security Council resolutions ban it from engaging in any ballistic activities. Since late 2012, North Korea has placed two satellites into orbit with long-range rockets, each time triggering new U.N. sanctions and worldwide condemnation.
Earlier Tuesday, the Chinese and Russian foreign ministries proposed that North Korea declare a moratorium on nuclear and missile tests while the United States and South Korea refrain from large-scale joint military exercises. North Korea views the exercises as preparation for an invasion and has repeatedly demanded their cancellation. It says it needs nuclear weapons and powerful missiles to cope with what it calls rising U.S. military threats.
Moscow and Beijing issued the proposal in a joint statement after talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
They urged other nations to create a "peaceful atmosphere of mutual trust" to encourage talks between the two sides on commitments not to use force and to make the Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons.
Regional disarmament talks on North Korea's nuclear program have been deadlocked since 2009, when the North pulled out of the negotiations to protest international condemnation over a long-range rocket launch.
North Korea has a reliable arsenal of shorter-range missiles and is thought to have a small arsenal of atomic bombs, but is still trying to perfect its longer-range missiles. Some outside civilian experts believe the North has the technology to mount warheads on shorter-range Rodong and Scud missiles that can strike South Korea and Japan, two key U.S. allies where about 80,000 American troops are stationed. But it's unclear if it has mastered the technology needed to build an atomic bomb that can fit on a long-range missile.

EPA-funded lab faked research results on respiratory illnesses, whistleblower lawsuit claims

Duke University has admitted that one of its lab technicians falsified or fabricated research data on respiratory illnesses that were used to get large grants from the Environmental Protection Agency.
The admission came Sunday in legal filings that respond to a federal whistleblower lawsuit, which the school tried to get dismissed, by former lab analyst Joseph Thomas, according to the Durham Herald-Sun. Thomas claims in his lawsuit that the allegedly fake research data of Erin Potts-Kant, who worked eight years at a Duke medical school lab, was used by the prestigious university and some of its professors to fraudulently obtain federal grants. Thomas also claims Duke tried to hide the alleged fraud.
Potts-Kant told a Duke investigation panel, which reviewed 36 of her reports, her fake data was “included in various publications and grant applications.”
Thomas alleges that all or nearly all the work Potts-Kant did during her eight years at Duke compromised grants worth $112.8 million to Duke and another $120.9 million to institutions like UNC-Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University, the Herald-Sun said.
Thomas’ lawsuit uses the False Claims Act that whistleblowers can use to notify authorities of a potential fraud. If such lawsuits are successful, the whistleblower can receive a reward. Damage awards can be as much as three times the size of the alleged fraud.
Potts-Kant, who worked for now-retired pulmonologist Dr. Michael Foster, admitted she had “generated experiment data that was altered,” and that “to the extent she altered” it, “she knew the altered experiment data was false,” according to a lawyer representing her.
In 2007 the EPA gave Foster a grant to determine whether exposure to airborne particulates can negatively affect lung development in newborn mice. Potts-Kant operated a machine that gauged the lung function of mice to learn more about human respiratory ailments, the Daily Caller reported. That project was part of a $7.74 million environmental justice grant for a project that covered a period from 2007 to 2014.
Research from this project goes into EPA data sets the agency uses to link respiratory ailments and airborne particulates.
In 2013 Potts-Kant was accused of embezzlement, which triggered an investigation of her work by Duke. She resigned from the
school and was eventually convicted of embezzlement.

Food stamp rolls plummet in states that restore work requirements

After the food stamp rolls swelled for years under the Obama administration, fresh figures show a dramatic reduction in states that recently have moved to restore work requirements.
States were allowed to waive those rules for able-bodied adults thanks to the 2009 economic stimulus. As the rules loosened and the economy sputtered out of the recession, food stamp enrollment soared to record levels – peaking at nearly 48 million nationwide in 2013.
But while that number has dipped gradually in recent years, some states have moved aggressively to push recipients who can work back into the job market and, in due time, off the program.
Alabama began 2017 by requiring able-bodied adults without children in 13 counties to either find a job or participate in work training as a condition for continuing to receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
SEATTLE MINIMUM WAGE HIKE HURTING WORKERS?
According to AL.com, the number of those recipients declined from 5,538 to 831 between Jan. 1 and the beginning of May – an 85 percent drop.
Similar changes were implemented in select counties in Georgia and by the end of the first three months, the number of adults receiving benefits in three participating counties dropped 58 percent, according to the Georgia Public Policy Foundation.

