New Law in Israel Sparks Backlash from Arab Minority Group

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 7:55 AM PT — Fri. Aug. 3, 2018

A new law in Israel is sparking fury and protests among religious minority group in the country.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu walked out of a meeting with Druze leaders Thursday, following the backlash from a newly imposed nation-state law.
He was in the meeting to negotiate whether a separate law would be used to protect the religious minority or to add an amendment to the Jewish nation-state law.

Israelis hold a banner showing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a protest against the Israel Jewish nation bill, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, July 30, 2018. Last week Israel’s parliament approved a controversial piece of legislation that defines the country as the nation-state of the Jewish people. Opponents and rights groups have criticized the legislation, warning that it will sideline minorities such as the country’s Arabs. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

The Druze are the most integrated minority in Israel, but the controversial law has provoked anger and fear.
“We see it as a discriminatory law which doesn’t give expression to our citizenship, doesn’t give expression to our sense of belonging,” stated Rafik Halabi, head of the local Israeli-Druze Council. “We told the prime minister unequivocally – we want civilian equality for all residents, we won’t be able to live in a state where part of its population, especially such a loyal and good population, feels excluded.”
Following the talks, Druze community leaders say the community is planning to demonstrate against the proposed legislation on Saturday.

Deputy AG Rosenstein Says Justice Dept. Should Not Be Driven by Politics

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said the Justice Department is duty-bound to make decisions that are not pleasing to everyone.
He made those remarks Thursday at a meeting with the American Bar Association in Chicago.
Rosenstein said the DOJ must never be driven by politics, but make decisions based on the cautious wisdom required by the law.
While he did not mention his critics by name, Rosenstein said government attorneys often have difficulty dealing with Congress.
Last month, members of the House introduced articles of impeachment against Rosenstein for not complying with congressional records requests.

China Defends Relationship with Iran, Refuses to Halt Oil Imports

China is defending its relationship with Iran, calling their cooperation “justified, reasonable and lawful.”
During a news conference Friday, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said China does not support unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic or “long arm jurisdiction.”
Shuang went on to suggest China’s rights and interests should be preserved.
“We hope Japan will translate its positive remarks regarding China-Japan ties into concrete actions, do something conducive to improving ties and push forward with the development of bilateral relations in the right path,” he stated.
The remarks come in response to an American request to halt Iranian oil imports.
According to recent reports, Chinese officials did not agree to stop the oil imports. However, they said the country would agree to not increase them.

RNC Spokeswoman: GOP Must Increase Lead in Senate, House to Get Southern Border Wall Built

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 12:57 AM PT — Fri. Aug. 3, 2018

A top Republican National Committee spokeswoman is saying she believes the southern border wall will get built if the GOP extends their majorities in Congress leading into the November midterms.
During an interview on The Hill Friday, Kayleigh McEnany called the border wall a “lightning rod issue” for the Republican base.
This comes just a day after President Trump said he was torn on whether to force a government shutdown in order to get border wall funding.
During a speech in Pennsylvania this week, the president reaffirmed his promise to build the wall, but said Democrats could make the process tedious.

A U.S. Border Patrol agent looks at one of border wall prototypes Thursday, June 28, 2018, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

“And we’re going to start to get really nasty over the wall, you know — the Democrats…anything I want they want to oppose,” stated President Trump. “You know, I just figured out how to do the wall — I’ll say ‘I don’t want to build the wall’ and they’ll insist on building it.”
Meanwhile, McEnany suggested that border security is one of the more popular issues for supporters of the RNC.
“I was talking to one of our interns and she said ‘do you know one of the most emailed things I get at the RNC is, when are we going to build the wall?’ — because that really motivates our base, building the wall, immigration,” she explained. “That is a lightning rod issue, it’s in the top three of concerned voters, top issues.”
According to a recent report however, that funding for the wall and border security may not just be a hot button issue exclusively for conservatives.
The report — published by the Bipartisan Policy Center — asserted that “most Americans believe the current immigration system is broken, out of control and antiquated.” Moreover, the status of the border wall is still in question.
The House released a spending bill for the wall last month, but their five billion dollar total is much less than the $25 billion originally requested by President Trump.
Congress will have until next month to agree on a set total when the federal budget year ends on Thursday, September 30.

