Trump criticizes California's high gas prices, policies

GasBuddy Head of Petroleum analysis Patrick DeHaan on the outlook for gas prices.
While the summer driving season has come to an end, high gasoline prices have not.

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Prices in California have soared above what most Americans are paying at the pump.In some locations.
Californians are paying $5 for a gallon of gas.
President Trump had critical words in a tweet.
A number of refinery outages tightened gas supply in the market.California’s gas prices are the most expensive in the United States.
The national average is currently $2.65 a gallon.

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Chinese envoy going to US on Thursday for trade talks

BEIJING (AP) — China’s chief trade envoy is going to Washington on Thursday for talks aimed at ending a tariff war.

Vice Premier Liu He will lead a delegation that includes China’s commerce minister and central bank governor and industry, technology and agriculture regulators, the Ministry of Commerce said Tuesday.

The two governments have made conciliatory gestures ahead of the talks including lifting or postponing punitive tariffs. But there has been no sign of progress toward settling their core disputes over Beijing’s trade surplus and technology ambitions.

The two sides have raised import duties on billions of dollars of each other’s goods, fueling fears their dispute might tip the global economy into recession.

Rick Perry denies resignation reports while facing questions over Ukraine call

Energy Secretary Rick Perry on Monday denied rumors that he would resign amid allegations he played a role in the controversy surrounding President Trump and Ukrainian officials.
“No. I’m here, I’m serving," Perry said at a news conference in Vilnius, Lithuania, as Politico reported. “They’ve been writing the story for at least nine months now. One of these days they will probably get it right, but it’s not today, it’s not tomorrow, it’s not next month."
Politico had reported that Perry was expected to announce his resignation by the end of November.
A recent Axios report said Trump told House Republicans that he called Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky in July based on a recommendation by Perry. The issue centered on allegations that Trump pressured Ukrainian officials to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, over their business dealings in the country. Trump repeatedly has denied doing anything wrong.
The former Texas governor acknowledged pressing Trump to call Zelensky, has denied mentioning the Bidens to either leader.
“Absolutely, I asked the president multiple times, ‘Mr. President, we think it is in the United States’ and in Ukraine’s best interest that you and the president of Ukraine have conversations, that you discuss the options that are there,’” he said.
He also denied pressuring the Ukrainian government two appoint two American businessmen on the board of the state-owned gas company, Naftogaz. He did say he made some recommendations, but only at the behest of that country.

Don Lemon asks John Kasich if he's 'confused' about Ukraine call transcript in tense exchange

CNN anchor Don Lemon on Monday asked Ohio governor-turned-CNN commentator John Kasich if he was "confused" by the transcript of President Trump's call with the Ukrainian president and then went on to suggest that he's a Trump "apologist."
Lemon insisted that "anybody with half a brain" knows what Trump was saying to President Volodymyr Zelensky after reading the transcript and called it "obvious."
"Wait, wait, wait, you can't say stuff like that," Kasich reacted. "You can't say that."
"John, did you read the transcript?" Lemon asked.
"Yeah, I read the transcript," Kasich responded.
"Well, were you confused by what it meant?" Lemon shot back.
Kasich told Lemon that he "did not see a clear quid pro quo" but expressed his support for an investigation, but that apparently wasn't good enough for the CNN anchor.
"John, if you asked me to do something, if you said, 'Don, I need something from you' and I said to you, 'John, yes, but I need you to do me a favor though,' what does that mean?" Lemon pressed Kasich.
The former governor didn't directly answer him.
"Then you are doing exactly what the apologists are doing," Lemon said. "Then you are not helping people understand the real problem, then you are part of the problem."
Kasich, an outspoken Trump critic who never offered his endorsement during the 2016 election, warned Lemon if impeachment does not receive any support from Republican lawmakers, it will "not help this country."