'Welfare was never intended to be a one-way handout, but a program based on the idea of reciprocity.'
- Heritage Foundation fellow Robert Rector

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently reported that in 21 additional counties that restored the work requirement, there was a 62 percent drop in SNAP participants.
“Work requirements have been enormously successful at reducing the number of people on food stamps. And while they made sense in the early part of the recession when unemployment was higher, that is no longer the case,” said Robert Doar, a fellow in poverty studies at the American Enterprise Institute.

A key component of the 1996 welfare reform bill, the work requirement applies to able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWD) between the ages of 18 to 49.
However, as part of his 2009 economic stimulus, then-President Barack Obama allowed states to waive SNAP work requirements, which resulted in the number of ABAWDs on food stamps more than doubling from 1.9 million in 2008 to 3.9 million in 2010, according to a 2012 Congressional Research Service study.
The number continued to rise but has since slipped to roughly 4.2 million. According to the USDA, most states still offer full or partial waivers.
Advocates for waivers argue that the flexibility is needed to help people get back on their feet in the wake of the economic crisis. And a call in the Trump administration’s budget to resurrect the work mandate and scale back SNAP’s budget has drawn fire from anti-hunger advocates.
“Parents will work just as hard at unforgiving jobs and see less food on the table for their families. Children will become sicker without the proper nutrition, ending up in hospitals or on the rolls of what social services remain. Some children will die,” Mariana Chilton, a professor of public health at Drexel University, predicted in a column for The Hill.
SNAP reform, however, could be bolstered by the developments at the state level.
“Welfare was never intended to be a one-way handout, but a program based on the idea of reciprocity,” said Robert Rector, a fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation. “Those who receive benefits from the government should be required to work or participate in work-training as a condition.”
Doar and Rector cite reforms made by Republican Gov. Paul LePage of Maine.
In October 2014, LePage announced that able-bodied adults would have to find work, spend 20 hours per week in a work program, or perform community service for six hours a week.
Food stamp participation declined 14.5 percent from 235,771 in January 2014 to 201,557 in January 2015, according to the state.
An analysis of a group of 7,000 Mainers who left SNAP in 2014 found their total earnings increased from $3.85 million in the third quarter 2014 to $8.24 million in the last quarter of 2015.
Kansas saw a 75 percent decline after implementing work requirements in 2013. In addition, nearly 60 percent of former beneficiaries found employment within 12 months and their incomes rose by an average of 127 percent per year, according to the Foundation for Government Accountability.
The Maine model taken nationwide could save taxpayers over $8.4 billion per year, according to Rector.
That is the goal of Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who have introduced a bill to require able-bodied adults without children to participate in “work activation” initiatives as a condition of their benefits. It also imposes time limits on SNAP participation.
“We should be incentivizing work, not providing a disincentive to find a job, which is a good thing both for the taxpayer as well as for the beneficiary,” Jordan said.
Jordan told Fox News he speaks with business owners in his district every day who cannot find workers to fill open positions.
“The focus of these programs should be on how we can help adults get their families to a better way of life,” Jordan said.

