Trump overshadows Republican debate even as he sits it out

Even in boycotting a debate with his Republican rivals, front-runner Donald Trump managed to upstage the event on Thursday with a typical dramatic flourish.
Instead of attending a seventh debate, the former reality TV star held a competing event across town that he said raised $6 million for U.S. military veterans. In doing so, he cast a shadow over his rivals, who frequently tossed barbs his way.
Trump's gamble that he could leave the battlefield to his rivals for one night appeared to pay off, with just days to go before Iowa holds the first nominating contest of the 2016 election season. No one appeared to emerge as a central challenger to him during the two-hour face-off in Des Moines.
Trump's refusal to participate in the debate out of anger that Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly was a moderator prompted a flurry of last-minute phone calls with Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes that failed to resolve their dispute.
A Fox News (FOXA.O) statement said Trump requested that Fox contribute $5 million to his charities in exchange for his attendance, which the network turned down.
The debate was the type of event Republicans would routinely have without the flamboyant Trump on stage, and it lacked the electricity that he brings to the party's search for a nominee for the Nov. 8 election.
Without Trump on stage, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie found themselves with more room to make their case to voters seeking a more mainstream candidate.
Both men have an eye on the Feb. 9 first-in-the-nation primary in New Hampshire, which comes on the heels of the Iowa caucuses on Monday and where an establishment Republican like them might have a better chance of standing out.
Senator Ted Cruz from Texas and Senator Marco Rubio from Florida, the two top challengers to Trump in Iowa, engaged in squabbles over immigration and national security and did not appear to threaten Trump's lead. He holds the edge over Cruz in polls of Iowa Republicans.
Trump's rivals mocked his decision to sit out the debate and found ways to criticize him.
"I’m a maniac and everyone on this stage is stupid, fat and ugly, and Ben, you're a terrible surgeon," Cruz told his rivals, including Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, as the debate opened. His next sentence began: "Now that we’ve gotten the Donald Trump portion out of the way."
Bush, who has been a frequent target of Trump's attacks, turned a question about religious tolerance into an attack on Trump's proposed temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States.
"Donald Trump, for example — I mentioned his name again if anybody was missing him — Mr. Trump believed in reaction to people’s fears that we should ban all Muslims. Well, that creates an environment that’s toxic in our own country," Bush said.
Cruz, after a series of questions, said: "If you ask me one more mean question, I may have to leave the stage."
In a swipe at both Trump and Cruz, Rubio chimed in: "Don't worry, I'm not going to leave the stage no matter what you ask me."
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With his veterans' event drawing live TV news coverage on Fox News competitors CNN and MSNBC, Trump absorbed plenty of media attention.
He clung to his insistence that Fox News had treated him badly. He has complained that Kelly insulted him at a debate in August and that a statement from the network earlier this week had belittled him.
Two other Republican candidates, Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee, joined Trump on stage after participating in a debate of low-polling candidates.
Not so former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore.
"I’m not about to go across town tonight to carry the coat for some billionaire," he said at the "undercard" debate.
There was some mystery as to which veterans' groups would receive the money raised at the event, which included $1 million from Trump himself. His campaign did not say which group was getting the funds.
Trump, with just one day's notice on a weeknight, was able to fill to capacity a hall at Drake University that holds 700.
"I didn’t want to be here, to be honest, I wanted to be about five minutes away" at the debate, Trump told the crowd. "When you’re treated badly, you have to stick up for your rights - whether we like it or not."
Trump dominated social media during the debate, leading the entire Republican pack in Twitter mentions throughout the first half of the debate, according to data from social media analytics firm Zoomph.
Trump was by far the most-searched-for candidate on Google during the first half of the debate, at one point outpacing the second-most-searched-for candidate, Rubio, by nearly four-to-one, according to Google Trends data.
Trump's support in opinion polls, much of it from blue-collar men, has not wavered for months despite him insulting Mexican immigrants and Muslims and clashing with Republican establishment figures like Senator John McCain.

Trump leads polls in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina

Donald Trump holds a strong lead over the Republican field in three states while the race between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders continues to remain close, according to three new NBC News/Wall Street Journal/ Marist polls out Thursday.
In Iowa, Trump has the support of 32 percent of likely Republican caucus-goers. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz follows seven points behind with 25 percent and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has 18 percent. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson has 8 percent and Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has 4 percent. All other candidates have 2 percent.

