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Iran’s supreme leader: No talks with the US at any level

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s supreme leader announced on Tuesday that “there will be no talks with the U.S. at any level” — remarks apparently meant to end all speculation about a possible U.S.-Iran meeting between the two countries’ presidents at the U.N. later this month.

Iranian state TV quoted Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as saying this is the position of the entire leadership of the country and that “all officials in the Islamic Republic unanimously believe” this.

“There will be no talks with the U.S. at any level,” he said.

Khamenei said the U.S. wants to prove its “maximum pressure policy” against Iran is successful.

“In return, we have to prove that the policy is not worth a penny for the Iranian nation,” Khamenei said. “That’s why all Iranian officials, from the president and the foreign minister to all others have announced that we do not negotiate (with the U.S.) either bilaterally or multilaterally.”

There had been reports about a possible meeting between President Donald Trump and his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, during the upcoming U.N. General Assembly this month in New York.

But tensions roiling the Persian Gulf have escalated following a weekend attack on major oil sites in Saudi Arabia that the U.S. alleged Iran was responsible for — a charge Iran denies.

The crisis between Washington and Tehran stems from Trump’s pullout last year from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. He also re-imposed and escalated sanctions on Iran that sent the country’s economy into freefall.

The attack on Saudi Arabia, which set ablaze a crucial Saudi oil processing plant and a key oil field, was claimed by Yemen’s Iranian-allied Houthi rebels, who are at war with a Saudi-led coalition that is trying to restore Yemen’s internationally recognized government to power.

Trump declared Monday it “looks” like Iran was behind the explosive attack on the Saudi oil facilities. But he stressed that military retaliation was not yet on the table in response to the strike against a key U.S. Mideast ally.

Oil prices soared worldwide amid the damage in Saudi Arabia and fresh Middle East war concerns. But Trump put the brakes on any talk of quick military action — earlier he had said the U.S. was “locked and loaded” — and he said the oil impact would not be significant on the U.S., which is a net energy exporter.

The Saudi government called the attack an “unprecedented act of aggression and sabotage” but stopped short of directly pinning blame on Iran.

One U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said the U.S. was considering dispatching additional military resources to the Gulf but that no decisions had been made. The U.S. already has the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier battle group in the area, as well as fighter jets, bombers, reconnaissance aircraft and air defenses.

Trump, alternating between aggressive and nonviolent reactions, said the U.S. could respond “with an attack many, many times larger” but also “I’m not looking at options right now.”

American officials released satellite images of the damage at the heart of the kingdom’s Abqaiq processing plant and a key oil field, and two U.S. officials said the attackers used multiple cruise missiles and drone aircraft.

Private experts said the satellite images show the attackers had detailed knowledge of which tanks and machinery to hit within the sprawling Saudi oil processing facility at Abqaiq to cripple production. But “satellite imagery can’t show you where the attack originated from,” said Joe Bermudez, an expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies who examined the images.

The U.S. alleges the pattern of destruction suggested Saturday’s attack did not come from neighboring Yemen, as claimed by the Houthis there. A Saudi military alleged “Iranian weapons” had been used.

The Saudis invited the U.N. and other international experts to help investigate, suggesting there was no rush to retaliate.

For his part, Khamenei on Tuesday also reiterated Iran’s stance that if the U.S. returns to the nuclear deal, Tehran would consider negotiations.

“Otherwise, no talks will happen ... with the Americans,” he said. “Neither in New York nor anywhere” else.

___

Associated Press writer Robert Burns in Washington contributed to this report.