Trump faces delicate diplomatic dance with Putin meeting, on G-20 sidelines

WARSAW, Poland –  President Trump lands here in the Polish capital Wednesday where he'll find an audience that's open to his brand of politics. But while the president will try to show he stands shoulder-to-shoulder with eastern European NATO allies, the visit comes just hours ahead of the biggest diplomatic test of his young presidency: his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Poland is a country with a government that's likeminded with Trump. They have a very conservative government that's also favored very restrictive immigration policies,” said Jordan Tama, a professor at American University’s School of International Service. “I think Trump felt that this is a country where he would have a warm reception and he probably will have a warm reception there.”
But Poland also exists in the shadow of Russian aggression and has been concerned the Trump administration isn't fully committed to helping NATO fight it.
Despite campaign rhetoric that questioned the U.S. financial commitment to the alliance, Trump shocked leaders during a May speech when he admonished many of them for not spending 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense.
Though it’s a message that’s been repeated for years by both Presidents Barack Obama and Trump, the way it was delivered surprised many of the leaders who stood alongside him during the speech at the grand opening of the new NATO headquarters in Brussels.
“If NATO countries made their full and complete contributions, then NATO would be even stronger than it is today,” the president said.
Poland barely meets the 2 percent minimum and is one of only five nations that cross that bar. While 24 others do not, NATO members have pledged an additional $12 billion this year after Trump challenged them.
But the U.S. is still heavily involved in the defense of NATO’s eastern flank. There are at least 1,000 U.S. troops in Poland, a fourth of the total number dedicated to NATO's Operation Atlantic Resolve -- a show of force that ramped up after Russian-backed forces entered Ukraine in 2014. And a portion of a U.S.-backed missile defense system goes online here next year.
Still, the Polish government will want Trump to take a hard line with Putin when the two meet for the first time on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. The White House won’t say what the two will talk about, but has confirmed the meeting is set for Friday afternoon.
“Well there’s no specific agenda,” said White House National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster. “It’s really going to be whatever the president wants to talk about.”
Analysts suggest the president will have a decision to make ahead of the bilateral meeting with Putin.
“Trump has to choose really here to some extent,” Tama said. “He has to choose whether he is going to prioritize the NATO alliance, prioritize transatlantic security and standing with European countries to deter Russia or prioritize improved relations with Russia.”
The president may look to improve relations with European allies too, specifically Germany, where Chancellor Angela Merkel will host the G-20 summit. After Trump touted his America First agenda at NATO and the G-7 summit last month in Taormina, Italy, Merkel indicated Europe was on its own.
"The times in which we can fully count on others are somewhat over, as I have experienced in the past few days,” Merkel said. “And that is why I can only say: We Europeans must really take our destiny into our own hands."
The president and the German chancellor clashed during the meetings over trade deficits and the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord. Administration officials have signaled the president is open to renegotiating the climate agreement or starting work on a new one.
But it will be the meeting with Putin amid allegations Russia influenced the 2016 U.S. election that will put the president's diplomacy to the test.
“To the extent that it looks like Trump is too eager to smooth things over with Putin and just cooperate with Russia despite Russian bad behavior, he'll be subject to domestic criticism here at home,” Tama said.
Asked specifically whether Trump will bring up allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, White House officials again declined to share an agenda.
It’s an agenda that will be watched closely at home and around the world.

The true meaning of Independence Day from the daughter of a Marine vet who (almost) lost it all

Today America commemorates the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the event leading to the birth of our nation, with parades and fireworks displays. But since that world-changing moment of 1776, patriots have sacrificed not just to free the colonies from British oppression, but to see that our nation’s people remain free, and to do what they can to extend those liberties. Sacrifice on behalf of others, in fact, is what comes to mind when I think about the Fourth of July.
My handsome father, Clebe McClary, wears a patch where his left eye used to be, and his left sleeve hangs empty. Only two of his remaining fingers work because of shrapnel fragments embedded in his right hand. Though some might expect him to complain about these injuries sustained in the Vietnam War, I’ve never heard him do so. Instead, Daddy uses his challenges as a platform to encourage people and sums up his war experience this way: “You’ve never lived until you’ve nearly died.”
Daddy walks in gratitude for every day God has given him, and he’s taught me to do the same. He loves our country, and he is proud to have fought for her. From my earliest memories, he has refused to accept that he lost his left arm and eye. “You only lose something when you don’t know where it is,” the argument goes. He feels he gave pieces of his body on Hill 146 in Vietnam, offering them in service to our great nation in hopes of spreading the freedom she represents.

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While I was growing up, my parents made it a point to remind my sister Christa and me of the similar sacrifices that red stripe on our flag memorializes. As we stood at attention for the presentation of America’s colors and the singing of the anthem at sporting events, we pressed our right hands over our chests and concentrated on the thump of our little hearts beating against our palms. “Remember,” Mother and Daddy whispered as we settled back into our seats, “there are thousands of soldiers whose hearts no longer beat so that your’s can.”
Those words always brought specific faces to my mind. I’d seen photographs of men like Privates Tom Edward Jennings and Ralph H. Johnson, two men on Daddy’s last patrol whose names are now etched in the black marble of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC. Ralph, a brave eighteen-year-old African American Marine, jumped on a grenade—blowing himself in half—to protect Daddy and the other warrior brothers he loved. Daddy was influential in having the VA hospital in Ralph’s hometown of Charleston, SC, named for him, and he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously. Later this year, a destroyer will bear his name.

