January 05, 2018 06:05 AM
UPDATED 6 MINUTES AGO
AP source: Trump had lawyer urge Sessions not to recuse self
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump directed his White House counsel to tell Attorney General Jeff Sessions to not recuse himself from the Justice Department's investigation into potential ties between Russia and the Trump campaign, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The conversation between Don McGahn, the president's White House counsel, and Sessions took place on the president's orders and occurred just before the attorney general announced that he would step aside from the ongoing inquiry into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, according to a person with knowledge of the interaction. Two other people confirmed details of the conversation between McGahn and Sessions.
All three people spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press to avoid publicly discussing an ongoing investigation.
The episode is known to special counsel Robert Mueller and his team of prosecutors and is likely of interest to them as they look into whether Trump's actions as president, including the May firing of FBI Director James Comey, amount to improper efforts to obstruct the Russia investigation. Investigators recently concluded a round of interviews with current and former White House officials, including McGahn and former White House chief of staff Reince Priebus.
The New York Times first reported that Trump had McGahn lobby Sessions against a recusal.
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In small breakthrough, Koreas will meet for talks on Tuesday
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The rival Koreas will sit down for their first formal talks in more than two years next week to find ways to cooperate on the Winter Olympics in the South and to improve their abysmal ties, Seoul officials said Friday. While a positive sign after last year's threats of nuclear war, the Koreas have a long history of failing to move past their deep animosity.
The announcement came hours after the United States said it will delay annual military exercises with South Korea until after the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, next month. The exercises infuriate North Korea, which claims they are an invasion rehearsal, although South Korea and the United States have repeatedly said they are defensive in nature.
On Friday morning, North Korea sent a message saying it would accept South Korea's offer to meet at the border village of Panmunjom next Tuesday to discuss Olympic cooperation and how to improve overall ties, according to South Korea's Unification Ministry, which handles North Korean matters. Panmunjom is where a North Korean soldier dashed across the border into the South in November. He is recovering after being shot five times by his former comrades.
Unification Ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun said he expects the two Koreas will use a recently restored cross-border communication channel to try to determine who will head their respective delegations next week.
Any dialogue between the Koreas is seen as a positive step. But critics say the North's abrupt push to improve ties may be a tactic to divide Seoul and Washington and weaken international pressure and sanctions on Pyongyang.
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10 Things to Know for Today
Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:
1. WHAT TRUMP HAD LAWYER DO
The president directed his White House counsel to tell Attorney General Jeff Sessions to not recuse himself from the Justice Department's investigation into potential ties between Russia and the Trump campaign, a source tells AP.
2. SMALL BUT SIGNIFICANT BREAKTHROUGH ON KOREAN PENINSULA
Seoul and Pyongyang meeting face-to-face next week is a positive sign after last year's spiraling threats of nuclear war, but the Koreas have a long history of failing to move past their deep historical animosity.
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East Coast braces for a deep freeze following massive storm
BOSTON (AP) — East Coast residents are bracing for a deep freeze a day after a massive winter storm slammed the region with heavy snow, hurricane-force winds and coastal flooding.
Forecasters predict that record-breaking cold air and strong winds will set people's teeth chattering like castanets from the mid-Atlantic to New England on Friday and that the frigid weather will hang around through the weekend.
"This is chilly, chilly stuff," Brian Hurley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland, said on Thursday.
The arctic blast could make temperatures feel as low as minus 15 degrees from Philly to Beantown on Friday and make residents of states like Maryland and Virginia shiver from temps ranging from 10 degrees to 15 degrees. Coastal areas in the Northeast, Hurley said, may experience numbing single digits.
The storm began two days ago in the Gulf of Mexico and first struck the Florida Panhandle. By Thursday it was wreaking havoc as blizzard warnings and states of emergency went into effect along the Eastern Seaboard. Wind gusts hit more than 70 mph (113 kph) in places and some areas saw as much as 18 inches (46 centimeters) of snow.
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Pro-government rallies planned in Iran after Friday prayers
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Organizers planned more pro-government rallies in Iran after Friday prayers while activists posted new videos purporting to show protests challenging the Islamic Republic's government.
Activists described the protest videos as showing demonstrations in Tehran on Thursday night, including chants against Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
In Tehran on Friday morning, streets appeared calm ahead of noon prayers. Hard-line cleric Ahmad Khatami was scheduled to preside over prayers. Iran already has seen two-straight days of pro-government rallies across the country.
On Thursday, Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said about 42,000 people at most took part in the week of protests, saying they went on as long as they did because of the "leniency, restrain, tolerance and interaction" of the government. He did not elaborate.
Fazli's comments marked the first government estimate of participation in the protests and appeared timed so authorities could contrast it against the mass crowds brought together for the pro-government demonstrations.