US shares info with Saudi Arabia that blames Iran for oil field attack: report

Iran was the staging ground for the weekend attacks on the massive Saudi Arabia oil field, according to U.S. intelligence that was shared with the kingdom, a report said.
The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources, reported that the intelligence report—that was not shared publicly—indicated that Iran raided the massive oil field with at least a dozen missiles and 20 drones.
The State Department did not immediately respond to an after-hours email from Fox News on Tuesday morning. The Journal's report said that a Saudi official indicated that the U.S. intelligence was not definitive. The official told the paper that the U.S. did not provide enough evidence to prove without a doubt that Tehran’s hand was involved.
President Trump has said the U.S. is “locked and loaded” and able to respond to the threat but also said he wants to avoid war. Iran has denied any involvement in the attack. Ahead of UN meeting, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said "there will be no talks with the US at any level," the Associated Press reported.
Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the attack on Saturday, sparking huge fires and halting about half of the supplies from the world's largest exporter of oil. The attack was seen by some analysts as a Pearl Harbor-like event.
The fires led to the interruption of an estimated 5.7 million barrels in crude supplies, as Saudi officials said part of that would be offset with stockpiles.
Fox News' Alex Pappas contributed to this report

Durbin asked about prospects of Kavanaugh impeachment, says ‘get real’

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., was asked Monday about the prospects of Democrats taking up an effort to impeach Brett Kavanaugh from the Supreme Court and responded, “Get real,” according to a report.
Calls to impeach Kavanaugh came after an essay in the New York Times brought to light separate sexual misconduct allegations against him dating back to his time at Yale. The Times reported that the FBI did not investigate the claim.
The paper was forced to run an editor’s note and revised the essay after it was revealed that it left out that the accuser declined to be interviewed and her friends said she doesn’t recall the incident.
The report prompted 2020 Democrats to call for Kavanaugh's ouster. The new push to impeach Kavanaugh appeared to divide Democrats still eyeing an effort to impeach President Trump.
“We’ve got to get beyond this ‘impeachment is the answer to every problem,” Durbin said, according to Politico. “It’s not realistic. If that’s how we are identified in Congress, as the impeachment Congress, we run the risk that people will feel we’re ignoring the issues that mean a lot to them as families.”
Rep. Jerry Nadler, the New York Democrat and chair of the House Judiciary Committee, said the committee will ask Christopher Wray, the FBI director, about the investigation during a later hearing. Nadler stressed that his focus is on impeaching Trump.
A Kavanaugh impeachment would require a majority vote in the Democratic-controlled House, and two-thirds vote in the GOP-majority Senate.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., will reportedly file an impeachment resolution on Tuesday. She said he must be "held accountable for his actions."
Fox News' Gregg Re contributed to this report

NYT reporters behind Kavanaugh story suggest key information was removed by editors

The New York Times reporters behind the controversial piece on Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh claimed Monday night that key details missing from the sexual misconduct allegation may have been removed from the original draft in the editing process.
Late Sunday, The New York Times walked back an explosive report about a resurfaced allegation of sexual assault by Kavanaugh from his college days. The piece by Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly was adapted from their forthcoming book, "The Education of Brett Kavanaugh: An Investigation," and alleged that there was corroboration of an incident in which Kavanaugh, as a college student at Yale, exposed himself to a female classmate at a party.
The paper was forced to issue an update that included the significant detail that several friends of the alleged victim said she did not recall the purported sexual assault. The newspaper also stated for the first time that the alleged victim refused to be interviewed, and has made no other comment about the episode.
Pogrebin and Kelly said in an interview that information was included in their original draft of the piece.
"In your draft of the article, did it include those words that have since been added to the article?" MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell asked.
"It did," both Pogrebin and Kelly responded.
"So somewhere in the editing process, those words were trimmed," O'Donnell said in clarification.
Pogrebin then explained that The Times doesn't usually include names of victims and that she believed that when the editors removed the name, the crucial information that she didn't remember was also removed.
"So I think it was just sort of an editing, you know, done in the haste in the editing process," Pogrebin added.
"Were you involved in the decision to amend this and do the correction- the addition online to the piece?" O'Donnell followed.
"We discussed it," Pogrebin said. "We felt like there was so much heat, there's so much- everyone has been has been seizing on various aspects of this that we certainly didn't want it to be an issue anymore and we certainly never intended to mislead in any way. We wanted to give as full of a story as possible."
President Trump issued a full-throated call for resignations and changes in management at the paper over the essay during a fiery rally in Democratic-leaning New Mexico on Monday night.