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Not long ago I asked Daddy to share about how he and his men could fight so valiantly and selflessly in a war that many Americans opposed. “Freedom comes at a high price,” he said with conviction, “but it is worth fighting for.” And then he went on to explain how the North Vietnamese army of the 1960s used tactics not unlike those employed by ISIS today. To spread their Communist ideology, they tortured and terrorized. Villages were leveled. Civilians who tried to hide in tunnels were smoked out and shot. Women were raped while their husbands watched. Nine thousand people in the city of Hue alone were massacred. One day while out on patrol, Daddy walked into a village where children had missing hands. The enemy had severely maimed those innocents to prevent them from being educated. And Daddy, and his men, were in a position to do something about it.
Of all the honors Daddy has received over the years, one of the most meaningful is a plaque presented to him by the surviving members of his platoon. It reads, “In this world of give and take, there are not enough people willing to give what it takes.”
I’m extremely proud to be the daughter of a patriot who, like so many others throughout our nation’s history, was willing to sacrifice in the hope that freedom and liberty would shine in this world and spread like fireworks across the night sky.
Tara McClary Reeves is the daughter of beloved evangelist Marine Corps Lieutenant Clebe McClary. Tara is a sought after speaker and author, and her latest title, "Is Your Dad a Pirate?", releases on August 1. To preorder and learn more about the story visit: www.isyourdadapirate.com.

Injured bald eagle found, treated in Washington, D.C., in time for July 4th celebrations

An injured bald eagle found in Washington, D.C., is on the road to recovery just in time for Fourth of July celebrations in the nation's capital.
The avian is suspected to be Justice, one half of the capital's famed adult bald eagle couple who have nested and raised their young for years in a tree at the Metropolitan Police Academy, Dan Rauch, a wildlife biologist for D.C.'s Dept. of Energy and Environment told the Washington Post.
The bald eagle, a national symbol of the United States, was found Saturday afternoon in the city's Southeast section after thunderstorms passed through the area.
"The adult bald eagle was demonstrating labored breathing, lethargy, and was unable to fly," according to the animal welfare group Humane Rescue Alliance, who responded to the scene and transported it to City Wildlife, a D.C. wildlife rehabilitation center, for treatment
The bird was "found grounded and wet from a rainstorm" but in "good body condition and eating well," City Wildlife tweeted Monday after conducting its examination.
The District is scheduled to host its annual "A Capitol Fouth" concert at the U.S. Capitol to celebrate Independence Day at 8 p.m. ET Tuesday.
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump are also expected to participate in a fireworks viewing at the White House Tuesday night.

President Trump to Honor Military Families This Fourth of July at WH

President Trump is spending Independence Day honoring military families at the White House.
The president and first lady Melania will join service members and their families in a picnic on the south lawn this Tuesday afternoon.
Later, they will watch a fireworks display from the Truman Balcony.
This comes after the president delivered his first Fourth of July speech in front of veterans and wounded warriors in Washington D.C. on Saturday.
After the festivities, the president will depart to Europe Wednesday for his second overseas trip.

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White House battles backlash after Trump tweets 'slam' of CNN

President Trump kept up his Twitter barrage against the mainstream media Sunday, saying that the "dishonest media will NEVER keep us from accomplishing our objectives" hours after he tweeted a mock video that shows him pummeling a man in a business suit whose face was obscured by the CNN logo.
It was not immediately clear who produced the 28-second video, which appears to be a doctored version of Trump's 2007 appearance on World Wrestling Entertainment Inc.
The president in the past has branded the media as "the opposition party" and "the enemy of the American people." He has taken particular aim at CNN, calling the network "fake news."
Bruce Brown, the executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, condemned the video as a "threat of physical violence against journalists." He said Trump's tweet was "beneath the office of the presidency."
White House homeland security adviser Tom Bossert insisted the media should not view the tweet as a threat.
"I hope they don't," Bossert said on ABC's "This Week." "But I do think that he's beaten up in a way on cable platforms that he has a right to respond to."
CNN accused Trump of engaging in "juvenile behavior far below the dignity of his office."
White House officials traveling with Trump during his weekend stay at his New Jersey golf club did not immediately respond to questions about who made the video or about any message the president might have intended to send.
The video appeared to be a doctored version of an appearance Trump made on a World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. show called "Battle of the Billionaires" in 2007, in which Trump appears to attack WWE CEO Vince McMahon.
McMahon's wife, Linda, who founded and built the company with her husband, now heads the Small Business Administration for Trump and was a generous benefactor to his campaign.
The video was posted several days ago by a Reddit user with the title, "Trump takes down fake news." It was not clear whether that was where it originated or where Trump found it. Still, the user wrote Sunday about being "honored" Trump had tweeted the video. The user who posted the video has a history of posts using anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant language.
The president's verbal shots against news outlets and individual members of the media have grown increasingly personal in recent days even as lawmakers in both parties say the insults only threaten to undermine his political agenda.
Trump has singled out MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski and CNN for some of his most biting criticism, and hardly is backing down in the face of widespread condemnation from the political class.
"The fake media tried to stop us from going to the White House, but I'm president and they're not," Trump told a supportive crowd Saturday in Washington.
A White House spokeswoman, Sarah Sanders, told reporters last week that Trump "in no way, form or fashion has ever promoted or encouraged violence."
CNN, in its response to the video posted Sunday, said it was "a sad day when the president of the United States encourages violence against reporters. Clearly, Sarah Huckabee Sanders lied when she said the president had never done so."
CNN's statement noted the weighty list of issues before Trump -- an overseas trip this week that includes a meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, the stalled health care bill, the threat from North Korea. Instead of focusing on those matters, CNN said, "he is involved in juvenile behavior far below the dignity of his office. We will keep doing our jobs. He should start doing his."
Trump's latest tweet came as Republicans and Democrats have been imploring him to focus on leading the country, rather than exploding on social media.
For days, Trump has focused his ire on Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough, co-hosts of MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
Trump took to Twitter on Thursday to call Brzezinski "crazy" and contend she was "bleeding badly from a face-lift" when he once saw them at his Florida estate. The comment was decried as sexist and vulgar by many Democrats and Republicans.
The MSNBC personalities said Friday that Trump was lying about their December encounter and they questioned his "unhealthy obsession" with their program.

