Trump rally in Dallas marked by enthusiasm, in sharp contrast to chaos in Minneapolis

tiny from House Democrats conducting an impeachment inquiry -- and a week after chaos and violence broke out at a Trump rally in Democratic-leaning Minnesota.
A massive crowd of approximately 30,000 gathered outside the American Airlines Center to watch the speech on a large screen, as the president launched into an extended critique of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates. He derided former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke as "very dumb" for pushing to confiscate guns and tax religious institutions, and remarked that Joe Biden's family overtly profited from his political career.
"Last week, a very dumb Democrat candidate for president -- that's the end of him in this state -- pledged to revoke the tax-exempt status of many churches and religious charities," Trump said, as boos rocked the arena. "And by the way, that was after, a few weeks ago, he said, 'Excuse me, we're gonna take your guns away.' ... The flailer. You remember he was flailing all over the place?"
It was a marked difference from the bedlam on the streets during Trump's speech last week in Minneapolis, when left-wing activists were recorded attacking Trump supporters on video. A Trump-supporting woman leaving that rally was hit in the face on camera.
A brief security episode as Trump spoke was quickly resolved. Dallas officers assigned to the rally said they were "made aware of an adult male wearing body armor" outside the arena, and that "officers located the individual observing that he was also armed." The man, who was licensed to carry a firearm, was transported to a local hospital for evaluation without incident, investigators said.
Meanwhile, after Trump tweeted a video showing long lines to enter the American Airlines Center just before he took the stage, actor Tom Arnold responded with an apparent threat: "Don't get too cocky traitor. They showed up for JFK too."
Inside the arena, Trump kept the focus on his presidential rivals, as well as the plummeting unemployment and poverty rates for various demographic groups.
"Last month, unemployment reached its lowest level in 51 years," Trump said to applause. "1.3 million children have been lifted out of poverty -- think of that. And, African-American, Hispanic American and Asian American unemployment rates have reached the lowest levels in history. Our great Hispanic American population has reached a poverty level which is an all-time low in U.S. history. ... The median income for Hispanic Americans has surpassed $50,000 a year for the first time ever."
While Democrats wanted to raise taxes, Trump said, Republicans "ended the war on a thing called American energy, which is very good for Texas. Since my election, natural gas production in Texas has increased by 35 percent, and oil production has increased by 60 percent. And the United States is now the number-one producer of oil and natural gas anywhere in the world!"
Trump added: "Yet every major Democratic candidate running for president wants to abolish all production of oil and natural gas. I think they want to go to windmills. 'Darling, I want to watch Trump tonight'; 'You can't, darling. The wind isn't blowing.' In other words, they want to annihilate our Texas economy."
The rally came at a critical time for Trump, whose dealings with the president of Ukraine have been the subject of a quickly unfolding impeachment inquiry run by House Democrats. Perry was subpoenaed earlier Thursday by House committees conducting the probe.

President Donald Trump taking the stage for the rally at American Airlines Arena in Dallas on Thursday. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Republicans have raised concerns that they might take a historic beating in Texas in 2020, as more suburban voters have balked at the president. Trump carried the longtime Republican stronghold and its 38 Electoral College votes by only 9 points in 2016 -- down from Mitt Romney's 15-point win in 2012.
Trump recounted his win in Texas during the rally, as well as his debate preparation in the primary against college debate champion and Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz.
"I hired a debate coach, and he lasted about 10 minutes -- I said, 'This guy knows less than I do.' He didn't know anything, it's true. He said, 'Never, ever interrupt if they're speaking.' I said, 'OK coach, put me in, coach.' I mean, you can't beat Ted Cruz if you don't interrupt him. It's impossible.
"I said, to my wife, first lady, potentially, I said, 'I got a problem,'" Trump recounted. "'Some of these guys are OK, they were only president of the class. ... I liked playing baseball better. But I said, Melania, and I called Ivanka, my kids -- I said, 'I got a problem. Ted Cruz was the national debate -- the number-one guy in college. He was the number-one guy in law school. How the hell do I beat a guy who's that good at debating?' But we came out OK, Ted. Ted was tough -- smart as hell, and tough."
In a shot at Democrats a day after their most recent presidential primary debate, Trump remarked, "In recent debates, you see these people up there, they're not Ted Cruz, believe me. Hey Ted, you should turn Democrat, you would win. Every single Democrat candidate for president raised their hands in favor of giving health care to all illegal aliens."
The White House has emphasized Democrats' historic leftward push, and Trump also hammered that theme at Thursday's rally -- saying Democrats wanted to "eviscerate" not only Medicare, but also babies just prior to their birth.
"They want to impose an extreme agenda," Trump said, referring to the field of Democrats seeking the White House. "They cannot pass it, and they cannot win it at the ballot box -- they're not going to win. They won't come close in 2020. They know it."
He continued: "They want to tear down symbols of faith and drive Christians and religious believers from the public square. They want to silence your voices on social media, and they want the government to censor, muzzle and shut down conservative voices -- you know that."
Democrats, though, have pointed to demographic trends as well as the fact that Cruz won reelection by just over 2 points last year as evidence that the second-most-populous state could soon be in play.