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On Strike! UAW workers walk out on GM

The United Auto Workers went on a nationwide strike against General Motors on Sunday night after contract talks broke off Sunday.

It is the first strike against GM in 12 years.

Talks will resume Monday morning.

Union officials say both sides are far apart in the talks, while GM says it has made significant offers.

UAW represents workers at 33 manufacturing sites and 22 parts warehouses across the country.

On Sunday, President Trump tweeted for the two sides to make a deal.

A person briefed on the bargaining told the Associated Press that General Motors has offered the UAW new products for two assembly plants that it had planned to close.

General Motors says it presented what it believes was a strong offer including improved wages and benefits and investments in eight facilities in four states.

The strike will affect GM plants in Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, Kentucky, New York, Texas and elsewhere in the U.S.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

Beto O'Rourke hits Pete Buttigieg with expletive-fueled swipe over gun-control comments

Beto O’Rourke launched an expletive-fueled defense of his call Sunday to ban assault-style weapons and impose mandatory buybacks of AR-15s and AK-47s while also pushing back at critics -- including fellow 2020 Democrat Pete Buttigieg.
During last Thursday’s presidential debate, the former Texas congressman said, “Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47, and we’re not going to allow it to be used against your fellow Americans anymore.” Three days later, O’Rourke appeared on NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” where host Chuck Todd pointed out that there was “a lot of hand-wringing” about the presidential contender’s full-throated call on national TV for confiscating such rifles.
As O’Rourke had put the issue of gun violence at the center of his campaign effort, some fellow Democrats chastised him and were concerned that his statements may have made things harder for gun control supporters as they negotiate with President Trump on legislation to respond to this summer’s mass shootings.
After Todd pointed out that some Democrats were hesitant to support such bans, O’Rourke responded, “I think this just shows you how screwed up the priorities in Washington, D.C. are.”
He then brought up the 22 people were killed in a Walmart in his hometown of El Paso last month.
“Talking to those doctors and trauma room surgeons who treated those victims in El Paso, they said these are wounds of war—that high-impact, high-velocity round, when it hit their systems, just shredded everything inside of them,” O’Rourke said on Sunday. “I refuse to accept that, and I refuse to even acknowledge the politics, or the polling, or the fear of the NRA that has purchased the complicity and silence of members of Congress and this weak response to a real tragedy in America.”
Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, appeared on CNN’s “State of the Union” and agreed with Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., saying the clip of the former O’Rourke’s statement about AR-15s and AK-47s “will be played for years at Second Amendment rallies with organizations that try to scare people by saying Democrats are coming for your guns.” 
Buttigieg said, “Look, right now we have an amazing moment on our hands. We have agreement among the American people not just for universal backgrounds checks, but we have a majority in favor of red-flag laws, high-capacity magazines, banning the new sale of assault weapons. This is a golden moment to finally do something.”
Buttigieg went on to say, “When even this president and even [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell are at least are pretending to be open to reforms, we know that we have a moment on our hand. Let’s make the most of it and get these things done.”
O’Rourke pushed back in a tweet: “Leaving millions of weapons of war on the streets because Trump and McConnell are ‘at least pretending to be open to reforms’? That calculation and fear is what got us here in the first place. Let’s have the courage to say what we believe and fight for it.”
He later tweeted, “When candidates say, 'At least Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell are pretending to be interested,' sh--, that is not enough. Neither is poll-testing your message. Gun violence is a life or death issue—and we have to represent the bold ideas of people all over the country.”
As O’Rourke made his call to take back the rifles on Thursday night, Trump warned at a Republican retreat in Baltimore, “Democrats want to confiscate guns from law-abiding Americans, so they are totally defenseless when somebody walks into their house.”
Trump promised that his party “will forever uphold the fundamental right to keep and bear arms,” which received loud applause.
Trump and White House aides have discussed several gun control measures with members of Congress, including steps to go after fraudulent buyers and boost mental health assistance. A formal announcement on Trump’s plan is expected as soon as this week.
Fox News' Ben Florance and The Associated Press contributed to this report.