The hosts, who are a couple onscreen and off, also said the White House told them a damaging National Enquirer story about their relationship would "go away" if they called the president and apologized for harsh commentary. Trump quickly disputed the claim on Twitter.
A source told Fox News Friday that Scarborough called senior adviser Jared Kushner and asked if there was anything that could be done about the Enquirer story, which was slated to run in early June.
Kushner allegedly told Scarborough that the former Republican congressman needed to talk to the president himself about the issue, to which Scarborough replied that Trump was angry at him. The source said Kushner answered: “Well, then maybe you should apologize.”
Republican officials acknowledged Sunday that Trump's Twitter feed distracts from work like health care.
"We in Washington, we in the country, cannot be focused on tweets," Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., told NBC's "Meet The Press," adding that "I get so frustrated when we get focused on tweets."
Gov. John Kasich, R-Ohio, told "This Week" he hoped Trump's family would talk to him and say, "Knock it off."
"The coarseness doesn't help anybody," he said.

Paul: Senate health bill is 'lit up like a Christmas tree' with spending

Washington Republicans are taking no July 4 holiday on the Senate’s ObamaCare overhaul bill -- with President Trump calling senators and Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul pushing a conservative alternative to the existing measure that he says is “lit up like a Christmas tree” with spending.
“I don’t think we’re getting anywhere with the bill we have,” Paul said on “Fox News Sunday.” “Every time you add more federal money, more spending for the big-government Republicans, it offends the conservatives. … Senate leadership is loading (up) the bill like a Christmas tree, with billion dollar ornaments.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., didn't have enough support last week to vote on the measure, leaving it behind as Congress departed for the July recess.
MCCONNELL REJECTS TRUMP’S ADVICE ON REPEAL OBAMACARE NOW, REPLACE LATER
The Kentucky Republican will need support from at least 50 of the chamber’s 52 GOP senators to pass the bill.
Paul is pushing a plan to divide the Senate bill into two parts -- a vote on repealing ObamaCare and a separate vote on replacing it.
Forty-nine GOP senators voted in 2015 in favor of repealing the 2010 health care law, formally known as the Affordable Care Act. However, they knew that then-President Barack Obama would veto the effort.
President Trump over the past few days has expressed his support for a separate repeal-and-replace plan, in an effort to fulfill Republicans’ long-standing promise to end ObamaCare, struggling under increasing premium costs and fewer policy options for Americans.
However, McConnell said Friday that he wants to stick with the existing bill.
Paul said Sunday that he would support the repeal effort but seemed unlikley to back the replace effort in its existing form, which he said includes roughly $200 billion in insurance "bailouts."
Mac Short, Trump's director of legislative affairs, told “Fox News Sunday” that the White House has already stated its “preference” for passing the existing Senate bill.
He also said Trump is talking to GOP senators over the weekend and expressed confidence about the bill being passed this summer so the president and Congress can move to tax reform by the fall.