The line to enter the campaign rally for President Trump forming outside the American Airlines Center on Thursday in Dallas. (AP Photo/Jeffrey McWhorter)

“I expect President Trump to win Texas by 5 percentage points, not 9 points this time,” Southern Methodist University political science professor Cal Jillson told Politico. “There are long-term demographic changes taking place in the state that eat into Republican support. The major cities like Austin, Houston and Dallas are already leaning blue. Plus, his Republican coalition has been destabilized by his own actions and conduct."
At the same time, Trump's campaign and the RNC have been raking in money, raising a record $125 million in the third quarter of this year. By comparison, former President Obama and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) raised just over $70 million in the third quarter of 2011 for his reelection campaign.
The RNC raised a record-setting $27.3 million just last month and had $59.2 million cash as of the end of August, amid the impeachment push against the president  -- which has fueled GOP campaign contributions heading into the 2020 election.
This cycle, to date, the RNC has more than doubled the DNC's fundraising efforts, according to the GOP, which also noted that the Democrats, as of last month, carried $7.3 million in debt.
The campaign continued to haul in cash Thursday. Trump began his trip at a fundraiser in Fort Worth that raised about $5.5 million for Trump Victory, a joint fundraising committee benefiting the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee. Looking to promote new jobs, Trump then toured the recently built Louis Vuitton plant in Alvarado with his daughter and senior adviser Ivanka Trump.
"I've seen that before," Trump told his tour guides while pointing to one of the iconic bags set up on a table.
While Republicans largely have defended Trump, they have sounded alarms over his decision to pull U.S. troops out of northern Syria — a move that paved the way for Turkey to invade and assault the Kurds, who'd fought alongside the U.S. in its campaign against Islamic State militants.
Upon landing in Texas on Thursday, Trump credited his threat of sanctions on Turkey and the violence that has unfolded for the announcement of a cease-fire, though critics said Trump green-lit the incursion and put the Kurdish forces in danger by announcing a U.S. troop withdrawal.

A sea of red hats as supporters of President Trump lined up to enter the campaign rally on Thursday in Dallas. (AP Photo/Jeffrey McWhorter)

Trump described the cease-fire as an "incredible outcome" that could not have occurred "unless you went somewhat unconventional."
A White House meeting between Trump and congressional lawmakers to discuss the situation Wednesday devolved into an insult-fest, with the president calling House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., a "third-grade politician," and Pelosi and other top Democrats storming out.
A senior aide for the Democrats told Fox News that Trump began the meeting, which ostensibly had been called by the White House, by remarking that "someone wanted this meeting so I agreed to it." Trump also was said to have told Pelosi, "I hate ISIS more than you do," prompting Pelosi to respond, "You don't know that."
Trump and Pelosi continued to trade jabs after the meeting, with each accusing the other of having a meltdown.
As the Democrats walked out, Trump reportedly remarked, "I'll see you at the polls."
Fox News' Lissa Kaplan and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Squad Cartoons

‘Squad’ members not ‘all in’ on Sanders endorsement -- at least not yet

Is there dissension in the ranks of “The Squad”?
One day after reports emerged that the group of far-left House Democrats planned to endorse Sen. Bernie Sanders in the 2020 presidential race, it seemed only one of them – Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. – was officially aboard the Bernie Bus:
As for the others:
-- Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had made no official endorsement but was still rumored to be attending a Sanders rally scheduled for this weekend in Queens, N.Y. – one of two New York city boroughs that include a portion of Ocasio-Cortez’s home district.
-- Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., clarified Wednesday that she had not yet endorsed a 2020 presidential candidate – even though CNN and Omar claimed Tlaib had backed Sanders.
-- Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., also hadn’t made an endorsement.
Pressley’s camp stressed that while the Squad members support one another in Congress, they don’t necessarily speak with one voice on all issues.
“Ayanna has tremendous respect for her sisters-in-service,” a Pressley spokesperson told Vox. “Ultimately, these political decisions are made as individuals.”

