March 3, 2018

Trump pleased with coverage of his role in gun debate

BY JOHN BOWDEN - 03/03/18 06:20 PM EST

President Trump is pleased with the positive news coverage surrounding his handling of the debate over gun reform, The Washington Post reported Saturday.

The newspaper reports that Trump's feelings about how the news media covered his White House "listening session" with school shooting survivors and parents of victims last month is one of the few bright spots for an administration in turmoil.

Gun control has re-entered the national conversation after a high school shooting in Parkland, Fla. left 17 dead and survivors launched a national campaign against gun violence.

The news comes despite conservatives in the House backing away from the president after Trump's comments on "due process" this week bewildered many pro-gun members of his party.

more
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/376599-trump-pleased-with-coverage-of-his-role-in-gun-debate

March 3, 2018

Putin says he wishes the Soviet Union had not collapsed. Many Russians agree.

By Adam Taylor March 3 at 1:18 PM

A day after unveiling dramatic new weapons — including a nuclear-powered cruise missile — that sparked talk of a return to Cold War tensions, Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested that he'd reverse the collapse of the Soviet Union if he could.

Putin's comments on the 1991 collapse of the U.S.S.R. — which bound Russia and many of its neighbors while exerting influence in Eastern Europe and abroad for almost seven decades — came at a question-and-answer forum held Friday in Kaliningrad. Taking questions from the audience, the Russian leader was asked what event in his nation's history he would have liked to change.

"The collapse of the Soviet Union," Putin responded, according to the Russian news agency Tass.

Though a fringe idea in the West, regret about the collapse of the Soviet Union is not unusual in Russia — in fact, it is widespread. And with Russian elections just a week away, it's a factor still worth watching.

more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/03/03/putin-says-he-wishes-he-could-change-the-collapse-of-the-soviet-union-many-russians-agree

March 3, 2018

$275K going to family of each person slain in Vegas shooting

by ASSOCIATED PRESS

MAR 2 2018, 10:59 PM ET

by ASSOCIATED PRESS

LAS VEGAS — A $31.5 million victims' fund that started as a GoFundMe effort announced plans Friday to pay $275,000 to the families of each of the 58 people killed in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

The Las Vegas Victims Fund said the maximum $275,000 also will be paid to 10 other people who were paralyzed or suffered permanent brain damage in the Oct. 1 shooting on the Las Vegas Strip.

The nonprofit posted a chart projecting payments on a scale to a total of 532 people, including more than $10 million divided among 147 people who were hospitalized.

"In no way can it replace someone's life," said Al Etcheber, the brother-in-law of Stacee Etcheber, who died when a gunman fired from a high-rise casino hotel into a country music festival below. "Still, it is a real nice way to help families who lost someone they loved."

more
https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/las-vegas-shooting/275k-going-family-each-person-slain-vegas-shooting-n852891

March 3, 2018

The Mueller stories worth ignoring

Mike Allen 4 hours ago

There's a contagion of Washington coverage that isn't worthy of your time. The stories sound dramatic but tell you little, if anything.

Be smart: Jonathan Swan emails me: "The very important collective impact of this reporting is that it could make Trump more angry than ever about the probe."

See if you can spot the pattern:

"Source: Mueller looking into what Hicks knows." (CNN)

"Mueller asking if Trump knew about hacked Democratic emails before release." (NBC)

"Mueller asking about Trump's Russia business deals and Miss Universe pageant. (Newsweek)

"Mueller team asks about Trump's Russian business dealings as he weighed a run for president." (CNN)

"Mueller looking at Ivanka Trump's interaction with Russian lawyer at Trump Tower." (The Hill)

Why it doesn't matter: All we know is what yappy witnesses tell reporters they were asked about.

more
https://www.axios.com/mueller-russia-probe-update-stories-2dc74bfd-ddae-4c48-b66f-9873be82945d.html

March 3, 2018

Trump Twitter-rages at EU with threat of a trade war after push-back over his steel tariffs

Source: RawStory



TOM BOGGIONI
03 MAR 2018 AT 13:12 ET

President Donald Trump broke his Saturday Twitter silence to rage about trade imbalances after a week in which his proposal to institute massive tariffs on steel and aluminum was roundly blasted, and caused a massive drop in the stock market.

Saturday afternoon Trump tweeted, “The United States has an $800 Billion Dollar Yearly Trade Deficit because of our ‘very stupid’ trade deals and policies. Our jobs and wealth are being given to other countries that have taken advantage of us for years. They laugh at what fools our leaders have been. No more!”

Moments later he added, “If the E.U. wants to further increase their already massive tariffs and barriers on U.S. companies doing business there, we will simply apply a Tax on their Cars which freely pour into the U.S. They make it impossible for our cars (and more) to sell there. Big trade imbalance!”

You can read the tweets below:

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/969991653393039361

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/969994273121820672


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Read more: https://www.rawstory.com/2018/03/trump-twitter-rages-eu-threat-trade-war-push-back-steel-tariffs/

March 3, 2018

Parkland dad who lost daughter busts Rubio for attacking him on Twitter but refuses to speak w/him

Parkland dad who lost daughter busts Marco Rubio for attacking him on Twitter — but refusing to speak with him

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/03/parkland-dad-lost-daughter-busts-marco-rubio-attacking-twitter-refusing-speak/

March 3, 2018

Exclusive: Florida Public School Teacher Has A White Nationalist Podcast

Source: HuffPost




Dayanna Volitich suggests Muslims be eradicated from the earth, believes anti-Semitic conspiracy theories ... and teaches middle school social studies.

By Christopher Mathias, Jenna Amatulli, and Rebecca Klein

Dayanna Volitich, a 25-year-old social studies teacher at Crystal River Middle School in Florida, has been secretly hosting the white nationalist podcast “Unapologetic” under the pseudonym “Tiana Dalichov” and bragging about teaching her views in a public school, HuffPost has discovered.

In her most recent podcast on Feb. 26, a guest railed against diversity in schools, dismissing the idea that “a kid from Nigeria and a kid who came from Sweden are supposed to learn exactly the same” and have the “same IQ.” Volitich enthusiastically agreed with the guest, and went on to argue that “science” has proven that certain races are smarter than others.

In the same episode, Volitich boasted about bringing her white nationalist beliefs into the classroom and hiding her ideology from administrators. She said that when parents complained to the school’s principal about how she is injecting political bias into the classroom, Volitich lied to the principal and said it was not true.

“She believed me and backed off,” she said.

Read more: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/florida-public-school-teacher-white-nationalist-podcast_us_5a99ae32e4b089ec353a1fba

March 3, 2018

Secret Service confirms man shot himself outside White House

BY JOHN BOWDEN - 03/03/18 12:30 PM EST

The Secret Service confirmed Saturday that an unidentified man shot himself outside of the White House along the north fence line.

The agency tweeted Saturday that medical personnel were responding to a male victim outside the north fence line who had suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound. There was no immediate word on the victim's condition.

President Trump, who is in Florida, was briefed shortly after the incident.

https://twitter.com/SecretService/status/969982843152752647
https://twitter.com/SecretService/status/969985991619547136

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http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/376573-secret-service-shots-fired-white-house

March 3, 2018

Joy Reid ridicules Trump for telling Kelly to boot Ivanka and Jared out of the WH

‘What is he, the nanny?’: Joy Reid ridicules Trump for telling Kelly to boot Ivanka and Jared out of the White House

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/03/nanny-joy-reid-ridicules-trump-telling-kelly-boot-ivanka-jared-white-house/

March 3, 2018

Rep. Quigley demands Congress subpoena 'stonewalling' Hope Hicks to face contempt proceedings