WH: Health Care Vote May Happen Soon

The Republican leadership in the Senate decided this week to delay a vote on their long-awaited health care bill in following opposition in the GOP ranks.(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

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A White House official says the GOP Health Care Bill is getting close to a full Senate vote.
Legislative Affairs Director Marc Short appeared for an interview on Sunday and said the President is continuing to reach out to Senators to rally support for the American Health Care Act.
Short says the Republican package lowers premium costs and provides better quality of care.
When pressed on whether the bill has enough votes to pass the Senate, Short only said the White House anticipates a vote in the near future.
“We got it completed and passed through the House. We are now in the Senate where there is obviously a lot of procedural delays, we’re at the point of scoring two different bills throughout the course of this recess week. So we hope that when we come back the week after recess we will have a vote,” he said.
Short also slammed the CBO score for being unreliable.
He added the report should be questioned for its past failures predicting the outcomes of key legislation.

Homeland Security Lifts Part of Laptop Ban

The Department of Homeland Security lifts a ban on laptops on flights coming into the U.S. from Abu Dhabi.
Earlier on Sunday, officials announced Etihad Airways and the Abu Dhabi International Airport met the initial security requirements needed to have the electronics restriction lifted.
Etihad is the only airline that has direct flights into the country from that city.
In march, authorities banned laptops on U.S.-bound flights from certain airports in eight countries, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, among others.
Last week, Homeland Security unveiled security measures that airlines must adopt in order to be cleared from the ban.

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Pentagon sails destroyer near disputed island in South China Sea, officials say

For the second time since President Trump took office, the Pentagon dispatched a U.S. Navy warship to sail near a disputed island claimed by China in the South China Sea, two U.S. defense officials told Fox News.
The USS Stethem, a guided-missile destroyer based in Japan, sailed within 12 nautical miles of Triton Island, which is part of the Paracel Islands located in the South China Sea between China and Vietnam.
The destroyer was trailed by a Chinese warship during its Sunday voyage.
While occupied by China, Vietnam and Taiwan also lay claim to the island. A defense official said the operation challenged Vietnam and Taiwan's claims to Triton Island in addition to China.
Twelve nautical miles is the territorial boundary that extends beyond the shores of all nations, sailing inside that distance sends a signal the United States does not recognize the claim.
The move comes as the Trump administration appears to be losing patience with Beijing over its continued military build-up in the South China Sea. The U.S. has been frustrated with Beijing’s failure to reign in North Korea's nuclear and missile programs.

Triton Island is not one of China's seven artificial islands in the region. It has been constructed in the past few years. The U.S. Navy last sailed a warship off the coast of Triton Island in October. The Obama administration conducted similar operations.
The Pentagon wants to conduct what it calls "freedom of navigation" operations, or FONOPS, to challenge China's claims with enough frequency in the hopes they become more routine and not as newsworthy, according to an official with knowledge of the discussions.
Lt. Cmdr. Matt Knight, a spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Fleet, would not confirm the operation but said in a statement to Fox News, "We conduct routine and regular FONOPs, as we have done in the past and will continue to do in the future."
In late May, another guided-missile destroyer, USS Dewey, sailed approximately six miles from one of China's man-made islands in the South China Sea, a first for the Pentagon since Trump assumed office.  The American warship conducted a "man-overboard" drill off the coast of Mischief Reef sending a signal to Beijing that the United States does not honor its claim to the reef--one of seven former reefs China has turned into artificial islands.  Three contain runways and other military fortifications.
"Fake islands should not be believed by real people," said the head of the U.S. Pacific Command, Admiral Harry Harris, in a speech Wednesday in Brisbane, where the United States is participating in the largest ever joint military exercise with Australia, aimed in part to send a message to Beijing.
"China is using its military and economic power to erode the rules-based international order," Harris added.
Friday, new satellite imagery published by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) part of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think-tank showed new military facilities including radar systems being installed on Mischief, Fiery Cross and Subi Reefs in the Spratly Islands located south of the Parcel Islands in the South China Sea.
While U.S. officials had seen the build-up for months, they are more concerned about the potential for China to place advanced surface-to-air missiles on the artificial islands, which could challenge U.S. military flights in the region.   Fox News first reported in December that China moved SA-21 missile batteries with a 250-mile range to the island province of Hainan for training, which could be sent to the artificial islands at a later date.  For the time being, they remain inside China.
The last time the U.S. Navy challenged China's claims in the South China Sea, the Trump administration pushed back on accusations it was turning a blind eye to China's military build-up on its artificial islands, while looking for Beijing to help with negotiations to halt North Korea's nuclear weapons and missile programs.
"While I greatly appreciate the efforts of President Xi & China to help with North Korea, it has not worked out.  At least I know China tried!" Trump said in a tweet last month.
On Friday, the Trump administration unveiled new sanctions against a Chinese bank linked to North Korea's nuclear weapons and missile programs, a day after announcing a new $1.4 billion arms sale to Taiwan.
Announcing the sanctions, Treasury Secretary Steve Munchin said the move was not in retribution for Beijing failing to rein in North Korea.  "This is not directed at China, this is directed at a bank, as well as individuals and entities in China," he said.
China is sending messages of its own.
As Beijing marked the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong's handover from British rule this weekend, President Xi Jinping presided over the largest military parade ever held in the territory.  Standing in the back of a jeep, Xi was driven past more than 3,000 assembled troops in formation in a show of strength.
On Wednesday, China launched the first of its newest class of destroyer called the Type 055, which many analysts say resembles the size and capability of the U.S. Navy's Arleigh-Burke class of guided-missile destroyers, like the one which conducted the operation near the contested Chinese island this weekend.
According to the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), China has 183 cruisers, destroyers, coastal ships and submarines compared wth 188 for the U.S. Navy.   CNAS projected in a March report that China will surpass the United States Navy in these types of warships by the end of the next decade, one of the reasons the U.S. Navy has requested a buildup to a 350-ship fleet, a view shared by many in Congress.
China claims most of the South China Sea where more than $5 trillion of commerce passes through each year.
Last week, the U.S. State Department called out China for being one of the worst human trafficking offenders--dropping Beijing to its lowest designation joining Iran, North Korea and Russia.   The report said China had done little to stop what has amounted to modern slavery and sex trafficking affecting millions.
Lucas Tomlinson is the Pentagon and State Department producer for Fox News Channel. You can follow him on Twitter: @LucasFoxNews