“Ayanna has tremendous respect for her sisters-in-service. Ultimately, these political decisions are made as individuals.”
— Spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass.

One factor possibly stalling a Pressley endorsement of Sanders: She hails from the same state as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, so she might not be as eager to oppose a presidential candidate from her home area – the way that Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., for example, backed former Vice President Joe Biden instead of her fellow Californian, Sen. Kamala Harris.
According to Boston.com, Pressley’s ties to the Sanders campaign aren’t as strong as those of Ocasio-Cortez and Omar, with Pressley having backed Hillary Clinton over Sanders in 2016. In addition, Pressley has worked with Warren on legislation in Congress and also has close relationships with Harris and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., who have been seeking her endorsement, the report said.
Tlaib, meanwhile, hasn’t ruled out a Sanders endorsement down the road, telling the Detroit Free Press she will host the U.S. senator from Vermont in her district later this month – just as she recently did recently with Warren. (Warren posted video from that visit online Wednesday -- and Tlaib retweeted it.)
"I am looking forward to bringing Senator Sanders to Michigan on Oct. 27 for a tour of our district that will highlight economic justice issues and corporate tax giveaways, and (include) a roundtable with housing justice advocates,” Tlaib said. “I need to know that anyone I choose to endorse will fight for my residents, and I appreciate the opportunity for them to have a dialogue with Sen. Sanders about these critically important issues.”

“I need to know that anyone I choose to endorse will fight for my residents, and I appreciate the opportunity for them to have a dialogue with Sen. Sanders about these critically important issues.”
— U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.

But regardless of what Tlaib and Pressley ultimately decide to do, the Sanders endorsement by Omar – and rumored endorsement by Ocasio-Cortez – were blows to the Warren campaign, coming on the same night that the senator fended off fierce attacks from fellow Democrats at the party’s presidential debate in Ohio.
As Boston.com noted, Warren has courted Ocasio-Cortez, having lunch with her in March, writing a blurb for Ocasio-Cortez’s entry in Time magazine’s “Time 100” listing, and filming a video with Ocasio-Cortez in which the pair reviewed the final episode of “Game of Thrones.”

Buttigieg tweeted support for Medicare-for-all in resurfaced tweet despite attacking Warren at debate

South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg attacked Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s Medicare-for-all plan at Tuesday night’s Democratic debate, saying that his Medicare-"for-All-Who-Want-It" plan is "just better."
He has criticized single-payer at the last few debates, claiming it would "obliterate private plans."
But in a resurfaced tweet from last year, Buttigieg professed support for it.
"I, Pete Buttigieg, politician, do henceforth and forthwith declare, most affirmatively and indubitably, unto the ages, that I do favor Medicare for all, as I do favor any measure that would help get all Americans covered," Buttigieg wrote in a February 2018 tweet, responding to whether he supported it.
A Buttigieg aide Wednesday said that he had not changed his position on Medicare for all, explaining that he supports it as an end goal but he wants to take a "glide path" to get there, The Hill reported.
“What I'll say is that I've laid out a plan that now explains how we're going to get there, that makes Medicare available to all and at the same time doesn't do away with private plans," Buttigieg told a reporter Wednesday who asked if his position had changed.
He added that he doesn’t think private plans need to be gotten rid of to make Medicare available to everyone, according to The Hill.
At the debate, Warren said Buttiegieg’s plan was really “Medicare-for-all-who-can-afford-it.”
Former President Obama aide and "Pod Save America" host Jon Favreau tweeted Wednesday that both Buttigieg and Kamala Harris have changed their positions on Medicare-for-all.
"And there can be perfectly legitimate reasons for that," he wrote. "The difference is, Harris hasn’t been openly attacking her old position. Trickier to pull off!"