Democrat Senate Cartoons

Republican running for Oregon governor wants top state Dems to resign over sexual harassment at Capitol

Knute Buehler, who’s running for governor in deep-blue Oregon, says two top Democrats should resign for allowing a culture of sexual misconduct in the state Capitol.  (Associated Press)

The Republican candidate in Oregon's race for governor is calling on two top state Democrats to resign after allegations that they allowed a pervasive atmosphere of sexual hostility to exist in the state Capitol.
Knute Buehler, who recently pulled even in the polls against Democratic incumbent Gov. Kate Brown in the deep-blue state, directed his criticism at Senate President Peter Courtney and House Speaker Tina Kotek.
“For too long casual attitudes and unprofessional behavior has been accepted and tolerated in the Capitol. I am calling on Senate President Peter Courtney and House Speaker Tina Kotek to step down,” Buehler, who’s also a state lawmaker, tweeted.
“Accountability and change begins with the people in charge who failed to prevent, failed to properly investigate and possibly covered-up serious allegations of sexual harassment within the Capitol,” he said in a statement.
The call for resignations comes after Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian on Wednesday filed a complaint accusing Courtney and Kotek of not doing enough to protect women from Republican Sen. Jeff Kruse and covering up a pervasive culture of sexual harassment at the state Capitol in Salem.
Kruse was forced to resign in February after an investigation found that he sexually harassed and groped a number of women in the Capitol over the years and ignored warnings about his behavior. Kruse reportedly escalated his inappropriate behavior after being told to stop touching women without their consent.
Buehler, who has a real shot this November to become the first non-Democrat governor of the state since late 1980s, was the first Republican lawmaker to urge Kruse to resign amid the sexual misconduct allegations.
REPUBLICAN CHALLENGER PULLS EVEN WITH ANTI-TRUMP DEMOCRAT IN SOLID BLUE OREGON’S GOVERNOR’S RACE: POLL

In this Feb. 13, 2015, file photo, Oregon Senate President Peter Courtney, left, and Speaker of the House Tina Kotek confer at the Capitol in Salem, Ore. The two fellow Democrats are being accused of covering up a pervasive culture of sexual harassment at the state capitol.  (Associated Press)

In the complaint, Avakian said that as early as March 2016, Courtney and Kotek "knew or should have known of Senator Kruse's conduct and the broader sexually hostile environment in the Capitol, but did not take immediate and appropriate action."
He also said other powerful officials in the state Capitol – such as top legislative lawyer Dexter Johnson and human resources chief Lore Christopher – told the harassed women not to tell anyone about them being harassed by Kruse or other officials, the Oregonian reported. The victims were also told that they had no standing to sue the harassers.
Courtney and Kotek signed a memo stating they will participate in any subsequent investigation about the allegations laid out by Avakian. “We welcome additional scrutiny and a thorough investigation related to the commissioner's complaint,” reads the memo, according to the publication.
The state House speaker said she takes every complaint seriously and encouraged “anyone with a complaint to come forward. We must do better.”
Kotek, meanwhile, criticized Buehler for calling for their resignation, accusing him of politicizing the situation.
“Let's not politicize this. This is about people's lives," Kotek said. “We want a workplace that is respectful and safe, where everyone can do their best to help the people of Oregon.”

Black pastors see Trump bringing 'new hope' -- but still need to convince their flocks

The Rev. John Gray, pastor of Relentless Church in Greenville, S.C., and other religious leaders meet with President Trump at the White House, Aug. 1, 2018.  (Associated Press)

Two black Christian pastors who were among a group of religious leaders meeting with President Trump at the White House this week are now facing backlash from congregants back home.
The Rev. Phillip Goudeaux of Calvary Christian Center in Sacramento, Calif., and the Rev. John Gray, head of Relentless Church in Greenville, S.C., came under fire from critics who say Trump's policies have harmed the black community.
But at Wednesday's event, dubbed “Meeting with Inner City Pastors,” many of the pastors who attended expressed sympathetic views toward Trump, with one pastor -- the Rev. Darrell Scott, of Cleveland -- calling Trump “the most pro-black president we’ve had in our lifetime.”

Pastor Phillip Goudeaux of Calvary Christian Center in Sacramento, Calif., has come under fire for attending a meeting with President Trump.  (Calvary Christian Center)

Scott also slammed former President Barack Obama for not trying to “prove something to our community” because “he got a pass.”
Goudeaux, a spiritual adviser to the family of Stephon Clark –  the unarmed black man who was fatally shot March 18 by two police officers in Sacramento -- praised Trump as well, saying the president restored “hope” to his community, but jokingly urged Trump to not give up on the state of California.
“Please don’t give up on California and Sacramento,” Goudeaux quipped, according to the transcript. “I’m right in the capital there, and we’re working in every area to try to make a difference in people’s lives.