McConnell rejects Trump's advice to repeal ObamaCare now, replace later

McConnell

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is rejecting President Trump's suggestion on how the Senate could promptly pass its ObamaCare overhaul measure -- by immediately repealing the 2010 heath care law and replacing it later.
The Kentucky Republican said Friday night that the bill, which includes significant and complex changes to ObamaCare, remains challenging but "we are going to stick with that path."
He also riffed on Trump’s winning campaign slogan, saying, "It's not easy making America great again, is it?"
McConnell, the leader of GOP-controlled Senate, responded to Trump tweeting earlier in the day: “If Republican Senators are unable to pass what they are working on now, they should immediately REPEAL, and then REPLACE at a later date!”
Trump is trying to revive an approach that GOP leaders and the president himself considered but dismissed months ago as impractical and politically unwise.
The Senate introduced its bill about two weeks ago but left Washington for July 4 recess without enough support from the chamber’s 52 GOP senators to pass the measure. McConnell will need support from at least 50 of them because the bill has no support among Senate Democrats.
The GOP-controlled House passed its ObamaCare overhaul bill earlier this month.
McConnell's is struggling to bridge the divide between moderates and conservatives.
The president also tweeted his message shortly after Nebraska Republican Sen. Ben Sasse appeared on Fox News Channel's "Fox & Friends" to talk about a letter he had sent to Trump making that exact suggestion: a vote on repealing former President Barack Obama's health law followed by a new effort at a working out a replacement.
Trump is a known "Fox & Friends" viewer, but Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., also claimed credit for recommending the tactic to the president in a conversation earlier in the week.
"Sen. Rand Paul suggested this very idea to the president," said Paul spokesman Sergio Gor. "The senator fully agrees that we must immediately repeal Obamacare and then work on replacing it right away."
Either way, Trump's suggestion has the potential to harden divisions within the GOP as conservatives like Paul and Sasse complain that McConnell's bill does not go far enough in repealing former President Barack Obama's health care law while moderates criticize it as overly harsh in kicking people off insurance rolls, shrinking the Medicaid safety net and increasing premiums for older Americans.
McConnell has been trying to strike deals with members of both factions in order to finalize a rewritten bill lawmakers can vote on when they return to the Capitol the second week of July.
Even before Trump was inaugurated in January, Republicans had debated and ultimately discarded the idea of repealing the overhaul before replacing it, concluding that both must happen simultaneously. Doing otherwise would invite accusations that Republicans were simply tossing people off coverage and would roil insurance markets by raising the question of whether, when and how Congress might replace Obama's law once it was gone.
The idea also would leave unresolved the quandary lawmakers are struggling with now, about how to replace Obama's system of online insurance markets, tax subsidies and an expanded Medicaid with something that could get enough Republican votes to pass Congress. House Republicans barely passed their version of a replacement bill in May, and the task is proving even tougher in the Senate, where McConnell has almost no margin for error.
Moderates were spooked as the week began with a Congressional Budget Office finding that McConnell's draft bill would result in 22 million people losing insurance over the next decade, only 1 million fewer than under the House-passed legislation which Trump privately told senators was "mean." But conservatives continue to insist that the bill must go further than just repealing some of the mandates and taxes in Obama's law.
Underscoring the fissures within the GOP, conservative group leaders on that call welcomed Trump's suggestion but said it didn't go far enough because it could open the door to a subsequent bipartisan compromise to replace Obama's law. At the same time, a key House Republican, Rep. Kevin Brady, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, rejected Trump's suggestion, contending that it "doesn't achieve what President Trump set out to do."