In the same poll less than three weeks ago, Cruz led Trump, 28 to 24 percent.
On the Democratic side, Iowa remains a tossup: Clinton leads Sanders by 3 percentage points among likely Democratic caucus-goers, 48 percent to 45 percent. Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley is at 3 percent.
But in New Hampshire, Sanders leads Clinton among likely Democratic primary voters by 19 percentage points — 57 percent to 38 percent. O’Malley had just 2 percent. Last month, the Vermont senator led the former secretary of state by just 4 points, 50 percent to 46 percent.
On the Republican side in New Hampshire, Trump keeps his strong lead (31 percent). The next-closest competitor is Cruz with 12 percent. Rubio and Ohio Gov. John Kasich are tied at 11 percent, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has 8 percent and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie holds 7 percent, with everyone else below 5 percent.
But there’s good news for Clinton in South Carolina, where she has the support 64 percent of likely Democratic voters while Sanders has just 27 percent.
South Carolina is also a good state for Trump, who has the backing of 36 percent of likely Republican primary voters, Cruz follows him with 20 percent and Rubio has 14 percent. Bush, despite the backing of Sen. Lindsey Graham, has 9 percent and Carson has 8 percent. No other candidate has more than 2 percent.
The Iowa telephone survey was conducted Jan. 24-26. Of the respondents, there were 450 likely Republican caucus-goers and a margin of error of plus or minus 4.6 percentage points. There were 426 likely Democratic caucus goers with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.7 percentage points. The New Hampshire telephone survey of 612 likely Republican primary voters was taken Jan. 17-23, with a margin of error of 4 percentage points. There were 568 likely Democratic primary voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points. The South Carolina telephone poll was also conducted Jan. 17-23. There were 718 likely primary voters with a margin of error of 3.7 percentage points; with the subsample of 446 likely Democratic primary voters, there is a margin of error of 4.6 percentage points.

At Trump rally, a rare spotlight on Huckabee and Santorum

Donald Trump invites former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania to the podium at his campaign event Jan. 28 in Des Moines. (Khue Bui for Yahoo News)

DES MOINES, Iowa — They had seen a crowd like this before: a few hundred Iowans, up on their feet, hands in the air and cheering wildly. Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee, two former winners of the Iowa Republican presidential caucus (in 2012 and 2008, respectively) stood in the warm glow of the stage lights, clearly thrilled at the reception. But their smiles soon turned wistful. The audience wasn’t there for them.
The Republican presidential hopefuls, now political long shots in their second bids for the GOP nomination, stood in the shadow of the man to beat, Donald Trump, who had enlisted his rivals in his counter-programming for the GOP debate Thursday night — a fundraiser for military veterans that was alternately sincere and surreal.
Taking the stage at an auditorium on the campus of Drake University, a few miles from where his Republican rivals were participating in the last debate before Monday’s caucus, Trump told the crowd that Fox News had been “extremely nice” to him that afternoon, calling him and asking up until the last minute if he’d change his mind and come to the debate. But he refused, because, he said, they hadn’t been fair to him.
“You have to stick up for your rights,” Trump said, comparing his feud with Fox News to the tempestuous relationship between the United States and Iran.

A supporter with an anti-Fox News sticker listens to Donald Trump at a campaign event Jan. 28 in Des Moines. (Khue Bui for Yahoo News)
In the front row sat Huckabee and Santorum, fresh from their appearance in the so-called “undercard” debate, awkward smiles on their faces as Trump rambled through a version of his stump speech. At one point, he suddenly seemed to remember that he’d invited two of his rivals to join him to honor military veterans, and he summoned Huckabee and Santorum to the stage, reminding his audience that they had just come from a debate.
“I heard they did really well, these two. I mean, who the hell knows? I didn’t get to see very much of it,” Trump said. Turning to his rivals, who wore frozen smiles, he said, “I think if they had booed, you probably wouldn’t be here right now. You’d go back and be depressed, right?”
Trump pushed his rivals to speak, and Santorum walked to the microphone first, standing awkwardly to the left of the podium. “Not to be offensive,” the former Pennsylvania senator said, “but I am going to stand a little bit over here so I am not photographed with the Trump sign.”
As the audience laughed, Santorum added, “Um, I am supporting another candidate for president, but that doesn’t mean we can’t work together when it comes to helping our veterans.”
When Huckabee spoke, he didn’t bother to hide from the Trump sign. “I figure you’re going to get the photo anyway, so I might as well just stand here,” he said. “I want to say how grateful I am for Donald Trump inviting us here. I think you would have let any of the other candidates come. But for reasons that maybe I don’t understand, they are not here. Maybe because they have a slot at 8 o’clock, but I had nothing to do at 8 o’clock tonight. This worked great for me.”
Behind him, Trump laughed.
In the crowd, nobody seemed to be sad about missing the last GOP debate here.
“It didn’t bother me a bit. I’ve watched the debates. After a couple of them,     there’s not a whole lot more they can ask,“ said Suellen Seaba, who came to the Trump event with her husband, a Vietnam veteran, and their friend Wesley Jacoby, a 90-year-old who served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. "I thought this was a very good alternative.”