"So, I guess the greatest word I can say for you, Mr. President, is that you have given this country expectations, given us a new hope, a new excitement to believe that things are getting better and are going to get better."
- Pastor Phillip Goudeaux

“So, I guess the greatest word I can say for you, Mr. President, is that you have given this country expectations, given us a new hope, a new excitement to believe that things are getting better and are going to get better,” Goudeaux continued. “And we appreciate that leadership, your tenacity to keep pushing in against all the opposition that comes against you. Thank you so much.”
Gray, meanwhile, was skeptical about attending the meeting with Trump and initially thought he would decline the invitation.
“My wife told me ‘If you go, no one will hear what you say. They won’t understand why you’re there. And any good that could come out of it will get lost in translation,’” Gray wrote on Facebook. “I had not one thing to gain by being there. Not. One.”
Gray said he eventually decided attending the event and even led the prayer so he could speak out about prison reform.

"That could greatly end up benefiting many people who look just like me."
- Pastor John Gray on his decision to attend the meeting

“That could greatly end up benefiting many people who look just like me,” he said. “The pain of so many is too real. The hurt. The isolation. The sense of disenfranchisement. The real hate that has bubbled to the surface of the national discourse.
"I myself have been vocal about my personal disagreements with key policy decisions of this administration,” he added.

President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with inner city pastors in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018.  (Associated Press)

But despite their open-minded approach, the two pastors were still facing condemnation from their communities.
Tre Borden, who works in the Sacramento area and attended the Calvary Christian Center when he was young, shared a photo of Goudeaux and called him and other religious leaders “shameless” and “contemptible” for attending the meeting, the Sacramento Bee reported.
“The majority of people in Phillip Goudeaux’s Del Paso congregation are poor and black,” he told the publication. “For him or any other black religious leader to align himself with Trump and his policies in this day and age is extremely distressing and hypocritical. How can he possibly think our current president is helping people who are on the margins of society?”
Gray is reaching out to many people who are criticizing him on social media. His Facebook posts concerning the meeting drew thousands of comments, many of which were critical.
“The pain of those who have been hurt is real. And I would be a dishonorable man not to acknowledge that,” Gray wrote. “But I will honor what I believe was the mandate on my life to be there and available to God should He choose to give me voice,” he added, noting that his comments on social media about why he attended didn’t “invalidate the visceral reaction of those who can’t imagine why I would be in the room.”

Pompeo presses Turkey on release of pastor, North Korea on keeping denuke promise

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday pushed Turkey to release a detained American pastor whose case prompted the Trump administration to slap sanctions on senior Turkish officials, and said North Korea is still lagging behind on its promise to denuclearize.
Pompeo made the remarks before attending separate meetings with top Turkish and North Korean officials on the sidelines of a Southeast Asian security conference in Singapore.
He urged the Turkish government to release Andrew Craig Brunson, the American pastor detained in Turkey since December 2016 on espionage and terror-related charges, which both Brunson and the U.S. vehemently deny.
The administration is also seeking the release of several detained local employees of the U.S. diplomatic missions in the Turkey.
Pompeo said the administration’s actions on Wednesday – imposing sanctions on Turkey's justice and interior ministers – were a sign of how seriously the U.S. is treating Brunson’s case.
“The Turks were on notice that the clock had run out and it was time for Pastor Brunson to be returned and I hope they'll see this for what it is: a demonstration that we're very serious,” he told reporters.

"The Turks were on notice that the clock had run out and it was time for Pastor Brunson to be returned and I hope they'll see this for what it is: a demonstration that we're very serious."
- Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

“We consider this one of the many issues that we have with the Turks,” Pompeo continued, but didn’t elaborate.
The U.S. government has been uneasy over Turkey’s military actions in Northern Syria and the plans to purchase an advanced air defense system from Russia.
“Brunson needs to come home as do all the Americans being held by the Turkish government,” he added. "Pretty straightforward. They've been holding these folks for a long time. These are innocent people.”
In terms of North Korea, Pompeo criticized the communist state for lagging behind on plans to honor the agreements made in Singapore during a summit in June between Kim Jong Un and President Trump.
The top diplomat said there was “still a ways to go before” achieving the goal of ridding the North of its nuclear weapons. As of now, the country is still in violation of numerous U.N. Security Council resolutions, Pompeo said.

"To the extent they are behaving in a manner inconsistent with that, they are in violation of one or both the UN Security Council resolutions, we can see we still have a ways to go to achieve the ultimate outcome we're looking for."
- Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

“Chairman Kim made a commitment to denuclearize,” Pompeo told reporters. “The world demanded that [he] do so in the U.N. Security Council resolutions. To the extent they are behaving in a manner inconsistent with that, they are in violation of one or both the U.N. Security Council resolutions, we can see we still have a ways to go to achieve the ultimate outcome we're looking for.”
The remarks came after the White House said Thursday that Trump received a new letter from the North Korean leader in the wake of concerns that not enough progress has been made in getting rid of the nuclear weapons. Trump reportedly replied by letter to Kim.
The administration didn’t provide the contents of their letters, with White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders saying only that the letters addressed the commitment to work toward North Korea's “complete denuclearization.”