Democrats may keep whistleblower identity from Republicans in Congress: report

House Democrats are reportedly considering steps to keep the whistleblower's identity from their Republican colleagues in order to prevent a loyalist to President Trump from leaking the whistleblower's identity to the public.
The Washington Post, citing three officials familiar with the discussions, reported that Democrats are considering the "extraordinary steps" that illustrate the toxic relationship between the country's two main political parties.
It was unclear how the whistleblower's identity would be kept from Republicans during the testimony. The whistleblower may testify from an undisclosed location and editing may be used to alter their face and voice.
"[Rep. Adam] Schiff does not want to burn his identity," a senior congressional official told the paper.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has vowed to expose anonymous whistleblowers against Trump if Democrats move forward with impeachment.
Protecting the whistleblower's identity has been a key issue in the impeachment investigation. Trump has been accused of withholding about $400 million in military aid from Ukraine in a pressure campaign to get Kiev to investigate the Bidens.
Trump has denied the allegations and released a reconstructed transcript of his July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump and his lawyers claim the transcript offers vindication, but Democrats seized on the part where Trump tells Zelensky, “I would like you to do us a favor though.”
Trump has said he wants to meet the whistleblower. The whistleblower raised Republican suspicions when the person did not disclose contact with House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff’s staff to the intelligence committee inspector general, sources told Fox News.
Sources told Fox News that ICIG Michael Atkinson revealed that the whistleblower voluntarily shared that he or she was a registered Democrat and had a prior working relationship with a prominent Democratic politician. 
Schiff’s office later acknowledged that the whistleblower had reached out to them before filing a complaint in mid-August, giving Democrats advance warning of the accusations that would lead them to launch an impeachment inquiry days later.
Schiff previously said that “we have not spoken directly to the whistleblower,” although his office later narrowed the claim, saying that Schiff himself "does not know the identity of the whistleblower, and has not met with or spoken with the whistleblower or their counsel" for any reason.
On Sept. 28, the law group representing the whistleblower—Compass Rose Legal Group—sent a letter to the acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire about the need to protect their client.
The letter said, in part, "The purpose of this letter is to formally notify you of serious concerns we have regarding our client’s personal safety. We appreciate your office’s support thus far to activate appropriate resources to ensure their safety."
The letter did not specify the "support" or "resources" that were offered.
The letter claimed that there's a $50,000 bounty for information about the client. The letter was signed by Andrew P. Bakaj, the lead attorney in the case.
An after-hours email from Fox News to Mark Zaid, another lawyer representing the whistleblower, was not immediately returned.
"As far as we are concerned, any meetings with the whistleblower and the intelligence oversight committees will have the same conditions from us for both Republicans and Democrats. We are not playing partisan games, and our primary concern is the protection of our client," Zaid told the paper earlier.
Fox News' Gregg Re and Catherine Herridge contributed to this report

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US troops start pullout from along Turkey’s border in Syria

BEIRUT (AP) — U.S.-backed Kurdish-led forces said American troops began pulling back Monday from positions along the border in northeast Syria ahead of an expected Turkish invasion that the Syrian Kurds say will overturn five years of achievements in the battle against the Islamic State group.

The Syrian Kurdish fighters also accused Washington of failing to abide by its commitments to its key allies in the fight against IS. It’s a major shift in U.S. policy.

There was no immediate confirmation from the White House of U.S. troops clearing positions in areas in northern Syria.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, however, also said American troops have started withdrawing from positions, and a video posted by a Kurdish news agency showed a convoy of American armored vehicles apparently heading away from the border area of Tal Abyad.

Erdogan spoke hours after the White House said U.S. forces in northeastern Syria will move aside and clear the way for an expected Turkish assault — essentially abandoning Kurdish fighters who fought alongside American forces in the yearslong battle to defeat the Islamic State group.

Erdogan didn’t elaborate on the planned Turkish incursion but said Turkey was determined to halt what it perceives as threats from the Syrian Kurdish fighters.

Erdogan has threatened for months to launch the military operation across the border. He views the Syria Kurdish forces as a threat to his country as Ankara has struggled with a Kurdish insurgency within Turkey.

In the U.S., Republicans and Democrats have warned that allowing the Turkish attack could lead to a massacre of the Kurds and send a troubling message to American allies across the globe.

The Syrian Democratic Forces, as the Kurdish-led force is known, said the American pullout began first from areas along the Syria-Turkey border.

“The American forces did not abide by their commitments and withdrew their forces along the border with Turkey,” the SDF said in its statement. “Turkey now is preparing to invade northern and eastern parts of Syria.”

“The Turkish military operation in northern and eastern Syria will have a huge negative effect on our war against” IS, it added.

In an agreement between Ankara and Washington, joint patrols had been patrolling a security zone that covers over 125 kilometers (78 miles) along the border between the towns of Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ayn. The SDF had removed fortification from the areas, considered by Turkey as a threat, and retreated heavy weapons. Meanwhile, U.S. and Turkish began joint aerial and ground patrols of the area.

But Turkey and the U.S. disagreed over the depth of the zone, with Ankara seeking to also have its troops monitor a stretch of territory between 30 and 40 kilometers deep (19 to 25 miles). Despite the agreement, Erdogan had continued to threaten an attack.

The Kurdish-led fighters have been the main U.S.-backed force in Syria in the fight against IS and in March, the group captured the last sliver of land held by the extremists, marking the end of the so-called caliphate that was declared by IS’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2014.

“We will not hesitate for a moment in defending our people” against Turkish troops, the Syrian Kurdish force said, adding that it has lost 11,000 fighters in the war against IS in Syria.

A Turkish attack would lead to a resurgence of IS, it said. IS sleeper cells are already plotting to break free some 12,000 militants detained by Syrian Kurdish fighters in northeastern Syria in a “threat to local & international security.”

The Kurdish fighters also control the al-Hol camp, home to more than 70,000 including at least 9,000 foreigners, mostly wives and children of IS fighters.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tweeted that since the beginning of the crisis in Syria, “we have supported the territorial integrity of this country, and we will continue to support it.”

He added that Ankara is determined to ensure the survival and security of Turkey “by clearing the region from terrorists. We will contribute to peace, peace and stability in Syria.”

The Syrian Kurdish Hawar news agency and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also say American troops were evacuating positions near the towns of Ras al-Ayn and Tal Abyad on Monday.

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Associated Press writer Suzan Fraser contributed to this report from Ankara, Turkey.