Iran Deal Cartoon

Iran poised to make billions off country's vast mineral wealth

Iran is poised to become one of the richest countries in the world -- and its potential for profit goes far beyond oil.  
After years of economic sanctions and international isolation, the Islamic Republic stands to make an estimated $700 billion off its vast deposits of minerals -- such as copper, iron ore, zinc and lead.
"They are an incredibly mineral-rich nation," said Rebecca Keller, a science and technology analyst with the Texas-based global intelligence company, Stratfor.
"There’s potential for high-quality, fairly low-cost mining in Iran," Keller told FoxNews.com Wednesday, as Iranian President Hassan Rouhani tours Europe this week, signing business deals with Western countries clamoring to profit off its natural resources, including its mineral deposits.

"They are an incredibly mineral-rich nation."
- Rebecca Keller, Stratfor

Iran has more than 3,000 active mines -- mostly privately owned -- that contain copper, iron ore and heavy rare earth elements, according to the website mining.com.

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(AP)

"They're everywhere," Keller said of Iran's minerals, noting the potential for mining near the Afghanistan border and through a ridge that runs down the middle of the country.
"They’re also looking into exploiting rare earth elements, but they’re still in the early stages of this," Keller said of Tehran.
Companies from the oil sector to car making are jostling to take advantage of the opening of the country of nearly 80 million people. Most sanctions were dropped last week after Iran agreed with world powers on a plan to limit its nuclear capabilities.

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Iranian President Hassan Rouhani smiles ahead of a meeting in Paris, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016. Rouhani says his first visit to Europe since the nuclear accord was signed has proven that there are "great possibilities" for economic, academic, scientific and cultural cooperation and that "today we are in a win-win situation" after years of mutual losses due to sanctions. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Some business deals are ready to be inked, but others are still in negotiation as a few sanctions not related to the nuclear program remain in place, particularly by the U.S., on the trade of goods that could be used for military or intelligence purposes.
In Italy, the government and private companies signed more than a dozen accords with Iran covering the metals industry, oil services, rail transport and shipbuilding.
Iran’s Deputy Industry, Mine and Trade Minister, Mehdi Karbasian, said his country hopes to finalize investment plans worth about $5.4 billion during Rouhani's visit to the country.
According to Tasnim News Agency, the deals with Italy include joint investments in the steel production chain in southern Iran. Tehran also is expected to seal a contract with Italian and Chinese companies to carry out the second phase of Salco, Iran’s largest aluminum smelter plant, Trend News Agency reported.
At a press conference Wednesday in Rome, Rouhani invited American businessmen to join their European counterparts in investing in Iran and taking advantage of the new era of "win-win" collaboration after years of mutual losses. 
"It's possible, but the key is in Washington, not in Tehran," he said. "At the same time today, if American investors and the heads of the American economy want to come to Iran and invest in my country, there are no problems from our point of view."
Rouhani, a relative moderate elected in 2013, flew to France later Wednesday and was meeting with Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron and a group of French business leaders.
While the potential mineral profits are estimated at hundreds of billions of dollars, experts like Keller say it will likely take time before such wealth can be seen.
"Unlike oil -- which they have the ability to release into the market immediately -- it’s going to take awhile for these mining operations to scale up," Keller said.