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Protests put spotlight on Iran's vast and shadowy Syria war
BEIRUT (AP) — In demonstrations across Iran, chants are going up against the military's vast and shadowy war in Syria, one of Tehran's closest allies and a frontline state in its confrontation with its archenemy, Israel.
Although the protests have focused on economic issues, demonstrators have also voiced strong opposition to the government's policy of sending young Iranians to fight and die in Syria while spending billions of dollars on the military when they say the priority should be working to provide jobs in Iran and control the rising cost of living.
Their slogans include, "Leave Syria, think about us!" and "Death to Hezbollah!" the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group that has been a key instrument of Tehran in Syria's war.
Syria saw its own domestic demonstrations morph into anti-government protests in 2011. They were met with a brutal crackdown by President Bashar Assad's security services, sending the country into civil war.
But as cracks appeared in Assad's military, with soldiers refusing to fire on protesters and defecting to the opposition, Iran and later Russia stepped in to support their ally.
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Trump-Bannon feud lays bare new fissure in fractious GOP
WASHINGTON (AP) — The acrimony surrounding former White House adviser Steve Bannon's very public break with President Donald Trump escalated Thursday, suggesting a permanent split between the president and the pugilistic strategist who helped put him in the Oval Office.
The new fissure in an already fractious Republican Party cast doubt on Bannon's hopes to foment a movement centered on "Trumpism without Trump."
It already has cost him a key backer. Rebekah Mercer, the billionaire GOP donor and Breitbart co-owner, issued a statement Thursday distancing her family from Bannon.
"I support President Trump and the platform upon which he was elected," she said. "My family and I have not communicated with Steve Bannon in many months and have provided no financial support to his political agenda, nor do we support his recent actions and statements."
White House officials described the president as furious at Bannon's criticisms, laid out in an explosive new book that quoted the former aide as questioning Trump's competence and describing a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower between Donald Trump Jr., Trump campaign aides and a Russian lawyer as "treasonous" and "unpatriotic."
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Q&A: Plan to expand offshore drilling draws cheers, jeers
WASHINGTON (AP) — The energy industry is cheering the Trump administration's proposal to open nearly all U.S. coastlines to offshore oil and gas drilling, saying it will reduce U.S. dependence on foreign supplies and create jobs.
Independent experts are dubious. They cite strong opposition — even from Republicans — to some ocean drilling and question whether oil companies will invest in expensive new offshore projects when there are abundant reserves in shale on the U.S. mainland.
Questions and answers for the administration's proposal — the most expansive offshore drilling proposal in decades — along with potential roadblocks and what it could mean for U.S. energy production.
WHAT'S THE ADMINISTRATION'S PROPOSAL?
The administration announced a new five-year plan for energy leases in federal waters. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said it would promote responsible energy development, boost jobs and pay for coastal conservation efforts. The plan proposes 47 leases starting in 2019 that Zinke said would open up 90 percent of U.S. offshore reserves to development by private companies.
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Federal pot policy change sparks confusion, crackdown fears
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The buzz kill long dreaded in the marijuana industry came just days after California opened what is expected to be the world's largest legal pot market.
The Trump administration announced Thursday that it was ending an Obama-era policy to tread lightly on enforcing U.S. marijuana laws. The declaration renewed anxiety, confusion and uncertainty that has long shadowed the bright green leafy drug still forbidden under federal law but now legal in a majority of states as medicine and in a handful of those for recreational purposes.
"Everybody is super worried. My phone has been going off the hook," said Terry Blevins, who runs a security firm and is part-owner of a marijuana distribution company in Southern California. "They are all, 'What does this mean? ... Is the federal government going to come into California" to raid businesses?
Officials wouldn't say if federal prosecutors would target pot shops and legal growers, nor would they speculate on whether pot prosecutions would increase.
The action by Attorney General Jeff Sessions was not unexpected given his longtime opposition to pot, but comes at a heady time for the industry as retail pot sales rolled out New Year's Day in California.
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'Jeopardy' host Trebek has surgery for blood clots on brain
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Longtime "Jeopardy" host Alex Trebek had surgery for blood clots on the brain, but assured fans he'd be back reading clues to contestants soon.
Trebek appeared in a video on the "Jeopardy" Facebook page Thursday to announce that he'd had the surgery during the show's holiday break.
Wearing a "Jeopardy" baseball cap and using the same tone he employs to explain difficult subjects on the show, Trebek says "I had a slight medical problem, subdural hematoma, blood clots on the brain caused by a fall I endured about two months ago."
"Surgery was performed," he continues, "after two days in the hospital I came home and started recovery. The prognosis is excellent, and I expect to be back in the studio taping more 'Jeopardy' programs very, very soon."
He gave no specific timetable for when he might return.
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