Top Stories Today – April 8, 2019
Top Stories Today – April 8, 2019
US homeland security chief resigns
US Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who oversaw President Donald Trump’s bitterly contested immigration policies during her tumultuous 16-month tenure, resigned on Sunday amid a surge in the number of migrants at the border with Mexico.
senior administration official said Trump asked for Nielsen’s resignation and she gave it. Trump, who has recently expressed growing anger about the situation at the border, said on Twitter: “Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen will be leaving her position, and I would like to thank her for her service.” In another tweet, Trump said Kevin McAleenan, the current US Customs and Border Protection commissioner, would become acting DHS secretary. In a tweet late Sunday, Nielsen said that she would stay on until Wednesday. Reuters
O’Rourke: Netanyahu is a racist
Democratic presidential hopeful Beto O’Rourke on Sunday described Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a “racist” whose outreach to far-right interests as he seeks to hang onto political power has seriously damaged the chances of peace in the Middle East. Speaking at a town hall here at the University of Iowa, the former Texas congressman denounced Netanyahu’s pledge Saturday that he would annex Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank if he wins another term in Tuesday’sIsraeli general election. Netanyahu’s proposed annexation, O’Rourke said, “will make peace in the long term impossible.”
In response to a voter’s question about his policy toward Israel and Palestinian rights, O’Rourke reiterated his support for a two-state solution and accused Netanyahu of having “joined forces with far-right parties who are inherently racist in their speech and the way that they want to treat their fellow human beings in that part of the world.” He then went further, telling reporters in a gaggle afterward that Netanyahu is a “racist.” The Washington Post
UK lawmaker calls for no confidence vote in PM
The deputy leader of a pro-Brexit faction in Britain’s ruling Conservative Party has called for a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Theresa May by Wednesday, Sky News reported. “I am writing to you in a personal capacity to express my sincere belief that Theresa May should now resign as prime minister,” Mark Francois, said in a letter to the Chairman of the Conservative Party 1922 Committee, Sky reported.
“We simply cannot go on like this, with a weak leader, a riven cabinet and a party in despair. I believe Theresa May has been a failure as leader of our party, which she now threatens to destroy.” Reuters
Mulvaney: Dems will never see Trump tax return
Democrats will “never” see President Donald Trump’s tax returns, said White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney on Sunday, as a new front opened in the confrontation between the administration and Congress. Mulvaney accused Democrats of engaging in a “political stunt” and wanting “attention” after the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Richard Neal, asked the IRS to provide six years of Trump’s personal tax returns and the returns for some of his businesses.
“That is not going to happen and they know it,” Mulvaney told “Fox News Sunday.” Asked whether he believe Democrats would ever view the president’s returns, Mulvaney replied: “Oh no, never. Nor should they.” The Associated Press
Nadler calls AG Barr biased
House Judiciary Committee chair Jerry Nadler said Democrats need to see the complete report issued by special counsel Robert Mueller because Attorney General William Barr is biased. “He is someone who is an agent of the administration, is an appointee, a political appointee of the president whose interests he may very well be protecting,” Nadler said on CBS’s Face the Nation Sunday. Barr is “a biased defender of the administration.”
Nadler’s appearance comes after a week of media reports that Mueller’s team is not happy with Barr’s summary of the 22-month-long probe into whether the Donald Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia to help him win the 2016 presidential election. The Voice of America
California superbloom snarls traffic
The state of California is experiencing a super-bloom of poppy flowers this spring, with new fields blooming throughout the southern part of the state following massive rains that ended a long drought. The magnificent poppy blooms have attracted tens of thousands of people, causing massive traffic tie ups in small cities such as Lake Elsinore. The Voice of America