Full statement on Trump declining to participate in Fox News/Google Debate

As many of our viewers know, FOX News is hosting a sanctioned debate in Des Moines, Iowa on Thursday night, three days before the first votes of the 2016 election are cast in the Iowa Caucus. Donald Trump is refusing to debate seven of his fellow presidential candidates on stage that night, which is near unprecedented.
We’re not sure how Iowans are going to feel about him walking away from them at the last minute, but it should be clear to the American public by now that this is rooted in one thing – Megyn Kelly, whom he has viciously attacked since August and has now spent four days demanding be removed from the debate stage. Capitulating to politicians’ ultimatums about a debate moderator violates all journalistic standards, as do threats, including the one leveled by Trump’s campaign manager Corey Lewandowski toward Megyn Kelly.
In a call on Saturday with a FOX News executive, Lewandowski stated that Megyn had a ‘rough couple of days after that last debate’ and he ‘would hate to have her go through that again.’ Lewandowski was warned not to level any more threats, but he continued to do so. We can’t give in to terrorizations toward any of our employees.
Trump is still welcome at Thursday night’s debate and will be treated fairly, just as he has been during his 132 appearances on FOX News & FOX Business, but he can’t dictate the moderators or the questions.

Trump stands by debate boycott decision, announces veterans event

Donald Trump stuck by his decision to skip the upcoming Fox News/Google presidential primary debate, claiming in an interview Wednesday night with Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly that he had been “used” and mistreated. 
“I don’t like being taken advantage of,” the billionaire businessman and Republican primary front-runner said, repeatedly telling O'Reilly that he'll instead hold a veterans event at Drake University while his GOP rivals debate.
Trump has taken heat from conservative commentators as well as his Republican primary rivals for his decision to boycott the Thursday night debate. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz earlier said that if Trump is “afraid” to face questions, “that does not bode well for what kind of commander-in-chief you'd make.” Cruz also challenged Trump to a one-on-one debate, a suggestion Trump later brushed aside with a sarcastic tweet referencing Cruz's Canadian birth.
Trump rejected his rivals'  criticism, insisting he’s won every debate to date and is willing to do more going forward.
“I’ll do other debates,” he told O'Reilly, but then complained that, “We’re going to go on forever with these debates.”
Despite O'Reilly's attempt to convince Trump to reconsider his debate boycott, Trump held fast to his decision while insisting, “I’m not walking away.”
The Republican candidate, meanwhile, announced the details of an alternative event he plans to host Thursday night, to raise money for veterans groups. He said he’ll host the event, being described as a “special event to benefit veterans organizations,” at Drake University in Des Moines.
Late Wedneday night, super PAC “Keep the Promise” — which supports Ted Cruz — offered to contribute $1.5 million to veterans’ charities if Trump accepts Cruz’s one-on-one debate challenge. There was no immediate response from the Trump campaign.
Trump’s comments are the latest in a fast-paced volley of accusations surrounding the upcoming debate.
For days, Trump has revived his criticism of one of the moderators, Fox News host Megyn Kelly, alleging that she had treated him unfairly at the Fox News debate in August.
That led to an exchange of media statements between Trump and Fox News representatives, after which Trump decided Tuesday night to boycott. Trump pointed to those media statements, as well, in explaining his decision not to attend Thursday’s debate.
He has continued to criticize both Kelly and Fox News itself in the wake of his decision.
Early Wednesday morning, Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that the boycott had “nothing to do with Megyn Kelly.” But a half-hour later, Trump again went after Kelly on Twitter, calling her a “lightweight reporter.” And, he continued his attacks during his appearance on "O'Reilly."
Whether Trump’s decision helps or hurts his campaign in Iowa and beyond remains to be seen.
Other candidates suggested Trump’s absence might help give the rest of those on stage a better chance to be heard.
“It’ll give us more time to talk,” New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie told Fox News. “And that’ll be good for me and good for the other people on the stage.”
Christie, too, ripped Trump for his decision, saying: “You gotta show up.”
Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes has defended Megyn Kelly amid the criticism from Trump, saying she’ll “absolutely be on the debate stage.”
Fox News also issued a statement after Trump’s decision saying Lewandowski had threatened to ramp up the attacks.
“In a call on Saturday with a FOX News executive, Lewandowski stated that Megyn had a ‘rough couple of days after that last debate’ and he ‘would hate to have her go through that again,’” the Fox News statement said late Tuesday.
“Lewandowski was warned not to level any more threats, but he continued to do so. We can’t give in to terrorizations toward any of our employees,” the statement added.
The Fox News/Google prime-time debate is set for Thursday in Des Moines, Iowa, at 9 p.m. ET – the same time as Trump’s veterans event.
Addressing the matter on “The Kelly File” Tuesday night, Kelly said: “I’ll be there. … The debate will go on with or without Mr. Trump.”