Presidential pardons less of an obstacle for NY state prosecutors under new law: report

So you’ve committed a crime but received a pardon from the president of the United States.
That might no longer help you in New York state.
In what appeared to be an action aimed squarely at President Trump, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill into law Wednesday that lets the state’s prosecutors bring charges against those who’ve received presidential pardons for the crimes in question.
According to Politico, the U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled that state prosecutors can bring charges against people who have already faced similar federal charges. But New York’s state law had included ways of blocking the state-level trials.
Cuomo’s signature Wednesday helped erase those obstacles, the report said.
One test of the new law could come if Trump attorney and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani eventually faces charges of lobbying violations under the federal probe he is reportedly facing regarding business dealing in Ukraine, Politico reported.
"This critical new law closes a gaping loophole that could have allowed any president to abuse the presidential pardon power by unfairly granting a pardon to a family member or close associate and possibly allow that individual to evade justice altogether,” New York state Attorney General Tish James said in a statement Wednesday. “No one is above the law, and this commonsense measure will provide a reasonable and necessary check on presidential power today and for all presidents to come.”
In August, President Trump criticized The Washington Post after the newspaper printed a story saying the president claimed he would pardon aides if they broke the law in order to speed the process for building a U.S.-Mexico border wall before the 2020 presidential election.
“Another totally Fake story in the Amazon Washington Post (lobbyist) which states that if my Aides broke the law to build the Wall (which is going up rapidly), I would give them a Pardon,” Trump wrote at the time. “This was made up by the Washington Post only in order to demean and disparage - FAKE NEWS!”
Earlier this month Trump posthumously pardoned Zay Jeffries, a World War II scientist who helped develop tank-piercing artillery that helped defeat the Nazis. After the war, Jeffries was convicted of business actions that violated Sherman Anti-Trust Act.
Other recipients of Trump pardons have included Joe Arpaio, a former sheriff in Arizona; Lewis “Scooter” Libby, a former chief of staff to former Vice President Dick Cheney; Jack Johnson, a champion boxer; and Dinesh D’Souza, a conservative author and filmmaker.
Fox News' Danielle Wallace and Melissa Leon contributed to this story.

Elijah Cummings dead at 68

Rep. Elijah Cummings, the powerful House Democrat who represented Baltimore for more than two decades and was a vocal critic of President Trump, died early Thursday after battling health problems, his office said in a statement
Cummings, who was 68, died at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, his hometown. As chair of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, he was one of the most powerful Democrats in Washington, and played a key role in the House Democrats' ongoing efforts to impeach Trump.
"This is a terrible tragedy," Howard Dean, the former governor of Vermont, tweeted. "Elijah is one of the most honest, thoughtful, decent people I ever met in politics. His moral compass was unfailing throughout his life in and out of politics. My deepest thanks to Elijah’s family for lending him to our country for all these years."
Cummings has not returned to work after an undisclosed medical procedure that he said would only keep him away for about a week.
In the House, Cummings built a substantial power base. At the time of his death, he was chairman of the influential House Oversight Committee and a leading voice in the Congressional Black Caucus. He played a key role in the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.
Cummings was born on Jan. 18, 1951. In grade school, a counselor told Cummings he was too slow to learn and spoke poorly, and he would never fulfill his dream of becoming a lawyer.
"I was devastated," Cummings told The Associated Press in 1996, shortly before he won his seat in Congress. "My whole life changed. I became very determined."
Cummings, a sharecropper's son-- one of seven children-- led multiple investigations of the president's governmental dealings, including probes in 2019 relating to the president's family members serving in the White House.
He clashed with Trump after the president criticized his district as a "rodent-infested mess" where "no human being would want to live."
Cummings replied that government officials must stop making "hateful, incendiary comments" that only serve to divide and distract the nation from its real problems, including mass shootings and white supremacy.
"Those in the highest levels of the government must stop invoking fear, using racist language and encouraging reprehensible behavior," Cummings said in a speech at the National Press Club.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

Elizabeth Warren Cartoons

Takeaways: Warren under fire, 70s club ignores age issue

A dozen Democratic presidential candidates participated in a spirited debate Tuesday over health care, taxes, gun control and impeachment. Takeaways from the three-hour forum in Westerville, Ohio.