President Trump: CNN is Garbage Journalism

July 1, 2017
OAN Newsroom
President Trump blasts CNN as ‘garbage journalism.’
He made the comments Saturday on Twitter, saying he’s ‘extremely pleased’ the network has been exposed.
The President’s remarks come after the cable network retracted a story which linked a Trump transition aide to the executive of a Russian investment fund.
CNN fired several reporters involved in the story, saying it did not fit its editorial standards.
The President also continued to blast MSNBC’s Morning Joe show, saying its hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski are not ‘bad people’, but their show is dominated by their bosses.

Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski

President Trump Honors Veterans in D.C.

President Donald Trump speaks during the Celebrate Freedom event at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Saturday, July 1, 2017. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

July 1, 2017
OAN Newsroom
President Trump honors the nations’ veterans at the Celebrate Freedom rally in Washington D.C.
During the ceremony, President Trump highlighted the newly signed Veteran’s Accountability Act, which gives the government the ability to fire workers who don’t pull their weight at the VA.
The President also talked about how his administration is trying to improve services for those who have fought for America, and said the forgotten men and women of this country will never be forgotten again.
“I will never stop fighting for you. I am delivering on trade, on the economy, on the Supreme Court, on the Second Amendment, on our military, for our veterans and on our borders,” he said.
President Trump then shared stories of bravery from our nation’s veterans, praising them for fighting for our freedom and saying they are the true example of American values.
The commander-in-chief also talked about religious freedom, and ended his speech by saying that if we have pride in our beliefs and faith in our god, we will not fail.

Comments from America:

MrReality • 7 hours ago

I am starting to think that Trump is the perfect President for our time. He honors ALL Americans who sacrificed for our country. He is humble before God. At 70 years old, he gave up an easy life as a multi-billionaire to work his ass off and kick ass to help this country.
He is God's miracle for all who have prayed for this country. His election victory from being so down in EVERY poll on election eve is nothing less than God's will.
Think about it.

billwhit MrReality • 2 hours ago

I have always said that God put him in the Oval Office, not the voters. Democrats are feeling God's Wrath, for mocking HIM in 2012. I remember watching them on TV, at the DNC, taking the vote to kick God out of the Platform of their Party, and could not believe it. I knew right then, God would punish these godless Democrats, and they have been losing every time they turn around today. Something like 3000 Democratic loses all over America, State and Federal, I read not long ago. Yes, God's hand is against his Enemies, as it should be. Sad thing is, the Democrats are too blind to realize it.

Ginette • 8 hours ago

Thank you for honoring our Vets President Trump and for making THIS 4th of July celebration the best ever. MAGA

wildfire1944 • 7 hours ago

After 8 years of hate and divisiveness from obuttflosser and killery it is so refreshing to be treated this way. Thank you President Trump !

newsflash • 7 hours ago

Mr President, thank you for honoring our Vets! After 8 long years of misery under that milksop Obama, your sincerity, honesty and love for America is INVIGORATING!! Here's to the best 4th of July yet!

WATCH: Part 3 – Project Veritas Exposes CNN ‘Fake News’

Project Veritas continues its push to expose fake news in the mainstream media, releasing part three of its undercover look at CNN.
We brought you parts one and two earlier this week, which exposed a CNN producer and political commentator pushing false stories about President Trump and Russia.
On Thursday, Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe tracked down CNN President Jeff Zucker for a comment on these telling video’s.
Instead of responding, Zucker runs from O’Keefe.
Now we want to bring you part three of the series.
We would like to thank its founder James O’Keefe and the entire Project Veritas team for providing OANN with the undercover report.
Check it out.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel CARTOONS