Tax Sells? Sanders, Clinton both pitching tax hikes in Dem primary

Benjamin Franklin is credited with the observation that nothing is certain “except death and taxes.”
Bernie Sanders would probably agree, and then some. In an election season marked by populist anger, his plan to raise at least $19.58 trillion in higher taxes over 10 years -- almost 20 times the tax hikes Hillary Clinton proposes -- has not dulled his rise.
And, despite the anti-tax fervor of the Tea Party wave a few years ago, neither Democratic candidate seems shy about pushing an aggressive tax plan in their presidential primary battle.
"Raising taxes in the Democratic primary is a vote winner," said Grover Norquist, of the anti-tax Americans for Tax Reform.
Sanders, for one, was defiant about his proposed tax hikes at a CNN town hall on Monday.
"I start off with the premise that in the last 30 years ... there's been a massive redistribution of wealth in this country," Sanders said. "It's gone from working families, trillions of dollars, to the top one-tenth of 1 percent."
Sanders is beating Clinton by nearly 15 percentage points in New Hampshire, and is virtually tied with her in Iowa, in the latest RealClearPolitics polling average. His popularity largely is attributable to his message about the need for wealth redistribution.
The Vermont senator seemingly has tapped into a tried-and-true socialist formula in times of economic hardship -- blaming private-sector corporations and the wealthy. "What this campaign is about is to say to profitable corporations who, in some years don't pay a nickel in taxes, to the wealthiest people in this country who sometimes have an effective tax rate lower than truck drivers or nurses, yes, you are going to start paying your fair share of taxes," he said.
That message especially rings true for young Democrats, a demographic group burdened with college debt and poor job prospects, and heavily represented in the public sector.
"So much of the Democratic activist base are government employees or people who get government grants,” Norquist explained. “So when he talks about raising taxes, his enthusiasts ... are hearing they will not be paying higher taxes. They think they will be getting more money."
Clinton has steered clear of a broad-based policy to increase taxes on the middle class, while partially tapping into Sanders’ class warfare rhetoric. In a January Democratic debate, she tried to explain their distinctions on taxes: "I'm the only candidate standing here tonight who has said I will not raise taxes on the middle class. I want to raise incomes, not taxes, and I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that the wealthy pay for debt free tuition, for child care, for paid family leave."
Kyle Pomerleau, of the Tax Foundation, said Clinton’s proposals are “closer to what the Obama administration has proposed."
"More targeted higher-end tax increases on investment income, also high-income earners rather than broad tax increases for all Americans," he said.
Here’s how the plans stack up.
Among Clinton’s proposals:

• The New College Compact to limit the cost and debt of a college education. Costing $350 billion over 10 years, she says it would be paid for by limiting certain tax breaks for high-income taxpayers.
• A $275 billion infrastructure plan, paid for through business tax reforms.
• Clinton also promises to expand ObamaCare. She wants to lower co-pays and out-of-pocket expenses, as well as reduce the cost of prescription drugs. But she has not spelled out specifically how such programs would be paid for.

Among Sanders’ tax proposals, many meant to help pay for a government-run health care system that replaces ObamaCare:

• Business health care premium tax: $6.3 trillion over 10 years
• Ending tax-free status of employer health insurance: $3.1 trillion
• Wall Street speculation tax: $3 trillion
• Individual health care premium tax: $2.1 trillion
• Social Security tax hike: $1.2 trillion
• Marginal income tax rate increase: $1.1 trillion
• Corporate offshore income tax: $1 trillion
• Capital gains tax hike: $920 billion
• Payroll tax hike: $319 billion
• Estate tax: $243 billion
• Ending tax deductions: $150 billion
• Energy tax: $135 billion
• Carried interest tax: $15.6 billion

Sanders says that while taxes would rise under his plan, health costs would drop.
Sanders’ home state of Vermont also had such a plan  for a state-run, single-payer system, but Gov. Peter Shumlin shelved it in late 2014 after learning how much it would cost in new taxes.