WARREN’S RISE ATTRACTS ATTACKS

Sen. Elizabeth Warren found Tuesday that her rise in the polls may come with a steep cost. She’s now a clear target for attacks, particularly from more moderate challengers, and her many plans are now being subjected to much sharper scrutiny.

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg slammed her for not acknowledging, as Bernie Sanders has, that middle-class taxes would increase under the single-payer health plan both she and Sanders favor.

“At least Bernie’s being honest with this,” Klobuchar said.

“I don’t think the American people are wrong when they say what they want is a choice,” Buttigieg told Warren. His plan maintains private insurance but would allow people to buy into Medicare.

Candidates also pounced on Warren’s suggestion that only she and Sanders want to take on billionaires while the rest of the field wants to protect them. Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke told Warren it didn’t seem like she wanted to lift people up and she is “more focused on being punitive.”

And they piled onto her signature proposal, a 2% wealth tax to raise the trillions needed for many of her ambitious proposals. Technology entrepreneur Andrew Yang noted that such a measure has failed in almost every European country where it’s been tried.

THAT 70s SHOW

The stage included three 70-something candidates who would be the oldest people ever elected to a first term as president — including 78-year-old Sanders, who had a heart attack earlier this month. Moderators asked all three how they could do the job. None really addressed the question.

Sanders invited the public to a major rally he’s planning in New York City next week and vowed to take the fight to corporate elites.

Biden promised to release his medical records before the Iowa caucuses next year and said he was running because the country needs an elder statesman in the White House after Trump.

Warren, whose campaign has highlighted her hours-long sessions posing for selfies with supporters, promised to “out-organize and outlast” any other candidate — including Trump. Then she pivoted to her campaign argument that Democrats need to put forth big ideas rather than return to the past, a dig at Biden.

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ONE VOICE ON IMPEACHMENT

The opening question was a batting practice fastball for the Democratic candidates: Should Trump be impeached?

They were in steadfast agreement. All 12 of them. Largely with variations on the word “corrupt” to describe the president.

Warren was asked first if voters should decide whether Trump should stay in office. She responded, “There are decisions that are bigger than politics.”

Biden, who followed Sanders, offered a rare admission: “I agree with Bernie.”

The only hint of dissonance came from Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, who was one of the last Democratic House members to back an impeachment inquiry. She lamented that some Democrats had been calling for Trump’s impeachment since right after the 2016 election, undermining the party’s case against him.

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KLOBUCHAR: MINNESOTA NOT-SO-NICE

Klobuchar has faded into the background in previous debates, but she stood out on the crowded stage.

She also went on the attack. She chided entrepreneur Andrew Yang for seeming to compare Russian interference in the 2016 election to U.S. foreign policy. But her main barbs were reserved for Warren. “I appreciate Elizabeth’s work but, again, the difference between a plan and a pipe dream is something you can actually get done,” she said.

After Warren seemed to suggest other candidates were protecting billionaires, Klobuchar pounced. “No one on this stage wants to protect billionaires,” Klobuchar said. “Even the billionaire doesn’t want to protect billionaires.”

That was a reference to investor Tom Steyer, who had agreed with Sanders’ condemnation of billionaires and called for a wealth tax — despite the fact that his wealth funded his last-minute campaign to clear the debate thresholds and appear Tuesday night.

Klobuchar also forcefully condemned Trump’s abandonment of the Kurds in Syria.

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BOOKER THE PEACEMAKER

New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker has been trying to campaign on the power of love and unity. It hasn’t vaulted him to the top of the polls, but it drew perhaps the biggest cheers from the crowd Tuesday night.

As candidates bickered over their tax plans, Booker shut it down. “We’ve got one shot to make Donald Trump a one-term president and how we talk about each other in this debate actually really matters,” he said. “Tearing each other down because we have a different plan is unacceptable.”

Later, as candidates tussled over foreign policy and Syria, Booker again tried to bring the debate back to morals. “This president is turning the moral leadership of this country into a dumpster fire,” he said, before launching into a furious condemnation of Trump’s foreign policy.

The New Jersey senator’s inability to break out of the pack has puzzled Democrats who long saw him as a top-tier presidential candidate.